Cooling Down the Evil Fire Phoenix

Boom!

Yan Shaozhe crashed down at the entrance to the internet cafe's second floor like a human cannonball.

Ma Xiaotao, cradled in his arms, was in terrible condition. Her skin was flushed an unnatural crimson, while violent dark-red flames erupted uncontrollably from her pores, scorching the surrounding air into distortion.

"Boss! Hurry! She's about to explode!" Sweat beaded on Yan Shaozhe's forehead. He could no longer maintain even an ounce of a dean's composure.

Anywhere else, that evil fire would have been enough to burn down half a street.

But within the absolute domain of Origin Internet Cafe, the flames were snuffed out by invisible laws the moment they traveled three inches from Ma Xiaotao's body, unable to stir up the slightest wave.

"Relax. She won't die."

Lu Yuan calmly walked up to the second floor and pointed at a silver-white egg-shaped pod at the far end.

"Put her in there. She may have lost her reason, but her body's instincts are still intact."

Yan Shaozhe froze. "This thing can suppress the evil fire? Ordinary ice water does nothing for her. Even the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Bed in the Sea God Pavilion can barely hold it down anymore!"

"The ice bed is dead. But the ice here is alive."

Lu Yuan smiled mysteriously and stepped up to the control panel, his fingers dancing swiftly over it.

"System, activate the Monster Hunter: World DLC expansion package—[Iceborne] for this VIP customer."

"Lock map: Hoarfrost Reach."

"Environment setting: extreme cold weather, blizzard level MAX."

At Lu Yuan's command, the silver-white game pod slowly opened. Visible white frost spilled out at once, dropping the temperature across the entire second floor by several degrees.

"Put her in. In that world, she won't need to suppress the flames herself. The environment will physically cool her down."

Though Yan Shaozhe remained skeptical, Ma Xiaotao's suffering left him no choice but to treat a dead horse like a living one. He carefully placed her into the pod.

As the pod door slowly closed, the suffocating heat finally vanished.

Downstairs.

"Holy crap! What was that red light just now? A meteor hitting the ground?"

Xu Sanshi dragged Jiang Nannan into the cafe, his face still pale with fright.

They had nearly been blown away by the shockwave when Yan Shaozhe landed outside.

"That was... Dean Yan's aura." Jiang Nannan frowned tightly. As a core disciple of the outer courtyard, she was very familiar with the dean's presence. "And there was an incredibly terrifying fire-element fluctuation too... Could it have been that senior sister from the inner courtyard?"

"Who cares who it was? As long as it doesn't delay my gaming."

Xu Sanshi expertly slapped down several gold soul coins, wearing the expression of a nouveau riche. "Junior Yuhao! Start a machine! Today, I'm showing Nannan my absolute defense! I've figured out a new way to use that gunlance!"

Huo Yuhao was wearing an apron and holding a rag as he poked his head out from behind the counter, looking helpless. "Senior Xu, the boss is entertaining an important guest upstairs. Sit anywhere on the first floor. Just leave the money on the table."

"Oh? Junior Yuhao, you've worked your way up to assistant shopkeeper already?" Xu Sanshi teased before pulling Jiang Nannan toward a pair of connected seats.

"Nannan, hurry up and put on your helmet! I'm telling you, that gunlance was made for me! I'll tank the monster later, and you can deal damage from behind!"

Although Jiang Nannan was doubtful, she still put on her helmet when she saw how excited Xu Sanshi was.

Second floor, virtual world.

Ma Xiaotao felt as though she had been trapped in a long nightmare.

The dream was filled with fire. It burned through her organs, devoured her sanity bit by bit, and made her want to destroy everything before her.

Then, suddenly.

Whoosh—!

A biting gale mixed with shards of ice slammed viciously into her face.

Ma Xiaotao opened her eyes.

There were no flames. No oppressive heat.

Before her lay a vast world of snow and ice.

