That night, the unconscious Xiao Wu suddenly jolted awake from a dream.
A fine sheen of sweat covered her forehead.
Her delicate brows knitted tightly as she gasped for breath.
"Xiao Wu, you're awake? How are you feeling now?"
Seeing his sister awake, Huo Wushuang, who had been keeping watch by her side, hurriedly asked.
"Brother? Is this... the place the tournament arranged for us to rest? How did I get here? Wasn't I just fighting Yu Tianheng one-on-one?"
Huo Wu only remembered terrifying lightning surging around Yu Tianheng. Everything after that was a complete blank.
"We lost. You ran out of Soul Power, and Yu Tianheng's lightning paralyzed you on top of that, so you passed out."
Huo Wushuang knew how fiercely competitive his sister was, so he spoke in a somewhat comforting tone.
He wanted to ease Huo Wu's feelings.
"So I lost after all?"
Huo Wu tilted her head back and gazed at the ceiling, a flicker of dejection passing through her eyes.
She had thought she might still have a chance, but she hadn't expected to fail to withstand even one of Yu Tianheng's moves.
"Xiao Wu, don't take it too much to heart. We can still enter the next Soul Master Tournament."
As Huo Wushuang said this, his tone sounded somewhat forced.
Yu Tianheng was quite a bit younger than them. Never mind the next tournament-even in the one after that, he would probably still be the undisputed champion.
Living in the same era as such an almost monstrous genius, they were destined to have no chance at all.
"Brother, could you tell roughly what Yu Tianheng's Soul Power Level was?"
After a long while, Huo Wu asked softly.
"Huh?"
Huo Wushuang hadn't expected his sister to suddenly ask that. He pondered for a long time before speaking.
"I'm not entirely sure either, but the presence he displayed was far beyond what an ordinary Soul Ancestor could achieve. Even a Soul King would fall a little short."
In a fight, as long as an opponent used Soul Power, one might not be able to tell their exact Soul Power Level.
But it was still possible to sense roughly what realm they were in.
Yu Tianheng was the first person Huo Wushuang had found impossible to fathom.
He was like a mass of eerie black fog: you never knew what lay beneath it.
"I'll surpass him! I'll become stronger than him!"
Huo Wu's voice was resolute, and her limpid eyes brimmed with fighting spirit.
Ever since she was little, she had always been hailed as a genius.
She had even broken Blazing Fire Academy's record for the youngest person to reach rank thirty.
This was the first time she understood that beyond every person stood someone greater, and beyond every heaven lay another heaven!
"Good. I support you. If you need anything, just tell me!"
Seeing that his sister wasn't discouraged at all, Huo Wushuang finally felt the great stone in his heart drop.
He had feared that this defeat would leave his sister unable to get back on her feet.
"Boss, because we didn't take part in the qualifiers, we can't get a bye tomorrow. We still have to fight."
Shi Mo rushed back to the dormitory and spoke somewhat breathlessly.
"Then we'll fight. It's not like we used much strength today anyway."
Yu Tianheng lay on his bed with his eyes closed, resting. He couldn't even be bothered to open them.
"No, boss, our opponent tomorrow is Thunder Academy!"
Seeing that his boss was unmoved, Shi Mo immediately added another sentence.
At the mention of Thunder Academy, Yu Tianheng's eyelids trembled almost imperceptibly.
Wasn't Thunder Academy the academy Yu Tianxin attended?
He hadn't expected such a coincidence, that he would run into his cousin.
Ever since entering Thunder Academy, Yu Tianxin had hardly returned to the clan.
"What a shame. Looks like it's brother against brother this time."
The corners of Yu Tianheng's mouth rose slightly.
Judging by the timeline, Yu Tianxin wasn't the captain of the Thunder team yet.
Presumably, like Huo Wu, he had been allowed to compete as an exception because of his talent.
His Soul Power Level was probably only somewhere above thirty.
Under normal circumstances, Yu Tianheng would certainly have gone easy on Yu Tianxin. They were family, after all.
But not this time.
"Oh, right, boss. When I was coming back just now, a red sparrow brought a letter in its beak. It said you were to open it personally."
As he spoke, Yu Feng, who had returned later, pulled an orange-red envelope from his robes.
"Boss, could it be a love letter from someone?"
"I've never seen a love letter before. Boss, can you let me have a look?"
Hearing this, the brothers Shi Mo and Shi Mo immediately crowded around like dogs at feeding time.
They stared fixedly at the letter, waiting for Yu Tianheng to open it.
"Get lost. How could I show you something private like this?"
Without hesitation, Yu Tianheng kicked them both away, one foot for each.
"Yu Tianheng, after dark, I'll be waiting for you at Fountain Square."
The handwriting on the letter swooped like dragons and danced like phoenixes, and there was no trace of Soul Power on it.
For the moment, he couldn't tell who had written it.
Forget it. He had nothing to do right now anyway, so he might as well go and see what the fuss was about.
Seeing Yu Tianheng swing himself out of bed, all three immediately put on the expressions of people ready to eat melon.
"None of you follow me. If I catch you..."
At that, Yu Tianheng gave a "sinister grin" and made a snapping gesture.
It was only a small gesture, yet it made all three of them shudder.
No sooner had Yu Tianheng left than Dugu Yan and the other two women came looking for him.
"Sister Yan, you're too late. The boss just went out."
Looking at the big sister in front of him, Shi Mo automatically switched to underling mode as he explained.
"Went out? Where?"
Dugu Yan asked, her face full of confusion.
Given Yu Tianheng's personality, didn't he dislike going out?
"We don't know. The boss just received a love-"
Shi Mo was about to say that Yu Tianheng had received a love letter, but fortunately Yu Feng was quick-eyed and quick-handed, clapping a hand over his mouth.
"Received what?"
Dugu Yan hadn't heard clearly, so she frowned and asked again.
Shi Mo also caught on and hurriedly changed his words.
"We don't know what he received either. It looked like the boss went out after reading that thing."
"Could someone have sent Tian Heng a written challenge?"
Ye Lingling asked with some concern.
Just yesterday, she had heard that someone had been badly injured in a private match and was unable to compete as a result.
Yu Tianheng's performance in the arena today was bound to attract some people's attention.
"Heh, how could it be a written challenge? I don't believe there's anyone in this tournament stronger than Tian Heng. I'd say some vixen sent him a love letter, didn't she?"
Dugu Yan folded her arms and gave a cold snort.
"Damn, Sister Yan, how did you know?"
Shi Mo, who had never been particularly calculating, immediately cried out in surprise.
Hearing that, Shi Mo and Yu Feng could only cover their faces in resignation.
Even a thousand efforts might not be enough to make up for one pig teammate dragging the team down.
"I knew it. Lingling, Rongrong, come with me. I want to see who this vixen is!"
With that, she turned and left.