Phoenix Village, Two Phoenixes!

Outside Suotuo City lay Phoenix Village.

The village's name sounded lofty and impressive, but in reality, everyone in the village possessed poultry Martial Souls.

A certain generation of village chief had said, "People need to have dreams. Otherwise, what's the difference between them and salted fish?"

That was how Phoenix Village got its name.

Now that two youths with Phoenix Martial Souls had emerged from the village, Phoenix Village truly lived up to its name.

"Boom—!"

Flender stared at Ji Bai, who had suddenly become engulfed in blazing flames, and at the phantom Phoenix behind him. His pupils abruptly contracted.

"Another Phoenix Martial Soul!"

Ma Hongjun, standing beside Flender, looked utterly astonished at the sight.

He had never expected someone else to awaken the same Martial Soul as him.

"Huff—!"

Ji Bai took a deep breath. He felt as though a flame were burning within his heart, while the dark purple flames around him gradually receded into his body.

"Kid! Test your Soul Power!"

Suppressing his excitement, Flender held the crystal ball out before Ji Bai.

At his words, Ji Bai placed his hand on the crystal ball.

The crystal ball instantly burst into dazzling light. Flender's eyes lit up. "Innate Soul Power Rank Nine!"

Ji Bai withdrew his hand and took a deep breath.

With Ma Hongjun as an example, he understood that his Martial Soul was also the Evil Fire Phoenix.

It was both good news and bad news.

The good news was that he possessed Innate Soul Power Rank Nine and a top-tier beast Martial Soul, already surpassing the vast majority of those who had awakened their Martial Souls. The bad news was that the Evil Fire problem was difficult to deal with. Once too much Evil Fire accumulated within his body, it would burn him first.

"You two can follow me from now on. Come study at my Shrek Academy."

Having encountered two top-tier beast Martial Souls with Innate Soul Power Rank Nine—and both of them Phoenixes—Flender developed a love of wealth... a love of talent.

His own Martial Soul was an avian type, so he could sense the extraordinary nature of Phoenix Martial Souls even more directly.

"Great, great!"

Ma Hongjun was overjoyed.

"Thank you, sir."

After some thought, Ji Bai agreed as well.

For him, there was currently no better choice than going to Shrek Academy.

After all...

His body was still far too young. He simply had no ability to venture out alone.

Even if he wanted to go to Blazing Academy or Heaven Dou Royal Academy, he lacked the means. He would probably die on the road before he even arrived. In this world, the strong held the rules in their hands, and there was no shortage of human traffickers.

As for Spirit Hall, it would be inconvenient there.

With Innate Soul Power Rank Nine, he would reach Rank Ten before long. Obtaining his first soul ring then would also be a problem.

Flender immediately brought Ji Bai and Ma Hongjun to a village outside Suotuo City.

His Shrek Academy was located there.

Along the way, Ji Bai learned from Flender how to meditate and cultivate Soul Power.

After arriving at Shrek Academy, Ji Bai discovered that there were several students there already, all around fourteen or fifteen years old.

"Flender, what are these two children here for?" A sturdy, not particularly tall middle-aged man walked over, repeatedly sizing up Ji Bai and Ma Hongjun.

Flender said with a grin, "Old Zhao, these are two little geniuses I found in Phoenix Village. Innate Soul Power Rank Nine, Phoenix Martial Souls. From today onward, they'll be staying here with me."

Zhao Wuji's eyes lit up. "Innate Soul Power Rank Nine! That really is impressive! You struck gold, you bastard!"

"His name is Zhao Wuji. He's a Rank Sixty-Nine battle Soul Emperor, and his Martial Soul is the Vajra Bear. He's my deputy now and manages the academy when I'm away." Flender introduced Zhao Wuji to Ji Bai and Ma Hongjun.

"Hello, my name is Ji Bai."

Ji Bai introduced himself.

"My name is Ma Hongjun."

Ma Hongjun grinned, baring his teeth.

"Hello, you two!"

Zhao Wuji flashed a wicked smile and patted Ji Bai and Ma Hongjun on the shoulders with his fan-sized hands.