The sky was gray-white. Goose-feather snowflakes fell like blades, while howling winds reduced visibility to less than ten meters.

Several meters of snow covered the ground beneath her feet, and every step sank her halfway to the knee.

"Where... is this?"

Ma Xiaotao instinctively tried to circulate her soul power to ward off the cold, only to discover that the violent evil fire within her had been firmly suppressed by the world's extreme chill!

In this forbidden land known as Hoarfrost Reach, warmth was an extravagance.

[Warning: Body temperature rapidly dropping. Stamina recovery speed reduced.]

[Status: Extreme Cold.]

The game's notification sounded beside her ear.

An ordinary hunter would have already pulled out a hot drink and gulped it down.

But Ma Xiaotao was different. To her current self, this bone-piercing cold was nothing less than sweet dew in a desert!

"So comfortable..."

Ma Xiaotao greedily breathed in the frigid air, feeling the burning in her lungs rapidly fade.

Boom!

The snow beneath her feet suddenly exploded.

A massive shark-like beast covered in sharp ice armor burst from the snow, the horn atop its head gleaming with cold light.

Beotodus!

"That's... a soul beast?"

Ma Xiaotao instinctively tried to unleash Phoenix Sky-Howl Strike, but only a pitiful wisp of flame emerged from her hand before the wind and snow instantly extinguished it.

"No soul power?"

Ma Xiaotao was stunned. Before she could react, Beotodus's ice-covered tail swept toward her.

Bang!

Ma Xiaotao was sent flying and crashed hard into a snowbank, swallowing a mouthful of icy grit.

Yet that pain and cold instantly cleared her previously muddled mind.

Cultivating in seclusion within the Sea God Pavilion had been passive suppression—safe, but stifling.

Here, however, was a battle of life and death! A confrontation between extreme cold and blazing fire!

"Good! Very good!"

Ma Xiaotao climbed out of the snowbank, spat out a mouthful of blood, and an unprecedented fighting spirit ignited in her eyes.

She drew the longsword from her back and charged into the blizzard.

"Whoever you are, you dared to hit me! I'm turning you into sashimi!"

Real world, second floor.

Yan Shaozhe watched the scene on the screen, his palms drenched in sweat.

On-screen, Ma Xiaotao—who usually only knew how to bombard everything in sight—was now nimbly using the snowy terrain to evade Beotodus's attacks amid the blizzard.

Every swing of her blade carried fierce resolve, yet her eyes were terrifyingly calm.

Under the dual strain of the extreme cold environment and high-intensity battle, the evil fire that had once run rampant actually miraculously stabilized.

"It's suppressed... It's really suppressed!" Yan Shaozhe's voice trembled with excitement. "And it's not just suppression. She's using the environment to vent that excess fire energy!"

"This is called—the Ice-Fire Tempered Body!"

Lu Yuan leaned against the railing, casually shaking an unopened bottle of Sprite in his hand.

"In the Sea God Pavilion, she was merely a patient who needed care. But here, she's a hunter fighting to survive. That shift in mentality is the true key to suppressing the evil fire!"

An hour later.

The pod door slowly opened.

"Phew..."

Ma Xiaotao sat up from inside the pod, drenched in cold sweat and gasping for air.

Her eyes were slightly unfocused, as though she had yet to recover from that frozen world.

"Xiaotao! How do you feel?" Yan Shaozhe hurried over and pressed a hand to her wrist.

The next second, Yan Shaozhe's pupils shook.

Stable!

Incredibly stable!

The evil fire within Ma Xiaotao, once like a volcano on the verge of erupting, now flowed through her meridians as gently as a lamb.

The burning sensation had vanished completely, replaced by a clear, refreshing coolness.

"Teacher..." Ma Xiaotao turned toward him. Her voice was slightly hoarse, but her eyes were bright. "I just... killed a fish that swam through the snow. The snow there was so cold... but I felt... amazing!"

