Scheming Against Xiao Tuo: Shrek's Ruthless Plot

"Ever since the Qian Family Six-Winged Angel, we had heard that another Innate Level 20 genius had appeared. How could we not come take a look? Mu En was also very interested in him." The man gnawing on a chicken leg sighed as he enjoyed his meal. "What a pity. After seeing him, I was deeply disappointed. This child has little value worth cultivating!"

"Deeply disappointed?" Cai Meier asked doubtfully. "Why? Is it because he does not wish to join Shrek Academy? Or is his Level 20 Soul Power fake?"

Mu En, seated in his chair, shook his head. "That is not what Xuan Zi means. Although that youth does not currently wish to join Shrek, he is still young and does not understand Shrek's greatness. He can be gradually corrected in the future. His Level 20 Soul Power is also genuine. He cannot hide that from Xuan Zi or me."

"Then there must be a problem with his Martial Soul, right, Teacher?" Yan Shaozhe stepped forward. "When I sensed his fire just now, I clearly felt the power of an ultimate attribute. But the ultimate nature of fire should lie in extreme heat. The temperature of his flames, however, was entirely ordinary. I truly cannot make sense of it."

"Shaozhe, your senses were not wrong. He indeed possesses an Ultimate Fire Martial Soul, but his ultimate attribute differs greatly from ordinary ultimate attributes. Conventional ultimate Martial Souls refer to supreme strength. If it is fire, its temperature rises to the utmost limit. If it is ice, it approaches the legendary Absolute Zero without end. Only possessors of such ultimate Martial Souls can challenge opponents above their level. The most outstanding among them can even battle Titled Douluo as Soul Saints. But that child's ultimate attribute does not refer to supreme strength. It refers to supreme purity," Mu En explained.

"So that is it. Supreme purity, which is a hundred times rarer than supreme strength. No wonder you two said he had little cultivation value." As the dean of the Martial Soul Department, Yan Shaozhe might not have seen through Xiao Tuo's condition at a glance as those two had, but he certainly understood the significance of a supremely pure Martial Soul.

Cai Meier continued, "Supreme Pure Fire not only lacks the extreme heat of supremely strong fire, which allows its wielder to challenge opponents above their level, but also possesses the flaw of ultimate Martial Souls: cultivation slows after Level 30. Furthermore, a supremely pure Martial Soul will inevitably be disturbed by the mixed and impure energies of the outside world as it absorbs various soul rings. When that happens, it will lose its power of supreme purity, and its strength will decrease rather than increase."

In other words, this supremely pure Ultimate Fire not only lacked the power of conventional ultimate Martial Souls, but also inherited their flaws. Worse still, other Martial Souls grew stronger through cultivation and the addition of soul rings, while this kind of Martial Soul only grew weaker with further cultivation.

Yet it was still an ultimate Martial Soul, one of the highest possible qualities. Its appearance alongside Innate Level 20 was abrupt, but not overly strange.

It was simply a pity that he had Innate Level 20. With such an innate level, Yuwen Tuo would have no difficulty becoming a Titled Douluo in the future. But by then, his Supreme Pure Fire would likely have become hopelessly impure. Even if he became a Titled Douluo, he would be the weakest among them. It could not be said that he had no cultivation value, but it certainly was not very high.

In truth, on higher planes, supreme purity was far more precious than supreme strength. Unfortunately, this was Douluo Continent, where the power of supreme purity could not be properly developed. Thus, supreme purity held no meaning here—indeed, it even carried negative meaning.

"Teacher, if that is the case, then since he does not wish to join Shrek, let him leave," Yan Shaozhe said.

He had already lost interest in Xiao Tuo. He even felt somewhat repulsed by him.

After all, Shrek only cultivated monsters, not ordinary people.

Xiao Tuo's circumstances were even more unusual. He was a monster in the early stages, but the more he was cultivated, the more ordinary he would become. If word got out that Shrek had turned a monster-level genius into an ordinary person through cultivation, where would that leave him, the dean?

"No, he cannot leave. Though he cannot become a monster himself, he can lend a hand to one little monster in our academy," Mu En said. "Supreme Pure Fire has another ability. This Martial Soul is not only pure itself—it can also purify other flames, such as evil fire!"

