Thousand-Year Spirit Ring

"A thousand-year spirit ring... is this your trump card, Huo Yuhao?" Ning Tian stared at the purple spirit ring in disbelief. According to the theories of spirit soul studies, spirit ring years exceeding a certain threshold would convert into additional spirit power upon breakthrough.

Counting the extra spirit power gained from forcibly absorbing a thousand-year spirit ring, it was reasonable for Huo Yuhao to possess fifteen levels of spirit power at the age of six.

But what puzzled Ning Tian now was how Huo Yuhao could have absorbed a thousand-year spirit ring during his first breakthrough; wouldn't he have been blown apart by the sheer pressure?

Two thoughts surfaced in her mind: either Huo Yuhao's thousand-year spirit ring was merely for show, coming from a spirit beast that had high years but weak strength.

Or, Huo Yuhao's own martial soul was unique, capable of forcibly bearing a thousand-year spirit ring.

That said, she quickly overturned her first hypothesis. After all, if he were just some opportunist, Wang Yan would not be wearing such a look of absolute certainty.

In other words, Huo Yuhao's spirit ring was not only of the thousand-year level but also possessed the corresponding power...

"You've brought me a huge surprise on our first meeting... Huo Yuhao."

On the competition field, Huo Yuhao and Wu Feng were standing in a standoff.

When Wu Feng saw Huo Yuhao's spirit ring, her expression clearly soured, but she quickly recovered into the serious and stern look of a combatant.

"I admit, your trump card stunned me... I even find myself somewhat convinced by you." Wu Feng bowed slightly, her right hand held horizontally in front of her, her crimson dragon eyes carrying a sharp, piercing gaze.

Her fighting spirit did not diminish in the slightest; instead, in Huo Yuhao's eyes, it became even more intense.

Wu Feng's thought process had always been simple: to show hostility toward any enemy who threatened the Young Mistress was her only code of conduct.

When she saw Huo Yuhao's thousand-year spirit ring, her first reaction was not suspicion, but admiration and excitement. She would not doubt an opponent who dared to stand before her; she would only seriously consider how to defeat them.

"Huo Yuhao, no matter the outcome of this battle, I will include you as one of the candidates to 'be a friend to the Young... to Ning Tian'!"

Wu Feng's sudden declaration made Huo Yuhao slip, nearly losing his footing, forcing him to cough a few times to hide his embarrassment.

But at the same time, a strange feeling rose in his heart. Even though she was a person he had detested in his past life, seeing her suddenly become a stranger who held some favor toward him... he felt this girl had an inexplicable sense of humor.

This improved his mood significantly, and the stereotypes from his past life that he had initially carried vanished the moment Wu Feng spoke those words.

Huo Yuhao settled into a horse stance, his hands raised in a defensive posture, looking at Wu Feng with a serious expression:

"I don't need to be one of those... candidates you speak of, but I promise, I will give it my all!"

"Just as I intended!"

Wu Feng laughed heartily, then her legs exerted force, and the moment her feet touched the floor of the arena, thick smoke billowed out.

In the blink of an eye, Wu Feng had already rushed in front of Huo Yuhao, a fervent orange-red flame erupting on her fire-red dragon claw:

First Spirit Skill, Dragon Fire!

It coats the dragon-transformed body part with the flames of a Red Dragon. Beyond the high temperature, it adds fire-elemental attacks! In addition to the basic high-temperature damage of the flames, it carries an extra burning pain.

Wu Feng widened her eyes. The moment her dragon claw was about to make contact with Huo Yuhao's body, a burst of flames instantly enveloped her, and the suddenly erupting high temperature made Huo Yuhao realize something was wrong.

Using a sudden burst of high temperature to affect the opponent at the first moment—a very sound tactic. Huo Yuhao pondered internally, quickly discerning her goal.

For the current Huo Yuhao, this wave of high temperature was a threat not to be underestimated, but he had no intention of dodging this attack.

Since he had promised her he would enjoy the fight, he would naturally see it through to the end.

Huo Yuhao's eyes lit up, and while his Thought Acceleration was quietly activated, his hands took on the translucent texture of jade.

Then, he made a move that surprised even Wu Feng herself. Facing her incoming dragon claw, Huo Yuhao seemed to have no intention of dodging, instead reaching out his own hands toward her claw.

"Does he not want his hands anymore!" Wu Feng shouted inwardly, sensing disaster. She was merely unconvinced, not intending to maim him.

For some reason, her mind raced, and she even proactively reduced the temperature of the flames wrapped around her skill. However, at that moment, she and Huo Yuhao locked eyes.

She saw only one meaning in them: "Don't hold back, come at me!"

Wu Feng wasn't sure if she had misread it, but with her mind now incredibly agile, after a second confirmation, she was certain that was exactly what he meant.

The flames that had dimmed flared up again, becoming even more intense than before. The slightly deflected attack became more accurate than it had been, the sharp dragon claw striking directly toward Huo Yuhao's chest, meeting his prepared hands head-on.

However, the moment the claws touched Huo Yuhao's palms, Wu Feng immediately felt something was clearly wrong.

It was hard to describe the feeling. Wu Feng could tell that Huo Yuhao's hands were at a normal human temperature, but compared to the high heat she was currently channeling through her right hand, she felt a sudden chill.

Wu Feng looked toward Huo Yuhao and saw his expression was incredibly serious, his eyes fixed tightly on his hands, which had turned into the likeness of jade.

"Very good, the flames have been completely isolated."

"Then the next step is...!"

Huo Yuhao exerted force from his waist, driving his hands to follow the momentum of Wu Feng's strike, causing her to lose her balance and be thrown aside.

"What's going on? My body..." Before Wu Feng could figure out what had happened, she felt the surrounding scenery shift rapidly.

Although she had reacted as quickly as possible to stabilize herself, just as she prepared to adjust her posture, she found herself already crashing into the ground.

Wu Feng stood up and brushed the dust off her body; she had already sensed many things were amiss.

She looked into Huo Yuhao's eyes and quickly guessed that he had activated his spirit skill without her noticing at all.

"Huo Yuhao, your spirit skill... can it affect my thoughts?"

Hearing this, Huo Yuhao was somewhat surprised. This girl was much smarter than he had imagined; she had deduced the effect of his spirit skill so quickly.

However, Huo Yuhao wasn't entirely unprepared. The effects of thought acceleration and deceleration, as long as there was a reference point for judgment, were not difficult to distinguish.