Frozen on a Whim

Shrek Academy's evening was made especially gentle by the breeze over Sea God Lake.

The sunset's golden glow fell across the clear lake, breaking into countless dancing stars. The surface shimmered, and now and then a few silver-scaled fish leaped from the water, sending out ripples in delicate rings.

The weeping willows along the shore let down thousands of trailing branches. When the wind blew, they brushed the water, carrying the faint fragrance of grass and trees and the damp breath of the lake, dispelling the fatigue of a day's cultivation.

After a day of classes, Gu Yuan and the others were strolling along the stone path beside Sea God Lake.

Walking on the outside, Huo Yuhao was animatedly telling Gu Yuan about that day's lessons in the Soul Guidance Department. The boy's eyes sparkled, and excitement was written all over his face.

"Brother Yuan, Teacher Fan Yu taught us how to engrave a first-level Core Array today. I was the only one in the class who got it right on the first try! The teacher was stunned. He said I was the most talented new student in the Soul Guidance Department he'd ever seen!"

Ever since his conversation with Gu Yuan, he hadn't joined the Soul Guidance Department outright. In the mornings, he attended classes in the Martial Soul Department, and whenever he had time in the afternoons, he went to the Soul Guidance Department's laboratory to learn Soul Tool Technology from Fan Yu.

His peerless spiritual power gave him a crushing advantage in the field of soul tools.

Other people needed dozens of attempts to master engraving an array, but he could reproduce it accurately after watching just once. His precision with spiritual power made his progress in soul tools smooth sailing. In barely half a month, he had become the most outstanding of the Soul Guidance Department's new students. Even Fan Yu had remarked more than once that he'd stumbled upon a peerless gem.

Gu Yuan listened, a warm smile at the corners of his lips. "You were always suited to this path. But don't get cocky. Build a solid foundation and take it one step at a time if you want to go far."

"I know, Brother Yuan!" Huo Yuhao nodded firmly, his expression earnest.

"I come back every night to cultivate my Soul Power. I'd never let learning Soul Tool Technology make me neglect my Martial Soul cultivation!"

He had never forgotten Gu Yuan's advice, nor had he ever put the cart before the horse.

No matter how late he stayed at the Soul Guidance Department, he still completed four hours of cultivation every night without fail. His Soul Power hadn't fallen behind; it had steadily improved under the nourishment of the heavenly treasures in his body, and he was already close to breaking through to level 25.

On the other side, Jin Ruiqiu had a piece of fruit candy in her mouth, her cheeks puffed out like a little squirrel hoarding food.

Hearing their conversation, she immediately bounced over, tugged on Gu Yuan's sleeve, and shook the candy wrapper in her hand. "Yuhao makes progress every day, and so do I! In combat class today, I beat five Soul Elders all by myself! They couldn't even touch the hem of my clothes!"

As she spoke, the little girl lifted her chin proudly. Her golden curls swayed with the movement, and the flower-shaped mark on her forehead appeared and disappeared from view. She looked lively and adorable.

Over the past half month, the classes in Freshman Class One had settled into a routine. Zhou Yi's teaching style remained ruthlessly strict, with combat practice almost every day. And Jin Ruiqiu's strength had been on full display in one fight after another.

As the Emperor Auspicious Beast, she was born with absolute dominance over all Beast Martial Souls. Combined with her cultivation at level 41, that made her unbeatable among the new students of her age.

Even five Soul Elders in their thirties couldn't do more than fall before her with ease, unable even to get close.

By now, the four young men and women from Douluo Hall were known throughout Freshman Class One—and even the entire freshman year—as unfathomable monsters. No one dared provoke them.

Gu Yuena walked beside Jin Ruiqiu. The evening breeze stirred her moon-white dress, and her silver hair glimmered softly in the sunset.

When she saw the little girl's proud expression, her cool features softened without her meaning to. She reached over and pinched Jin Ruiqiu's soft cheek, saying helplessly, "You won, so you won. Don't keep picking on your classmates. Last time in combat class, you beat three boys so badly they lay on the ground for half an incense stick before they could get up."

"They were the ones who provoked us!" Jin Ruiqiu immediately pouted, looking aggrieved.

"They said we only got in through connections, and they badmouthed Yuhao. That's why I taught them a lesson! They shouldn't go around saying things like that!"

At her words, Huo Yuhao's cheeks instantly reddened, and he scratched his head, a little embarrassed.

Because he was always with Gu Yuan and the others, plenty of people at the academy whispered behind his back that he had gotten into Shrek Academy and received such special treatment by riding on their coattails.

Of course, that was the truth. But now that Yuhao had latched on to Gu Yuan, with a powerful force like Douluo Hall backing him, wasn't it only natural that he'd get some special treatment?

That was the benefit of having connections. It wasn't like the original Huo Yuhao, who had been a pitiable little nobody in the early days. Before he obtained the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion, even after winning the freshman championship, he hadn't been given a single core student spot.

Huo Yuhao had never cared about those rumors. He simply focused on cultivating and studying, determined to slap those people in the face with his strength.

Hearing this, Gu Yuan raised an eyebrow, a faint chill flashing in his eyes, but he said nothing. He merely patted Huo Yuhao on the shoulder.

"Don't pay attention to idle gossip. Strength is the best way to silence every doubt."

Just then, a sudden calamity struck.

A deafening blast suddenly rang out from the direction of the Inner Court!

