Flame Mantra

"Twelve..."

Tang Ya was a little shocked. The two boys before her were only nine years old, yet they both already met Shrek Academy's admission standards. What was more, they were old acquaintances, which meant they came from the same village.

Good heavens, what kind of luck was it for a tiny mountain village to produce two geniuses at once?

By contrast, the Tang Sect had had Blue Silver Grass as its sect master year after year for ten thousand years, and with each passing year, the sect had fallen further into decline. They had never produced a powerhouse like their ancestor Tang San.

By the time it came to her, there were only Beibei and herself left.

At the thought of this, Tang Ya's mood sank once more.

Xiao Yan naturally had no idea what the sect master was thinking, nor did he know how deeply he and Xiao Yulü had shocked her with their talent. If he had, he would have scoffed.

Worrying that the Tang Sect would decline in Peerless Tang Sect was like worrying that your favorite character would be cut from the current version of a game.

Besides, there were Beibei, Huo Yuhao, and Wang Dong'er, who might join them later...

Any one of them could take on that Iron Blood Sect single-handedly for Tang Ya. And yet she went and ran off to Heaven Dou City alone, only to fall into depravity and become an Evil Soul Master.

Of course, Xiao Yan didn't exactly hate Evil Soul Masters without exception. But if this little girl still fell into depravity and became an Evil Soul Master someday...

Then don't blame my Buddha Fury Fire Lotus for showing no mercy.

"Speaking of which, Xiao Yulü, since you're already level twelve, do you want to come with me to Shrek City to enroll? With our talent, staying at a junior Soul Master Academy would be a waste."

Xiao Yan looked at Xiao Yulü. Shrek Academy's admission standard was level fifteen by the age of twelve. Xiao Yan naturally met that standard, not to mention that he was also eligible for admission without an exam.

As for Xiao Yulü, although he was only level twelve, after years of accumulating strength, he would surely make rapid progress once he began cultivating. Add in the Xiao Clan's Mutated Martial Soul, and getting into Shrek shouldn't be a problem.

At this, Xiao Yulü fell silent for a moment.

He had set out to obtain a Soul Ring, then train hard after breaking through, join Shrek Academy, and finally fight Xiao Yan openly and fairly.

Now he had his Soul Ring, while the escort team led by the Soul Saint who had brought him to hunt one was still unaccounted for, dead or alive. If he returned to the Xiao Clan, the journey would be long, and he would have to cross the Star Dou Forest again. It was simply too dangerous.

Maybe Xiao Yan's suggestion really does have some merit?

"Sounds good."

And so the group grew by one more, and they all headed for Shrek City together.

Most of the Star Dou Forest lay within the Star Luo Empire, with only a small portion in the Heaven Dou Empire. As for the core region, it was a lawless land belonging to no one.

Shrek Academy lay to the northwest of the Star Dou Forest, not far from the forest itself. But... Beibei, Tang Ya, and the others hadn't entered the forest from the front.

Because of the hatred between Soul Beasts and humans, the part of the Star Dou Forest on Shrek City's side was home to large numbers of powerful Soul Beasts. Students below Soul King weren't allowed to enter from the front.

Of course, that was just like the Forbidden Forest at some Hogwarts. You said we couldn't go in, so what?

At worst, we'd take the long way around. We were supposedly headed to one of the three empires, and the academy couldn't control that. And once we were off campus?

Hey, it wasn't like anyone could tell us where to go.

For safety, and for a host of other reasons, the five ultimately passed through the Star Luo Empire and took a detour of nearly a thousand li. Only then were they about to reach Shrek City.

Along the way, the Tang Sect disciples chatted and laughed. Beibei and Tang Ya taught Huo Yuhao the Mysterious Heaven Skill, the Purple Demon Eye, and the other techniques. This, of course, inspired Xiao Yan too.

Why could Tang San bring a copy of the Mysterious Heaven Skill and the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record from another world, but Xiao Yan couldn't?

After much thought, Xiao Yan came up with a cultivation method that suited him best and would be easiest to recreate on Douluo Continent.

The Flame Mantra.

It devoured all the flames under heaven, evolving the technique again and again as it climbed from the lowest Yellow-tier grade to the top.

So, what kind of person was Xiao Yan?

A commoner.

He was just a little villager from Xiao Family Village, with neither father nor mother. The only reason he had awakened a Martial Soul was that Xiao Family Village belonged to the Xiao Clan, and people came every year to help the villagers awaken their Martial Souls.

Otherwise, Xiao Yan would still have no idea Martial Souls existed. He might even have thought this was just an ordinary medieval world of swords and magic.

So, what was Xiao Yan missing most?

Resources, of course!

Although he had the Xiao Clan behind him, he wasn't a true member of its main line. The resources they could provide him were bound to be limited. And if he grew up relying on them, he would inevitably be under their thumb and owe the clan a return on its investment.

That was why Xiao Yan had gone to such lengths to reach Shrek Academy. Whatever its reputation, for commoners like him, it was the only path to catching up with or even surpassing the children of great families.

And now, the Flame Mantra he had conceived was another way for him to catch up with, or even surpass, the scions of great families.

Because it could, to a certain extent, be converted into resources.

What resources did Shrek Academy provide? Teachers to guide your cultivation, classmates to study alongside, and the abundant Soul Power in the Inner Court.

The Flame Mantra, on the other hand, only needed to absorb Heavenly Flames to increase cultivation speed, boost fire damage, improve recovery, and so on.

If it absorbed enough Heavenly Flames, it could even match the speed of a Mimicry Cultivation Environment under ordinary conditions.

Xiao Yan himself hadn't made any progress for a full three years. In fact, nearly all the Soul Power cultivated from techniques derived from those of the Xiao Clan had gone into Little Fire Dragon's body. He himself merely shared Soul Power with Little Fire Dragon through their levels.

So the Flame Mantra's inherent flaw—"no two techniques can be cultivated at once"—wouldn't affect him in the slightest.

Then what reason did Xiao Yan have not to cultivate it?

He got right to it. On the way back to the city, he combed through his memories and drafted a rough version of the technique. All that remained was to try cultivating it himself.

Of course, something so dangerous couldn't be tested out in the wild. If he made a mistake while drafting it, his meridians could snap one by one, and he'd die in the Star Dou Forest like a stray dog...

After several days of wishing on every star in the sky, they finally reached Shrek City.

The city stood on the Lima Plain and covered a vast area. Main roads stretched out in all four directions, with particularly many running north and south.

It was not only home to Shrek Academy, but also one of the most important commercial cities of the three empires. Because Shrek Academy was there, trades made in Shrek City were generally considered to be under the academy's supervision. As a result, transactions here were fairer and more trustworthy.

Shrek City had four gates. The south, west, and north gates were open to everyone, while only students of Shrek Academy could enter and leave through the east gate.

Despite that restriction, though, there were plenty of people at the east gate right now.

Tang Ya explained that it was currently the season when Shrek Academy recruited new students. Students like Xiao Yan and Huo Yuhao, who held recommendation letters, could join this year's intake without having to enroll as transfer students.

As for Xiao Yulü, his Soul Power Level was still a little short, but after cultivating for the past few days, he had already reached a bottleneck. He was confident he could break through to level fifteen before enrollment ended and join the academy in the same year as Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan, meanwhile, could hardly wait to test his technique. He simply parted ways with Beibei, Tang Ya, Huo Yuhao, and the others, planning to enroll together with Xiao Yulü after his breakthrough. The time in between was perfect for testing out his new technique.