Meanwhile, on Sea God Island in the middle of Sea God Lake, Du Weilen arrived at the Sea God Pavilion and found the dean of the Martial Soul Department.
"Dean, please take a look at this..."
Du Weilen stood to one side, looking uneasy.
The middle-aged man wore white and carried himself with scholarly elegance. Traces of light power seeped from him, resonating with his surroundings.
This man was none other than the renowned Bright Phoenix Douluo, Yan Shaozhe.
He was not only the dean of Shrek Academy's Martial Soul Department, but also a Sea God Pavilion Elder and a formidable rank ninety-five Super Douluo.
"A rank thirty-seven Soul Elder. What remarkable talent."
"Three Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings... Weilen, are you certain Gu Yun wasn't using some soul skill or soul tool to conceal his actual soul rings?"
Yan Shaozhe frowned, rather skeptical.
A Soul Elder actually possessed ten thousand year soul rings-and three of them at that. Almost no one would believe it.
"Dean, it's absolutely true."
"I definitely wasn't mistaken. Those were ten thousand year soul rings."
Du Weilen gave a wry smile, then leaned close to Yan Shaozhe and whispered, "What's more, I discovered that Gu Yunxiao's Extreme Dust Ice Bow martial soul is..."
As he reached the end, Du Weilen's voice grew softer and softer, until only Yan Shaozhe could hear him.
"Wha..."
Yan Shaozhe's pupils contracted, and he nearly cried out.
He stared fixedly at Du Weilen, his tone grave. "Weilen, this is no joking matter. Are you certain you weren't mistaken?"
"Dean, I swear every word I said is true. If I've deceived you, may my cultivation never advance again in this lifetime!" Du Weilen looked utterly serious.
He had seen plenty of ice-attribute martial souls, including some second only to ultimate ice.
But no matter who possessed them or how powerful their cultivation was, their ice martial souls fell short of Gu Yunxiao's Extreme Dust Ice Bow in both purity and quality.
"Good... good, good, good!"
Yan Shaozhe repeated the word several times, unable to suppress the smile on his face.
After all these years, he had thought there was no hope for his disciple in this lifetime.
Yet now, ultimate ice had appeared!
"Dean, perhaps... perhaps you should hold off on celebrating and look at Gu Yunxiao's choice below first," Du Weilen said cautiously.
"Hmm?"
Yan Shaozhe instinctively continued examining Gu Yunxiao's information. When he spotted the words "Practical Soul Tool Department," he was dumbstruck.
Those words were so painfully glaring.
"Weilen, what's going on here?"
Yan Shaozhe stared at Du Weilen and snorted. "The Practical Soul Tool Department was only recently established. How did Gu Yunxiao know about it?"
"Dean, you really can't blame me for this."
"I only introduced the Martial Soul Department and the Soul Tool Department. I mentioned the Practical Soul Tool Department in passing, just to explain the differences in the benefits they offered."
"But Gu Yunxiao insisted on joining the Practical Soul Tool Department. He seems somewhat interested in soul tools, and he was especially drawn to the freedom to manage his own time."
Du Weilen wore a bitter expression, feeling terribly wronged.
He had simply judged Gu Yunxiao by the way an ordinary genius would think.
Who could have known that Gu Yunxiao was no ordinary genius at all?
After hearing him out, Yan Shaozhe furrowed his brows, knowing Du Weilen could not be blamed.
The good news was that a monster with an ultimate ice martial soul had come to the academy.
The bad news was that this monster wanted to join the Soul Tool Department.
"Dean, why don't... we secretly change Gu Yunxiao's selection?" Du Weilen suggested.
"Absolutely not!"
Yan Shaozhe shook his head, rejecting the idea without a second thought. "Geniuses have their pride. A monstrous prodigy like Gu Yunxiao possesses a pride few ordinary people can match."
"If we change his choice without his consent, he'll certainly harbor resentment. We'd effectively be shutting the door in a monstrous prodigy's face."
