"Ah! Okay." Ma Xiaotao froze for a moment, then quickly came to her senses and released Bei Bei from her embrace. Feeling that the Evil Fire within her had vanished without a trace, she couldn't help but grow excited.
Nearly drained dry, Bei Bei could barely stay on his feet and almost fell to the ground.
Ma Xiaotao hurried over to support him and helped him sit down.
"The Evil Fire in your Martial Soul Origin will need to be purified a few more times before the evil aura can be completely removed," Bei Bei said.
"But you don't need to worry. You can cultivate as you please from now on. With me here, nothing will go wrong."
With his Eye of Life, and the dense life energy surrounding him, the Soul Power in his body recovered rapidly.
"Thanks for all your effort. Thanks to you, I can finally be free of the Evil Fire for good." Ma Xiaotao spoke excitedly, her beautiful eyes shimmering like autumn waters.
As she spoke, Ma Xiaotao leaned close, her scarlet lips landing on Bei Bei's cheek.
"I don't have anything nice to thank you with, so I'll give you my first kiss." Ma Xiaotao whispered into Bei Bei's ear.
"Heh, I thought you were going to offer yourself to me," Bei Bei teased.
"Even if I wanted to, would you dare accept? Sister Lexuan wouldn't let you get away with it!" Ma Xiaotao pouted.
Before long, peace settled over the secret chamber.
Bei Bei sat cross-legged nearby, slowly recovering the Soul Power he had expended.
Ma Xiaotao, meanwhile, sensed the changes in her Martial Soul. She could feel that the Evil Fire in her body was indeed far less than before.
For the next few months, she could cultivate and fight with all her strength, without worrying about losing control.
What's more, her dark-red Phoenix Fire had grown brighter, and its power had increased.
The power of her flames had already been close to that of Ultimate Fire. Once the evil aura was completely purified, her Martial Soul might become an Ultimate Martial Soul!
After recovering a little, Bei Bei slowly rose to his feet. It was hot in there, and he wasn't used to it, so he prepared to leave.
Before departing, Bei Bei said to Ma Xiaotao, "I'll come every month from now on to purify your Martial Soul Origin. At this rate, in about a year, you won't have to worry about the Evil Fire anymore."
"Okay." Ma Xiaotao nodded. "I usually cultivate here. Just come find me when the time comes."
She planned to cultivate with all her strength for the next while, making up for the time she'd lost suppressing the Evil Fire.
Bei Bei replied and left.
For a while afterward, Bei Bei devoted himself to cultivation. After his Martial Soul gained an Ultimate Attribute, he found that his cultivation speed had indeed slowed considerably.
Each time he absorbed the energy of heaven and earth through his Martial Soul, the Soul Power it converted became purer, but the process took far longer than before.
As a result, his Soul Power had grown significantly stronger and now contained the attribute of Ultimate Light.
Perhaps this was why Soul Masters with Ultimate Attributes cultivated slowly in the early stages.
He had also fused the three forces contained in his Martial Soul—light, holiness, and thunder—into a stronger force, which Bei Bei named Judgment Power!
Having succeeded in this experiment, Bei Bei grew even more excited and began trying to combine different attributes to create a unique power of his own.
Early morning.
Bei Bei was preparing to head to the Gravity Chamber for his usual training when he noticed that Tang Ya, who lived next door, seemed rather down.
Ever since her parents had died, Tang Ya had cultivated diligently. Most days, she was nowhere to be seen from morning to night.
They had known each other for a while, at least, so Bei Bei went over and asked, "What's wrong? Feeling down?"
"How many levels is your Soul Power now?" Tang Ya looked up at Bei Bei as he approached and asked out of the blue.
"Four-Ring Soul Ancestor. Why?" Bei Bei replied, puzzled.
"What! You're only twelve, and you're already this strong?" Tang Ya felt a pang of discouragement. "I'm only one year younger than you, but I'm just a Two-Ring Soul Grandmaster."
"Could it be that you're doubting your own talent? Is that why you're so unhappy?" Bei Bei asked tentatively.
"Mm." Tang Ya nodded. Her eyes grew slightly red, and she looked pitiful, her petite frame seeming especially fragile.
The Inner Court was full of geniuses. Never mind Bei Bei—even Zhang Lexuan was only in her twenties, and in a couple of years she would reach the Soul Douluo rank.
Then there was Ma Xiaotao, who occasionally came looking for Bei Bei. She was young, yet at just fifteen she had reached Soul King rank and passed the Inner Court's examination with flying colors, becoming an Inner Court student.
Surrounded by these geniuses and prodigies, Tang Ya had felt immense pressure in the space of half a month.
Tang Ya's Innate Soul Power wasn't very good, and her Martial Soul was only Blue Silver Grass. Her potential seemed easy to gauge: the farther she cultivated, the slower her progress would become, until she reached the limits of her Martial Soul and could no longer improve at all.
"Everyone at Shrek Academy is a genius. Those who make it into the Inner Court are the geniuses among geniuses. You don't need to compare yourself to us," Bei Bei tried to comfort her.
"Maybe you should look at the ordinary students in the Outer Court instead. Many of them only have a Soul Power Level in the teens at age twelve. And the fact that you can cultivate already puts you ahead of ninety percent of the world. Does that make you feel any better?"
"If you don't know how to comfort people, you can just keep quiet," Tang Ya said, displeased. She had never met anyone so sharp-tongued. What he said was true, but it still stung.
"Uh." Bei Bei thought for a moment. "If you want to cultivate faster or uncover your potential, I might have a way."
"R-really?" Tang Ya asked excitedly, as if someone on the verge of death had glimpsed a sliver of hope.
"There are pros and cons. Are you sure you won't regret it?" Bei Bei's lips curled into a meaningful smile.
"I absolutely won't regret it." Tang Ya quickly stood up, her gaze resolute and her voice firm and earnest.
"Come with me." Bei Bei led Tang Ya in a certain direction as he continued, "Everyone knows Blue Silver Grass is a Trash Martial Soul. It's extremely rare for it to come with Innate Soul Power, and most people only have half a level or one level."
Following behind Bei Bei, Tang Ya couldn't help but object. "My Innate Soul Power is level six, and my father had level five when he awakened his Martial Soul."
Bei Bei smiled. "Your Tang Sect is an exception. For ten thousand years, its sect masters have all had the Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul. After countless resources were poured into it, the quality of your Martial Souls improved greatly without you even realizing it. Even so, their essence remains weak."
"Is there really no way to make Blue Silver Grass stronger?" Tang Ya asked unwillingly.
"There is, but it's difficult." Bei Bei continued, "The first way is to obtain the Blue Silver Emperor Bloodline. The second is to make your Martial Soul mutate."