Xuan Zi Convenes a Sea God Pavilion Meeting

Purple-blue lightning spread wildly across the arena.

Yet Su Ling remained completely still, making no move to defend himself.

"Junior Su Ling, don't let your guard down!"

The corners of Bei Bei's mouth could not help but rise.

With these two soul skills combined, let alone Su Ling, a level-26 Soul Grandmaster, even Xu Sanshi, who was evenly matched with him at the academy and possessed a defense-oriented martial soul, would not dare take it head-on.

Bei Bei admitted that there was an element of revenge in it, but he knew his limits.

Though he had never seen Su Ling's martial soul, he could sense that its quality was no lower than his own Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon.

After this combo, Su Ling would at most suffer minor injuries. Besides, the other party had chosen not to dodge. Even if Elder Xuan wanted to blame someone afterward, the blame could not fall on him.

Hmph, how dare he lie in his Xiao Ya's arms!

This was just a small lesson for him!

Just when Bei Bei thought victory was in the bag,

Su Ling's lips curved upward.

The next second, the crisscrossing lightning rapidly began to weaken, vanishing in an instant like an extinguished lamp.

"What!?"

Bei Bei wore an expression as though he had seen a ghost.

His attack had disappeared out of thin air!?

Even Tang Ya and Huo Yuhao, watching from the side, were dumbfounded and could not understand why.

Within Huo Yuhao's Sea of Spirit.

"How about it? I told you so."

Tian Meng smugly wriggled his body.

"Th-then why did that happen? Could it be that Eldest Senior Brother withdrew his attack?"

"Oh, you fool, Yuhao. Once a soul skill has been released, how could it possibly be taken back? Your eldest senior brother's attack was clearly suppressed and absorbed!"

"Suppressed and absorbed!?" Huo Yuhao was bewildered again.

"That's right. There are only two possibilities for this to happen. First, the two martial souls share the same origin, but one has a bloodline quality vastly superior to the other. The second is similar to the first, except it concerns their attributes."

"Su Ling's martial soul isn't a dragon, while Eldest Senior Brother's Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon possesses a high-quality lightning attribute. That means Su Ling..." Huo Yuhao suddenly understood.

"That's right! An ultimate attribute! Something said to be invincible among those of the same realm!" Tian Meng raised one finger and began explaining it to Huo Yuhao.

Back in the arena.

While Bei Bei was still questioning his entire life, Su Ling pushed off the ground and moved.

With one hand, Su Ling grabbed Bei Bei to prevent him from fleeing. His other hand clenched into a fist, and shrouded in pitch-black lightning, it slammed fiercely into Bei Bei's chest.

He had held back on this punch, using only thirty percent of his strength.

"Boom!" A muffled electric pulse rang out.

Bei Bei staggered back repeatedly and only managed to steady himself after great effort. He clutched his faintly aching chest, his eyes filled with disbelief.

"Why!? Why did my lightning power disappear!? This has to be a joke, right?"

For the first time, he doubted his own martial soul.

"Because your opponent possesses Ultimate Thunder."

Xuan Zi suddenly appeared. His gaze swept over Bei Bei, and seeing that he was unharmed, he immediately felt relieved.

It seemed that kid Su had held back at the critical moment.

Very good, he knew his limits!

As expected of the Qilin prodigy he had taken a liking to!

Hearing Elder Xuan's words, the words on Bei Bei's lips came to an abrupt halt. He opened his mouth, but in the end, he could only let out a helpless bitter laugh.

"Ultimate Thunder..."

He had not even managed to make Su Ling use his second soul skill. To him, the words Ultimate Thunder were like an insurmountable chasm.

No matter how unwilling he was, Bei Bei had to accept this reality.

"All right, Bei Bei. There's no shame in losing to Ultimate Thunder. Don't deny yourself or lose the heart of a strong man because of one defeat."

Xuan Zi feared that Bei Bei's resolve would shatter from this. If that happened, his martial uncle Mu En would surely not let him off, so to avoid getting scolded, he spoke to comfort him.

Sure enough, with Xuan Zi's words, Bei Bei quickly pulled himself together. He took a deep breath, cupped his hands toward Su Ling, and said,

"Thank you for showing mercy, Junior Su Ling."

Su Ling withdrew his martial soul and replied modestly, "You're welcome. I merely had the advantage of an ultimate attribute. Compared with you, Senior Bei Bei, there are still many things I need to learn from you."

He had only won by luck because his lightning was a little stronger and he was a little stronger physically.

Seeing Su Ling's humble attitude, Xuan Zi's heart surged with excitement once more.

