Chapter 75

Forget it.

After thinking for a long time without reaching a reasonable answer, Mu En chose to temporarily set the issue aside.

Doubts about Huo Yutong and Tang Wulin have existed for a while; he didn't intend to press further.

As long as Huo Yutong keeps a kind heart, Mu En doesn't care where her power comes from.

He gave a faint smile and said to Huo Yutong and Tang Wulin: "I understand the general situation; I'll help Huo Yutong resolve her tardiness, but being late always incurs a cost, so I'll raise the difficulty of her promotion test a bit and not have her fight a soul beast. Wulin, you'll be her opponent, and I'll be the referee."

Huh?!

Huo Yutong and Tang Wulin stared at each other, eyes wide with surprise.

Mu En chuckled: "What, are you really that surprised? I heard your promotion test this time, Wulin, is the first perfect score in the academy's history, so having you serve as the enhanced-difficulty opponent is quite fitting, isn't it?"

Tang Wulin asked somewhat hesitantly:

"Teacher Mu, isn't the difficulty too high for Yutong?"

He had no clear understanding of the Snow Emperor and Ice Emperor's strength, nor did he know what ultimate ice truly meant; he only knew that against ordinary Soul Elders, he could basically defeat them with a single punch.

Yutong's improvement is indeed great, but before the vacation she had virtually no frontal combat ability; no matter how much she improves, she can't compare to him.

Mu En chuckled:

"That's not certain, Wulin; I'll warn you beforehand: don't be careless, or you'll surely suffer a big loss."

I understand.

After hearing Mu En say that, Tang Wulin fell silent for a moment, then lightly nodded, indicating he had taken it in.

Although he didn't understand why Mu En said that, Mu En had rarely made mistaken judgments over the past year; since he said it, there must be his reasoning, and he just needs to follow it.

Tang Wulin and Huo Yutong came outside the Sea God Pavilion, stood fifty meters apart, facing each other from a distance.

Mu En arrived at the Sea God Pavilion gate in his wheelchair and gave the two a slight smile.

Let's begin.

His words opened the curtain of battle; Tang Wulin stomped his left foot hard and shot toward Huo Yutong at extreme speed.

Mu En had told him not to be careless, so he naturally wouldn't hold back; his sprint speed even surpassed many agility-attack Soul Elders, instantly greatly closing the distance between him and Huo Yutong.

Unlike him, Huo Yutong began retreating the moment Mu En spoke, trying to increase distance from Tang Wulin, while a snowy white hue started to dye her hair tips and clothes, making her entire demeanor turn icy.

Tang Wulin and Mu En didn't know that her ability to turn her clothing white was not an innate trait of her martial soul, but a soul skill granted by the Snow Emperor's skull.

The 700,000-year soul bone skill Ice Snow Armor adds a thin layer of snow when used, greatly enhancing Huo Yutong's control over ice and snow.

After using this soul skill, Huo Yutong's vision changed instantly; countless ice-blue light points floated in the air, the ice elemental energy awaiting her command. Facing Tang Wulin's charge, her first soul ring lit up, an ice-blue longsword appeared in her hand, tracing a beautiful arc in the air as she slashed at him.

Tang Wulin dared not be careless; he didn't choose to block it head-on, paused his steps, and dodged to the side.

As the Imperial Sword seemed about to miss, a strange scene unfolded: the air twisted slightly, the original Imperial Sword dissipated like mist, and a new Imperial Sword appeared ahead of Tang Wulin's path, leaving him no way to dodge.

This was the effect of her second soul skill, Simulation: she first conjured a false Imperial Sword to force Tang Wulin to dodge, then prepared the real Imperial Sword on his inevitable path to ensure a hit.

After confirming the Imperial Sword would hit, Huo Yutong's gaze softened, she lightly twisted her wrist, using the sword's back rather than the blade to strike Tang Wulin.

Unlike Tang Wulin, she knew the Imperial Sword's power; if it struck him directly, it would likely injure him, which she didn't want.

Huo Yutong's combination of Simulation and the Imperial Sword completely exceeded Tang Wulin's expectations; in the critical moment, countless Blue Silver Emperors sprang from his side, and he deployed his second soul skill, Blue Silver Binding, to brace against the sword.

At the instant the Imperial Sword struck his body, Tang Wulin felt a chill as if it were carving into his marrow pierce his interior, nearly freezing his thoughts.

At the same time, the Blue Silver Emperors bearing half the sword's power all turned into ice blocks, then shattered piece by piece.

The power of Ice Extreme Unmatched, aided by the Ice Snow Armor, was truly ferocious; even with Blue Silver Binding absorbing half the damage, Tang Wulin nearly lost his combat ability outright.

Fortunately, his year of cultivation wasn't wasted; as a resounding dragon roar rang out, Tang Wulin's golden soul ring blazed, his Golden Dragon Body erupted, his qi and blood boiled throughout, suppressing the spreading chill.

Immediately after, his right hand transformed into a golden dragon claw, he grabbed the Imperial Sword striking his body, ignored the chills it transmitted, and with force crushed the ice-blue longsword in his hand.

Seeing the situation turn bad, Huo Yutong hastily retreated, hoping to leave Tang Wulin's attack range, but how could he possibly oblige her?

A massive surge of qi and blood began to gather around him, a huge golden dragon head materialized in the air, and together with Tang Wulin it surged toward Huo Yutong.

The momentum of this strike was tremendously grand; even an ordinary Soul Ancestor would struggle to block it head-on.

Huo Yutong's eyes narrowed slightly, her face grave. Her three purple soul rings instantly shifted to one white and two purple, then an ice-blue ray shot from her eyes, clashing not with Tang Wulin's golden dragon, striking his forehead.

Tang Wulin only felt a fierce cold current flow into his Sea of Spirit; although he had suppressed the internal chill with his Golden Dragon Body, it still felt as cold as falling into an ice cellar.

Huo Yutong's Spirit Eyes third soul skill: Snowy Thought, originating from a ten-thousand-year ice-snow spirit beast, enables all her spirit-attribute soul skills to carry an ice-snow property.

Although Tang Wulin had become alert upon seeing Huo Yutong switch soul rings, using soul power to shield his head, he never expected her to also employ her third soul skill to aid the soul impact; his body instantly lost control, and the condensed golden dragon head dissipated in the air.

He still wanted to rally, but evidently Huo Yutong wouldn't give him that chance; her snowy white hand lightly patted down, and Tang Wulin was instantly frozen into an ice sculpture.

By the way, if we really delved into the original data we'd find "at the same rank, Luohuo's body is stronger than Wulin's, but Wulin's spirit power exceeds Luohuo's"; thus this book avoids comparing Yutong and Wulin's combat strength via numbers, relying instead on positioning.

This book's positioning for the two will basically maintain "at the same rank, Wulin's combat strength exceeds Yutong's, but Yutong's versatility exceeds Wulin's"; however, since Yutong has currently outpaced Wulin by an entire major realm, Wulin simply cannot defeat her now.

Poor Wulin, pressed down again by the heroine; but once his level rises later, he'll be able to press back.

(End of chapter)