That coolness, which seeped straight from her bones, was something she had never experienced in her twenty years of life.

"As long as it feels good! As long as it feels good!" Tears streamed down Yan Shaozhe's face.

"Have some water."

Lu Yuan handed her the chilled green drink at just the right moment.

Ma Xiaotao took the bottle on instinct and tipped back her head for a big gulp.

Fizz, fizz, fizz!

The icy liquid and countless bubbles burst across her mouth. That heart-piercing chill rushed down her throat into her stomach, then spread through every limb and bone.

"Ahhh—!"

Ma Xiaotao could not help letting out a long, satisfied sigh. Her whole body went limp in the chair, and her face wore an intoxicated expression as though she had inhaled catnip.

"What kind of divine nectar is this? It's so exhilarating!"

"It's called Sprite!" Lu Yuan smiled as he held out his hand. "That'll be 100 gold soul coins for the VIP Iceborne experience and drink."

"Take it! Right away!"

Without another word, Yan Shaozhe pulled out a stored-value card and slapped it onto the table.

"Add another ten thousand! Xiaotao is coming every day from now on! Reserve that Hoarfrost Reach place for her all year! She can live there if she wants!"

Lu Yuan took the card, inwardly delighted.

At that moment, Huo Yuhao happened to come upstairs carrying a mop.

The instant he approached, Elex suddenly gave a soft cry of surprise in his mind.

"Hm? There's something interesting about this little girl..."

Elex's aged voice echoed in Huo Yuhao's mind.

"Yuhao, the black fire within this girl isn't merely a martial soul defect! I can smell a trace of... fallen death aura within it. It's faint, but if she stays in that frozen world for a while longer, perhaps that evil aura can be cleansed away."

Huo Yuhao froze and asked inwardly, Elder Elex, are you saying she can become stronger?

"Far more than stronger." Elex gave a cold laugh. "If that black fire is purified, this little girl's martial soul may become true ultimate fire—the Fire Phoenix! That internet cafe owner truly possesses heaven-defying methods!"

Downstairs.

"Ahhh! Xu Sanshi, you fraud! Didn't you say you could block it?!"

Jiang Nannan yanked off her helmet, her pretty face flushed red with anger. She grabbed a nearby cushion and hurled it at Xu Sanshi.

Just moments ago, Xu Sanshi had confidently claimed he could withstand Anjanath's fire breath. But because he got greedy and wanted to use Wyvernfire, he failed to raise his shield in time, causing Jiang Nannan, who was hiding behind him, to be burned straight back to camp.

"It was a mistake! Just a mistake!" Xu Sanshi hugged his head and begged for mercy. "Nannan, give me one more chance! I definitely won't fire the cannon this time! I'll tank it with my face!"

"Get lost! I'm never teaming up with you again!"

Jiang Nannan stood up in a huff, only to spot Ma Xiaotao coming down from the second floor.

In that instant, the entire first floor of the internet cafe fell silent.

At that moment, Ma Xiaotao radiated a lazy yet icy aura. Her long red hair hung damply over her shoulders, and she held a bottle of Sprite in her hand, her face full of contentment.

That powerful contrast left everyone present staring in shock.

"Is that... Senior Ma Xiaotao?" Xu Sanshi's mouth fell open. "Why does she... look so..."

So gentle?

How had the usual fiery female tyrannosaur turned into an icy beauty today?

Ma Xiaotao glanced at the stunned crowd downstairs, then waved the Sprite in her hand with an excellent mood. "What are you looking at? Never seen a beauty drink water before? The boss said this is called icy coolness that sends your heart soaring."

With that, she strode away on her long legs, escorted all the way out by Yan Shaozhe.

She left behind nothing but a room full of baffled spectators.

Xu Sanshi swallowed and turned toward Huo Yuhao behind the counter. "Junior Yuhao... Do you have any of that green water left? I want to try that heart-soaring feeling too!"