By the time Shen Hanyu and the Snow Empress returned to the Great Fighting Soul Arena, the battle between the two teams was already nearing its end.
On the battlefield, various ice crystals kept shattering. Most of the opposing team's members were carrying considerable injuries. One support-system soul master had even turned faintly blue in the face from the cold, her body radiating an extremely sharp chill. Quite a bit of ice crystals had condensed on her face, and she was currently shivering as she squatted on the ground.
A fire-attribute soul master beside her was frantically trying to warm her up, creating ball after ball of flames. Unfortunately, the might of Ultimate Ice was not something ordinary fire attributes could resist. Before long, that support-system soul master rolled her eyes back and fainted.
As Shui Bing'er's first soul ring lit up beneath her feet once more, three beams of light instantly shot into the bodies of two Soul Elders and one Soul Ancestor. Terrifying cold energy erupted, instantly freezing all three of them inside blocks of ice.
Shen Liuyu's eyes lit up. Her second soul ring brightened beneath her feet. With the help and restrictions from her other five teammates, she delivered one kick each to send the three of them off the stage, and conveniently gave that frozen guy one more kick, sending him tumbling right to Shui Bing'er's feet.
After stripping the Ultimate Ice from his body, he was unceremoniously thrown off the fighting soul stage. Healing-system soul masters swarmed forward to provide emergency treatment.
With three main combatants and the support-system soul master taken out in one go, the remaining three exchanged glances. The bitterness in their eyes could no longer be hidden. In the end, they obediently jumped off the stage themselves, at least sparing themselves some suffering.
After the battle ended, the seven girls looked at each other and smiled. Shui Bing'er gracefully and slowly withdrew her martial soul and soul rings. The extremely cold aura on the stage gradually dissipated. Only then did the soul-guide barriers around them, now covered in frost, slowly deactivate. Gu Qingbo and Xue Wu exhaled hot breaths, rubbed their hands, and stepped forward, saying:
"Bing'er, the chill from your martial soul really is freezing. You didn't send the opponents away, but you almost sent us away."
Shui Bing'er smiled somewhat embarrassedly and said:
"My method of controlling the spread of cold energy is still not practiced enough. Sorry about that."
Everyone chuckled softly for a moment before slowly walking down from the stage.
The Ice Empress sat comfortably on the stands, holding snacks, munching away nonstop, and still found time to comment:
"Little Bing'er's proficiency in controlling cold energy has improved to another level. Not bad, not bad. It won't be long before she can skillfully master all the advantages of the Ultimate Ice martial soul."
Tianmeng lay sprawled beside her. From an ice silkworm baby, one could somehow see an appearance of weariness and kidney deficiency, yet he still didn't forget to keep flattering the Ice Empress:
"As expected of Bingbing, excelling at everything…"
The Ice Empress glanced at the sandbag-like Tianmeng, snorted, then continued watching the matches.
Tianmeng let out a breath of relief. His spiritual sense probed toward Shen Hanyu, standing side by side with the Snow Empress in the distance. His small eyes were filled with resentment.
But glancing at the Ice Empress beside him, Tianmeng gave a soft sigh. For the sake of future happiness, he Tianmeng, the sickly, would endure!
...
Shen Hanyu looked at the seven girls whose faces were full of joy and revealed a smile. He said to the Snow Empress beside him:
"How does it feel?"
The Snow Empress was silent for a moment before saying:
"Shui Bing'er's mastery of Ultimate Ice is quite good. The others' performance, while not as outstanding as hers, still falls within the range of your human geniuses. As for your younger sister, her strength and performance are both very good, just a bit silly…"
Shen Hanyu pressed his forehead, somewhat helplessly saying:
"Liuyu simply lacks the potential to control and command a team. She's been spoiled since childhood and hasn't experienced much hardship, so her fighting style is a bit… barbaric…"
The Snow Empress nodded and said no more.
Shen Hanyu leaned against the metal railing, watching the new round of matches that had just begun, and said:
"It seems there won't be much pressure for Liuyu and the others to win the championship. Although the other academies aren't weak, they still fall short in leadership and overall strength."
He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but due to some unknown changes, the cultivation speed of the members of these elemental academies had increased more than once. At the very least, they were no longer forcibly suppressed in level just to serve as foils for the protagonist group, like in the original story.
According to Shen Hanyu's expectations, by the time of the Soul Master Tournament, Feng Xiaotian, Huo Wushuang, and the others would probably have broken through to the Soul King level, while the rest would basically all be Soul Elders or above. That was more than one level stronger than in the original work.
...
After the battle.
Shui Ningbing smiled and hugged each of the girls, giving each one verbal praise. The seven girls all secretly let out sighs of relief, their faces showing smiles.
Shen Hanyu and the Snow Empress slowly walked over. Somewhat amused, he said:
"You all have really made a name for yourselves now. Probably by tomorrow, your names will spread across the entire continent…"
Shen Liuyu didn't take it seriously. She laughed and hugged Shen Hanyu's arm, saying:
"No worries, no worries. We've got you, big brother, and the dean!"
Shen Hanyu laughed and rubbed Shen Liuyu's head, saying:
"Just now, the Snow Empress and I discovered two veteran Titled Douluo from the Spirit Hall. One is at level 95, the other at level 94. The method of absorbing soul rings across ranks is enough to shock and attract the attention of the entire soul master world. There are plenty of people with ulterior motives. You all need to be careful from now on. If anyone gets kidnapped, I'll have no choice but to pay with laws to get you back…"
Everyone covered their mouths and snickered, but they generally understood the pros and cons. No one took it lightly.
Seeing the curious gazes from the other teams, Shen Hanyu smiled and said:
"Your team has the strongest overall strength, but Bing'er's control over her martial soul is still not perfect, and she cannot fully display her power. Liuyu is not suited to commanding the team in battle. So defeating those teams with tacit coordination is still somewhat difficult, especially since this is just an unofficial match. What you will face in the future are the most outstanding geniuses from the two great empires. I hope you can all remain invincible in the future as well."
Everyone nodded seriously and firmly. Shui Ningbing suddenly clapped her hands and declared decisively:
"After this tournament ends, I'll have Teacher Xu teach you all a dance! Even if you can't win the fight, you still have to make a name for yourselves for me!"
Everyone: "qaq?"
...
Things were relaxed and pleasant on Shen Hanyu's side, but on the rest of the continent, the opposite was true.
When Chrysanthemum Douluo and Demonic Bear Douluo returned to Spirit City with huge palm prints on their faces and reported the situation, the sky over the entire Spirit City turned gloomy. From time to time, countless bolts of lightning poured down.
In an empty and magnificent grand hall, a handsome middle-aged man dressed in plain clothes suddenly opened his eyes. Sacred soul power surged like heavenly light, shattering the dark clouds overhead and allowing faint golden radiance to once again shine upon this land…
In Element City.
Ning Fengzhi let out a low sigh, slowly put away the scant intelligence reports, and together with Sword Douluo gazed at the dark clouds outside the window. After a long while, he said in a low voice:
"It seems another storm is about to sweep across the continent… and once again, we've encountered it with that youth…"
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