Sparring Turned into a Live Lesson, Taking Apart the Vermilion Clear Ice Toad on the Spot

"Dai Huabin."

Meng Hongchen stood in front of his desk, her long silver hair falling over her shoulders, and a blue ribbon swaying slightly behind her head.

"Um?"

"You mentioned finding an opportunity to spar," Meng Hongchen said calmly. "I'd like to schedule it for this afternoon."

Di Lingxi lay on the desk, turned her golden head, glanced at Meng Hongchen, then turned back to continue lying down.

"Okay." Dai Huabin readily agreed. "Outer Academy Soul Fighting Arena, one hour from now."

"Good."

Meng Hongchen turned and left.

Xiao Hongchen was waiting for her at the classroom door, and the two siblings walked out one after the other.

Ning Tian finished packing his books from the back row and walked over, bending down to whisper in Dai Huabin's ear.

"You really want to fight her?"

"Just a friendly exchange."

Ning Tian wrinkled his nose.

"She's from the Sun Moon Empire, and she's on a mission. Sparring with her is like letting her observe your fighting style up close."

"Let them watch," Dai Huabin stood up. "I have more than one way of playing."

"You're quite philosophical about it," Ning Tian scoffed.

Zhu Lu stood up and followed Dai Huabin, asking softly, "Do you want me to come along?"

"Let's go together." Dai Huabin put his arm around her shoulder. "It's a good opportunity for you to see how good Meng Hongchen's ice attribute is."

"Good."

The group left the classroom one after another.

Wang Dong'er walked at the very back, her long, light blue hair cascading down her back. She didn't offer to go along, but her steps were in the same direction as everyone else's.

Cui Yajie glanced back at her, understanding everything in her heart, but didn't expose her.

An hour later, in the Outer Academy's Soul Fighting Arena.

This is the venue used by the Outer Academy students for daily training and ranking matches. It is smaller than the Inner Academy's Soul Fighting Arena, but it is fully equipped and surrounded by protective soul guidance arrays.

Dai Huabin arrived early and was already warming up his wrists in the center of the field.

Those who arrived one after another included Zhu Lu, Ning Tian, Wu Feng, Cui Yajie, Xiao Xiao, Wang Dong'er, Di Lingxi.

Ice Empress and Snow Empress didn't come. Ice Empress was bored, and Snow Empress was asked by Zhu Lu to fetch something.

Xiao Hongchen leaned against the railing at the edge of the venue, hands in his pockets, looking languid.

Meng Hongchen changed into a light training outfit, her long, silver-white curly hair tied into a high ponytail with a blue hairband, revealing her slender neck.

She walked to the center of the venue and stood five meters away from Dai Huabin.

Let me explain the rules.

After stretching his wrists, Dai Huabin hung his hands at his sides in a very relaxed posture.

"Since you want to put it into practice, then don't use the Soul Tool yet."

Meng Hongchen tilted her head slightly.

"Why?"

"Your Sun Moon Empire's Soul Master rely too much on Soul Tool."

Dai Huabin's tone didn't sound sarcastic; it was more like stating a fact.

"Your ice attribute foundation is good, but I've seen you practice in the public training ground for three days, and your release rhythm is always a half-beat off. That's not a problem with your Soul Power; it's that your understanding of your own ice attribute isn't deep enough."

"You place more emphasis on the use of Soul Tool than on the use of Martial Soul."

Meng Hongchen's expression changed slightly.

She thought no one was paying attention to her practicing martial arts at the public training ground.

"You've been watching me all this time?"

I glanced at it as I passed by.

Xiao Hongchen raised an eyebrow by the railing. His sister's cultivation time was random, sometimes in the early morning, sometimes at dusk. "Just glanced at it a few times while passing by," he said. "For how many days?"

"Okay. No need for Soul Tool." Meng Hongchen quickly accepted this condition.

She took three steps back, creating some distance.

"We can start anytime."

Dai Huabin did not rush to release his Martial Soul.

You go first.

Meng Hongchen didn't stand on ceremony.

Her first Soul Ring lit up, a yellow halo flashing across it.

The Ice Toad Poison.

A ball of icy poison, alternating between ice and fire, condensed in her right palm, its icy blue and dark red luster Entanglement.

With a flick of her wrist, the icy poison transformed into three finger-sized beads, which shot towards Dai Huabin.

The speed is not slow.

Dai Huabin turned slightly to the side, his feet barely moving. Three poison beads swept past him and landed on the ground inside the protective array, hissing as they emitted white smoke.

"The trajectory of your poison bead is too straight."

Dai Huabin spoke,

"The core of the Ice Toad Poison is the fusion of ice and fire. When you released it, the ice accounted for 70%, and the fire only 30%. It's unbalanced."

Meng Hongchen was taken aback.

She instantly realized that this wasn't a friendly sparring match; it was an attempt to dismantle her Soul Skill.

"What should the ratio of ice to fire be?" She wasn't annoyed; instead, she pressed for an answer.

"You should know your own Martial Soul better than anyone else. The Vermilion Clear Ice Toad is Soul Beast with fire within ice, ice on the outside and fire on the inside. When you release the poison bead, you habitually suppress the fire attribute, which results in insufficient penetration of the poison bead. Release the proportion of fire and let it flow naturally."

Meng Hongchen remained silent for two seconds before condensing a ball of icy poison once more.

This time, she deliberately relaxed her suppression of the fire attribute.

The color of the poison bead has changed; it is no longer an icy blue, but a uniform blend of icy blue and dark red, with faint steam rising from its surface.

"Shoot."

Three more poison beads flew out.

This time, the trajectory was clearly different. The poison bead deviated slightly in a small arc midway through its flight, no longer following a rigid straight line.

This time, Dai Huabin didn't dodge. He raised his hand and swatted one away, while the remaining two swished past him to the left and right.

"You're a bit better," Dai Huabin nodded, "But you're still too tense. The flow of ice and fire isn't something you can force to allocate the proportions; it's something your Martial Soul will adjust itself. The more you try to control it, the more it goes astray."

Meng Hongchen bit her lower lip.

She knew Dai Huabin was right.

Vermilion Clear Ice Toad's dual ice and fire attributes have always been her biggest headache. Back in the Sun Moon Empire, her teacher taught her the method of "using ice to control fire," forcibly suppressing the fire attribute with ice to maintain stability.

But Dai Huabin's approach was completely the opposite... Don't suppress it, let it balance naturally.

"Try your second Soul Skill." Dai Huabin took two steps back, giving her more space.

Meng Hongchen's Second Soul Ring lit up.

Ice Poison Ring.

A ring of icy blue light spread out from beneath her feet, covering an area approximately ten meters in diameter. Icy mist rose within the ring, and the air temperature plummeted.

Dai Huabin stood at the edge of the poison ring, not entering its range, but carefully sensing the icy fluctuations of this domain-type Soul Skill.

"Your poison rings are quite stable," he said truthfully, "But the expansion pack speed is too slow. In actual combat, your opponent won't just stand there and wait for you to spread them out."

"I know," Meng Hongchen's voice came from within the icy mist, "But if we speed up the spreading process, the stability will decrease, and the concentration of the poison will be diluted."

That's because you're spreading it evenly.

Dai Huabin squatted down and pointed to the ground with his finger.

"Try uneven spreading. First, choose one direction and advance quickly to form a fan-shaped coverage, instead of spreading out in all directions. In actual combat, you only need to cover the area where your opponent is located."

Meng Hongchen didn't speak, but the shape of the poison ring changed. The originally evenly spreading ring began to concentrate and compress towards Dai Huabin's direction, forming a fan shape.

The pace of progress has indeed accelerated considerably.