Lotus Blooms in Nine Grades, the Shui Sisters Head to Blazing Fire Academy

"What the hell?"

"Does the dean even know what he's saying?"

After walking out of the dean's office, Huo Wu's face was full of grievance and resentment.

What did he mean, telling Li Qinglian to go to Tianshui Academy and find himself a girlfriend?

She did not know what kind of mood she was in, but she absolutely did not want any other girls getting close to Li Qinglian.

But she also knew.

Li Qinglian, troubled by the evil fire, truly could not do without the help of ice-attribute soul masters.

And that side of things involved privacy. Having an ice-attribute girlfriend would be a great help to Li Qinglian.

"Huo Wu. Don't worry. I'm not interested in the things the dean talked about."

Li Qinglian comforted her.

For the time being, he really had not thought that far.

"You can't put it that way either. Your safety is the most important thing."

Seeing Li Qinglian comfort her in return, Huo Wu instantly cheered up, but immediately after, she felt that she was not even as sensible as a child.

"Little Qinglian. I heard what the dean said too. Actually, through some auxiliary methods, the effect on you would also be the smallest."

"If one day you really can't endure it anymore, you can come find big sister."

The young woman's fragrant breath tickled his ear, leaving Li Qinglian speechless.

"Huo Wu, you're not thinking of keeping me as your boy toy, are you?"

Originally, he had not felt anything, but now, he realized Huo Wu was acting very strangely.

"Hehe. You're right. Big sister has taken a fancy to you. How about it? Why don't you just submit to big sister?" When Huo Wu heard him, there was not the slightest hint of shyness on her face. Instead, she sounded perfectly justified.

"Sis. I'm still young."

Li Qinglian curled his lips.

"Not that young. I saw it when I applied ointment for you before. Not small at all."

Li Qinglian was struck dumb.

The way she said that...

Sure enough.

When women started acting like rogues, men had nothing on them.

"Fine. If I really run into a hurdle I can't get past in the future, I'll consider you, Huo Wu." Li Qinglian smiled, stood on tiptoe, and patted Huo Wu on the shoulder.

Seeing Li Qinglian acting like a little adult, Huo Wu was both annoyed and amused.

She forced back her laughter and continued:

"That works too. When the time comes, big sister will wear Ice Silkworm Stockings, then put on a pair of Fire Fox Velvet Pants over them. If there's anywhere on big sister you're interested in, you can tell big sister directly. Big sister is very generous."

Stockings under pants?

He knew that this world's Fire Fox Velvet Pants were similar to yoga pants from his previous life, smooth, elastic, close-fitting, and shaping.

Good grief...

Stockings under yoga pants...

No. How did this woman understand so much?

After parting from Huo Wu, Li Qinglian returned to his own courtyard once more.

His situation was special. His age differed too much from the other students of Blazing Fire Academy, so his dormitory was a detached, ancient-style courtyard. Its location was behind the teachers' dormitory building as well, very quiet and secluded, with few people disturbing him.

Li Qinglian practiced the sword for a while.

Only after he was drenched in sweat did he stop.

He lay down on the rocking chair and began reading through the materials he had obtained from Huo Lie.

"I really did make the right choice coming to Blazing Fire Academy."

"A Mountain Chicken turning into a phoenix—this kind of martial soul mutation is indeed rare. But over several thousand years of the continent's history, there have still been quite a few cases of this sort. Among them, the vast majority of fire phoenix soul masters chose to come to Blazing Fire Academy for further study."

Li Qinglian flipped through the notes.

"Judging from the materials I've looked up over the past few days, mutations in beast martial souls basically all come with defects. The Evil Fire Phoenix is already one of the best cases among beast martial soul mutations."

There were many kinds of martial soul mutations. Yu Xiaogang was one type of martial soul mutation, with the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon mutating into the Radiant Sacred Dragon. But the mutation was incomplete, which was why Luo Sanpao awakened. At that point, it needed an external force to give it a push before it could truly mutate into the Radiant Sacred Dragon.

