Beyond the Word "Genius"

Facing Huo Yuhao's question, the Ice Empress did not respond immediately.

Her icy blue eyes narrowed slightly as her immense spiritual power silently stretched out like invisible tendrils, carefully extending toward Li Changqing. She attempted to penetrate his sea of consciousness and investigate.

However, just as her spiritual power was about to touch Li Changqing...

Li Changqing, who had been gazing at the lake, suddenly turned his head.

He simply looked quietly into Huo Yuhao's eyes.

Or rather, he was looking at the Ice Empress within Huo Yuhao's sea of consciousness.

Those black eyes were calm as still water, without the slightest ripple, yet they seemed capable of piercing through all appearances and reaching the depths of one's soul.

Under the gaze of those eyes, Huo Yuhao felt a chill rise up his spine, and his whole body trembled involuntarily.

The Ice Empress and Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, residing within his sea of consciousness, likewise felt their hearts lurch, as though they had been locked onto by some higher-order existence.

Huo Yuhao hurriedly asked in his mind, "Ice Empress, did he discover you?"

The Ice Empress fell silent for a moment before slowly speaking, a hint of gravity in her voice. "Probably not... He merely sensed a fluctuation in spiritual power. This youth is very strong and extraordinarily gifted. You must never make an enemy of him in the future."

Hearing that, Huo Yuhao promptly replied in his mind, "I understand."

Li Changqing looked at him for several seconds, then withdrew his gaze and looked back at the lake before him, as though nothing had happened.

However, at that moment...

The lake, once calm as a mirror, suddenly began to boil violently!

The water bubbled as if it had been brought to a boil, while white steam rose and spread across the sky above the lake.

A scorching wave of heat rushed toward them, warping even the air itself.

Immediately afterward, a red figure streaked across the distant lake surface at an astonishing speed.

In its wake, the lake water was evaporated by the extreme heat, leaving behind a long trail of white mist!

Li Changqing's pupils contracted. Almost on instinct, he grabbed Huo Yuhao by the shoulder and kicked off the ground, sending them both rapidly retreating!

The very next second after they moved away...

Boom!

A blazing pillar of fire descended from the sky and struck precisely where they had been sitting!

The grass instantly ignited, transforming into a roaring sea of flames.

Blackened earth spread outward, and even a large patch of lake water was vaporized.

Li Changqing dragged Huo Yuhao back several dozen meters before coming to a stop.

Looking at the burning sea of fire, cold sweat instantly soaked Huo Yuhao's back.

If Li Changqing had not pulled him away in time, he would likely have been reduced to a charred corpse by now.

He raised his head and looked into the air.

There, a beautiful red figure floated above the sea of flames.

She was a woman who appeared to be around eighteen or nineteen years old.

She wore a short red skirt that exposed her two fair, slender legs, with a pair of red high-heeled boots on her feet.

She was breathtakingly beautiful, her delicate features as exquisite as if sculpted. Her long, fiery red hair billowed wildly in the wind like burning flames.

Yet the most striking thing about her was her eyes.

Eyes that should have been bright were now a pure, unbroken black.

There were no whites, no pupils—only endless darkness, like two bottomless black holes.

The aura emanating from her body was terrifying enough to suffocate anyone.

The air around her warped from the heat, while the lake water beneath her constantly evaporated with hissing sounds.

Li Changqing released Huo Yuhao and straightened up. Staring solemnly at the woman in red overhead, he slowly uttered four words: "Possessed by evil fire!"

Ma Xiaotao, controlled by the evil fire, had completely lost her reason.

Her eyes were black as ink, without the slightest trace of clarity. Her entire being seemed to have become a machine made purely for slaughter.

Upon sensing the Life auras of Li Changqing and Huo Yuhao, she attacked almost instinctively.

With a wave of her right hand, several scorching fireballs condensed out of thin air. Like meteors trailing long tails of flame, they shrieked toward the two of them!

Wherever the fireballs passed, the air twisted under the searing heat, while the grass below turned to ash the instant it came into contact with them.

Huo Yuhao's face turned pale. He instinctively tried to dodge, only to find that the fireballs were unbelievably fast, leaving him no time to evade.

At that moment, Li Changqing stepped forward and waved his right hand.

Buzz!

A massive golden pagoda appeared out of thin air and descended from the sky, enclosing both of them within.

Brilliant golden light flowed across its body, radiating a vast and sacred pressure.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Several fireballs crashed into the pagoda in succession, erupting with deafening explosions.

Flames scattered in all directions, scorching the surrounding ground black.

Yet the golden pagoda did not budge in the slightest. Not even a single crack appeared on it.

After sensing the sacred power of merit emanating from the Heavenly Profound and Earthly Yellow Exquisite Pagoda, Ma Xiaotao, controlled by the evil fire, became even more frenzied.

The evil fire within her seemed to have received some intense provocation. Like an enraged beast, it churned madly, trying to break free of its restraints and contend with the power that made it feel such extreme discomfort.

However, though the Evil Fire Phoenix was powerful, it still fell far short before the Heavenly Profound and Earthly Yellow Exquisite Pagoda, known as the foremost defensive treasure.

In only a moment, Ma Xiaotao was completely suppressed.

Under the watchful eyes of Huo Yuhao, the Ice Empress, and Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, the massive golden pagoda slowly descended and precisely covered Ma Xiaotao within it.

The next moment, immense sacred power of merit poured down like a waterfall, and golden light engulfed Ma Xiaotao's entire body.

Ma Xiaotao let out a pained roar. Her body struggled violently as her hands desperately battered the pagoda, attempting to break free.

But that sacred power of merit was like invisible chains, tightly binding every part of her body and leaving her utterly unable to move.

Gradually, her struggles weakened more and more. In the end, she collapsed powerlessly to the ground, gasping for breath.

Within those pitch-black eyes, a faint glimmer of clarity seemed to flash.

Standing outside the pagoda, Huo Yuhao stared at Ma Xiaotao, who had been so imposing and arrogant moments earlier but was now suppressed like a drowned rat. His mouth fell open, and he could not close it for a long while.

At that moment, within his sea of consciousness, Sky Dream Ice Silkworm saw this scene and could not help drawing in a sharp breath. His voice was filled with obvious shock. "Icey, if I'm not mistaken, this girl's strength should already be close to that of a Soul Sage, right?"

The Ice Empress fell silent for a moment.

Then she slowly spoke, her tone carrying unprecedented gravity. "That's right. And she possesses the top-tier beast martial soul, the Fire Phoenix. Though she has been corrupted by evil fire, her foundation remains. To suppress a genius close to the Soul Sage rank through martial soul attributes alone..."

She paused before continuing, a trace of wariness in her voice that even she herself had not noticed. "This can no longer be described by the word 'genius.'"