"Brother Wei Xuan, you were amazing! You actually defeated my brother using only Soul Master strength!" Meng Hongchen's eyes shone with admiration, her expression full of awe.
Xiao Hongchen's face darkened immediately. He glared at his sister — was there really any need to rub salt into the wound like that?
But Meng Hongchen ignored him completely, still smiling sweetly as she gazed at Wei Xuan with sparkling eyes.
Wei Xuan merely smiled faintly, offering no reply.
"You're strong," Xiao Hongchen said after a long pause. "Stronger than me."
He had hesitated for a long while before admitting it — a true, heartfelt acknowledgment of Wei Xuan's power.
Wei Xuan didn't look proud or arrogant. He met Xiao Hongchen's gaze, then chuckled softly.
"When you fight, try to control your emotions. Focus more on your opponent — you'll get stronger that way."
Xiao Hongchen froze, surprised by the advice. After a brief silence, he nodded slowly, reflecting deeply on his mistakes during their duel.
Seeing this, Jing Hongchen's face lit up with satisfaction. Losing had done his grandson some good.
"By the way, Your Highness," Xiao Hongchen asked curiously, "those ice lances and that ice shield you used earlier — what were they exactly?"
He had his guesses but wasn't certain.
Hearing this, Meng Hongchen also leaned closer, her face full of curiosity. Those techniques weren't Soul Skills, yet their power rivaled them.
"That was just me controlling the ice element," Wei Xuan explained calmly.
He opened his hand — a pale blue, crystal-shaped shard of ice floated above his palm.
All three — Jing Hongchen, Xiao Hongchen, and Meng Hongchen — stared intently.
With a thought, the shard disintegrated into countless flecks of frost.
White energy flowed from Wei Xuan's palm; under his control, the ice dust gathered again, reshaping into a short dagger.
He flicked his wrist — the dagger shot forward tens of meters, then turned sharply and flew back.
As it returned, it broke apart mid-flight, the fragments merging once again into a one-foot-long ice arrow that streaked straight toward Wei Xuan's forehead.
"Ah! No!" Meng Hongchen cried out, covering her eyes in panic.
Even Jing Hongchen and Xiao Hongchen tensed, fearing Wei Xuan had overdone it.
But Wei Xuan stood calmly, smiling faintly as the arrow struck him square between the brows—
Only to shatter on contact, bursting into a cloud of frost that drifted harmlessly through him.
The powder swirled, condensed again into a single ice lance, and began orbiting around him.
"If there's enough ice around, I can shape it into anything," Wei Xuan said lightly. The ice lance shot upward, then dissolved into glimmering snowflakes.
Jing Hongchen stood stunned, his eyes wide. This wasn't just impressive — it was mastery. His control over the ice element was refined to a terrifying degree.
Meng Hongchen and Xiao Hongchen might not have grasped the depth of it, but Jing Hongchen certainly did. At such a young age, Wei Xuan had achieved elemental control that most ice-type Soul Masters couldn't reach in a lifetime.
"With true mastery over an element," Wei Xuan said, "every flake of ice becomes a weapon — infinite in form and use."
Jing Hongchen exhaled, half laughing, half awestruck. "Your Highness, you're beyond a prodigy. To quote the people of Shrek — you're a monster, a genius among geniuses."
He could hardly find words to describe such talent.
"It's just familiarity with ice," Wei Xuan said softly, gazing at his own hand, a faint melancholy in his tone.
"By the way, Hall Master Hongchen," he asked suddenly, "this Shrek you mentioned earlier — that's the same Shrek Academy from the original Douluo Continent, isn't it?"
At the mention of Shrek, Jing Hongchen's expression grew solemn.
"Yes," he said. "The so-called number one academy on the continent — that Shrek."
"Hmph, what's so great about them?" Xiao Hongchen grumbled. "They just win the Soul Master Tournaments all the time. Someday, I'll lead a team that defeats them!"
He'd always been dissatisfied that Shrek overshadowed the Sun and Moon Imperial Academy. That goal — to surpass Shrek — had long been his driving motivation.
"Then you'll have to work hard," Jing Hongchen said with an encouraging smile. "Defeating Shrek would be a feat worthy of history."
"I will!" Xiao Hongchen declared, eyes burning with determination.
"To build an academy equal to a nation… Shrek truly has some skill," Wei Xuan remarked.
"Indeed," Jing Hongchen nodded. "Though they're our rivals, I must admit — in nurturing Soul Masters, they are unmatched."
Wei Xuan agreed silently. Shrek was unparalleled in cultivating talent — though, unfortunately, destined to stand opposite the Sun and Moon Empire.
