Ezoju Ling smirked lightly.

"Draw a desire...Heheh, I skipped a lot of the details, which means that his chances of succeeding are basically zero, if he has no prior knowledge.

Moreover, even if he already knows how to create wills, I can at least, force him to amplify any desires of his subconscious, this will be the window I will use to peer at all his secrets."

This was a very simple plan, but one quite effective.

Bing Qin Yang frowned lightly.

"Ugh, that bastard...

The more time passes, the more conscious I become about that 'connection' he made between our minds.

I feel as my mind was exposed, naked for the world to see...

Naked...." He shook his head repeatedly, in an attempt to not think about that word.

If he kept thinking about that, he would soon have a mental image of himself, and well...

At this point, he was convinced he was in front of a pervert, and he really did not want to give him more material.

Bing Qin Yang turned his body to see Ezoju Ling who was smiling widely.

But after a brief exchange, Bing Qin Yang did something unexpected.

He flipped him off, then he turned his body again.

"Bastard, let's see if you can keep reading my mind after I create my first will!" He shouted loudly.

Then, he began to concentrate his Soul Essence towards his hand.

Ezoju Ling looked at him, firstly with puzzlement, followed by clear amusement.

"He really does not know what he is doing, this is a very special test, designed to be impossible for almost any candidate.

That is due to many reasons, such as that you need a huge amount of Soul Essence, of a high enough quality, to sustain it's shape, so it does not collapse, whilst also controlling the Soul Qi Flow, to drag more tides of Soul Essence, and if that was not enough, you also need to regulate your own emotions, to drag certain feelings.

None of the tasks are exceptionally difficult alone, but together, they become almost impossible, as you require to be methodical, even while emotional, and also require a huge ability of multi-tasking.

Even if you do achieve that, as well as creating Soul Strings to gain control over it, the will you may produce, may have different abilities than you expected.

After all, the effect of Soul Path abilities are highly chaotic, there is no way in hell that he will ever-"

His pupils shrank.

Bing Qin Yang concentrated a massive translucent blue sphere on his palm, which slowly began to float away from his grasp, whilst almost completely invisible golden strings appeared from his nails.

"He...Achieved this step already?

What is that technique he is using?

I need to read his thoughts!"

He strengthened his connection to Bing Qin Yang's brain, which only made Bing Qin Yang frown very deeply.

"I hope you enjoy reading my thoughts, because this is the last time you will!"

As if it was like a plain dough of flour, and he was a baker, he molded that sphere with seemingly no difficulty.

It was as if it was an innate ability.

He created a massive disk of soul essence that he then proceeded to move towards his cranium.

Ezoju Ling could not help but remain silent, all his previous smugness had vanished.

"He...He is really about to do it, in such little time even.

How is this possible?"

In a few more seconds, a bright white light emerged from Bing Qin Yang's skull, creating an invisible sphere that covered every spot of his brain.

But immediately afterwards, it exploded like a massive bubble, and Bing Qin Yang collapsed in the floor, from his nose some blood was flowing through.

At a first glance, it may have looked as if he had failed on creating his technique, however Ezoju Ling had figured out the truth.

In the moment, Bing Qin Yang had created a will, it immediately detected all threats, including his hidden thread.

The will immediately reacted, and it tried to cut through that thread, however due to the difference on strength, what actually happened, was that the sphere was pierced by the thread, imploding instantly.

Ezoju Ling had a solemn expression on his face.

"That does not makes sense, how can his control over his soul be so precise?

Even if I accept that, what about his Puppet Path methods, his strings were to precisely made, to never have Cultivated that path.

However, he also could not have Cultivated that path on secret, after all, if he had, I would have noticed, after all, I had already have used many methods, like my Alchemy trick, to get a feeling of his insides.

Yet, I saw no proof, no Puppet Qi flowing through, no sticky blood, no harmonious tendons, no sharpened nails, nothing, there is no proof.

Even if I ignore that, how could he achieved this level in such little time?

There is no amount of talent that can make you so good on Soul and Puppet Path on such a young age.

...

Maybe, I am missing something?

Perhaps, within the inheritance he received, there was an illusory training ground, with huge time dilatation, in this way he could have practiced for years, whilst only months happened in reality.

But where would he find the time to do that?

Based on his records, even though he has a tendency for leaving his house from time to time, he's always surrounded by guards, and only leaves for a while, before returning on the following days.

Moreover, such illusory grounds, would usually age the brain faster, and even if I ignore that too, there are discrepancies in reality and illusions, and thus, there would have been some flaws, when he tried to showcase such abilities on real life.

So, what then?

What am I missing?"

Many ideas went through his head, he kept analysing everything from a thousand of different angles, considering every clue that he had gathered up to this point.

Before, he finally arrived at a conclusion.