In Li Qinglian's case, it was because it was very difficult for a beast martial soul mutation to directly evolve from one beast martial soul into another pure-blooded beast martial soul.

Therefore, the Evil Fire Phoenix should more properly be called a mixed-blood phoenix.

If it wanted to evolve into a pure-blooded phoenix, it had to be born from fire.

Thus.

The evil fire burning through his body was both a curse that led to death and an opportunity to be reborn from the flames.

Once he crossed this threshold, he would gain a complete evolution of body and mind.

"The Phoenix Clan is second only to the Dragon Clan. They are one of the supreme beast clans of the universe. And the pure-blooded True Phoenix and True Fire Phoenix bloodlines are even nobler..."

Li Qinglian sank into deep thought.

True Dragons and True Phoenixes were almost always existences on the same level in any fantasy novel.

The Phoenix Clan was not weak at all. It was just that in the original plot, the Phoenix Clan seemed to have fallen even faster than the Dragon Clan. Before the Dragon Clan declined, the Phoenix Clan had already faded.

"In the original plot, Ma Hongjun went to brothels to vent his evil fire before every outbreak. On the surface, it seemed like he'd solved the evil fire, but in truth, he had also lost this opportunity."

"But Ma Hongjun never had ambitions like that to begin with. Just maintaining the status quo was already enough to satisfy him."

"But I absolutely can't accept that. Since I already know the secret of the Evil Fire Phoenix, I'll be born from the flames. I'd like to see just what kind of sight awaits after nirvana."

"That Huo Wu is just bragging."

"Even if he really is a Fire Phoenix, his cultivation is so much lower than Sister's. He definitely isn't Sister's match."

Inside a carriage heading south.

A pretty young girl in a water-blue school uniform complained to the more mature-looking girl beside her.

A Fire Phoenix martial soul was indeed extremely rare, but if someone said it could compare to Shui Bing'er, that was definitely impossible.

"You. If you still run your mouth like this once we get to Blazing Fire Academy, I won't take you out to play anymore."

"Huo Wu has never gotten along with me. She wants to surpass me in everything, so of course she would provoke me like this. But I really am quite interested. A fire-attribute phoenix martial soul... I wonder if he can endure it."

Tianshui Academy had a stable inheritance of Ice Phoenix martial souls, and Shui Bing'er was the strongest Ice Phoenix of this generation. Her innate soul power was rank nine. Shui Bing'er's martial soul had not come from a mutation, but from a stable martial soul inheritance.

But she knew very well that the Fire Phoenix opposite to the Ice Phoenix had no corresponding martial soul inheritance.

The Fire Phoenix of Blazing Fire Academy had to have come from a martial soul mutation.

It was just that soul masters who awakened a Fire Phoenix rarely came to a good end.

"Fine. I just feel wronged on your behalf."

"I never thought about competing over who was better. I just think this child called Li Qinglian is very pitiful."

"I heard he's the same as that prodigy from Blazing Fire Academy a hundred years ago. I just don't know how long he can hold on."

Moonlight flowed like water, spilling over the courtyard paved with bluestone.

Li Qinglian stood with his sword in hand, his robes stirring without wind.

He did not attack at once, instead closing his eyes first and gathering his focus.

Before the sword moved, intent went ahead.

Suddenly, his eyes opened.

In that instant, the air in the courtyard seemed to be torn open by something.

Sword light flared, like a streak of azure lightning cutting through the night.

The first strike was simplicity itself.

It was only a plain, straightforward thrust.

But with that single thrust, wherever the sword tip passed, the air warped into ripples, faintly condensing into the shape of an azure lotus petal.

The petal was half transparent, its edges glowing with a faint radiance, as if woven from moonlight.

Li Qinglian's figure moved with it.

His steps were not fast. They could even be called calm and unhurried. But with every step he took, a faint azure lotus imprint blossomed on the bluestone ground.

Lotus Step—the lotus bloomed in nine grades!