Ma Xiaotao

Biodata

Power Progression

• Cultivation bottleneck: Evil-fire backlash prevents her from cultivating continuously or fighting without restraint. Zhang Lexuan believes she might otherwise already have approached rank seventy 52.
• Potential evolution: Yan Shaozhe predicts that support from Huo Yuhao’s Ultimate Ice could begin transforming her Martial Soul toward Ultimate Fire. This is a proposed future development, not an achieved transformation 72.

Appearance

• Build: Tall, with a mature figure; slightly taller than Ling Luochen 47 75.
• Hair: Fiery wine-red 47.
• Eyes: Pale pink, with slightly upturned eyes and brows that give her an imposing expression 47.
• Clothing: Wears a red-and-black dress at Sea God Lake and a fiery-red phoenix robe with a thin black face veil when approaching Huo Yuhao in the Outer Court 47 50.
• Bearing: Has a forceful, domineering presence that contrasts with Ling Luochen’s cool reserve 75.

Personality

Ma Xiaotao is bold, mischievous, and quick to provoke others. She deliberately teases Ling Luochen about her affection for Huo Yuhao and repeatedly carries him away before his companions can intervene. Her confidence is reinforced by her considerable strength advantage over Ling Luochen 47 50 57.

Her impulsiveness becomes especially pronounced when relief from her evil fire is involved. After experiencing Ultimate Ice, she loses interest in other suppression methods and breaks Zhang Lexuan’s supervision rule rather than wait for her return. Nevertheless, she is genuinely moved by Huo Yuhao’s willingness to help and gives him years’ worth of saved resources in gratitude 52 53 57.

Despite her outward confidence, she becomes flustered under Zhang Lexuan’s scrutiny and is inexperienced in romance. She also recognizes when her teasing has gone too far: after provoking Ling Luochen to tears, she loses her desire to continue the joke 51 58 59.

Abilities & Skills

Evil Fire Phoenix

A top-tier elemental Beast Martial Soul whose flames normally counter Ling Luochen’s ice 47 50.

• Offense and defense: Uses phoenix flames to attack and to resist ice-based assaults 49 59.
• Flight: Flies with the aid of her Phoenix Martial Soul and can carry another person through the academy 47 50 51.
• Backlash: Its evil fire restricts both sustained cultivation and full-power combat 52.
• Suppression: Ordinary ice provides limited relief; Huo Yuhao’s Ultimate Ice is markedly more effective 32 53.
• Treatment risk: The Soul Power gap between her and Huo Yuhao makes unsupervised treatment dangerous. She can lose control and continue drawing on his power after he intends to stop 52 53 57.

Phoenix Wings Soaring

Her third Soul Skill manifests enormous flaming phoenix wings 49.

• Uses the wings to rush toward an opponent and set up a close-range attack 49.
• Beats them forcefully while releasing Phoenix Cloud-Piercing Strike against Ling Luochen’s Ice Radiance Ring 50.

Phoenix Cloud-Piercing Strike

A phoenix attack used during her training duel with Ling Luochen 49 50.

• Initially intended as a close-range follow-up to Phoenix Wings Soaring 49.
• Collides with Ice Radiance Ring, producing a large cloud of vapor before Xuan Zi intervenes 50.

Phoenix Meteor Shower

Her sixth Soul Skill, deployed when Ling Luochen attacks her in anger 59.

• Counters Ling Luochen’s powerful ice assault.
• The collision of their fire and ice fills the training ground with steam 59.

History

Shrek Academy and the Evil-Fire Problem

Before meeting Huo Yuhao, Ma Xiaotao already required help managing her evil fire. The academy enlisted Ling Luochen to suppress it, but her ice proved difficult to sustain against Ma Xiaotao’s power. Fearing what would happen if Ma Xiaotao discovered Huo Yuhao’s Ultimate Ice, Ling Luochen warned him to avoid her and embellished stories of her misconduct 32.

Ma Xiaotao first encounters Huo Yuhao beside Sea God Lake while he is walking with Ling Luochen. After observing their closeness, she interrupts to tease Ling Luochen, ruffles his hair, and flies away 47.

Discovering Huo Yuhao’s Ultimate Ice

During preparations for the All-Continent Soul Master Soul Fighting Tournament, Ma Xiaotao notices that Ling Luochen’s Ice-Cold Nether Mist suppresses her more strongly than before. Their subsequent clash ends when Xuan Zi intervenes and declares a draw, while noting that Ling Luochen would have lost a prolonged battle through inferior Soul Power 49 50.

