Parting and Enhancement Research

As he watched Hu Yan Shi being carried away, Yu Tianlin felt somewhat emotional.

Because the Upper Three Sects had Titled Douluo among them, they were far ahead of the other sects, so there was no question that they ranked in the top three of the Seven Great Sects.

But aside from the Upper Three Sects, the strongest figures in the other sects were only Soul Douluo, and there were quite a few Soul Douluo. Dragon Duke Meng Shu, for example, had his own sect, and he even possessed a Martial Soul Fusion Skill with Snake Po Chao Tianxiang. By all rights, that was already very impressive, but even so, he still had not made it into the rankings.

For the Elephant Armor Sect to defeat so many competitors and rank among the Seven Great Sects, it naturally had its own strengths. If nothing else, in terms of defense, it truly was powerful.

Yu Tianlin's Chidori was a powerful thrusting skill. Under normal circumstances, after striking an opponent, it should have been like stabbing through a sheet of paper; it would not meet much resistance, would pierce straight through the body, and would not send the opponent flying.

The fact that Hu Yan Shi had been sent flying by Yu Tianlin proved precisely how powerful his defense was. Yu Tianlin had only pierced through the two layers of defense on the surface of his body, then driven less than half his palm into his side. He had not penetrated his body completely, so the remaining momentum of the charge could not be dispelled, and Yu Tianlin could only go with the force and use it to knock him flying.

After defeating Hu Yan Shi, Yu Tianlin had no intention of holding the arena until his Soul Power was exhausted. After defeating another soul master from Blazing Fire Academy who possessed the Fire Leopard Martial Soul, he chose to leave the stage.

The next to enter was Shui Bing'er. Unexpectedly, she was quite popular among the Five Elements Academy students and had many supporters. That made things miserable for her opponent; of his full strength, he could at most bring out eighty percent, and in the end, he was helplessly driven off the stage by Shui Bing'er.

In the blink of an eye, she had already won three times. Shui Bing'er still looked like she had strength to spare and should have been able to try for a fourth consecutive victory, but this already counted as completing the task her teacher had given her. Shui Bing'er did not want to keep fighting, so she chose to leave the stage.

Yu Tianlin's and Shui Bing'er's battles had both ended, so they did not linger by the arena and instead returned to the lakeside they both knew.

This time, there was no tense training. Both of them seemed very relaxed, chatting about topics they found interesting.

The two of them were both the youngest in their respective academies. The other students in their year were generally several years older than them, and with such an age gap, it was hard to find common topics. On top of that, the halo of genius they carried always made their classmates keep a respectful distance. As a result, neither of them had many friends; they were always alone, solitary figures on their own. In that sense, the two of them could be considered fellow sufferers.

Coincidentally, Shui Bing'er had a younger sister, while Yu Tianlin had an older brother. Sometimes, neither of them knew what their sister or brother was thinking. Taking advantage of this conversation, Shui Bing'er shared how she felt as an older sister, while Yu Tianlin voiced the troubles he had as a younger brother. By comparing their experiences, they both deepened their understanding of their own family members quite a bit.

Time slowly passed in this state, and before they knew it, the sky had darkened. Rarely for Thunderbolt Academy, it was not cloudy tonight, and the night sky was filled with stars.

Lying on the grass and gazing up at the stars filling the sky, Yu Tianlin stretched and said, "Let's stop here for today. It's already late. You should go back and meet up with your classmates."

"Mm."

Shui Bing'er only answered softly, but she made no move to leave. She merely sat there hugging her knees, seeming somewhat reluctant to part.

Sensing that the atmosphere was a little off, Yu Tianlin continued, "It's really nothing. Skywater Academy isn't that far away. When I have time, I'll go look for you."

"Better not." Hearing Yu Tianlin's words, Shui Bing'er broke into a smile. "Skywater Academy is all girls. It wouldn't be very convenient for you to come looking for me. I should come look for you instead."

Yu Tianlin felt that Shui Bing'er had a point, so he nodded in agreement. "Mm, that works too."

"Then it's settled." Shui Bing'er stood up, lowered her head, and looked straight into Yu Tianlin's eyes as she said, "When the time comes and I come looking for you, you're not allowed to be absent."

Yu Tianlin said quietly, "Don't worry. I'll always be here—uh, except during the annual holiday."

"Got it." After the two made their agreement, Shui Bing'er no longer hesitated and turned to leave. "Six days of training plus one day of fighting—this Joint Training Event really exhausted me. I have to get a good rest when I go back."

As Shui Bing'er walked farther away, Yu Tianlin also got up from the grass. The calmness he had shown earlier was gone, and he scratched his head with a slightly helpless expression.

What's wrong with me? Could I have fallen for Shui Bing'er? But she's only ten right now...

Yu Tianlin hurriedly threw that thought out of his mind.

Actually, it was not that exaggerated. The two of them had only spent seven days together. At most, they had developed a little mutual fondness.

Forget about that for now. Time to go back.

Because the night was clear and starry tonight, and it was obvious it would not rain, Yu Tianlin did not go to the southeast Lightning Rod. Instead, he returned to his single dorm room.

After returning to the dorm and closing the door properly, Yu Tianlin began experimenting with stacking Chidori and Dragon Transformation.

After using Martial Soul Possession and transforming his right arm with Dragon Transformation, Yu Tianlin tried condensing lightning on his dragon claw, wanting to use Chidori on top of Dragon Transformation.

The process was surprisingly smooth. As blue-white lightning bloomed, that familiar cry like a thousand birds chirping rang out once again.

"Not bad. They really can stack." Feeling the powerful current within his dragon claw, Yu Tianlin revealed a satisfied smile. "Dragon Transformation increases attack power, defense, and strength by one hundred percent, while Chidori increases attack power by one hundred percent and speed by fifty percent."

"Stacked together, that means attack power increases by two hundred percent, defense and strength increase by one hundred percent, and speed increases by fifty percent. If I use Thunderbolt Dragon Claw on top of that, attack power will increase by another one hundred percent."

Thunderbolt Dragon Claw could also be stacked on top. Because Dragon Transformation was a physical change, Chidori stimulated the body's activity from within, and Thunderbolt Dragon Claw was an external coating, there was no conflict among the three, so naturally they could stack with one another.

However, Yu Tianlin immediately frowned, because after using Chidori, he suddenly felt that the powerful current belonging to Chidori was not the limit of what he could endure right now.

Is it because Dragon Transformation strengthened every aspect of my arm, so my ability to withstand the current also increased greatly? Yu Tianlin revealed a thoughtful expression. In that case, can I keep raising the strength of the current now?

Once he had this guess, Yu Tianlin immediately could not hold back and began trying it out.

He continued slowly strengthening the current in his right palm. Strangely, as the current increased, the noisy sound like the cries of a thousand birds actually gradually grew quieter, while the originally blue-white lightning also gradually deepened in color.

By the time Yu Tianlin raised the current intensity to the limit his right dragon claw could withstand, the noisy sound of the current had vanished completely, and the originally blue-white lightning had also fully turned dark blue.