The youth with the ice staff felt his head ache.

He truly could not comprehend what Lily's martial soul was anymore. Ice? Light? Wind? Now a tornado infused with icicles?

As the icicles merged into the storm, Lily's aura surged at a terrifying pace. Even from a distance, the youth could sense the pressure bearing down on him.

A dual-attribute soul skill… No, something even more complicated than that!

His expression hardened as his second soul skill faded and his purple soul ring flared to life.

Ray and the others watched with bated breath.

A thousand-year soul skill!

None of them had ever witnessed the full might of one before. In this era, a thousand-year soul skill was already considered high-tier, something most Soul Masters would never touch in their lifetime. As for ten-thousand-year soul rings… Ray had only ever seen Alfred's.

An intense, razor-sharp cold erupted from the tip of the ice staff. The frigid energy condensed, slowly shaping itself into a massive spear of pure ice.

Fury of Ice!

The spear grew to nearly two meters in length, faint runic patterns shimmering along its shaft. Even without being its target, the students of class zero could feel its oppressive might. They were certain that not a single one of them could withstand that attack head-on.

So this is the power of a thousand-year soul skill…

"There's still time to withdraw," the youth said, his tone no longer as cold as before. Watching Lily command such violent elemental forces with only two soul rings, he could not help but feel a trace of regret. Talent like hers deserved recognition.

Lily's lips curled upward slightly.

It wasn't a smile.

It was a faint, unmistakable sneer.

Frost filled the youth's eyes as he leveled his staff once more. The ice spear shot forward in an instant, streaking toward Lily like a bolt of frozen lightning.

At that exact moment, the icicle-filled tornado shattered—and Lily vanished in a flash of silver light.

Teleportation?!

The youth's mind exploded with disbelief. A space-attribute soul skill? One capable of evading a locked-on attack? That was a legendary ability, something even high-level Soul Masters dreamed of possessing.

Before he could process it, his Fury of Ice had already flown deep into the forest, vanishing without a trace.

"Big brother! What's that above us?" the girl beside him suddenly cried, pointing at the sky.

He looked up.

What he saw left him frozen.

Brilliant streaks of elemental light rained down like fireworks, filling the heavens. Fire, wind, ice, and stone crashed toward them in a dazzling, merciless cascade.

Even at rank thirty-five, even as the strongest among his peers, he didn't have the soul power or time to unleash another thousand-year soul skill.

How… is this possible?

That thought barely finished forming when he slammed his hand onto the button on the back of the girl's hand. No matter what, he had to protect his little sister.

The next instant, he was swallowed by a storm of water, fire, earth, and wind.

Two flashes of light flickered—then vanished.

One was the escape signal.

The other was annihilated beneath the torrent of elements.

Ray let out a quiet breath. "That guy wasn't bad. At least he knew to protect the person beside him first."

As the words left his mouth, he suddenly sensed something off.

When Lily turned back toward the group, she was greeted by a strange sight.

Raziel Phoenix, Barbara, and Volt stood stiff as statues, their expressions twisted into something between shock, awe, and disbelief.

"What's wrong with you three?" Ray asked, baffled.

Raziel Phoenix abruptly bowed deeply to Lily. "Big sister. From today onward, you're my big sister. I swear I'll never argue with you again."

Barbara followed immediately. "Big sister, hello!"

Only Volt remained silent, staring at Lily with eyes filled with reverence… and a hint of fear.

Lily walked past them and stopped beside Ray, her voice flat. "What's so special about beating an arrogant guy like that? Let's go."

As she spoke, the dense spirit energy left behind by the defeated Soul Elder surged toward them like a tide. Lily absorbed the lion's share, with Ray taking the next largest portion due to his proximity.

Spirit energy released by a Soul Master was no different from that of a slain soul beast. Once its owner was gone, it would naturally flow toward the nearest beings—and distance determined how much one could absorb.

At that moment, Ray finally understood the others' reactions.

