True Innate Level 20

"Huff!"

Inside the dormitory, Yuwen Tuo exhaled a breath of foul air. There were not as many impurities in his body as there had been in Huo Yuhao's, so the Mystic Water Pill's side effects did not occur.

It was only that one breath of foul air. A gust of wind scattered it.

There was no need to clean the room at all.

And at this moment, Yuwen Tuo's Cultivation Power had once again reached Level 20.

"Finished cultivating? I heard what happened to you tonight. Six years of silence, then one stunning achievement—you actually defeated Bei Bei in your very first battle." Ma Xiaotao leaned against the doorway as she spoke.

"You again? Your evil fire won't flare up anymore, so why do you keep coming here?" Yuwen Tuo was genuinely growing impatient. He truly did not want to see this woman.

He only hoped that the next time he saw her would be when he could "repay" her for those six years.

Ma Xiaotao blushed. Could she say it was because she missed him?

Before long, she would enter seclusion to break through to Soul Saint. They might not see each other for quite some time, so she wanted to visit him more often.

Naturally, what she said was nothing like what she truly felt. Instead, she said, "Quit talking nonsense. My evil fire won't act up again, but the seed of evil fire within me still seems to remain. Because of that, I still can't become true Ultimate Fire. I need your help to remove that seed."

Ma Xiaotao's talent surpassed that of Ma Hongjun in his day. Her fire had already been infinitely close to the ultimate level, and Fire Elephant Power had done far more than simply purify her evil fire. It had also made her flames increasingly pure. It could be said that aside from directly increasing her Soul Power, Fire Elephant Power possessed every effect that a fire-attribute immortal herb would have. Only then had she been able to evolve toward Ultimate Fire.

But now, she had clearly reached the final hurdle. She was just one step away from completing it, yet that final step refused to go through no matter what. The feeling was agonizing.

Yuwen Tuo understood Ma Xiaotao's situation. It was just like Ma Hongjun back then: although the evil fire in his body had basically been removed, the bloodline genes remained. Thus, his descendants would still be highly susceptible to being consumed by evil fire.

And Ma Xiaotao hoped to use Yuwen Tuo's power to solve that problem completely.

Yuwen Tuo smiled faintly. Of course he could solve it, but not now. This would be his bargaining chip for negotiating with Yan Shaozhe later.

He wanted to use this chance to secure an opportunity to leave the academy. Even if he had to leave under surveillance, he needed to get out first. He had to find himself a backer capable of standing against a Titled Douluo, or even a Super Douluo, at a crucial moment.

Wasn't he being bullied like this now precisely because he had no one behind him?

Since he had no backer, he would make one himself.

Among the Ghost Valley Dao Arts, there was one technique that could help ease his current predicament. Though Chen Jingchou was not skilled in spellcraft, he happened to have trained this particular technique quite well.

Unfortunately, compared to the Yuwen Tuo master and disciple pair, either version of Yuwen Tuo had still trained it better than him back then.

At that moment, Ma Xiaotao suddenly threw her arms around him. Just as she had in the past, she let her flames merge with Yuwen Tuo's Fire Elephant Power.

Yuwen Tuo had always loathed this sort of thing before, but today, it had come at just the right time. He happened to need Ma Xiaotao as a test subject.

The next day, the rising sun appeared.

Ma Xiaotao had already dressed and left, while Yuwen Tuo no longer wore that disappointed expression he usually had after finishing cultivation.

Because his Soul Power had not loosened in the slightest. It was still Level 20.

Just as he had expected, Ma Xiaotao could no longer erode his flames or absorb his Soul Power. That was because all of his current Level 20 Soul Power was Innate Soul Power.

At this moment, Yuwen Tuo possessed genuine Innate Full Soul Power at Level 20!

Unless he was willing to actively use Fire Elephant Power to help Ma Xiaotao purify her flames, or unless Ma Xiaotao was unbelievably lucky and obtained a true fire-element immortal herb, she would never cross that final threshold of completely removing her evil fire and evolving to the ultimate level in her entire life.

With this unshakable talent, even after wasting six years during the golden period of cultivation, Yuwen Tuo was confident that he could quickly catch up to those so-called geniuses.

He clenched both fists, and flames instantly surged toward the ceiling throughout the room.

Below the dormitory building, Mu En quietly watched Yuwen Tuo's room from his recliner. "What pure and tyrannical Soul Power. The quality of Yuwen Tuo's Soul Power is probably far greater than even a Soul King's. Over these six years, his Soul Power has suffered setback after setback, only to be reborn again and again. It must have been tempered to its utmost limit."

"I misjudged him. I never expected Yuwen Tuo's talent to be this extraordinary. His Supreme Pure Fire was not affected by the erosion of evil fire at all. Instead, it refined the evil fire in turn, greatly increasing the might of his flames. Even if it still falls short of Ultimate Fire, the gap is not too great. Coupled with Innate Level 20 and this child's resolute character, his future accomplishments may not be beneath mine."

