Xuan Zi took a swig of wine, casually wiped his greasy hands on his clothes, and looked at the thirteen people standing or sitting in the room.
"The warm-up is over," he chuckled.
"You'll be training and working together for the next three months. Now we'll begin group scrimmages; I'll randomly call on players to form teams."
Upon hearing this, Lin Ciyan stopped in his tracks, wanting to see who had been assigned to each team.
Everyone immediately perked up.
"Team One, Ma Xiaotao."
With a flick of her fiery red ponytail, Ma Xiaotao stepped forward proudly.
" Dai Yueheng ".
The golden-haired White Tiger Soul Emperor stood silently opposite Ma Xiaotao... The two were assigned to different teams.
Xuan Zi continued calling roll, and soon the teams were divided.
Ma Xiaotao's team: Ma Xiaotao, Xi Xi, Bei Bei, He Caitou, Jiang Nannan, Huo Yuhao.
Team of Dai Yueheng: Dai Yueheng, Ling Luochеn, Gongyang Mo, Yao Haoxuan, Xu Sanshi, Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao.
"Huh?" Yan Shaozhe exclaimed softly from the sidelines, " Xuan Zi's grouping... is intentionally separating the Ice and Fire factions?"
Qian Duoduo stroked her chin. " Ling Luochеn's ice attribute has been getting stronger lately. Just now, Ci Yan used Ultimate Ice to suppress her, she was actually able to resist for a short time."
Xuan Zi snorted, "Even so, Xiaotao has the highest Soul Power, so six against seven isn't bad. Let's begin, 150 meters, the usual!"
The two teams quickly widened the gap.
Seeing how interesting the team division was, Lin Ciyan retreated to the edge of the field and found a clean rock to sit on.
He took out a handful of melon seeds from his Storage Soul Tool and leisurely began to watch the battle.
"Ready... Begin!" Xuan Zi gave the order.
" Gongyang Mo, activate all support!" Dai Yueheng roared.
The Rainbow Dragon spread its wings, and five halos of red, orange, yellow, green, and cyan flew out simultaneously, landing precisely on the heads of its six teammates.
Yao Haoxuan pounded his chest and roared, his body expanding to four meters tall. His first and third Soul Ring lit up, and his fighting spirit and defense boost enveloped the entire team.
Ling Luochеn lightly tapped her staff, and an icy blue cold current swept out from her center, causing the temperature in the entire assessment area to plummet!
On the other side, Ma Xiaotao snorted coldly, spread her phoenix wings, and golden-red flames soared into the sky, crashing fiercely into the cold current!
"Laugh...!"
Ice and fire collided, and white mist rose.
To everyone's surprise, the icy blue cold current did not dissipate as quickly as usual, but instead formed a brief stalemate with the Phoenix Flame!
Ma Xiaotao's beautiful eyes widened. " Ling Luochеn, you..."
A barely perceptible ripple flickered across Ling Luochеn's aloof face as he tapped his staff again. "Second Soul Skill, Ice Armor!"
Ice crystals quickly covered Dai Yueheng, Xu Sanshi, and herself, while her fifth Soul Ring shone with black light.
"Ice Control - Absolute Zero!"
Temperatures have plummeted again!
Ma Xiaotao's Phoenix Flame were actually suppressed and shrank back by three points!
"This is impossible!" Ma Xiaotao exclaimed in shock and anger. "When did you get your ice...?"
" Ma Xiaotao, underestimating your opponent is a bad idea." Ling Luochеn's voice was calm, but as he waved his staff, countless ice spikes shot towards Ma Xiaotao.
Ma Xiaotao flapped her wings to dodge, but the fire in her heart suddenly flared up.
She is the Evil Fire Phoenix! Even though the Evil Fire is almost eradicated, her inherent pride and fiery temper haven't changed!
"Alright! Then I'll show you the difference!"
Ma Xiaotao's Sixth Soul Ring emitted a burst of dark light, and the Phoenix Meteor Shower reappeared!
But this time, the number of meteors was half that of before, clearly she was holding back... after all, this was just a training exercise.
However, Ling Luochеn neither dodged nor avoided the attack.
She raised her staff high, and an ice-blue pillar of light shot into the sky. She activated her fifth Soul Skill at full power, transforming a ten-meter radius around her into Absolute Ice Domain!
