Extra 1: Battle of the Sea God Festival

Torrential soul power surged from the six soul rings behind Ma Xiaotao, the extreme scorch of the phoenix pressing heavily on everyone's hearts.

"Senior Sister, shouldn't we stop Xiaotao?" a cold, white-haired woman beside Zhang Lexuan asked in confusion.

"No need. Who told that guy to be so blind? Anyone with eyes can see that girl's heart belongs to someone else, yet he had to barge in."

Bathed in silvery moonlight, the inner courtyard's senior sister appeared as pristine and flawless as a moon goddess.

"Besides, we can also see where Xiaotao's limits lie. That Chen Fu guy gave her quite a few good things."

Although Ma Xiaotao was the one she called over to help maintain order, seeing a good show unfold, she was happy to watch as long as it stayed within control.

Moreover, she was quite curious about the good stuff Chen Fu had given Ma Xiaotao.

"Classmate, how about we drop the offense?" Lin Han was uncertain, cautiously asking the phoenix woman before him, whose soul rings were already fully unleashed.

"If I don't beat you until you're crying for your mom and dad, I'll take your surname today!"

Ma Xiaotao was disgusted by this young Soul Douluo teacher in front of her, who was thinking about "an old cow eating tender grass." Hadn't she made it obvious enough? Pulling this stunt now only proved all her earlier efforts were in vain.

Dodging the phoenix flames that came straight at his face, Lin Han thought to himself that Lin Xiaotao actually sounded better.

He was only less than ten years older than Ma Xiaotao, having become a teacher at the academy after graduating from the inner courtyard. Participating in the Sea God Festival this time was just to fulfill his dream of indulging in cultivation without caring about worldly affairs. When he happened to meet Ma Xiaotao, proud and aloof like a fire immortal, he tried to confess his feelings, not expecting such a fierce reaction.

"Classmate, if you don't stop, I won't go easy on you anymore!"

Bursting out from the sky-filling fire rings, Lin Han, fully beastified with dragon-type armor, looked disheveled with multiple burn marks on his body. He had indeed underestimated the power of phoenix flames.

Six soul rings—yellow, purple, purple, purple, black, red—were symmetrically arranged behind Ma Xiaotao. Under the infusion of vast crimson soul power, they outlined a massive six-winged halo, merging with the phoenix spreading its wings within Ma Xiaotao's body. Amid the blazing red heat, it rebirthed into a phoenix phantom resembling a Six-winged Seraph.

As the phoenix phantom's massive crimson six wings gently flapped forward, the starry sky shimmered with multicolored auspicious light in the heat.

"Roar!"

Accompanied by a deep, resonant dragon roar, an Ice Blue Giant Dragon surged with towering waves in the endless, colorful sea of fire. The sky churned in red and blue, creating a dreamlike palette.

Amid the flames and giant waves, with constant loud crashes and rumbling explosions, the entire inner courtyard was shrouded in high-temperature water mist falling from the sky.

The Golden Giant Tree standing tall in the distance emitted a faint glow, and the water level of Sea God Lake noticeably slowed its decline.

"Soul power and soul skills are in no way inferior to a Soul Douluo. Truly astonishing."

Raising her hand to dispel the mist within a hundred meters, Zhang Lexuan couldn't help but sigh as she watched the occasional booms and explosions in the sky.

"But it seems she's about to fall behind."

A Soul Douluo's combination of soul power, soul skills, and soul power quality always surpasses a Soul Emperor's, and their development of the martial soul is deeper.

After a few more exchanges, runes flashed around the Ice Blue Giant Dragon, forcibly suppressing the sea of fire. Before the soul power water shield could evaporate, a claw tore off one wing of the Six-winged Colored Phoenix. Sidestepping the incoming flame feather blades, it turned and swung its tail, slamming heavily into the Six-winged Colored Phoenix.

Bang!

A sudden burst of soul power around her repelled Lin Han, who tried to press the advantage. The soul power body of the Six-winged Colored Phoenix visibly became unstable.

The Soul Emperor had neutralized the Soul Douluo's soul power advantage, but the physical gap brought by the Martial Soul True Body was now like a chasm.

Ma Xiaotao only had a slight edge in speed and soul power; everything else was at a disadvantage.

"Oh ho, about to become Lin Xiaotao?"

The inner courtyard's senior sister had found the best spot to watch the show, pulling her junior sister aside to spectate quietly.

"It seems... Sister Xiaotao might lose if she keeps fighting," the white-haired junior sister beside Zhang Lexuan said with some worry. She didn't want to see Sister Xiaotao lose.

