The little beast squirmed in his arms, then found a more comfortable position.
Mu Xuanheng opened his eyes. He was already lying on a soft, spacious bed.
He was just about to sit up when he realized he was still holding Gu Yuena.
"Snow Empress, what happened? Wasn't I just on the tournament stage?"
Snow Empress said crossly, "You're still confused? You and the girl in your arms performed a Martial Soul Fusion Skill and brought down the whole venue. Why would a Martial Soul Fusion Skill performed by two four-ring Soul Masters have that kind of power?"
She was puzzled, curious, and even more eager to know who Gu Yuena was.
Mu Xuanheng scratched his head, even more confused.
Snow Empress wasn't willing to explain any further.
"Mm...?" Gu Yuena also woke from her drowsiness.
"Why am I lying in your arms?" She struggled to sit up, then remembered agreeing to kiss him in front of everyone. Her cheeks turned bright red. "You rotten Mu Xuanheng!"
She grabbed a pillow and threw it at him.
"You kissed me, and I still haven't settled the score with you for the first time. Now there's been a second time."
"Wait, I got hit the first time! And didn't you agree to the second?"
The blush spread down Gu Yuena's neck. "I don't care."
A young girl's bashfulness was one of life's little pleasures.
Knock, knock. Someone tapped softly on the door twice.
A small head poked in. Xiao Xiao saw Gu Yuena straddling Mu Xuanheng. "Um, carry on. I just came to see if you were awake."
Gu Yuena angrily started punching him again.
Mu Xuanheng seized his chance and caught her slender wrist. Then, with a gentle tug, he flipped her over.
A teacher in his mind was instructing him on how to handle the situation.
Either he could take his beating and wait for her to finish venting, or turn the tables and go from the lower position to the upper one.
Mu Xuanheng decisively chose to turn the tables.
He pinned Gu Yuena beneath him. She turned her head away and wouldn't look at him.
"Jerk, let go of me." Her voice was soft, with not a hint of urgency.
Electrolux said, "Good opportunity. Either win her over with words or just kiss her."
As everyone knew, a strategist didn't need to have any experience as a romantic.
"Darling, now that we're together, what would you like me to call you? Darling? Guyue? Na'er?"
Her snowy-white neck was already crimson. "Not the first one. The other two are fine. Call me whichever you like."
"Xuanheng Guyue" was the name he wanted to give the four-character Battle Armor he was creating. This seemed like the perfect time to use it for the girl.
"Guyue, look at me."
Once again, he lowered his head and kissed her.
In the Spiritual Sea, Electrolux said, "Mm, he moved fast. From now on, their fights won't just hurt on the outside."
Snow Empress chose to block out the scene entirely, skipping over it as if that could make it disappear.
"Um, Elder Xuan wants you all to meet in the hall." Xiao Xiao opened the door again and saw Mu Xuanheng kissing Gu Yuena.
"Sorry, I'll come back later." Poor Xiao Xiao kept walking in on the most awkward scenes.
The room immediately descended into chaos.
When they came out, Mu Xuanheng and Gu Yuena stood on either side of Xiao Xiao. Neither would look at the other.
Xiao Xiao was left feeling miserable, as if the Biyi Bird had wedged her between them. "Don't be like this! I don't know what to do."
Mu Xuanheng said, "Xiao Xiao, you—"
Before he could finish, Gu Yuena shot him a warning look.
"Let's go first. Ignore him." Gu Yuena pulled Xiao Xiao away, leaving Mu Xuanheng looking helpless. "Weren't they waiting for us? Let Xiao Xiao show us the way."
"Go to the hall. If you don't know the way, just follow us."
The two girls walked ahead, with Mu Xuanheng following behind. It only took a few steps to reach the hall.
The arrangement, with two in front and one behind, looked a little strange.
"Well, look who's up—our great hero." Xuan Zi looked him over. "What's the matter? Did your wife give you the cold shoulder? Did you do something you shouldn't have?"
Mu Xuanheng said, "Old man, picking a fight already? Besides, we're doing just fine."
"Doing just fine? When you were unconscious, the girl wouldn't let go of you. Once she woke up, she left you behind. And you're saying it wasn't your fault?"
Gu Yuena asked, "What do you mean, she wouldn't let go?"
Xiao Xiao said softly, "It's true, Na Jie. When you and Mu Ge were unconscious, you were holding each other. No matter how hard we tried, we couldn't separate you. Elder Xuan had to put you both on the bed."
The two of them turned bright red on the spot.
Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao turned away, not daring to look at their reaction. Bei Bei and He Caitou pretended not to notice, while Gongyang Mo chuckled softly.
Only the three elders looked at them and laughed.
Yan Shaozhe said, "Come on, you young people have nothing to be afraid of. No one can say a thing about you. After that performance, you're the dream couple of the new generation of Soul Masters. Don't be shy."
Gu Yuena pulled Xiao Xiao a little farther to the side, away from Mu Xuanheng.
The atmosphere was rather awkward.
Fortunately, his good brother Bei Bei spoke up. "Elder Xuan, shouldn't we tell Xuanheng and the others what happened? They've only just woken up and don't know anything."
It wasn't just Mu Xuanheng and Gu Yuena who had passed out. Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong had also fallen unconscious after using three Martial Soul Fusion Skills in a row, which had drained them completely. They had woken up less than half an hour before Mu Xuanheng and Gu Yuena.
The lazy Xuan Zi left the task of explaining things to Wang Yan.
"To be honest, this victory was largely thanks to the incredible power of your Martial Soul Fusion Skill, Xuanheng," Wang Yan said. He still looked incredulous as he recalled what had happened.
"Martial Soul Fusion Skill? Senior Brother and Senior Sister have one too?" As the first two to pass out, Huo Yuhao had no idea what had happened.
Wang Yan could only start from when Huo Yuhao had passed out.
"After Yuhao and Wang Dong used their Martial Soul Fusion Skill and lost consciousness, Xuanheng and Gu Yuena showed astonishing fighting strength. They wore special armor and completely suppressed the Sun Moon Soul Engineers."
Everyone nodded repeatedly, agreeing with the assessment of their strength. Huo Yuhao was also relieved that he hadn't used his Martial Soul Fusion Skill against the Hongchen Siblings.
Wang Yan corrected him. "To be precise, you might really have needed to use your Martial Soul Fusion Skill against the Hongchen Siblings. The seven from Sun Moon brought out a combination Soul Tool that required several people to activate and had the power of a Level 9 Soul Tool. The Hongchen Siblings were key members of the team."
He raised a hand to stop Wang Dong from interrupting. "I'm not saying your choice was wrong. Given your condition at the time, it was completely reasonable. This was the result of many mistakes piling up. No one could have predicted that Sun Moon would bring out a Soul Tool like that. The tournament rules were flawed, too."
The Soul Fighting Tournament placed too few restrictions on Soul Engineers. They were allowed to use Soul Tools they hadn't made themselves. As technology advanced, powerful Soul Tools with few restrictions would inevitably emerge. Even low-level Soul Masters would be able to use them. When that happened, everything would come down to technological prowess and financial resources.
Since Sun Moon and politics were involved, making changes would be difficult. Besides, they were confident the next champion would still be theirs.
Huo Yuhao asked, "A Level 9 Soul Tool? Then how did Senior Brother and Senior Sister handle it? Did they use their Martial Soul Fusion Skill?"
Before you continue