Vermilion Bird Martial Soul Not Yet Awakened

"In any case, I had a terrible impression of that Shrek Academy. Killing an ordinary person and threatening someone ordinary who had no power to resist was truly disgusting.

Anyway, the people from Shrek were really awful. The Sea God they taught, and those Shrek Seven Devils, were probably no good either. I disliked them very much. And if a Sea God truly existed in this world...

If Sea God Tang San had saved the continent, then why was this continent still such a mess? Evil Soul Masters ran rampant, while nobles could toy with ordinary people however they pleased. Anyway, I really disliked it."

"I didn't like it much either." Xiao Changge had, after all, been born in a country under the red flag in his previous life and had received some of its education as a child.

It was only later that he went abroad and moved to a tourist country, so he had less contact with it.

Still, he had received that education. He would not slaughter ordinary people indiscriminately, nor would he look down on them. Take his deal with the restaurant owner, for example—the division of profits in their business.

The other party deserved the larger share. After all, without them refining pills, how could there be such a profitable business? Besides, the other party was only taking an extra ten percent of the profits.

If it had been the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect instead, the restaurant owner's share would probably have only reached around ten percent. Half of that would have gone toward paying the employees, leaving even less in actual earnings.

"Alright, enough about that. Changge, I have something to say. Honestly, this may not sound very pleasant, but you may not be able to fully wield the power of our Vermilion Bird. This Divine Beast Martial Soul might not have truly unleashed all of its power. It might not even be fully awakened."

"??? Teacher, I don't really understand what you mean. Can you explain?"

"You told me about the Vermilion Bird—the legends of this divine beast from your country, your homeland, in your previous life.

"Yes."

"You told me that the Vermilion Bird was one of the Four Symbols of Heaven in the ancient mythology of your previous-life homeland. It originated from ancient stellar worship and was a deity representing the south and fire.

Direction and Five Elements: It guarded the south, belonged to fire among the Five Elements, and corresponded to summer and the Li trigram of the Eight Trigrams.

Appearance: Its entire body was crimson, resembling a divine bird, and it was often surrounded by undying flames.

Divine role and symbolism: It symbolized light, vitality, and elder yang. In Daoism, it was revered as the Lingguang Divine Lord, capable of protecting the faithful and warding off evil.

Astronomical and stellar origins

The essence of the Vermilion Bird was the personification by the ancient people of your world of a region of stars near the ecliptic.

Southern Seven Mansions: It was formed by linking together the southern seven of the Twenty-Eight Mansions—Well, Ghost, Willow, Star, Extended Net, Wings, and Chariot.

Celestial imagery: When ancient people observed the stars, they imagined this cluster as a bird spreading its wings. Since the south belonged to fire and red was its favored color, it was called the Vermilion Bird."

"That's right, those were all legends about the Vermilion Bird." Xiao Changge still did not quite understand why Electrolux was saying this.

"How could you still not understand? The Vermilion Bird was your Martial Soul! It was your pride! A divine beast from myth and legend! An innate deity! A god born from heaven itself! Its status was even higher than that of the Phoenix!

And according to the legends, it was extremely powerful. Then how could someone with the Vermilion Bird Martial Soul have only level 30 Innate Soul Power? It should have been even higher!

And I suspect that even the Phoenixes of this world were probably not as powerful as those from your world!

And if your Vermilion Bird Martial Soul had awakened from the very beginning, then Ma Xiaotao should have faced resistance when she absorbed the power and Soul Power of your Martial Soul.

Have you considered one possibility? That Ma Xiaotao simply was not qualified to absorb the power of such a mighty Divine Beast Martial Soul!

So I suspect there is one possibility: your Vermilion Bird Martial Soul was in a completely unawakened state. It was very likely that your body was not qualified to allow your Vermilion Bird Martial Soul to awaken fully, which was why Ma Xiaotao could absorb its power and Soul Power.

Therefore, your Vermilion Bird Martial Soul was incomplete."

After Electrolux said that, Huo Yuhao understood why he had come to that conclusion. Thinking about it that way, it really did make sense. How lofty was the Vermilion Bird's status?

In mythology, the Vermilion Bird was one of the Four Symbols, one of the four great divine beasts. How could its combat strength possibly be weak?

The Vermilion Bird's strength in myth and legend was not lacking. If such a divine beast became Xiao Changge's Martial Soul, how could his Innate Soul Power have been only level 30? Many online commenters had even judged the Douluo Universe to possibly be a low-dimensional universe, incomparable to their original world. After all, its gods could be killed by hidden weapons!

