Terrifying Flames

Inside Yu Yuanzhen's luxurious private room.

Yu Heng lay on the bed, his breathing so faint it was almost imperceptible. Only the barely visible rise and fall of his chest proved that he was still alive.

After an unknown amount of time, Yu Heng's tightly shut lashes trembled violently several times. Finally, they slowly opened into a narrow slit.

His eyes, once dull and lifeless from his injuries and depleted Soul Power, were still veiled in weakness, but a faint glimmer was gradually gathering within them.

"Young Master! Brother Yu Heng is awake!" The attendant closest to the bed was the first to notice the change. He cried out in subdued delight and hurried forward, carefully supporting Yu Heng's arm as he tried to push himself up.

Yu Yuanzhen, standing with his hands behind his back, paused slightly. A trace of undisguised concern flashed through his eyes, though his tone remained as steady as ever. "Yu Heng, how do you feel? Is anything still bothering you?"

He and Yu Heng had grown up together. Their bond had long surpassed that of master and servant; calling them comrades who would entrust their lives to one another would not be an exaggeration.

Yu Heng held even more weight in his life than some of his blood brothers.

Yu Heng forced out a smile uglier than a sob. His voice was terribly hoarse, yet it carried the relief of surviving disaster. "Thank you for your concern, Young Master... I suppose I managed to keep this life of mine."

"If Young Master hadn't driven him away in time, then back then I would have..."

He did not finish, but the lingering fear in his eyes and the sensation of having brushed against death at close range said it all.

"Just who was that person, to injure you to such a state?" Yu Yuanzhen pressed, his hawk-like gaze locking onto Yu Heng.

He had personally witnessed the strangeness of that battle, and the properties of those flames were far too abnormal.

Yu Heng steadied his breathing. His face was pale as paper, but a nearly grim curve touched his lips. "Cough, cough... I don't know... I have never seen that person before. But there is one thing I can be certain of..."

He raised a hand, his knuckles turning white from exertion. "He... absolutely did not use his full strength!"

The moment those words fell, several suppressed gasps rang out in the room.

The younger attendants exchanged looks, their faces filled with disbelief. They nearly thought Yu Heng's injuries were so severe that he had lost his mind.

"What? Brother Heng, you... were you injured too badly? Did the flames scramble your brain?"

"Yeah, he pushed you into that state and still didn't use his full strength? How is that possible!"

Unlike their shock and confusion, Yu Yuanzhen's gaze suddenly deepened upon hearing this. His sharp eyes lingered on Yu Heng's face for a moment before shifting toward the window.

He recalled the strange red flames dancing across the sky. Their ability to ignore defenses and penetrate straight through the body's surface truly exceeded his understanding of conventional Soul Skills.

Yu Heng seemed to sense his young master's doubts. He struggled to sit up straighter, only to be interrupted by an even more violent fit of coughing.

"Cough, cough, cough... There is no mistake, Young Master!"

His voice was weak, but it carried absolute conviction.

"Those flames... they completely ignored the defense of the 'Dragon Transformation' on my hand. Like living creatures, they bored into my body through every possible opening!"

"I could clearly feel that he had held back throughout our fight. The destructive power of those flames was nowhere near fully unleashed... If I hadn't decisively chosen to surrender, I fear not even this ruined body would have remained. Even my soul would have been burned away completely!"

Remembering that searing heat, like the sun itself, and the penetrating force that slipped through every gap, Yu Heng could not help but shudder. Cold sweat streamed down his body, soaking his thin clothes.

A sharp light flashed in Yu Yuanzhen's eyes, and stormy waves rose in his heart. Ignoring the defenses of Dragon Transformation, invading the internal organs directly, and even harming the soul?! Such strange and tyrannical methods could not belong to an ordinary person! A genius like this could never have remained unknown all this time!

He quickly suppressed his surging emotions and turned to several trusted attendants standing solemnly behind him. His tone allowed no doubt. "Set out immediately. Use every channel available, investigate openly and secretly, and make sure you uncover that person's true identity and background!"

"Yes, Young Master!" The attendants did not dare delay. After receiving their orders, they swept out of the room like the wind and vanished into the deep night.

Half an hour later, the attendants returned with grave expressions. The moment they entered the private room, they dropped to one knee in unison. The leader cupped his fists and said in a low voice:

"Please forgive us, Young Master! We used every hidden contact we had and even reached out to several intelligence brokers in the city, but it was like stones sinking into the sea. We could not find any useful information about that person's identity, as though it had been completely concealed beneath a thick veil."

"We only gathered some records of his fights at the Soul Fighting Arena yesterday."

Yu Yuanzhen set down the white jade wine cup he had been idly turning in his hand. Its base lightly struck the tabletop with a crisp tap.

He did not get angry. He merely gave a soft "Mm," his fingertips unconsciously tapping against the table.

Instead, this result confirmed his earlier suspicion—his background truly runs deep. To seal off information so thoroughly was not something an ordinary Soul Master could accomplish.

"It is fine. This matter was difficult to begin with. I do not blame you."

He waved a hand, his tone calm. "That person's identity must be extraordinary. Someone is likely hiding it deliberately. Show me the battle records you found first."

Without hesitation, the attendants respectfully presented a thoroughly compiled dossier.

Yu Yuanzhen casually opened it and swept his gaze over its contents.

At first, his expression remained calm. But as he read further, his brows gradually furrowed tighter.

The records showed that in several previous battles, that person had relied on extremely swift movement techniques and sharp hand-to-hand combat skills, using his first two Soul Skills to end each fight quickly and cleanly.

Yet in his battle against Yu Heng, he had used his third Soul Skill, and it was clearly a powerful enhancement-type skill!

A thought flashed through Yu Yuanzhen's mind like lightning. If even his third Soul Skill is an enhancement, then there is a high chance his unrevealed fourth Soul Skill is the same type! Combined with that strange and unpredictable, seemingly Self-Created flame Soul Skill... he has practically used all his Soul Rings to strengthen his own base attributes!

This extreme and unconventional approach made him feel both intrigued and faintly uneasy.

A purely enhancement-focused Soul Master, if lacking corresponding offensive and defensive techniques and variations, was no different from a brute with tremendous strength but no method. Such a person could easily be countered.

Unless... unless the opponent possessed exquisitely brilliant Self-Created Soul Skills capable of making up for all of that!

Yu Yuanzhen's gaze returned to the pale-faced Yu Heng on the bed. Recalling those strange flames filling the sky, he had already reached a conclusion.

It seems the person we encountered today was not some simple-minded brute, but an unparalleled genius who walked an unconventional path, possessed truly terrifying potential, and dared to break the rules!

This realization filled him with a trace of wariness, yet it also strangely stirred an excitement and anticipation like that of meeting a worthy opponent.

This encounter might be even more interesting than he had expected.