"Boom boom boom...!"
As the phoenix meteor fell into the icy realm, it was weakened layer by layer, and the power of the exploding flames was greatly reduced.
Although the blast still sent ice shards flying everywhere, Ling Luochеn himself was unharmed, only his face was slightly pale.
"You..." Ma Xiaotao was truly enraged.
The opponent, a Soul King, actually blocked her sixth Soul Skill, which was that of Soul Emperor.
Even if it's a version where you hold back...
Where does this leave her captain's face?
" Xi Xi!" Ma Xiaotao shouted sharply.
With a flash of lightning, Xi Xi bypassed the main battlefield like Gui Mei and rushed straight towards Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao behind Dai Yueheng's team.
But Xu Sanshi was already standing in front of him, carrying the Black Mysterious Tortoise Shield.
when--!
The lightning collided with the tortoise shield, and Xi Xi's body froze.
At that very moment, Ling Luochеn moved.
She actually abandoned maintaining the ice domain, her figure leaping out like an ice butterfly, her staff pointing directly at Ma Xiaotao!
"Are you crazy?!" Ma Xiaotao was surprised that the other party dared to get close to her.
Ling Luochеn remained silent, the icy blue light at the tip of his staff reaching its peak.
That was an attack where she compressed all her ice-attribute Soul Power!
Ma Xiaotao laughed in fury, "You're asking for it!"
She gathered Phoenix Flame in her right fist, neither dodging nor avoiding, and punched the staff!
Bang...!
Ice and fire exploded, creating a surging shockwave.
Ling Luochеn was sent flying backward, a trickle of blood spilling from the corner of her mouth. Her ice-blue dress was charred in several places by the aftershocks of the flames, revealing half of her fair, jade-like calf.
But as she landed, her eyes turned to the sidelines, to Lin Ciyan.
That look in his eyes, cold yet filled with deep grievance, was pitiful.
Lin Ciyan paused in his sunflower seed-eating motion, and his eye twitched.
Ma Xiaotao pressed her advantage, her Phoenix Flame coalescing once more. "Admit defeat, Luo Chen, you are no match for me!"
Just as she was about to give chase, she heard a voice from the sidelines. "Enough."
Lin Ciyan stood up, patted the sunflower seed shells off his hands, and looked at Ma Xiaotao with a mixture of helplessness and reproach...
Ma Xiaotao was stunned.
"Sister Xiaotao," Lin Ciyan sighed, "It's just training, you went too far."
"I hit her too hard?!" Ma Xiaotao pointed at Ling Luochеn, "She provoked me first!"
"This is just normal confrontation." Lin Ciyan frowned.
"Would someone give me that look during a normal confrontation?" Ma Xiaotao blurted out, then froze herself.
The room was completely silent.
Dai Yueheng, Bei Bei, and the others exchanged glances, wisely choosing to remain silent.
Huo Yuhao quietly tugged at Wang Dong's sleeve and whispered, "Should we... retreat first?"
Wang Dong pouted, her small face beneath her light blue short hair displaying an expression of watching a show.
Xuan Zi stood on the sidelines, pouring himself a drink and chuckling, "Youth is truly wonderful."
Yan Shaozhe rubbed his forehead, while Qian Duoduo Duoduo's eyes lit up.
This is way more interesting than fighting!
"I..." Ma Xiaotao looked at Lin Ciyan's helpless eyes and then at Ling Luochеn's "weak" appearance, and suddenly felt a tightness in her chest.
She turned around abruptly, her phoenix wings flapped, and she flew directly out of the assessment area.
"Sister Xiaotao!" Xi Xi exclaimed.
"Let her calm down." Lin Ciyan shook his head and walked towards Ling Luochеn.
He crouched down and held out his hand. "Are you alright?"
Ling Luochеn grasped his hand, using it to help him stand up, and gently ran her cool fingertips across his palm. "It's nothing... it just hurts a little."
The voice was very soft, with a slight tremor.
Lin Ciyan's lips twitched slightly as he handed over a bottle of pills. "Go back and recuperate."
"Hmm." Ling Luochеn took it, her fingertips touching the back of his hand again.
Only then did she turn and leave, her slender yet resolute figure accentuated by her ice-blue dress.