Huo Wushuang's Enlightenment

"..."

There was nothing to say about Lin Huo's monstrous strength. Huo Wushuang, who had been thrown once already, had the most say in the matter.

Yet whenever he saw the teasing smile on Lin Huo's face, Huo Wushuang felt an indescribable sense of weirdness.

And yet Lin Huo really was just a Soul Warrior. There was no chance of him using a soul skill to enhance himself.

So no matter how strange it felt, Huo Wushuang could only accept that natural-born superhuman strength was a reasonable explanation.

After all, his family records did mention some unusual people with no Martial Soul who possessed astonishing strength.

No matter what, after suffering a major loss in a head-on clash with Lin Huo, Huo Wushuang no longer dared to stubbornly keep fighting at close range.

If he got thrown another couple of times, he genuinely felt his backside would not survive.

His yellow first Soul Ring glowed faintly. Huo Wushuang pressed his palms together, then slowly pulled them apart with effort.

Dark-red light surged between his hands before condensing into a palm-sized dark-red fireball.

The fireball was no less than scorching. The instant it formed, it charred the grass beneath Huo Wushuang's feet black, making its destructive power obvious.

Holding the fireball, Huo Wushuang did not throw it immediately. Though he had lost to Lin Huo in a single move, bullying someone younger and weaker still made him uneasy.

Now that he was using a soul skill, Huo Wushuang did not want to take advantage either, so he warned him first:

"Lin Huo, this is my first soul skill, Scorching Dragon Orb. It came from a four-hundred-and-ten-year Heat-Chasing Earth Dragon.

"This move can track any target within my line of sight and burns enemies purely through extreme heat.

"If you can't withstand it or evade it later, just say so. I'll cancel the soul skill immediately."

"Tsk..." Lin Huo once again felt a little envious of the foundations of great clans.

Huo Wushuang truly deserved to be the young master of the Fire Clan behind Blazing Fire Academy. His first Soul Ring came from a four-hundred-year fire-attributed dragon-type Soul Beast.

Lin Huo had no idea what arrangements the academy would make for Huo Wushuang's later Soul Rings, but given his elite status, they surely would not treat him carelessly.

Of course, Lin Huo would also have to produce something to raise his own importance and obtain better cultivation resources.

Turning his attention back to Huo Wushuang's soul skill, Lin Huo actually felt little pressure after hearing that Scorching Dragon Orb relied purely on high temperatures to burn its target.

Nine out of ten fire-attributed soul skills blindly followed one of two paths: high-temperature burning or explosive impact.

Occasionally, some fire-attributed Soul Masters possessed flames with special abilities, such as the purifying Angel Fire of the Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul, or the Aphrodisiac Virility Fire of Ma Hongjun's Evil Fire Phoenix Martial Soul.

But such special flames were so rare they could practically be ignored, and even when developed, they generally would not be developed in a special direction.

Of those two paths, Lin Huo currently had no particularly good way to deal with the physical force of explosive impacts.

But when it came to high-temperature burning...

Sorry, but fire-type Pokémon were immune to the burn condition.

Of course, Lin Huo did not know whether his Little Fire Dragon Martial Soul was really so incredible that it could be immune to burns.

But judging solely by the heat resistance it had displayed so far, firepower at Huo Wushuang's level could not even make him sweat an extra drop.

"Thanks for the warning. Go ahead."

A trace of pity appeared in Lin Huo's gaze as he looked at Huo Wushuang, leaving Huo Wushuang baffled again.

But they were in the middle of a fight, and Huo Wushuang could not be bothered to think too much. The dragon orb formed by his century-old soul skill gave him enough confidence for a smile to return to his face.

Since he could not beat Lin Huo, that monster, in a contest of strength, switching to soul skill attacks should at least let him recover some face as a Soul Master, right?

The dark-red fireball flew out, chasing after Lin Huo.

Wanting to test just how effective the soul skill's tracking was, Lin Huo stomped down and dashed five or six meters away to evade.

