Si Huan Nian stood where Rong Taotao had been, holding the fried pork strips. She tilted her head back, popped one into her mouth, and closed her eyes to savor it, letting out a contented hum. "Mmm..."

’This detestable woman is a total school bully!’

’No wonder you don’t have a boyfriend. You probably don’t have any friends at all, do you?’

Rong Taotao complained silently to himself.

"Heh." Si Huan Nian couldn’t help but chuckle at the resentful look on Rong Taotao’s face as he pouted and muttered under his breath.

She plopped down on the sofa and said, "Since you’ve advanced, take a good rest. Tomorrow is the main event. After all, the school is only interested in first place."

"Oh, right, Coach Si." Something suddenly occurred to Rong Taotao. "I heard Teacher Cha is working on a new Soul Skill? Does that mean we’ll have another Soul Skill we can train on our own?"

Si Huan Nian nodded. "I don’t know if you’ll be able to use it. He hasn’t finished developing it yet, so it’s unclear what level of Soul Technique will be required to support it. Researching a Soul Skill is a long process. Sometimes, it can take years. So don’t get your hopes up for now."

Rong Taotao asked hurriedly, "What type of Soul Skill is it?"

But Si Huan Nian just asked back, "What do you think we’re lacking?"

Rong Taotao thought for a moment. "Vision?"

Si Huan Nian picked up a fried mushroom, dipped it in salt and pepper, and asked, "What else?"

"Uh..." Rong Taotao scratched his head. "Perception-type?"

"Hah." Si Huan Nian laughed and shot Rong Taotao a look of mock reproach. "Everything you’re mentioning is too advanced. That’s not the kind of thing people can just research and create."

Rong Taotao gave an awkward laugh. He realized that suggesting Soul Skills that could change the entire combat doctrine of the Snow Realm was asking a bit much. If such skills were so easy to develop, Snow Realm Soul Martial Artists wouldn’t have been suppressed by the Snow Realm Soul Beast Army for decades.

Si Huan Nian answered, "A defensive one."

"Oh, defense." Realization dawned on Rong Taotao. "It’s true, we’re strong on offense but weak on defense."

"Mhm." Si Huan Nian readily agreed. "In fact, all Soul Martial Artists in this world are strong on offense and weak on defense. Only those who have opened a Soul Slot in their chest can afford to be a little more reckless."

For us Snow Realm Soul Martial Artists, a three-star Soul Technique is compatible with Ice Glass, and a four-star Soul Technique is compatible with Ice Barrier.

But Ice Glass is too fragile; it shatters on contact. And Ice Barrier requires the Caster to stay in a fixed position to continuously channel Soul Power into the ice wall, so its limitations are too great.

Si Huan Nian continued, "Cha Er wants to develop a defensive Soul Skill that is neither fragile nor restricts movement. If he succeeds, the survival rate for us Snow Realm Soul Martial Artists will increase significantly."

"That makes sense." Rong Taotao thought for a moment, then raised his right arm. Layers of frost snow solidified on it. "This has very strong defense. What if we used this kind of compacted frost snow as a shield?"

Si Huan Nian said, "Your thinking is on the right track. Cha Er wrote about that in his research paper, too. But the Soul Martial World has its own rules. Soul Techniques, Soul Skills, Soul Pets, Soul Slots... everything seems to have its own mysterious limits."

A shield made of condensed frost snow like that—it sounds so simple, so easy, but no one can manifest it. Not even Cha Er.

Rong Taotao nodded with a sense of helplessness. "Can I see his paper? Where can I find it?"

Si Huan Nian didn’t want to spoil Rong Taotao’s enthusiasm. She tilted her head, gesturing toward the office desk. "Second drawer. *Journal of Songjiang Soul Martial Arts*. Look for the second issue of 2011."

"Ah." Rong Taotao walked over quickly and pulled open the drawer, but the first thing he saw was Si Huan Nian’s private stash of White Rabbit creamy candies. Rong Taotao casually unwrapped one and popped it in his mouth as he found the journal.

Rong Taotao checked the table of contents and flipped to the paper published by Cha Er.

"Jeez, twenty-something pages?" Rong Taotao grimaced. "He can really write, huh?"

Rong Taotao had assumed he wouldn’t understand much of it. But to his surprise, Cha Er’s writing wasn’t abstruse, and he explained profound concepts in simple terms. With his current understanding as a three-star Soul Technique user, it was a bit of a struggle to read, but he could still get the general idea.

"All things in the world have their own form?" Over an hour later, Rong Taotao suddenly muttered the sentence aloud.

"Hm?" Si Huan Nian had long since finished the mushrooms and pork strips. She was even lying on the sofa, waiting for Rong Taotao so they could go get lunch...

Rong Taotao had a strange look on his face. "Teacher Cha wrote twenty-something pages of serious text, only to pivot to metaphysics at the end?"

"Hehe." Si Huan Nian couldn’t hold back a smile. "Well, do you think that sentence is correct?"

Rong Taotao frowned as he read the lines: "Just like the unique principles of this world, we are not creating, nor are we independently developing. We are merely discovering the Soul Martial Rules that have already been set, that already exist. My humble opinion, for your consideration."

"This..." Rong Taotao felt a little distressed. "That’s so pessimistic."

Si Huan Nian replied, "We can’t even create a simple Frost Snow Shield. You can imagine how Cha Er must feel."

"Rules... Rules..." Rong Taotao’s brow furrowed deeply as he muttered the word to himself.

Si Huan Nian sat up. "Come on, let’s go get something to eat."

But Rong Taotao seemed not to have heard Si Huan Nian. He raised his palm, and a frosty mist spread from it.

The next moment, a sheet of Ice Glass appeared in his palm.

The Ice Glass was very transparent. He could even see the objects behind the finger-thick sheet of ice quite clearly.

Si Huan Nian raised an eyebrow slightly. Watching Rong Taotao, who was lost in thought, she opened her mouth but ultimately said nothing.