At the Star Emperor Hotel, in the Shrek Academy conference room, senior sister Zhang Lexuan sat upright with a tactical board in hand, ready to rearrange the lineup for the upcoming round-robin matches.
After all, Ling Luochеn had recovered and returned. As a core control-type member of the starting lineup, her return would have a huge impact on their tactics.
"Now that Ling Luochеn is back with the team, our control chain will be more complete. For the upcoming matches, our tactics..."
Before Zhang Lexuan could finish, the conference room door was rudely thrown open with a bang.
A red whirlwind swept into the room. Everyone's vision blurred, and a fiery figure had already charged up to Huo Yuhao.
It was Ma Xiaotao.
Her beautiful eyes blazed with fury as she glared at Huo Yuhao, looking ready to devour him. "You good-for-nothing man! You actually stood me up last night! You left me waiting alone in my room all night. My Evil Fire was about to burn through the ceiling!"
Huo Yuhao had just wanted to explain that he'd been fusing with Life Gold, but before he could say a word, Ma Xiaotao grabbed him by the collar and dragged him away.
"Carry on with the meeting! I'm taking this guy with me. This is personal!"
Ma Xiaotao left that domineering remark, ignored Zhang Lexuan's stunned expression, and dragged Huo Yuhao straight back to her room.
"Bang!"
The door slammed shut. A thick Soul Power barrier immediately rose, completely isolating everything happening in the room from the outside world.
"Xiaotao, listen to me..."
"Enough talk. Put out the fire first!"
Ma Xiaotao was like a volcano on the verge of eruption, the desire in her eyes almost tangible.
After waiting all night, the Evil Fire inside her had built up to its limit. Now that she had Huo Yuhao, a "Ten Thousand Year Mysterious Ice," right in front of her, how could she hold back?
However, she soon realized that Huo Yuhao seemed different today.
Facing the scorching heat rushing toward him, Huo Yuhao curled his lips into an amused smile.
After fusing with Life Gold, his Sea of Consciousness had expanded several times over, and his physique had been cleansed by the power of life. He was no longer the junior student who could only passively defend himself.
"Since the flames inside you are so restless, senior, I'll have to take the liberty of helping you 'cool down.'"
Huo Yuhao turned the tables, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. The aura of Ultimate Ice was no longer a gentle stream soothing her. Instead, it became a domineering blizzard that swept across the entire room in an instant!
Inside the room, two opposing fields of extreme cold and heat crashed into each other.
This was no longer a simple channeling of Soul Power, but a war between ice and fire.
"Mm... This chill... It's too piercing..."
"Wasn't it you who kept demanding that I put out the fire? Is this blizzard intense enough?"
"You bastard... You... Ah!"
Two utterly opposite energies of the extreme elements tore and pressed against each other within the cramped space. The air let out a series of shrill, overwhelmed shrieks.
"Rumble!"
The luxurious bed, bearing the pressure of both their Soul Powers, couldn't withstand the shockwaves of a clash comparable to Soul Cannons. With a mournful groan, it spectacularly broke apart, reduced to a heap of splinters.
Even the Soul Power barrier around them, already on the verge of collapse, creaked alarmingly and nearly shattered.
After a long while, the storm subsided, and the clouds parted.
Amid the ruins strewn across the floor, Ma Xiaotao's once-rampaging Phoenix Flame had been completely extinguished. Her hair was tousled, and her body was limp, as though she'd just endured an apocalyptic tribulation. There was none of the arrogance of the Flame Maniac in her eyes now.
At that moment, she was like a drenched phoenix, frozen through by the snow and with all her feathers tucked away. She didn't even have the strength to lift her eyelids.
"Are... are you a monster?" Ma Xiaotao's chest heaved as she stared at Huo Yuhao in disbelief. "It's only been a few days. How did your origin power get so much stronger? Before, you..."
Before, Huo Yuhao had been able to suppress her with help from external forces.
But today, she felt that the Evil Fire she'd always been proud of was completely overwhelmed and devoured by the abyss-like chill of Huo Yuhao's. The shudder that had struck her to the depths of her soul still left her shaken.
What was more, Huo Yuhao had forced her into a humiliating position where she was completely at his mercy.
