Ma Xiaotao

Biodata

Power Progression

Background

Ma Xiaotao is the personal disciple of Yan Shaozhe, dean of Shrek Academy’s Martial Soul Department. Years of Evil Fire trouble keep her largely secluded within the inner court, leaving her comparatively unknown outside Shrek despite her strength and her teacher’s position 98 105.

Before the Continental Advanced Soul Master Elite Tournament, she is injured alongside Dai Yueheng and Ling Luochеn during the disastrous Ming Dou Mountain Range expedition. The main team’s casualties force Shrek’s reserves to shoulder much of the early tournament while she recovers 70 75 81.

Appearance

• Tournament clothing: Wears a red dress during her individual match against Meng Hongchen 117.
• Martial Soul manifestation: Phoenix wings spread behind her during combat, stirring scorching winds 110.
• Evil Fire instability: Her eyes become purplish-red, and purplish-black blood vessels bulge beneath her skin as control deteriorates 117.
• Black Phoenix transformation: Her eyes turn entirely black, her figure grows taller, and a gigantic black phoenix phantom appears behind her 118.
• After the tournament: Lies pale and unconscious on a cold jade bed beneath a pale golden barrier 134 135.

Personality

Ma Xiaotao ties her worth closely to Shrek’s reputation and her position as Yan Shaozhe’s disciple. Faced with the Sun Moon team’s superiority, she resolves to win regardless of the cost. Her institutional pride also supports her belief that capturing Bao Liang is justified: she insists that only Shrek is qualified to cultivate an Ultimate Martial Soul 76 82 96.

She is hot-tempered and dismissive when challenged, threatening teammates who stare at her and privately belittling Wang Yan’s cultivation when he cautions against taking Bao Liang. Nevertheless, she can recognize a tactical disadvantage and conserve her abilities when warned about stronger opponents 75 78 98.

Her pride coexists with severe guilt over her teammates’ suffering. She pleads for Xu Sanshi’s life, offers herself in He Caitou’s place, and ultimately blames herself for the reserve team’s losses. Meng Hongchen exploits this guilt to destroy her remaining self-control 108 114 118 119.

Abilities & Skills

Evil Fire Phoenix

A powerful offensive Martial Soul whose Phoenix Flame can engulf the fighting platform and warp the surrounding air 98.

• Provides both close-range striking power and wide-area fire attacks 98 110.
• Ma Xiaotao has the greatest area-wide destructive power among the Shrek members discussing Bao Liang’s arena-destroying attack, but admits she cannot reproduce his feat 75.
• Its Evil Fire produces severe backlash, irritation, and instability during prolonged exertion 98.
• Huo Yuhao’s Ultimate Ice offers only temporary relief because his Soul Power is far below hers 76 78.
• Meng Hongchen’s cold and poison can suppress the Martial Soul until it cannot produce flames 111 112.

Soul Skills

Ring Fusion and Soul Skill Compression

Shrek teaches Ma Xiaotao to combine and compress multiple abilities into a concentrated attack 99 119.

• Uses two Soul Bone Skills followed by Ring Fusion to unleash Phoenix Meteor Shower, pushing Star Luo Royal Academy’s Starlight Guardian to its limit 99.
• Ordinary large-scale compression requires a long buildup and carries side effects 119.
• After evolving, her innate compression talent lets her instantly combine her Second, Third, Fifth, and Sixth Soul Skills with a Soul Bone Skill 119.

Black Phoenix and Darkness Ultimate Fire

Her evolved Martial Soul replaces the impure Evil Fire Phoenix flames with black Ultimate Fire. Elder Zhuang later identifies its attribute as Darkness Ultimate Fire 119 134.

• Burns away Meng Hongchen’s extreme cold, poison, Repelling Ice Ring, and Repelling Fire Ring 119.
• Vaporizes arena stonework and produces a storm of black fire across the platform 118.
• Her fully compressed attack burns cracks into space, though Bao Liang scatters it before it reaches Meng Hongchen 119.
• The transformation leaves her irrational and indiscriminately aggressive; she even attacks Xuan Zi when he approaches 120.

Flame Perception

• Identifies Bao Liang’s lingering fire as Ultimate Fire by its purity, persistence, and suppression of her own Evil Fire 77 78.
• Describes her sensitivity to flames as sharper than that of the other Shrek members present 78.

