Breakthrough?

She had seen Bing Yekong's focus when practicing swordsmanship and his meticulousness when refining pills, but this was the first time she had seen him speaking eloquently before everyone, calmly and methodically planning a team's future.

It made her feel that no matter what he did, he seemed capable of doing it well.

"That's all for now." Bing Yekong set down his pen, folded up the sheet filled with plans, and put it away. "Let's get acquainted today. Go back and familiarize yourselves with your teammates' soul skill effects. We'll officially begin joint training tomorrow afternoon."

Everyone responded and gradually rose to leave. As Shui Yue'er departed, she winked at Bing Yekong. "Captain, don't be late tomorrow!"

Bing Yekong gave her a helpless look. "Don't worry. I won't be late."

Only after the classroom was left with just him and Shui Bing'er did he let out a breath, lean back in his chair, and rub his temples. After all, it was his first time being captain. There was still some pressure.

"Tired?" Shui Bing'er walked over and sat beside him, her voice gentle.

"Not really." Bing Yekong lowered his hand and turned to look at her. "I'm just afraid I won't lead this team well."

Shui Bing'er gently shook her head. "You spoke very well just now. Everyone believes in you. Besides..." She paused, a faint smile tugging at her lips. "With me as vice-captain to back you up, just go ahead and do what you need to do."

Bing Yekong looked into her clear, resolute eyes, and more than half of the unease in his heart suddenly faded. He nodded, rose to his feet, and headed for the door.

"Then let's go, Vice-Captain. Starting tomorrow, our team will officially set out."

Shui Bing'er followed behind him. Their shadows overlapped in the afternoon sunlight, one long and one short, stretching steadily forward.

Yang Wudi's booming shout came from the end of the corridor. "Yekong, are you going to sort out those medicinal herbs or not? They're piled all over the table!"

Bing Yekong paused, looked back at Shui Bing'er, and the two of them laughed at the same time.

A year passed quickly.

Over the past year, Tianshui Team's joint training had gone from an awkward, stumbling start to gradually developing coordination, until they could now skillfully execute all kinds of tactics formulated by Bing Yekong.

The coordination among the seven grew increasingly fluid. Xue Wu's timing with her buffs became incomparably precise, while Shui Yue'er and Gu Qingbo's interweaving harassment had become instinctive. Yu Hairou and Shen Liuyu held the line at the front as steadily as rocks.

As the core of the team, Bing Yekong continuously adjusted his attack rhythm through countless sparring sessions. He could now precisely land a fatal blow in every opening his teammates created.

Aside from team training, he had never neglected his personal cultivation. His martial soul fusion cultivation with Shui Bing'er every night had become an unshakable habit. During the day, whenever he had time, he practiced swordsmanship. In his spare moments, he helped Yang Wudi and picked up some insights into medicine refining. His days were busy yet fulfilling.

This year of steady progress had made his foundation more solid than ever before.

One morning, Bing Yekong was practicing swordsmanship in the back courtyard as usual. The Heavenly Frost Sword flowed with cold radiance in his hand. As his sword intent surged and receded, every streak of sword qi precisely cut through falling leaves, splitting them in two, then into four.

He had not deliberately practiced basic sword techniques for a long time, but whenever he picked up a sword, those most fundamental moves still flowed forth naturally, as instinctively as breathing.

The wind raised by his blade no longer shrieked through the air. Instead, it gave a clear, resonant hum, as though the sword itself had gained a spirit and was dancing to his will.

Suddenly, the momentum of his sword faltered slightly.

An intangible opportunity surged up from the depths of his dantian, like an undercurrent suddenly stirring beneath a calm lake. The soul power within him began to circulate, expand, and crash against itself. Fine cracks appeared in the bottleneck that had hindered him for so long, like an ice wall enduring relentless impacts until a tiny fissure finally broke open at its weakest point.

Delight flashed through Bing Yekong's heart. He immediately sheathed his sword and sat down cross-legged.

He closed his eyes and sank his full attention into his dantian, guiding the surging soul power to assault the bottleneck. His Ultimate Ice soul power was like a flood unleashed by a thawing glacier, crashing again and again against that invisible barrier.

With every impact, the cracks widened a little. Traces of soul power seeped through the fissures, nourishing the untapped meridian pathways beyond.

Once, twice, three times.

On the seventh impact, the barrier finally shattered with a roar. Soul power rushed into the new meridian pathways like floodwaters breaking through a dam, surging and circulating through his body as it opened up a broader expanse.

Those once twisted, narrow meridians were scoured completely clear by his soul power, vast and mighty like an icy river flowing into the sea.

An aura more surging than ever before rose from his body, causing the moisture in the surrounding air to condense into fine ice crystals that drifted down onto his shoulders and hair.

Several old trees in the courtyard trembled faintly in the chill, and a thin layer of frost coated their leaves.

Bing Yekong slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a breath of stale air.

Level fifty.

He lowered his head and looked at his hands. His fingertips trembled slightly. From awakening his martial soul at level ten to reaching the level-fifty Soul King bottleneck, exactly five years had passed.

Along this path, every breakthrough, every absorption of a Soul Ring, and every drop of sweat spilled on the training grounds had become the surging soul power within him now. What he felt was not exhaustion, but a sense of fulfillment that welled up from deep within.

He stood up, brushed the ice fragments from his robe, and a smile slowly curved across his lips.

He had reached level fifty. It was time to arrange his fifth Soul Ring as well.

Without wasting any time, he immediately turned and headed for the dean's office. As he passed through the covered corridor, several Shui Family servants greeted him. He nodded back to each of them, but his pace did not slow in the slightest.

When he pushed open the door to the dean's office, Shui Qingrou was sitting by the window reading. She held an old, yellowed soul beast illustrated guide in her hands, while sunlight slanted in through the window and fell across her shoulders and the open pages.

A year had passed, and her aura was much more restrained than when she had first broken through. Unless one deliberately sensed her, it was nearly impossible to detect the pressure belonging to a Titled Douluo from her.

Her level-ninety-three soul power was perfectly suppressed within her body, like an undercurrent moving beneath a calm sea. Without drawing attention to herself, she had already become stronger than she had been a year ago.

Hearing the door open, she raised her head. Her gaze rested on Bing Yekong for a moment. As a Titled Douluo, her perception of soul power fluctuations was extraordinarily sharp. Almost the instant Bing Yekong stepped into the room, she caught that fresh aura leaking from his body.

"You broke through?" She set down her book, her eyes smiling.

Bing Yekong nodded. "I just broke through to level fifty. Aunt Shui, I'd like to ask you to accompany me to the Far North. This time, I need a Soul Ring of around fifty thousand years."