How Much Is a Bottle of Scorching Blood Worth?

Not long after returning to school, Huo Yuhao had barely rested for one night when someone came knocking the next day.

"Um... hello."

Huo Yuhao rubbed his eyes, yawned, and reached out to pull open the dormitory door. Then he froze. The moment he opened it, he saw Ma Xiaotao, who had apparently been waiting outside for quite some time.

Ma Xiaotao stood at the door in the red uniform of an inner academy student, her long hair draped over her shoulders. From her posture, she had clearly been standing outside for a while.

"Senior Ma Xiaotao? What do you need me for?"

Huo Yuhao asked, though he quickly thought of the answer.

After all, other than the Evil Fire issue, there should have been nothing else that could bring Ma Xiaotao to his door.

"Because of the Evil Fire, and this."

Ma Xiaotao took out a storage Soul Tool. Inside were various cultivation resources prepared by Yan Shaozhe, all of them ice-element cultivation resources.

"This is the school's compensation for what happened with Dai Huabin last time."

Ma Xiaotao said. This was indeed the school's compensation. After all, Huo Yuhao had been attacked within the school, so Shrek Academy bore some responsibility as well.

"Then I'll accept it. But regarding your Evil Fire, Senior, I'll need to contact Sister Bing Xue."

Huo Yuhao accepted the compensation. There was no reason to turn down something offered for free; Shrek should have compensated him in the first place. However, he had no way to deal with her Evil Fire right now. The Ultimate Ice in his body was not enough to help her, so he could only see whether Ice Empress was available.

However, ever since Snow Empress arrived, Ice Empress seemed to have been playing some sort of survival game with her. Every day, she was either mining and fighting monsters or building houses. She did not seem to have much free time.

"I'm not looking for that senior." Ma Xiaotao's voice suddenly dropped. Her gaze moved away from Huo Yuhao's face and fell to the floor, while her toes lightly ground against the ground.

"I want... you."

When she said those words, Ma Xiaotao hesitated and stumbled over them, as though she were saying something strange.

Huo Yuhao: "???"

Wang Dong: "!!!"

At some point, Wang Dong had already sat up in bed. Still wrapped in her blanket, she lay there and stared seriously at Ma Xiaotao by the door with her pink-blue eyes.

"That's not what I meant!"

The moment Ma Xiaotao saw their expressions, she realized they had misunderstood and immediately refuted it.

"There's no need to trouble that senior. Huo Yuhao, you just need to help me deal with it, okay?"

Given Huo Yuhao's current cultivation, the Ultimate Ice's effects would certainly not be as strong as Ice Empress's. But that was precisely what Yan Shaozhe had in mind. After all, if Ma Xiaotao could not attain Ultimate Fire in the future, then her partner would have to be someone with Ultimate Ice.

As it happened, Huo Yuhao possessed Ultimate Ice. Yan Shaozhe wanted the two of them to slowly get along, and ideally...

That would be especially wonderful!

Thinking of her teacher's intentions made Ma Xiaotao blush a little. Still, that did not seem too bad either?

Wang Dong: Bad!

Wang Dong got out of bed and crossed her arms as she looked at Ma Xiaotao. First, she noticed the blush on Ma Xiaotao's face, then she looked at her explosively curvaceous figure.

Then Wang Dong lowered her head and looked at her own shoes. Now she was even more unwilling. Huo Yuhao had only returned last night, and the bed had not even warmed up yet. Now he was about to be taken away?

"My cultivation is only at three rings. There's too great a gap between Senior's cultivation and mine, so the effect might not be as good as my senior's."

Huo Yuhao said, but Ma Xiaotao did not care about that.

"My teacher also said that having that senior help me would be overkill. Yuhao, it's enough if you help me."

"After every suppression, you'll receive five thousand Gold Soul Coins and some ice-element cultivation materials. If you think the materials are too few, we can discuss it."

Ma Xiaotao said. She could not possibly let Huo Yuhao help her for free. Even if he were willing, Yan Shaozhe would not dare refuse payment, since Xia Liang and the others were not people to be trifled with.

"Alright."

Huo Yuhao thought it over. He had indeed always relied on Xia Liang and the others. He should do something within his own capabilities as well.

Besides, while helping Ma Xiaotao suppress her Evil Fire, he could also cultivate his ice attribute.

"Change the medicinal ingredients. Don't ask for ice-element ones. Exchange them for a large quantity of basic medicinal ingredients, and convert those five thousand Gold Soul Coins into basic cultivation medicines too."

