Body Like an Ant, Heart Holds the Universe

The morning sunlight was soft without being glaring.

The room was filled with a hazy glow.

After waking in the Ye Family guest room, Lin Xiao washed up and began writing a letter.

Bing'er:

Seeing these words is as good as meeting in person.

I told you before that I stayed in Heaven Dou City and made two very good friends. One is Poison Douluo's granddaughter, Dugu Yan, and the other is the inheritor of the Nine Hearted Begonia, Ye Lingling.

With Aunt Ye's help—Ye Lingling's mother—I can already suppress, and even make use of, the Evil Fire inside me. Bing'er, you don't need to worry about my safety.

Next, I'll be going out with Poison Douluo for a while. It has to do with cultivation, and also with something very important I need to do. There won't be any danger. During this time, I may not be able to reply to letters promptly, but after I return, I'll answer them one by one. When that time comes, I'll bring you a very precious gift. You can look forward to it.

Also, how have you been in Skywater City? How is life at school? Has Granny Shui Yuehua been well lately? You can tell me about it.

I hope you can always be happy.

After leaving his signature, Lin Xiao slipped the letter paper into an envelope, sealed it carefully, and prepared to send it to Shui Bing'er in a while.

Lin Xiao stretched, walked out into the courtyard, and stared at the artificial mountain in the center, a little lost in thought.

The date to go to the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well had already been set.

They would set off in three days.

Recently, through studying it together with Ye Qingxian, Lin Xiao had learned that the Evil Fire inside him most likely would not disappear. It was not only because the Evil Fire was growing stronger and had evolved.

Ye Qingxian had once proposed an idea:

Perhaps Evil Fire was not a flaw. On the contrary, it might be an evolutionary seed left behind because his talent was too strong, an inevitable path of Phoenix Nirvana, serving to push the phoenix's evolution forward. It was just that new life had to be born from destruction, making the danger extremely high.

Lin Xiao felt that this idea was very valuable.

He and Ma Hongjun had already set foot on two completely opposite paths.

The phoenix was a bird of hope, yet it was reborn from destruction.

In the original work, Ma Hongjun's Evil Fire would erupt every so often and was always kept in a feeble state. Although it did not endanger his life, it also made him lose the opportunity to evolve.

Even after Ma Hongjun later swallowed Immortal Grass and purified that feeble Evil Fire, causing his martial soul to become a pure fire phoenix, he also lost other possibilities and locked himself into a dead end. Moreover, after all these days of learning about phoenixes, Lin Xiao kept feeling that even after Ma Hongjun's martial soul evolved, it still was not the Ultimate Fire Phoenix.

"For a phoenix, there is no ultimate, because after every nirvana, it breaks through its own limits, until there is no further room for improvement, and then it undergoes the next nirvana."

"Setting an ultimate limit instead seems rather vulgar, as if there is no room left to improve. That's no different from shutting oneself in."

"So the Ultimate Fire Phoenix should mean that when an Extreme Attribute breaks through a certain critical point, it can be named as such, but it still has limitless room to grow."

Just as Lin Xiao had recently discovered, Extreme Attribute and Ultimate Martial Soul were two different things. Being close to an Ultimate Martial Soul meant one was said to possess an Extreme Attribute, but to become an Ultimate Martial Soul, one needed to break through that critical point.

"Ma Hongjun and I both possess Extreme Attributes, but neither of us can yet be considered the Ultimate Fire Phoenix. However, my Extreme Attribute is already infinitely close, while his still has a very long way to go."

"After the Darkness and Destruction Phoenix, what will the next martial soul form be?"

Lin Xiao was very much looking forward to it!

He was now certain that his Evil Fire was not something Immortal Grass could eliminate, because he had already walked onto the path of phoenix evolution, and it was irreversible! This was a path that belonged to Lin Xiao alone!

