The middle-aged man continued, "The Weavile Beast is an ice-type Soul Beast, but it seems to possess more than just an ice attribute."
"It seems to have a very strange quality, one that might not even count as an attribute."
"No one can absorb either of Skywater Academy's two Soul Bones."
At that, the middle-aged man fell silent.
He only gave Ying Chengfeng a look that said, "You understand."
"Skywater Academy really knows how to play its cards," Ying Chengfeng said with a smile.
The middle-aged man immediately put on a stern face. "Young man, you can't go around saying things like that."
"Heh." Ying Chengfeng smiled, waved goodbye to the middle-aged man, and said, "I'm heading back."
Ying Chengfeng returned to Yu Feiyan's side and said, "Your External Soul Bone must have resonated with those two Soul Bones."
Yu Feiyan nodded, but then grew a little bashful.
Seeing her, Ying Chengfeng shook his head with a fond smile. "I'll get them for you."
"Okay," Yu Feiyan replied softly.
But her voice was completely drowned out by the noise around them.
Ying Chengfeng told his mother, Ji Qingyi, what he planned to do.
"You want to win those two Soul Bones for Feiyan? That works." After saying this, Ji Qingyi added, "Feiyan's a good girl, too."
"Hmm?" Ying Chengfeng looked at his mother in confusion and saw her wearing a knowing, affectionate smile.
Ying Chengfeng chuckled. "She is."
By then, quite a few Soul Masters had already stepped onto the Melee Arena.
The weakest among them were all Soul Elders.
There were even several Soul Ancestors among them.
Plenty of people reached Soul Elder before the age of thirty, and anyone who reached Soul Ancestor could be considered pretty impressive.
Ying Chengfeng remembered that the age limit for the Continental Advanced Soul Master Elite Tournament was twenty-five.
But clearly, the Skywater Academy Team was confident.
After all, the tournament brought together elite academies from across the continent.
If Skywater Academy held a challenge match with a twenty-five-year age limit to train its students, it wouldn't have much point.
Just then, Ying Chengfeng flashed onto the Melee Arena.
The referee's voice rang out.
"The melee begins in three minutes. Anyone else who wants to enter, hurry up!"
Someone in the crowd spotted Ying Chengfeng.
"Why'd a young boy go up there?"
"He doesn't look very old, does he?"
"Is he even fifteen?"
"Looks about that age."
A crowd of onlookers immediately began to chatter.
"At that age, could he be a student from a mid-level Soul Master Academy who came to join the fun?"
"Who knows?"
Ying Chengfeng ignored their chatter and paid no attention to his opponents around him.
He waited quietly.
The Soul Master Academy system was worth mentioning.
Elementary Soul Master Academies generally ran for six years, after which students advanced to mid-level Soul Master Academies.
Of course, if they couldn't graduate after six years, they had to repeat a year.
If they still couldn't graduate by fifteen, they were usually asked to leave.
Next came mid-level Soul Master Academies, which ran for three years. Students who couldn't graduate before turning twenty were asked to leave.
Finally, there were advanced Soul Master Academies, also with a three-year program. Students who couldn't graduate before turning twenty-five were asked to leave as well.
In other words, following this path, it took at least twelve years to graduate.
Still, there was no shortage of gifted students who skipped grades.
Ying Chengfeng looked toward the Skywater Academy Team. Only one of them had skipped a grade.
That was Shui Bing'er.
Shui Bing'er was fourteen this year.
There was another girl who looked quite young, too.
Xuewu, whom Ying Chengfeng had met once before, was sixteen.
The two girls spotted Ying Chengfeng as well and exclaimed in unison, "It's him?!"
Then Shui Bing'er and Xuewu looked at each other and asked in unison, "You know him, too?"
One was the captain of the Skywater Academy Team; the other was its vice-captain.
Shui Bing'er said slowly, "We spent some time together three years ago."
"Oh?" Xuewu said. "I knew him even earlier than you did. I met him six years ago."
"You spent time together, too?" Shui Bing'er pressed.
At that, Xuewu coughed softly. "More or less."
As the two girls talked, the melee began.
They turned their attention to the arena.
"How long do you think it'll take?" Shui Bing'er suddenly asked Xuewu.
"Not long." Xuewu gave a two-word answer.
She would never forget the first time she had met Ying Chengfeng.
Back then, Ying Chengfeng had already been a Soul Grandmaster with two purple Soul Rings.
Six years had passed since then. He should have reached Soul Ancestor by now, right?
Hearing Xuewu's answer, Shui Bing'er pressed her lips together. "Looks like you have a lot of confidence in him."
"Mm." Xuewu's answer was just as brief.
Shui Bing'er suddenly gave a bitter smile. "The opponents we'll be facing next are going to be very strong."
Xuewu nodded. "It's a shame we haven't mastered our Martial Soul Fusion Skill yet."
Just then, the situation on the melee arena changed.
A handsome young man stood right in the middle of the arena.
Strangely, no one attacked him.
"No, it's that no one can attack him." Shui Bing'er saw the truth at a glance.
But the very next moment, she finally saw what she had most wanted to see:
Ying Chengfeng's Soul Rings.
"Purple, purple, black—three-Ring Soul Elder?!" Shui Bing'er gasped.
Xuewu was just as surprised, but not because of the colors of his Soul Rings.
"He's only a three-Ring Soul Elder?" Xuewu thought Ying Chengfeng should have been a four-Ring Soul Ancestor by now.
"Has he been slacking off all these years?"
If so, maybe they could still beat him.
Just as Xuewu and Shui Bing'er had that thought, reality delivered a hard slap to their faces.
Ying Chengfeng released his Soul Power.
A great many Soul Elders couldn't withstand the force and tumbled off the arena one after another.
Even some of the weaker Soul Ancestors fell from the arena.
Only Ying Chengfeng and a few capable Soul Ancestors remained standing.
There were only five of them in all.
Ying Chengfeng glanced at the other four and said coolly,
"My goal is the Soul Bones. If you're after the same thing, step down."
Hearing this, one man frowned. "You still want to take on the Skywater Academy Team all by yourself?"
Another man spoke up. "You can have the Soul Bones, but we want something in return."
"You want a reward? Do you deserve one?" Ying Chengfeng glanced at him and released half the power of his Wind Domain. The man was instantly sent flying more than two hundred meters, where he ended up hanging from a rooftop.
"Looks like you don't deserve one." Ying Chengfeng withdrew his gaze and turned to the last three.
"If you can withstand one move from me, I'll give you a reward."
The sight left countless onlookers wide-eyed.
"That young man is so strong."
"Can a Soul Elder really unleash that kind of power?"
"I feel like even a Soul King couldn't do much better."
The crowd's comments reached the ears of several members of the Skywater Academy Team.
"A Soul King? I'm afraid he's even stronger!" A wave of helplessness surged through Shui Bing'er.
Was this man destined to be someone she could only look up to?
Before you continue