Both of them staggered.

"You two are pretty scrawny!"

"You'll need to work out more from now on!"

"Look at these muscles. Want to feel them?"

Zhao Wuji flexed his biceps with a smug expression.

"I'll pass..."

Ji Bai was speechless inside.

What a narcissist!

"I like big sisters, not old uncles!"

Ma Hongjun waved his hands repeatedly as well.

"What the hell would a little brat know!"

Zhao Wuji turned and left with a disdainful look.

"I'll show you around first."

As soon as Flender spoke, he led the way ahead, with Ji Bai and Ma Hongjun following closely behind.

Ji Bai kept thinking about how he could deal with the Evil Fire without the Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower.

Ever since his Martial Soul awakened, he had constantly felt a ball of fire burning inside him.

Now that he had awakened the Evil Fire Phoenix Martial Soul, Evil Fire accumulated in his body every second.

Once that Evil Fire reached the limit of what his body could endure, it would erupt all at once.

Ji Bai's only cheat.

Was his knowledge of Douluo Continent, the memories of his past life, and the mentality of an adult.

Before long.

After they had gotten a general sense of Shrek Academy, Flender brought them to an area with many wooden cabins.

"The academy doesn't have many dormitories. You two will share a room from now on."

Flender pointed at one of the wooden cabins as he spoke to Ji Bai and Ma Hongjun.

Creak!

Flender led the two into the dormitory. Its layout was extremely simple: aside from two bare wooden beds, there was only a wooden table with an unlit oil lamp sitting on it.

"Teacher, why aren't there any blankets here?"

"How are we supposed to sleep without blankets?"

While they had been touring the academy just now, Flender had expressed his desire to take them as disciples.

Thinking of having a Soul Sage as his teacher, Ma Hongjun had immediately agreed.

That was why he now directly addressed Flender as Teacher.

Ji Bai, on the other hand, had declined Flender's offer by saying that he needed more time to think about it.

"You'll use meditation in place of sleep from now on. Other than in winter, blankets are optional for you," Flender said matter-of-factly.

"Ah!?" Ma Hongjun looked utterly dejected.

Ji Bai figured that even in winter, blankets probably would not be necessary. The Evil Fire alone should be enough to keep him warm.

"After dinner at the cafeteria, come back here and try meditating."

"I have things to do, so I'm leaving first."

With that, Flender turned and left.

"Ugh..."

Ma Hongjun looked around the wooden cabin and sighed repeatedly, disappointment written all over his face.

"Quit sighing. Let's go eat dinner."

Before Ji Bai had even finished speaking, he left the dormitory.

In this life, he was an orphan, and he had never once eaten his fill in Phoenix Village.

That was one of the reasons he had come to Shrek Academy.

At Ji Bai's words, Ma Hongjun's eyes lit up. Eating was one of his few hobbies.

The cafeteria.

Ji Bai had arrived at the right time. Shrek Academy's few students were eating as well.

The arrival of him and Ma Hongjun immediately drew everyone's attention. Two young boys were extremely conspicuous here.

"Hello, seniors. I'm a new student. My name is Ji Bai." Ji Bai swept his gaze over the crowd and introduced himself.

"My name is Ma Hongjun. My Martial Soul is the Phoenix, and I'm the headmaster's personal disciple!" Ma Hongjun said with a toothy grin.

At that, the few students present all showed strange expressions and kept glancing at Ma Hongjun.

Ji Bai had already begun serving himself food.

Dinner was exceedingly simple: rice and steamed buns, carrots and pickled vegetables.

He began wolfing it down without a care for his image.

Ma Hongjun started eating as well.

Dinner ended.

Ji Bai returned to the dormitory and began meditating for the first time in his life. His Innate Soul Power Rank Nine talent gave him an extremely fast cultivation speed.

The instant he entered meditation, he felt a force from the air flow into his body.

As that force circulated through him, the Evil Fire seemed to receive nourishment and began growing rapidly.

Ji Bai keenly noticed this, but he did not stop meditating.

This kind of thing tested one's willpower the most.