The air in the private booth of the Scaled Goblet, once warm with the savory steam of a magnificent feast, had turned sharp and frigid. The crackle of blue lightning forming around Yu Tianji's fingertips was a discordant, angry sound, a declaration of violence that promised to shatter the opulent peace of the restaurant.
His two followers, smirking sycophants who fed on their master's arrogance, took a step forward, their own Soul Power beginning to stir. They were ready to help their Senior Brother teach this insolent little whelp a lesson.
Jin Xi's ruby eyes, which had been sparkling with amusement just moments before, now held the cold, flat deadliness of a predator whose meal had been disturbed. A faint, almost imperceptible golden light began to shimmer around her, the immense, dormant power of the Golden Dragon stirring in its slumber. The temperature in the booth, despite the crackling lightning, seemed to drop several degrees from her sheer, murderous intent.
Xue Nu, serene and silent, did not move. But the delicate dessert spoon in her hand was now coated in a thin, beautiful layer of frost, a silent testament to the Ultimate Ice that answered to her will. She had judged the arrogant young man before her and found him wanting—wanting of a lesson in humility, a lesson she was more than willing to provide. The air around her grew still, the very motes of dust seeming to hang motionless in anticipation of her power.
They were two ancient queens, two forces of nature, ready to unleash a cataclysm upon this foolish boy who dared to covet them like trinkets. The Scaled Goblet would likely not survive the encounter.
But just as Jin Xi was about to rise, a calm, steady hand gently pressed down on her shoulder.
It was Huo Yuhao.
He didn't look at her. His gaze remained fixed on Yu Tianji, his deep blue eyes holding a profound, unnerving calm. "Xi'er," he whispered, his voice too low for the others to hear, a soft murmur against the rising tension. "Not here. Your power is too magnificent, too unique. To reveal it over a matter so trivial would be… inefficient."
He then shifted his gaze slightly, catching Xue Nu's eye. He gave a single, almost imperceptible shake of his head. The frost on her spoon vanished as quickly as it had appeared, her killing intent receding back into the serene depths of her soul. She trusted his judgment.
The two women, their immense power leashed by his quiet command, settled back into their seats. They were no longer combatants, but observers, their expressions now a mixture of cold annoyance and keen, analytical curiosity. They wanted to see how their little craftsman would handle this.
Huo Yuhao turned his full attention back to the fuming Yu Tianji, whose lightning-wreathed hand was still raised.
"Senior Yu," Huo Yuhao began, his voice polite, respectful, and utterly devoid of fear. "As you can see, we are in the middle of a very pleasant meal. My friends and I do not wish to be troubled any further. I would be most grateful if you would return to your own table and allow us to finish our dessert in peace."
His calm, reasonable request was like a splash of oil on a raging fire.
Yu Tianji and his followers let out a derisive snort of laughter. To them, the boy's politeness was not a sign of maturity, but a clear signal of fear. He was backing down. He was scared.
"In peace?" Yu Tianji sneered, his handsome face twisting into an ugly, condescending smirk. He lowered his hand, the lightning dissipating, confident that he had already won the confrontation. "You think you are in a position to ask for peace, little boy? You sit with two celestial beauties who are clearly far beyond your station. You have insulted me with your very presence."
He took a step closer, looming over the seated Huo Yuhao. "I have changed my mind. I will not simply strike you down here. That would be too quick, too merciful. No, I will give you a chance to retain a sliver of your pathetic dignity."
His gaze sharpened, his voice dropping to a low, challenging growl. "I challenge you to a formal duel. At the Dragon's Soul Arena. We will fight, you and I. And when I defeat you—and I will defeat you—the wager will be simple. These two lovely ladies," he gestured possessively towards Jin Xi and Xue Nu, "will leave your side and accompany me for the remainder of the evening. They will see what it is like to be in the company of a true dragon."
The air in the booth turned glacial.
Jin Xi's knuckles were white where she gripped the edge of the table. Her ruby eyes were no longer cold; they were burning, molten pits of pure, unadulterated rage. To be treated as a prize, a chattel to be won in a bet… it was an insult so profound, so fundamental to her royal pride, that it transcended mere anger.
