Instant Defeat!

"Be careful."

"He's probably a Soul Emperor by now."

Xie Yue offered what he thought was an accurate assessment.

Lin Ye had actually dared to say he would face their challenge without releasing his Martial Soul.

There was only one possibility!

Lin Ye had broken through to another major realm.

"I'll show him what we're capable of today."

The more Yan looked at him, the angrier he grew.

The sheer arrogance!

So what if Lin Ye was a Soul Emperor?

Did he really think he could beat the three of them like he had the last three times?

After their training in Death Canyon, the three of them had long since shed their old skins.

Yan dared say that no Soul Emperor on the Douluo Continent could withstand the Spirit Hall Golden Generation's successive onslaught.

"Go!"

When Hu Liena gave no orders, Xie Yue had no choice but to take command for the moment.

Hmm...

He had no idea what his sister was thinking.

The instant his words fell, all three charged at Lin Ye.

"First Soul Skill—Moon Blade Slash!"

"Second Soul Skill—Foxfire!"

"First Soul Skill—Hellfire Lava Charge!"

Three Soul Skills tore through the air together, silver light, pink flames, and scarlet lava intertwining.

Xie Yue's figure flickered as his two Moon Blades traced chilling arcs, slashing straight at Lin Ye's waist from the side.

Hu Liena followed close behind. Several clusters of pink Foxfire flew in trailing an eerie glow, carrying a faint mental Charm to disrupt her opponent's concentration.

Yan strode forward, shattering the ground beneath his feet. Scalding lava surged ahead, and a scorching wave of heat rushed toward Lin Ye.

It had to be said!

The three attacks complemented one another, sealing off every escape route in an instant.

The Spirit Hall Golden Generation dreamed of defeating Lin Ye, but they had not let that desire make them lose their composure in battle.

They had all opened with basic Soul Skills.

Their aim was to probe Lin Ye's true strength.

But!

Lin Ye had no intention of giving them that chance.

He had previously consumed several herbs that enhanced spiritual power so he could absorb Soul Rings beyond his level while avoiding Soul Shock. Later, he had also consumed the Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew.

By now,

his spiritual power surpassed even that of most Titled Douluo.

It was thanks to that formidable spiritual power that he had detected no powerful guardian near Hu Liena.

Since Spirit Hall had no eyes on them...

Then he would make no apologies!

Lin Ye swept a hand through the air.

Three streaks of icy white light instantly struck Hu Liena, Xie Yue, and Yan.

In that instant!

All three felt a bone-piercing chill flood their bodies.

Before they could make another move, they were frozen where they stood.

Then,

Lin Ye gave them a farewell wave.

He did a quick calculation...

At Hu Liena and the others' current cultivation levels, breaking through the Ice Seal would take about half a day.

"How could this happen?"

"Why did this happen?"

"Break!"

"Break already!"

Yan had taken a crushing blow.

He had thought that, after breaking through to Soul King, he could defeat Lin Ye. At the very least, he should have been able to fight him to a standstill.

Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined...

He had not even lasted one exchange against Lin Ye?

How was that possible?

Had his year of bitter training been for nothing?

Yan glanced at his teammates from the corner of his eye.

Neither of them looked pleased, either.

Half a day later,

the three finally broke free of the Ice Seal.

Hmm...

It would be more accurate to say Lin Ye's ice had melted.

"What level do you think he is now?"

Xie Yue asked the question that had been tormenting all three of them.

He had been thinking about it the whole time...

But he still did not dare reach a conclusion.

"Soul Saint!"

Yan gave his answer.

Though he could not stand Lin Ye and refused to accept defeat in his heart, he had to admit that Lin Ye's strength had long since surpassed a Soul Emperor's.

"Mm..."

"He's a Soul Saint!"

Xie Yue agreed.

This is fucking ridiculous!

A guy who was not even twenty had already broken through to Soul Saint.

"Remember this, you two."

"Today's events must not get out. Above all, our teacher mustn't find out."

The "teacher" Hu Liena spoke of was, of course, Pope Bibi Dong.

"Why?"

Yan pressed, irritation still in his voice.

Hu Liena said, "Do you really want His Holiness the Pope to know about this?"

"Nana."

"You've fallen for Lin Ye, haven't you?"

That was why Yan was angry.

If those words had come from Xie Yue, he might actually have fucking believed them.

But from Hu Liena?

No way!

"You..."

"What are you saying?"

"It's not what you think."

"I just don't want to be punished again over this."

"..."

Yan was speechless.

"Nana."

"Couldn't you come up with a better excuse?"

Did she think he was stupid?

To make their training harder, Hu Liena had even asked the Pope not to provide protection in secret.

And now she claimed she did not want to be punished for one loss?

What was that supposed to mean?

He could see it now.

Hu Liena had fallen for Lin Ye.

"I already said I don't want to be punished again."

"Yan."

"Get this straight!"

"I'm the leader of this team."

Hu Liena said no more and walked straight ahead.

Bang!

Yan slammed a fist into a nearby tree trunk.

He was not angry with Hu Liena. He was angry because a rival for her affections had suddenly appeared—and that rival was Lin Ye.

Why?

He treated Hu Liena so well, yet Nana would not even spare him a second glance.

And then...

She turned around and fell for Lin Ye.

Of course he was fucking angry.

He also knew why Hu Liena did not want the Pope to hear about this.

Nana was protecting Lin Ye. She did not want Spirit Hall to discover him.

"Sigh~"

Xie Yue patted Yan on the shoulder, then started walking ahead as well.

Hmm...

He could see through his sister's little thoughts.

And he understood what was going through Yan's mind just as well.

For all Yan's anger, he would certainly go along with his sister's suggestion.

Such was the self-discipline of a devoted hanger-on.

And such was the tragedy of it!

Meanwhile,

Shui Bing'er was talking about the same thing.

"Did you notice?" Shui Bing'er said. "That fox from Spirit Hall seems to like you."

She was not sure whether Lin Ye had noticed.

But she herself had seen it perfectly clearly.

"Maybe."

Lin Ye could not be certain.

His attention had not been entirely on Hu Liena at the time.

Shui Bing'er said, "You don't seem surprised at all."

"What's so surprising about it?"

Lin Ye could not be certain what Hu Liena was thinking.

But one thing was clear...

Many women on the Douluo Continent shared one trait: defeat them, and you won mating rights.

Hu Liena was like that.

Qian Renxue was, too.

"I guess so."

"So many people like you."

As she said this,

two figures rose unbidden in Shui Bing'er's mind.

One was Ye Lingling.

The other was Dugu Yan.

But...

Both of them were at Heaven Dou Royal Academy and had no chance to travel and train with Lin Ye.