Analyzing the Evil Fire

Nothing particularly noteworthy happened during this time, though Xiong Jun mentioned that he had encountered an old man and a child searching for something where he practiced his killing moves.

That place had originally been Huo Yuhao's Metallurgical Factory. After it was moved into the Undead Demiplane, the site had stood empty, so the Ferocious Beasts simply practiced their newly developed killing moves there. Even earlier, it had been a gathering place for demonic spider-type Soul Beasts...

According to Xiong Jun, a single swipe of his new Sky-Rending Claw had severely injured the old man. The old man was no weakling, and Xiong Jun had failed to keep him there. In the end, he had escaped with the child.

Soon, the holiday ended, and Huo Yuhao returned to Shrek Academy with his three young girlfriends. Huo Yuhao treated the place entirely as a social platform.

The two burly men keeping a close watch in Shrek City breathed sighs of relief. They were not the same two men as before.

One took a sip of tea and said, "Third Brother, thank goodness the young sect master came back. Otherwise, we'd have had to defect from the sect."

The burly man opposite nodded. They had both seen what had happened to Fifth and Sixth. The young sect master had not returned during the holiday, and word that she had gone off to have fun with a man had enraged both sect masters, who had vented all their anger on Fifth and Sixth.

But hadn't Fifth and Sixth been following orders? They had never received instructions to bring the young sect master back. There had also been perfectly understandable reasons why they hadn't brought Tang Yin back, yet the two sect masters had seized on that point and beaten Fifth and Sixth half to death.

Even now, Fifth and Sixth still needed others to care for them. Anyone with eyes could see the reason.

Afterward, the two sect masters had directly ordered these two men to keep a close eye on the young sect master and bring her straight back when the holiday began, along with Tang Yin if possible. Otherwise, neither of them need return.

This left the two men with bitterness they could not voice, but what could they do? The two sect masters possessed overwhelming strength. Who dared defy their orders? They could only obey.

A few days later.

"Everyone, the new semester is about to begin. Did you miss us during the break?"

Zhang Lexuan's gentle voice echoed through Class One's classroom. Her gaze swept around the room, pausing briefly on Huo Yuhao before flicking away.

Some time earlier, Zhang Lexuan had accompanied Ma Xiaotao to apologize to the students and families she had harmed. They had returned a few days after the holiday ended.

One piece of good news was that they had learned Huo Yuhao had developed a way to control the Evil Fire.

Zhang Lexuan had also finally understood her own feelings, so she had mustered her courage and told Mu En.

"Hehe, wonderful." Mu En had been full of delight. "Why do you think I arranged for you to get close to that child?"

Only then had Zhang Lexuan realized that Mu En had planned this all along. She had also heard that Huo Yuhao's roommate, Wang Dong, was actually a girl named Wang Dong'er, and that she, too, had become his girlfriend. This left Zhang Lexuan with mixed feelings.

It meant that Huo Yuhao was not incapable of accepting other women, but she also felt a little reproachful. After all, what woman did not wish the person she loved would be devoted to her alone? Yet she soon let it go. Zhang Lexuan knew that she had come later.

Besides, there was still a hurdle in her heart she could not cross: she was his teacher, and so much older than him. Could he accept me? Perhaps simply watching him like this would be nice, too.

After class, Zhang Lexuan took Huo Yuhao with her to begin addressing Ma Xiaotao's problem.

There were not many observers this time. Aside from Huo Yuhao and his companions, Mu En, Elder Zhuang, and Cai Mei'er were also present.

Huo Yuhao spread a large sheet of paper across the table. On it was a diagram none of them could understand. He then explained, "Ma Xiaotao, this is an analysis chart of your bloodline."

Ma Xiaotao asked in stunned hesitation, "My... bloodline... analysis chart?"

The others wore almost the same expressions as Ma Xiaotao. When had anything like this ever appeared on the Douluo Continent?

Ignoring their reactions, Huo Yuhao continued, "This chart contains all your information, such as your sex and approximate height. It even has some influence on your personality."

"Here," Huo Yuhao pointed to a sequence marked in red, "this indicates that your Martial Soul is a Fire Phoenix."

"And here," Huo Yuhao pointed to a nearby sequence marked in black, "this shows why you have Evil Fire."

No one present spoke. They all stared at the chart with burning eyes, then looked at Huo Yuhao. They all understood what an impact this chart would have on the Douluo Continent!

Ma Xiaotao's feelings were especially complicated. She had never imagined that a stranger could know her better than she knew herself. Just who was he?

"Then how do you intend to cure Xiaotao's problem?" Cai Mei'er asked urgently.

"Before that, I need to explain something to you: the Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower cannot cure the Evil Fire problem at its root." Rather than answering, Huo Yuhao made this strange statement.

Ma Xiaotao instinctively objected, "Why? My ancestor clearly wasn't troubled by Evil Fire anymore."

Huo Yuhao explained, "Then why do you, his descendant, still develop Evil Fire?

"Strictly speaking, he only cured his own problem. The problem in his bloodline was never completely resolved.

"I checked the records. Ma Hongjun had descendants after his own Evil Fire was resolved. If his bloodline had been purified then, logically, descendants like you shouldn't have problems with Evil Fire.

"But as far as I know, almost every generation of your family has suffered from Evil Fire."

Hearing Huo Yuhao's explanation, Ma Xiaotao closed her eyes and lowered her head, fighting back the urge to cry. "Then you mean that even if I obtained an Immortal Herb, it could only resolve my own Evil Fire. If I had descendants, they would still suffer from Evil Fire?"

Huo Yuhao nodded, then said, "That is why I've developed a treatment plan for your Evil Fire."

"What!"

"According to my analysis, this gene sequence responsible for expressing Evil Fire becomes abnormally active as your cultivation increases and your emotions fluctuate sharply.

"I've formulated a medicine that can specifically suppress the expression of this gene sequence. Of course, you mustn't pursue increased cultivation too obsessively, and you must avoid violent emotional fluctuations."

Ma Xiaotao asked urgently, "Then will this medicine work on other Evil Fire Phoenixes?"

Because her family had suffered so much from Evil Fire, not only had its numbers dwindled, but no one except her dared cultivate to the Soul King level. Now there was hope!

"If they share your bloodline, then yes."

Huo Yuhao could not guarantee that other Evil Fire Phoenix Martial Souls had the same problem as Ma Xiaotao's, but those of the same bloodline would be more or less alike. At most, the medicine would be a little less effective.

Hearing Huo Yuhao's confident assurance, Ma Xiaotao was overwhelmed with excitement and bowed deeply to him. She was sincerely grateful to this younger boy.

Then Huo Yuhao handed Ma Xiaotao several doses of medicine and a formula, saying, "Use these doses for now, and make sure you take them on time. Here's the formula. You can prepare it yourself. Only a few of the ingredients are relatively precious, but they won't be difficult for you to obtain."

Ma Xiaotao accepted them with both hands and bowed once more. Huo Yuhao had saved not only her, but her family as well! No words could repay such kindness!

In truth, the best method would have been to remove that segment of genes directly, but Huo Yuhao currently lacked both the tools and the time.

"Child," Mu En suddenly called to Huo Yuhao, "from what you're saying, the reason my Martial Soul evolved into the Radiant Sacred Dragon is that my bloodline contains this sequence, and its expression was so strong that it overshadowed the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon originally inherited through my family.

"And Bei Bei's expression wasn't strong enough, which is why his is still the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon. Is that right?"

Huo Yuhao nodded.

Seeing this, Mu En sank into thought.

The others also marveled at what they had learned that day. Ma Xiaotao even put away the bloodline analysis chart, deciding to treasure it forever.