He gulped, while looking at the unconscious youth.

"The reason why you know a language nobody else does, the reason why you go out so frequently, the reason why you have such mastery over Soul Path, and the reason why you've been progressing that quickly is simple.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

You have not been alone."

He smirked.

"Within you, there is an old monster, one who completed the test in your place.

You likely found them, when you were young, and were travelling outside, in the process, when you entered their inheritance, they fused with your soul....

Interesting, very interesting."

....

Meanwhile.

On a great stadium, there were thousands of spectators, cheering loudly as a new match was about to begin.

Two persons entered from two opposite directions of the stadium.

One was a man, the other was a woman.

The man had a green hair, with a few brown strands, across his face there was a lot of scattered dirt and mud.

His clothes were rough and messy, they seemed to be made of the cortex of many trees, barely put together, by using a few vines as threads and knots to connect them.

Finally, on the very few gaps that were around his clothes, there was an sticky golden substance leaking through.

He looked...Quite disgusting.

However, there was also an strange sense of calmness around him, he looked completely relaxed and carefree.

The woman was the very opposite.

She had a very bright white skin, so bright that it was almost impossible to see through her expression, the most visible part of her face was her big red lips, which were forming a wide smile.

Her hair, was even more outstanding, it was a very bright color of yellow, that resembled the sun.

A color so bright, that the line which differentiated each strand of her hairs, was very blurry, and made all her hair look like a single uniformous gas, that was flowing with the air.

There was an strange image of purity, elegance and beauty around her.

An image which immediately broke if you looked at her further.

Her eyes were crimson red, and across the center of her pupils there was a bring orange flame.

Across her body, there were many scars, bruises, and even open wounds were blood was constantly flowing through, wounds that were quickly cauterized due to the heat surrounding her.

Finally, even though the pale skin camouflaged her muscle mass, if one were to see carefully, they would notice that she had far more muscle mass, than many men, like Bing Qin Yang.

Her name was Bing Xi Wang.

"I am just one step away, from victory." She said while looking at her opponent, like a predator.

But the man simply shrugged calmly.

"Really?

To me, it seems like you already are out of steam.

Even though you try to hide it, by releasing a continuous of stream light around your body, you have already lost too much blood, your breathing is already quite rough and unsteady.

Finally, the reason why your eyes shine so brightly, is because you are using a technique to amplify your eyesight, which is proof that your eyes are strained, due to your violent self-harming techniques.

Whilst I?

Am perfectly fine."

Bing Xi Wang chuckled in response, she took a step towards him.

Who immediately took a step back.

"If I am as weak as you say I am, why are you running?

Do you not realize that with every second that passes, I am being given more time to recover?

So, what then?

Are you saying that even my pitiful state, do you still fear me?"

The man narrowed his eyes.

"I will not fall for such obvious taunts, nor I will give you anymore time to recover." He raised his hand.

From them, many seeds were shoot towards her, who simply kept walking towards him.

Even though she was doing as simple as walking towards him, due to her very complex footwork, she was able to dodge many of his projectiles.

Moreover, with every passing second, she accelerated, as she moved towards him, her movements began to resemble those of a beautiful dance.

Of course, not everything was perfect for her.

On the process, many of the seeds managed to collide with her body.

Tearing some of her skin, or damaging her robes.

Yet, no matter if she bleed, no matter if she was close to exposing her body, she kept moving towards him, as if she had no care on the world.

The man was forced to retreat at an increasing pace, while attacking.

Bing Xi Wang chuckled, she finally began to run at full speed towards him.

Through her boots, a trail of flames could be seen, as she accelerated.

She kicked the ground and jumped towards him, who jumped back, before realizing one thing.

He lowered his gaze, and saw that he was about to fall outside the arena!

"Running out of space?" Bing Xi Wang smiled, she raised her hands.

But the man simply shrugged again.

"You are too constrained, by thinking only in two dimensions!" A pair of leaf's appeared behind his back, which allowed him to float, and change his direction of fall.

"Really?" Bing Xi Wang said plainly.

From her two hands, two flames were released.

She moved her hands wildly, trying to predict the trajectory were the man would move.

However, before she was about to succeed, the man spit out of a seed out of his mouth.

"Blinding Sunflower." A massive rainbow light was released, a light so bright, that before she had the time to close her eyes completely, those eyes, had already been quite wounded.

She knew that on her current blind state, she was an easy prey and thus she began to retreat.

The man used this opportunity, to heal his eyes, he took a golden substance and poured it over his eyes, while returning to the arena.

After his foot touched the ground again, he looked at Bing Xi Wang on the distance.

"Oh, it seems you are about to open your eyes?

Sigh, I did not want to end our match in such an unsightly way, however, I have a very important mission to do."