Even Xue Nu's serene composure was broken. A look of such absolute, chilling disdain crossed her perfect features that it seemed to lower the temperature of the room by another ten degrees. The quiet power radiating from her was a promise of a slow, painful, and very, very cold demise for the arrogant fool before her.
But it was Huo Yuhao who reacted first. The faint, polite smile on his face vanished, replaced by a cold, hard stillness. A dangerous light, one that Yu Tianji was too blinded by his own arrogance to see, flickered deep within his blue eyes.
"My friends," Huo Yuhao said, his voice quiet, yet each word was a perfectly polished, unyielding stone. "Are not things. They are not trophies to be won or lost in a foolish bet. I will not accept your wager."
He paused, letting his refusal hang in the air. "However," he continued, a new, calculating glint entering his gaze, "I will accept your challenge to a duel. But we will wager things of actual value, not the dignity of my companions."
He reached into the small, inconspicuous storage pouch at his waist. With a smooth, deliberate motion, he withdrew an object and placed it on the table.
It was a bracer. A single, exquisitely crafted bracer made from a shimmering, unidentifiable metal that seemed to hum with a quiet, internal power. It was adorned with a complex, multi-layered array of engravings that were so fine, so perfect, they looked less like the work of a human hand and more like a naturally occurring crystalline structure.
The moment it appeared, the ambient spiritual energy in the private booth seemed to be drawn towards it, a faint, visible shimmer in the air.
Yu Tianji's arrogant sneer faltered. His eyes widened, his jaw going slack. He was the inner-sect heir of a great sect, and he had been tutored in the identification of rare treasures. He recognized the design. He recognized the power signature.
"That's… that's an Invincible Barrier!" he stammered, his voice losing its confident baritone, cracking with disbelief. "And the complexity of that array… the power it's radiating… that's a Class 7 Soul Tool!"
His followers gasped, their smirks wiped clean from their faces, replaced by looks of pure, dumbfounded shock. A Class 7 Soul Tool. That was a treasure on par with a fifty-thousand-year-old Soul Bone. It was a strategic, life-saving artifact that even their sect's elders would covet. And this boy… this mere child… had just casually placed one on the table as if it were a common teacup.
'Where did he get such a thing?' Yu Tianji's mind raced, his arrogance warring with a sudden, cold spike of caution. 'Is he the son of a great clan from another empire? A prince? No, his clothes are well-made but simple. His aura is that of a mere Grandmaster. It doesn't make sense!'
But the lure of the treasure, the sheer, overwhelming value of a Class 7 Invincible Barrier, was a siren's song to his greedy soul. His pride, his desire to possess the two women, and now the chance to win a legendary artifact… it was a combination he could not resist.
He forced his expression back into a mask of arrogant confidence, though a flicker of avarice now burned brightly in his eyes.
"A fine wager," he said, his voice a little strained. "A very fine wager indeed. You have my attention. Very well. I will match your stake."
With a dramatic flourish, he reached into his own high-grade storage tool. A wave of his hand, and an object appeared on the table opposite the bracer.
The air in the room changed again.
It was a piece of bone. A torso bone, to be precise, covering the chest and back. It glowed with a faint, but potent, golden-red light, and seemed to radiate a gentle, sun-like warmth. Intricate, natural-looking patterns, like sun-flares, were etched across its surface. The moment it appeared, a powerful, draconic pressure filled the booth, a pressure that resonated with Yu Tianji's own Martial Soul.
"A thirty-thousand-year-old Soul Bone!" one of his followers breathed, his eyes wide with reverence.
"This," Yu Tianji declared, his voice filled with a pride that was both genuine and a desperate attempt to reassert his dominance, "is the torso bone of a Solar Flame Devourer Dragon. A rare and powerful draconic beast. Its ability, Solar Devour, allows the user to absorb the power of the sun to bolster their strength and Soul Power."
He had been saving this, his greatest treasure, a gift from his father for his sixteenth birthday. He had planned to absorb it when he reached the Soul Power 47 of the Soul Ancestor level, to use its immense power to break through to become a Soul King in one fell swoop.
In fact, It is even said that if it is absorbed by one with a Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon soul, there is a small, but real, chance of mutating the soul into the legendary Light Holy Dragon!
