Ma Xiaotao

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Ma Xiaotao (马小桃)
Gender	Female
Affiliation	Shrek Academy; Inner Court student; Shrek Academy tournament team 29 73
Occupation/Role	Soul master; Shrek team combatant and field leader 41 45
Martial Soul	Originally a Fire Phoenix; briefly evolved into an Evil Fire Phoenix before being forcibly reverted, then ultimately transformed into the Starflame Phoenix with Ultimate Fire 90 138 139
Cultivation	Soul Sage, at the peak of Rank 72 and approaching Rank 73; during her Evil Fire catastrophe, she temporarily displayed Rank 98 strength 123 137
Soul Spirit	Little Star, a Seven-Star Flame Bird Soul Spirit whose initially hundred-thousand-year power was later replenished to two hundred thousand years 115 123 139
Status	Alive; her Evil Fire was removed by Ma Hongjun, and she has received the Phoenix God's Seven Trials 138
First Appearance	Chapter 7

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Soul Emperor	7	Identified as a Soul Emperor while fighting Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong; she is ultimately knocked down by their combined efforts. 7
Soul Emperor, level 68 surge	89	Her Soul Power abruptly rises to level 68 during an uncontrolled eruption of black flames and Phoenix Divine Power. 89
Evil Fire Phoenix transformation	90	Her Fire Phoenix martial soul evolves into an Evil Fire Phoenix; a mysterious divine intervention then forces it back into its original Fire Phoenix form. 90
Soul Sage, Rank 72	115	Her contract with the Seven-Star Flame Bird produces a hundred-thousand-year seventh soul ring and raises her cultivation directly to Rank 72. 115
Soul Sage, peak Rank 72	123	After continued cultivation, she reaches the peak of Rank 72 and prepares to enter seclusion for a breakthrough to Rank 73. 123
Rank 98 Evil Fire transformation	137	An Evil Fire eruption transforms her into a monstrous, black-flame-covered state with temporary Rank 98 strength; her eighth and ninth Spirit Rings appear only as phantoms. 137
Ultimate Fire / Starflame Phoenix	138, 139	Ma Hongjun removes her Evil Fire, transforms her martial soul into the Starflame Phoenix, and grants her Ultimate Fire and the Phoenix God's Seven Trials. 138 139

Appearance

Ma Xiaotao is a striking red-haired Shrek Inner Court student who commonly wears the academy's red uniform. Her long hair hangs over her shoulders, and her presence is marked by a scorching fire aura. 29 73

• Long red hair. 29 73
• Red Inner Court uniform. 29
• Condenses fiery wings when fighting. 54 82
• Bears a phoenix-shaped divine mark on her forehead after Ma Hongjun removes her Evil Fire and grants her a God Trial. 138
• Is frequently accompanied by Little Star, her small Seven-Star Flame Bird Soul Spirit. 123

Personality

Ma Xiaotao is proud of her strength and highly driven by cultivation. After arranging Huo Yuhao's assistance with her condition, she immediately prioritizes returning to training over building their relationship. 30

She can be direct and intimidating, but she accepts personal responsibility when she harms others: she personally apologizes to Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong and brings cultivation resources as compensation. 10 As a combat leader, she makes quick tactical decisions, assigns protection for Wang Yan, and takes the front line herself. 41 45

Her pride in Shrek and desire to win are also dangerous triggers. Intense emotion and surging Soul Power worsen her evil fire, culminating in her loss of control during the tournament final. 88 89

Even after obtaining Little Star and reaching Soul Sage, Ma Xiaotao remains intensely committed to cultivation, only leaving her planned seclusion briefly for fresh air before resuming her training beneath the Golden Tree. 123

Abilities & Skills

Fire Phoenix Martial Soul

Ma Xiaotao is a fire-attribute Soul Emperor whose Phoenix flames can overpower lower-ranked opponents and interfere with metal-based Soul Tools through extreme heat. 82 88

• Projects a concentrated Phoenix Fire Line against enemy formations. 82
• Forms wings of condensed flame for combat mobility and offense. 54 82
• Her fire is strengthened when supported by Huo Yuhao's Ultimate Ice, which reduces the immediate danger of evil-fire backlash. 83
• Her Fire Phoenix briefly evolved into an Evil Fire Phoenix during the tournament, but Ma Hongjun subsequently forced it back into its original form. 90

Ultimate Fire and Starflame Phoenix

Following the Golden Tree catastrophe, Ma Hongjun completely removes Ma Xiaotao's Evil Fire and transforms her martial soul into the Starflame Phoenix, granting her Ultimate Fire. 138 139

• The Starflame Phoenix replaces the Evil Fire Phoenix line, ensuring that any future degradation in her descendants' martial souls produces Starflame Phoenixes rather than Evil Fire Phoenixes. 139
• Her phoenix divine inheritance is marked by a phoenix symbol on her forehead. 138
• She has received the Phoenix God's Seven Trials, a divine inheritance regarded by Shrek's records as exceptionally significant. 138

