By the Sea God Lake, an Unexpected First Encounter

On the third day after the core disciple list was announced, Huo Chen finally had half a day to himself.

With the freshman assessment over, class affairs had temporarily come to an end, and Electrolux's instruction of Yuhao had also settled into a proper routine.

Since he had nothing to do that afternoon, he had planned to take a walk by Sea God Lake and ease the tension that had built up over the past few days.

Sea God Lake lay in the southeastern corner of Shrek Academy. Its waters were crystal clear, and weeping willows lined its shores. Whenever the breeze swept through, the willow branches swayed gently, tracing ripples across the lake's surface.

It was one of the quietest corners of the academy, rarely disturbed by students. It was also Huo Chen's favorite place to come whenever he wanted some time alone.

He strolled slowly along the lakeshore, his gaze casually passing over the water as he considered his upcoming plans.

Ning Tian's Silky Tulip needed to be put on the agenda. Cui Yajie's Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox bloodline awakening also required the right opportunity. And although Yuhao's second martial soul had already taken shape, he still needed more real combat to fully adapt to it.

Just as his thoughts drifted away, a hurried set of footsteps suddenly came from ahead.

Huo Chen raised his head and saw a red figure stumbling toward him along the shore.

She was a girl of around seventeen or eighteen, her long flaming-red hair flying behind her like fire as she ran. She had a slender figure and a lovely face.

But something was clearly wrong with her. An unnatural flush colored her cheeks, her breathing was rapid and erratic, and the fluctuations of soul power around her were violent and out of control, as though something inside her was ferociously assaulting her sanity.

Huo Chen recognized her at once.

Ma Xiaotao, an Inner Academy student of Shrek Academy and the possessor of the Fire Phoenix martial soul. In the original story, she had repeatedly fallen into berserk states because she could not control the evil fire within her martial soul, and had ultimately needed outside help to suppress it.

And at this moment, her evil fire had clearly gone berserk.

Most of Ma Xiaotao's consciousness had already faded. She only felt as if a blaze were burning inside her, scorching currents rampaging through her meridians, nearly swallowing her reason entirely.

She had originally intended to run to the lakeside and use the cold water to clear her head. But halfway there, the evil fire within her suddenly surged up. Her vision began to blur, and her steps became unsteady.

Vaguely, she saw a figure ahead.

It was a young man dressed in white, tall and slender, standing beneath a willow tree and watching her. His features had already become indistinct in her vision, but his calm, gentle aura was like a clear spring, exceptionally cool against her burning senses.

Unable to control herself, she lunged toward him.

Huo Chen instinctively reached out and caught her. Ma Xiaotao crashed into his arms, her scorching body like a burning ember. Even through their clothes, he could feel the searing heat.

Her hands tightly clutched his lapels as she raised her head. In her eyes, reddened by the evil fire, there remained a faint trace of clarity.

"Help... help me..."

Her voice was hoarse and trembling, as though squeezed out from the depths of her throat.

Huo Chen looked down at the girl in his arms, who had nearly lost her mind under the torment of the evil fire, and a complicated expression flickered through his eyes.

He knew how Ma Xiaotao's evil fire problem had been resolved in the original story, but since she had come to him, he could not simply stand by and do nothing.

"Relax," he said softly, his voice carrying a reassuring power. "Don't resist. I'll help you."

He gently pressed his palm against the middle of her back, slowly channeling the power of the Reincarnation Other Shore Flower into her body.

The moment that gentle yet vast power entered Ma Xiaotao's body, it began to sort through her rampant soul power. The power of reincarnation was like a clear river; wherever it passed, the scorching evil fire was gradually neutralized and purified.

Ma Xiaotao's body trembled slightly. The flush on her face gradually faded, and her breathing slowly steadied.

But Huo Chen soon discovered that the situation was far more complicated than he had expected.

The evil fire in Ma Xiaotao's body was not merely a disorder of soul power. It was deeply bound to her Fire Phoenix martial soul.

It was the innate fire carried by the Fire Phoenix martial soul. Because its quality was not pure enough, impurities continuously accumulated during cultivation, eventually forming evil fire.

To resolve the problem completely, suppression alone would not suffice. Her martial soul needed to undergo a thorough purification and evolution.

And that process required their soul powers to merge deeply, using the power of reincarnation as a guide to reshape the foundation of her martial soul.

Soothed by the power of reincarnation, Ma Xiaotao gradually regained some clarity.

She realized that she was leaning against the chest of an unfamiliar man. His palm rested against the middle of her back, while a gentle yet powerful force flowed through her body, dissolving the scorching evil fire within her bit by bit.

She raised her head and met Huo Chen's gaze.

His eyes were deep and calm, as if they could see through the essence of all things in the world. Under that gaze, she inexplicably felt an unprecedented sense of security.

"You..." she said, her voice still somewhat hoarse. "Who are you?"

"Huo Chen, a teacher of Shrek Academy's Outer Academy," Huo Chen introduced himself briefly. "Your evil fire problem is more serious than I imagined. Simple suppression treats the symptoms but not the root cause. I need to perform a complete martial soul purification on you, and the process may require your cooperation."