The man, upon saying those words, put his hands on the ground.

A ground which began to tremble.

Bing Xi Wang turned her head towards him, even though she still had her eyes closed, she was able to detect the direction of the sound, but most importantly the direction of the surging Qi Tides.

"What are you planning to do?" She said while frowning.

The man raised his arms widely, a myriad of tiny seeds were shoot at all directions.

Bing Xi Wang raised her hands to block his attack, whilst also looking at her surrounds with wariness.

The myriad of white seeds expanded, and they began to shine with a white light.

"Oh, no you won't-"

"A meadow of Blinding Sunflowers." The man said, he clapped his hands.

The intensity of the light on each of those flowers was very inferior to his previous attack, but that much was obvious, he clearly did not have the amount of Qi to sustain so many at the same time, hell, the only reason why he was able to conjure so many at once, was because he relied on the soil nearby.

However, the amount of light that so many flowers produced at once was far brighter than the original one.

More importantly, because the intensity on the light of each flower was lower, those sunflowers would not burn themselves to death so early, and thus, the attack would not dissipate until a long time had passed.

"Our match is already set, I have won." The man said, he began to move silently towards her.

Due to the myriad of Qi Tides, Bing Xi Wang would be unable to even detect the presence of his Qi, the only way for her to detect him, would be by opening her eyes.

Yet, on the process she would only harm herself more deeply, which would only blind her for the rest of the match, making her position even worse.

A complete loss-loss, no matter what she did.

Or so he thought.

Bing Xi Wang laughed heartily.

"Are you stupid?

You are only giving me more targets to attack!"

She shoot from her hands to bright yellow flames.

Wildly, burning everything around her.

The combined burning lights, mixed with the flames, created an spectacle so bright and shiny, that most of the spectators that were very far away had been blinded.

"ARE YOU INSANE?" The man could not help but think.

Even though with her techniques she would be able to injure him, or even prevent his advancement, she was also risking her own life, after all even if she had that precious bloodline, she was not completely immune to the fire.

She was risking her own life by doing such a reckless action.

The man looked at his surrounds, and saw that his position was worsening, he had no other choice but to sigh.

"Rising Dew." By using the water on the soil and sunflowers, he was able to create a myriad of drops of water, to slowly extinguish the flames.

As the drop of water collided with the flame, a boiling steam was produced, producing various tides of air, which revealed his location to Bing Xi Wang.

Who grinned.

"So, you were there, heh?" Her body flickered, she released her Qi around her body, and began to run at full speed towards him.

Before she had the time to approach, the man kicked the ground with his leg, he injected some Earth Qi within the soil, which began to expand, producing many pillars that allowed him to ascend.

Naturally, the flux of Qi could not be concealed, and thus Bing Xi Wang once more trailed the source of Qi and began to follow him.

But, before she could reach him, the man smiled.

He snapped his fingers.

Many herbs began to appear surrounding the pillars, as well as the surrounding earth that molded itself to protect him.

The man chuckled.

"Have you noticed?

They are poisonous.

Heh.

You may be wondering, how I did this?

After all, most Wood Path Cultivation tricks, rely on forcefully pushing the growth of a plant, beyond safety, to amplify whatever quality is helpful, whilst neglecting the rest.

Normally, this produces trees which produce tasteless nutritionless fruits, or rootless pines, which soon dry, so and so on.

And thus, even poisonous plants, become harmless, under the process.

However, who did ever say, I created this in a hurry?

Since the beginning of our duel, when I first threw those seeds, when you began to chase me, I prepared the battlefield.

By making you think, I was trying to attack you, you forgot about your surrounds, and ignored the fact, that I was burying those projectiles, for my future use.

Then, I used the soil to nourish my plants.

Followed, by my first Sunflower, to give them the light they need to grow, finally, I used my Rising Dew to give them water.

Of course, my original plan was to turn the whole battlefield in a poisonous field, I never thought you would burn the arena, and thus would evaporate most of the water and boil my seeds.

But it hardly matters, anyway.

I have won."

There were many herbs scattered producing a massive barrier, that would automatically protect him against all her attacks.

Moreover, this barrier also was impossible to cross through, if she did something as foolish as running towards him, she would only poison herself to death.

But she could not burn the herbs either, as she would only be producing a poisonous fog, which would end up killing her.

Bing Xi Wang smiled.

"You have prepared many things for me, I am flattered.

However, I also have a few surprises for you." She jumped towards one of the pillars, a thunderous sound was produced, as her feet touched one of it's walls.

Then, she used the force of her feet to produce another thunderous sound, to jump towards the wall of another pillar.

Every time she jumped, the pillars became more and more unstable.

Many cracks appeared around the earth, soon enough, the pillars collapsed under their own weight.

"I know a thing or two about Sound Path..."