Hu Liena had changed into a different outfit: a loose, light-purple tunic with matching trousers.
The fabric was soft and draped nicely, hanging loosely on her. A thin cord was casually tied around her waist, barely outlining her figure. She wore a pair of soft, flat cloth shoes that looked like something she'd normally wear around the house.
Her hair wasn't tied up. It fell over her shoulders and down her back, soft strands resting against the collar of her tunic. She wore no makeup, and her lips were naturally pink.
"Qin Chuan."
Hu Liena's expression was a little different. She wasn't as lively as she'd been during the day's training, or as curious as she'd been on the walk back. Her lips were pursed, her chin slightly raised, and her eyes fixed straight on Qin Chuan.
"I want to spar with you."
Qin Chuan leaned against the doorframe and looked at Hu Liena in the doorway. "Spar?"
"Yeah, but rather than sparring, it'd be more like experiencing each other's Soul Skills." Hu Liena sounded serious. "I've been thinking about something during training these past few days. Your Illusion Bell only has a ten-year white Soul Ring, but its effects are ridiculously powerful. I want to experience it for myself."
Qin Chuan understood what she meant.
Hu Liena was a Soul Master who specialized in mental control, too. Her Demon Fox Martial Soul focused on Charm and Mental Interference. Among her peers in Spirit Hall, nobody had been able to withstand her Nine-Tailed Charm.
But then Qin Chuan had come along.
His Memory Kill had made Tang Hao stop fighting. A Soul Skill from a white Soul Ring had done what her Soul Skill from a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring couldn't.
To Hu Liena, that was a challenge. She had to find out whether her Charm could control Qin Chuan.
Qin Chuan had been sitting in the study for ages, so he felt like stretching his legs, too.
"Sure. I'd like to find out what your Soul Skill feels like, too. Shall we go outside?"
"No need. We won't get physical. We'll just use control-type Soul Skills and test each other's strengths and weaknesses."
"Mm, that works." Qin Chuan put away his book and stood up.
The two of them went to the middle of the study and faced each other, three meters apart.
"Let's agree on the rules. No Zhu Xian Sword, and no physical attacks. You can use the Illusion Bell; we'll stick to purely mental Soul Skills."
Qin Chuan nodded. "All right. You go first."
"Okay, then this big sister won't hold back!" Hu Liena took a deep breath, crossed her hands in front of her, and formed a complicated hand sign with her fingers.
Her First Spirit Ability, Charm.
An invisible mental wave spread out.
The sound itself had no meaning, but wrapped in the mental wave, it acted directly on the consciousness of anyone who heard it.
Qin Chuan felt something like cotton suddenly stuffed into his head. It was soft and warm.
His gaze drifted to Hu Liena's face. Her features were especially clear in the moonlight: arched brows, slightly upturned eyes, full lips, and a pointed chin.
Qin Chuan's consciousness began to blur. This was Charm.
It didn't make you fall asleep or cause you pain. It drew all your attention to the person using it, then dulled your ability to think and stripped away your judgment.
In the end, you'd feel that everything this person said was right, and do whatever they told you.
Hu Liena's Charm was indeed powerful. Qin Chuan could feel the high quality of its mental wave and its remarkable penetrating force. If he'd been an ordinary Soul King, that one attack would have left him frozen in place for several seconds.
But Qin Chuan had the Six Paths Reincarnation Eye.
In his spiritual world, the six purple rings began turning on their own. A cold power, one that came from a higher dimension, surged up from the depths of his consciousness.
The cotton-like stuff instantly froze solid, shattered, and scattered.
Qin Chuan's eyes cleared again. Less than two seconds had passed.
Hu Liena's expression changed.
She could tell her Charm had hit Qin Chuan. For an instant, a crack had appeared in his mental defenses, and her Charm had slipped inside. But then a power she couldn't begin to understand crushed her mental wave, as if a hand had crushed an eggshell.
"Your Charm is powerful, but it's not enough to affect me." Qin Chuan was being honest.
Hu Liena ignored him. She refused to believe it.
"Again!"
The second time, Hu Liena used her Fourth Spirit Ability, Demon Fox Roar. Her purple Soul Ring lit up, and a fiercer mental shockwave burst from her, like an invisible wall slamming into Qin Chuan.
This attack was several times stronger than Charm.
Qin Chuan's head buzzed, as if someone had struck him on the temple. The scene before his eyes flickered.
But that was all.
The Six Paths Reincarnation Eye spun faster in his spiritual world. Heavenly Dao Power surged out and completely absorbed the shockwave.
Qin Chuan stood where he was without moving a step.
Hu Liena bit her lip. She still hadn't used her trump card.
Her Fifth Spirit Ability, Nine-Tailed Charm.
Her black Soul Ring lit up.
Hu Liena's eyes changed from ordinary black to an eerie pale purple. The corners of her eyes tilted up slightly, and her whole aura changed in an instant. She was no longer the girl who'd been laughing and joking during the day's training, but a Demon Fox radiating danger from her very bones.
The mental wave released by Nine-Tailed Charm was even more potent than the first two Soul Skills combined. A pink mist spread from Hu Liena, sweeping toward Qin Chuan.
This was her strongest control skill, her signature Soul Skill from a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring.
Qin Chuan's lips twitched.
This time, he really felt the pressure.
The mental penetration of Nine-Tailed Charm was too powerful. Once the pink mist slipped into his spiritual world, it didn't touch the center of his rational mind. Instead, it circled around to the emotional regions.
A jumble of images suddenly flashed through Qin Chuan's mind.
Xiao Wu's scorpion braid, Ning Rongrong's butterfly hair clip, Zhu Zhuqing lifting her chin with stubborn determination, refusing to let her tears fall—and then Hu Liena's face.
Those pale purple eyes shone dazzlingly in the moonlight. Her lips parted slightly, and a faint, sweet fragrance accompanied her breathing.
Qin Chuan's heart began to race.
He could feel his attention being swallowed by Hu Liena's face. He wanted to look away, but his eyes wouldn't obey. A voice in his mind told him: Look at her. Keep looking at her. Do whatever she tells you.
They were locked in a three-second stalemate.
Then the Six Paths Reincarnation Eye turned for the third time.
The chaotic images and emotions were forcibly suppressed.
"Your Nine-Tailed Charm really is impressive." Qin Chuan's voice carried a note of genuine admiration. "If I didn't have these eyes, I'm afraid I would've fallen for it just now."
Hearing that, Hu Liena's lips curved up, and her pale purple eyes returned to their normal color.
She stood where she was and took a couple of breaths. Nine-Tailed Charm took a lot out of her. "All right. Your turn."
"Okay. Then I won't hold back." Qin Chuan said.
Hu Liena tensed instinctively. She knew that while his Soul Skill came from a low-year Soul Ring, its effects were nothing to scoff at.