Grandmaster, Want to Guess Again?

Liu Erlong stood with her arms crossed, a smile on her face that looked dangerous no matter how Ling Yun saw it.

"Thirteen years old, Level 40, and you went straight for a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring as your fourth. Ling Yun, is your nerve growing even faster than your Soul Power?"

Ling Yun had barely flinched in front of Dugu Bo, but now he wisely took half a step back. "Teacher, I wasn't just being reckless. After Ice and Fire Body Tempering, I know what my body can handle. And Dugu Bo was right there. If something had gone wrong, he wouldn't have stood by and watched."

"So you dared to do it first and tell me afterward?"

Liu Erlong smacked the back of his head again, though not very hard. "I'm not saying you can't take risks, but you should at least know that the more talented you are, the less you can afford to gamble with your life. If you get yourself killed, won't all these years I spent raising you have been for nothing?"

Ling Yun rubbed his head and, for once, gave her an honest answer. "Got it. I'll tell you beforehand next time."

"You're planning on a next time?"

"That depends on whether the right opportunity comes along."

Liu Erlong took a deep breath and decided to drop the subject for now. Otherwise, she was afraid she might pin the brat to the ground and beat him.

Flender had watched from the side for some time, but he was more interested in that fourth Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring. "Since you've absorbed it successfully, we can't just admire its color. What's your fourth Soul Skill?"

That immediately drew everyone's attention back.

Ling Yun thought for a moment, then his gaze naturally settled on Tang San.

Tang San had a bad feeling at once.

"Why are you looking at me?"

"I need a point of comparison." Ling Yun smiled. "We've fought before, so everyone knows what your Blue Silver Grass control and Purple Demon Eye can do. If I test it on someone else, the results won't be as easy to compare."

Tang San fell silent for a moment, but he didn't refuse. He wanted to know how powerful the Soul Skill Ling Yun had gained by risking so much for a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring really was.

Before long, a crowd had gathered around the training ground again.

Ling Yun and Tang San stood in the center while the others retreated to the edge. Yu Xiaogang did not stop them. He simply watched the changes in Ling Yun's Soul Power closely.

"A ten-thousand-year fourth ring will certainly produce a powerful Soul Skill. But the Darkwater Shadow Leopard specializes in speed and concealment, so your fourth Soul Skill most likely strengthens those two aspects."

Ling Yun nodded. "That's a pretty accurate guess this time."

Yu Xiaogang's brow eased a little. At least the Soul Skill's direction was within his expectations.

But Ling Yun offered no further explanation. His fourth Soul Ring slowly lit up. As black light spread outward, a thin mist rose from beneath his feet. Before long, white fog blanketed the entire training ground.

Beyond ten meters, only blurred outlines remained visible.

Tang San activated his Purple Demon Eye at once. Purple light flickered in his eyes, and the fog around him thinned considerably in his sight.

Seeing this from outside the field, Yu Xiaogang promptly concluded, "If the fog merely blocks vision, it won't be very effective against Little San. The Purple Demon Eye gives him extraordinary powers of observation. As long as Ling Yun produces a fluctuation of Soul Power when he moves..."

Before he could finish, Tang San's expression changed. He could see too much.

Tiny fluctuations of Soul Power were everywhere in the fog. Some came from Ling Yun, some from Water Shadow Clones, and some were nothing more than interference created by the fourth Soul Skill.

The Purple Demon Eye could help him see through the fog, but it could not tell him which fluctuation belonged to the real Ling Yun.

Tang San raised his right hand, and masses of Blue Silver Grass spread outward from beneath his feet.

If his eyes couldn't find the target, he would expand his area of control.

"First Soul Skill, Entanglement!"

The Blue Silver Grass surged up at once, sealing off every spot where someone was most likely to be hiding.

One figure was bound in an instant.

But Tang San showed no joy.

Just as he'd expected.

The bound Ling Yun dissolved into flowing water the next moment.

A clone.

At the same time, the real Ling Yun appeared behind Tang San to his right. One heavy punch sent Tang San flying like a dead dog. He landed facedown and lay motionless.

"Little San, you lost."

Tang San tried to get up, but the blow had hit too hard. His fingers could only scrabble uselessly at the ground; he couldn't push himself up. Worse still, Ling Yun had vanished into the fog again, nowhere to be found.

It had all happened so fast that Tang San had not even had a chance to strike back.

A few seconds later, the mist slowly dispersed.

Ling Yun reappeared on the other side of the training ground, and his fourth Soul Ring faded.

After watching the whole thing, Dai Mubai couldn't help frowning. "That Soul Skill is a bit unfair. No one else can see you, but the fog doesn't affect you. Add the clones, and they have no idea which one to attack."

Zhu Zhuqing said nothing either.

As an agility-type Soul Master, she understood even better how troublesome that kind of Soul Skill was.

Speed alone wasn't frightening.

What was frightening was not knowing where the enemy was at all.

Yu Xiaogang, however, quickly identified a weakness. "An area-of-effect Soul Skill consumes Soul Power continuously, and creating mist over such a large area should cost even more. If your opponent focuses on defense and outlasts the skill, your advantage will drop sharply."

This time, even Tang San nodded.

It was a reasonable assessment.

Ling Yun smiled. "Grandmaster, want to guess again?"

Yu Xiaogang paused.

Ling Yun pressed his foot against the damp patches left on the training ground. "Under normal circumstances, the cost would be considerable. But if there's already plenty of moisture nearby, it drops sharply. Places like Mist Marsh in Sunset Forest, riverbanks, rainy days, or even the water created by my third Soul Skill can all provide the right conditions."

Yu Xiaogang's brow furrowed again.

"So your third and fourth Soul Skills can work together?"

"More or less."

Ling Yun stopped holding back. "Wave Treading lays down water and boosts my speed. Mist Veil conceals my presence, and the Water Shadow Clones make it harder to judge where I am. Each has weaknesses on its own, but stack them together, and those weaknesses aren't nearly as obvious."

After hearing that, Flender couldn't help glancing at Liu Erlong. "How exactly did you teach him?"

Liu Erlong answered bluntly, "I found the Soul Beasts. He figured out how to fight on his own."

Flender fell silent.

That approach to training was rather rough.

Yet the results were absurdly good.

Tang San walked back to the edge of the field, already reviewing the fight in his mind. If he entered that fog again, he couldn't keep relying on sight. He would also need to spread his Blue Silver Grass in advance, using touch and wide-area control to Lock-On to Ling Yun's position.

Losing one test had not made him think the skill was impossible to counter.

Ling Yun saw what he was thinking and smiled instead.

That was more like it.

If one fight was enough to knock all the sense out of Tang San, things would be a lot less interesting later.

Just then, several teachers from Blue Tyrant Academy approached from a distance. One of them carried a freshly made wooden sign.

Ling Yun glanced at it casually, then stopped in his tracks.

Five large characters were written on the sign: Shrek Academy.

The smile slowly faded from his face. Damn that Gangzi. How could he be so shameless?

The matter of his fourth Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring was settled.

And one score from seven years ago had been settled.

But the score over the academy's sign, it seemed, was still outstanding.