"Besides, he's already a rank thirty-seven Soul Elder at such a young age. Not only does he possess ultimate ice, but his soul ring configuration is also outrageous."
"This is no longer a matter for the Martial Soul Department alone. It concerns all of Shrek Academy. We cannot make the decision ourselves."
"Go back for now. I'll inform my teacher."
Gu Yunxiao's talent was simply too astonishing.
A monstrous prodigy of this caliber had a bearing on Shrek Academy's future. This was certainly not something Yan Shaozhe could settle with a slap of his hand on the table.
At the mention of his teacher, Du Weilen grew solemn with respect and nodded firmly. "Yes, Dean!"
Yan Shaozhe's teacher was the Sea God Pavilion Master!
At first, involving the Sea God Pavilion Master in this matter sounded excessive. Upon closer consideration, however, it was perfectly reasonable.
"Phew..."
After Du Weilen left, Yan Shaozhe let out a long breath. His brows relaxed, and his delight was plain to see.
Compared with the matter of Gu Yunxiao choosing the Soul Tool Department, he was far happier that Gu Yunxiao possessed an ultimate ice martial soul.
With ultimate ice, his disciple could be spared the torment of evil fire and transform completely into a fire phoenix.
At that thought, Yan Shaozhe quickened his pace toward the inner court disciples' residences.
He came to the door of a wooden house, raised his hand to knock, and called softly, "Xiaotao."
Yet no response came from the room for a long while.
"Hmm?"
Yan Shaozhe frowned and was about to call again when he suddenly sensed a scorching aura spreading out from inside the room.
The aura was terrifying, causing the surrounding temperature to rise rapidly.
"This is bad!"
Yan Shaozhe's expression changed. He immediately pushed open the door and spotted Ma Xiaotao sitting cross-legged in cultivation.
At that moment, Ma Xiaotao's expression was pained. The evil fire inside her was slipping out of control, showing signs of running rampant, as though it might burst out of her body at any moment.
"Screee-"
Yan Shaozhe swiftly activated Martial Soul Possession. Nine soul rings-two yellow, two purple, and five black-flashed with light as a wave of light power spilled down.
Under the Bright Phoenix's suppression, the evil fire was barely brought under control.
"Hah!"
Yan Shaozhe gave a sharp cry and continued pouring in his power to suppress the evil fire.
Gradually, the evil fire surrounding Ma Xiaotao drew inward and disappeared into her body.
Ma Xiaotao came to her senses and slowly opened her eyes. When she saw Yan Shaozhe, guilt appeared on her face. "T-Teacher, I'm sorry."
"Xiaotao, why won't you listen?"
Yan Shaozhe was furious, his expression angry. "I told you to put your cultivation on hold, yet you've been cultivating in secret again. What am I supposed to say to you..."
The more Yan Shaozhe scolded her, the guiltier Ma Xiaotao felt. She lowered her head and remained silent.
"Ah."
Yan Shaozhe sighed, the anger on his face giving way to heartache. "You're my only disciple. Must you really make this white-haired teacher bury his black-haired disciple?"
"Xiaotao, when will you finally listen?"
Ma Xiaotao raised her head and hurriedly said, "Teacher, I'll remember. I'll definitely do better next time."
"Next time? You still think there'll be a next time!"
"Every time, you promise to change. And what happens? When have you ever listened? When have you ever changed?"
Yan Shaozhe glared at Ma Xiaotao.
Ma Xiaotao's gaze wandered, her conscience prickling.
Forcing her to stop cultivating was worse than killing her.
Seeing her reaction, Yan Shaozhe shook his head helplessly. "Xiaotao, I know you're very talented, and very proud."
"If not for the evil fire, even that child Lexuan wouldn't match your talent."
"But unless we completely resolve the evil fire in your martial soul, never mind continuing your cultivation-even your life will be in danger."
Before you continue