Making Friends with the Future Imperial Battle Team

"Boom—"

A surging aura suddenly erupted from Ouyang Ling!

Back then, he had chosen the Raging Current Thornback Dragon for his second Soul Ring precisely to obtain this state-type soul skill.

The effect of this state-type soul skill was that, once activated, it could place him in peak condition. If he was in a favorable environment, it could further raise his condition by another 30% on top of that peak state!

At this moment, as far as the eye could see, the entire Spirit Arena had become a field of ice—one of the most favorable environments imaginable for Ouyang Ling.

"Diamond Ice Dust Fist!"

Water formed the core, becoming the force of a vortex.

Ice formed the shell, becoming a weapon that shattered defenses.

When the rotating current wrapped around Ouyang Ling's arm, bone-piercing cold formed a hard drill casing around the outer edge of the watery vortex.

This move was a self-created soul skill Ouyang Ling had developed under Serpent Spear Douluo to make up for his lack of offensive means in the early stages.

"Buzz—"

When the icy drill reached maximum speed, Ouyang Ling drew back his arm and threw a fierce punch!

"Crack, crack..." Wherever the Diamond Ice Dust Fist passed, ice spikes instantly formed across the frozen ground. Like an ice dragon, it carried terrifying force as it crashed straight into the menacing thunder dragon!

"Boom—"

A terrifying explosion erupted instantly! Amid the scattering ice crystals, the thunder dragon was destroyed in an instant, leaving only faint arcs of lightning raging across the ice. Yet they could no longer stop the Diamond Ice Dust Fist, whose power remained undiminished despite being partially worn down by the attack.

Seeing this, a wild, battle-hungry glint flashed through Yu Tianheng's eyes as he suddenly roared:

"Bring it on!"

Below the stage,

Dugu Yan immediately grew anxious at the sight!

"Tianheng!"

"Boss!" ×2

Yu Feng and Oslo's eyes had already widened.

They had never expected their boss to be this stubborn! Was he planning to take the remaining half of that move head-on?!

However, just as Yu Tianheng, whose soul power was nearly depleted, was about to endure the attack, a towering wave of flames swept in and engulfed the Diamond Ice Dust Fist.

"Sizzle—"

The instant heat and cold met, ice and fire collided, and water vapor surged throughout the Spirit Arena. In an instant, thick mist seemed to blanket the entire field.

When the vapor dissipated, Qin Ming stood there with two yellow and three purple Soul Rings circling him. He held a drill no larger than a fist, while melted droplets continued to drip from his palm.

Clearly, he had blocked that attack.

Qin Ming looked at the ice in his hand, the smile on his face unchanged. "Very good. You are all outstanding. But..."

After a slight pause, his gaze first swept over Yu Tianheng before settling on Ouyang Ling. "In the end, Student Ouyang came out ahead."

"Whoa—"

The entire venue erupted in an uproar!

It was not that they could not accept it. They simply found it hard to believe that an eight-year-old Great Soul Master at only level twenty-five had truly defeated Yu Tianheng, who was already fourteen and on the verge of breaking through to Soul Elder!

"You're very strong."

Yu Tianheng was someone who could accept defeat.

Ignoring the fact that half his clothes had been reduced to strips during the battle, he walked over to Ouyang Ling and extended his hand.

"Smack—"

Ouyang Ling, who had already dismissed his martial soul, did not stand on ceremony. He directly clasped his hand. "You're not bad either, Yu Tianheng."

"Not even close to you." Yu Tianheng could accept defeat, but being evaluated by Ouyang Ling with a mere "you're not bad either" left him looking utterly dejected.

Before this semester began, he really had thought he was pretty good. But this semester... compared to Ouyang Ling, he suddenly felt like he had wasted the past few years living like a dog.

Seeing Yu Tianheng's expression, Ouyang Ling smiled. "Honestly, you didn't lose by that much."

Yu Tianheng, his face full of disbelief: "..."

Who are you trying to fool? Do I look like I'd believe that?

"You think I'm just being polite?"

With the thought that they would be teammates in the future, coupled with Yu Tianheng's personality and their earlier conversation being quite to his liking, Ouyang Ling spoke frankly despite their shallow acquaintance and roughly explained the effects of his first soul skill.

"...So once it is activated, if I'm fighting consecutive battles and you give me chances to recover without dismissing my martial soul possession midway, my combat power can keep getting stronger."

"I see."

Yu Tianheng was suddenly enlightened.

"No wonder the combat strength I assessed when you fought Oslo from below the stage was so different from the strength I experienced personally. I thought you had deliberately hidden more than half your strength and could still take him down in a few moves."

When he said that, Yu Tianheng deliberately did not mention Yu Feng. As for why... what was there to assess about an instant defeat where he had not even seen the battle unfold?

"But no matter what, a loss is a loss." Yu Tianheng was very forthright. "That final move of yours was a self-created soul skill, right? Adding that in, and considering my cultivation is higher and I'm older than you, if I still didn't give you time to recover, then even if I really won, I wouldn't consider it very honorable."

Ouyang Ling only smiled without speaking: "..."

Actually, even if you hadn't let me recover, you still wouldn't have won.

Did you even understand the value of "Riptide"?

"Oh, right. You told me about your first soul skill, so I'll tell you about mine too."

Determined not to let the other party take a loss, Yu Tianheng openly told Ouyang Ling about his first soul skill. He even said that if Ouyang Ling wanted to know the effects of his second soul skill as well, he could tell him without reservation.

That made Ouyang Ling view him in a new light.

When the two stepped down from the Spirit Arena, Dugu Yan led the others over. She glanced at Ouyang Ling without any hint of rejection. Instead, her eyes were full of admiration, curiosity, and... an eagerness that Ouyang Ling could not quite understand.

