Ma Xiaotao

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Early Cultivation and Evil Fire

Ma Xiaotao was raised under Yan Shaozhe’s instruction and received extensive cultivation resources, including medicinal baths. Her talent made her one of Shrek’s outstanding Inner Court students, but the Evil Fire attached to her Martial Soul Origin increasingly prevented normal cultivation. Even Elder Zhuang’s healing abilities could not completely resolve it 41 44 47.

Mu En concluded that Ultimate Ice could gradually resolve the problem. With no suitable practitioner readily available, Yan Shaozhe sought water- or ice-attribute Soul Masters before learning that Jiang Yi’s sacred-attribute Blue Silver Grass might offer stronger suppression 44 45.

Treatment by Jiang Yi

Ma Xiaotao accepted sacred-attribute treatment despite knowing it could cause severe pain. Initially doubtful that a level-seventeen Soul Master could help her, she nevertheless followed Yan Shaozhe’s arrangement. During treatment, she endured the scorching pain and separated her Soul Power from the Evil Fire so it could no longer fuel a counterattack 46 47 48.

The first treatment left her unconscious from exhaustion but restored her ability to cultivate. After awakening, she asked Jiang Yi to call her “Sister Xiaotao,” softened his Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue with Phoenix Flame, and guarded him while he refined it 48 49.

Jiang Yi later replaced forceful suppression with the conversion of Evil Fire into life force. This removed the pain during treatment and left no injuries for Elder Zhuang to heal. Repeated treatments also changed her ordinary flames, giving them a measure of resistance to the Evil Fire itself 50 51 78.

Appearance

Ma Xiaotao is tall and slender, with an enchanting face, an initially icy bearing, and a powerful presence 47.

• Eyes: Pale pink 48.
• Clothing: Frequently wears red; on one visit to the Martial Soul Research Institute, she also wears a red veil 47 77.
• Hairstyle: Wears her hair in a ponytail during joint main-team and reserve-team training 92.
• Martial Soul manifestations: Golden-red flames, phoenix wings, and eventually a full phoenix form through her Martial Soul Avatar 112 137.

Personality

Ma Xiaotao is intensely devoted to cultivation. Being forced to stop because of Evil Fire leaves her frustrated and unwilling to accept her condition; she readily chooses a painful treatment over a less effective alternative. Her urgency initially makes her impatient, including rushing Jiang Yi into a cultivation room when her Evil Fire threatens to erupt 45 46 47.

The Pact of Clarity and repeated contact with Jiang Yi make her noticeably calmer and more considerate. She politely accepts the research institute’s security procedures, waits for Jiang Yi to finish helping other cultivators, and asks whether he needs rest before treating her. Zhang Lexuan is astonished by the change 48 77 78.

Her gentler temperament does not erase her competitiveness or loyalty to Shrek. Taught by Yan Shaozhe since childhood to value the academy’s honor, she opposes surrendering to Cold Dragon Academy without a fight. Later defeats against the Snow Empress frustrate her, but encouragement from Wu Ming rekindles her fighting spirit 106 137.

Abilities & Skills

Evil Fire Phoenix

Her Martial Soul produces exceptionally hot golden-red Phoenix Flame and supports powerful direct attacks 109 112.

• Can spread flames across an arena, breathe a concentrated stream of fire, and manifest wings 109 112.
• Previously defeated Dai Yueheng and Chen Zifeng together in training 93.
• Its flames approach Ultimate Fire but have not reached that attribute at level sixty-nine 106.
• Ultimate Ice severely suppresses her flames; inside the Ice and Snow Empresses’ domain, they are extinguished almost immediately 113 114.
• Jiang Yi’s enhanced Blue Silver Grass resists and absorbs her fire, allowing him to bind her and drain her Soul Power during practice 93.

Documented Soul Skills

• Soul Emperor ring configuration: Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black 112.

Evil Fire and Its Management

The Evil Fire is attached to her Martial Soul Origin rather than being an ordinary external injury 45.

• Accumulates even when she refrains from cultivation 47.
• Can draw on her Soul Power to resist suppression unless she deliberately separates the two 48.
• Sacred power suppresses it effectively but initially causes intense pain to her Martial Soul 45 48.
• Jiang Yi’s life-force conversion provides a gentler treatment without leaving injuries 50 51.
• Treatment is not established as a permanent cure: prolonged cultivation and repeated combat can create a renewed need for assistance 77 92 97.

