Martial Soul Fusion Skill? Bing'er, Come to My Room Every Night From Now On to Practice...

"Second Soul Skill, Ice Ring Armor."

Shui Bing'er remained calm as a shimmering layer of ice armor instantly covered her body, forcibly shutting out the mental charm.

Then, Shui Bing'er swept out her jade-like hand:

"Third Soul Skill, Resist Ice Ring!"

A ring of icy blue light burst from Shui Bing'er, forcibly knocking Hu Liena back several steps.

"Can you do anything besides defend?"

Hu Liena steadied herself and gritted her teeth.

"I'm only proving that I have what it takes to stay in the Elite Class."

Shui Bing'er's tone remained even.

A flash of anger crossed Hu Liena's eyes. The fourth Soul Ring on her body suddenly lit up, blazing with deep purple light:

"Don't get cocky!

Take this—my fourth Soul Skill..."

Shui Bing'er's eyes narrowed, and her own fourth Soul Ring lit up. The temperature around them plunged to freezing, and snow and ice began to gather faintly in midair.

Just as the two powerful currents of Soul Power were about to collide, a white figure flashed into the arena as if teleporting.

"Bang—"

Huang Yan thrust out both hands. Dark red Evil Fire flared in his left, while his right transformed into a black dragon claw.

With casual ease, he crushed both women's surging Soul Power at once, forcing it down.

"All right, that's enough sparring."

Huang Yan withdrew his Soul Power and spoke calmly.

The recoil forced Hu Liena half a step back. Her eyes reddened as she glared at Huang Yan:

"You're protecting her again!

I was clearly getting the better of her!"

"I was worried you two would get carried away and someone would get hurt."

Huang Yan gave a helpless smile, then turned to Xie Yue.

"Xie Yue, what do you think?"

Xie Yue nodded and stepped forward.

"Nana, let it go.

Miss Shui's ice attribute is exceptionally pure, and it counters your charm to a great extent.

She's level forty-one and held her own against your level forty-six Soul Power. She absolutely deserves to stay in the Elite Class."

"Xie Yue!

Why are you siding with an outsider too?"

Yan was hopping anxiously on the sidelines.

"I only care about strength."

Xie Yue shot Yan a cold glance.

Shui Bing'er withdrew her Martial Soul, and the chill around her faded. She gave Hu Liena a slight nod.

"Thank you for your guidance, Saintess."

Hu Liena bit her red lips hard. She looked from Shui Bing'er to Huang Yan, who stood there completely unruffled, then stamped her foot.

"Fine! Do whatever you want!

I'm done with this!"

With that, Hu Liena turned and ran out of the training ground without looking back.

"Nana!"

Yan glared fiercely at Huang Yan, then hurried after her.

Xie Yue sighed and said to Huang Yan:

"You—you've only just come back, and you've already hurt her feelings.

I'll go see how she's doing. You two can figure things out yourselves."

After the others left, only Huang Yan and Shui Bing'er remained in the vast training ground.

Shui Bing'er looked at Huang Yan and asked softly:

"Did I... cause you trouble?"

"Trouble?

How could a little thing like this be trouble?"

Huang Yan chuckled and walked up to her, his gaze burning as he looked at her.

"Besides, I just noticed something even more interesting."

Under Huang Yan's gaze, Shui Bing'er felt a little uneasy and took a small step back.

"What?"

Huang Yan moved a little closer and lowered his voice.

"When you released your Martial Soul just now, the Evil Fire Phoenix Martial Soul inside me... resonated very strongly with your Ice Phoenix."

Shui Bing'er's pupils contracted. She clutched the hem of her clothes without thinking.

"You... you mean your Evil Fire is about to flare up early?"

"No."

Huang Yan's lips curved into a meaningful smile.

"I mean, perhaps we can try a Martial Soul Fusion Skill."

"A Martial Soul Fusion Skill?"

Shui Bing'er froze, disbelief filling her cool eyes.

"But you're fire, and I'm ice.

Our attributes are complete opposites. How could we possibly perform a Martial Soul Fusion Skill?"

"Because our attributes counter each other so completely, the power will be even more terrifying if we manage to fuse them."

Huang Yan chuckled, his gaze confident.

"Besides, you felt that Bloodline Resonance just now too.

The key isn't ice and fire—it's the 'Phoenix' bloodline we share."

Shui Bing'er hesitated. Though it all seemed rather unbelievable, she still nodded.

"Then... how should we try?"

Huang Yan held out his right hand, palm up.

"Give me your hand first.

Release your Martial Soul and try to let our Soul Power meet. Don't resist at all."

Shui Bing'er took a deep breath and gently placed her pale, cool hand in Huang Yan's broad, warm palm.

In an instant, two utterly different currents of Soul Power—one of ice and one of fire—collided between their palms.

"Close your eyes and feel it with your heart."

Huang Yan guided her in a low voice, while slowly urging the Evil Fire Phoenix Martial Soul within him.

Dark red Evil Fire traveled along their joined hands, tentatively surging toward Shui Bing'er.

Shui Bing'er furrowed her brows and let out a soft hum.

"Your flames... carry a wild, sinister aura.

They're trying to devour my Soul Power."

"That's the Evil Fire caused by the flaw in my Martial Soul."

Huang Yan clasped Shui Bing'er's hand tightly and spoke in a low voice:

"Don't be afraid. Try using your Phoenix Ice to envelop it, suppress it, and even... purify it!"

Shui Bing'er said nothing, silently increasing the flow of her Ice Phoenix Soul Power.

Pure icy blue light spread along their joined hands, weaving together with the dark red Evil Fire.

At first, the two forces repelled each other violently.

But when two clear phoenix cries rang out inside them at the same time, a miracle occurred.

Drawn together by their Phoenix bloodline, ice and fire formed a strange vortex of balance.

And under the wash of the Phoenix Ice, the wild Evil Fire really did begin shedding its impurities bit by bit, growing purer!

A moment later, they both cut off the link between their Soul Powers and stepped back half a pace.

Shui Bing'er breathed lightly, a fine sheen of sweat beading on her forehead.

"The Soul Power drains too quickly... and the repulsion is still very strong. It won't be easy to truly perform a Martial Soul Fusion Skill."

"But at least we've proved this can work, haven't we?"

Huang Yan looked at the wisp of flame in his palm, now purer than before, and a feverish glint flashed in his eyes.

"Bing'er, your Ice Phoenix is practically tailor-made for me.

In that brief moment, it suppressed the Evil Fire inside me by quite a bit."

Shui Bing'er steadied her breathing and asked softly:

"What should we do next?"

Huang Yan's lips curved into a meaningful smile as he moved a little closer.

"Every journey is hardest at the beginning. Since we've managed to fuse our powers a little, all that remains is to keep practicing until they harmonize.

From today on, come to my room every night, and we'll practice alone."

Shui Bing'er suddenly looked up, a flash of panic in her icy blue eyes.

"G-go to your room?"

"What? Afraid I'll eat you?"

Huang Yan couldn't help teasing her at the rare sight of Shui Bing'er flustered.

"Martial Soul Fusion requires absolute quiet and concentration. We also have to open our hearts completely, without holding anything back.

The training ground is crowded, and if someone interrupts us and our Soul Power backfires, it could cost us our lives."

Shui Bing'er bit her red lip and turned away from Huang Yan's aggressively intense gaze, answering in a low voice:

"...All right. I understand."