Shrek Academy, Sea God Island.
Unlike the lively and energetic Outer Court, this island located in the center of the lake was as silent as a prehistoric monster lost in a deep slumber.
Giant ancient trees blocked the sun, turning the light into small golden dots that scattered across the stone path; the air felt heavy with the quiet dignity of many passing centuries.
Deep inside the island, within a private training room, a burning heat moved back and forth like the crashing waves of a tide.
A young woman sat with her legs crossed on a dark stone platform in the middle of the room. Her body was slim and shapely, and her tight red clothes showed off her perfect figure.
Her long red hair was tied back with a simple band, though a few wet strands of hair stuck to her forehead and her neck because of the sweat.
She had a beautiful, sharp face with high eyebrows and long, curled eyelashes that were shut tight at the moment.
Her lips were open just a bit, and her breathing was fast and shaky, with every puff of air carrying a dangerous heat.
Her brows were pulled together in a look of deep pain, as if she were fighting a silent, desperate battle against a wild power inside her.
Evil Fire!
This was the curse that had followed her like a shadow since her Spirit Awakening, eating away at her blood and her mind every single day.
This was what Yan Shaozhe saw when he pushed open the heavy stone door to the private training room.
He stopped for a second; he understood the pain his disciple felt better than anyone else in the world.
It was a problem that had stayed in his mind for years, a sickness he could not fix even after searching everywhere and reading every old book he could find.
But today, a bright spark of hope and excitement suddenly appeared in his eyes.
"Xiaotao!"
He did not shout, but his voice was clearly filled with a sense of joy.
The woman on the stone platform opened her eyes, which were a striking shade of pink.
With a quick thought, she made her body temperature rise, and the sweat on her clothes turned into steam and disappeared instantly.
In just a moment, her face looked calm and bright again, hiding the struggle from before.
"Teacher."
She spoke in a clear, sweet voice that showed how much she respected and cared for the older man.
"What has happened to make you look so happy?"
She gave him a big, honest smile that made it seem like nothing was wrong with her at all.
Yan Shaozhe laughed out loud, and the small lines around his eyes crinkled like flower petals: "Haha! This is definitely something to be happy about."
He looked closely at his disciple and spoke very clearly: "But this isn't for me. It is for you."
"For me?"
Ma Xiaotao was confused, pointing a finger at herself while her pink eyes showed she didn't understand.
"That is right."
Yan Shaozhe stopped joking and looked at her seriously: "In this year's new class, there is a student with the Ultimate Ice power, which is strong enough to stop your Phoenix Evil Fire!"
Ma Xiaotao's eyes lit up when she heard that. If the Evil Fire didn't slow her down, she would be even stronger; she might have been a Spirit Saint by now.
Yan Shaozhe kept talking: "His name is Huo Yuhao. You should spend time with him. He looks good, and his talent is better than anyone I've seen. He is a perfect match for you."
Ma Xiaotao finally realized what he was saying, and her face turned a light shade of red.
"Teacher!"
She spoke a bit louder, sounding annoyed and embarrassed at the same time: "You... please stop trying to set me up with people!"
She looked away, staring at the floor while her long eyelashes shook just a little bit.
"I have not even met this person yet..."
"And he is a brand new student, which means he is eight or nine years younger than I am!"
"Why does age matter?"
Yan Shaozhe waved his hand to dismiss her worry: "Besides, eight or nine years is nothing. All over the world, you see couples who are ten or twenty years apart."
"When I was your age, I always thought that a girl who was a few years older was the most..."
"Teacher."
Ma Xiaotao stopped him from finishing, her voice quiet but very firm and stubborn.
She looked him in the eye and said seriously: "I do not want to marry someone I do not love just to fix my fire problem."
Yan Shaozhe stopped smiling for a second.
"Xiaotao." His voice became much lower: "Your Evil Fire is getting so strong that we can barely keep it under control."
"If the fire takes over and you lose your mind, or even... what do you want me to do then?"
Ma Xiaotao looked down at the ground, hiding her feelings behind her long lashes.
"Teacher, I promise I will find a way to control the fire myself."
Yan Shaozhe felt a tight feeling in his chest; he opened his mouth to try and argue with her.
"Dean!"
A loud voice came from outside the room, stopping him from saying anything else.
Yan Shaozhe frowned, turned around, and opened the stone door again.
Director Du Weilin was standing there, and he looked like he had been running because there was sweat on his face.
Before Yan Shaozhe could even ask what was wrong, the director spoke quickly: "Dean, Huo Yuhao and Zhou Yi are fighting in the Soul Dueling Arena right now!"
Yan Shaozhe sounded very surprised: "They are fighting already?!"
Director Du Weilin nodded, and his face showed that he was just as shocked by the news.
"Yes, they got into a fight during the very first class of the day."
Yan Shaozhe thought about it for a moment, then turned back toward the warm training room.
"Xiaotao, come with me."
"Even if you are not interested in him, at least... just go and see him."
...
At the Soul Dueling Arena, two people stood thirty meters away from each other.
Zhou Yi stood tall with her hands behind her back, and the Red Dragon scales on her skin shone like dark metal in the light.
Even though Zhou Yi wanted to win, she was a teacher and a Spirit Emperor fighting a Spirit Ancestor, so she stayed still to be fair.
"You should attack first, so no one thinks I am being mean to a student."
Huo Yuhao heard her, but he didn't say anything back to her; he just thought to himself: "Then you have already lost!"
Huo Yuhao's first and second spirit rings began to glow. Everyone else thought he was using normal powers, but because of his Simulation power, they were actually very strong ten thousand year abilities!
Invisible mental energy moved out quietly, going through the hot air and reaching toward Zhou Yi.
She didn't even notice it before one of her powers was locked away—specifically her fifth spirit ability.
Right after that, three mental attacks hit Zhou Yi's mind like invisible whips without any warning!
Huo Yuhao's mental power was already at the very high spirit abyss level, while Zhou Yi's mental power was much weaker by comparison.
"Ah!"
Zhou Yi could not stop a cry of pain from coming out of her mouth.
Her body wobbled, and her dragon eyes, which had been full of energy, suddenly looked empty and confused.
She grabbed her head with her scaled hands, pulling at her hair while her back bent from the sharp pain.
In that exact moment, Huo Yuhao moved.
He did not use any more spirit rings or flashy powers, and he didn't make a single extra sound.
He simply... took one step.
The moment his foot touched the ground, he turned into a blur of white light.
He was moving so fast that most people couldn't even see him; when they finally saw him again, he was standing right in front of Zhou Yi.
He was holding a long black sword that had appeared in his hand out of nowhere.
The sword was thin and dark, with no decorations on it, and the edge looked incredibly sharp and cold.
The point of the sword was held perfectly steady, pressing right against the skin of Zhou Yi's throat.
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