A Conversation, a Deal

In the corridor, waves of scorching heat spread with each footstep, warping the air around them.

Ma Xiaotao walked ahead, her long red hair swaying gently with her steps. A trace of pink still lingered on the tips of her ears.

Her teacher's words from three weeks ago had turned over in her mind countless times. In the past few days, her Evil Fire had begun to stir again. With no other choice, she had steeled herself and come to find Huo Yuhao.

The footsteps behind her kept an unhurried pace, always maintaining a safe distance of about three meters.

Ma Xiaotao stopped and spun around, meeting Huo Yuhao's gentle yet inquisitive eyes.

She had prepared a whole speech, but the moment she met his gaze, the words caught in her throat. A flicker of discomfort crossed her phoenix eyes.

"Senior Ma." Huo Yuhao spoke first, his tone calm. He made no move to come closer, merely standing where he was and giving her a slight nod. "If there's something you need, why not say it here? The Inner Court is just ahead. It would be inconvenient for a new Outer Court student like me to go in."

He knew exactly what he was dealing with. The incident by Sea God Lake was still fresh in his mind. She was a "walking volcano" that could erupt at any moment, and she wanted him to go somewhere private?

If her Evil Fire flared up again, he had no desire to experience having his Soul Power drained dry a second time.

Besides, he could more or less guess what that old fox Yan Shaozhe was after. Naturally, he intended to keep firm boundaries.

Ma Xiaotao paused. She did not press him, merely looking him up and down, scrutiny and a hint of disbelief in her phoenix eyes.

Was this refined-looking young man, who had only a single soul ring, really the one who had suppressed her Evil Fire on the verge of breaking loose with nothing but a wisp of light by Sea God Lake?

She steadied herself, put away her other emotions, and got straight to the point. "You possess Ultimate Light?"

"Yes." Huo Yuhao nodded, neither denying it nor offering any further explanation.

"Then can you help me suppress and purify the Evil Fire in my Martial Soul?" Ma Xiaotao gritted her teeth and finally said it.

Once the words were out, she felt relieved. Still, she could not stop her cheeks from warming, and her gaze drifted away.

Huo Yuhao saw how awkward she looked and understood. It was just as he had guessed.

A faint smile touched his lips. His tone remained calm, but every word was clear. "I can. But what do I get for helping you, senior?"

The question stopped Ma Xiaotao cold.

She clearly had not expected him to ask so directly for a benefit. Her phoenix eyes widened as she stared at him. "A benefit? We're both students of Shrek Academy. Shouldn't fellow students help each other?"

Huo Yuhao could not help laughing. Mischief flashed in his eyes, and he made no effort to hide the jab in his voice. "So you're hoping to catch a white wolf with empty hands?"

He saw it now. Master and disciple really were cut from the same cloth.

First Yan Shaozhe had tried to bind him to the Martial Soul Department with a single Soul Bone. Now Ma Xiaotao wanted him to serve as her long-term Evil Fire extinguisher for free with one line about helping fellow students. Did they both take him for a sucker?

"You..." Ma Xiaotao's face reddened further at the accusation of free-riding. Angry and embarrassed, she drew her brows tight.

All her life, others had come begging for her help. This was the first time she had asked someone else for a favor, only to be met with a retort like that. Anyone would have bristled.

But she needed his help, so she could not let her temper loose. Holding back her anger, she asked, "Then what do you want? Rare treasures? Soul Bones? Cultivation resources? If I can provide it, we can discuss it."

She was Yan Shaozhe's personal disciple and a core genius of the Inner Court. Cultivation resources were the last thing she lacked.

But Huo Yuhao shook his head. His answer took her completely by surprise. "I don't want any of those. I have only one condition: the Martial Soul Department must allocate three street-front shops in Shrek City to my Lionheart Club. The academy must also officially support the club's businesses and clear away obstacles to their operation."

Only moments ago in the meeting room, he had been worrying about how to get the Lionheart Club's businesses off the ground. Then Ma Xiaotao had come straight to him.

She was the Martial Soul Department dean's personal disciple. Who in all of Shrek was better placed to persuade Yan Shaozhe?

