A Dilemma

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" Ice blades and thunderbolts clashed again and again. Amid the deafening explosions, the entire Soul Fighting Arena was left in ruins.

Shui Yue'er's legs gave out, and she collapsed to the ground. Faced with the might of a Titled Douluo, she was still far too young at only eleven years old.

Shui Lingti had now activated her Martial Soul Avatar. She was a seventy-eighth-level Soul Sage, and her Martial Soul was the Polar Snow Mastiff.

"Could a child in their teens really possess this kind of fighting strength?" she murmured to herself, watching Su Yuntao contend with Shui Xinhan.

Everyone from Skywater Academy looked exceptionally grave. The Soul Sage teachers wore varying expressions, but all were shaken by the fighting strength Su Yuntao had displayed.

Just then, beneath the lightning filling the sky, Shui Xinhan's black Sixth Soul Ring began to dim. The power of Heaven-Extinguishing Frost had reached its limit, yet it still couldn't break through Su Yuntao's Hundred Thousand Year Soul Skill—Nirvana Thunder!

Su Yuntao could feel his hands and feet starting to fail him. It was the exhaustion brought on by driving his Soul Power to the utmost limit.

Although a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Skill was terrifyingly powerful, the Soul Power it consumed was just as astonishing.

Watching Shui Xinhan's assault gradually weaken, Su Yuntao gritted his teeth. He knew the time to decide the victor had come!

At that moment, his hands crossed before his chest, and a seemingly stable bolt of lightning appeared. Though it looked calm on the outside, it held the breath of death within!

This was one of Su Yuntao's two Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone Skills: Thunder Strike!

Su Yuntao knew that although he could block Shui Xinhan's attacks with his Hundred Thousand Year Soul Skill, the gap between their Soul Power was simply too great. How many more times could he use that skill?

A quick victory was Su Yuntao's only hope. So as Shui Xinhan's assault began to weaken, he used up all his Soul Power, just to unleash this Thunder Strike that would decide the victor!

In an instant, a bolt of lightning shot toward Shui Xinhan at tremendous speed. Her expression changed abruptly. With her extensive battle experience, she sensed a breath of destruction in the lightning!

The next moment, Shui Xinhan acted decisively. Her Seventh and Eighth Soul Rings lit up at the same time!

"Seventh Soul Skill! Martial Soul Avatar, Ice Descent!"

Shui Xinhan and the Ice Dragon vanished together, replaced by the enormous phantom of an ice dragon more than a hundred meters long.

It was like an absolute ruler of the Far North, gazing down upon everything below from high above!

As Shui Xinhan suddenly activated her Martial Soul Avatar, the people from Skywater Academy were still puzzled when a deep-black Soul Ring beneath the Ice Dragon's true form burst into a dazzling light.

This was Shui Xinhan's Eighth Soul Skill—Ice Crystal Mirror!

In an instant, blue light flashed all around the Ice Dragon. The blue scales covering its body seemed to turn transparent, like mirrors.

With a thunderous boom, the lightning struck the Ice Dragon. Amid an earth-shaking roar, the blue scales covering its body began to fall away.

"Even Teacher's Martial Soul Avatar can be broken through?" Shui Bing'er's eyes widened. She looked at Su Yuntao as if he were some kind of monster.

Su Yuntao's face was flushed. Unlike the people from Skywater Academy, he was experiencing the battle firsthand and knew he had already lost.

A Hundred Thousand Year Soul Skill was powerful, but it wasn't invincible. With the dragon's roar, blue light surged across the Ice Dragon's body, and the scales that had begun falling off in great swaths quickly grew back.

Though Shui Xinhan's Eighth Soul Ring was inferior to the Sky Azure Bull Python's, it was still extremely powerful. It came from a seventy-thousand-year-old Soul Beast, the Ice Crystal Azure Dragon. Among the many kinds of dragon Soul Beasts, the Ice Crystal Azure Dragon was nowhere near the level of a Holy Dragon, but it was still a true dragon.

The Ice Crystal Azure Dragon was of exceptionally high quality. Its evolved form was the Ice Emperor Azure Dragon, a Soul Beast with an innate Ultimate Attribute. The Ice Crystal Azure Dragon also possessed powerful ice attributes.

With such a powerful Soul Ring and Shui Xinhan's immense Soul Power, Su Yuntao's Hundred Thousand Year Soul Skill ultimately failed to break through the Ice Dragon's defenses.

Shui Xinhan dismissed her Martial Soul Avatar. Her Eighth Soul Skill not only had astonishing defensive power, but could also instantly replicate and reflect any attack it received. Facing Su Yuntao in his weakened state, Shui Xinhan naturally chose not to reflect his attack.

"Brother Tao!" The Shui sisters hurried over.

Su Yuntao waved a hand. Though his Soul Power was depleted and his face was deathly pale, he could still stand.

In the room, Shui Xinhan personally brewed Su Yuntao a cup of fine tribute tea from the imperial household.

"Yuntao, your performance today was truly..."

"Dean, truly what?"

Shui Xinhan said solemnly, "Truly bizarre. I simply can't imagine how you could have such fighting strength with only five Soul Rings."

"Dean, actually, I've been hiding my strength all along because I've always feared the unknown dangers out there."

"Oh?" Shui Xinhan smiled. "So that means I'm someone you can reveal your trump cards to, Yuntao?"

Su Yuntao looked out the window at the peaceful, harmonious Skywater Academy and nodded solemnly.

He had been in the Douluo Continent for more than a decade, but in all those years, Ma Xiunuo had been the only person he could bring himself to trust.

Later, after getting to know Dugu Bo and Yang Wudi, he had gained two more people he could trust. Now Shui Xinhan had joined their ranks as well.

"Yuntao, I can sense that every one of your Soul Rings surpasses the ideal Soul Ring ratio. One of them is even at the Hundred Thousand Year level. Don't reveal them so easily in front of others from now on."

Su Yuntao smiled. "Thank you for the reminder, Dean. In fact, I've always thought carefully through every step I take."

Shui Xinhan nodded. "If you unleash your full strength now, you can even reach the level of a Soul Douluo. But remember, you mustn't show too much sharpness before becoming a Titled Douluo!"

Su Yuntao said solemnly, "Dean, don't worry. I'll be careful."

"Yuntao, you have your own ideas, and I've never interfered with your choices. But I need to remind you that Ning Fengzhi is coming soon. You must think this through carefully!"

Su Yuntao spoke slowly. "Dean, if the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect is destroyed one day and your younger sister dies for Ning Fengzhi, would you stand by and do nothing?"

Shui Xinhan froze at his words. Only after a long while did she speak. "That won't happen. If the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect ever truly falls, I'll bring Ling Rong to Skywater Academy."

"Dean, sometimes the world doesn't go the way you or I want. Neither of us has much hostility toward Spirit Hall. Its unification of the continent isn't something we find difficult to accept."

"But the people around us are different. Old Yang and Old Poison both harbor hostility toward Spirit Hall. I can't guarantee that either of them will be safe. Your younger sister insists on taking the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's side. If the person closest to you dies at Spirit Hall's hands one day, will you still be able to stay out of it?"

Shui Xinhan sighed. "I'll do everything I can to stop that from happening. If I can't, then I'll disband the academy and seek revenge against Spirit Hall on my own!"