Even Titled Douluo could be ambushed by hidden weapons from low-martial worlds—namely, martial arts worlds. It was utterly absurd.

It could be said that the gods of the Douluo world were not all that powerful. Compared with the Vermilion Bird of myth and legend, they were simply incomparable.

Therefore, if Xiao Changge possessed a true Vermilion Bird Martial Soul, his Innate Soul Power absolutely could not have been only level 30. His strength should have been even greater, and whether Ma Xiaotao could absorb it at all should have been the real question.

Then there was only one possibility, just as Electrolux had said: his Vermilion Bird Martial Soul was incomplete and might not have fully awakened yet.

"I suspect that your Vermilion Bird Martial Soul is incomplete because it has not fully awakened. One possibility is that your Vermilion Bird Martial Soul is simply too powerful.

Your body was not strong enough. Although your body had grown at the time and you had already reached an adult's height, its physical strength was insufficient, and your cultivation was not strong enough either.

Therefore, the Vermilion Bird Martial Soul you displayed now was not the complete Vermilion Bird Martial Soul. It was only a portion of its power, which was why Ma Xiaotao could absorb it.

This was what I considered the most reasonable explanation. Although I do not understand the culture of your world, I have studied many of the terms and pieces of knowledge you mentioned. I can conclude that your world was certainly no ordinary world, and the divine beasts in its legends could not possibly have been weak.

So in my view, your world might have been of a far higher level than this one. Then how could a divine beast from the legends of your world possess only level 30 Innate Soul Power after awakening?

Only an incomplete awakening could reasonably explain all of this."

After Electrolux said that, Xiao Changge found himself unable to refute him.

"Then, Teacher, how can I fully awaken my Vermilion Bird Martial Soul?" Xiao Changge became extremely excited upon hearing this. If it was truly as Electrolux said, he could become even stronger, making revenge more attainable. He had thought having a system and a top-tier expert was already impressive enough, yet his Martial Soul had turned out to be something beyond his imagination.

Although his start had been somewhat miserable, things had improved now. And if the Vermilion Bird Martial Soul simply had not fully awakened yet, then letting Ma Xiaotao absorb so much of it before did not count as much of a loss.

He could just find an opportunity to take it back from Ma Xiaotao later.

"I also do not know how to awaken the Vermilion Bird Martial Soul within you. But I suspect that if you gradually rose from your current rank as a Soul Grandmaster to a Titled Douluo, or even reached level one hundred and became a god, you might slowly awaken the power of the Vermilion Bird Martial Soul. Perhaps after you ascended to godhood, you would gradually gain complete control over its power.

But the prerequisite is that you must work hard enough. I can tell that the Vermilion Bird Martial Soul possesses its own spirituality. You must gain its recognition before it will answer your expectations."

After Electrolux said that, Xiao Changge wanted to work even harder. If he could grow stronger through effort, then he would certainly be able to take revenge on Shrek. Perhaps he could even ascend to godhood, defeat Tang San, completely reshuffle the God Realm, and turn it back into a normal God Realm. He could also make Douluo Continent—or rather, Douluo Star—a normal world again.

At the same time, he should be able to find a way back to his original world.

Xiao Changge actually missed the people he had known in his former world. He wanted to go back and see how his friends were doing, whether they were living well, whether they missed him. At the very least, he wanted to confirm whether they were happy, because Xiao Changge had had friends in his previous life as well.

"Anyway, work hard for now. But then again, the flames of your Vermilion Bird Martial Soul probably have not truly been displayed either. They are only part of its power. Perhaps you can use the flames of the Vermilion Bird Martial Soul in your ultimate move, combining them with the power of the two Beast Flames to unleash the Buddha Fury Fire Lotus."

Electrolux had previously heard Xiao Changge describe the Buddha Fury Fire Lotus. It formed the strongest fire lotus by fusing various flames together, and its power was extraordinarily formidable. The idea was indeed incredibly bold.

Electrolux had seen all kinds of Martial Souls in this world. Some people's flames carried poisonous properties, some carried light properties, and some carried wind properties.

If all of those Martial Soul flames were fused into the Buddha Fury Fire Lotus, its power would be unimaginable. This move was truly daring.

He had not expected Xiao Changge to come up with such a move. It was truly incredible. Even he would not have been able to think of something so dangerous.

The reason it was dangerous was that it was like an uncontrollable bomb. It could very easily injure its user as well, so one had to be extremely cautious while practicing it. One had to be even more careful when releasing it and triggering the explosion. It was best not to use it in crowded places.

