An Actor's Self-Cultivation

"Four-Element Control, Multi-Element Fusion... Is this what an Elementalist is?"

Xie Xie's eyelids twitched wildly. As expected of the big sister who could make his legs go weak with a single glance—she was damn terrifying!

"But it's useless."

Tang Wulin shook his head beside him. "Look, Gu Yuena's attacks mysteriously disappear the moment they get close to Meng Xinghe."

Wu Changkong listened to the discussion behind him and silently shook his head.

Four-Element Control was far from an Elementalist's limit. Gu Yuena's attacks had not mysteriously vanished; the instant they entered the one-meter radius around Meng Xinghe, they were broken down into energy's original form.

Wu Changkong thought that, if he was not mistaken, Meng Xinghe should possess a Soul Skill capable of breaking down energy attacks such as elemental attacks into their initial form.

If Gu Yuena, with her Elementalist Martial Soul, was the nemesis of all elemental Soul Masters, then Meng Xinghe, with this Soul Skill, was the bane of all elemental Soul Masters.

Gu Yuena was also an elemental Soul Master, so Meng Xinghe's Soul Skill naturally countered her completely.

This was the charm of Soul Masters. This was the charm of Soul Skills.

In theory, so long as an ability countered its target strongly enough, even a One-Ring Soul Master could defeat a Nine-Ring Titled Douluo.

Meng Xinghe and Gu Yuena were both Soul Elders, and Meng Xinghe possessed such a Soul Skill. Wu Changkong could not see any possibility of Gu Yuena winning.

How could there be such an annoying Soul Skill...? Gu Yuena was almost driven mad.

She could finally understand how those elemental Soul Masters who had competed against her had felt.

So this was how awful it felt to be completely countered.

For a moment, Gu Yuena wanted to take out her Silver Dragon Spear and have a physically meaningful battle with Meng Xinghe, but reason told her not to do so.

The Silver Dragon Spear would be exposed sooner or later, but definitely not now.

Besides, exposing all that over a training match was not worth it.

Thus, Gu Yuena transmitted her voice to Meng Xinghe. "Hey, you can't bully people like this!"

"Alright, alright, I won't bully you," Meng Xinghe replied through voice transmission. "Then let's settle this in one move. Remember to keep your strength under control. Don't go too far over the limit. That's an actor's self-cultivation."

The method he used to neutralize elemental attacks was his Second Soul Skill, Heavenly Dipper Qi Dissolution, bestowed by his Soul Spirit, the Thirty-Six Heavenly Dipper Star Disk. Any non-physical ability whose power level did not exceed his own would be broken down into pure energy or the power of laws in their most primordial form.

With this Soul Skill, Gu Yuena could not defeat him when they were at the same cultivation level. If it had been the Golden Dragon King instead, there might have been a few chances.

"Fine, one move it is!"

Gu Yuena accepted the proposal, and the three Soul Rings circling her body suddenly lit up.

She formed a hand seal, and a crimson glow bloomed in her palms. At the same time, an icy-blue radiance spiraled upward and fused with the crimson light.

As the saying went, water and fire were incompatible, and ice, as another form of water, was even more so.

Forcibly fusing two opposing elements together would produce an incomparably terrifying explosion, but few elemental Soul Masters dared to do so. Once they lost control, they would injure themselves; at best, they would lose limbs, and at worst, die on the spot.

However, Gu Yuena's control over the elements clearly made such concerns unnecessary, so she boldly used this move.

After the ice and fire elements fused, Gu Yuena did not pour any Soul Power into them. Yet the elemental power in the air gathered of its own accord, continuously expanding in force like a vortex.

The violent energy fluctuations drew cries of alarm from the watching students, who retreated again and again.

Seeing this, Wu Changkong felt a trace of surprise. "She knows Meng Xinghe has such a Soul Skill, yet she is still using the Elemental Heart to attack. Did the two of them make some kind of private deal?"

Wu Changkong knew that Gu Yuena had comprehended the Elemental Heart.

As before, Gu Yuena was the most dazzling genius at the Spirit Pagoda headquarters, so Wu Changkong knew much of her information.

The Elemental Heart was the true essence of the elements and the necessary path for any elemental Soul Master to become powerful.

Mastering the Elemental Heart meant an elemental Soul Master would no longer be limited by their own Soul Power. They could directly mobilize elemental power from the air for their own use, greatly enhancing their offensive and defensive capabilities.

According to the Spirit Pagoda's records, Gu Yuena had comprehended the Fire Elemental Heart at the age of eight. Unexpectedly, one year later, nine-year-old Gu Yuena had comprehended the Water Elemental Heart as well.

Ice and water shared the same origin. Comprehending the Water Elemental Heart was equivalent to comprehending the Ice Elemental Heart.

Comprehending two Elemental Hearts at such an age, Gu Yuena truly was an unprecedented genius. No wonder Heavenly Phoenix Douluo cherished this disciple so dearly. If he had such a genius disciple, he would surely dote on her as though she were his own daughter.

With two Elemental Hearts and the explosive damage born from the opposition of ice and fire, this attack was already comparable to the full-force strike of a Power Attack System Battle Soul King. Wu Changkong and Long Bing watched in utter alarm.

If Gu Yuena lost control and the fused ice and fire elements exploded prematurely, she would either die or be crippled.

Although Gu Yuena had comprehended elemental power, making such a possibility extremely small, they still could not let down their guard. Long Bing had even summoned her Martial Soul, the Prismatic Ice Mirror, into her hand. The seven Soul Rings circling her body firmly drew everyone's attention behind her.

Meng Xinghe watched the attack gathering before him. The three purple Soul Rings around his body slowly fused together. This was his innate ability—Ring Fusion. By fusing all his Soul Rings together, he could concentrate all his Soul Power output into a single Soul Skill.

Ring Fusion was an inborn talent that could not be learned later in life.

His First Soul Skill, Myriad Transformations, produced extraordinary results when paired with the many self-created combat techniques and supreme arts he had developed. But which one should he use?

He could not use the combat techniques and supreme arts he had created for the Holy Spirit Cult, as that would expose his connection to the Holy Spirit Cult.

How about... that move?

"Go!" Gu Yuena shouted sharply, thrusting both palms forward and launching the explosive ice-and-fire elemental attack.

Watching the attack rapidly approach, Meng Xinghe erupted with golden light. The dense radiance transformed into a golden divine dragon with a solemn, majestic appearance.

Take this—Great Mighty Heavenly Dragon!

Boom!

The golden divine dragon collided head-on with the explosive ice-and-fire elemental attack. The enormous force of the explosion was entirely absorbed by the golden dragon, at the cost of its dragon body becoming nearly illusory and transparent, as though it might vanish at any moment.

The golden divine dragon continued forward. When it reached Gu Yuena, it dissolved into golden light, yet left behind two large golden words—You yield.

What was that thing? A snake? Gu Yuena wondered.

The golden divine dragon had left an exceptionally deep impression on her. This creature, so similar to a snake, had somehow given her the impression of possessing noble blood and exalted status.

How was that possible?!

Gu Yuena shook her head repeatedly. Dragons were the creatures with the noblest bloodline and highest status in this world. How could a creature resembling a snake be mentioned in the same breath as a dragon? It had to be her imagination.