Huo Wu's Challenge in Heaven Dou
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When Nan Feng returned to Heaven Dou City, it was already late autumn. The official road outside the city was covered with withered yellow maple leaves, and the autumn wind swirled the fallen leaves around the walls. He had traveled westward from Vast Sea City, and his Shrinking the Ground to an Inch steps left intermittent afterimages on the official road. He did not intend to disturb anyone, but the imperial guards on the city wall of Heaven Dou City immediately recognized the faded red ribbon on his left wrist.
Half an hour later, Xue Beng's edict arrived at the inn where Nan Feng had just stopped— the Heaven Dou Immortal Master had returned to the city, and the imperial palace was hosting a banquet to welcome him. Nan Feng politely declined the banquet, sending a messenger back with a message: he needed to cultivate in seclusion for a month and would not receive any guests. Xue Beng did not press the matter further, but instead sent a travel permit and a case of strong liquor from the south of Heaven Dou, along with a note that read, "Xuan Zi asked me to deliver this; Huo Wu arrived in Heaven Dou City half a month ago and has been searching for you everywhere."
Nan Feng looked at the note, and her temple throbbed.
Old Huai laughed out loud in the Tower Spirit Space: "Huo Wu, that girl from the Blazing Fire Academy with a temper as fiery as fire. She's been waiting for you in Heaven Dou City for half a month."
Nan Feng folded the note and put it into the Tower Spirit Space. Without saying much, he sat cross-legged in the inn, and the Tower Realm light membrane set up a quiet domain around the room. His Soul Power was stuck at level 77, not a multiple of ten, but the liquid Primordial World Power in his dantian was more solid than before under the tempering of Peng Eye and the Power of Return to the Void. He closed his eyes and immersed himself in cultivation.
It was quiet for less than three days.
On the morning of the third day, just as Nan Feng put away the light membrane of the Tower Realm and prepared to stretch his muscles outside the city, a series of hurried footsteps came from downstairs at the inn. The wooden stairs were pounded loudly, followed by the innkeeper's exclamation, and then a loud "bang" as the door was kicked open.
Huo Wu stood at the doorway, her long, crimson hair blazing like a flame in the morning light. Her dark red outfit was still stained with dust from her journey. Hands on her hips, her amber eyes glared at Nan Feng, who sat cross-legged on the bed. She was taller than when they last met, and the contours of her face had lost their girlish roundness, gaining sharper lines. A fiery aura of Soul Power Soul Power emanated from her, its concentration far exceeding that of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy exchange competition, reaching approximately the Soul Emperor level.
"Tower Simpleton." Huo Wu slammed the door shut with her foot, strode into the room, and looked down at Nan Feng. "You made me wait for half a month."
Nan Feng looked at her. Huo Wu's Martial Soul was the Blazing Sun, and her Soul Power attribute was violent. At this moment, the heat emanating from her body made the ceramic teapot in the room slightly hot. A fine crack appeared on the surface of the teapot, and the overnight water vapor inside hissed out from the crack.
How did you know I was in Heaven Dou City?
"Ye Lingling said it." Huo Wu pulled up a chair, sat down backwards, and rested her arms on the back of the chair. "I went to the Heaven Dou Royal Academy to find you, Lingling said you went to Sea God Island and hadn't returned yet. I told her I would wait for you. So she left me at the academy. The day before yesterday, when you entered the city, someone on the city wall recognized you, and the news reached the academy. Lingling told me."
Nan Feng glanced at her. "You wanted to see me about something?"
Huo Wu moved the chair forward a step, the chair legs scraping the floor with a screeching sound. She leaned closer to Nan Feng, her amber pupils reflecting Nan Feng face, the scorching aura of the Blazing Sun Martial Soul emanating from her.
"You said last time—you'd help me evolve my Martial Soul." Her voice was low, but her tone was still direct. "My Soul Power has reached a bottleneck. I've been stuck at level 68 for almost a year, no matter how I train, I can't go any higher. You said you'd come find me when I reached that bottleneck. I've arrived."
Nan Feng looked at her. Huo Wu's Soul Power fluctuations did indeed show signs of a bottleneck— her Soul Power fluctuated repeatedly around level 68, like a flame suppressed in a sealed container, its energy constantly accumulating but unable to find an outlet. The Blazing Sun Martial Soul followed an explosive path, requiring extremely high-level Soul Ring; ordinary Soul Ring simply couldn't match her Soul Power attributes. This was a traditional problem at the Blazing Fire Academy, and the root cause of Huo Wu's bottleneck.
"Your Martial Soul bottleneck can't be overcome by Primordial World Power alone," Nan Feng said. "The evolution of the Blazing Sun Martial Soul requires a fire-attribute spiritual object as a medium."
Huo Wu stared at him for two seconds, then took out a fist-sized, fiery red crystal from her Storage Soul Tool at her waist. The crystal was scalding hot to the touch, with dark red light patterns flowing inside, like solidified lava.
