Ma Xiaotao's Evil Fire Was Ignited Again, and Yuhao Came to Her Aid Only to Be Teased into Blushing

Shrek won the second round of the finals with ease.

Xuan Lao would not allow Huo Yuhao to take the lead, so he only maintained Spiritual Sharing from the rear. Wang Dong'er fought in the first half, while Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi took over in the second. He Caitou's soul-tool firepower suppressed the opposing side so thoroughly that they could not even form a complete formation. By the end of the match, Shrek had not exposed any more of its trump cards.

But by evening, something happened to Ma Xiaotao.

She had not lost control immediately at the arena. Instead, she held on until she returned to Shrek's lounge.

By the time Huo Yuhao arrived, the three damaged soul-tool fragments on the table that simulated auras had already been scorched black. Ma Xiaotao braced herself against the table with one hand, her red hair hanging loose, while the Phoenix Flame behind her had compressed into a dangerous dark crimson mass. It lacked the usual flamboyance of her Evil Phoenix Flame. Instead, it seemed as though something had drawn it out from her very bones, burning its way upward along her meridians inch by inch.

She was still standing.

But Huo Yuhao could tell at a glance that she was forcing herself to endure it.

"There are Ignition Runes inside the soul-tool fragments." Huo Yuhao's Spirit Eyes lit up, and his voice sank. "They were specifically designed to draw out the source of your evil fire. The Sun Moon Empire wants you to lose control during the finals."

Ma Xiaotao raised her eyes. The firelight in them was deep, yet her smile remained, though much raspier than usual.

"You figured it out, so why are you standing so far away?"

Dong'er and Xiao Xiao entered behind him as well.

Xiao Xiao stepped forward, intending to help Ma Xiaotao sit down first, but the scorching heat around her forced her back half a step. She could only frown and say, "Sister Xiao Tao, sit down first."

Ma Xiaotao gave a soft laugh, but halfway through it, her breath suddenly hitched. Her fingers tightened sharply around the edge of the table, leaving five charred finger marks in the wood.

"If I sit down..." She gritted her teeth and forcibly pushed out the rest of the sentence. "Will it stop burning?"

That sounded like her.

The next moment, it did not.

Dark crimson lines lit up across all three soul-tool fragments at once. Those streams of aura crawled through the air like living insects, heading straight for the Phoenix Flame behind Ma Xiaotao. The last trace of clarity in her eyes was swallowed by firelight, leaving only dark red in the depths of her pupils. She suddenly lifted her head and looked at Huo Yuhao.

She was not looking at her junior.

Nor was she looking at a man.

She was more like a phoenix about to be driven mad by evil fire, finally catching the scent of the only ice that could keep her from burning into ashes.

"Ice... I need ice..."

She spoke softly.

Her voice was so hoarse that it barely sounded like her, carrying an almost agonized craving.

Huo Yuhao's heart sank, and Ultimate Ice immediately surged from his palm.

"Dong'er, seal the door. Xiao Xiao, suppress it."

Wang Dong'er did not hesitate. The soul power of her Goddess of Light Butterfly spread into a barrier. Xiao Xiao's Three Lives Soul-Suppressing Cauldron landed at the doorway, its heavy hum suppressing the violent fluctuations of soul power in the lounge.

Huo Yuhao stepped forward and pressed his icy blue soul power toward Ma Xiaotao's wrist. But the instant the chill touched her, Ma Xiaotao lost control. She grabbed his collar with her backhand, using far more force than during her usual teasing, nearly dragging him into her. Ultimate Ice spread beneath Huo Yuhao's feet before he managed to steady himself. Her gaze was unfocused, and her breathing was hot and erratic, as though she could not tell who stood before her at all and was only instinctively chasing the coldness on his body.

"Sister Xiao Tao." Huo Yuhao called to her softly.

Ma Xiaotao did not respond. She merely pressed closer, resting her forehead against the side of his shoulder. The Phoenix Flame behind her suddenly flared open, nearly swallowing the entire lounge. Wang Dong'er's expression changed, and the light barrier trembled under the impact of the fire wave.

