Huo Wu looked at Shui Bing'er in front of her, and the mere thought of Xu Ran using her soul skill to confess to Shui Bing'er made her feel incredibly stifled. Seeing Shui Bing'er only made her more determined to teach Shui Bing'er a lesson.
For a long time, her strength had always been slightly superior to Shui Bing'er's.
"Huo Wu, what's going on with you this time? Why did you want to have a one-on-one spar with me?" Shui Bing'er looked at Huo Wu with suspicion, and upon seeing Huo Wu's fuming demeanor, couldn't help but recall the fireworks from earlier. Had Xu Ran just encountered Huo Wu and given her a lesson?
And then after seeing those fireworks, Huo Wu came to challenge her to a spar?
"Hmph. Just a few days not seen and you, Shui Bing'er, are actually living so comfortably? And you have such a devoted boyfriend. I wonder what seductive tricks you've used to hook men's souls, acting all innocent and pure at other times. Hmph," Huo Wu said, not even realizing the sour tone in her voice.
Xu Ran was so powerful that any woman would develop some unusual thoughts.
Such a romantic display of fireworks had been prepared for her arch-enemy, and they were even made from her own Soul Power Condensation fireballs. Thinking like this, Huo Wu naturally felt irritated.
"It's your lack of ability. By the way, how are things going with Feng Xiaotian?" Shui Bing'er looked at Huo Wu, not holding back in her words at all. One was ice and the other fire, natural enemies.
"You!" Huo Wu's eyes widened as she glared at Shui Bing'er, her chest heaving with anger, her body trembling. Having known Shui Bing'er for so many years, she naturally knew what Shui Bing'er meant.
Wasn't Shui Bing'er deliberately showing off?
Feng Xiaotian had decent strength and was among the top talents on the Continent with a variant Martial Soul and innate full soul power, but how could he compare with someone as esteemed as Xu Ran? How could she, Huo Wu, find a boyfriend as formidable as Xu Ran?
Even if she did find one, he would likely be an old man in his seventies or eighties.
"I have absolutely nothing to do with Feng Xiaotian, so don't overthink it," Huo Wu said through gritted teeth, looking at Shui Bing'er. Why hadn't she noticed before that Shui Bing'er was so sharp-tongued?
Damn it.
So what if she had a handsome, strong, and suave boyfriend who also understood romance?
What's so great about that?
"Feng Xiaotian is actually quite good, and he's our own person from Five Elements Academy. You and he would be quite a match," Shui Bing'er continued. Rarely getting the chance to tease her rival, she naturally wouldn't let it pass easily.
In fact, the relationship between Shui Bing'er and Huo Wu wasn't bad, otherwise, they wouldn't spar from time to time. It was just because of their opposing attributes, and since both were the strongest female Soul Masters in Five Elements Academy, their competition to outdo each other was naturally a bit more intense.
"You, match my ass. I'm not interested in Feng Xiaotian. He's the one pestering me," Huo Wu said with a flushed face. Shui Bing'er could be with a powerful person like Xu Ran, so why should she be a good match for Feng Xiaotian? Was she, Huo Wu, inferior to Shui Bing'er?
Initially, she thought Feng Xiaotian wasn't too bad and, under pressure from her family, she was eventually preparing to accept Feng Xiaotian's pursuit. But being provoked like this by Shui Bing'er, Huo Wu found Feng Xiaotian's every aspect to be full of flaws now.
"Oh. Good thing Feng Xiaotian isn't here, or he'd be heartbroken, huh?" Shui Bing'er smiled sweetly, watching Huo Wu's flustered look and couldn't be more pleased. When they clashed later, she planned to defeat Huo Wu with lightning speed to show her how formidable she was.
Now her Soul Power was six to seven levels higher than Huo Wu's, and her Martial Soul had become the chill of Ultimate Ice, making it incredibly easy to deal with Huo Wu.
Originally, their Martial Souls were on par, but now, Ultimate Ice completely overpowered her fire Martial Soul.
"Let him be heartbroken. Better yet, let him hear it and stop bothering me in the future," Huo Wu huffed, "Enough talk, I want to see if you've made any progress during this time."
Huo Wu was extremely irritated inside, knowing that she couldn't outtalk Shui Bing'er, so she planned to regain face through a demonstration of strength. But little did she know, when it came to strength, the gap had widened to a point that she would find difficult to accept.
Having said that, Huo Wu immediately released her Martial Soul, the fluctuations of a 41st Level Soul Ancestor.