"Fire Spirit Crystal. I spent three months finding it in the crater behind the Blazing Fire Academy." Huo Wu placed the crystal in front of Nan Feng, the heat from the crystal leaving a scorch mark on the table. "Is this enough?"
Nan Feng 'Treasure-Appraising Spirit Light unfolded in his mind. The Spiritual Power energy of the Fire Spirit Crystal was extremely concentrated, and its fire attribute purity far exceeded that of ordinary fire-type Soul Beast Soul Ring. It was estimated to be around five thousand years old. Old Huai hummed in the Tower Spirit Space, "Fire Spirit Crystal, a fire-attribute spiritual object nurtured in the core of a volcano. It's enough to serve as a medium for the Martial Soul Evolution the Blazing Sun Martial Soul."
"Enough." Nan Feng put the Fire Spirit Crystal into the Tower Spirit Space. The Fire Spirit Crystal floated next to the Life Origin Stone in the Tower Spirit Space, with dark red light patterns and emerald green life luster complementing each other.
Huo Wu watched him accept the Fire Spirit Crystal, and the corners of her mouth curved slightly. Then she stood up from her chair, took two steps back, and assumed a starting stance.
"We'll talk about evolution later." A fighting spirit ignited in her amber eyes. "You promised me before you left—to fight you with all your might. Last time at the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, you held back. You hid your golden power, you hid your Shrinking the Ground to an Inch, you hid the true power of the Tower Realm. Today, I won't let you hide."
Nan Feng watched her assume the starting stance. Huowu's Huo Wu Blazing Sun Martial Soul's Soul Power fluctuations suddenly surged in the battle stance, and dark red flame phantoms emerged from her body. The temperature in the room rose by dozens of degrees in a few breaths, the ceramic teapot shattered completely, and white smoke hissed from the water vat in the corner.
Outside the inn was the martial arts arena of Heaven Dou City, where Nan Feng had fought Yu Tianheng the last time he came to Heaven Dou City. He stood up, withdrew the Tower Realm Light Membrane from the room, and formed an extremely thin cyan-gold shield on his body.
"The training ground," Nan Feng said.
Huo Wu grinned, revealing a row of neat white teeth. "Waiting for you." She turned and flipped out of the window, her crimson figure tracing an arc in the morning light, landing lightly on the martial arts arena outside the inn.
Nan Feng leaped from the window, using the Shrinking the Ground to an Inch to land silently in the center of the training ground. The Tower Realm unfolded, its cyan-gold light membrane covering an area of a hundred paces, and gravity suppression within the domain increased by forty percent. Huo Wu stood opposite him, unleashing the full power of her Blazing Sun Martial Soul. Dark red flames erupted from her body, forming a scorching wave of fire around her. The fire wave rolled and spread in all directions, cracking the stone slabs of the training ground.
"It's starting." Huo Wu shouted, her right foot slamming into the ground, her body propelled by the flames like a cannonball towards Nan Feng. The flames of the Blazing Sun Martial Soul condensed into a dark red pillar of fire during the charge, the pillar containing scorching white heat, burning the air in its path with distorted patterns.
Nan Feng did not dodge. The Tower Realm membrane formed three layers of shields in front of him. When the pillar of fire collided with the first layer of shield, flames scattered. When it collided with the second layer, the high temperature was suppressed by most of the Return to Origin Power. When it collided with the third layer, the momentum of the pillar of fire had been reduced by 70% by gravity. Huo Wu appeared behind the pillar of fire and punched the seam of the Tower Realm Boundary shield. Dark red flames covered the surface of her fist. The explosive Soul Power of the Blazing Sun Martial Soul exploded violently the moment it hit the shield, and the first layer of shield shattered.
Nan Feng used the Shrinking the Ground to an Inch to move sideways, and Huo Wu's fist grazed his shoulder. He countered with the Tower Suppression Technique, causing the gravity around Mountain Suppression to suddenly increase. Huo Wu 'Huo Wu feet sank, and the flames were suppressed by the gravity, but she immediately channeled the Soul Power of her Blazing Sun Martial Soul into her legs, and dark red flames exploded beneath her feet, forcefully breaking free from the gravity.
"Interesting." Huo Wu grinned, her amber eyes gleaming with even greater fighting spirit. "Again."
Her speed was faster than before, and her flames were fiercer. The explosive nature of the Blazing Sun Martial Soul was gradually unleashed during the ongoing battle; every punch carried the aftershocks of a fiery explosion, and every step left cracked scorch marks on the stone slabs. Nan Feng used the Tower Realm Shield to withstand her attacks, used the Tower Suppression to suppress her speed, and used the Shrinking the Ground to an Inch to dodge her bursts of power. The two exchanged thirty blows in the arena, with Huo Wu's flames growing more intense with each strike, but Nan Feng's defense remained unbroken.
