Maybe I was just overthinking. Nan Fusheng comforted his clone, Work hard, and I promise you'll have a good life ahead—fine food and luxury.
He said it almost instinctively, painting yet another pie in the sky for his clone before cutting the mental link.
Nan Fusheng rubbed his brow. Lately, his clones had been grumbling more and more, always wanting to slack off. No wonder his first thought was that the clone was just trying to shirk responsibility.
"That won't do. I'm Nan Fusheng— the most diligent one of all. I have to keep my clones disciplined and push them to work harder. That way, they'll serve me better. After all, we're all Nan Fusheng—serving me is serving themselves. They're not losing out."
He shifted his gaze back to the competition platform, where both teams had taken their positions and introduced themselves.
With the referee's announcement, the match began. Both sides released their martial souls. Tang Wulin's team was as expected, but the martial souls of the Hailu Academy team were quite different.
Wang Dongqi's martial soul was the Lightning Sword—a long sword glowing bluish-violet, arcs of silver lightning dancing across its blade. The brilliance of silver and violet together was dazzling.
Unlike Wu Zhangkong's Frostmourne or Ye Xinglan's Star God Sword, which enhanced sword techniques, her Lightning Sword relied directly on overwhelming lightning power and soul skills.
The twin sisters, however, stood out even more. Both were rare elemental-type soul masters. Zhou Hanyou possessed ice—the so-called Ice Spirit. Zhou Tian'er, her sister, carried wood—the Wood Spirit. Compared to ice, wood was even rarer.
Their auras were distinctly different despite being twins. No wonder their hair colors varied. Their martial souls had determined even their appearances.
"Zhou Hanyou and Zhou Tian'er are twin sisters. At birth, strange omens appeared. Though their parents were ordinary, without spirit power, for some reason, this generation mutated. Zhou Hanyou awakened with innate full spirit power, bearing the Ice Spirit martial soul—the first true prodigy Hailu Academy has seen in years.
Zhou Tian'er was slightly weaker—innate spirit power at level 8—but her body carries the even rarer Wood Spirit constitution. On top of that, as twins, their bond gives them near-perfect telepathy," Qian Gu Bubai explained to Nan Fusheng.
"You sure know a lot," Nan Fusheng raised a brow.
"That's because I noticed them early in the tournament," Qian Gu Bubai said proudly. "With my experience, I could tell right away—they not only had great talent but also the potential to develop a martial soul fusion skill. I even thought of recruiting them ahead of time. Didn't expect to bump into you, though."
At the end, his tone turned a bit resentful. Ever since meeting his original, he'd been working like a mule.
Nan Fusheng ignored the complaint, eyes narrowing at the screen.
On the platform, Xie Xie darted around with Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step, using his experience to keep Wang Dongqi occupied. One soul master holding down a three-ring Soul Elder—that alone was a feat.
On the other side, Tang Wulin was in trouble. Zhou Tian'er's Wood Spirit naturally suppressed his still-unevolved Blue Silver Grass. Fortunately, he had the Golden Dragon King bloodline. If he couldn't restrain the enemy with vines, he'd do it with fists.
But Zhou Hanyou wasn't to be underestimated either. Together, the sisters pressed him hard, forcing Gu Yue to join just to hold the line.
Still, Zhou Hanyou's pride as a three-ring Soul Elder couldn't bear being stalled by two weaker opponents. Her third soul ring lit up, and her aura surged. White mist solidified around her body, her skin turning icy blue as a terrifying chill spread.
Ice Spirit!
Her third soul skill was the elemental amplification technique Ice Spirit, and at the millennium level, no less.
A massive ice wall erupted before her. Fireballs fizzled against it, and Tang Wulin slammed into it with his Golden Dragon Claw. The wall cracked but did not shatter.
Dozens of ice spikes formed around Zhou Hanyou. Each was more than a meter long, radiating sharp, deadly cold.
She slammed a palm against the wall. Boom! It shattered outward, blasting Tang Wulin away as the ice spikes rained toward Gu Yue.
"Wulin!" Tang Wulin's teammates cried out.
Xie Xie's shout was filled with shock. Gu Yue's, however, was laced with fury.
Her eyes flared with a strange light. Silver brilliance flashed, and she teleported in front of Tang Wulin, letting the ice spikes whizz harmlessly past.
And then—
Better to provoke the Yama King than Gu Yue.
Gu Yue exploded.
Her beautiful face was frosted with killing intent. Forming a hand seal, both her soul rings lit up simultaneously.
A blaze of scarlet fire ignited before her, while a whirl of azure wind swirled around it. With a twist of her hands, the two elements fused.
Wind-fed fire.
A towering Wind-Fire Twin Dragon Tornado roared into existence.
At first, it was only a meter tall. But in seconds, fire and wind elements from all around surged toward it. The tornado swelled, surpassing two meters in height, the stadium trembling with its force.
"This must be what they call the Heart of Elements," Nan Fusheng commented casually.
The Heart of Elements was the essence of mastery—true resonance with an element. With it, one could draw not just from one's own spirit power but from the elemental energy in the world itself.
Such mastery meant attacks and defenses alike could grow exponentially stronger.