"She can't hear you." Wang Dong'er gritted her teeth.

Of course Huo Yuhao could see that too. Ma Xiaotao was not flirting with him now, nor was she testing him. Her reason had been burned into fragments by the evil fire. Her usual composure, restraint, and jokes had all been burned away, leaving only the most primitive instinct of the Evil Phoenix Flame.

She needed heat.

She needed to burn.

She needed to seize that tiny trace of ice that could suppress her.

Ma Xiaotao's body was nearly pressed fully against his. Her breath was scorching, her lips slightly parted as though she might bite down at any moment. Huo Yuhao could clearly feel the violent rise and fall of her chest, as well as the heat that nearly seemed capable of melting a person.

"Ice... give it to me..."

She murmured hoarsely, her voice carrying a sobbing edge, yet also a temptation that made one's scalp tingle. Her fingers tightened further, her nails even digging through his clothes into his skin, as if she feared he might run away.

Huo Yuhao's gaze turned completely cold.

"Sister Xiao Tao, forgive me."

He no longer suppressed the fire only through her wrist. Instead, he raised a hand and gripped Ma Xiaotao's shoulder, forcing Ultimate Ice through the meridians of her shoulder and back into the most violent layer of the Phoenix Flame. Ma Xiaotao's body jolted violently, and a low moan escaped her throat, suppressed to the point of near pain. Yet her fingers only gripped him tighter.

Wang Dong'er's heart tightened at the sight. She could not accept Ma Xiaotao clinging to Huo Yuhao like this. But she understood even more clearly that this was not the time for jealousy. Ma Xiaotao was not approaching him while conscious; she was being swallowed by the evil fire. Wang Dong'er raised her hand, letting an aura of light descend along Huo Yuhao's Ultimate Ice to seal the backlash on his left side. Xiao Xiao pressed both hands against the Three Lives Soul-Suppressing Cauldron, its hum suppressing the shriek of the aura-guiding fragments layer by layer.

Huo Yuhao's Spirit Eyes opened fully. He had to hurry. Every time the Evil Phoenix Flame surged upward, the clarity in Ma Xiaotao's eyes diminished by another fraction. If this continued, she would forget even who she was, leaving behind only a mass of evil fire that would burn through everything.

"They want Sister Xiao Tao to become a monster in the arena." Huo Yuhao's voice was icy. "Then they can force Shrek to admit that the academy is hiding evil soul masters."

Xiao Xiao said angrily, "We can't let them succeed."

Huo Yuhao nodded. He compressed Spirit Detection to an extreme fineness, like an ice needle piercing into the deepest part of the evil fire. There, a dark crimson Ignition Seed pulsed against the source of Ma Xiaotao's Phoenix Flame. Every pulse made her grip on Huo Yuhao tighten and her gaze grow emptier.

Ma Xiaotao's body suddenly shuddered, and a low moan of nearly unbearable pain spilled from her throat. Yet she hugged him even more tightly, her legs so weak that she could barely stand, forced to hang her entire body from him.

"Yu... Hao..."

She finally called his name, though not with complete clarity. There was even a trace of extreme seduction in her voice.

A surge of restlessness stirred within Huo Yuhao, as if something had been violently tugged. His Ultimate Ice abruptly swelled.

"Sister Xiao Tao, I'm here."

As Huo Yuhao's voice fell, the firelight in Ma Xiaotao's eyes flickered briefly. In that instant, Huo Yuhao seized the chance and drove the ice needle into the core of the Ignition Seed.

Boom!

Dark crimson flames exploded through the lounge. If Dong'er and Xiao Xiao had not been holding the line, the room would have long since turned into a sea of fire. The flames were forcibly pressed back by the light barrier and the Three Lives Soul-Suppressing Cauldron. Huo Yuhao grunted, his Spirit Eyes scorched by the evil fire's backlash. A chaotic image flashed through his mind: fire, night, Ma Xiaotao's loose red hair, and those eyes that still chased him relentlessly even after she had lost her mind.

Ultimate Ice froze along the Ignition Seed inch by inch.

