Early the next morning, Huo Yuhao ate breakfast in the cafeteria, skirted the freshmen's teaching building, and headed east along the southern edge of Shrek Square. Before long, he reached a small path beside Sea God Lake.
Passing through the woods beside the path, he emerged before the shimmering waters of Sea God Lake.
The lake was exceptionally clear, its azure waters like blue silk, rippling with sparkling light beneath the breeze.
Gentle moisture mingled with fresh air and washed over his face. The lake reflected the blue sky, white clouds, and shady green trees along its banks, making for an utterly enchanting scene.
Yet Huo Yuhao had no interest whatsoever in admiring such beautiful scenery. He walked slowly along the lakeside path, then suddenly, crimson light flashed in his eyes, and he turned toward the island at the center of Sea God Lake.
"Here she comes!"
His Flame God Eyes flickered with light. In the direction Huo Yuhao was watching, a red figure skimmed across the water, shooting toward him like lightning.
Those wearing red school uniforms were all Inner Academy disciples of Shrek Academy, and only one person would appear at this particular moment: Ma Xiaotao!
As she drew closer, Huo Yuhao could see her more clearly. Not only were Ma Xiaotao's clothes red, but her hair was blood-red as well. She had a slender figure, yet her entire body radiated a fierce, chilling menace, like a terrifying soul beast. A red mask covered her face, and even her eyes were blood-red.
The air around her body warped slightly. Wherever she passed, clouds of mist billowed from the water beneath her feet.
"The flames inside this little girl are rather interesting, though they seem to carry a faint trace of dark power. The trouble is that she fears this dark power herself and refuses to accept its existence, so its backlash has robbed her of her reason."
Yao Lao's voice rang out in his Sea of Consciousness.
Brother Sky Dream was also startled awake and hurriedly asked Huo Yuhao, "Yuhao, do you need my help?"
"No, Brother Sky Dream. I need the flames in her body," Huo Yuhao said, shaking his head. "Teacher, could her flames count as a special kind of beast flame and be used to upgrade the Flame Mantra?"
"They could indeed. However, even if you devoured every flame currently inside her with the Flame Mantra, you would only be able to condense a tiny core flame within your body. You would have to keep devouring her flames or nourish it with fire-attribute natural treasures to cultivate that core flame until it could be devoured by the Flame Mantra," Yao Lao replied.
"Is that so?" A smile touched the corners of Huo Yuhao's mouth. "Don't worry, Teacher. I won't have to chase after her. She'll come begging me to absorb her flames."
A terrifying wave of heat swept over him in an instant, and an incomparably savage, frenzied aura erupted from Ma Xiaotao.
Huo Yuhao felt as though a sea of fire had engulfed him. Every plant within dozens of meters turned scorched yellow in an instant.
Ma Xiaotao seemed to notice Huo Yuhao. An enormous flaming palm took shape and slammed straight down at him.
Just as the giant flaming palm was about to swallow Huo Yuhao, a tiny wisp of white flame suddenly drifted out of the Black Ring on his hand.
Yet that single wisp instantly transformed everything within a hundred-meter radius into a world of ice and snow. Even Sea God Lake before him froze over.
Sensing that terrifying chill, Ma Xiaotao suddenly let out a piercing phoenix cry.
An enormous fire phoenix rose behind her. Two yellow, two purple, and two black soul rings circled her body, displaying her Soul Emperor-level combat strength.
Of the six soul rings around her, the second, third, and sixth lit up simultaneously. The flames behind her instantly turned dark red, and a jet of fire as thin as a finger shot from the fire phoenix's mouth.
"Hmm, it doesn't have much killing power, but it certainly makes quite a spectacle." Yao Lao chuckled within Huo Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness.
Under Yao Lao's control, the wisp of white flame suddenly spread into a thin membrane of fire. It crushed the jet of flame spewed by the fire phoenix head-on, then wrapped itself around Ma Xiaotao.
By then, the bone-deep cold had frozen Ma Xiaotao stiff, leaving her unable to resist at all.
"Do it, Yuhao. Now's the time."
Huo Yuhao nodded and activated Martial Soul Possession with his Flame God Eyes. Pale yellow soul power circulated inside him as he began using the Flame Mantra to devour the flames within Ma Xiaotao.
Since Ma Xiaotao could not use her soul power to resist, Huo Yuhao devoured them at an incredible speed. In just a few breaths, he consumed every last trace of phoenix evil fire in her body.
The phoenix evil fire that could drive Ma Xiaotao out of her mind behaved like an obedient baby before the Flame Mantra, without the slightest disturbance. Meanwhile, the crimson eyes of Huo Yuhao's Flame God Eyes martial soul took on a faint dark-red hue.
"Yuhao, someone's coming," Yao Lao warned.
"Yes, Teacher. I'm finished here. Sorry for the trouble, but please knock me unconscious before you go."
Yao Lao sighed helplessly. In all his years, he had never heard such a request.
Still, he could see that Huo Yuhao wanted to pretend he knew nothing in front of the approaching people. The white flame formed a fist the size of a sandbag and knocked Huo Yuhao out cold, then withdrew into the Black Ring.
Soon, more than a dozen figures arrived at astonishing speed, reaching the shores of Sea God Lake in just a few blinks.
The aftermath of Ma Xiaotao's evil fire backlash was quickly dealt with. Afterward, Huo Yuhao put on an act and woke with a thoroughly bewildered expression.
The moment he opened his eyes, he saw a middle-aged man in white standing before him.
"You're fine now. Please forget what you just saw, or you'll be expelled from the academy," the middle-aged man in white said flatly.
Huo Yuhao sneered inwardly. This was far from the first time Ma Xiaotao had suffered an evil fire backlash. The previous unlucky victims probably hadn't possessed an absurdly powerful cheat like his.
Judging by this teacher's attitude, any Outer Academy disciple killed by Ma Xiaotao would have had it coming, with perhaps a little compensation paid at most. But if anything happened to Ma Xiaotao, Shrek Academy would certainly never let the matter rest.
After all, the Soul Master Academy tournament in the original story was a perfect example. They openly and deliberately killed people from the Sun Moon Royal Academy and the Holy Spirit Cult in the arena, yet whenever someone on their own side was injured, the Level 98 Chicken Leg Douluo, deputy master of the Sea God Pavilion, personally stepped forward to demand compensation.
With so many Soul Engineers backing the Sun Moon Royal Academy and two Limit Douluos backing the Holy Spirit Cult, neither had caused Shrek any trouble over it. That was truly ironic.
The villains actually lost because they had some sense of shame, while Shrek won until they were numb because they had none whatsoever.
"Understood. So what compensation will the academy give me?" Huo Yuhao held out his hand and spoke coolly to the middle-aged man in white.
The middle-aged man in white frowned, clearly displeased by Huo Yuhao's cold attitude.
But he was there to handle the aftermath, after all. He could not get into another conflict with Huo Yuhao and make matters worse.
Taking a deep breath, the middle-aged man in white tossed Huo Yuhao something green, then said, "This Soul Ascension Pill is the academy's compensation to you. I trust you're smart enough to keep your mouth shut."
With that, the middle-aged man in white sprang into the air and headed out over Sea God Lake.
"Go to class. Remember, forget everything you saw earlier."
Huo Yuhao nodded, looked down at the Soul Ascension Pill in his palm, and smiled.
Sure enough, scam once, enjoy it once; keep scamming, keep enjoying it. This time, it seemed his strength was about to advance by leaps and bounds.
Before you continue