Xia Liang's voice suddenly sounded in Huo Yuhao's ears.

"Hm? Alright, Brother Xia Liang."

Though he did not know why, Xia Liang must have had his reasons for doing this.

For the rest of that day, Huo Yuhao helped Ma Xiaotao suppress her Evil Fire, while Yan Shaozhe held the list of basic medicinal ingredients Huo Yuhao needed and studied it carefully.

"Such basic medicinal ingredients... what are they for? Could the force behind him be about to emerge?"

Most of these basic medicinal ingredients were used to lay foundations. The highest-grade among them were merely Soul Elder-level medicinal ingredients.

They were not valuable, but the quantity was enormous. Of course, to Shrek Academy, even that amount was merely a number.

What Yan Shaozhe worried about now was whether Xia Liang's faction would affect the existing powers of the Douluo Continent once it appeared.

After all, every piece of the pie already had someone taking a bite. If another faction appeared...

Forget it. It was not something he should worry about.

Yan Shaozhe thought it over and ultimately set down the medicinal ingredient list. No matter what, Shrek was still the continent's foremost power and was on good terms with Xia Liang. Even if someone had to worry, it would be the lesser factions. It had nothing to do with Shrek.

He would discuss it with his teacher later. This matter still had to be handled by him.

Although Mu En still looked old and frail, he remained Shrek's stabilizing pillar.

For some reason, Mu En had not told anyone in Shrek that he had recovered. No one knew...

Over the course of a day, Huo Yuhao suppressed Ma Xiaotao's Evil Fire until it was nearly imperceptible.

"Mmm~~"

After her Evil Fire was suppressed, Ma Xiaotao lay limply on her bed. Her body felt utterly relaxed, as though all the impurities within her had been removed.

Only then did she begin to see this little Soul Elder, Huo Yuhao, differently.

He seemed pretty good too?

Beside her, unlike the comfortable Ma Xiaotao, Huo Yuhao was currently suppressing the Evil Fire within his own body.

While helping Ma Xiaotao suppress her Evil Fire, Huo Yuhao had also been tainted by it. The Evil Fire of a Soul Emperor was naturally no trifling matter, and Huo Yuhao was now being scorched by it.

However, since he possessed Ultimate Ice, Huo Yuhao suppressed it with ease. He even strengthened his physique in the process.

At this moment, deep within Flame Swamp in the Twilight Forest...

Boom—

The Nine-Headed Serpent crashed to the ground, leaving behind an item chest and a Million-Year Soul Ring.

"Ultimate Fire is seriously annoying."

Ice Empress wiped Snow Empress's sweat while grumbling. The Nine-Headed Serpent's power had been enhanced into Ultimate Fire. There was not just one monster here, either. While Xia Liang fought, the other nearby monsters had begun gathering around them.

Left with no choice, Ice Empress, Snow Empress, and Electrolux began holding those monsters back.

The weakest of those monsters were ten-thousand-year level, while quite a few were hundred-thousand-year and three-hundred-thousand-year level. If not for Xia Liang's equipment, Ice Empress and the others would have found it difficult even to break their defenses.

Among them, Little Snow Empress was under the greatest pressure, since she was the weakest person present.

Other than the boss's loot, Xia Liang obtained thirty-two bottles of Scorching Blood. Every drop of blood in a bottle could burn a Limit Douluo to ashes.

"It can be diluted and sold outside."

This was no ordinary resource on the Douluo Continent. Every fire-element soul master would likely spend their entire fortune to buy even a single drop, even if it had been diluted.

"Save a few bottles for me. I'll see whether I can make a puppet with an Ultimate Fire attribute."

Electrolux said. This was no ordinary material. Perhaps he could create an attribute-bearing puppet and add an Ultimate Fire Super Douluo to the Spirit Pagoda.

As for the Million-Year Soul Ring, its grade was simply too high. Electrolux did not yet have any method to make full use of it.

"Then we just need to kill a few more."

Xia Liang answered. After all, in this evil god-level Twilight Forest, there were plenty of bosses.

"Next, let me check the map..."

Xia Liang looked at the map. There happened to be a snowy area nearby, and Aurora Palace was very close.

"Ice Queen."

Although Ice Queen's drops were not particularly impressive, the weapons in her palace dealt considerable damage.

Whether it was the Ice Sword or the Glass Sword, both had devastating damage. The Ice Sword might even be something Huo Yuhao could take and play with.