He would be a fool to let such an opportunity pass.

Ma Xiaotao was utterly dumbfounded.

She had braced herself for an outrageous demand, yet all he wanted was a few shops and support for his club?

As an Inner Court disciple, she had never dealt with business matters. For a moment, she could not even process the request.

After a long pause, she finally gathered herself and frowned. "I... can't decide this on my own. I'll have to ask my teacher."

"No problem." Huo Yuhao smiled warmly and bowed to her, his manner courteous. "I'll await your good news, senior. Once we agree on the terms, leave your Evil Fire problem to me."

He was certain Yan Shaozhe would agree.

A few shops were nothing compared with Ma Xiaotao's life.

Not only would Huo Yuhao solve the Lionheart Club's business problem, he could use the deal to establish a delicate balance with the Martial Soul Department. Why wouldn't he?

Ma Xiaotao looked at his confident expression and gritted her teeth. She said nothing more, only nodded. "Wait for word from me."

With that, she turned and left. Her red figure soon vanished at the end of the corridor, leaving only the lingering heat in the air.

Huo Yuhao remained where he was, watching the direction she had gone. The smile on his face grew wider.

Yan Shaozhe, Yan Shaozhe. You want to use Ma Xiaotao to tie me down?

Then I'll go with the current and secure the Lionheart Club's first holdings.

The next day, on the third floor of the Shrek Outer Court activity center, in the Lionheart Club's exclusive space.

The space had once been a large cultivation room left unused by the academy. After Mu Jin helped Huo Yuhao apply for it, the entire floor—nearly a thousand square meters—had been assigned to the Lionheart Club.

Rows of bookshelves had already been placed against the walls of the vast room. The central area was still empty, but Huo Yuhao had painstakingly carved dense golden lines into the floor with Soul Power. The lines interwove into an intricate pattern, faint pulses of Soul Power flowing through them.

Huo Yuhao crouched at the center of the Formation Runes, holding a carving knife. Fine strands of Ultimate Light Soul Power coiled around his fingertips as he completed the final node, stroke by stroke.

He was so absorbed that his gentle brows were slightly furrowed, and he did not lose focus even when someone approached.

A wave of heat swept in from the doorway, carrying the searing aura unique to the Evil Fire Phoenix. It instantly overwhelmed the room's crisp, mind-clearing fragrance.

Ma Xiaotao strode in wearing a fitted red outfit, her red hair loosely tied behind her head and a gold-stamped document envelope in her hand.

It was her first visit to a new student club's activity space. She had expected a modest little room, not something on this scale. Surprise flashed in her eyes.

Then her gaze fell on Huo Yuhao, crouched on the floor and busy carving. Her steps slowed before she walked over.

"Huo Yuhao, my teacher agreed." She stood beside him as she spoke, a barely perceptible lightness in her voice.

The burden that had weighed on her for over half a month finally had a solution. Even the violent aura around her had softened.

But Huo Yuhao did not lift his head. His gaze remained fixed on the Formation Runes on the floor, and he said only, "Good. Give me a moment."

Ma Xiaotao raised an eyebrow but did not get angry. She folded her arms and stood to one side, looking down at the lines with curiosity.

She could sense a strange rhythm within them, but even as a Soul Emperor, she could not make out what they did.

Just then, Huo Yuhao made the final cut and put away his carving knife.

He rose slowly and formed a rapid sequence of hand seals before his chest. Soul Power flowed over his fingertips as he chanted an incantation under his breath, his clear voice carrying a peculiar rhythm. "Heavenly Cycle Star Attraction, Spiritual Energy Returns to the Void, Earth Veins Open to the Nether, Spirit Spring Self-Emergence—gather!"

As the final word fell, he flicked his hand. Five palm-sized flags, each colored for one of the Five Elements—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—flew from his palm and landed precisely on the Formation Runes' five core nodes.

Then he pointed a finger. A nearly imperceptible golden light flashed at his brow, and pure Soul Power flowed through his fingertip into the center of the Formation Runes.

Hummm—!