...
Shui Bing'er looked up in a daze, feeling the long-lost calm within her, her eyes filled with disbelief: "What... what's going on?"
"It's very simple."
Xuan Hao withdrew his hand, picked up his water glass and took a sip.
"That day on the arena, my Blood Dragon Might left you with deep subconscious trauma.
Your body instinctively felt extreme fear of my aura, especially your Ice Phoenix Martial Soul.
In front of that Blood Golden Dragon, it didn't dare to face me directly, which is why you couldn't stop trembling."
"This can be considered a form of mental suppression between top-tier bloodlines."
"But just now, I released a trace of gentle, shared blood and soul power into your body.
This power calmed your subconscious, letting your body know that I have no hostile intent at this moment.
When your martial spirit no longer reacts defensively as if I were a deadly enemy…"
Xuan Hao shrugged. "Once this fear, which stems from your bloodline, is relieved, you will naturally no longer be afraid of me."
Xuan Hao casually picked up the teapot on the table, poured a steaming cup of black tea, and gently pushed it in front of Shui Bing'er.
"Is there something you need?"
Shui Bing'er looked at the cup of tea pushed in front of her, held the warm teacup in both hands, hesitated for a moment, and then said softly, "Thank you for going easy on me in the previous match."
"Thank me?"
Xuan Hao raised an eyebrow. "What were you thinking back then?
Even if you really wanted me to give you some face or go easy on you, that would have been in the later stages of the qualifying rounds or the finals, right?"
"This is the opening match that everyone's been waiting for!
If I were to play house with you guys in the very first match and let you walk off the stage fully fit and unscathed, what would the other teams think?"
"Wouldn't that mean I'd have to go up and put on a show for every team in every match from now on?
I don't have that much time to do such a boring thing."
A hint of embarrassment flashed across Shui Bing'er's fair face.
She lowered her head and explained somewhat shyly:
"Actually... as the team leader at the time, I wanted to lead the team to forfeit."
"But my sister Yue'er is more naive. She thinks you look… cough, she thinks you wouldn't go all out on girls.
Besides, before the competition, His Highness the Crown Prince came to tell us that he would advise you to hold back on stage.
So… we went up there with our backs against it."
Upon hearing this explanation, Xuan Hao shook his head helplessly, then glanced at the empty corridor outside the door, "What about them?"
Shui Bing'er was taken aback, then looked up blankly: "Them?"
"Nonsense, you came alone today. Aren't your girlfriends coming?"
Xuan Hao looked at her like she was an idiot, speechless for a moment.
"Or is it that they're still terrified of me and don't even dare to see me, so they forced you, the team leader, to come up here to find out the truth?"
Shui Bing'er was speechless for a moment, clearly having been hit the nail on the head by Xuan Hao.
The other girls trembled at the mere mention of Xuan Hao's name and dared not approach the lounge even a step further.
Xuan Hao sighed, his tone becoming somewhat serious: "If their fear of me remains, and you don't bring them here today, then their future as Soul Masters is probably completely over."
Shui Bing'er's mind went blank for a moment, and she asked anxiously:
"It's over? What do you mean?"
Seeing this, Na'er gently spoke up to explain on Xuan Hao's behalf:
"As my brother just said, that's the awe-inspiring power of a top-tier bloodline.
If this subconscious fear isn't eliminated, unless you can cultivate to be even stronger than your brother in the future, his aura will forever shroud you in his shadow."
"This is not just a simple problem of having nightmares at night.
Once you encounter any bottlenecks in your cultivation or try to reach a higher realm, this persistent fear will directly transform into an insurmountable inner demon and nightmare.
At that point, your path of Soul Master cultivation will basically be ruined."
Upon hearing Na'er's explanation, Shui Bing'er froze, her face turning deathly pale. She abruptly stood up, not even bothering to drink her tea:
"I...I'll go and call them all over right now!"
"Alright, stop fussing, let's just forget about it."
Xuan Hao called out to her, "It's okay if they don't come."
As he spoke, Xuan Hao raised his right hand, his soul power flowing in his palm.
In just a few seconds, a small golden ball of light radiating a gentle aura condensed in his palm.
He flicked his finger, handing the golden orb to Shui Bing'er.
"Take this back and let each of them touch it."
Xuan Hao said calmly, "The effect is about the same as when you directly contacted me just now.
It's enough to dispel any remaining traces of the dragon's might in their hearts."
Shui Bing'er carefully put away the golden ball of light, finally feeling relieved.
She bowed her head deeply and said sincerely, "Thank you."
Xuan Hao yawned, then leaned to the side and comfortably lay down on Na'er's soft lap.
"It's alright. I had no grudge against you and didn't want to fight you."
Xuan Hao closed his eyes, enjoying Na'er's gentle head massage.
"But in that situation where everyone was watching, it would have been really inappropriate for me not to make a move and establish my authority.
If it were a private sparring match, I would definitely have patiently played a few moves with you. But on the field, holding back would have had a very bad influence."
"It's better to maintain my image as a bully. Only when everyone is in fear of me will those idle people stop being so foolish as to try to test and offend me all the time."
"If I really leave everyone with an image of being kind, approachable, and chivalrous, then many more people will try to test me in this stupid competition. Let His Highness the Crown Prince be the one to bestow favors and appease others; I'll be the villain."
Shui Bing'er's expression turned somewhat strange.
She hesitated for a moment, then the gossip that had been circulating in Tiandou City recently suddenly popped into her mind. Finally, unable to suppress her burning curiosity, she asked in a low voice:
"Um... there are rumors circulating outside that you and His Highness the Crown Prince... have that kind of special relationship? That shouldn't be... true, right?"
"I'm not interested in men."
Shui Bing'er breathed a long sigh of relief.
"Is there anything else?" Xuan Hao closed his eyes again and began to shoo the guests away.
Shui Bing'er stood up, feeling much more relaxed, and a bright, girlish smile finally appeared on her face:
"That's all. Thank you so much for today, Xuanhao."
Xuan Hao waved casually: "Goodbye, don't bother seeing me out."
Shui Bing'er had just reached the door of the lounge and hadn't even had time to pull the doorknob when a soft knock came from outside.
"Knock knock".
Shui Bing'er opened the door.
Standing outside the door was none other than Crown Prince Xue Qinghe, who had just left to handle matters related to the competition.
The two unexpectedly bumped into each other at the door.
The moment their eyes met, Xue Qinghe's gaze swept over Shui Bing'er's stunning face and cheeks that were still flushed, and a hint of hostility flashed instinctively in his eyes!
Although that hint of hostility vanished in an instant, Xue Qinghe immediately reverted to his gentle and refined demeanor as the Crown Prince, but...
As a genius with a top-tier Ice Phoenix Martial Soul, how sensitive is Shui Bing'er to auras and emotions?
She clearly caught that hint of hostility!
Moreover, she was very certain, with a sour, defensive hostility...
This is definitely the kind of jealousy and rivalry that only happens between women!
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