Especially in places where allies were present.

In Battle Through the Heavens:

The Buddha Fury Fire Lotus's danger to allies essentially came from the combination of "indiscriminate area-of-effect damage + point-blank activation + early-stage uncontrollability." It was not some smart projectile that locked onto enemies. It was Xiao Yan kneading several Heavenly Flame nuclear bombs into a lotus and throwing them out for saturation bombardment. For teammates who were not outside the blast radius and lacked fire immunity, the damage they took was about the same as the enemy's.

Specific risks from an ally's perspective

Indiscriminate burning within the blast radius: When the two-colored fire lotus first appeared and exploded above Yan City, Hai Bodong, an ally, was nearby. Even with more than forty layers of ice shields and the Sea Heart Armor, he was still severely injured by the blast and called Xiao Yan a "madman." When the three-colored fire lotus struck Yun Shan, its aftershock swept across a mountain range spanning ten li. The four-colored Destruction Fire Lotus shattered spatial barriers in the Earth Fiend Hall of Soul Hall. At that scale, Dou Wang- and Dou Emperor-level allies would basically be dead or crippled if they were within a thousand meters.

In Battle Through the Heavens, Xiao Yan habitually activated it at point-blank range. He was often at the center of the explosion himself, either charging someone while holding the fire lotus or failing to throw it in time. If allies were at his side to finish off enemies or protect him, they would be swept into it as well. During the battle against the Eight-Winged Black Serpent Emperor, Hai Bodong had intended to step forward and help, only to be scorched by the fire lotus alongside the enemy.

His early control was extremely poor: When he fused flames during the Da Dou Shi and Dou Wang stages, the fire lotus's stability relied on Yao Lao's spiritual power to keep it in check. The first time he used it, it directly drained Yao Lao's spiritual power dry and put him into slumber, while Xiao Yan's own meridians nearly collapsed and he fell unconscious for five days. The three-colored fire lotus against Yun Shan severely injured both Xiao Yan and Yun Shan at the same time. After the Destruction Fire Lotus he used against Star-Seizing Old Ghost, Xiao Yan needed several months to recover. In other words, in the early stages, allies standing beside him were essentially gambling with their lives alongside him.

It became controllable in the later stages, but standing too close was still taboo: After Xiao Yan became a Dou Zun, he mastered his fire control techniques, including the Five-Wheel Flaming Art, allowing him to restrain the power and throw it from afar. Yet when it came to Destruction Fire Lotus attacks of four colors or more, he would still deliberately have Xun'er, Xiao Yi Xian, and the people of Starfall Pavilion retreat beyond the battlefield before using it. It was not that he did not trust his allies; the fire lotus's aftershock itself could tear apart space. Even Dou Zong could not withstand it at close range.

Its "ally-killer" nature in special situations: When facing enemies with the Blood River Grand Formation or energy-absorption abilities, Xiao Yan instead did not dare throw it around carelessly, because the formation could devour the fire lotus's energy and feed it back to the enemy. But if allies were already near the formation in such a situation, the first ones blasted away would still be his own people.

So this move was simply too dangerous. No matter what, it had to be used with utmost caution. If Xiao Changge encountered people from Shrek or the Holy Spirit Cult while there were no allies around, only enemies...

Then using this move would be best. Against the people of Shrek, or those from the Holy Spirit Cult, he could directly unleash his ultimate move and fight them to the death. Even if he blew himself up, he could still force a one-for-one exchange at the limit and vent some of his anger.

Anyway, if Xiao Changge encountered Shrek elders such as Xuan Zi and the others somewhere, he would only choose to use the Buddha Fury Fire Lotus and fight them to the death.

Xiao Changge had been held back for several years. If not for Xuan Zi and Shrek, he would have become a top genius long ago.

It was because of Shrek that he had been delayed for so long, and even now, he still had to work desperately to obtain resources for himself.

If it were Ma Xiaotao, there should be no need to use a certain method. She was not a Titled Douluo. With a little help from Electrolux, he could easily subdue her. Then Ma Xiaotao could pay the price—for example, by having her clothes stripped and sending her to the Holy Spirit Cult, so they could properly "take care" of her.

Or he could cripple her Soul Power to recover his losses, then throw her into a slum—or a den of beggars—and let those filthiest, foulest beggars enjoy the taste of this favored daughter of heaven.

He could make Ma Xiaotao experience despair. Once a favored daughter of heaven, she would end up having her body defiled by a group of beggars. That was the cruelest revenge.