Ouyang Ling: "..."

What? Did she want to fight him too?

Just as he was guessing what was going on, Dugu Yan spoke. "What are you two talking about?"

"Ah, nothing."

Yu Tianheng extended his arm, allowing Dugu Yan to affectionately hook her arm around his. "We were just discussing who would be suitable for me to spar with if I broke through level thirty."

In order not to reveal anything, Yu Tianheng made something up on the spot. Of course, he had genuinely been considering it anyway.

However, Dugu Yan's attention was clearly not on the latter half of his sentence. "Tianheng, you're about to break through level thirty?"

"I was already close."

Yu Tianheng reached out and brushed through Dugu Yan's lovely hair.

"After fighting Ouyang today, my bottleneck loosened. At most, I'll have to return to my clan sometime this week."

As he spoke, he looked toward Ouyang Ling beside him.

"If you don't mind, you can still come to the Heaven Dou Grade to find me whenever you want to fight. I'll suppress my soul power and won't use my third Soul Ring. And if that doesn't work..."

Yu Tianheng's gaze flicked toward the other two. "You can fight Yu Feng and Oslo first."

Following behind them, Yu Feng and Oslo, who had deliberately kept a low profile so they would not be noticed: "..."

Boss! You don't have to mess with us like this!

We don't want to be punching bags!

On the contrary, Ouyang Ling understood Yu Tianheng's meaning. He glanced sidelong at the two who were deliberately avoiding his gaze, and his interest in mischief instantly rose. He wore a wicked smile. "That sounds pretty good."

Yu Feng, Oslo: ﾟДﾟ

During the following lessons, in order to make good use of the practical combat class he had applied for, Qin Ming had every student engage in a one-on-one soul battle to observe how much they had improved over the break.

To show how much he "valued" Yu Feng and Oslo, Qin Ming even had the two of them fight together, and their opponent this time was Qin Ming himself.

Thus, under everyone's watchful eyes, even though Qin Ming held back, Yu Feng and Oslo were beaten until they cried for their fathers and mothers. But with Ye Lingling there, their injuries could be healed immediately before they were sent back in again, as if they were constantly reliving the same cycle.

By the time it ended, the two had completely wilted.

"Get up, both of you."

Yu Tianheng looked at the two helplessly. "Lingling already healed you. What could possibly still hurt?"

"Boss, we can't."

Yu Feng raised his head, looking utterly bedraggled. "Our bodies aren't hurt anymore, but our minds are!"

"Yeah."

Oslo lifted a hand to show that he could not go on either.

"We're mentally exhausted."

"Then how about I help you out?"

Ouyang Ling suddenly spoke from the side.

Then, before the two could refuse, two water spheres appeared in his hands and pressed toward Yu Feng and Oslo. Even an outsider could see with the naked eye that their spirits had improved considerably.

Seeing this, Yu Tianheng asked curiously:

"Is that another self-created soul skill?"

Ouyang Ling smiled and revealed the truth in a way that was forty percent real and sixty percent false. "It was developed based on the characteristics of my martial soul. It can dispel certain negative conditions."

He did not intend to hide the skill "Deep Blue Purification" in the days ahead. After all, he needed to attract Dugu Bo's attention within reasonable limits.

Only then could he gain Dugu Bo's friendship without becoming enemies with him and enter the Ice-Fire Yin-Yang Eyes.

But now was not the time. He only needed to lay some groundwork first. The specifics still had to be discussed with Sister Xue'er.

"Eh—looks like it really works."

Yu Feng, whose spirits had recovered by then, shook his head and gave a thumbs-up, showing that the effect was excellent.

"If that's the case, then you won't need to worry about your future practical combat training anymore." Dugu Yan smiled sweetly as she said something that made Yu Feng and Oslo feel as if it were the dead of winter in June. "In the future, Lingling can heal your injuries, and Ouyang can improve your mental state. Then you only need to recover your soul power before entering practical combat again. The more you train, the stronger you'll become."

"No!" ×2

While the two living treasures shouted, Dugu Yan ignored them and instead grabbed the silent Ye Lingling, bringing her before Ouyang Ling, who had been trying his best to ignore her.

"Come, Ouyang. Let me introduce someone to you."

Dugu Yan wore an inexplicable smile. "Her name is Ye Lingling. She usually doesn't talk much, but she's a very powerful healing-type Soul Master. And it seems she knows you too. Do you remember her?"

Yu Tianheng and the others beside them pricked up their ears: "..."

Gossip, gossip.

Ouyang Ling, meanwhile: It was finally here.

He sighed inwardly, but his expression remained calm. He placed a hand over his chest, lowered his head slightly, and smiled.

"It is my honor to meet a classmate like Ye Lingling, but I truly have no recollection. Still, I believe it is not too late for us to meet now as classmates. Please guide me in the future." As he spoke, he extended his hand.

Ye Lingling hesitated slightly before reaching out and lightly touching Ouyang Ling's fingertips. "Please guide me as well."

Yet as she withdrew her hand, her eyes remained fixed on Ouyang Ling, filled with certainty:

It's definitely you, the child who bought Dad so much Whale Glue. But since you're afraid it's an embarrassing past and refuse to admit it, I won't expose you.

Ouyang Ling: "..."

She's still looking at me. What is she thinking? Forget it. No matter what, I just have to deny it to the end.

The others, meanwhile—

Yu Tianheng, Dugu Yan: "..."

It felt so formal. So strange.

Yu Feng: "..."

What a pretentious kid.

Oslo: "..."

What a smooth-talking brat.

The Shi Family brothers: "..." (silent the entire time)

(By the way... were they here just now?)