To wager it now was an immense risk. But the reward… the beautiful women, the priceless Soul Tool, the crushing of this insolent boy's pride… it was a gamble he was willing to take.
He looked at Huo Yuhao, a confident, predatory smirk returning to his face. "Well, boy? Is my stake sufficient?"
Huo Yuaho had not yet answered. He was frozen, his attention captivated not by the Soul Bone's power, but by the reaction of the woman sitting beside him.
Jin Xi was staring at the Solar Flame Devourer Dragon bone with an intensity that was almost frightening. Her beautiful face was no longer bored or annoyed. It was a mask of pure, absolute, all-consuming desire. Her ruby eyes were blazing, not with anger, but with a fire that seemed to see into the very essence of the bone. Her knuckles were white where she gripped the table, and she was vibrating with a barely suppressed, ecstatic energy.
'Yuhao,' her voice was a sharp, urgent, and desperate hiss in his mind, a silent telepathic scream that cut through all other thought. 'That bone! I need that bone!'
'Xi'er? What is it?' he projected back, startled by the sheer force of her desire.
'My Martial Soul is the Golden Dragon!' she explained, her mental voice a torrent of excited thought. 'It is the descendant of the Golden Dragon King! My Martial Soul is a being of the Ultimate Strength that absorbs the essence of the sun! That bone… its Solar Devour ability… it is a perfect match! If I can acquire this Soul Bone, I can use its ability to power to purify my and strengthen my own bloodline further to the Golden Dragon King, to absorb the essence of the sun at a rate a hundred if not a thousand times faster! It will give me a real, tangible path to evolving my Marital Soul into the true Golden Dragon King in the future! It is more valuable to me than anything!'
Her desperation was a palpable thing, a force that resonated in his own soul. He looked at the Soul Bone, then back at her blazing, pleading eyes.
His own resolve, which had been one of calm self-defense, now hardened into an unshakeable, absolute certainty. That bone was no longer just a wager. It was a necessity. It was a treasure he had to acquire, for her.
'Stay calm, Xi'er,' he projected back, his own mental voice a steady, reassuring anchor. 'Say nothing. Do nothing. Just sit back and watch. That bone… is already yours.'
He turned his calm, blue eyes back to the arrogant Yu Tianji.
"Your stake is… acceptable," Huo Yuhao said, his voice flat and steady.
A triumphant grin spread across Yu Tianji's face. The fool had taken the bait.
The transition from the opulent restaurant to the grand, stone-hewn Soul Dueling Arena was a spectacle in itself. Word of the high-stakes duel had spread through the Scaled Goblet like a wildfire, and a crowd of curious onlookers, wealthy merchants, and powerful Soul Masters had followed them, their voices a low, excited buzz.
The arena was a colossal, circular structure, its tiered seats already beginning to fill with spectators eager for a show. In a quiet, official-looking chamber, a wizened, impartial elder of the arena administration, a powerful Soul Sage himself, accepted the two wagered items.
He placed the Invincible Barrier and the Solar Flame Devourer Dragon bone into a special, sealed container, his old eyes wide with a professional awe at the sheer value of the treasures being bet on a duel between two teenagers.
"The wager is sealed," the elder announced gravely. "It will be awarded to the victor upon the conclusion of the duel. May your battle be honorable."
Huo Yuhao and Yu Tianji were led out into the center of the vast, circular stage, the roar of the growing crowd a physical pressure.
Jin Xi and Xue Nu took seats in a special, reserved viewing box near the stage, their faces once again veiled, their presence a silent, potent source of focus for Huo Yuhao.
"Do you think he will be alright?" Xue Nu asked softly, her sky-blue eyes fixed on Huo Yuhao's small, slender form on the stage below. "His opponent is a Soul Elder. The gap in rank is significant."
Jin Xi just smiled, a confident, predatory glint in her eyes. "Don't worry about him, Xue'er. That arrogant lizard doesn't know what he's up against. Our Yuhao is full of surprises."
Down on the stage, the official announcer, his voice magically amplified to fill the arena, began the introductions.
"On the south side of the stage, a rising star of our great city! The inner-sect heir of the Heavenly Dragon Sect, a brilliant talent who reached the rank of Soul Elder at the tender age of fifteen! Please give a thunderous welcome to Yu Tianji!"
