"Since that's the case, I'll take my leave first."
Seeing that Feng Xiaotian had no intention of fighting him, Shui Wuhen immediately landed on Articuno.
Suddenly, Shui Wuhen glanced slightly in the direction of Qingluan Douluo and Guangling Douluo, and instantly Qingluan Douluo and Guangling Douluo felt a tremendous pressure, their hearts filled with unease.
With the strength Shui Wuhen had just displayed, if he wanted to attack them, even if the two of them joined forces together with Qian Renxue and the others, they might not necessarily win.
Fortunately, Shui Wuhen seemed to have no intention of bothering them. He merely glanced once, then rode Articuno as it turned into a streak of ice-blue light and disappeared into the horizon.
Seeing Shui Wuhen leave, Qingluan Douluo and Guangling Douluo couldn't help but sigh in relief.
Guangling Douluo wiped the sweat from his forehead and sent a voice transmission to Qingluan Douluo: "This Shui Wuhen is simply too terrifying. If I remember correctly from the intelligence, he's only eighteen years old, but I feel like he could casually insta-kill me."
"Are you sure he isn't some transformed soul beast? Otherwise, how could he grow so fast?"
"That's impossible. Even if it were a transformed soul beast, its cultivation speed wouldn't be this exaggerated. All previous records show that transformed soul beasts cultivate at roughly the level of innate full soul power talent."
"Besides, you've seen that rabbit before. Her cultivation speed is already very fast—breaking through to Soul Ancestor at fourteen—but by eighteen she would at most be a Soul King, Soul Emperor at best. There's no way she could reach the level of this Shui Wuhen at Rank 90."
Qingluan Douluo shook his head, denying Guangling Douluo's guess.
After hearing this, Guangling Douluo sighed, "True. But we miscalculated this time. We originally thought that with our strength, even if we encountered danger outside, we could protect the young master. We didn't expect such a monster to appear on the continent—he's even more terrifying than Tang Chen back then."
Although Guangling Douluo looked like a child, his actual age was not small. After all, those who could become Titled Douluo were never young, especially a Level 96 peak Super Douluo like him.
He had lived through the era of Tang Chen and Qian Daoliu's struggle for supremacy, and had a deep understanding of their strength. But even those two could not possibly possess Shui Wuhen's level of power at this age.
In fact, even Tang Chen and Qian Daoliu were somewhat inferior to Qian Renxue in terms of talent alone. Qian Renxue's current achievements had already far surpassed Qian Daoliu's back then, which was why the Spirit Hall regarded her as the future.
"Ha… no choice. The Great Worship cannot leave at will, and after obtaining that Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Bone, the Golden Crocodile senior is currently in seclusion attempting to break through to Level 99 Peerless Douluo. The fourth Golden Lion is too reckless. That leaves only us suitable to protect the young master."
Qingluan Douluo sighed lightly. At times like this, it suddenly felt like their Spirit Hall didn't actually have that many top experts.
If other forces on the continent heard this thought, they would probably spit blood. The Spirit Hall had over ten Titled Douluo, including two Peerless Douluo like Bibi Dong and Qian Daoliu—how could that be "not many experts"?
One must know that even the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, one of the Upper Three Sects, only had two Titled Douluo. The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan had only one. Other forces were even worse.
Especially the Star Luo Empire—since none of the Upper Three Sects were within its territory, it practically had no known Titled Douluo-level powerhouses. The only thing that barely counted was the Emperor and Empress combining their martial soul fusion skill, the Nether White Tiger.
Meanwhile, Feng Xiaotian watched Shui Wuhen ride Articuno disappear into the sky and couldn't help but feel a headache, rubbing his temples as he thought: "This is troublesome. With Shui Wuhen's current strength, I can't beat him anymore. But this fourth test only gives me one month. Where am I supposed to find a second peerless genius?"
The Wind God's assessment was merciless. If it said one month, then it was exactly one month—failure meant death.
Just as Feng Xiaotian was troubled over finding no opponent, Qian Renxue finally recovered from the sensation of being so close to death.
"So… the gap is this big!"
Qian Renxue looked at her trembling body. The scene from earlier was still deeply engraved in her mind, filling her with fear.
"I lost… completely. This time, there are no excuses!"
Her expression was somewhat dazed. Three consecutive defeats—each one felt different.
The first time she met Shui Wuhen, their levels differed by less than ten. At that time, Shui Wuhen had barely managed to win by relying on luck.
Back then, she told herself it was because her infiltration mission held her back. If she hadn't suppressed her cultivation and focused on the mission, she would have been at least seven or eight levels higher, and there was no way she would have lost.
So after thinking it through, she gave up the infiltration mission and returned to the Spirit Hall to cultivate.
As expected, after returning and cultivating diligently, her talent fully erupted, and her improvement speed became several times faster than before.
In just a few years, she broke through to Soul Saint. Her speed even surpassed her grandfather Qian Daoliu when he was young. Everyone called her a once-in-a-thousand-years genius of the Qian family.
However, just when she believed no one of her generation could match her anymore, Shui Wuhen appeared before her again.
And gave her a second defeat!
This time, the shock she felt was even greater than before.
Because…
The gap in this battle was even larger than the first time—not only was there a difference of over ten levels in soul power, but there was also the insurmountable barrier of Martial Soul True Body.
If it were anyone else, there would have been no possibility of losing under such conditions. Yet she still lost.
Although she could tell Shui Wuhen was also at his limit at the time, his soul power nearly exhausted and likely unable to even release a single skill, she still lost.
Qian Renxue, though proud, did not deny failure. So she continued cultivating, even beginning to study self-created soul skills, preparing to defeat Shui Wuhen next time.
She believed she simply wasn't prepared enough, and after that battle, all of Shui Wuhen's methods had been exposed. As long as she prepared properly, she would win next time.
Obtaining a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring further strengthened her confidence. Neither her mother Bibi Dong nor her grandfather Qian Daoliu had obtained a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring at Rank 80—she was the only one.
However, that confidence did not bring her victory, but an even greater defeat!
Shui Wuhen had already walked onto a path she could not even understand. The current Shui Wuhen and her were on completely different dimensions!