Try?

Yan's words were half teasing, half probing. Toward this kid who had suddenly appeared and seemed to have drawn Hu Liena's attention, Yan always felt a faint urge to compete.

Chen Li smiled slightly. The Heart of Illusory Thunder necklace around his neck warmed faintly, ensuring that the Yellow Soul Ring behind him showed no flaws. He looked at Yan and said calmly, "No need to worry. I already have some ideas. Perhaps before long, I'll need to go out and train, seeking opportunities."

Xie Yue's crimson eyes flickered as he spoke. "Go out and train? Do you have a destination in mind? Do you need..." He did not finish, but his meaning was obvious.

As a Core Disciple, especially one like Chen Li who received special attention, going out to hunt Soul Rings usually meant being accompanied by powerful Soul Masters or joining a team.

"Thank you for the offer, but it will depend on Master Lor Diarra's arrangements at the research institute, as well as Your Majesty the Pope's approval." Chen Li steered the topic toward official procedures, neither refusing nor agreeing.

He had his own plans. The materials needed for his second Soul Ring would likely require a broader hunting ground.

Hu Liena's eyes lit up. "Going out to train? That sounds fun! Brother, we haven't gone out for real combat in a long time!" She had clearly grown tired of monotonous daily training.

Yan also perked up. "Hmph. If we go, don't hold us back." He said it directly to Chen Li.

Xie Yue did not immediately answer his sister. Instead, he gave Chen Li a long look.

This youth, several years younger than them yet far too composed for his age, always seemed shrouded in a mist even Xie Yue could not see through.

Level twenty already. What would his second ring be like? Xie Yue vaguely sensed that Chen Li might bring some unexpected shock to the Golden Generation.

"Finish today's training first." Xie Yue withdrew his gaze and resumed his cold, commanding demeanor. "Chen Li, since you've reached level twenty, you can try joining today's sparring practice and experience higher-intensity combat pressure. It may help you clarify your future direction."

Chen Li's gaze sharpened slightly, and he nodded. "All right."

A sparring match with the Golden Generation? Perfect. He also wanted to personally measure the gap between himself—a level-twenty Soul Grandmaster built upon a thousand-year Soul Ring—and these true geniuses, as well as what extraordinary effects his Lightning Strike - Law Breaker could achieve in actual combat.

"Don't let me smash you to pieces!"

Watching Chen Li walk toward the training ground, the smile Yan had suppressed for so long finally bloomed without restraint, carrying excitement and provocation ready to burst forth.

He had admired Hu Liena for a long time. Within the Golden Generation, his feelings were practically an open secret. Yet aside from the affection she held for a teammate, Hu Liena had never shown him anything special. Her foxlike eyes always swept calmly past him, settling on tactics and training instead.

But this newly arrived Chen Li—this brat who was only six and had joined Spirit Hall less than three months ago—received obviously different treatment from Hu Liena.

That attention, that smile, that patience and curiosity exceeding what she showed her teammates... Yan saw it all clearly.

He had been holding in a fire for a long time. Today, under the pretense of sparring, he would make this brat understand that Spirit Hall's inner circle was not a place where one could gain a foothold through luck and a strange Martial Soul alone.

"Let's try it." Chen Li offered no unnecessary words. He merely nodded and walked steadily toward the center of the training ground.

His posture was straight and his expression calm, as though what awaited him was not a battle with a vast gap in Soul Power, but simply an ordinary lesson.

Xie Yue crossed his arms over his chest. His short silver hair swayed gently in the morning breeze, while the scarlet butterfly pattern at the corner of his eye became even more bewitching. His voice was steady, carrying the unquestionable judgment of a leader. "Chen Li, spar with Yan for one round. Yan, mind your strength. Your Soul Power Level is six levels higher than his, and you have one more Soul Ring."

He paused, the light in his crimson eyes drawing inward. "Stop at the right point."

Xie Yue also wanted to see how capable this six-year-old child was—the one who had drawn the attention of both the Pope and Elder Ju, and had been exceptionally admitted into the core circle. After all, no amount of talk compared to personally exchanging a round or two.

"Don't worry, Brother Xie Yue." Yan licked his slightly dry lips, excitement burning in his dark red eyes. "I'll teach him what it means to... show respect."

He deliberately stressed the final two words.

In truth, the news of Chen Li breaking through to level twenty today had stirred varying degrees of turmoil in all three of them.

Each of them recalled the age at which they had broken through to level twenty. Yan had been eight, Xie Yue seven and a half, and Hu Liena had also been seven and a half.

Chen Li, meanwhile, was six years and six months old. This meant his cultivation speed was nearly a full year faster than even Spirit Hall's most outstanding geniuses.

A whole year, during the golden period of a Soul Master's cultivation, was enough to create an unbridgeable gulf.

That pressure was like an invisible thorn lodged in Yan's heart.

He needed a swift, decisive victory to confirm his place and tell everyone that talent was one thing, while strength was another.

"Chen Li, do your best." Hu Liena spoke softly, a faint smile flickering through her beautiful eyes.

She leaned against a stone pillar at the edge of the training ground, several strands of black hair lifted by the morning breeze. Her posture was lazy, but her gaze was bright.

Her special attention toward Chen Li was not born of the feelings Yan imagined. As Bibi Dong's sole personal disciple and Spirit Hall's future Holy Maiden, she knew more than Xie Yue and Yan—far more.

She knew the origin and purpose of the Heart of Illusory Thunder necklace around Chen Li's neck.

She knew that the ordinary-looking Yellow Hundred Year Soul Ring was truly a deep purple thousand-year Soul Ring.

She knew even more clearly that after Chen Li absorbed his first Soul Ring, his Soul Power had surged directly from level ten to level eighteen.

Level eighteen.

Hu Liena clearly remembered that after she absorbed her first Soul Ring, her Soul Power had only risen from level ten to level fourteen. That gap of four levels represented fundamental differences in Soul Ring quality, Martial Soul potential, and even the upper limit of future growth.

Your Majesty the Pope had taught her: a true powerhouse must learn to recognize, before everyone else, those worth following or winning over.

This was not utilitarianism. It was the wisdom of survival, the first move in controlling the board. Chen Li was clearly a promising prospect who might one day grow into a king piece.

That was why she needed to observe, pay attention, and establish the right connection at the right time. That was all, at least for now.

As for this battle?

Hu Liena did not think Chen Li could win.

Yan's experience, Soul Power Level, and extra Soul Ring were all tangible gaps, not something that any technique or Martial Soul effect could easily erase.

She merely wanted to see what kind of answer this six-year-old child would give under absolute disadvantage.