"Don't worry. Someone probably doesn't want Ma Xiaotao to take someone else's surname. She's definitely holding back a big trump card," Zhang Lexuan said, knowing Ma Xiaotao well. That girl wouldn't do something without confidence. If she did, it meant she had at least anticipated a draw.

While Zhang Lexuan chatted with her junior brothers and sisters, Ma Xiaotao and Lin Han exchanged dozens more rounds in the sky. Even though Ma Xiaotao tried to avoid close combat, Lin Han forced her into a round of hand-to-hand combat even at the cost of being burned by phoenix flames. Then her combined soul skill [Six-winged Colored Phoenix] suffered heavy damage, and her soul power recovery couldn't keep up.

"[Crimson Phoenix] activated. Entering combat mode."

As soon as Ma Xiaotao got it, she went to test it with Old Xuan. Below the Titled Douluo level, [Crimson Phoenix] could keep up and provide some assistance, far surpassing the shoddy products on the market.

[Crimson Phoenix activated. Entering combat assistance mode. **Connected]

The [Crimson Phoenix], folded and stored by her ear, immediately extended and appeared before Ma Xiaotao's eyes.

[Nirvana program updated. Update complete. Authorization granted.]

As Ma Xiaotao wondered, the [Nirvana] that had been turned off automatically activated and began channeling the soul power from her entire body and six soul rings.

"Clang!"

A deafening phoenix cry suddenly resounded in everyone's hearts, making their scalps tingle.

"Soul beast! No! It's Ma Xiaotao?!"

Zhang Lexuan restrained the surging soul power, protecting the other inner courtyard junior brothers and sisters to prevent chaos.

The Six-winged Colored Phoenix, flapping its wings anew, dodged the Ice Blue Giant Dragon's ambush at an ingenious angle. With the grace of an antelope hanging its horns, it sliced off a piece of the blue dragon's flesh with feather blades while evading. Then, diving close, it flipped and split the dragon's head. The phoenix claws stomped forward, locking onto the giant dragon from below. Its surrounding flames, with an unimaginable soul power conversion efficiency, burst into a fireball like a blazing sun.

"Roar!"

The Ice Blue Giant Dragon struggled desperately in the flames, but all its resistance was parried by the Six-winged Colored Phoenix's feather blades and claws. Even the phoenix beak, in its flailing, began devouring the dragon's soul power body.

All of the Ice Blue Giant Dragon's struggles were easily dodged by the Six-winged Colored Phoenix, which left wounds on the dragon as it twisted and turned. Its feet firmly locked onto the dragon's spine, rendering all resistance futile.

The once agile Ice Blue Giant Dragon now seemed like a stiff puppet before the Six-winged Colored Phoenix. Every move was preemptively parried, and the phoenix struck at its weak points.

"Am I dreaming? Senior Sister..."

All the reversal happened in a single exchange. The Martial Soul Giant Dragon, which had relied on its physical advantage, suddenly became nothing more than prey to be torn apart and devoured at will before the Soul Power Phoenix.

"..."

Zhang Lexuan caught Lin Han, who had been forced into his Martial Soul True Body and knocked unconscious. Feeling the gaze cast upon her, her heart tightened. Though it was clearly a creation of Soul Power, at this moment it felt to her as if she were facing an ancient Fierce Beast.

And the unconscious, severely wounded Lin Han in her hands was nothing more than a crude imitator within the food chain of this apex predator. Without an absolute gap in strength, prey remained prey—even if it might be slightly stronger.

The Six-winged Colored Phoenix dispersed the flames around its body, slowly descending through the night sky. Its Soul Power began to scatter and condense, finally coalescing into a human form before it landed.

Watching Ma Xiaotao emerge from the flames with a cold, emotionless expression, Zhang Lexuan felt a wave of pressure and couldn't help but think to herself: Old Mu was right. I should join that project too.

Beneath Ma Xiaotao's cold expression was a dazed mind. She had simply followed the [Crimson Phoenix]'s commands the entire time, outputting Soul Power. Then, somehow, as if dealing with a mere child, she saw through everything her opponent did, seized an opening, and crushed him.

[Crimson Phoenix] was strong, but not that strong, right? In Ma Xiaotao's estimation, using [Crimson Phoenix] to assist in controlling the Six-winged Colored Phoenix would let her achieve the flexibility of a Martial Soul True Body, then use her attribute and Soul Power advantage to defeat that eighty-first-level Soul Douluo. But it shouldn't have let her crush him with a single opening.

[**Disconnected]

[Crimson Phoenix Nirvana New Combination Control System Installed]

Dismissing the blue Soul Power operation interface and stabilizing the city's network conditions once more, a certain research-oriented man couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"I still think Ma Xiaotao sounds better."

Thanks to the good brothers for voting (ω｀)