Ma Xiaotao finally could not hold herself up any longer and fell forward into his arms. Huo Yuhao supported her shoulder and back with one hand while keeping the icy power pressed down with the other, not daring to let go. The heat from her body was astonishing even through their clothes, but her breathing gradually steadied.

Dong'er stood beside them, her expression complicated.

She finally understood that Ma Xiaotao's usual lazy teasing was, instead, proof of complete clarity. When her evil fire truly went out of control, Ma Xiaotao had no need to deliberately entice anyone. She became dangerous, chaotic, and even somewhat frightening.

The lounge remained quiet for a long while as the dark red in Ma Xiaotao's eyes slowly faded. Leaning against Huo Yuhao's chest, her eyelashes fluttered, as if she had awakened from a deep sea of fire. The next moment, she realized Huo Yuhao was supporting her, her collar slightly rumpled, her red hair scattered over her shoulders, and her whole body nearly pressed against him.

Seeing that she had fully awakened, Huo Yuhao gently laid her on the bed.

She slowly raised her eyes toward him. "Just now..." Her voice was terribly hoarse. "I didn't burn you, did I?"

Huo Yuhao said softly, "No."

Ma Xiaotao stared at him for two breaths, as if confirming whether he was lying. Only after confirming it did the corner of her lips slowly curl into a familiar arc.

"Then why are you blushing?" Ma Xiaotao slowly pushed herself upright on the bed. Sweat still beaded her temples, but her eyes had lit up again. That brightness contained exhaustion, embarrassment, and the pride of someone unwilling to let anyone look down on her.

Huo Yuhao froze. Wang Dong'er's expression also became a little awkward, while Xiao Xiao immediately lowered her head and pretended not to understand a thing.

"Don't look like I'm about to die." She laughed hoarsely. "Your senior sister isn't so easily burned away."

Huo Yuhao frowned. "Sister Xiao Tao, just now, you... couldn't tell who any of us were at all..."

Ma Xiaotao's smile faded slightly. Of course she knew. When the evil fire rose, the feeling of having her reason stripped away bit by bit was more familiar to her than anyone.

She lowered her eyes briefly, then quickly raised them again.

"So, you could save me, and you saved me again. Thank you, Yuhao."

Ma Xiaotao leaned back against the bed, as if finding the atmosphere too heavy. She suddenly looked toward Huo Yuhao again, a familiar mischief rising at the corner of her eyes.

"But little junior, being able to keep your soul power steady and release Ultimate Ice at a time like that? Not bad."

Huo Yuhao said, "Sister Xiao Tao."

"Why are you so nervous?" Ma Xiaotao gave a soft laugh. Her voice remained hoarse, but it finally carried that usual cool, teasing charm again. "A normal guy having a bit of a reaction in a situation like that is nothing unusual. Your senior sister won't laugh at you."

Huo Yuhao's ears instantly heated. "Sister Xiao Tao, stop teasing me. I was trying hard to steady you and keep my soul power under control."

"Mmm... tsk, tsk, I understand." Ma Xiaotao drawled lazily. "You didn't even dare breathe too hard. Must have been quite exhausting to keep so steady."

Wang Dong'er was embarrassed, flustered, and annoyed all at once. She could not help glaring at her. But Ma Xiaotao did not avoid her gaze in the slightest, instead smiling even more calmly. "Don't glare at me, little girl. If your man really had no reaction at all, then you'd be the one crying."

At those words, Dong'er's face instantly turned bright red with embarrassment. She turned her head away and tossed out, "Senior Sister Ma, stop talking nonsense..."

Ma Xiaotao did not continue teasing them. After a pause, she lightly tapped the sealed soul-tool fragments with her fingertips.

"I'll remember this debt from Sun Moon."

Huo Yuhao followed her gaze, and his expression turned cold as well.

This time, the enemy did not merely want to win the match.

They were testing everyone's weaknesses.

When Ma Xiaotao was clear-headed, she could laugh and let him go. But when the evil fire truly burned, she would lose all restraint.

Leaving her with only the instinct to cling to him.