Equipment & Treatment

• Right Arm Soul Bone: Grants Phoenix Explosion Strike, which she stacks with three Soul Skills to break through Meng Hongchen’s deliberately weakened Repelling Ice Ring 118.
• Cold jade bed: Brought from the Far North; its chill rivals ten-thousand-year-old profound ice and steadily wears down her restless flames 134.
• Golden Tree barrier: Formed from residual power in the Golden Tree’s roots. Its light and life energy soothe her soul while supplementing the bed’s suppression 134.

Proposed Remedies

Relationships

• Yan Shaozhe — Her teacher and Shrek’s Martial Soul Department dean. He urgently seeks a cure and remains beside her cold jade bed throughout the night 105 134 135.
• Xuan Zi — Agrees to bring Bao Liang to Shrek for her sake and the academy’s future. Later seals her Soul Power and evacuates her from the tournament 82 120.
• Bao Liang — Initially viewed as a potential cure because of his Ultimate Fire. Her attempt to have him captured turns them into enemies; he later plans her destabilization and subdues her Black Phoenix form 76 82 118 119.
• Meng Hongchen — Her principal opponent in the finals. Resents Xiaotao’s role in the attempt to capture Bao Liang, poisons her during the team battle, and provokes her transformation during their individual match 105 111 118.
• Huo Yuhao — Temporarily suppresses her Evil Fire with Ultimate Ice and supports her through Spiritual Detection Sharing. His low cultivation limits his ability to help her 76 96 107.
• Xu Sanshi — Previously forced to help with her Evil Fire outbreaks. She pleads for his life and later carries intense guilt over his death 75 108 119.
• Dai Yueheng and Ling Luochеn — Fellow inner-court main-team members with whom she has established combat rapport through repeated sparring and team battles 111.
• Bei Bei — Grows uneasy about her undisclosed intentions behind the finals strategy; she assures him that everything she does is for Shrek 104 105.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Seeking Ultimate Fire

After initially suggesting that Bao Liang might be an Evil Soul Master, Ma Xiaotao learns that his destructive flames are likely Ultimate Fire. Examining the ruined arena confirms it: the residual heat suppresses her Evil Fire rather than aggravating it 75 76 77 78.

She plans to have Xuan Zi capture Bao Liang, believing that recruiting him would both cure her and give Shrek another exceptional Soul Master. Wang Yan warns against acting rashly, but Xuan Zi later promises to bring Bao Liang back 76 78 82.

Star Luo Royal Academy Semifinal

Ma Xiaotao helps break Star Luo Royal Academy’s defenses through an explosive combination of Soul Bone Skills and Ring Fusion, creating an opening for Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong. She then defeats multiple opponents in the individual round before exhaustion forces her off the stage 98 99.

Finals: Team Battle

She supports the plan for Jiang Nannan and Xu Sanshi to disrupt the Sun Moon team’s artillery positions while she and Dai Yueheng lead the attack. Bei Bei notices her evasiveness when the plan is settled 104 105 106.

After Xu Sanshi dies, she attempts to attack Bao Liang and must be restrained. She subsequently resumes command, but Meng Hongchen intercepts her and steadily debilitates her with cold poison. Xiaotao later charges toward Bao Liang to save He Caitou, offering herself instead; Shrek ultimately concedes the team battle 109 110 111 114.

Finals: Individual Match and Transformation

Despite emergency treatment, her Evil Fire remains suppressed rather than cured. She opens the individual matches against Meng Hongchen, whose repelling rings, copied techniques, and poison repeatedly frustrate her attacks 115 116 117.

Meng Hongchen deliberately exploits Xiaotao’s guilt over the expedition and reserve team casualties. Wang Yan calls for surrender, but Xuan Zi prevents it. Xiaotao loses her reason and evolves into the Black Phoenix 118 119.

Meng Hongchen surrenders before Xiaotao’s compressed attack lands. Bao Liang intercepts the attack and incapacitates Xiaotao with techniques from the Eighteen Black Dragon Forms. Xuan Zi then seals her Soul Power and withdraws Shrek from the remaining matches 119 120.

Suppression at Shrek

Back at Shrek, Xiaotao remains unconscious under combined cold and Golden Tree suppression. Elder Zhuang concludes that conventional treatment cannot undo her evolution. Even under containment, black flames occasionally emerge strongly enough to distort nearby space 134.

Notable Quotes

“Only Shrek is qualified to train a Soul Master with an Ultimate Martial Soul!” 82

“Everything I’m doing is for Shrek.” 105

“Bao Liang! Let He Caitou go! Come at me instead!” 114

“I’m not fit to be captain, not fit to be my teacher’s disciple, and even less fit to be... a descendant of the Phoenix God...” 119