Setting Up a Stall

Huo Yuxi controlled the direction of the eight Gui Yan Blades attacking her, surrounding her. Ma Xiaotao, unsure of the skill's effect, didn't choose to confront it head-on and leaped out of the encirclement with a backflip.

However, before she could steady herself, the missed blades immediately turned and spun back. Fortunately, having experienced countless battles, she narrowed her eyes and reacted instantly.

"First Soul Skill, Phoenix Fire Line."

A fiery pressure unique to the Evil Fire Phoenix Martial Soul surged forward. Huo Yuxi's cheeks burned red, and the eight light blades slowed down, being shot and instantly dissipating by the straight-shooting Phoenix Fire Line.

Huo Yuxi was forced back two steps by the impact. With Ma Xiaotao's abilities, she could have ended the battle by rushing forward during this opening. However, she wanted to know Huo Yuxi's Second Soul Skill, so she gave her a moment to recover.

Huo Yuxi understood her intention and mobilized the Soul Power within her body. "Second Soul Skill, Wrath of the Stranglehold."

The air around the Soul Devouring Spider vibrated, surging like waves towards Ma Xiaotao.

Ma Xiaotao had already activated her Second Soul Skill, Bathing Fire Phoenix. She concealed herself within the flames, her sharp eyes faintly visible.

Her Second Soul Skill allowed her Phoenix Fire power to increase in all attributes and gain additional power.

Unexpectedly, after Huo Yuxi's Second Soul Skill was unleashed, she could still clearly feel her Soul Power rapidly depleting, accompanied by a faint sense of dizziness.

Normally, such a Soul Skill would have a range or time limit. She turned and started running backward. Five meters, ten meters, twenty meters, fifty meters. The sense of restriction disappeared. It seemed her skill's range was within fifty meters, and the time limit was half a minute!

Knowing this, she turned and charged back. Halfway there, she stopped. For no other reason than Huo Yuxi had actually broken through during this battle.

Are all children these days so formidable? Breaking through during a battle, one might think breaking through was easier than eating! However, she didn't give Huo Yuxi any time. After all, in a battle, the enemy wouldn't allow you to call for a pause.

After leveling up, Huo Yuxi felt her senses become much sharper. The moment Ma Xiaotao was about to touch her, she quickly defended.

But ultimately, she was not skilled in close-quarters combat. In less than two minutes, the battle was declared over.

"Your Soul Skills are all very strong, but your close-combat ability and physical fitness are too poor. We'll catch up on those later, but for now, I'll take you to get your third Soul Ring."

"Huh?" Huo Yuxi's heart raced. "We're going by ourselves?"

"What, you look down on me?" Ma Xiaotao put a hand on her hip and glanced at her sideways.

"No, it's not that. My Soul Ring, my Soul Ring..." Huo Yuxi started sweating profusely. A thought flashed through her mind. "I need to tell my brother before I go on a long trip. Can we go in a few days, okay?"

Huo Yuxi didn't know how to explain that she didn't need to hunt Soul Beasts to obtain Soul Rings. She needed to stall for now. By the time they saw she already had her third Soul Ring, they definitely wouldn't ask her to go again!

"Alright then," Ma Xiaotao relented and took her to train.

An afternoon passed, and Huo Yuxi lay on the grass. She felt it would have been better to go for a weighted run with Teacher Zhou.

Although Senior Xiaotao didn't accidentally kill her, she was close to torturing her to death.

"How can you be so weak?" Ma Xiaotao looked at her lying on the ground with a lifeless expression, frustrated by her lack of progress. Such great talent, yet her body was so poor.

Huo Yuxi was also helpless. Her body had started to improve after awakening her Martial Soul. It had been several years since her last episode, but her physical fitness still hadn't improved.

"Forget it, that's enough for today. I'll send you back to rest. From now on, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays afternoons, wait for me at the same spot as today, and I'll pick you up."

"Okay."

When Huo Yuxi returned to the dormitory, Xiao Xiao and the others hadn't finished their classes yet. She sat on her bed, circulated her Soul Power, and her two Soul Rings spun vigorously.