"Too bad," he said quietly. "Since they're not part of the Sun and Moon Empire, they'll always be our enemies."
Jing Hongchen immediately understood the deeper implication. He laughed.
"I look forward to the day Your Highness meets Shrek's prodigies. Then they'll finally see what a true genius looks like!"
"I'm curious to meet them too," Wei Xuan said softly. His eyes gleamed — a faint spark of anticipation for the future.
...
Two Years Later — Jingyang Mountain Range, Outer Main Ridge
In the dense forest, an eight-year-old boy fought against a massive, white tiger wreathed in cold mist.
The boy's long ice-blue hair fluttered in the wind, his figure tall and well-proportioned, his deep eyes filled with calm wisdom far beyond his age.
Standing nearly 1.6 meters tall, he was dwarfed by the beast before him — yet no fear showed in his gaze.
Only tranquil resolve.
This boy was Wei Xuan.
And his opponent: the two-thousand-year-old Saber-Toothed Ice Spirit Tiger — the target for his second Soul Ring.
"Roar!"
The great tiger bellowed, its voice shaking the forest. Frost and rage poured from its fanged maw as it charged, leaping side to side unpredictably.
Wei Xuan moved lightly backward, swift and agile as a snow leopard, using every tree trunk for support.
Kicking off one, he spun midair, his Ice Crystal Hand Cannon charging with a blue glow.
"Boom!"
A sphere of icy light exploded on impact, shards of frozen blades bursting outward in all directions.
The tiger was caught mid-stride. The blast hurled it sideways into a tree as thick as a man's torso. Wood splintered and snow cascaded.
"Rrraaah!" The beast roared in pain, crystalline fur now streaked with blood.
Under Wei Xuan's control, the third-tier cannon unleashed power rivaling a fifth-tier weapon.
But the enraged tiger only grew fiercer. It launched forward again, murderous intent burning in its icy eyes.
Wei Xuan's expression didn't change. He raised his hand, and mist gathered into hundreds of sharp ice arrows.
They rained down with a shrill whistle.
The tiger, undaunted, opened its jaws — a sphere of white energy forming between its fangs.
"Boom!"
The collision of energies filled the air with violent frost shockwaves, scattering the ice arrows like brittle glass.
Then the beast spat another blast — this time straight toward Wei Xuan's falling trajectory.
A top-tier Soul Beast like the Saber-Toothed Ice Spirit Tiger was cunning. It had learned to anticipate an opponent's movement.
Wei Xuan was midair, with no foothold. He couldn't dodge.
If that blast struck, his body — at just twenty levels of Soul Power — would be shattered.
Ninety percent odds of death.
But Wei Xuan's face remained tranquil.
A flicker of blue light flashed from his hand — a portable Soul Barrier Generator appeared.
Infusing Soul Power, he expanded it rapidly around himself.
A deep-blue energy sphere enveloped him, its surface rippling like liquid light.
Though only millimeters thick, it was immensely durable — one of Wei Xuan's own creations.
A fourth-tier Soul Barrier, redesigned and reinforced — strong enough to block a full-strength strike from a Soul King.
Even a Soul Emperor would find it difficult to breach.
"Boom!"
The tiger's energy blast slammed into the shield, exploding violently.
The barrier rippled — but didn't crack. The entire sphere was hurled backward, carrying Wei Xuan with it.
When the energy dispersed, he dismissed the barrier and landed gracefully, sliding several meters before stopping.
Without pause, he turned and sprinted away, widening the gap.
His first Soul Ring glowed — and the Ancient Ice Dragon soared skyward, its roar shaking the air.
Cold mist billowed outward. Within seconds, the entire forest turned white, the temperature plunging below zero.
Even the ice-attribute tiger shivered.
Then, with a flick of his wrist, Wei Xuan threw four white metal orbs into the air.
Each landed precisely around the tiger — at a perfect five-meter distance.
The odds of achieving such precision against a moving target were astronomical. But Wei Xuan made it look effortless.
White light shot upward from each orb, connecting at the corners to form a glowing cube of light.
The surrounding mist rushed inward, solidifying into walls of ice between the beams.
In the blink of an eye, a sealed frozen cage formed.
"Bang!"
The tiger crashed headlong into one wall — and was thrown back violently.
Another crash followed as it slammed into the opposite side, dazed and disoriented.
A two-thousand-year-old Saber-Toothed Ice Spirit Tiger, trapped and helpless.
While the prison of ice remained perfectly intact.
(End of Chapter)