The crowd erupted in a roar of approval. Yu Tianji basked in it, his arms raised, a confident smirk on his face. He unleashed his Martial Soul. The ethereal, powerful form of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon appeared behind him, its serpentine body crackling with violet energy. Four soul rings—two yellow, two purple—rose and circled around him, a clear testament to his power.
"And on the north side," the announcer continued, his voice holding a hint of confusion as he looked at his notes, "our challenger… a traveler with no known affiliation… Huo Yuhao!"
A polite, scattered applause rippled through the crowd. Compared to the local hero, he was a complete unknown.
Huo Yuhao stood calmly, his expression unreadable. He did not let the crowd's reaction affect him in the slightest. He closed his eyes, his mind a tranquil lake.
'It's time,' he thought.
He unleashed his second Martial Soul.
A wave of profound, ultimate cold, a presence utterly alien to the warm, vibrant energy of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, washed over the stage. The ethereal, jade-green form of the Ice Jade Scorpion Empress materialized behind him, its magnificent, deadly beauty silencing the crowd.
The sudden, intense drop in temperature made the spectators shiver. Yu Tianji's confident smirk faltered, his eyes widening at the sight of the strange, powerful-looking Martial Soul.
"And now, his Soul Rings!" the announcer cried.
Two rings rose from beneath Huo Yuaho's feet.
Two simple, unremarkable, hundred-year yellow rings.
The crowd let out a collective, disappointed groan. The Soul Elder with four rings was facing a Soul Grandmaster with two pathetic yellow rings? This was going to be a slaughter.
Yu Tianji's surprise turned into a relieved, condescending laugh. "I will end this in a single blow!"
He had no idea of the deception being played upon him. In Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Sea, Skydream was puffing out his spiritual chest with pride.
'See? See, Bingbing?' he buzzed excitedly. 'My Imitation skill is flawless! I've taken your two magnificent, world-endingly powerful, four-hundred-thousand-year soul rings and disguised them as cheap, common baubles! No one will ever suspect a thing! It's the perfect camouflage! Aren't I a genius?'
The Ice Empress's spiritual form simply glared at him. 'You have turned my glory into a source of public ridicule. When this is over, I will freeze your origin for a century.'
The announcer, seeing the vast disparity in power, quickly began the countdown. "Let the duel… begin!"
Yu Tianji did not hesitate. He lunged forward, his arrogance restored, eager to claim his prize.
"First Soul Ring: Thunder Dragon Claw!" he roared.
His first yellow ring flared. His right hand was enveloped in crackling, violet lightning, which solidified into the shape of a vicious, three-taloned dragon claw. He swiped at Huo Yuhao, confident the blow would end the match.
Huo Yuhao didn't even move to dodge. He simply raised his own hand. He did not use a skill. He just allowed the ambient aura of his Martial Soul, the passive power of Ultimate Ice, to gather around his palm.
The electrified dragon claw made contact with the faint, cold mist around Huo Yuhao's hand.
Fizzle. Ssssss.
It was not a clash. It was an extinguishment. The crackling, violent lightning of the Thunder Dragon Claw, upon touching the absolute, conceptual cold of Ultimate Ice, simply… died. It fizzled out into a wisp of harmless static, its energy nullified, its power completely negated.
The physical claw continued, but Huo Yuhao easily sidestepped the now-powerless blow.
The entire arena fell silent. Yu Tianji stared at his own hand, his face a mask of utter disbelief. His attack… it had just vanished.
"What… what kind of ice is that?" he stammered, a flicker of genuine fear now entering his eyes.
Huo Yuhao gave him a cold, predatory smile. "One of the best kind."
He decided it was time to go on the offensive, to test his own new abilities.
"First Soul Skill: Ice Empress's Armor!"
His first disguised-yellow ring flared with a brilliant light. A full suit of beautiful, translucent, jade-green armor instantly encased his body. It was sleek, elegant, and radiated a cold that seemed to warp the very air around him.
"Second Soul Skill: Ice Empress's Pincer!"
