The Nature of Evil Fire

This sudden turn of events left Flender completely bewildered.

He quickly stepped forward and pulled Ma Hongjun back from beside Fu Shiyan's legs, his face showing embarrassment and apology as he bowed deeply to Fu Shiyan.

"I'm so sorry! I'm truly sorry! It's my fault for not disciplining him properly; please forgive my poor upbringing!"

"This child... this child may have been traveling a long way and is confused, mistaking someone for someone else. There was absolutely no intention to offend! Please forgive him!"

Fu Shiyan shook her head calmly, her gaze falling on Ma Hongjun, who was being held back by Flender but still staring at her expectantly, and asked in a gentle tone:

"Child, we don't seem to have met before. How do you know my surname is Fu?"

This question left Ma Hongjun speechless. His face flushed red, his eyes darted around in a panic, and he stammered, unable to utter a word.

Flender, standing nearby, was also taken aback.

Judging from the young man's words, his surname really is Fu?

Could Hongjun really know this mysterious and powerful figure?

Fu Shiyan did not urge him, but looked at Ma Hongjun calmly, as if waiting for a reasonable explanation.

Fu Ze stood silently, like the most loyal shadow guard.

Dai Tianyu curled his lip, crossed his arms, and looked on with amusement.

The atmosphere became somewhat awkward for a moment.

Flender didn't dare to interrupt, and could only cast a questioning glance at Ma Hongjun, his mind racing: What is this kid hiding from me?

Ma Hongjun glanced at Fu Shiyan, then at Flender, and then at the cold, lifeless corpse of the Three-Eyed Azure Feather Sparrow beside him, feeling both anxious and panicked.

Finally, as if he had made up his mind, he took two steps forward and whispered to Fu Shiyan:

"Um... Teacher Fu... could you... could you come here for a moment? I... I'll tell you something secretly."

His clumsy, secretive, childlike demeanor, like a thief, eased the previously tense atmosphere somewhat.

A faint ripple flashed across Fu Ze's eyes, and the curve of Fu Shiyan's lips seemed to deepen slightly.

Fu Shiyan cooperated by leaning slightly forward, turning her ear to the side, and said gently:

"Okay, go ahead and say it."

Ma Hongjun nervously tiptoed and whispered in Fu Shiyan's ear, in a voice only the two of them could hear:

"I... I dreamt it! I dreamt that you were our teacher! I also dreamt of Tang San, Xiao Wu, Oscar, and the others! I dreamt that you... you solved my problem of Evil Fire, and my Martial Soul transformed into a beautiful and powerful Fire Phoenix!"

He seemed afraid that Fu Shiyan wouldn't believe him, so he quickly added, his voice trembling with tears and pleading:

"It's true! Teacher Fu, you have to believe me!"

"My Martial Soul... it's in so much pain, so chaotic... I don't want to absorb that ice bird's Spirit Ring, I'm scared..."

After listening, Fu Shiyan slowly straightened up, a perfectly timed look of confusion on her face, and looked at Ma Hongjun, asking:

"Evil Fire? What Evil Fire?"

Seeing that Fu Shiyan didn't seem to completely believe him, but didn't scold him for talking nonsense, Ma Hongjun mustered his courage.

He took two steps back, stood still, and tried his best to put on the most serious expression possible. Although it looked somewhat cute with his round face, he shouted:

"You'll know once you see my Martial Soul!"

"Phoenix Possession!"

After saying that, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and fully activated his Soul Power.

"Boom!"

The purplish-red Evil Fire erupted once more, and the plump phoenix phantom emerged from the flames, its scorching and restless aura spreading instantly.

The flickering flames reflected Ma Hongjun's tense yet excited state of mind.

A faint fluctuation of Soul Power lingered around him, but it could not coalesce because he had not absorbed Spirit Ring.

Upon seeing this unique Evil Fire Phoenix Martial Soul, a barely perceptible hint of surprise flashed in Fu Ze's eyes, as if he recognized the extraordinary nature of this Martial Soul.

Dai Tianyu, standing nearby, burst out laughing, pointing at the purplish-red, plump bird phantom and mocking it without any restraint:

"Hey, little fatty, what kind of phoenix are you? I think you're just a fat hen on fire! Hahaha!"

Ma Hongjun was fully focused on demonstrating his Martial Soul, anxiously awaiting Fu Shiyan's reaction. Distracted by Dai Tianyu, he immediately blushed with anger, turned to glare at Dai Tianyu, and loudly retorted:

"What are you laughing at! This is a phoenix! Evil Fire Phoenix! Not a chicken! What do you know!"

Dai Tianyu snorted, raised his chin, and adopted an arrogant look that said, "So what if I laughed?"

