Thunder and Rain Alike Were the Sovereign's Favor

"Don't thank me just yet." Cao Feng changed the subject and said playfully, "There's a third matter."

Ye Xunhuan looked at him.

Cao Feng cleared his throat.

Then he poured out His Holiness the Pope's demands all at once.

"After obtaining your second Spirit Ring, the training intensity will be increased. First, individual battles: two people will be allowed to attack you at the same time. Not one-on-one, but one-on-two."

Xu Qingqing: "Huh?"

Ye Xunhuan nodded slightly. "I can accept that."

"Second, battles against soul beasts: we'll pick soul beasts with powerful bloodlines for you to fight. No easy prey. The tougher, the better. Even beasts with ferocious beast bloodlines are possible."

Xu Qingqing sucked in a sharp breath and looked at Ye Xunhuan with some concern.

Ye Xunhuan patted her hand reassuringly. He honestly thought it was fine. What kind of ferocious beast could this old Spirit Hall possibly come up with? What bloodline could possibly compare to a Behemoth?

"Third." Cao Feng glanced at Xu Qingqing before looking back at Ye Xunhuan. "In team battles, only you and Xu Qingqing will be allowed to form a team against other complete soul master squads."

This time, it was not only Xu Qingqing—even Ye Xunhuan could barely stay seated.

Two people? Against an entire team?

A soul fighting team had at least three people and at most seven, and they were well-trained teams that had already developed coordination.

Two against seven was utterly absurd. The other side could simply wear them to death.

Cao Feng scratched his head awkwardly, his tone helpless. "There's nothing I can do about it. His Holiness the Pope said so. If the two of you can both break through Rank 20 before the selection tournament begins, there may still be a chance. Don't worry, I'll arrange teams with as few people as possible for you. I still have that much authority."

After thinking for a moment, he added, "The points for all three categories are equal. If you really can't win the team battles, your strength in the other two should be enough to pull up your score and win the championship."

Ye Xunhuan's mouth twitched. Bibi Dong was practically treating him like a nuclear-powered donkey.

This kind of back-to-back schedule already left little time for rest, and now he had to face being outnumbered as well. It really was...

However, he failed to notice that Xu Qingqing's expression beside him had completely darkened.

Seeing the two fall silent, Cao Feng sensed that something was wrong with the atmosphere and hurriedly came up with a clumsy excuse. "Well, I have something to do, so I'll be leaving first. You two talk."

Before he had even finished speaking, he was already at the door. He shut it behind him and ran off faster than a rabbit.

The room fell quiet for two seconds.

Sure enough, the moment Cao Feng left, Xu Qingqing exploded.

Her silver teeth ground together as she forced out each word through clenched teeth. "Ye! Xun! Huan!"

She grabbed the pillow from her bed and hurled it at Ye Xunhuan with all her strength.

"It's all your fault! Now I have to face this devilish competition format with you!"

Ye Xunhuan reacted quickly and caught the flying pillow in one hand. Smiling sheepishly, he said, "Don't say that, Qingqing. As they say, thunder and rain alike are the sovereign's favor."

"Sovereign's favor, my ass!" Xu Qingqing grabbed another plush toy and threw it at him. "You're the one getting the favor! What did I ever do to deserve this?"

Ye Xunhuan blocked her attacks while trying to persuade her. "Don't say that, don't say that. Think about it—if I get a bite of thousand-year soul beast meat, then you'll at least get a sip of thousand-year soul beast soup."

Xu Qingqing's pillow-throwing motion paused.

Thousand-year soul beast meat...

It did sound... pretty tempting.

Ye Xunhuan pressed his advantage. "Besides, aren't you about to break through Rank 20 too? Eat more soul beast meat and break through to Rank 20. Then I'll go persuade the elder sent by His Holiness the Pope, and won't they be able to take both of us to hunt Spirit Rings? With an elder making the move, you can pick whatever quality and age you want."

Xu Qingqing slowly lowered the pillow in her raised hand.

She tilted her head and thought about it.

It seemed... that was true.

Xu Qingqing hugged the pillow to her chest, her expression changing from anger to hesitation, then to That actually makes some sense.

The moment Ye Xunhuan saw that look on her face, he knew he had won.

What a little girl. Give her something to eat, and she couldn't walk away.

"Then... then I want double portions of thousand-year soul beast meat!" Xu Qingqing raised her chin, looking as though she was not giving in so easily.

"Fine." Ye Xunhuan held back a laugh. "Forget double portions. Whatever you want, I'll give it to you."

"That's more like it." Xu Qingqing snorted and hugged the pillow as she sat back on the bed, though the corners of her lips secretly curled upward.

Ye Xunhuan smiled and shook his head. Little girls really were easy to coax.

Then he leaned against the headboard and began considering the important matter.

Two against many sounded ridiculous, but it was not a complete dead end.

The key lay in what he chose for his second Spirit Ring.

Leaning against the headboard, Ye Xunhuan tapped his fingers against his knee as his mind raced.

What was his current weakness?

Speed.

During the arena soul fights a few days ago, he had only needed one punch to defeat Zhang Lei, but chasing Li Yan had taken a full five minutes.

Agility attack-type soul masters were like mosquitoes, buzzing around you in circles. You couldn't swat them, and they could annoy you to death.

The Behemoth's strength and defense were both maxed out, but speed was its innate weakness.

After all, if its strength, defense, and speed were all maxed out, the Behemoth could just rename itself LeBron James.

This was not something cultivation could make up for. It was determined by the characteristics of his martial soul.

What should he do?

Ye Xunhuan frowned and thought for a long time before his eyes suddenly lit up.

He thought of someone from the original story—Zhao Wuji.

That was right, Zhao Wuji, who was currently working at Shrek Academy.

Zhao Wuji's martial soul was the Mighty Vajra Bear, which followed the same path as the Behemoth.

Both were strength-type beast martial souls, with strong defense, immense power, and slow speed.

To put it bluntly, the Behemoth was essentially the six-sided Pro Max version of the Mighty Vajra Bear.

It was enhanced in every aspect, but its foundation was the same.

How had Zhao Wuji compensated for his weakness in speed?

No, he had not chosen to make up for it at all. Instead, he had chosen to play to his strengths and avoid his weaknesses.

His third soul skill: Gravity Enhancement. His fourth soul skill: Target Tracking.

One slowed you down, while the other locked you in place.

You were fast? No problem. Add gravity, and you became a turtle.

You wanted to dodge? No problem. With Target Tracking, wherever you hid, he would follow.

Perfect.

The more Ye Xunhuan thought about it, the more reliable it seemed.

He already had the all-around enhancement of Berserk Blood Battle Physique, Soul-Shattering Wall to block soul skills, Mighty Dragon to suppress beast martial soul masters, and Bloodcrazed War Bear Palm Bone to increase his attack range.

The only thing he lacked was control.

Only after controlling his opponent could he rush in and tear them apart.

Otherwise, no matter how great his strength was, it meant nothing if he could not hit anyone.

For his second Spirit Ring, he would go in the direction of Gravity Suppression.

Ye Xunhuan made up his mind.

That way, in individual battles, he could cast Gravity Suppression and end things quickly.

It would be even more useful in team battles. Once he spread Gravity Suppression across the field, the entire opposing team's speed would drop. Xu Qingqing could then add a Star Crown enhancement, and he could rush in and kill two people first. After that, everything else would be easier.

After figuring this out, Ye Xunhuan suddenly felt enlightened, and the knot in his heart vanished without a trace.