Seeking Help in Skywater City to Suppress the Evil Fire

Amid the gloom hanging over Shrek Academy, a lean-faced middle-aged man in a gray robe walked through its gates. His steps were steady, and he had the air of a scholar. His Soul Power was not strong, but his sharp gaze seemed to see through everything.

Tang San was the first to greet him. "Teacher!"

The newcomer was Yu Xiaogang, the renowned Grandmaster, Tang San's teacher, and Liu Erlong's former lover.

Flender's spirits lifted at the sight of Yu Xiaogang, and he hurriedly explained Ma Hongjun's condition.

Yu Xiaogang listened with a frown. He went to Ma Hongjun's bedside, pulled back the covers to examine his injuries, then checked his pulse. His expression grew graver by the moment.

"This Evil Fire arose from a mutation in his Martial Soul. It was never easy to control.

"Now that the part of his body he used to release it is damaged, the Evil Fire is building up inside him with nowhere to go. If this continues, it will burn him alive within two weeks."

Yu Xiaogang released Ma Hongjun's wrist, his voice heavy.

Tang San pressed him at once:

"Teacher, is there any way to suppress or neutralize the Evil Fire?"

Yu Xiaogang fell silent for a moment.

He had secretly studied many texts on Martial Soul mutations in Spirit Hall's Library Pavilion. He knew something about the mutated Evil Fire Phoenix Martial Soul, but he had never encountered an actual case.

With what he knew, he had no way to eliminate the Evil Fire at its source. After thinking it over, he said slowly:

"If a powerful Soul Master with a top-tier ice- or water-attributed Martial Soul intervened, they might temporarily suppress the fire poison inside him.

"But that would only treat the symptoms, not the cause. It would buy him some time."

Flender suddenly slapped his forehead.

"Ice? Water? I've got it! Shui Bing'er, the captain of Skywater Academy in Four Elements City, has the Ice Phoenix Martial Soul! The Ultimate Ice of her Ice Phoenix might neutralize Hongjun's Evil Fire!"

A glimmer of hope lit Tang San's eyes.

"Where is Four Elements City? I'll take him there right now."

Yu Xiaogang frowned.

"Even if we find Shui Bing'er, why would she help? Skywater Academy has no ties to Shrek Academy. Using the Ice Phoenix Martial Soul to suppress the Evil Fire would consume a great deal of her Soul Power. Without sufficient incentive, she won't agree."

Flender gritted his teeth and said firmly:

"We have to try, whatever happens. Hongjun is my student. I can't stand by and watch the Evil Fire burn him to death.

"I'll ask her myself. Even if I have to swallow my pride, I'll bring her here."

"She might not help. Shrek Academy is too weak!"

Flender shook his head as he spoke. He was the strongest at Shrek Academy, but even he was weak in the eyes of Skywater Academy's dean.

That dean was already a level eighty-eight Soul Douluo.

Tang San stood beside Ma Hongjun's bed, looking at the dark red burn marks streaking his face. After a moment's silence, he said grimly:

"We have to try. Otherwise, we won't have enough students to compete in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Tournament."

He was telling the plain truth.

Shrek Academy had always been short on students. Even counting everyone, they had only a handful.

Now Ma Hongjun was half incapacitated, Dai Mubai had sunk into despair, Oscar was still recovering from his severed fingers, and Ning Rongrong had withdrawn outright.

At this rate, making a name for themselves in the tournament was out of the question. They might not even have enough people to enter.

Flender would never live up to all the boasts he had made.

"Then we'll go together. After Skywater City, we'll head to Heaven Dou City."

Yu Xiaogang considered it for a moment and made his decision.

He pushed up his old black-framed glasses. Though his gray robe was worn, it was spotless, and he carried himself with a scholar's meticulous stubbornness.

"All right."

Zhao Wuji nodded, folding his thick arms across his chest. Then he frowned.

"With Ning Rongrong gone, we're down another person.

"She was a Support System Soul Master. That's not an easy position to fill. We'll need to find another gifted support Soul Master."

Flender rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on.

After years of running a school, nothing worried him more than failing to recruit promising students. Talents were hardly easy to find. For now, though, they could only take things one step at a time.

"We'll look once we reach Heaven Dou City. There are plenty of academies there. Surely one of them has overlooked a promising student."

With the plan settled, Flender left Oscar at the academy to care for Dai Mubai. He then set off with Yu Xiaogang, Tang San, Xiao Wu, and Zhao Wuji in a carriage carrying the barely conscious Ma Hongjun. They traveled hard toward Skywater City.

Skywater City lay in the northeast of the Heaven Dou Empire, beside a vast Ice Lake. The city had been built along its shore, and its climate was far colder than the inland regions.

As soon as the carriage passed through the gates, a bitter wind drove fine chips of ice into their faces. It was a world away from warm, humid Suotuo City. Most of the buildings lining the streets were pale blue or silver-white, with icicles hanging from their eaves and glittering in the sunlight.

Flender asked for directions to Skywater Academy and drove straight to its gates. The academy stood beside the lake, its outer walls entirely silver-white. From a distance, it looked like a palace carved from ice and jade.

The guards at the entrance were bundled in thick furs. Seeing a battered carriage creak toward them, they moved to turn it away. Flender lifted the carriage curtain and openly released the pressure of a Soul Saint.

The two guards' faces changed. One stumbled back two steps, while the other spun around and hurried into the academy.

Before long, a woman in a water-blue dress walked out at an unhurried pace.

She appeared to be in her early thirties, tall and full-figured, with long silver-blue hair swept into an elegant bun. Her skin was fair and luminous, and her face looked remarkably youthful. Only the faint lines at the corners of her eyes and her steady, piercing gaze betrayed her true age. She was Shui Yunlian, the dean of Skywater Academy, a level eighty-six Soul Douluo whose Martial Soul was the ice-attributed Ice Crystal Snow Lotus.

"Dean Flender, welcome. Forgive me for not coming out to greet you sooner."

Shui Yunlian's voice was cool but courteous. Her gaze touched briefly on Flender, swept over Yu Xiaogang and Zhao Wuji, then settled on the battered carriage. She frowned slightly.

Flender skipped the pleasantries and explained why they had come.

Shui Yunlian listened without a change in expression. She walked to the carriage, lifted the curtain, and glanced inside.

Ma Hongjun lay half-reclined in the carriage, his face purplish red and heat radiating from his body. Dark red lines spread across his skin like a spiderweb. He looked like a piece of glowing charcoal.

Shui Yunlian lowered the curtain, stepped back, and shook her head.

"Dean Flender, you want Bing'er to use her Ice Phoenix Martial Soul to suppress the Evil Fire in your student?"

Shui Yunlian looked at Flender. Her tone remained polite, but her eyes had grown distant.

"My student is reserved and dislikes contact with strangers.

"Besides, the Evil Fire inside your student is exceptionally fierce. Suppressing it would cost a great deal of Soul Power, and the slightest mistake could cause a backlash against Bing'er. I'm afraid I can't agree."

Flender grew anxious and stepped forward.

"Dean Shui, if you'll allow Shui Bing'er to help, we can discuss any terms—"