"It's not what you think."
At this moment, shook his head. "Even if it's a benign mutation, it doesn't necessarily become better—it just means it hasn't become worse.
Take your master's wife's Fire Dragon martial soul as an example. Although after mutation its quality doesn't lose to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, it cannot use the dragonification secret technique, nor does it have the accumulated heritage of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. Therefore, in actual performance, it is still quite inferior to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon martial soul."
After hearing Yu Xiaogang's words, nodded in realization.
Then Tang San spoke, "Teacher, you mean that Shui Wuhen's martial soul is also like my master's wife's Fire Dragon martial soul, having flaws compared to the original Ice Phoenix martial soul?"
"Exactly."
Yu Xiaogang nodded and continued, "Based on my research on Luo Sanpao, this kind of external beast martial soul cannot benefit from the physical enhancements that ordinary beast martial souls provide to the user. The result is that the soul master's own physical strength becomes weaker, making the soul master themselves a weak point.
As long as this is exploited—and considering that Thunder Academy naturally counters Tianshui Academy—even if Shui Wuhen is a Soul King, Thunder Academy may not necessarily lose!"
On the arena, seeing both sides ready, the referee shouted:
"Preliminaries, Round Nine—Tianshui Academy versus Thunder Academy, begin!"
"First Soul Skill, Ice—"
Just as the referee's voice fell and Shui Bing'er was about to use her first soul skill, Ice Freeze, to immobilize them, Shui Wuhen, standing in front of her, suddenly waved his hand.
"You all step back."
Hearing Shui Wuhen's words, out of trust in her brother, Shui Bing'er immediately retreated without hesitation.
Xue Wu, Shui Yue'er, and the others followed suit.
Although Shui Bing'er was the youngest among them, her authority was not small—in private, they all addressed her as big sister.
Seeing this scene, the host exclaimed in surprise, "Oh my! Tianshui Academy has actually chosen to let contestant Shui Wuhen face Thunder Academy alone. Is this arrogance and ignorance, or confidence born from absolute certainty?"
On the other side, in the Blazing Wind Academy section, revealed a faint smile. "One against seven? Let me see just how far your strength has reached over the years!"
"Arrogant!!!"
Across from Shui Wuhen, and the others from Thunder Academy, who had originally been cautiously guarding against Shui Bing'er's freezing ability, all showed flashes of anger at being looked down upon.
Even if you really are a Soul King, you can't look down on us like this!
They were the elites selected by Thunder Academy—not trash with low-grade martial souls or without optimal spirit ring configurations!
Moreover, their coordination was seamless. Even against an ordinary Soul King, their combined strength would be formidable—let alone the fact that even a peak Soul King might not necessarily defeat all seven of them together.
At the same time, a pair of ice wings condensed behind Shui Wuhen. An ice-blue long blade appeared in his hand, and two spirit rings—one yellow and one purple—slowly rose around him as he walked calmly toward Thunder Academy.
"Captain, this guy is too arrogant—we must teach him a lesson!"
Seeing this, someone in Thunder Academy immediately proposed.
Yu Tianxin's eyes flashed, and he nodded. "Alright. Lei Tian and Lu Chen, flank from the sides. I and the vice-captain will attack head-on. The rest, provide support from the rear!"
"Yes, Captain!"
Hearing Yu Tianxin's command, the members of Thunder Academy became excited. Shui Wuhen's actions were a blatant disregard for them—they had to make him pay for it.
In the next moment, Thunder Academy launched their attack according to Yu Tianxin's strategy.
At the very front were Lei Tian and Lu Chen. Though Lei Tian was an assault-type soul master, his martial soul was Thunder Shadow. A pair of lightning-winged wings spread from his back, granting him impressive speed.
As for Lu Chen, he was an agility-type soul master, even faster than Lei Tian.
Yu Tianxin and the vice-captain Lei Dong followed closely behind, their bodies enveloped in lightning. Yu Tianxin even activated dragonification on his right hand as he charged toward Shui Wuhen.
Yet, facing the incoming Thunder Academy members, Shui Wuhen remained completely unfazed.
His ice wings trembled slightly—and in the next instant, his figure vanished from where he stood.
"Not good—be careful—!"
Seeing this, Yu Tianxin's pupils shrank as he shouted urgently to his teammates.
But it was already too late.
Before he could even finish speaking, Shui Wuhen had already appeared right in front of him.
Three dazzling blade lights flashed.
Before Yu Tianxin could react, a sharp pain struck his body, and he felt himself collapsing uncontrollably.
His consciousness dimmed—but just before losing awareness, he witnessed the most terrifying scene of his life.
In front of him, Lei Dong, Lei Tian, and Lu Chen—the three teammates who had attacked alongside him—were also swaying unsteadily, their bodies covered with traces of frost.
"They wouldn't also…"
As if responding to his thoughts, the three of them could no longer hold on and collapsed.
"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"
Three consecutive thuds echoed, plunging Yu Tianxin's heart into despair.
Soon after, he too could no longer endure. His consciousness faded, and his body collapsed onto his knees on the arena.
"Captain!!!"
Seeing this, the remaining members of Thunder Academy cried out in grief.
Their captain—the powerful and brilliant Yu Tianxin, hailed as one of the twin stars of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan—had fallen just like that.
But Shui Wuhen's attack did not stop.
His wings trembled again, and his figure appeared behind the remaining Thunder Academy members. Three dazzling blade lights flashed once more, instantly knocking the three of them unconscious.
"..."
Silence.
A deathly silence.
Outside the arena, people's expressions froze, their minds struggling to process what had just happened.
On the arena, Shui Wuhen's ice wings and long blade dissolved into specks of icy light. Without even glancing at the unconscious Thunder Academy members, he turned to the referee and said:
"Announce the result."
Only then did the referee snap back to his senses and hurriedly shout:
"The winner—Tianshui Academy!"
As the verdict was announced, the audience erupted into an uproar.
What just happened? Thunder Academy lost just like that?
Some even suspected that Thunder Academy had deliberately thrown the match, because it was simply too hard to believe that a veteran powerhouse team with multiple Soul Ancestors could be instantly defeated by a single person.
Unlike the common spectators, however, the soul masters stared blankly at Shui Wuhen on the arena—completely silent.