Fire Poker

Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao, who had been staring in astonishment at the fiery-red figure on Sea God Lake, were suddenly struck as if by a heavy blow. With muffled groans, they slowly crumpled to the ground.

A faint glimmer flashed through Huo Yuhao's eyes.

He was the reason Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao had fainted.

Ma Xiaotao's Evil Fire rampage was not something the two of them could withstand. Even if they wanted to flee, it was already too late.

Huo Yuhao slowly raised a hand, using his Spiritual Power to connect with the Eye of Eternity. At the same time, he drew upon the origin power Tian Meng had sealed within his Spiritual Sea.

He possessed an incomplete Ice Attribute Martial Soul. Though it was not Ultimate Ice, with Tian Meng's origin power flowing into it, it was enough to deal with Ma Xiaotao's Evil Fire.

The fiery-red figure drew closer and closer. Even without using his Spirit Eye Martial Soul, he could clearly make out her form with his naked eyes.

Her red clothes snapped in the fierce wind, her long hair streaming behind her. Her face was covered by an equally red mask.

At that moment, even the air around Ma Xiaotao was faintly distorted by the extreme heat. Her blood-red eyes were filled with brutality.

The fierce, chilling aura surging from her body made her seem like an ancient soul beast as she charged straight at Huo Yuhao.

"What's going on? Why has my origin power been mobilized... No, this aura—Yuhao, relax your mind quickly! Let me handle her!"

Within the Spiritual Sea, Tian Meng was startled awake from his slumber by Huo Yuhao's actions.

"Senior Sister, I don't want you turning me into a fire poker!"

A frosty white gleam emerged in Huo Yuhao's eyes. His pupils changed rapidly, becoming an icy white as cold as ten-thousand-year ice in an instant.

An intensely cold chill suddenly spread out from Huo Yuhao's body.

Although this frost from Tian Meng was nowhere near the Ice Empress's Ultimate Ice, it was still far from ordinary.

All the scorching heat Ma Xiaotao had brought vanished at once, replaced by a world of ice and snow.

Huo Yuhao himself did not possess Tian Meng's immense origin power and Spiritual Power, so he could not cause widespread changes like he had in his previous life. The icy domain only extended from around his body to a short distance away.

Fortunately, the moment Tian Meng sensed Huo Yuhao actively drawing upon his origin power, he began cooperating as well. Otherwise, Huo Yuhao would only have been able to endure that power with his own physique.

Forming a sword with two fingers, Huo Yuhao pointed forward. A streak of ice-blue force shot directly toward Ma Xiaotao.

Ma Xiaotao's approaching figure immediately stalled. Just as she was about to unleash her Soul Power, Huo Yuhao's Soul Impact, enhanced by the Eye of Eternity, arrived.

The power he could mobilize was not great, but it was enough to stop Ma Xiaotao from releasing her Martial Soul.

The enormous fire phoenix Ma Xiaotao had been about to summon only took shape before it was forced back down, not even having the chance to reveal its Soul Rings.

Ma Xiaotao's entire body went limp, and she staggered before collapsing in front of Huo Yuhao.

At the same moment, Huo Yuhao's body also went weak, leaving him barely able to retain consciousness.

Farther away, more than a dozen figures shot out from the depths of Sea God Lake at an astonishing speed. They ran across the lake's surface as though walking on level ground.

Within only a few blinks, the dozen or so figures had reached the shore. An elderly man in white at the front took a step through the air and arrived before Huo Yuhao and Ma Xiaotao.

"This is bad. Xiaotao injured Outer Court students!"

"Teacher Li, hurry and treat them!"

"Yes." At the white-robed elder's words, the middle-aged man in white called Teacher Li stepped forward and released his Martial Soul.

He raised both hands, and a gentle green light grew from his palms. As his Soul Rings flickered, rings of green radiance quietly spread around Huo Yuhao and the other two, soaking into their bodies.

"Fortunately, they've only fainted. They haven't suffered any real harm."

As he treated them, Teacher Li reported to the white-robed elder.

"That's good. That's good." Only then did the elder let out a breath of relief. "Fortunately, no grave mistake was made. Xiaotao still retained some awareness in the end."

"Teacher Li, wait for these students to wake up. Remember, you must instruct them to forget what they saw earlier. If word gets out, expel them immediately."