Phoenix Meteor Shower

Her sixth soul skill, Phoenix Meteor Shower, is a large-scale fire attack capable of sharply raising the temperature across the arena. 83 88

• Forced the Soul Masters maintaining the tournament barrier to exert their full strength. 88
• Was insufficient to break a Class 7 Absolute Defense Soul Tool without Huo Yuhao disabling its core. 83 84
• Its use can consume substantial Soul Power and aggravate her malevolent fire. 83 84

Seven-Star Flame Bird Soul Spirit

Ma Xiaotao contracts with Little Star, a severely injured Seven-Star Flame Bird with ninety-seven-thousand-year cultivation, whose Starfire is closely related to phoenix flames. 115

• The willing Soul Spirit contract produces her seventh soul ring. 115
• The Seven-Star Flame Bird's Soul Bone resonates with Ma Xiaotao's existing Hundred Thousand Year Blazing Sparrow Left Arm Soul Bone, elevating the Soul Spirit's power to the hundred-thousand-year level during the contract. 115
• The resulting hundred-thousand-year seventh soul ring raises Ma Xiaotao directly to Rank 72. 115
• Ma Hongjun later replenishes Little Star's origin, raising its cultivation to two hundred thousand years; the two subsequent Spirit Rings it provides Ma Xiaotao will likewise be two-hundred-thousand-year rings. 139

Evil Fire

The evil fire within Ma Xiaotao was rooted in defects and impurity within her phoenix martial soul rather than being a simple external affliction. 84

• It grew stronger when suppressed for too long and could have destroyed her martial soul or killed her if it burned through her meridians. 16
• Huo Yuhao could temporarily suppress it with Ultimate Ice, though the root cause remained unresolved at the time. 29 84
• Scorching Blood would strengthen the evil fire along with her fire-attribute Soul Power, so she refused it at auction. 68
• During her tournament breakdown, it manifested as indiscriminate black flames that shattered the arena barrier and affected nearby combatants' minds. 89
• Divine power Ma Hongjun had placed in her Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone was absorbed and amplified by her martial soul, triggering the later Golden Tree disaster. 138
• Ma Hongjun ultimately drew the Evil Fire from her body and removed it completely. 138

Phoenix Divine Power

Ma Xiaotao's outburst attracts the attention of the Phoenix God, who recognizes her talent and initially plans to use a future divine trial to help eliminate her evil fire. 88

• Her black-flame eruption is associated with Phoenix Divine Power and a temporary leap to level 68 Soul Power. 89
• Ma Hongjun secretly intervenes after her martial soul becomes an Evil Fire Phoenix, suppressing and reversing the transformation. 90
• Ma Hongjun later descends personally, removes her Evil Fire, grants her Ultimate Fire, and implants the Phoenix God's Seven Trials. 138 139
• His unauthorized divine intervention results in him being summoned to the Divine Realm Community Committee for punishment. 138

Relationships

• Huo Yuhao — Initially attacks him and Wang Dong while out of control, then personally apologizes. She later repeatedly relies on his Ultimate Ice to suppress her evil fire. 7 10 29 84
• Wang Dong — One of the students endangered in her first appearance; she gives him cultivation resources as part of her apology. 7 10
• Yan Shaozhe — Her teacher. He seeks methods to cure her condition, arranges compensation for Huo Yuhao, secures a suitable hundred-thousand-year soul bone for her, and supervises her Seven-Star Flame Bird contract and later cultivation. 10 29 72 115 123
• Mu En — Concerned about the escalating evil fire and unsuccessfully asks Huo Yuhao's elder for help. He later risks his weakened body to enter the burning Golden Tree and rescue Ma Xiaotao during her catastrophic loss of control. 16 137 138
• Ma Hongjun / Phoenix God — Her divine ancestor and the Phoenix God. He initially covertly suppresses her Evil Fire Phoenix transformation, then later removes her Evil Fire, transforms her martial soul into the Starflame Phoenix, and grants her the Phoenix God's Seven Trials. 90 138 139
• Little Star — Her Seven-Star Flame Bird Soul Spirit. The bird willingly contracts with her, provides her hundred-thousand-year seventh soul ring, and becomes a close companion. 115 123
• Bi Ji — Little Star recognizes Bi Ji as the ferocious beast who treated her severe injuries before she became Ma Xiaotao's Soul Spirit. 123
• Phoenix God — Takes notice of her martial soul and considers granting her divine trials once she reaches Soul Sage; this plan is later realized through Ma Hongjun's intervention. 88 138
• Shrek tournament team — Acts as a frontline combatant and tactical leader during Twilight Forest training and the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament. 41 45 88

