"Good. Then lie down obediently."
Yu Tianheng's attitude was incomparably domineering.
"You're not worthy."
Taichu was already irritated. He was in the middle of planning around the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, yet this guy had barged in and completely disrupted his plans. That alone was enough to make him furious.
"A mere Spirit Master dares to say something like that?"
Yu Tianheng sneered.
He was a Rank 30 Spirit Elder, wielding the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon—the number one Beast Spirit in the world. How could someone like this masked Spirit Master even be worth his attention? If not for the sake of winning Dugu Yan's favor, he wouldn't have spared him a single glance.
"Lie down obediently!"
Yu Tianheng's second spirit ring lit up.
"Second Spirit Ability — Thunderous Force!"
Bolts of lightning erupted from his body, shooting straight toward Taichu.
"Lightning Release — Lightning Step!"
Electric currents surged beneath Taichu's feet as his figure flashed about, narrowly dodging attack after attack.
He was honestly speechless.
Just to curry favor with Dugu Yan, this guy was acting completely irrational.
But there was no denying it—
Yu Tianheng was putting serious pressure on him.
After all, the opponent was a Spirit Elder with a top-tier martial soul, while he himself was only a Rank 20 quasi–Spirit Grandmaster who hadn't even obtained his second spirit ring yet. If he didn't rely on the Mangekyō Sharingan, there was no way he could win this fight.
"Am I really going to be exposed…?"
Taichu felt a splitting headache.
Yet Yu Tianheng clearly had no intention of letting him off.
"Yu Tianheng, that's enough! My business is none of yours!"
At this moment, Dugu Yan finally stepped forward, her face filled with anger.
"Yanzi, I'm doing this for your sake!"
Yu Tianheng looked utterly confused.
"Who do you think you are, interfering in my affairs whenever you please?!"
Dugu Yan snapped back without hesitation.
Those words struck Yu Tianheng like a heavy hammer. He never expected that his so-called good intentions would earn him such a response.
His eyes instantly turned bloodshot.
"It's all because of you—you're courting death!"
Spotting Taichu behind Dugu Yan, he immediately redirected all his anger toward him.
"Third Spirit Ability — Thunder's Fury!"
Terrifying blue lightning erupted from Yu Tianheng's body as he entered a berserk state. In this state, his lightning power doubled, and his spirit power increased by fifty percent. Unless he stopped it himself, this Spirit Ability would continue until his spirit power was exhausted.
After unleashing his full strength, Yu Tianheng charged straight toward Taichu.
In his eyes, everything was this guy's fault. If not for him, how could Dugu Yan have turned around and blamed him?
"Yu Tianheng, how dare you!"
Dugu Yan shouted angrily.
But Yu Tianheng ignored her completely, brushing past her and launching himself straight at Taichu.
"Damn it… Are the people of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan cursed against me or something?! To hell with this!"
Taichu truly felt that Yu Tianheng was simply asking for trouble. He was starting to believe that everyone from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan had something wrong with their heads—Yu Xiaogang was like this, and now Yu Tianheng was the same.
Maybe he really needed to check his luck. Perhaps he was genuinely incompatible with the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
Then—
A purple spirit ring slowly rose from Taichu's body.
"First Spirit Ability — Tsukuyomi!"
His Mangekyō Sharingan locked onto Yu Tianheng's gaze.
In almost an instant, Yu Tianheng was dragged into the Tsukuyomi Realm.
"W-Where is this?!"
Bound to a cross, Yu Tianheng stared at his surroundings in shock. Just moments ago, he had been charging at his opponent—how had he ended up here?
"This is my world," Taichu's voice echoed throughout the Tsukuyomi Realm from behind the spiral mask.
"In this world, space, time, and even mass are all under my control."
"Yu Tianheng—enjoy what comes next."
And so—
One round of torment followed another.
A full day and night passed within the illusion.
Yu Tianheng's screams never stopped.
When the dōjutsu finally ended—
Only an instant had passed in the real world.
"Ah—!!!"
The raging lightning surrounding Yu Tianheng instantly dispersed. A scream of unbearable agony burst from his throat, and with a dull thud, he collapsed straight to the ground.
The sudden turn of events left the members of the Huangdou Team staring in complete shock.
W-What just happened?
Why did Yu Tianheng suddenly collapse?
And then—
"A-a millennium first ring?!"
The purple spirit ring floating around Taichu sent waves of disbelief through everyone present.
The spirit power fluctuations were unmistakable—this masked man was only a Spirit Grandmaster.
And yet… his first spirit ring was a millennium ring.
This was unheard of.
Even Taichu himself let out a silent sigh.
So… he had still been exposed in the end.
Fortunately, he had prepared in advance and was wearing a mask. At least no one knew who he really was.
At that moment—
Whoosh!
Teacher Qin Ming, who had been hiding in the shadows, rushed over and appeared beside the fallen Yu Tianheng. After checking him over, he finally let out a sigh of relief.
"His mental force is damaged, but it's not too serious. Once we return to Heaven Dou City and have a healing-type Spirit Master treat him, he should recover after resting for about a month."
Yu Tianheng's identity was far too important. If something truly serious had happened, even a genius like Qin Ming would have had a hard time bearing the responsibility.
After confirming that Yu Tianheng was not in critical condition, Qin Ming immediately turned his gaze toward Taichu—his eyes burning with intensity.
"A millennium first ring… How did you do it?!"
His expression was filled with shock.
As a top graduate of Shrek Academy, he was deeply familiar with the Ten Core Competencies of Martial Souls. Yet this person had absorbed a millennium spirit ring as his first—completely shattering that long-established theory.
This masked youth could be called the number one anomaly on the entire continent.
"As long as your physical body is strong enough, it's possible," Taichu replied calmly.
Hearing this, the members of the Huangdou Team were rendered speechless.
Does that even need to be said? Did you think we were idiots?
"No—no, that's not what I mean," Qin Ming hurriedly clarified.
"I mean, how did your body reach the level required to absorb a millennium first ring? This already far exceeds the 423-year limit for first spirit rings recorded in the Ten Core Competencies of Martial Souls."
His eyes were filled with curiosity.
What he failed to realize was that his question was essentially probing into someone's core secrets—something that would normally be considered a major taboo.
The Huangdou Team members immediately perked up their ears again.
"If you can't do it," Taichu said flatly,
"then maybe you should look for the problem within yourselves. Have you really trained your bodies hard enough? Have you truly cultivated diligently all these years?"
As his words fell—
Dugu Yan and the others froze for a moment.
Then their faces instantly darkened.
Listen to that—was this even something a human was supposed to say?!