"Also, give them some generous compensation. It will at least express our apology. We'll be leaving first."

His last sentence was directed at the other teachers.

A female teacher stepped forward and lifted the unconscious Ma Xiaotao into her arms. Their figures flickered, and they transformed into several white streaks that flew toward the depths of Sea God Lake.

Meanwhile, Tian Meng was in an uproar within Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Sea.

"Impossible! Why can you mobilize my sealed origin power..." Tian Meng's delicate doll-like avatar paced back and forth in Huo Yuhao's mental world, utterly bewildered.

"Forget it. This only proves how brilliant I am. If it weren't for a human like you, Yuhao, how could you possibly deserve a Wisdom Soul Ring as unique as me in the entire continent?"

Tian Meng did not have much of a brain, and he quickly cast the matter aside, turning to another topic.

"But that little girl's fire attribute is truly impressive. She seems to possess some phoenix bloodline, though it's a little sinister—not the righteous kind of flame."

"Come to think of it, wait, you're already Level Eighteen?" Tian Meng was clearly surprised.

"Hehe, looks like I really do have a good eye. I found a treasure! Once you reach Level Twenty, I'll take you to complete your Second Martial Soul!"

Huo Yuhao said nothing, merely pondering in silence.

He was considering whether he should reveal something.

For example, Soul Spirits.

As the crystallization of Electrolux's wisdom from his previous life, the Soul Spirit System Huo Yuhao had personally developed only preserved a portion of a soul beast's soul in essence. It could not be said to have completely changed the cultivation system of Soul Masters.

No matter how much things changed, their core remained the same. No matter what form the Soul Spirit System took, its ultimate method of increasing strength still relied on adding Soul Rings.

And if nothing unexpected happened, the target Tian Meng wanted to use to complete his Second Martial Soul would still be the emperor of the Ice Jade Scorpion clan—the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion, the Ice Empress.

Though he had no idea what the reason would be this time.

Surely it wouldn't be three-headed dragons?

At this stage, Electrolux was still observing this world. Unlike when he had created the Soul Spirit System in his previous life, he did not yet understand Douluo Star.

Huo Yuhao had every reason to believe that if he presented the Soul Spirit System, both Tian Meng and Electrolux would certainly be shocked.

But the question was, should he say it now?

And if he did, how would he explain where the idea had come from?

More importantly, the Soul Spirit System required Electrolux's incantations to work. How was he supposed to explain the origins of those incantations to Electrolux?

Even the artificial Soul Spirits that appeared ten thousand years after his previous life had continued using the incantations Huo Yuhao had originally spread from Sea God Pavilion.

After carefully rereading Douluo Dalu 2, to put it in Tang San's terms, nearly every character with more than a little page time has a Path to Death.

I am firmly anti-Shrek and anti-Mu En. Anyone who likes Mu En and thinks he cannot be criticized can leave now. I don't want to waste my energy arguing with people who say Tang San's settings are bullshit while also using Tang San's settings to claim Mu En has no flaws.

And to those saying Grilled Fish has no standing to oppose Shrek—do you even understand what a second setting is? On one hand, you say Grilled Fish started going bad the moment he entered Shrek; on the other, you defend Shrek. Isn't that pathetic?

This is killing me. You tell me that according to the original novel, Grilled Fish was a loyal Simp with no standing to oppose Shrek. Then what is the point of establishing an alternate premise at the beginning? If I followed the original Grilled Fish, why would I need to write that, in this life, he realized his own mistakes? In the original, he always believed he had done nothing wrong.

People like that can go read other fanfics. Why come here to disgust both me and yourselves just to whitewash Mu En, claiming he has no flaws or only a few?

The only ones who truly have few flaws are characters with very little screen time, like the love-struck Zhang Lexuan. Other than being obsessed with love, she basically did nothing. But if you claim Mu En has few flaws, that really makes me laugh.

As for Mu En's combat strength, I can't be bothered to keep talking about it. Among the three Ultimate Douluo, Ye Xishui had the highest combat strength; the original text explicitly states this. If some people refuse to acknowledge Tang San's own settings, there is nothing I can do. After all, who knows what version of the original text they have fantasized in their heads? Mu En can crush the entire Douluo Continent? Who knows.