"Ice'er, come out. I've already noticed you!"
Hearing this, Shui Bing'er immediately walked out from behind a large tree with a slightly dejected expression and came to stand in front of Shui Wuhen.
Shui Wuhen looked at her in confusion. "Ice'er, why aren't you going back to the inn? Why have you been following me all this way?"
"I… I wanted to see what you go out of the city to do. You've been going out often these days."
Shui Bing'er lowered her head, fidgeting with her fingers like a child who had made a mistake and been caught by an elder, speaking in a soft voice.
Hearing this, Shui Wuhen immediately smiled. So it was because of this.
"Then how about I take you along to have a look today?"
Upon hearing Shui Wuhen's words, Shui Bing'er's eyes instantly lit up. "Really?"
"It's nothing difficult!"
As he spoke, a flash of blue light appeared in front of Shui Wuhen. A beautiful large bird appeared before him, with three deep-blue diamond-shaped crests on its head, translucent blue feathers, and long ribbon-like blue tail feathers.
After Articuno appeared, Shui Wuhen said to it, "Articuno, same as usual!"
"Wuu~~"
In the next moment, Articuno's body grew larger again. Then Shui Wuhen pulled Shui Bing'er along, and the two of them mounted its back.
Immediately, Articuno flapped its wings, and under the force of the raging wind, their altitude began to rise rapidly.
Soon, as the surrounding temperature gradually dropped, Articuno brought the siblings to the place where Shui Wuhen usually cultivated.
Shui Wuhen pointed around and said to Shui Bing'er, "This is where I usually come. Cultivating inside the city is too slow; it's faster here."
Shui Bing'er looked down below, and her legs immediately felt weak. With shock mixed with a trace of anxiety, she said, "Brother, you usually meditate and cultivate in a place like this? It's too dangerous. If you fell from here…"
She didn't finish the rest, but even though they were Spirit Masters with bodies far stronger than ordinary people, the height where Shui Wuhen cultivated was simply too great. One mistake could really be fatal.
"Wuu~ oh~"
Before Shui Wuhen could respond, Articuno let out a few dissatisfied cries toward Shui Bing'er.
What did she mean by Shui Wuhen falling? Was she doubting its flying skills?
As one of the three legendary birds, falling to its death would be a complete insult!
Facing the anxious Shui Bing'er, Shui Wuhen gently patted her head and comforted her, "Don't worry, that won't happen. Trust your brother. Don't forget—I can fly."
In truth, Shui Bing'er was simply overly worried. Shui Wuhen wasn't one of those Spirit Masters who couldn't fly. Even if Articuno really made a mistake, he could adjust himself with his Ice Wings.
Moreover, Articuno was extremely steady in this regard. It had never made a mistake, and even during flight, there was hardly any fluctuation.
After hearing Shui Wuhen's reassurance, Shui Bing'er gradually relaxed.
Indeed, with her brother's personality, he wouldn't do something without confidence. Although the several-thousand-meter altitude looked terrifying, as long as one's spirit power wasn't exhausted or they didn't lose consciousness, accidents were basically impossible.
At this moment, Shui Wuhen suddenly said, "Since you're here, don't go back. Stay and cultivate here with me!"
The reason Shui Wuhen hadn't brought Shui Bing'er before was because he thought it would be better for her to spend time with girls like Xue Wu and Shui Yue'er. After all, the Elite Tournament was basically a once-in-a-lifetime experience for ordinary students—something they might cherish in the future.
As for cultivating a bit slower, that was fine. His method of cultivation wasn't suitable for everyone.
The most typical example was that when he was just over level ten, he could already cultivate nonstop for twenty-four hours. But other Spirit Masters—even someone like Shui Bing'er, whose talent was close to innate full spirit power—could at most cultivate ten hours a day at that level.
Perhaps because he was a transmigrator, his mental strength was naturally stronger.
However, after reaching the Spirit Elder realm, as mental strength increased, although it still carried some burden, ordinary Spirit Masters could also cultivate for twenty-four hours a day. Shui Wuhen's advantage in this aspect was no longer that obvious.
"Alright!"
Shui Bing'er nodded, then sat cross-legged together with Shui Wuhen and began cultivating.
Time passed without notice during cultivation, and in the blink of an eye, the sun had already set.
At this moment, Shui Wuhen opened his eyes and said to Shui Bing'er, "Ice'er, it's time to go back. Tomorrow is Tianshui Academy's first match. We need to rest well tonight and conserve our energy."
"Mhm! I'll listen to you, Brother."
Shui Bing'er opened her eyes and nodded.
Then Articuno carried the two of them downward rapidly, landing in the forest from before.
Many cities on Douluo Continent enforced curfews, but as the capital of the Heaven Dou Empire and its most prosperous commercial center, Heaven Dou City naturally didn't have such restrictions.
After all, nightlife was an important source of consumption.
Shui Wuhen took Shui Bing'er around for a stroll, letting her experience the prosperity of Heaven Dou City. Only then did the siblings finally return to their lodging.
Seeing Shui Wuhen and Shui Bing'er return with some items in hand, Shui Yue'ruo let out a sigh of relief and smiled at Shui Bing'er. "Did you have a good time today?"
"Very good!"
A slight smile appeared at the corner of Shui Bing'er's lips. Today was perhaps the happiest day she had had in recent times.
Immediately after, Shui Yue'ruo continued, "Then for tomorrow's match, do you have any thoughts?"
"Against such ordinary teams, there's no need for tactics. We just need to crush them directly with minimal effort!"
Shui Bing'er smiled faintly, her tone full of confidence.
Nos Academy was a mid-to-lower-tier academy among advanced Spirit Master academies. Based on the information they had, their team was even slightly inferior to the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy's second team seen today.
A team formed by such an academy—unless it had recruited several peerless geniuses in a row—how could it possibly compare to a long-established powerhouse like Tianshui Academy?
The next day, Heaven Dou Great Spirit Arena.
When the Tianshui Academy team, led by Shui Bing'er, revealed their Spirit Rings on the arena—showing that every member was a Spirit Ancestor—the atmosphere instantly froze.
Immediately afterward, the audience erupted into thunderous cheers like a crashing tide.
"Tianshui Academy!!!!"
"Tianshui Academy!!!!"
"Tianshui Academy!!!!"
...
Meanwhile, the members of Nos Academy on the opposite side turned ashen, their hearts already half frozen.
If the opponent had only one Spirit Ancestor, they might still have been able to struggle a bit—perhaps hoping for a mistake.
But now, the entire opposing team consisted of Spirit Ancestors, while their own average level was only around level thirty-five. How were they supposed to fight this battle?
One must know that even a difference of two or three levels between Spirit Masters was already significant. Now they were, on average, seven levels behind—and even separated by an entire Spirit Ring. This was an insurmountable chasm!