Story Role / Major Arcs

Uncontrolled Encounter and Apology

Ma Xiaotao first appears as a red, monster-like attacker threatening Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong. Their combined effort knocks her down before Wang Dong's trident mark sends her back into the lake. 7

After Xia Liang returns her to Shrek, Yan Shaozhe worries that her “Evil Fire Phoenix” reputation could damage the academy. 8 Ma Xiaotao later meets Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong in person to apologize and offer light- and spiritual-attribute cultivation resources. 10

Evil Fire Suppression

Her evil fire becomes a central concern for Shrek's senior figures, who fear that it could eventually shatter her martial soul or kill her. 16 She approaches Huo Yuhao with academy-provided ice-element resources, and he successfully suppresses her condition for a day, though he is contaminated by the fire in the process. 29

Twilight Forest Training

As a Soul Emperor on Shrek's main team, Ma Xiaotao enters Twilight Forest for special pre-tournament training. She treats the twenty-thousand-year targets as manageable and organizes the team by assigning Chen Zifeng and Xi Xi to protect Wang Yan. 41

She continues serving as the group's decision-maker during encounters with skeleton-type soul beasts and the Mutant Skeleton. 45

During the battle with the Mutant Skeleton, its black flames resemble her own Evil Fire and force her to suppress the corruption affecting her body. She later joins Dai Yueheng, Chen Zifeng, and Bei Bei in destroying the immobilized creature after Huo Yuhao uses Undead Domination Magic to expose its weakness. 46

Tournament and Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Bone

Though not initially able to fight at full strength, Ma Xiaotao returns alongside Dai Yueheng as one of Shrek's major trump cards during the tournament's later rounds. 68 73

At the Starlight Auction House, she refuses Scorching Blood because it would worsen her evil fire. 68 She then urgently seeks the Hundred Thousand Year Blazing Sparrow Left Arm Soul Bone, a fire-attribute item intended for her; Shrek ultimately obtains it for 180 million Gold Soul Coins. 71 72

She later possesses this hundred-thousand-year soul bone, which resonates with the Seven-Star Flame Bird's Soul Bone during her Soul Spirit contract. 115

Tournament Final Breakdown

In Shrek's final against the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, Ma Xiaotao uses Phoenix Meteor Shower to heat the arena and suppress the enemy's Soul Tools. 88 Her pride, emotional intensity, and unsealed evil fire push her martial soul out of control. 88

Her Soul Power surges to level 68 as black flames spread across the arena, killing nearby Sun Moon team members, breaking the protective barrier, and forcing Shrek to concede the team battle. 89 Mu En removes her from the arena, after which Ma Hongjun's covert divine intervention returns her Evil Fire Phoenix to its original Fire Phoenix form. 90

Seven-Star Flame Bird Soul Spirit

After the tournament, Ma Xiaotao encounters a critically injured ninety-seven-thousand-year Seven-Star Flame Bird in Star Dou Forest. Drawn by the bird's phoenix-related Starfire and compatible bloodline, she gains its willing agreement to become her Soul Spirit. 115

The Seven-Star Flame Bird's Soul Bone reacts with Ma Xiaotao's existing Hundred Thousand Year Blazing Sparrow Left Arm Soul Bone, forcing the Soul Spirit's power to reach the hundred-thousand-year threshold. The successful contract grants Ma Xiaotao a hundred-thousand-year seventh soul ring and directly advances her to Rank 72. 115

Golden Tree Catastrophe

With her cultivation at the peak of Rank 72, Ma Xiaotao enters seclusion in a chamber beneath Shrek's Golden Tree, where the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is exceptionally dense. Her soul bone had previously begun safely absorbing and neutralizing her Evil Fire. 123

The dormant divine power within that soul bone is instead amplified by her martial soul, causing the Evil Fire to erupt from beneath the Golden Tree. The black flames burn the tree's vitality, kill or injure cultivators inside it, and transform Ma Xiaotao into a monstrous Rank 98 state surrounded by black fire. 137 138

Mu En enters the burning tree to save her despite his weakened condition, while Du Busi assists in suppressing the fire out of gratitude for Mu En's past guidance. 137

Starflame Phoenix and Divine Trial

Ma Hongjun reveals himself as the source of the catastrophe, admitting that the power he had placed in Ma Xiaotao's Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone accidentally fed her Evil Fire. He draws the fire out of her body, heals her, and leaves a phoenix mark on her forehead. 138

Upon awakening, Ma Xiaotao reveals that Ma Hongjun granted her a God Trial and transformed her flames into Ultimate Fire. Her martial soul is subsequently identified as the Starflame Phoenix, ending the Evil Fire Phoenix bloodline entirely. 138 139

Ma Hongjun also restores Little Star's origin to two-hundred-thousand-year cultivation, ensuring that the Soul Spirit's remaining two Spirit Rings for Ma Xiaotao will be two-hundred-thousand-year rings. 139

Notable Quotes

“How could that possibly feel better than cultivation?!” 30