Ma Xiaotao fell silent for a moment, then nodded gently. "...All right."

By Sea God Lake, willow branches brushed softly in the breeze, and faint ripples stirred across the water.

The setting sun painted the horizon in brilliant shades of gold and red, its evening glow reflected upon the shimmering lake. Willow branches swayed gently in the evening wind, casting mottled shadows across the ground.

By the time everything had returned to calm, dusk had already fallen.

Ma Xiaotao leaned against the willow tree, looking down at her hands as she sensed the new, pure power within her. Her eyes were filled with disbelief. Her Fire Phoenix martial soul had changed completely.

The dark-red impurities once mixed into its crimson flames had vanished without a trace, replaced by pure, blazing golden fire.

At the heart of the flames, the phantom of a phoenix faintly emerged. Seven-colored radiance, like the cycle of reincarnation, flowed across its wings. It was noble and sacred.

Reincarnation Heavenly Phoenix.

Under the power of reincarnation, her martial soul had completed its evolution, transforming from the original Evil Fire Phoenix into the god-tier martial soul, the Reincarnation Heavenly Phoenix.

It was not merely an improvement in quality, but a leap in essence. From now on, she would never need to worry about the backlash of evil fire again.

But what she cared about at that moment was not the change in her martial soul.

She raised her head and looked at Huo Chen standing before her, her eyes filled with an indescribably complicated emotion.

A faint blush still lingered on her cheeks, though it was impossible to tell whether it was from the evil fire just now or something else.

"You..." she began. Her voice was much steadier than before, though it still carried a slight tremor. "What was your name again?"

"Huo Chen."

"Huo Chen." She repeated the name, then took a deep breath as though making up her mind about something. "My name is Ma Xiaotao. I'm an inner court student, and my martial soul is the Fire Phoenix. What happened today... I won't pretend it never happened."

Huo Chen looked at her in silence for a moment before answering seriously, "Neither will I."

Ma Xiaotao stared at him for several seconds, then suddenly smiled. It was a smile of relief, but also one with a hint of stubbornness. "Good. I, Ma Xiaotao, am not the coy and evasive type. Since it happened, I'll own it. You... you're not allowed to run away either."

"I won't," Huo Chen said. "I'll take responsibility."

Ma Xiaotao nodded, rose to her feet, and brushed the grass clippings from her skirt.

She took two steps away, then stopped and glanced back at him. "Teacher Huo, I'll be coming to see you often from now on. Don't find me a nuisance."

Without waiting for Huo Chen's reply, she strode away. Her long red hair streamed through the twilight like a burning banner.

Huo Chen remained where he was, watching her retreating figure as he let out a soft breath.

He lowered his head and looked at his hands.

Then he turned his senses inward and saw the nine soul rings within his body undergoing astonishing changes.

The originally blood-red soul rings gradually deepened, shifting from blood-red to dark crimson, then from dark crimson to a profound, dazzling gold.

All nine soul rings had crossed from the hundred-thousand-year level to the million-year level, their color completely transformed from red to gold.

The nine golden soul rings slowly revolved within him, radiating an aura several times more vast than before. That power was like a sleeping volcano, quietly lying dormant within him as it awaited the moment it would erupt.

He froze for a moment, then understood the source of this gift.

The Reincarnation God King.

Along the path of the Reincarnation God Trial, there was a hidden rule: when an inheritor gained their first Dao companion, the laws of reincarnation regarded it as the inheritor taking a substantive step along the path of proving the Dao amid worldly life, and thus granted corresponding feedback. Though what had happened between him and Ma Xiaotao had been sudden, it had indeed advanced him one step along that path.

Thus, the Reincarnation God King had acknowledged that step by bestowing this gift.

All nine soul rings had advanced to the million-year level, golden light endlessly circulating through his body. Although his cultivation had not broken through the bottleneck of Ultimate Douluo, his combat strength had already risen by an entire tier.

"Proving the Dao amid worldly life..." he murmured, a complicated smile appearing at the corner of his lips. "So that's how it is."

He stood there for a while before turning and walking back the way he had come.

After only a few steps, he saw the Ice Empress standing beneath a willow tree not far away, her arms folded across her chest as she watched him expressionlessly.

In the twilight, the evening breeze gently stirred her ice-blue short hair, and the look on her face could not be seen clearly.

Huo Chen paused. "...When did you get here?"

"I've been here for a while." The Ice Empress's tone was calm, revealing neither joy nor anger. "The scenery by the lake was nice, so I came to take a look."

Huo Chen fell silent for a moment before speaking. "What happened just now—"

"No need to explain." The Ice Empress cut him off, her tone still calm.

"I saw it, and I felt it too. You helped that girl purify her martial soul, and you gained something from it as well. That's your own ability. It has nothing to do with me."

After saying that, she turned and left, her pace noticeably faster than usual.

Huo Chen watched her back, opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing.

The evening breeze swept across the lake, stirring up fine ripples. In the distance, lights came on one after another in the school buildings, adorning Shrek Academy in the dusk with a warm, bright glow.