Pact of Clarity and Martial Soul Resonance

Jiang Yi’s achievement reward creates a connection between them, referred to as the Pact of Clarity and also as the Clear Qi Pact 48 92.

• Helps calm her and reduce her attribute’s influence on her temperament 48.
• Supports steadily improving flame control 78 92.
• Allows Phoenix Flame and Jiang Yi’s life energy to resonate, drawing both into Deep Meditation 78.
• Repeated treatments give her flames traces of life energy, extending the period during which she can suppress Evil Fire herself 78.
• Her first Deep Meditation improves flame control, but she does not comprehend the deeper interaction of wood and fire that Jiang Yi perceives 78.

Martial Soul Fusion with Jiang Yi

Their fusion combines her Evil Fire Phoenix with Jiang Yi’s Blue Silver Grass and Fire of Life 116.

• Ma Xiaotao becomes pure Phoenix Flame and merges into Jiang Yi 116.
• Produces an enormous flame apparition resembling Jiang Yi, wielding power in which life and destruction coexist 116.
• With Jiang Yi’s Living Carving Knife, breaks through the opposing ice-and-snow tornado and severs the Ice and Snow Empresses’ energy connection 116.
• Rapidly consumes Ma Xiaotao’s Soul Power, leaving her unable to stand and eventually unconscious from exhaustion 116.

Equipment / Items

• Milk Bottle: Uses its stored Soul Power to recover during the tournament final 114.
• Fireproof bedding: Her dormitory bedding is made from fireproof materials because of her Martial Soul 45.

Relationships

• Jiang Yi — Treats her Evil Fire, becomes her cultivation and Martial Soul Fusion partner, and earns her trust. She develops romantic feelings for him, which deepen during the tournament; a formal romantic relationship is not established in the supplied chapters 48 77 97 116.
• Yan Shaozhe — Teacher since childhood. He arranges her treatment and spends substantial resources to secure Jiang Yi’s cooperation 46 47 106.
• Elder Zhuang — Senior healer who examines her after treatment and confirms that Jiang Yi has suppressed the Evil Fire without leaving injuries 50 51.
• Zhang Lexuan — Inner Court senior whom she calls “Sister Lexuan.” Guides her to Jiang Yi’s research institute and notices her changed temperament 77.
• Dai Yueheng — Main-team teammate and opposing captain during joint training 92.
• Wu Ming — Sparring partner who joins her against the Snow Empress and encourages her to continue fighting 137.
• Snow Empress — Tournament opponent and later recurring sparring rival. Ma Xiaotao repeatedly loses to her, including after both reach Soul Saint 116 137.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Tournament Preparation and Inspection Corps Mission

• Captains one side in joint training and assigns Jiang Yi as the main controller, coordinating Bei Bei and Xi Xi’s lightning attacks against Chen Zifeng 92.
• Loses a subsequent practice match to Jiang Yi’s fire-resistant vines while withholding her Sixth Soul Skill 93.
• Commands the main team during the mission against bandits in the Ming Dou Mountain Range 94.
• Is injured by the Death Messenger’s Corpse Explosion. Her injuries make the accumulated Evil Fire harder to control and threaten to reduce her combat strength 95 97.

Continental Academy Tournament

• Returns to competition during the fourth round after the reserve team handles the early matches 106.
• Helps overwhelm Dou Ling Royal Academy with Phoenix Flame and participates in the semifinal victory over the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy 109 112.
• In the final against Cold Dragon Academy, struggles against Ultimate Ice before joining Jiang Yi in Martial Soul Fusion. Their combined attack forces the Snow Empress to concede the team battle 114 115 116.
• Exhausts herself during the fusion and is carried off the platform by Jiang Yi 116.
• After returning to Shrek, learns that the major demerits assigned to her, Dai Yueheng, and Ling Luochen will not be recorded 118.

Soul Saint and Inner Court Sparring

• Reaches Soul Saint and repeatedly challenges the Snow Empress 137.
• Joins Wu Ming in a two-on-one match. Their Martial Soul Avatars briefly give them the advantage, but the Snow Empress’s own Avatar, domain, and Emperor Sword ultimately defeat them 137.

Notable Quotes

“How could the water attribute suppress it as well as the sacred attribute?” 46

“And don't keep calling me Senior Ma. Just call me Sister Xiaotao.” 48

“No, how can Shrek Academy admit defeat?” 106