Mu En felt regret and guilt, but above all, he felt responsibility toward Shrek.

Now, he only hoped Yuwen Tuo could gradually let go of his hatred for Shrek. Otherwise, the greater his talent became, the more dangerous he would be.

In a good mood, Yuwen Tuo personally made two breakfasts. He stepped out of his room and headed toward the teaching building. What he was considering now was how to obtain his second Soul Ring.

He truly did not want to keep wasting time.

Although he could continue cultivating even without a Soul Ring, there was still a difference between the cultivation progress of low-level Soul Masters and high-level Soul Masters.

For example, the Soul Power a Titled Douluo accumulated in one day of cultivation might take a Soul Douluo several days to gather. Once one's realm rose, the pace of cultivation naturally increased as well.

A Soul Grandmaster also cultivated faster than a Soul Master. It was simply that the farther one progressed, the greater the amount of Soul Power needed for each level became. It could even increase by a proportion far exceeding the boost in cultivation speed, which was why cultivation seemed increasingly difficult later on.

But precisely because of that, shouldn't one break through as soon as one reached a bottleneck?

Douluo Continent differed from other fantasy worlds, where accumulating more power within a realm allowed one to achieve explosive gains later.

This world was extremely simple and straightforward. If you could advance, then advance as soon as possible. Strong Soul Power was the King's Path.

When a high-level Soul Master faced a low-level Soul Master, they sometimes did not even need to attack. Soul Power suppression alone could render their opponent unable to move.

If Ma Xiaotao had not tormented Yuwen Tuo for six years and wasted the most important six years of his life, he would not have been so desperate to strengthen his Innate Soul Power. He likely would have broken through long ago and be at least above Level 40 by now.

As he walked along, he kept feeling that his classmates' gazes were strange today. Everyone who passed by him gave him several extra looks.

It seemed that what had happened last night had already spread throughout the entire outer academy.

"Hi, Tuo Tuo! Good morning!" Xiao Xiao waved as she ran toward Yuwen Tuo. Seeing the lunchbox in his hand, she asked, "Tuo Tuo, what's that?"

Yuwen Tuo lifted the lunchbox and smiled. "Breakfast that I made myself. Didn't I promise yesterday that I'd let you taste my cooking? I've never failed to keep a promise."

"That's wonderful, thank you, Tuo Tuo." Xiao Xiao happily accepted the lunchbox. When she opened it, the fragrance immediately spread through the air. The scent alone was enough to whet one's appetite. "It smells so good! Come on, let's eat together!"

Xiao Xiao pulled Yuwen Tuo to a pavilion and sat down with him.

Watching the two share breakfast, countless people around them instantly erupted with jealousy.

And most of them were girls.

They regretted it deeply. Why had they not noticed before that, among the freshmen, there was another Yuwen Tuo besides Wang Dong? Not only was his appearance in no way inferior to hers, but his combat strength was so formidable that one ring had defeated three—even though those three rings belonged to Bei Bei, the number one attacker in the outer academy.

Wang Dong was far too aloof. In comparison, Yuwen Tuo seemed much more approachable. He could even cook. Wasn't he practically a heaven-sent match? Many girls had already shifted their attention.

They had even investigated Yuwen Tuo's background.

Yuwen Tuo, male, from the Heaven Dou Empire. Parents unknown. Birthplace unknown. An orphan.

Age: twelve. Appearance: sunny and handsome. Build: average.

Soul Power Level: 20.

Personality: cheerful, gentle.

They had investigated him in such detail and were only one step away from making their move. Yet they had never expected that one girl had not only made her move long ago, but was already close to sneaking across the finish line.

No wonder... no wonder! No wonder when everyone else's attention had been drawn to Wang Dong, this little loli had clung stubbornly to Yuwen Tuo. She must have been thinking of taking advantage of the others not yet noticing Yuwen Tuo's excellence, getting close to him first and claiming him before anyone else could.

It was simply too shameless.

Handsome freshman boys should belong to everyone!

The main reason was that this guy had been far too low-key in everyday life. During class, he buried his head and slept. The moment class ended, he and Xiao Xiao vanished, and he skipped class at the drop of a hat.

On top of that, Wang Dong was among the freshmen—a dazzling figure with an overwhelming presence who drew everyone's eyes—causing them to overlook this guy who had only one ring.

"Delicious, so delicious! This is the first time I've ever had porridge this sweet and fragrant!" Xiao Xiao completely ignored everyone's jealous stares and focused wholeheartedly on enjoying the food.

Sure enough, to win a woman's heart, one first had to win her stomach. Especially in Xiao Xiao's case, where her heart and stomach seemed directly connected.

As Yuwen Tuo watched Xiao Xiao's adorable expression, he suddenly thought of a good idea.

This little loli should fetch a pretty good price if I sold her!