But the dark-red fireball flew with astonishing speed, diving down through the air and giving Lin Huo no opportunity to dodge or maneuver.

Seeing this, Lin Huo decisively gave up on evading.

There was no helping it. In terms of mobility alone, something running on the ground simply could not compete with something flying in the sky.

The dark-red fireball reached Lin Huo's side and erupted with heat, scorching the air into waves of visible distortion.

A blast of searing wind hit him head-on. The green grass beneath his feet turned to ash in an instant, while the damp soil baked dry and cracked apart.

Lin Huo inwardly cursed his bad luck, stripped off his shirt, and flung it into the distance.

Huo Wushuang could not understand Lin Huo's actions, but he smugly reminded him, "Hey! If you should admit defeat, then admit it. The heat released by my soul skill isn't something you can resist just by taking off your clothes."

Lin Huo ignored Huo Wushuang's attempt to make him surrender. Once he had taken off his shirt, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Most fire-attributed Soul Masters' Martial Souls did grant their bodies and Soul Power fire resistance, but the clothes they wore were not included.

Protecting clothing usually required a Soul Master to coat it with Soul Power, but his level-six Soul Power could barely cover the area of a pair of briefs.

And the high heat released by Scorching Dragon Orb really was formidable—far stronger than whatever Flaming Gale Huo Yun had used that morning, which had been scattered with a single slap.

In less than a moment, it had already burned his pants past the knees. Only the areas covered by Soul Power remained, transforming a perfectly intact pair of long pants into sexy hot pants.

Looking at his ruined outfit, Lin Huo was filled with resentment. He finally understood why the teachers and students of Blazing Fire Academy all dressed so lightly.

Water and fire showed no mercy and recognized no allies. High temperatures burned enemies and oneself alike, forcing them to expend Soul Power protecting their clothes.

And Soul Power was something to conserve whenever possible in battle. Wearing less meant needing to coat less clothing with Soul Power.

If they wore too much and failed to cover some part of their clothes with Soul Power, once the clothes got burned, the entire outfit would need replacing. That was troublesome too.

So they might as well dress lightly and save themselves the hassle.

Because Huo Wushuang's Scorching Dragon Orb posed no real threat, Lin Huo's thoughts had wandered for a moment.

Now back on track, Lin Huo, resentful in his sexy hot pants, looked once more at Huo Wushuang, who was maintaining his soul skill.

"You burned my pants. Remember to compensate me with a new pair after we're done."

"..."

Scorching Dragon Orb hung above Lin Huo's head, continuously radiating heat. Even the ground had been baked black.

Yet as Huo Wushuang continued pouring out Soul Power, seeing Lin Huo remain so calm and unruffled gave him the urge to cough up blood.

Among fire-attributed Soul Masters with Martial Souls of the same quality, even a one-level difference in Soul Power created a world of difference in flame intensity and fire resistance.

Not to mention that Huo Wushuang's Soul Power was a full thirteen levels higher than Lin Huo's!

As for Martial Soul quality, his One-Horned Flame Tyrannosaur Martial Soul was already a top-tier dragon-type beast Martial Soul.

Could Lin Huo's Round-Headed Fire Lizard Martial Soul possibly be of higher quality than his One-Horned Flame Tyrannosaur?

But what was happening now?

Being freakishly strong was one thing, but what kind of monster was Lin Huo to be this resistant to fire too? Was there no justice left in this damn world?

No matter what, Huo Wushuang refused to believe that Lin Huo could truly withstand such heat. He viciously poured in more Soul Power, increasing the dragon orb's temperature output.

Today, he would get to the bottom of Lin Huo's limits no matter what!

And then...

Then there was no then.

A short while later, Huo Wushuang sat collapsed on the ground, panting heavily. His nearly depleted Soul Power taught him a profound lesson.

The next time he fought Lin Huo, even if he had to grit his teeth and endure being pinned down and beaten senseless by that monstrous strength, he absolutely, absolutely would not use any damn fire-attributed soul skills again!

To a freak like Lin Huo, fire was completely useless aside from burning a few clothes!