Ma Xiaotao connects Ling Luochen’s sudden improvement with Huo Yuhao and deduces that he may possess Ultimate Ice. After obtaining information from Xu Sanshi, she finds him in the Outer Court plaza and carries him to her courtyard 50.

Huo Yuhao initially demonstrates only his Spirit Eyes and Shared Vision. Impressed by its three-dimensional battlefield awareness, Ma Xiaotao accepts that this Martial Soul appears unrelated to ice and intends to send him back. Zhang Lexuan’s arrival instead prompts her to hide him in a wardrobe, creating the misunderstanding she had hoped to avoid 51.

After Zhang Lexuan discovers him, Ma Xiaotao explains her reasoning. With Huo Yuhao’s permission, Zhang Lexuan confirms his Ultimate Ice and discusses the risks of treatment. He agrees to help, overwhelming Ma Xiaotao with gratitude 52.

Treatment and Unsupervised Visits

Ma Xiaotao gives Huo Yuhao medicines, cultivation materials, and her Red-Level VIP Card before their first supervised trial. A small amount of Ultimate Ice immediately soothes her evil fire, but her desire for further relief leads Zhang Lexuan to stop the session and forbid private visits 53.

When Zhang Lexuan leaves on a mission, Ma Xiaotao persuades Huo Yuhao to attempt a limited treatment without supervision. She loses control during the process; his sudden release of Ultimate Ice helps her regain clarity. Later, the Ice Empress takes control of Huo Yuhao’s body to administer another treatment, leaving Ma Xiaotao temporarily unconscious but unharmed 57 58.

Her cultivation subsequently surges. After her teasing sparks a fight with Ling Luochen, Zhang Lexuan learns that Ma Xiaotao has repeatedly sought Huo Yuhao out without permission and assigns Ling Luochen to monitor her 59.

Freshman Assessment and the Deans’ Investigation

Ma Xiaotao watches Huo Yuhao’s Freshman Assessment matches alongside Ling Luochen. When he freezes the Hell White Tiger, she remarks that his Ultimate Ice has become stronger than during her earlier treatments 68 70.

Yan Shaozhe later realizes that she has not recently suffered an evil-fire episode, while Xian Lin’er questions whether she knew Huo Yuhao’s secret beforehand. Their inquiries converge at a dessert shop, where Ma Xiaotao inadvertently reveals Zhang Lexuan’s involvement and then says that her other conclusions were guesses 73 80.

Equipment / Items

• Ice-attribute storage Soul Tools — Placed throughout her courtyard residence, giving it a noticeably cool atmosphere 51.
• Red-Level VIP Card — Transfers it to Huo Yuhao; it allows one free item from the Treasure Appraisal Fair each year 53.
• Saved medicines and cultivation materials — Gives Huo Yuhao Mystic Water Pill, Soul Ascension Pill, Ice Soul Flower, Calming Heart Orchid, Cold Marrow Jade, Thousand-Year Ginseng, Wild Royal Jelly, and Ginseng-Shaped Polygonum. Zhang Lexuan identifies the stockpile as resources provided by Dean Yan 53.

Relationships

• Huo Yuhao — Junior and treatment partner whose Ultimate Ice suppresses her evil fire. Her initial investigation develops into gratitude, affection, and repeated efforts to spend time with him 50 52 53 57.
• Ling Luochen — Teammate, frequent sparring opponent, and rival for Huo Yuhao’s attention. Formerly helped suppress her evil fire and later becomes her appointed monitor 32 49 59 68.
• Zhang Lexuan — Senior sister who has watched her grow up and treats her like a younger sister. Supervises her treatments and disciplines her for disregarding safety rules 51 52 53 59.
• Yan Shaozhe — Provides cultivation resources and advocates using Ultimate Ice to help transform her Martial Soul 53 72.
• Xian Lin’er — Investigates her removal of Huo Yuhao from the Outer Court and later questions her about their treatment arrangement 51 52 80.
• Wang Dong — Distrusts her after witnessing her carry Huo Yuhao away and openly calls her a “bad woman” at a later gathering 50 51 75.

Trivia

• Won a big-eater title during her second year 58.
• Is a poor cook: burns premium spirit-beast meat and produces an unappetizing purple soup. A later attempt to help prepare a shared meal also ends with burnt food 58 75.
• Ling Luochen’s early catalogue of her alleged misdeeds is explicitly embellished, rather than an independently established record 32.