Then, a purple shadow slowly appeared on the outermost circle. Another thousand-year Soul Ring. However, the year limit of her second Soul Ring was around two thousand years, while her third Soul Ring reached five thousand years.

Time passed quickly while cultivating. Huo Yuxi opened her eyes; the sky outside had already begun to darken. Xiao Xiao returned from training, her clothes soaked with sweat.

"Xixi, you're back already?"

"Yeah, Senior Xiao Xiao, did you guys just finish?" Huo Yuxi looked at her tired appearance, feeling drenched in sweat. Was she overthinking it, or was Senior Xiaotao gentler?

"Yeah, you have no idea how brutal Teacher Zhou is," Xiao Xiao said, sitting on a stool and taking a sip of water. "Today, during the weighted run, she demanded we couldn't stop. Who could endure that? Only your brother. I really don't know where he gets that much willpower from."

Huo Yuxi didn't say anything. Of course, she knew why Huo Yuhao was pushing himself so hard. Hadn't she been doing the same? Looking at the Soul Devouring Spider sleeping sprawled out beside her, she smiled. Her third Soul Ring was already obtained, and things would only get better.

Xiao Xiao continued, "But later, Teacher Zhou called in a Soul Sage-level expert to treat us. Now I feel like I have endless energy, and I even have signs of breaking through."

"I won't talk to you anymore, I feel incredibly uncomfortable. I'm going to wash up first." She turned and went to the bathroom outside to clean herself.

Huo Yuxi continued to ponder how she would explain her third Soul Ring to Ma Xiaotao the day after tomorrow. Did she hunt it herself? Clearly impossible. Shrek Academy had a closed management system, and leaving required applying and registering.

So what should she do?

Before she could come up with a perfect explanation, Xiao Xiao had already finished tidying up and returned to the dormitory.

"Xixi, your brother said he's going to sell grilled fish today and asked me to call you down. He's waiting for you downstairs."

"Oh, okay." "When the cart arrives at the mountain, it will naturally straighten itself out." For now, Huo Yuhao's grilled fish held more allure for her.

"By the way, Senior Xiao Xiao, aren't you going?"

"I have something else to do later. You go ahead, I'll go next time."

Huo Yuxi went downstairs alone. Tang Ya and Huo Yuhao were chatting not far away. Tang Ya, facing the dormitory entrance, saw her first and waved, calling out loudly, "Xixi, you're here? Come over quickly."

The three of them went to the night market at the school entrance. Bei Bei was already waiting by the stall, sitting on a chair.

"Everything is ready. You guys grill here first, and I'll go buy some more food for you."

"Okay, thank you, Senior Brother."

Huo Yuhao stepped forward and began grilling the fish. His Spirit Eyes allowed him to perfectly control the heat. Before long, the grilled fish began to emit an aroma, and Huo Yuxi's mouth was already watering uncontrollably.

"Little Yuhao, your cooking skills are as good as ever. Just smelling this aroma makes my mouth water," Tang Ya said, walking over to the side. After speaking, she even swallowed her saliva imaginatively.

"It'll be ready soon," Huo Yuhao said with a smile, taking three grilled fish. He sprinkled them with salt, cumin, and other spices, handing one to Huo Yuxi first and placing the others on a plate to give to Tang Ya.

To be fair, Huo Yuhao's cooking skills were really something. Passersby stared intently at the golden-brown herring roasting on his stall. Combined with Huo Yuxi's elegant and appetizing eating posture beside it, their appetites were thoroughly whetted, yet no one stepped forward to ask.

With so many assassins around these days, anything without a displayed price could be targeted at any moment, even if it was just a street vendor.

Sensing this, Huo Yuxi finished her meal in a few bites. She casually grabbed a board from the side, used a piece of charcoal to write: Roasted Fish, 5 copper coins each, and hung it in front of the stall.

The fish had been bought for 1 copper coin, so selling them for 5 was just right, and the price was similar to the neighboring stalls.

As soon as it was hung up, people immediately came forward to buy. Where there was one, there would be a second, and soon a long queue began to form.