Water Mirror Seal

"Had they really struck a deal in private?"

Wu Changkong thought to himself.

Learning Secret Voice Transmission at the age of nine made Meng Xinghe and Gu Yuena seem absurdly gifted, but when he considered their abilities in other areas, it suddenly all felt perfectly reasonable.

For example, when someone displayed exceptional talent in multiple fields, people would not be surprised when that person showed talent of the same caliber in yet another field. Instead, they would take it for granted.

Remember the official website domain

Thinking back on the battle just now, there was not much to say about Gu Yuena's methods. She had merely used the power of the Elemental Heart to amplify the explosive force of the opposing elements of ice and fire—high numbers, high damage, simple and brutal.

But Wu Changkong could not quite understand the ability Meng Xinghe had used.

The effects of the Ring Fusion talent could only apply to Soul Rings and Soul Skills. Therefore, Meng Xinghe must have used one of his three Soul Skills at the time. Yet the golden "python" he unleashed gave Wu Changkong the impression of a Combat Secret Technique.

Combat Secret Techniques, also known as Self-Created Soul Skills, were powerful abilities that could be used without Soul Rings or Soul Bones.

Their power was not restricted by age limits like Soul Rings and Soul Bones. Instead, they could continue growing stronger alongside the Soul Master.

Thus, every Combat Secret Technique was immensely valuable. Those with no learning threshold, or a very low one, were priceless treasures.

The Qiangu Clan's Unyielding Staff Technique was a priceless Combat Secret Technique. Meanwhile, the Nine Red Dragon Forms of his former teacher, Red Dragon Douluo Zhuo Shi, placed extremely high demands on the practitioner's Bloodline Power and were not suitable for every Soul Master. Even so, it was an exceptionally precious Combat Secret Technique.

As Wu Changkong looked at Meng Xinghe, that move from earlier seemed to be half Soul Skill and half secret technique. Or rather, it was a Combat Secret Technique self-created upon the foundation of his own Soul Skill.

At that thought, he suddenly felt ashamed.

Meng Xinghe had his own Combat Secret Technique at only nine years old. How was a Soul Douluo in his thirties supposed to live with himself?

How embarrassing!

Wu Changkong sighed inwardly.

He was now a Soul Douluo and would be able to break through to Titled Douluo after a few more years of cultivation. It was time for him to find his own path as well.

Looking at Meng Xinghe and Gu Yuena, Wu Changkong seemed to see the future of the Spirit Pagoda.

The Qiangu Clan had occupied the position of Spirit Pagoda Master for several thousand years, thereby establishing its absolute rule over the Spirit Pagoda.

However, there was nothing anyone could do about that. The Qiangu Clan had simply lived up to expectations, producing a Limit Douluo in every generation. For a long stretch of history, the Spirit Pagoda's Limit Douluos had relied on the Qiangu Clan to uphold their reputation.

In this generation, the Qiangu Clan even had three Limit Douluos still alive, while its current heir was extraordinarily gifted and possessed the potential to become a Limit Douluo.

Without Meng Xinghe and Gu Yuena, the position of the Spirit Pagoda's next master would undoubtedly have fallen to the Qiangu Clan's heir.

But reality had no ifs. With freakishly talented geniuses like Meng Xinghe and Gu Yuena in the Spirit Pagoda, the next Pagoda Master could only be one of them.

Wu Changkong did not comment much on their battle. In truth, there was not much to comment on.

Meng Xinghe possessed a Soul Skill that completely countered Gu Yuena, directly robbing their match of any meaning as practical combat training.

If Gu Yuena had been a Beast Martial Soul battle-type Soul Master, Wu Changkong would have pointed out why she had not closed in for hand-to-hand combat. But Gu Yuena was an elemental Soul Master. He could not exactly ask a long-range mage to brawl at close quarters with a Body Martial Soul battle-type Soul Master, could he?

Then again, if Meng Xinghe had not possessed that Soul Skill, Gu Yuena could have been a close-combat mage who fought fist to fist. She only needed to attach elemental power to her fists.

High damage from the left fist, even higher damage from the right fist—that was the charm of a close-combat mage.

"Both students performed exceptionally well. Gu Yuena, even though you lost, don't be discouraged. Losing narrowly to Ring Fusion stacked with a Combat Secret Technique is still an honorable defeat."

"Mm." Gu Yuena nodded. "Thank you, Teacher Wu."

So that had been a Combat Secret Technique. I thought it was a Soul Skill.

Speaking of such things, she had lived for so long, yet she had spent nearly all that time sleeping in the Lake of Life. She did not possess a single Combat Secret Technique.

Although she made the elements seem dazzling and varied in her hands, those were actually only the most basic applications of elemental power, things every elemental Soul Master knew. The only difference was the degree of control. They could not be considered Combat Secret Techniques at all.

Even Di Tian had a self-created swordsmanship set, while she, as his lord, had nothing. That was truly humiliating for a dragon.

Creating her own secret technique had to be put on the agenda as soon as possible, but Gu Yuena did not know where to begin.

Should I ask Xinghe for advice?

Xinghe had created so many things for the Holy Spirit Cult. He was an absolute authority in this regard.

Moreover, Xinghe's Sky Power itself contained multiple elements. The ideas, inspiration, and insights he could offer would surely suit her well.

Gu Yuena walked over to Meng Xinghe and used Secret Voice Transmission to activate encrypted communication mode.

At the same time, Class One's practical combat training continued.

Under Wu Changkong's arrangements, Xu Xiaoyan faced Wei Xiaofeng, Tang Wulin faced Zhang Yangzi, and Xie Xie faced Wang Jinxi...

Wei Xiaofeng did not have much confidence when facing Xu Xiaoyan.

No matter how arrogant he was, he understood the weight carried by the third stage of the Ladder Tournament.

When Xu Xiaoyan revealed two purple Millennium Soul Rings during the match, Wei Xiaofeng knew he was completely finished.

Just as Wei Xiaofeng had expected, once the match began, Xu Xiaoyan sealed him inside water that resembled a mirror. He failed to break the seal even after ten seconds, and the competition system directly declared him defeated.

After this battle, everyone felt that compared to Meng Xinghe, Xu Xiaoyan seemed more like a control-type Soul Master. With a single move, she had sealed Wei Xiaofeng, a fellow Soul Grandmaster, until the match ended.

Facing everyone's gazes, Xu Xiaoyan gave a pure, sweet smile, looking utterly harmless.

That was her Second Soul Skill, Star Signs: Pisces.

Pisces, one of the Twelve Zodiac Houses, had the exclusive ability—Water Mirror Seal.

It transformed water into a mirror to seal the target. Instant cast, target-locked. Anyone unable to break the seal would be sealed forever. Anyone capable of breaking it would still be sealed for at least one second. It was absolute.

Wei Xiaofeng was among those unable to break the seal. If Xu Xiaoyan had not released him herself, he would have remained sealed within the water mirror forever.

Xu Xiaoyan had advanced to the third stage of the Ladder Tournament by relying on this Soul Skill.

Ladder Tournament rules: if a Soul Master was controlled by a powerful control-type Soul Skill—such as sealing, petrification, or freezing, which completely deprived a Soul Master of the ability to act—for more than ten seconds, the controlled Soul Master would automatically lose the match.

This rule was also used in individual matches in the real world.

Among the opponents Xu Xiaoyan had matched against in the Ladder Tournament, none whose Soul Power Level exceeded hers by no more than five levels could break free from the water mirror within ten seconds. Of those more than five levels above her, only opponents with powerful Martial Souls could break the seal within ten seconds—only to be taken out in a single move by the Starwheel Soul Spirit that had been waiting for them.