The Test from Goddess Huo Ying
Upon entering the small courtyard, Feng Xiaotian came into contact with a faint energy that most people would never have noticed unless they were paying attention.
It could have been some kind of formation or a defensive Soul Tool, but it neither blocked nor attacked him, so its function was most likely to serve as a warning.
That meant the person who had set it up inside already knew someone had entered.
Feng Xiaotian did not mind, nor was he afraid. After all, he had come bearing a grand gift for the goddess.
The goddess inside had been afflicted with fire poison, which had seriously affected her looks.
Perhaps it was precisely because her looks had been affected that she stayed in here and refused to show herself.
If he could help Goddess Huo Ying get rid of these hidden dangers, he would surely be safe and might even find an opportunity to spend a large number of Simp Coins.
But Feng Xiaotian had only taken two steps when a chill suddenly crept up his back-or rather, it was killing intent.
"Leave this place, or don't blame me for showing no mercy."
Though the speaker was nowhere to be seen, her voice had already reached Feng Xiaotian's mind.
It was an exceptionally captivating female voice, though it sounded somewhat melancholy and carried a trace of world-weariness.
Feng Xiaotian said quietly, "Senior, please don't be so quick to drive me away. I came here solely to help you."
Although he had spoken quietly, Feng Xiaotian felt certain she could hear him.
As he spoke, Feng Xiaotian cautiously ventured deeper into the courtyard, but there was so much greenery that he could not clearly see what lay ahead.
The next moment, however, Feng Xiaotian looked up warily and saw a streak of red light flying toward him.
He immediately used the Gale movement technique to retreat. In that instant, the red light struck the ground in front of him with a boom, blasting a small crater into it.
An attack that powerful would surely have seriously injured him if it had hit him. He had to admit, Goddess Huo Ying was ruthless!
Fortunately, Feng Xiaotian had already cultivated the Gale movement technique to minor mastery. Otherwise, he might not have been able to dodge that sudden attack.
"You can't help me. Hurry up and leave before you make a fool of yourself."
She was still transmitting her voice to Feng Xiaotian. Although the attack had come from above, he looked all around and still could not find her.
Feng Xiaotian did not want to waste words and went straight to the point. "Senior, you've been afflicted with fire poison. It must have had a great effect on you. If it isn't removed soon, it will continue to harm you, and the longer it remains, the more likely it is to endanger your life."
It seemed quite normal for someone with the fire attribute to be afflicted with fire poison, just as Dugu Bo, who dealt in poisons, was himself deeply poisoned.
Being afflicted with fire poison was just like the saying: play with fire and you'll burn yourself.
Normally, however, even fire-attribute Soul Masters could not be poisoned this way. Perhaps Huo Ying had been afflicted with fire poison for some other reason and simply had never been cured.
Huo Ying had never appeared in the original story at all. Perhaps she really had died from the fire poison during these years.
"How do you know I've been afflicted with fire poison? Did Huo Wu tell you?"
A beautiful figure clad in fiery red appeared on a large tree in front of Feng Xiaotian, looking down at him from above.
Feng Xiaotian leaped up as well. He did not like her talking to him from such a lofty position, so he jumped onto a neighboring tree, placing himself more or less level with the woman in red.
The woman in red before him had a blazing-hot figure and stood at least 1.75 meters tall. She wore a red veil, giving her a rather mysterious appearance.
Even standing on the tree in such an ordinary way, Feng Xiaotian could sense her distinctive bearing.
Feng Xiaotian said, "Senior, how I found out isn't really important. What matters is that we can help you remove the fire poison and restore your health."
"Restore my health?" The woman smiled. "You? Do you know that even a Soul Douluo who specializes in poisons examined me and could do nothing? And you're just a little brat. What makes you think you can cure me?"
"Considering that you're a genius the likes of which Godwind Academy has rarely seen in a century and that you know Huo Wu, I'll let you leave for now. Get out before I change my mind, or don't blame me for showing no mercy."
Feng Xiaotian smiled. "It seems you still don't believe I can treat your fire poison, Senior. In that case, forget it..."
With that, Feng Xiaotian turned to leave, but then murmured, "Sigh... It's just fire poison that ruined her looks. If I treated her, she'd definitely recover completely in less than three months. Sigh... spending her whole life afraid to go out and show her face... what a pity."
As soon as he finished speaking, Feng Xiaotian immediately sprang up as a flame came at him from behind.
This time, however, Feng Xiaotian had been prepared. He used the Gale movement technique and easily dodged her attack.
But his words had truly enraged her. Flames flared all around, and her Soul Rings gradually appeared. Her Martial Soul was almost identical to Huo Wu's.
Seven Soul Rings: two yellow, two purple, and three black.
Seeing this, Feng Xiaotian naturally had to fight back. He absolutely could not show fear now.
He circulated all of his rank-forty Soul Power and activated his Martial Soul at the same time. Two wolf howls rang out from the two wolf heads of Feng Xiaotian's Martial Soul.
Bang...
Facing this Soul Saint, Feng Xiaotian immediately used his second Soul Skill and second Soul Skill at the same time, raising his physical attributes to their peak.
Seeing this, Huo Ying was momentarily stunned.
She had secretly observed Feng Xiaotian when he came looking for Huo Wu before, and his Soul Power had not seemed this strong. "You've already reached rank forty?"
"That's right," Feng Xiaotian said. "Thanks to your good fortune, Senior, I broke through just after arriving at Blazing Fire Academy to participate in the exchange tournament."
Huo Ying said, "In that case, I'll give you a chance. I'll suppress sixty percent of my Soul Power and use the remaining forty percent, along with my first three Soul Skills. If you can defeat me, I'll believe you can treat me."
"Haha." Feng Xiaotian laughed. "Since you want to test me, Senior, I, Feng Xiaotian, will see it through to the end."
Gale Consecutive Slashes! Feng Xiaotian immediately charged forward to attack.
From the start, Feng Xiaotian had not intended to hold back. After all, he was facing a Soul Saint, and even with sixty percent of her Soul Power suppressed, he would not win so easily.
"What kind of move is that?" Huo Ying was somewhat puzzled.
When Feng Xiaotian had pestered her daughter in the past, she had actually wanted to go out and teach him a lesson, but she had not wanted to leave the courtyard. So she had not intervened, letting Huo Lie and Huo Yan keep watch to prevent her daughter Huo Wu from being harmed.
She knew all three of Feng Xiaotian's Soul Skills, but this was clearly not one of his Soul Ring skills.
Huo Ying had no choice but to use Martial Soul Possession, and a huge fiery-red shield appeared in front of her.
This was a defensive Soul Skill among her first three. Even when she used it with only forty percent of her Soul Power, an ordinary Soul Ancestor could not break through its defense.
Seeing this, Feng Xiaotian immediately struck it with Gale Consecutive Slashes.
The first strike seemed to have little effect, but that was within Feng Xiaotian's expectations.
Then came the second strike, the third...
As the strikes of Gale Consecutive Slashes landed one after another, their power grew stronger and stronger, and cracks began to appear in the fiery-red shield.
When Feng Xiaotian delivered the twenty-first strike, Huo Ying's shield shattered completely.
Yet Feng Xiaotian's assault did not stop. His twenty-second strike came straight at Huo Ying.
(End of chapter)