Huo Yuhao leisurely straightened his clothes. He didn't reveal the secret of Life Gold, merely looking down at her with an amused curl to his lips. "Before? Before, I was worried about your health, senior. I was afraid the chill would be too strong and damage your meridians, so I held back on purpose. What, aren't you satisfied with the 'results' this time?"
"You!" Ma Xiaotao flushed with embarrassment and anger, but there was nothing she could do.
She was genuinely afraid now.
This deep "Ice Seal treatment" had worked wonders. The Evil Fire in her body had been suppressed so thoroughly that not even a spark remained. But the side effect was that she felt cold right down to her bones, as if her body were about to fall apart.
Seeing Huo Yuhao's eyes still bright and lively, as though he was ready for another "blizzard," Ma Xiaotao shuddered and instinctively shrank back.
"Get out, get out, get out! Hurry up and get out!" Ma Xiaotao hurriedly pulled the tattered sheet over herself, kicking wildly in the air with her bare feet as she drove Huo Yuhao away. "Go find Ling Luochеn! She has an Ice Attribute. Go torment her! Leave me alone! Don't come looking for me for a while!"
Huo Yuhao shrugged, wearing an expression that said, "If you can't handle it, I'll find someone else," and sauntered out of the room.
Meanwhile, in Ling Luochеn's room.
Another round of explosive action...
During a brief rest, Huo Yuhao leaned against the headboard and puffed away. Ling Luochеn had retreated to the sofa, rubbing her legs with a resentful expression.
"I can't... I really can't go on..."
Although she was a Spirit King, her physical constitution couldn't compare to Ma Xiaotao's, with her Evil Fire Phoenix Martial Soul.
"I still have a match tomorrow... My legs are weak. How am I supposed to compete?" Ling Luochеn looked at Huo Yuhao pitifully, afraid he might pounce on her again.
Huo Yuhao laughed and walked over to sit beside her, gently taking her hand.
"Don't worry. I'll give you a cheat code."
A stream of exceptionally pure Ultimate Ice Soul Power, infused with the aura of life, flowed from his palm into Ling Luochеn's body.
In an instant, Ling Luochеn felt a cool, soothing current flow through her entire body. The soreness and fatigue vanished, replaced by a sense of fullness unlike anything she'd felt before.
What shocked her even more was that the Ice Element in her body seemed to have undergone a transformation. Her control over ice had reached an entirely new level.
"What is this...?" Ling Luochеn's beautiful eyes widened.
"An Ultimate Ice trial pass," Huo Yuhao whispered in her ear. "In the upcoming matches, show everyone what a true Ice Queen looks like."
Feeling the surging power within her, Ling Luochеn's tears instantly dried up, replaced by excitement and fascination.
"I... I think I can go again."
Well, then. What more was there to say?
Huo Yuhao grabbed Ling Luochеn, turned her around, and pressed her head down onto the sofa.
The next three round-robin matches were a nightmare for Shrek's opponents.
Huo Yuhao was happy to take it easy, sitting in the waiting area and drinking tea.
Only Ling Luochеn stood on the arena.
With her Ultimate Ice trial pass, Ling Luochеn was so overwhelming on the battlefield that it was like she was fighting on a completely different level.
"Frozen Thousand Miles!"
As she waved her staff, the entire Soul Fighting Arena instantly turned into a kingdom of ice and snow. Before her opponents could even release their Soul Skills, they were frozen into lifelike ice sculptures.
With Soul Power at the Spirit King level and the attribute suppression of Ultimate Ice, no opponent of the same level could stand against her.
Three team battles, three sweeping victories.
Ling Luochеn stood in the center of the Soul Fighting Arena, basking in the crowd's cheers, but her gaze remained fixed on the young man below the stage.
The thrill of being in control intoxicated her, and she became more and more unable to extricate herself from Huo Yuhao, the one who had given her that feeling.
This was more than dependence on his power. She had surrendered to him, body and soul.
At last, the round-robin matches ended.
Shrek Academy qualified with a perfect record.
By then, Ma Xiaotao, who had spent several days "recovering" at the hotel, had finally made a full recovery.
A Spirit Saint with nearly Ultimate Fire, a Spirit King with an Ultimate Ice trial pass, and Huo Yuhao and Nier.
Shrek Academy's lineup had become terrifying.
The championship?
It was already theirs for the taking.
Before you continue