Thousand-Year Soul Ring

"A thousand-year Soul Ring... So this is what gives you confidence, Huo Yuhao?" Ning Tian stared at the purple Soul Ring in disbelief. According to the theory of Martial Soul studies, when a Soul Ring's age exceeded a certain threshold, the excess would be converted into additional Soul Power upon breakthrough.

Taking into account the additional Soul Power from forcibly absorbing a thousand-year Soul Ring, it was reasonable that Huo Yuhao could possess level fifteen Soul Power at the age of six.

But what Ning Tian was curious about now was how Huo Yuhao could have absorbed a thousand-year Soul Ring at his very first breakthrough. Wouldn't he have been blown apart?

Two possibilities came to mind. Either Huo Yuhao's thousand-year Soul Ring was all show, coming from a Soul Beast that had lived for a long time but was weak.

Or Huo Yuhao's Martial Soul was unusual, allowing him to forcibly bear a thousand-year Soul Ring.

Even so, she quickly dismissed her first theory. After all, if he were merely a cunning opportunist, Wang Yan wouldn't be wearing such a confident expression.

In other words, Huo Yuhao's Soul Ring was not only a thousand years old, but also possessed the power to match...

"What a huge surprise you've given me at our first meeting... Huo Yuhao."

On the field, Huo Yuhao and Wu Feng faced off where they stood.

When Wu Feng saw Huo Yuhao's Soul Ring, her expression had clearly turned unpleasant, but she soon regained the serious, stern look she wore in battle.

"I admit, your trump card was astonishing... I've even started to respect you." Wu Feng bent forward slightly, her right hand held horizontally before her, while her crimson dragon eyes shone with a sharp gaze.

Her fighting spirit hadn't weakened at all. In fact, to Huo Yuhao, it seemed to grow ever more intense.

Wu Feng had always had a simple way of thinking: show hostility toward enemies who might threaten her young mistress. That was her sole guiding principle.

When she saw Huo Yuhao's thousand-year Soul Ring, her first reaction wasn't suspicion, but respect and excitement. She wouldn't doubt an opponent who dared to stand before her. She would only seriously consider how to defeat them.

"Huo Yuhao, no matter how this battle turns out, I'll put you on the list of candidates for 'becoming friends with my young mi... Ning Tian'!"

Wu Feng's sudden declaration made Huo Yuhao's foot slip, and he nearly lost his balance. He could only cough a few times to hide his embarrassment.

At the same time, though, a strange feeling rose within him. In his previous life, she had been someone he disliked, but now that she had suddenly become a stranger who seemed to like him... he felt there was something inexplicably funny about this girl.

That lifted his mood considerably. The prejudice he'd carried over from his previous life vanished the moment Wu Feng said those words.

Huo Yuhao lowered into a horse stance and raised both hands in a fighting posture, looking at Wu Feng with a serious expression.

"I don't need to be one of those... candidates you mentioned, but I promise I'll give it everything I've got!"

"Just what I wanted!"

Wu Feng laughed heartily a few times, then pushed off fiercely with both legs. The instant her feet struck the arena floor, billowing smoke burst up around her.

In the blink of an eye, Wu Feng had charged right in front of Huo Yuhao. A fierce orange-red flame flared over her fiery red dragon claw.

First Spirit Skill: Dragon Fire!

It cloaked the transformed body part in the Red Dragon's flames. Besides the intense heat, it added an elemental fire attack! On top of the basic heat damage from the flames, it also inflicted an additional burning pain.

Wu Feng's eyes widened. Just as her dragon claw was about to touch Huo Yuhao, flames suddenly erupted around him, enveloping his body. The burst of heat immediately made Huo Yuhao realize something was wrong.

Using a sudden burst of heat to affect your opponent right away. That's a solid tactic. Huo Yuhao quickly figured out her purpose.

For Huo Yuhao as he was now, this heat was a threat not to be underestimated, but he had no intention of dodging the attack.

Since he'd promised to give her a proper fight, he would naturally play along to the end.

Huo Yuhao's eyes lit up. As he quietly activated his accelerated thinking, both his hands took on the translucent quality of jade.

Then he did something that astonished even Wu Feng. Facing her oncoming dragon claw, Huo Yuhao showed no sign of dodging. He even reached out with both hands to grab hers.

Does he not want to keep his hands?! Wu Feng cried out inwardly. I'm just unwilling to lose. I didn't mean to hurt him.

For some reason, her mind suddenly began racing. She even deliberately lowered the temperature of the flames enveloping her through her Spirit Skill. But just then, her eyes met Huo Yuhao's.

She saw just one message in his gaze: Don't hold back. Hit me!

Wu Feng wasn't sure if she'd read him correctly, but with her thoughts racing, she checked once more and became certain that was exactly what he meant.

The flames that had begun to die down flared up again, even fiercer than before. Her slightly deflected attack became more accurate than it had been, and her sharp dragon claw shot straight toward Huo Yuhao's chest, meeting the hands he had already prepared.

Yet the instant her claw met Huo Yuhao's palms, Wu Feng immediately sensed that something was wrong.

It was hard to describe the feeling. Wu Feng could tell that Huo Yuyao's hands were at a normal human temperature, but compared to the intense heat enveloping her right hand, she actually felt a chill.

Wu Feng looked toward Huo Yuhao and saw that his expression was utterly focused, his eyes fixed on his hands, which had become like jade.

"Good. The flames have been completely blocked out."

"Then the next step is...!"

Huo Yuhao suddenly twisted at the waist, driving his hands in the same direction as Wu Feng's incoming attack. He sent her off balance and flung her away.

"What happened? My body..." Wu Feng hadn't had time to figure out what had happened when the scenery around her suddenly began changing at dizzying speed.

Though she reacted as quickly as she could, trying to steady herself, just as Wu Feng was about to shift her posture, she realized she had already crashed onto the ground.

Wu Feng got to her feet and brushed the dust off herself. She had already noticed a number of things that didn't add up.

She looked into Huo Yuhao's eyes and quickly guessed what had happened: he had activated his Spirit Skill without her noticing at all.

"Huo Yuhao, can your Spirit Skill affect my thinking?"

Huo Yuhao was a little surprised to hear that. This girl was much smarter than he'd expected. She had figured out the effect of his Spirit Skill that quickly.

Still, Huo Yuhao hadn't been entirely caught off guard. With a point of comparison, it wasn't that hard to distinguish between accelerated and slowed thinking.