How High Is the Sky

On the way back, Shui Xinhan suddenly spoke. "Yuntao, do you really want to join the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect?"

"Dean, what do you think?"

Shui Xinhan pondered for a moment. "Ning Fengzhi is a very charismatic man, but if he offers you a precious gift, I hope you'll turn it down!"

"Oh?" Su Yuntao asked deliberately. "Why is that?"

"The reason is simple." Shui Xinhan gazed at the scenery in the distance. "This world is undergoing some kind of upheaval. The balance of power across the continent has never been so unsettled. One day in the future, the entire continent's situation may be turned upside down."

"In this upheaval, the likes of which we haven't seen in three thousand years, we don't have the strength to take part. Since that's the case, staying neutral is the best choice!"

"Though my feelings lean toward the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Spirit Hall is simply too powerful. Bibi Dong has grown quite mad, and I find her utterly repugnant, but I can't gamble Skywater's future—and certainly not on a bet we have almost no chance of winning!"

Su Yuntao replied calmly, "Dean, I actually feel the same way you do. If Spirit Hall really does unite the continent someday, I personally wouldn't object."

Shui Xinhan smiled. "That's good. I'm relieved you feel that way, Yuntao."

"Dean, there's one more thing. I've heard that the path of cultivation beyond rank eighty is called the Path to Heaven, and that Titled Douluo are the heavens!"

"That's right. The Soul Master World does have that saying."

Su Yuntao said evenly, "If that's the case, and I've heard your strength is comparable to that of a Titled Douluo, then I want to know how high the heavens are!"

Looking at the man before her, so calm and composed, Shui Xinhan's eyes flashed with a strange light.

"Good. You've got spirit. Once we're back at the academy, Yuntao, I'll let you see my true strength."

Skywater Academy's Soul Fighting Arena

Su Yuntao stood in a blue-green robe, his eyes shining brightly. Across from him, Shui Xinhan watched him with a smile.

There weren't many people below the arena, only a few Soul Sage teachers and seven students who had been granted permission to watch: Shui Bing'er, Shui Yue'er, Xue Wu, Gu Qingbo, Qiu Ruoshui, Shen Liuyu, and Yu Hairou.

"Brother Tao, go for it! Brother Tao, go for it!" Shui Yue'er shouted at the top of her lungs, cheering Su Yuntao on with all her might.

Su Yuntao turned and smiled faintly, making several of the Skywater girls blush at once.

"Yuntao, let's begin."

"All right, Dean."

A smile touched Shui Xinhan's lips. Then, with a dragon's roar, a western dragon appeared behind her. It had a pair of wings on its shoulders and two horns on its head, its body stretched more than twenty meters long, and blue-gold scales covered it from head to tail.

Shui Xinhan gave a delicate shout, and the Ice Dragon soared into the sky. It spread its wings and flew freely around the training grounds.

Watching the awe-inspiring Shui Xinhan, the members of Skywater Team were overcome with envy.

"Teacher, you look so majestic," Shui Yue'er murmured, gazing at her in a daze.

Su Yuntao's pupils suddenly contracted. Shui Xinhan had only reached rank eighty-seven, but her Ice Dragon Martial Soul was exceptionally powerful, blessed with unique advantages. Its sheer pressure already surpassed that of the Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor.

"Martial Soul, Twin-Headed Wolf!"

"Awooo!" With a wolf's howl, the Gale Two-Headed Wolf appeared. It had two heads, a body more than seven meters long, and lightning crackled around its torso.

"Ha!" Shui Xinhan's eyes blazed with brilliant light as she unleashed the full force of her rank-eighty-seven Soul Power. A pressure no weaker than that of a Titled Douluo swept toward Su Yuntao.

Shui Xinhan wasn't a Titled Douluo, but at times she was every bit their equal! With all her advantages, she possessed genuine Titled Douluo-level combat strength.

"Dean, your strength is indeed impressive, but there's no way I'll lose just because of your pressure!"

The two yellow, two purple, and one black Soul Rings beneath Su Yuntao's feet suddenly lit up, and the pressure from Shui Xinhan immediately eased.

A smile touched the lips of Shui Xinhan, high in the sky. Her pressure was already enough to affect Soul Kings and even Soul Emperors. Su Yuntao's strength was clearly far beyond that of others at his rank, which was certainly something to be happy about.

Shui Xinhan said nothing. The enormous Ice Dragon dived, its massive claws reaching for Su Yuntao.

With a crash, a huge crater more than three meters across appeared in the granite Soul Fighting platform. Scattered rubble lay all around, telling the tale of the blow's tremendous force.

Everyone from Skywater except Shui Bing'er turned pale. An attack on the level of a Titled Douluo—even a casual strike—was enough to make their scalps tingle.

"Brother Tao, watch out!" Shui Bing'er cried anxiously.

Su Yuntao smiled faintly. The attack had been fierce, but Shui Xinhan had held back far too much, both in strength and speed. With his mobility still largely unaffected, dodging it hadn't been especially difficult.

Shui Xinhan's smile widened when her attack missed. The Ice Dragon flew back into the sky, then dived again.

"Second Soul Skill, Demon Wolf Acceleration!"

"Fourth Soul Skill, Twin Wolf Combined Strike!"

Su Yuntao shouted as he drove his rank-sixty Soul Power to its full force. His grasp of the battle was actually quite impressive.

This time, Shui Xinhan's power had increased considerably, and she wanted to beat the Ice Dragon diving from above through sheer mobility.

Su Yuntao needed a tremendous burst of speed, but his First Soul Ring was only a Hundred-Year Soul Ring. So he made perfect use of his Fourth Soul Skill to slow her down.

In an instant, two wolf heads shot from Su Yuntao's palms. One, condensed from Soul Power, charged straight at the Ice Dragon, while the other traced a beautiful arc.

The Ice Dragon roared and pulverized the first wolf head in an instant. Then a tremendous crash erupted from the center of the Soul Fighting platform.

When the smoke cleared, a crater five meters across lay before everyone from Skywater Academy. They were dumbstruck by such tremendous power. Even more astonishing, Su Yuntao had not only dodged the attack, but had also managed to inflict a slight injury on Shui Xinhan.

At the very moment Shui Xinhan's Ice Dragon attack was about to land, the other wolf head struck the Ice Dragon from the side with a devastating blow.

Though the Ice Dragon had endured it with its powerful defenses, it had still sustained an injury.

Shui Xinhan stood atop the Ice Dragon's back, outwardly calm, but inside, stormy waves surged through her heart.

"This isn't an attack from a Soul King, or even a Soul Emperor. Its power even surpasses that of most Soul Sages!"

Shui Xinhan had vastly underestimated Su Yuntao's strength. Though he had only used his Fourth Soul Ring, thanks to the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring and Soul Bone he had obtained, his Fourth Soul Skill was even stronger than many people's Sixth Soul Skills.

Though his Soul Power was only at rank sixty, the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring and Soul Bone had long since strengthened Su Yuntao's physical constitution beyond that of a Soul Sage. Add in an offensive Soul Skill of three thousand years, and his attack's power far exceeded anything Shui Xinhan had imagined.