The thirty-first move. Huo Wu concentrated all her Soul Power into her right fist, and dark red flames compressed into a fist-sized fireball on her fist. The high temperature inside the fireball burned the air into a vacuum, emitting a sharp whistling sound. She unleashed this punch with all her might, and the fireball exploded the moment it hit the Tower Realm's protective shield, the scorching white flames engulfing Nan Feng's figure.
The flames dissipated. Nan Feng remained standing in the same spot. Two layers of the Tower Realm Shield were shattered, but the third layer remained intact. Huo Wu stood three steps in front of him, her chest heaving violently, a complex expression in her amber pupils.
"You held back." Her voice was lower than before, and her breathing was heavier. "I unleashed thirty full-force attacks, and you didn't even use your golden power. You could have easily dodged that punch with that Teleportation technique—but you didn't. You took my full-force attack head-on, just to show me the difference in strength."
Nan Feng was silent for a moment.
Huo Wu pulled her fist back and flicked her wrist. The dark red flames around her slowly receded, revealing her dark red bodysuit soaked with sweat. She looked down at her clenched fist, where a small crack ran across the surface—a mark left by the excessive compression of her Blazing Sun Soul Power.
"That Teleportation— " She looked up at Nan Feng, "If it's not Soul Skill, then what is it?"
"Shrinking the Ground to an Inch," Nan Feng said, "Is a footwork technique from another cultivation system."
Huo Wu stared at him for three seconds. Her amber pupils reflected Nan Feng's figure and the star patterns flowing on the light membrane of the Tower Realm. She bit her lip.
"Next time," she took a step back, pulling her fist to her side, "Next time I'll force you to use it. That golden power, that Teleportation, I'll force it all out."
Nan Feng looked at her but did not answer.
Huo Wu turned and walked towards the edge of the training ground, stopping after a few steps. She didn't look back, but her shoulders were tense, her long crimson hair swayed gently in the morning breeze, and there was a very faint red mark on the tips of her ears, whether it was the heat of the Blazing Sun Martial Soul or something else, it was hard to tell.
"Hello." She suddenly spoke, her voice softer than before, carrying a hesitation unlike that of Huo Wu.
Nan Feng looked at her.
Huo Wu turned her head, her amber eyes shining brightly in the morning light. Her expression carried a deliberate fierceness, as if she were concealing something, but the curve of her lips betrayed her true intentions.
Do you have a girlfriend?
The Nan Feng choked.
Huo Wu stared at him for two seconds, then burst into laughter. Her laughter was louder than before, her long crimson hair whipped in the wind, and her entire silhouette shone brightly in the morning light. She turned around and walked towards the exit of the martial arts arena. After a few steps, she turned back and waved to Nan Feng, her movements exuding a carefree and dashing air.
"I'll go back to the Blazing Fire Academy and wait for you. You promised to help me evolve my Martial Soul —don't renege on your promise."
Her figure disappeared at the exit of the training ground. The crimson flames lingered in the air for a few breaths before being dispersed by the autumn wind. Nan Feng stood in the center of the training ground, the light membrane of the Tower Realm slowly retracting into her body, the red ribbon on her left wrist fluttering in the morning breeze.
The Old Huai poked its head out from the immortal tree, its semi-transparent remnant soul swaying in the Tower Spirit Space.
"That girl," Old Huai said with a rare hint of amusement, "Has a temper as fiery as fire, but she's quite good at hiding her true thoughts."
Nan Feng didn't reply. He looked down at his right fist, where the heat from Huo Wu's full-force attack still lingered. That burning sensation spread from his palm to his dantian, creating a subtle resonance with the Primordial World Power.
He turned and walked towards the inn. With a light step, he Shrinking the Ground to an Inch and disappeared from the training ground.
Within the Tower Spirit Space, the Fire Spirit Crystal floated quietly beside the Life Origin Stone, its dark red light patterns and emerald green life luster intertwining. His Soul Power was stuck at level 77, not a multiple of ten. Golden light flickered quietly in his Peng Eye, Treasure-Appraising Spirit Light spread through his mind, his perception range covering a thousand paces. The spatial law of Shrinking the Ground to an Inch unfolded beneath his feet, and the black annihilation patterns of the Tower Suppression · Return to the Void glowed faintly on the tower's surface.
After a year and a half of settling down in Heaven Dou City and stabilizing his Soul Power at level 79, he will go to the Abyss to find the Nine Netherworlds Dark Python. The seventh ring, 120,000 years, a red Soul Ring. Then the eighth ring, the ninth ring, 108 divine abilities. Then the Far North rift, the Abyssal Outer Domain, the Divine Realm.
The red ribbon on her left wrist fluttered gently in the autumn breeze. Nan Feng sat cross-legged in the inn, sinking into cultivation. The Fire Spirit Crystal spun quietly in the Tower Spirit Space, its dark red patterns and emerald green life luster intertwining deep within her soul.