Ma Xiaotao, Codename: Red Phoenix

"A sixth-level Soul Tool." Zhou Yi met Mu Jin's eyes. "It's compensation from the Soul Tool Department."

Mu Jin glanced at the costly Soul Tool, her eyes flickering. The Soul Tool Department had certainly spared no expense for Huo Yuhao this time.

After a moment's thought, Mu Jin pressed a finger against the sixth-level Soul Tool.

"Xiao Xiao stays. She has Twin Martial Souls, and the Martial Soul Department has named her an official core disciple of the control system. She must remain in Class One. As for Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong, take them."

Zhou Yi agreed at once. Without bargaining, she turned and took the revised application to Du Weilun for approval.

That afternoon, Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong quietly packed their books and bedding in the Freshman Class One classroom. Under the conflicted gazes of their classmates, they went through the door and headed for Freshman Class Two.

Xiao Xiao watched her two friends leave, feeling a little lonely. She consoled herself: We can still be friends even if we aren't in the same class, can't we?

The Holy Spirit Cult's underground palace.

Deep within the hall, the light was dim. Only a few ghostly blue flames danced atop the bronze pillars.

Vice Cult Master Feng Ling reclined against a broad bone throne, her slender fingers turning through a stack of intelligence on Ma Xiaotao. Had Gu Mingyuan been there, he would have recognized at a glance that Feng Ling's facial structure closely resembled the mental projection in the secret chamber.

Ma Xiaotao had appeared in public often enough over the past few years. Whether as an official competitor in the previous Continent-wide Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament or later as a member of the Shrek Supervisory Group, her combat prowess had stood out.

But before Bait Seven supplied this intelligence, no one on the continent had known that the Evil Fire inside this prized Inner Court disciple of Shrek's had deteriorated enough to affect her mind—even causing her to lose control and attack freshmen indiscriminately on campus.

After all, who would have thought that a brilliant Inner Court disciple of the mighty Shrek Academy held such potential for corruption?

Feng Ling finished the last page and tossed the stack onto the table.

The Cult's covert contacts had confirmed that Shrek Academy had been buying up high-grade ice-attribute medicinal ingredients at steep prices in recent years. Together with clues from the lockdown of Sea God Lake that night, this all but confirmed the report that Ma Xiaotao's Evil Fire had run out of control.

Appreciation flashed in Feng Ling's eyes. Her own Martial Soul was the Evil Phoenix. No one understood better than she did what a phoenix tormented by Evil Fire and on the verge of complete corruption would be worth to the Holy Spirit Cult—or, more precisely, to Feng Ling herself.

"Pass down my orders."

"List Ma Xiaotao as a First-Class Saintess Candidate, codename Red Phoenix."

"Use every channel to learn how often her episodes occur, how Shrek suppresses her Evil Fire, and the pattern of her future missions outside the academy. Until I give written authorization, no one is to approach her. Above all, do not alert Shrek's leadership."

Below her, a black-robed elder bowed to accept the order. Then he hesitated. "Vice Cult Master, the Cult Master only recently named Yan Feng, who possesses the Bone Dragon Martial Soul, a Saint Candidate. If we now devote substantial resources to Red Phoenix as well, the Cult Master may object. It could also draw criticism over the competition for resources within the Cult."

"Who decided the Holy Spirit Cult could have only one Holy Son and one Holy Maiden?" Feng Ling rose and looked down at him.

"A title merely gives you a chance to survive. Only someone who outlives every other candidate, walking over their corpses, will earn the right to become the Holy Spirit Cult's true successor. Yan Feng is the Bone Dragon the Cult Master favors. That is his affair. But this phoenix..."

Feng Ling clenched her right hand, and a mass of dark flame ignited in her palm. "She is mine."

The elder dared say no more. He immediately lowered his head in assent.

Feng Ling sat back on her bone throne and idly flipped through the few thin pages on Huo Yuhao. She had little interest in a mental-type soul master with only one soul ring. She merely picked up a pen and wrote, "List as a Second-Class Observation Subject. Test him once he leaves Shrek alone."

With that settled, her gaze fell on the name of the intelligence source.

"Bait Seven."

Feng Ling tapped a fingertip against the table. A covert agent embedded in Shrek's Outer Court who could pick up Inner Court secrets was worth far more than fools who did nothing but shout about Shrek's glory.

"Raise Bait Seven's evaluation to a core covert agent worth cultivating long-term," Feng Ling ordered. "Approve continued funding for his activities in Shrek City. Let's see what other surprises he can bring me."

A small courtyard in South City, Shrek City.

Gu Mingyuan tossed a stack of intelligence sheets covered in names into a brazier. Flames leapt up and swiftly reduced them to ash.

These were the names of expelled students Lin Yan had tracked down across the city over the past few days.

The results were a bitter disappointment. Most of the expelled students were not worth recruiting at all.

Those who had been whisked away by family elders offered no opening; those who truly lacked talent would only waste food; those whose bitter temperaments left them obsessed with taking revenge on the academy—or even society—were ticking time bombs. Some had even tried to swindle him out of operating funds.

Gu Mingyuan did not blindly expand the Tang Sect's outer ranks. From the entire list, he selected just one person who might actually prove useful.

A somewhat uneasy-looking young man stood in the middle of the courtyard.

"Brother Gu, this is Jiang Wenzhou," Lin Yan said by way of introduction. "He's a rank-nineteen auxiliary-type Soul Master with a tool Martial Soul called the Heartbound Bell. He was in Class One too. He performed so poorly in the three-person team matches at the start of term—without giving his team any meaningful combat boost—that he was expelled."

Gu Mingyuan studied Jiang Wenzhou. "What exactly can your Martial Soul do?"

Jiang Wenzhou took a deep breath and cautiously summoned a pair of bronze bells. "My Heartbound Bell doesn't boost attack or defense. If a teammate carries one of the smaller bells, I can use the main bell to locate them within three kilometers and sense their condition."

"It can also send silent messages. If I tap the main bell with a particular Soul Power frequency, the smaller bell receives the vibration." Jiang Wenzhou's voice dwindled as he added, "But in a freshman assessment arena only a few dozen meters across, an ability like that... wasn't useful."

A glint appeared in Gu Mingyuan's eyes.

The freshman assessment might have had no need for a Martial Soul like this, but it was no useless Martial Soul!

Under the right circumstances, an auxiliary Soul Master who could locate people and relay messages without speaking would be invaluable.

"Old Cao," Gu Mingyuan called, turning his head.

Cao Jinxuan came out of the house holding a strip of black cloth. He tied it over his eyes, took one of the smaller bells from Jiang Wenzhou, then left the courtyard and quickly vanished into South City's maze of alleys.

Gu Mingyuan looked at Jiang Wenzhou. "Find him for me. Use only the bells."