That was a three-ringed Soul Master. Worse, one with a thousand-year soul ring.

And Lily had defeated him in mere minutes.

Ray's heart raced as he pieced everything together. Her first soul skill, Elemental Tide, strengthened her control and attraction of elemental energy. But the overwhelming barrage just now… that couldn't have been achieved through spiritual power alone.

Her second soul skill.

It had to be related to amplification or distribution. Only then could she flood the sky with low-level elemental attacks, forcing her opponent into revealing his strongest card before burying him under sheer control and precision.

Neither of her soul skills were direct offensive techniques.

And yet… did she even need one?

Six elements. Endless adaptability. Overwhelming spiritual power.

Among class zero, Lily was unquestionably the strongest.

No wonder Raziel Phoenix had completely given up on surpassing her.

Still, Ray knew the truth. The youth with the ice staff had underestimated her. Had he been more cautious, had he opened with defense or dragged the fight out, the outcome might have been different. Lily couldn't have matched him in a prolonged battle of attrition.

"Do you want to rest for a bit?" Ray asked.

Lily shook her head. "No. Let's move."

Without the protection of the Man-Faced Demon Spider's webs, lingering in one place was asking for trouble.

"Captain!" Barbara suddenly called out, his voice tense. "Soul beasts incoming. A lot of them. At least thirty… Blazing Demon Lions."

Everyone's faces changed instantly.

Lions were among the most dangerous land-based soul beasts. Unlike most powerful soul beasts that preferred solitude, lion-type soul beasts formed prides. With a single leader and many subordinates, their combined strength was terrifying. Even stronger soul beasts often avoided provoking them.

"Run!" Ray shouted without hesitation, already turning to flee.

Lily raised her hands, bathing the group in green light. This time, the effect was even stronger than before. Their bodies felt weightless, as if carried by the wind itself, and their speed exploded as they dashed into the forest.

Lily's greatest strength lay not in raw destructive power, but in versatility. Her control over the elements allowed her to attack, defend, restrain, and support with seamless transitions. Now that she had broken through to become a Soul Grandmaster and gained her second soul ring, her combat strength had surged dramatically, firmly establishing her as the strongest member of the team.

Raziel Phoenix sprinted ahead, scouting a viable path through the forest, while Barbara directed Little Black to keep watch from the rear. Although his spirit soul had recovered enough to be summoned again, it was still too weak to participate in combat and could only relay vision. To fully restore it would require days of careful meditation.

A thunderous roar rolled through the forest behind them.

Moments later, crimson figures burst from the trees, charging forward in a raging tide.

Soul Masters were not the only beings capable of absorbing spirit energy. Soul beasts could sense it as well. The dense fluctuations radiating from the group were like beacons, drawing predators in droves. Blazing Demon Lions, one of the most ferocious soul beast races, possessed keen senses. Detecting such rich spirit energy, they gave chase without hesitation.

Run.

As long as they could run one more second, they could live one more second. Even a fleeting moment meant absorbing a little more spirit energy.

Against an entire pride of Blazing Demon Lions, they stood no chance. Perhaps if all of them had three soul rings, there might have been a sliver of hope. But now? Impossible.

Their memories burned with a previous encounter.

The last time they had stumbled into a lion pride, they had been torn apart almost instantly. No matter how desperately they resisted, the result had been massacre. Even after leaving the spirit ascension platform, the sensation of being burned alive had haunted them for the rest of the day.

A Blazing Demon Lion pride sat at the very peak of the elementary spirit ascension platform's food chain. Though the Man-Faced Demon Spider was terrifying as an individual, it would never dare face a lion pride head-on. Its only option would have been to flee.

The leader of such a pride was equivalent to a thousand-year soul beast. The rest of the pride were at least hundred-year soul beasts, with some nearing the thousand-year level. With few natural predators, they ruled the forest with brutal dominance. Whether against a single Soul Master or a team, defeating them with only three soul rings was nothing more than a fantasy.

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