"Why do you think we can't defeat them?" Vina countered.
Xu Jiujiu, you really have no idea about the strength of the Essence Sect.
Truly understanding the team configuration of the Essence Sect, Vina had ample confidence in her own strength.
She didn't know about Huo Yuhao's Ultimate Ice, but she knew that Hongchen siblings' cultivation as Soul Emperors wasn't an issue, plus the two had a Soul Fusion Skill.
Even so, she remained full of confidence.
Only as Long Aotian's fiancée could Vina truly comprehend his strength.
It was an absolute confidence.
Of course, this also reflected Vina's confidence in herself.
As someone with Twin Martial Souls, one in the Healing System and one in the Control System, her brain's Body Martial Soul had undergone a Silver Level second awakening.
All these conditions gave her a sense of superiority far beyond ordinary Soul Masters.
Not to mention, being born into the royal family and engaged to Long Aotian, the Young Sect Leader of the Essence Sect, she received the utmost cultivation.
Her brain's Martial Soul might even be stronger than Long Aotian's skin Martial Soul.
After cultivating her first Martial Soul to Level 50 and successfully absorbing her first Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring, she began training her second Martial Soul, which already had six Soul Rings, all at the Ten-Thousand-Year level, including two over fifty thousand years, and three between thirty and fifty thousand years.
This configuration was the source of Vina's confidence.
Once she could absorb Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Rings, her second Martial Soul became her primary focus.
Meanwhile, upon reaching Titled Douluo, she planned to revisit her original first Martial Soul and equip the subsequent four Soul Rings with a configuration surpassing that of her second Martial Soul.
She believed this was the best cultivation order for Twin Martial Souls.
Balancing the strength between the two Martial Souls without any enhancement of Soul Ring age, without claiming to have heavenly treasures to augment her Martial Soul's quality or physique, this was the optimal strategy.
It maximized the potential of her second Martial Soul, adding all Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Rings, and leveled the total quality and total Soul Ring age of both Martial Souls as much as possible.
Of course, this was all imaginary.
Before that, her biggest task was to ensure she could reach that point.
Otherwise, if the Empire was destroyed, and the Essence Sect obliterated, no matter how excellent she was, she couldn't achieve her envisioned cultivation of Twin Martial Souls alone.
This competition was crucial for Vina.
...
"What?"
Clearly, Vina hadn't anticipated Huo Yuhao's Ultimate Ice.
"Are you saying that Huo Yuhao possesses Ultimate Ice, is also a Twin Martial Soul, and even cultivated both Martial Souls simultaneously?"
If that's the case, then her advantage would be greatly diminished.
Even if there was some discrepancy in Soul Ring age, the gap wouldn't be too significant.
Especially since Huo Yuhao most likely possessed that Battle Armor.
Battle Armor created from a Fifth-level Soul-Guiding Device could upgrade a Soul King to a level stronger than the peak of a Soul Emperor; if a Soul Emperor wore it, it certainly couldn't elevate one to the pinnacle of a Soul Saint, but achieving early-stage Soul Saint levels without True Form of a Martial Soul wouldn't be difficult at all.
Coupled with the attribute of Ultimate Ice...
A confrontation against a Soul Douluo would be feasible, though one couldn't claim to challenge a Titled Douluo without a true Martial Soul form.
Vina's chest heaved violently, her brows tightly frowning.
Just now, she had been so composed, but now she was unsettled by Huo Yuhao's characteristics.
"How did you from the Xingluo Empire sneak into the Sun and Moon Empire like this?" Vina's tone carried a hint of exasperation.
Xu Jiujiu was also helpless, she smiled wryly and said, "We weren't aware of Huo Yuhao's existence before this competition, not even Shrek was aware of his talents."
Huo Yuhao and the White Tiger Duke were actually enemies, and it was a deadly feud!
In such a situation, Xu Jiujiu didn't know whether they could have kept this genius in the Xingluo Empire even if they had known about Huo Yuhao earlier.
Perhaps, more likely they would have stifled it.
After all, the White Tiger Duke held greater significance for the Xingluo Empire.
From this perspective, Huo Yuhao fleeing to the Sun and Moon Empire seemed all the more reasonable.
Having received intelligence about this unpredictable variable, Huo Yuhao, Vina's original confidence was shaken.
One Su Yu wasn't daunting, but adding Huo Yuhao into the mix gave her pause.
"How do you plan to negotiate?"
"..."
During the day, the Soul Fighting Competition took place, while at night, Su Yu and Huo Yuhao would head to the black market to participate in the Soul Guide Competition.
After a few days of exploration, Su Yu pinpointed a target.
Gao Dalou.
He possessed a family heirloom, the Ranking Carving Knife, the Blood Coagulation Carving Knife.
Gao Dalou's skill in Soul Guide technology was self-taught, initially guided by his father who had advanced to a Third-level Soul Guide before he met with an accident.
But due to a miserly trait in his bloodline, his father had stored all his wealth in a Storage Soul-Guiding Device, which was seized following his father's death, even his innards were taken out.
Though a Soul Guide, Gao Dalou lived a miserable life, his frail appearance not matching his name.
No choice, a miser, he couldn't bear to sell the Soul-Guiding Devices he made...
Though aware of such a person's existence, Su Yu was still left speechless.
Because Gao Dalou was genuinely impoverished.
It was as if he had shamed the entire profession of Soul Guides.
Nonetheless, being able to self-taught from odd jobs evolving from a Third-level to Fifth-level Soul Guide demonstrated his exceptional talent.
Moreover, Gao Dalou's carving skills were excellent, steady and meticulous when engraving the Core Array.