"A True Dragon can be large or small, can ascend or hide; as for a phoenix, it can wield the might of destruction to cleanse sin, and it can also rely on the Ultimate Fire to achieve Heaven Burning, Sea Boiling. One day, I will become a True Phoenix that stands shoulder to shoulder with a True Dragon!"

The youth's lofty ambitions were surging.

His body was like an ant, but his heart held the universe!

Skywater City. The Shui Family.

"Miss, a letter has arrived."

Granny Shui Yuehua's eyes narrowed, her wrinkles rippling into a kindly smile. She held a letter in her hand and waved it at Shui Bing'er.

"From who?"

Shui Bing'er asked subconsciously, then saw the maple leaf specimen pasted onto the envelope. It was bright red and blazing like fire. This was Lin Xiao's unique mark.

Every time she saw this maple leaf, she could think of that handsome, clean-cut youth, who had a head of long Crimson Maple Color hair.

Shui Bing'er happily took the letter, opened it, and read.

She read very slowly, as if from the ink and between the lines, she could see a gentle youth with a smile at the corners of his mouth, writing at his desk.

After patiently finishing it, Shui Bing'er ran to the study and immediately wrote a reply.

Brother Lin Xiao:

I know you probably won't be able to see my reply, but that's all right. You can read it after you come back. I'm very happy living in Skywater City. I'm attending Skywater Noble Girls' Elementary Academy, and all the girls at school are very pretty and very kind. Granny Shui Yuehua is also in very good health.

Hearing that the flaw in your martial soul is already fine, Bing'er feels very happy for you. Brother Lin Xiao, just focus on doing your important matter. During this time, whenever Bing'er misses you, I'll write letters. I hope when the time comes and you see too many letters, you won't dislike Bing'er for being long-winded.

If it feels troublesome... Brother Lin Xiao, you don't have to read them either!

Right. Bing'er really wants to hear Brother Lin Xiao tell stories again, and Granny Shui Yuehua misses your grilled fish a little. When the holiday comes, can we meet?

Wishing Brother Lin Xiao success in everything!

She wrote her signature.

Shui Bing'er trotted off to mail the letter.

Logically, this sort of thing could be left to a servant, but Shui Bing'er always went to mail it herself. She always felt it was something sacred, and handing it to someone else would taint the feelings in it and be disrespectful to Brother Lin Xiao.

Granny Shui Yuehua followed behind her, a smile on her face.

"Bing'er, slow down..."

Early morning.

Frost coated the grass and trees. It was already late autumn.

Ye Qingxian wore a snow-white sable coat, her face covered by a white veil.

Dugu Bo, on the other hand, wore only a thin outer robe all year round.

Having reached the realm of a Titled Douluo, the Soul Power consumed to ward off the cold was negligible to him.

At the entrance of the Ye Residence.

Lin Xiao and Dugu Yan waved goodbye to Ye Lingling.

"We're off!"

Reluctance showed in both Ye Lingling's and Dugu Yan's eyes.

Ye Lingling's only relative was Ye Qingxian. Dugu Yan's only relative was Dugu Bo. And the friend Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling shared was Lin Xiao.

Yet now, all three of them were leaving.

"If you can't bear even this little separation, what will you do in the future?"

Ye Qingxian cast a sidelong glance at her daughter and snorted disdainfully.

"So coy, just like some little girl!"

Ye Lingling puffed out her cheeks.

"Mom, I am a little girl!"

Ye Qingxian and Dugu Bo had long since made arrangements. Whether it was the Nine Hearted Begonia's powerful network of connections or the Poison Douluo's illustrious reputation, neither would allow the two young girls to encounter any trouble.

So the only trouble was the reluctance to part.

Lin Xiao had already started walking toward Dugu Bo and Ye Qingxian.

Suddenly, he turned back with a smile.

"Leave the dirty work and hard work to us."

"You two young ladies, just wait for good news!"

Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling stood rooted to the spot in a daze.

By the time they came back to themselves, the others had already gone far away.