Victorious without arrogance, humble and courteous, and aware of how to conduct himself—he was simply a flawless piece of uncut jade!

Xuan Zi could no longer wait to bring him back to the Sea God Pavilion and show him off to those old fellows.

"All right, children, it's time to go back!"

Xuan Zi called out. Once everyone had gathered, he waved his hand and took Su Ling and the others soaring into the sky.

The group flew straight toward Shrek City.

Shrek.

The five landed at the entrance to the academy.

"All right, Bei Bei, go do whatever you need to do. This old man is going to replenish his roast chicken first. Kid Su, come with me to the Sea God Pavilion later."

Xuan Zi casually spoke to Tang Ya and the others, then turned toward Su Ling with a cheerful grin.

"Hmph, Elder Xuan is so biased!"

Tang Ya stuck out her tongue at him.

"Go on, go on!" Xuan Zi said with a smile, waving his hand.

Xuan Zi nodded at Su Ling, then leaped away toward the largest restaurant in Shrek City.

Perhaps because of Su Ling's presence, Xuan Zi, who had originally been an eccentric old man, had become much more cheerful.

Along the way, Tang Ya and Huo Yuhao had asked countless curious questions, and Xuan Zi had unusually answered each one with considerable patience.

At the same time, aside from Bei Bei, Huo Yuhao and Tang Ya were also rapidly growing closer to Su Ling.

Su Ling possessed peerless talent, yet he had none of the arrogance that came with it. Instead, he was easygoing, and his words were full of humor and wit.

After learning that Su Ling was a few months older than him, Huo Yuhao directly began calling him Big Brother.

Su Ling was more than happy with that.

After all, Huo Yuhao was the favored son of fate in this era. Making friends with him as a strategic move brought benefits and no drawbacks.

To put it more bluntly,

If Dai Zhongxian and the Tang God King could train him, then Su Ling could too!

"Yuhao, do your best."

"Mm-hm! I will, Big Brother Su Ling!"

"Little Ling, how much have you considered it?"

"Hmm... seventy-five percent."

"Awesome! We're one step closer to the Tang Sect's revival!"

Bei Bei: ...

A short while later, the group went their separate ways.

Xuan Zi also happened to return. He lightly took Su Ling with him and headed to the Sea God Pavilion.

Sea God Pavilion conference room.

"Elder Xuan, why did you suddenly call for a Sea God Pavilion meeting? Did something major happen?" Yan Shaozhe, the dean of the Martial Soul Department, asked in confusion.

"You called a meeting as soon as you returned from a mission. Could there have been an accident?" Lin Huiqun, master of the Treasure Gathering Pavilion, looked suspicious.

"Hey, watch your mouth! How could this old man possibly get into an accident!" Xuan Zi snapped, blowing his beard and glaring.

"Hmph, of course there's something important if I called a meeting. Just wait. This old man will speak once Elder Mu arrives." Xuan Zi kept them in suspense.

Half an hour passed.

The seat of honor in the conference room remained empty.

Xuan Zi could no longer sit still. Su Ling was still waiting outside; he could not let the boy grow impatient.

"Where's Elder Mu?"

The elders looked at one another and shook their heads.

At this moment, Xian Lin'er, dean of the Soul Guidance Department, spoke up. "Perhaps... Elder Mu is sunbathing beneath one of the dormitory buildings."

"This old man will go find him."

Xuan Zi stood up, and his figure flickered out of sight.

Meanwhile.

Beneath Dormitory Building Number Ten.

At the entrance stood a reclining chair. An elderly man in gray cloth robes lay upon it. Deep wrinkles crossed his face, and with lowered eyelids, he rested with the appearance of someone in the twilight of life.

"Elder Mu! Elder Mu!"

Xuan Zi finally found him and rushed over in great haste, his voice extremely urgent.

Mu En opened one eye slightly. "It's Xuan Zi. What is it? Did you cause trouble again?"

"No, it's good news—great news!"

"What could make you so anxious? You're already over two hundred years old. Why are you still so restless? Speak slowly." Mu En was somewhat displeased.

"I brought back a child! Innate level-20 Soul Power! And his martial soul has an ultimate attribute!"

At those words, Mu En, who had been leisurely sitting in his wheelchair, paused. Then he abruptly opened his eyes.

With a whoosh, Mu En stood up on the spot, and a sharp gleam burst from his clouded eyes.

The students in the distance were all stunned. How had that old man, who sat in a wheelchair every day, suddenly stood up!?

This was practically a medical miracle!