Huo Yuhao Leaves the Duke's Mansion, The Main Story Begins

"Sigh."

Tang Ya nudged Bei Bei with her elbow: "He seemed to be looking at you just now. Do you two know each other?"

Bei Bei's voice was gentle:

"If someone as knowledgeable as Teacher Tang Ya doesn't know who he is, how could I possibly know him?"

Tang Ya was very pleased, humming twice, "That's true~"

She rubbed her smooth chin with her fingers, exercising her genius-level intellect, After furrowing her brows twice, She slapped her palm, And immediately figured it out:

"It must be because your and Xu Sanshi's reputations are too loud. After defeating Xu Sanshi, he must want to defeat you!"

"That was definitely a challenge!"

She gasped, her tone extremely certain:

"This is a provocation!"

"No way,"

Tang Ya slapped Bei Bei's thigh and stood up, pulling him along, "I have to give you special training; you absolutely cannot be defeated by him!"

Bei Bei was dragged forward, a helpless yet warm smile appearing on his face, He could be certain that Lu Ran held no malice toward him, and that gaze had indeed been a simple appraisal, He just couldn't figure out where Lu Ran had come from, The academy would never allow an outsider to enter.

"Slow down, Teacher Tang Ya..."

In the distance, Yan Shaozhe recalled Lu Ran's purple Soul Ring with astonishment. Even though he had already known, seeing the Rock Crystal Dragon's hundred-year Soul Ring elevated to a thousand-year one, His heart still surged, Filled with shock.

As for why Lu Ran was able to take the stage despite not being an outer court student, as the Dean, was it difficult for him to make that happen?

Leaving the Soul Fighting Zone, Lu Ran accompanied Jiang Nannan to the bustling Shrek City. As the largest city on the continent, It was all-encompassing, Where one could buy almost any commodity, The two specifically visited some food streets, Just like ordinary students, strolling around, eating small snacks, and sharing novel things, From the sun setting in the west to the full moon hanging high, Seeing that it was getting late, Lu Ran escorted Jiang Nannan back to her dormitory, Along the way, Jiang Nannan had been holding his arm, Arriving at the dormitory building, Jiang Nannan gave him a big hug, refusing to let go for a long time, Amidst the lingering fragrance and the warmth of the embrace, they felt each other's heartbeats.

After a long while, Jiang Nannan finally let go, reluctant to part, Looking into those clear eyes, She suddenly stood on her tiptoes, left a lip print on his face, and ran upstairs quickly without looking back, Lu Ran's body stiffened, In that instant, a rich fragrance filled his nostrils, and his face felt slightly cool, The corners of his mouth curled up, He subconsciously looked up, Seeing a face poking out from a window above the fourth floor, it seemed to be gnashing its teeth while staring right at him.

The person immediately ducked back inside upon being discovered.

Was that Tang Ya?

How did she know I was down here?

Why does she hate me so much?

Nighttime, Sea God Pavilion.

Lu Ran stood by the window, looking out at a patch of thick Blue Silver Grass that shimmered with a faint fluorescence under the moonlight, swaying with the breeze.

Ordinary plants only condense a Soul Ring once they have accumulated enough soul power; Blue Silver Grass that has grown for a year or two is at most just weeds, and no matter how many you pull, they won't yield a Soul Ring, because their internal soul power is negligible.

Yet, these Blue Silver Grass plants growing around the Golden Ancient Tree, even if they were only two years old, would eventually drop a white Soul Ring.

Lu Ran reached out his hand, controlling cyan wind-attribute energy to surge into his palm.

Another attribute added, but what is the use of it?

He pondered.

He controlled yellow earth-attribute and blue water-attribute energy to emerge; the three attributes remained distinct and separate.

Hm?

Lu Ran's gaze sharpened.

At the boundary between the water element and the wind element, there seemed to be some extremely subtle changes!

He immediately controlled a small portion of both attributes, compressing and fusing them together.

This time, nothing unusual occurred, and they smoothly formed a brand-new, much denser and deeper blue attribute.

The surrounding temperature seemed to drop.

Specks of crystalline light drifted down from the new attribute, shimmering with the color of moonlight—

Ice Crystals?!

Lu Ran's spirit soared.

He immediately strengthened the two forces, and sure enough, the surrounding temperature dropped further, the Ice Crystals gradually increased, and some drifted onto his wrist, feeling icy cold.

The new attribute was definitively confirmed as ice-blue—

Ice Attribute!

So that's how it works!

Fused attributes!

He suddenly realized.

The confusion that had lasted for two years was finally resolved.

He let out a long sigh of relief, feeling incredibly refreshed.

A new ability!

But he hadn't been happy for long before a new puzzle emerged:

However...

What is the use of simply creating Ice Crystals?

To keep from getting hot in the summer?

Lu Ran's mind conjured an image of himself at high noon in the sweltering summer, lying in a house made entirely of ice to cool off.

It would be very comfortable, but he had already experienced that with Ling Luochen.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him as he recalled soul skills that could attach additional attribute power.

Fusion...

Could it be...

He suppressed the excitement in his heart and entered the Small World.

A gentle breeze blew past the fruit-bearing Soul Beast forest behind him, causing the leaves to rustle.

He turned his head to look.

The branches were laden with fruit.

Yellow and purple Soul Rings lit up.

Lu Ran concentrated his soul power into his arm, forming a cyan cyclone, and slashed out a semi-circular, three-meter-long emerald blade of light.

If he wanted to, he could release it with a mere flick of his hand, requiring no charging time at all.

It was capable of both long-range and close-quarters combat.

It could deal area-of-effect damage or target a single foe.

It could even be released in rapid succession.

It perfectly met his requirements for an agility-attack type soul skill.

This was Jade Slash, one of the soul skills granted by the Jade Azure Bird.

Next, the Gentle Water Domain emerged.

It resembled a thin mist shimmering with a faint, watery blue hue.

As the Golden Hawksbill grew into a century-old Soul Beast, its corresponding soul skills had also been strengthened.

For instance, the defensive boost of Gilded Barrier had increased from fifty percent to sixty percent.

Meanwhile, the effects of Gentle Water Domain had been enhanced, and its range had expanded.

It had grown from a five-meter radius to seven meters.

He attempted to imbue his wind blades with the wind attribute.

Crack!

The wind blade, which should have been normal, suddenly condensed into an ice blade and flew out!

Its power had not diminished in the slightest!

Lu Ran stared blankly at the departing ice blade, finally having an epiphany.

So that was how it worked!

Additional attributes should be imbued into soul skills; this allowed different soul skills to fuse, thereby giving birth to new elemental soul skills!

Fusing wind-attribute and water-attribute soul skills could create an Ice Attribute soul skill!

He explored further.

He slashed out wind blades with both arms, but only one condensed into ice, while the other remained completely unchanged—

Because he hadn't imbued it with the additional wind attribute!

It turned out that the attributes of the Small World could act as a bridge for connection and fusion!

Those soul skills without additional attributes imbued into them...

Could not be fused.

A sense of clarity washed over him!

It was just like stumbling upon the solution to a long-standing, difficult problem while walking down the street!

He suddenly felt as if the world had opened up before him.

However, if wind and water could fuse into an Ice Attribute, would it also produce a new attribute when combined with the earth attribute?

He tried fusing the wind attribute with the earth attribute...

Still, nothing happened...

Well, that was to be expected.