Uncle's Here, Ma Xiaotao Troubled by Evil Fire

"Dean Yan, what are you doing here?"

Hearing that familiar voice, Yan Shaozhe could not quite remember who it was for a moment.

But when he turned around and saw the newcomer's face clearly, a note of surprise entered his tone. "Oh, it's Master Ye. What brings you to the outer courtyard?"

As the academy's only food-type Soul Douluo, with first-rate cooking skills and a method that could perfectly preserve the energy within soul beast meat, Ye Tian could be said to be doing exceedingly well in the inner courtyard. Even quite a few elders of the Sea God Pavilion wanted to introduce their juniors to this Master Ye.

However, Ye Tian had rejected them all, because he felt that these women from great clans had been pampered since childhood and were arrogant and overbearing. If he married one, even if it was not a hundred percent certain, there was still a ninety-nine percent chance she would mistreat his precious nephew after entering the family.

Therefore, before raising Bai Ran to adulthood, Ye Tian basically would not consider major matters of his own life.

Besides, Titled Douluo could live for several hundred years. Even at seventy or eighty, they could still marry and have children. Ye Tian was not even fifty yet, so he counted as young.

"I came to..."

"Uncle, you're here."

Bai Ran hurriedly trotted over and hid behind Ye Tian.

Although his uncle was only a food-type soul master, the protective measures on him were comparable to those of a Class 9 soul engineer.

Perhaps he did not have much combat power, but when it came to running away, there was absolutely nothing to criticize.

Uncle?

Hearing how that child addressed Ye Tian, Yan Shaozhe's heart instantly gave a thump. Crap. If Master Ye finds out my disciple nearly killed his own nephew, then when I go to the inner courtyard cafeteria to eat in the future, won't I only get shredded potatoes stir-fried with ginger, or evil dishes like chili peppers stir-fried with chili peppers? Nooo.

Thinking this, Yan Shaozhe hurriedly used his soul power to transmit his voice.

A voice abruptly rang out in Bai Ran's mind. "Little kid, don't go talking nonsense. Grandpa here can agree to one request of yours."

Bai Ran: I almost died. One isn't enough.

Yan Shaozhe: Two at most.

"Uncle..."

Yan Shaozhe: Three. Three.

"What is it, my precious nephew?"

"Nothing. I'm hungry. I want to eat uncle's egg fried rice."

"Good. Let's go."

In truth, Ye Tian had already seen the shattered defensive barrier on the ground, but since Bai Ran said nothing and was not injured, Ye Tian did not intend to look into it further.

Moreover, the other party was the dean of the Martial Soul Department. Back when Ye Tian had studied at Shrek, Yan Shaozhe had already been the vice dean.

Ye Tian: I can't afford to provoke a big shot like that. At most, when he comes to the cafeteria to eat in the future, I might suddenly fall ill and stupidly fail to tell the seasonings apart for a moment—such as mistaking salt for sugar, or white liquor for white vinegar.

After Ye Tian and Bai Ran left, Yan Shaozhe's gaze also fell on Ma Xiaotao, this disciple who had nearly caused a catastrophe.

As Ma Xiaotao's soul power continued to rise, the problem of the evil fire inside her body became more and more serious, and its outbreaks grew more and more frequent, to the point that it was already affecting her daily cultivation.

According to records in ancient texts, Ma Xiaotao's ancestor, Ma Hongjun, one of the first generation of Shrek's Seven Monsters ten thousand years ago, had also suffered greatly from "evil fire."

But that person's method of dealing with evil fire had been through the union of yin and yang. To put it plainly, he went whoring. Later on, he relied on the power of immortal herbs to completely cure the problem of evil fire.

Immortal herbs simply could not be found in this era. Even though Yan Shaozhe was the dean of Shrek Academy and held no small amount of status across the entire Douluo Continent, he could not obtain even a single stalk.

As for the method of yin-yang union?

In Yan Shaozhe's opinion, Ma Xiaotao, who was almost twenty, would have absolutely no problem finding a man and getting married.

But among the many outstanding disciples of the inner courtyard, she did not fancy a single one.

Speaking of which, there was another way: to find an ultimate-ice soul beast over a hundred thousand years old and have Ye Tian make it into "medicinal food." Perhaps that could solve the problem of the evil fire inside Ma Xiaotao's body.

But that plan would also have to wait until Ye Tian broke through to Titled Douluo, and Yan Shaozhe himself broke through to rank ninety-six or even ninety-seven.

After all, if they wanted to hunt a soul beast with ultimate ice, they would have to go to the Far North. A soul beast over a hundred thousand years old with the ultimate ice attribute already had combat strength equivalent to a rank ninety-six Transcendent Douluo.

With Yan Shaozhe's current rank ninety-five strength, he would not be able to beat one even if he went.

Besides, Yan Shaozhe did not even have a single hundred-thousand-year soul ring. Even with a top-grade martial soul like the Bright Phoenix, his strength among the ranks of Transcendent Douluo could only be considered average, or even somewhere in the lower middle.

"Huh? Xiaotao, how has your evil fire already been suppressed once?"

When Yan Shaozhe sent his soul power into Ma Xiaotao's body, preparing to help this disciple stabilize her condition, he was astonished to discover that the evil fire that had originally been running wild had already been suppressed once.

"T-Teacher, where's that little brother from just now?"

After Ma Xiaotao fully regained consciousness, the first thing she did was search for that little boy who had made her feel so comfortable.

When she failed to find him, disappointment could not help showing on her face.

"Ma Xiaotao!"

"T-Teacher..."

"Do you know what you did wrong?"

"B-but I can't just stop cultivating either."

Ma Xiaotao felt inexplicably wronged. It wasn't as if she wanted to be like this.

Unfortunately, the problem of the Evil Fire had been plaguing her all along, and as her soul power rank rose, the backlash from the Evil Fire grew more intense.

In the past, at the very least, it would only erupt during overextended battles. Now, it had reached the point where even ordinary daily cultivation could trigger an Evil Fire outbreak.

If the problem of the Evil Fire was not resolved, then she, Ma Xiaotao, would be trapped at the Soul Emperor realm for the rest of her life, unable to break through.

"Sigh, Xiaotao, if there's really no other way, find a man you can stand looking at and take him as your partner."

Yan Shaozhe was already putting it rather tactfully.

"No."

Among the inner courtyard disciples of her generation, not a single one was more talented than her.

In Ma Xiaotao's eyes, only a man stronger than her could conquer her.

"Still, what exactly did that little brother splash on me just now? Why was the temperature of that ice able to suppress the heat of the flames on my body?"

Ma Xiaotao found it very strange.

Although the Evil Fire Phoenix had been tainted by the Evil Fire, causing its fire attribute to be impure and therefore unable to reach the level of Ultimate Fire, it was not far off.

Yet the ice just now had been able to suppress it. Even if it wasn't Ultimate Ice, it was probably close.

"Xiaotao, I advise you to calm down. That child is Master Ye's own nephew. If you touch him, you can forget about eating even a single bite of Master Ye's cooking ever again."

Yan Shaozhe: If she really went and did something excessive, she'd better not say she was my, Yan Shaozhe's, disciple.

"Master Ye? That Master Ye from the inner courtyard cafeteria!"

Hearing that, Ma Xiaotao instantly calmed down.

Even though lining up for months did not guarantee she would get to eat it even once, that fragrance alone was enough to make her wolf down three big bowls of rice.

If she could never eat Master Ye's cooking again, Ma Xiaotao would rather choose to be burned to death by the Evil Fire on the spot. At least that way, her death would be quick.