"Teacher, are you saying this child's flames can purify Xiaotao's evil fire?" Yan Shaozhe asked excitedly.

His proudest disciple, Ma Xiaotao, was a descendant of Ma Hongjun, one of the original Shrek Seven Devils. She had inherited his powerful Fire Phoenix Martial Soul, but she had also inherited that terrifying evil fire.

Whenever it flared up, the evil fire would cause Ma Xiaotao to completely lose control. In severe cases, she would even fail to recognize her own family.

For that reason, Yan Shaozhe had no choice but to temporarily remove Ma Xiaotao from her position as captain of the Shrek Seven Devils. He avoided letting her participate in battle as much as possible in order to reduce the frequency of her evil fire outbreaks.

Over the years, he had tried every possible method, yet none could remove the power of that evil fire. Today, there was truly a turn for the better.

Cai Meier frowned. "But if we do that, would that not cause the child's supremely pure Martial Soul to be contaminated in advance? And by evil fire at that. It would utterly ruin this child."

She could not bear it. The child had been forcibly brought to Shrek in the first place. Yet after bringing him here, they would not only refuse to cultivate him, but destroy him as well. Neither emotionally nor morally could that be justified.

At those words, Mu En and Xuan Zi both fell silent.

After a while, Mu En finally spoke. "To gain something, one must lose something. We can compensate that child generously in the future. Let him spend the rest of his life in Shrek City without danger or worry."

"Mu En is right," Xuan Zi agreed. "What we are doing is indeed unfair to that child, but we are merely bringing forward the fate he would have faced anyway."

"It is only a matter of time before Supreme Pure Fire is contaminated through cultivation. This Martial Soul is destined to give him little future. But if Xiaotao's evil fire problem is resolved, her Evil Fire Phoenix can truly evolve into an Ultimate Fire Phoenix Martial Soul. Then, with her power, Xiaotao can eliminate more Evil Soul Masters and save more innocent people. Sacrificing someone who was already without much of a future in exchange for an Ultimate Fire soul master with boundless prospects, while indirectly helping countless common people—it is absolutely worthwhile."

"Ah, I only hope that once that child learns of his fate, he will not harbor resentment, much less fall into despair." Cai Meier sighed.

Unlike these men, who only considered whether something was worthwhile, she simply felt that tormenting a six-year-old child like this was truly pitiful.

Xiao Tuo, whom the city lord had brought to the dormitory, still knew nothing of the fate awaiting him.

After giving him a few instructions—telling him to cultivate diligently and obey his teachers' orders, among other things—City Lord Ma Sino left.

Xiao Tuo walked to the bed, sat cross-legged, and began circulating his cultivation technique. He did not wish to waste even a moment.

The technique he intended to cultivate was the Fire Attribute ultimate art Yuwen Tuo had passed down to him: Divine Fire Doppelganger.

Though it was named Divine Fire Doppelganger, it was actually a complete martial arts manual.

It contained both an internal cultivation method and martial techniques.

Its most basic ability allowed one to condense a flame doppelganger after successful cultivation.

Beyond that, it included the lightness and movement technique Fire Movement Step. At its highest realm, one could transform into fire and move instantaneously.

There was also the powerful finger technique, Profound Sun Blazing Flame Finger, and the domineering Blazing Flame Saber Art.

Lastly, there were supplementary abilities such as poison removal, healing, and seizing objects, all endlessly versatile.

Xiao Tuo had become famous in his previous life through this technique. Over the years, he had already modified its internal cultivation method, transforming it from an immortal cultivation technique that absorbed spiritual energy into a purely internal-energy cultivation method.

Although this significantly weakened the technique, there was no other choice. Weaker was still better than being unable to cultivate it at all.

Besides, on this Douluo Continent, the Mysterious Heaven Skill was enough to display its might. Could Divine Fire Doppelganger, which he had simplified from an immortal cultivation technique, really lose to a mere Mysterious Heaven Skill?

Moreover, Yuwen Tuo's strongest technique was not Divine Fire Doppelganger, nor was it even the Xuanyuan Sword Art. It was the supreme ultimate art his master had tailored specifically for him.

As Yuwen Tuo opened and closed his eyes, brown and blue flashed through his pupils.