Huo Wu had just broken through to become a Soul Ancestor, and she had been eager to prove that her cultivation speed must be faster than Shui Bing'er's, which is why she sought her out right after obtaining her Soul Ring. She had expected that by now Shui Bing'er's strength would be at the peak of 39th level at best, and she could easily defeat Shui Bing'er.
It was precisely with the joy and excitement of acquiring a new Soul Ring, and after seeing Xu Ran, that Huo Wu behaved arrogantly and challenged Xu Ran directly. After being taught a lesson by Xu Ran, Huo Wu remained as proud as ever, and now it seemed she was about to be taught another lesson by Shui Bing'er.
Watching Huo Wu's Soul Power fluctuation, the people from Tianshui College appeared calm and not surprised at all.
Given their understanding of Huo Wu, they had already guessed that Huo Wu must have broken through to Soul Ancestor. However, Shui Bing'er is now so strong that, aside from Xue Wu, the other five combined are no match for her.
Ultimate Ice is not just a name.
Now, let alone Soul Ancestor, even if Huo Wu had broken through to Soul King, she wouldn't be a match for Shui Bing'er.
"It's not just you who have broken through to Soul Ancestor," Shui Bing'er said with a light laugh, as the huge phantom of an Ice Phoenix appeared behind her, along with two yellow and two purple Soul Rings beneath her.
The moment Shui Bing'er's Martial Soul appeared, subtly, the temperature around seemed to drop a notch. Not only was Shui Bing'er a Soul Ancestor now, but she was also a 47th Level Soul Ancestor, far more powerful than she had been in the original story.
Based on her cultivation speed, by the time of the Soul Master Academy competition, even if she hadn't broken through to the realm of Soul King, she wouldn't be far off.
"Shui Bing'er, you… you've broken through to Soul Ancestor?"
"No, your aura, how can it be so strangely powerful?" Huo Wu stared at Shui Bing'er in horror, her beautiful face filled with disbelief. Shui Bing'er had always been a step behind her. It had only been a few months since she and Shui Bing'er parted ways. Had Shui Bing'er progressed so much in just these few months?
And this aura was even stronger than hers by far.
Shui Bing'er took drugs? Impossible!
At this moment, Huo Wu was somewhat dumbfounded because Shui Bing'er's Soul Power fluctuation was far stronger than hers, not even on the same level anymore.
"I don't believe it. You must be bluffing," Huo Wu thought, shocked, but her movements were not slow. She condensed more than a dozen fireballs in her hands and shot them at Shui Bing'er.
Shui Bing'er, without even dodging, casually condensed some ice cones and knocked down Huo Wu's attack.
"How is this possible?"
Huo Wu was greatly shocked to see that Shui Bing'er truly seemed to have changed beyond recognition. Her heart was swamped with shock and awe as she directly used her strongest Soul Skill, Huo Wu Yaoyang.
"Huo Wu, you're no longer a match for me now," Shui Bing'er cried out. A layer of Ice Snow Armor condensed on her body, and she directly charged toward Huo Wu. The attacks from Huo Wu Yaoyang hit her, but they only caused her advancing figure to shudder slightly, without causing any significant harm to Shui Bing'er.
Shui Bing'er possessed Ultimate Ice; unless it was ultimate fire, nothing else could pose a great threat to her.
"Ultimate Ice, you are Ultimate Ice."
Huo Wu watched Shui Bing'er in a daze, seeing her strongest attack seem to have no effect on Shui Bing'er, and combined with the terrifying cold around, she instantly understood that Shui Bing'er's Martial Soul had evolved into Ultimate Ice.
"Huo Wu, you have lost." That was when Shui Bing'er had arrived beside Huo Wu, her bone-chilling coldness enveloping Huo Wu's delicate body. Being closer to Shui Bing'er, Huo Wu could feel even more clearly just how dreadful the aura emanating from Shui Bing'er was.
This aura was simply overwhelming her.
Such bone-chilling coldness, with Shui Bing'er standing before her, made her, with her fire property, feel somewhat cold.
How is this possible? How could Shui Bing'er's strength have improved so rapidly? And her Martial Soul has even become Ultimate Ice...
Could it be him?
Huo Wu thought of Xu Ran.
With Xu Ran's close relationship with Shui Bing'er and his romantic gestures towards her, helping Shui Bing'er improve her strength was not surprising. But still, her heart couldn't help but feel a bit aggrieved.