His second ring lit up. He thrust his right arm forward, and a colossal, monstrous pincer, ten meters wide and carved from the same translucent jade ice, materialized from thin air. It shot towards Yu Tianji with terrifying speed, its movements silent and deadly, aiming to crush him.
Yu Tianji, his arrogance shattered by the strange ice, roared in a mixture of fear and fury. "Second Soul Ring: Myriad Great Thunder! Third Soul Ring: Thunder Fury!"
His second and third rings flared simultaneously. A storm of lightning bolts erupted from his body, striking the advancing pincer. At the same time, his entire body was wreathed in a defensive cloak of crackling, violet energy.
The lightning bolts struck the Ice Empress's Pincer. They exploded in showers of sparks, but the pincer, forged from the absolute power of Ultimate Ice, was barely scratched. It continued its relentless advance.
Yu Tianji was forced to dodge, scrambling backwards as the colossal pincer slammed into the stage where he had been standing, shattering the stone floor and leaving a deep, frost-rimmed crater.
Huo Yuhao did not let up. He charged forward, his body protected by the Ice Empress's Armor, the colossal pincer now acting as a mobile shield and a devastating battering ram.
He was a walking fortress of ultimate cold.
"This can't be happening!" Yu Tianji screamed, his pride in tatters. He was being pushed back, dominated by a Soul Grandmaster with two yellow rings. The humiliation was unbearable. "Fourth Soul Ring: Thunderous Dragon Head!"
This was his strongest single-target attack. His fourth, purple soul ring flared with a blinding light. The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon soul behind him let out a roar, and a massive, detailed dragon head, forged from pure, condensed lightning, shot from its mouth, aimed directly at Huo Yuaho's chest.
Huo Yuhao met the attack with a calm, analytical gaze. It was time to end this.
He stopped his advance. He raised a hand.
"Soul Bone Skill: Perpetual Ice Domain."
The world changed.
A wave of profound, absolute cold exploded outwards from his body. The entire arena stage, a hundred meters in diameter, was instantly flash-frozen. A layer of thick, slick, blue-white ice covered the floor. The air itself grew thick with falling, luminescent snowflakes. The temperature plummeted to a level that made the spectators in the front rows shiver and pull their cloaks tighter.
Inside this new, frozen world, Huo Yuhao was a god. His speed, his power, his connection to his own element, were all amplified.
Yu Tianji, in contrast, felt as if he were wading through thick, freezing mud. The cold seeped into his bones, slowing his movements, draining his Soul Power at an alarming rate. His connection to the lightning element of the world felt… distant, suppressed.
His Thunderous Dragon Head attack, a mighty blast of power, flew through the swirling snow of the domain. It seemed to shrink, to weaken, its violent energy being actively eroded by the absolute cold. By the time it reached Huo Yuhao, it was a shadow of its former self.
The Ice Empress's Armor on Huo Yuaho's chest flared with a jade-green light. The weakened dragon head struck it and dissipated in a pathetic fizzle, leaving not even a scratch.
The duel was over. Everyone in the arena knew it.
Yu Tianji stood panting in the middle of the frozen stage, his face pale, his Soul Power nearly depleted, his spirit utterly broken. He was a tropical dragon trapped in the heart of an arctic winter.
Huo Yuhao did not bother with another grand attack. That would be an insult. He simply moved. Inside his domain, his speed was a blur. One moment he was at the edge of the stage, the next he was standing directly in front of the stunned and terrified Yu Tianji.
He didn't summon a pincer. He didn't use a soul skill. He just formed a simple, elegant spear of pure, solid Ultimate Ice in his hand.
He rested its impossibly sharp, cold tip gently against Yu Tianji's throat.
The cold was so absolute, so profound, that a single bead of sweat on Yu Tianji's neck froze instantly and fell to the ground with a faint tinkling sound.
"Do you yield?" Huo Yuhao asked, his voice quiet, calm, and utterly final.
Yu Tianji stared into the boy's cold, blue eyes, and saw not the gaze of a Soul Grandmaster, but the impassive, ancient authority of a monarch. He saw his own utter, complete, and humiliating defeat.
His shoulders slumped. The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon soul behind him vanished. The fight was gone from him.
"…I yield," he whispered, the words a bitter ash in his mouth.