A surge of frenzied, scorching flames roared out from the Inner Court like an erupting volcano.

The flames were a strange reddish black, hot enough to scorch the heavens and boil the seas. The air warped wherever they passed, and a layer of white steam instantly rose from the surface of Sea God Lake. The water temperature climbed at a visible, frantic pace.

A terrifying pressure of Soul Power instantly engulfed the entire Sea God Lake area. It was the might of a Soul Emperor, savage and violent, like a ferocious beast that had broken free of its chains. The students still strolling by the lake turned deathly pale and began to tremble; they couldn't even circulate their Soul Power.

"Run! It's Senior Ma Xiaotao from the Inner Court! Her Evil Fire is out of control again!"

The students by the lake erupted into chaos. Their faces blanched as they fled madly into the distance, afraid of being caught in the rampaging Evil Fire.

Senior Ma Xiaotao from the Inner Court was one of the academy's most gifted talents and the owner of the Evil Fire Phoenix Martial Soul. But her Martial Soul had a fatal flaw: her Evil Fire often ran wild, and every time it happened, it caused tremendous destruction and could even injure innocent people.

As everyone scattered in panic, a figure wreathed in surging reddish-black flames shot toward the outer courtyard like a meteor.

She was a woman in a red outfit, stunningly beautiful and voluptuous. But her eyes were now filled with reddish-black flames; she had lost all reason, driven by nothing but instinctive madness.

The Evil Fire Phoenix flames surged wildly around her. The air ignited wherever she passed, crackling and popping, as the full force of a Soul Emperor's Soul Power burst forth and raged in every direction.

Ma Xiaotao had been in too much of a hurry to break through during her cultivation that day, causing the Evil Fire in her Martial Soul to retaliate. She had lost control in an instant. Even the senior elder watching over her hadn't managed to stop her in time, and she had broken through the Inner Court's barrier before charging into the Sea God Lake area.

By now, the Evil Fire had completely consumed her reason. All that remained was an instinct to destroy. She just wanted somewhere to vent the raging fire inside her, and the stretch of Sea God Lake before her was her target.

"Watch out!" Huo Yuhao saw the flaming figure charging toward them, his expression changing instantly. He immediately activated his Spirit Eye Martial Soul, intending to unleash Spirit Shock and stop Ma Xiaotao.

He could clearly feel that the Evil Fire in Ma Xiaotao had reached its breaking point. If she charged into Sea God Lake, her frenzied flames would make the entire lake boil in an instant. The students who hadn't yet escaped would be caught in it and either die or suffer serious injuries.

But just as he was about to act, Gu Yuena moved first.

The silver-haired girl remained calm. She didn't even shift her feet, only slowly raising her fair right hand and gently closing it toward the flaming figure rushing at them.

There was no earth-shaking burst of Soul Power. Not even her Soul Rings lit up.

Yet the instant her fingers closed, an extreme chill swept across the entire Sea God Lake area.

This wasn't the cold of an ordinary ice-type Soul Skill. It was a freeze that struck at the very source of life, the Ultimate Ice wielded by the Silver Dragon King, surpassing every ice law in the world.

Crack, crack! The crisp sounds of ice spreading rang across the entire lake.

The red figure, wrapped in surging Evil Fire and charging at tremendous speed, abruptly stopped in midair.

The wild reddish-black flames around her went out instantly, as if someone had pressed pause.

A layer of deep-blue ice spread visibly from her toes upward. In the blink of an eye, it had completely sealed her inside.

Even the Evil Fire raging inside her, violent enough to give Titled Douluo a headache, was frozen at its very source by the extreme cold, unable to leak out even the faintest trace of its aura.

The enormous block of deep-blue ice hung motionless in midair. Sunlight shone through it, revealing Ma Xiaotao inside, still frozen in her charging pose. The madness remained on her face, but it could no longer escape her eyes.

One moment, the Evil Fire had been scorching the heavens and boiling the seas. The next, it was completely frozen, unable to release even a trace of heat.

The entire Sea God Lake area fell into deathly silence.

The students who had been fleeing stopped in their tracks. They stared, dumbfounded, at the huge block of ice hanging in midair, then at Gu Yuena by the shore, calm as if she'd merely brushed dust from her hand. Shock and terror filled their faces.

Ma Xiaotao was a Soul Emperor, and her Evil Fire Phoenix was out of control. Yet this twelve-year-old girl had frozen her with a casual gesture?

She hadn't even lit up her Soul Rings! How was that possible?

Huo Yuhao was stunned too. He'd known Gu Yuena was strong, but he hadn't imagined she was this powerful.

That was a Soul Emperor, with an out-of-control Evil Fire Phoenix, and Sister Na had frozen her with a casual move. Ma Xiaotao hadn't even had a chance to resist.

Jin Ruiqiu, on the other hand, wasn't surprised at all. She shook Gu Yuena's arm and said with a grin, "Sister Yue is amazing! She froze that fire-breathing auntie in one shot!"

Gu Yuan stood to the side, calm and unsurprised.

The Silver Dragon King, Gu Yuena, controlled the world's most ultimate laws of creation and the elements. The Evil Fire of a mere Evil Fire Phoenix was just a little flame she could snuff out with a casual squeeze.

Forget a Soul Emperor like Ma Xiaotao. Even a fire-attribute Soul Master at the Titled Douluo level couldn't stir up the slightest ripple before her.