Fu Shiyan ignored the bickering between the two children. His gaze lingered thoughtfully on Ma Hongjun's Martial Soul for a moment before turning to Flender, who stood to the side, his face filled with surprise and uncertainty as he tried to sort things out. He asked in a calm tone:

"Dean Flender, from what I overheard your conversation, you hunted this Three-Eyed Azure Feather Sparrow, intending to use it as this child's First Soul Ring?"

Flender immediately snapped out of his reverie and quickly nodded in reply:

"Yes, yes, that's exactly right!"

"Your Excellency is wise. This child possesses exceptional Martial Soul talent, being a mutated phoenix. However, he is born with a fiery, blazing Evil Fire frequently backfires on him, causing him immense suffering."

He pointed to the Three-Eyed Azure Feather Sparrow on the ground, his face regaining its confidence in Yu Xiaogang's theory, and began to speak eloquently:

"One of our experts in the institute, Grandmaster with profound theoretical knowledge, analyzed that Evil Fire fire belongs to the fire element, and is intense and restless."

"Therefore, we should use the opposing elements of water and ice to neutralize and suppress it."

"At the same time, when Evil Fire disturbs the spirit, one must use Mental Attribute to stabilize the mind."

"This ' Three-Eyed Azure Feather Sparrow ' possesses both spiritual and ice attributes, making it the perfect choice to address the flaws in its Martial Soul!"

"The saying 'when a fire is too raging, it should be quenched with water' perfectly illustrates this principle!"

He spoke clearly and confidently, clearly having a firm belief in Yu Xiaogang's theory.

Upon hearing this, Fu Shiyan gently shook her head, a smug smile playing on her lips, and said calmly:

"If the fire is too intense, should it be quenched with water?"

He repeated Flender ' words, the negation in his tone crystal clear:

"Absurd!"

Those two decisive words instantly froze the smile on Flender's face, and a feeling of being offended and displeased welled up in his heart.

However, due to the opponent's unpredictable strength and the silent powerhouse beside him, he could only suppress his anger, his face slightly flushed, but he dared not utter a word of rebuttal.

Fu Shiyan didn't stop there; instead, she continued, "If I'm not mistaken, this child's Martial Soul is a mutated martial Martial Soul from a very low-grade Martial Soul Mutation!"

Ma Hongjun was stunned for a moment, then his eyes widened, and he nodded vigorously in agreement, quickly echoing:

"Yes, yes, yes! Teacher Fu, you're absolutely right! How... how did you know that?"

"My father's Martial Soul is just a regular Fire Tail Chicken, and my mother's is an even weaker Grass Chicken Martial Soul. They... they don't have Innate Soul Power."

His gaze toward Fu Shiyan was filled with disbelief and an even more fervent admiration.

Fu Shiyan was not surprised by Ma Hongjun's confirmation. He nodded calmly, then turned his gaze back to Flender, whose face was pale, and continued:

"The theoretical Grandmaster you mentioned, who proposed that 'if the fire is too intense, it should be quenched with water,' has a completely wrong premise!"

He took a small step forward, his gaze falling on the cold corpse of the Three-Eyed Azure Feather Sparrow, then sweeping over Ma Hongjun, and continued:

"The Evil Fire in this child's Martial Soul is not inherently due to an excess or excessive intensity of fire."

"It stems from a defect in the Martial Soul Origin Martial Soul during its mutation and evolution process."

"His Martial Soul was a product of an evolutionary failure to reach the higher level of 'Phoenix' due to insufficient accumulation of its own origin!"

"The core issue with the restlessness, malevolence, and uncontrollable aura contained within that Evil Fire lies in its disorder and chaos, rather than simply the 'size of the fire.'"

Fu Shiyan's gaze sharpened, her words like knives, cutting straight to the heart of the matter:

"And the ice-attribute Spirit Ring that the theoretical Grandmaster you mentioned carry carry extremely cold energy, which is the complete opposite of fire-attribute spirit rings."

"If we were to forcibly inject it as the First Soul Ring —the 'foundation ring' that is most deeply connected to the Martial Soul Origin and lays the foundation for its future growth—into this Martial Soul, which is already structurally fragile and unstable due to its failed evolution..."

He paused, letting each word strike Flender and Ma Hongjun's hearts with heavy weight:

"The result is definitely not 'moistening' or 'neutralizing,' but rather a violent clash between two extreme attributes at the Martial Soul Origin!"

"This conflict of attributes originating from the Martial Soul Origin will not only fail to quell the so-called Evil Fire, but will also completely destroy the fragile balance that is barely maintained."

"It caused the already 'disorderly' flames within his Martial Soul to lose their last bit of restraint, erupting and backfiring several times over!"

His voice suddenly turned cold:

"At that time, the Martial Soul Origin will suffer irreversible damage, and the Soul Master's Mental Sea will be on the verge of collapse due to attribute conflicts and berserk behavior."

"At best, one's cultivation will be completely destroyed; at worst... one will die on the spot."