The silver moon was hidden behind clouds. Xu Zihuang, who was meditating cross-legged on a stone pillar, was pulled by a fluctuation in qi and slowly opened his eyes.
Not far away, Ma Xiaotao's six soul rings, two yellow, two purple, and two black, were pulsating at the same frequency. An exceptionally deep black soul ring slowly rose and finally settled at the top position.
At the same moment, golden-red flames enveloped her delicate body. Blazing phoenix flames instantly shot into the sky, covering the heavens in the blink of an eye, accompanied by a resounding phoenix cry.
Dazzling firelight streaked across the horizon, making the entire island seem as though it were plunged into a lava purgatory. As the golden-red phoenix flames rose, they gradually faded, revealing a massive figure.
A golden-red fire phoenix soared in mid-air, its gorgeous fiery-red tail feathers and perfect form proclaiming the majesty of the king of all birds.
Ma Xiaotao circled once in the sky, then revealed her human form and gracefully landed on the top of the stone pillar opposite Xu Zihuang.
Although she had released her Martial Soul Avatar state, her entire body was still covered in a layer of crystalline fiery-red feathers.
Her figure was already exceptionally alluring, and under the reflection of those crystalline, fiery-red feathers, she exuded an even more noble and compelling aura. Combined with her extremely seductive and beautiful face, the impact on the opposite sex was undoubtedly tremendous.
The intense heat baked the stone pillar until it began to grow slightly hot, yet Ma Xiaotao perfectly controlled the ability of her seventh soul skill, the Martial Soul Avatar, and had fully transformed into human form.
"Want to spar?" Ma Xiaotao glared with her almond-shaped eyes; the first words out of her mouth were these, perfectly matching her fierce personality.
Hearing Ma Xiaotao's voice, Xu Zihuang finally withdrew his gaze from her impressive figure and met her eyes.
For him, Ma Xiaotao was similarly the first woman with whom he had intimate contact since his teenage years. His earlier action had been a completely instinctive reaction; excessive restraint would only seem hypocritical.
Ma Xiaotao naturally noticed Xu Zihuang's subtle movement. Recalling the enchanting scene when the two had fallen into the lake years ago, her cheeks couldn't help but flush.
"Stinky brat, what are you looking at?!"
At this moment, Xu Zihuang certainly wouldn't answer Ma Xiaotao's question directly. Instead, he smiled gently and changed the subject.
"It seems Senior Sister Xiaotao's problem with the evil fire of your Evil Fire Phoenix martial soul has been resolved."
Seeing Xu Zihuang's calm demeanor, Ma Xiaotao's expression softened slightly. Because of the shyness in her heart, her earlier reaction had indeed been a bit strong. But most importantly, she didn't feel any aversion to Yu Tianhuang's appreciative gaze.
Whether she was willing to admit it or not, compared to other men, Yu Tianhuang held a somewhat special place.
"Five months ago, in the core area of the Extreme North, I found a snow lotus with 100,000 years of cultivation. Although only half of its petals remained, I still used the medicinal effects of that snow lotus to successfully neutralize the evil fire problem in my body."
"A 100,000-year snow lotus?" Xu Zihuang's gaze grew distant.
Snow lotuses themselves rarely developed intelligence, yet they possessed the purest essence of heaven and earth. In his memories from his previous life, the Snow Empress had used a 100,000-year snow lotus as a catalyst to seal her own origin and successfully reincarnate as a human.
If his judgment was correct, the silver-haired girl who had enrolled at the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy more than five months ago should be the Snow Empress reborn as a human.
And the remaining half of that 100,000-year snow lotus was likely what the Snow Empress had left behind.
This matched perfectly in terms of timing. Even if the Snow Empress didn't announce her departure from the Extreme North with great fanfare, at the very least, the Ice Empress and the Ice Bear King Xiaobai, who were close to her, would have been informed and seen her off.
Yet during that interval, encountering the remaining half of the 100,000-year snow lotus in the core area of the Extreme North could be considered Ma Xiaotao's fortune.
"Half a year ago, the evil fire problem in my body grew increasingly severe. Even the low temperatures in the outer regions of the Extreme North could no longer suppress it. I had no choice but to enter the core area of the Extreme North."
Ma Xiaotao nodded, her expression complicated as she looked at Xu Zihuang and took the initiative to recount her experiences over the past four years in the Extreme North.
Over those four years, she had truly faced death nine times. The dangers she encountered were known only to herself.
And her decision to go to the Extreme North was inextricably linked to Yu Tianhuang.
After silently listening to Ma Xiaotao's account, Xu Zihuang smiled bitterly and said, "Senior Sister Xiaotao, if you had come to me to solve the evil fire problem, I definitely wouldn't have refused."
"As if this old lady would cling to you for a lifetime?" Ma Xiaotao huffed irritably.
But at that moment, both of them suddenly became alert. They sharply looked up toward the southwest direction of the island, the bay in the concave part of this crescent-shaped island.
Several kilometers away, a white shark's head emerged from the sea surface. Its silver eyes flickered with light as it secretly observed them, full of curiosity.
"Demon Spirit Great White Shark?!"
Xu Zihuang and Ma Xiaotao immediately recognized the origin of this soul beast. Judging from its size, this Demon Spirit Great White Shark's cultivation was around 80,000 years. Yet from its strange behavior, its intelligence was no less than that of an ordinary 100,000-year soul beast.
Moreover, this Demon Spirit Great White Shark had managed to approach silently until the moonlight reflected off its smooth skin, creating a glint that alerted the two of them.
Of course, this was because Xu Zihuang had not extended his spiritual force to probe.
No matter how high one's spiritual force realm, it would still tire. On the island, with solid ground beneath their feet and relative safety, he had withdrawn his extended spiritual force during cultivation.
Ma Xiaotao instinctively released her martial soul and soared into the air. The Shrek Academy's inner courtyard had specially taught about the Demon Spirit Great White Shark soul beast. Demon Spirit Great White Sharks were naturally cruel, extremely aggressive, and bloodthirsty.
In her view, this 80,000-year Demon Spirit Great White Shark had clearly targeted them and was preparing a sneak attack.
Sensing the aura of the king of all birds, the Fire Phoenix, from Ma Xiaotao, fear appeared in the shark's eyes.
It wasn't afraid of Ma Xiaotao's cultivation or strength, but rather because phoenixes were the natural predators of almost all snake, insect, and fish-type soul beasts. Having just advanced to Soul Sage, Ma Xiaotao's primal phoenix power was enough to instill instinctive fear in any creature it suppressed.
"Mommy—!"
With a delicate cry in her heart, the Demon Spirit Great White Shark quickly dove back into the water. When it resurfaced, it had already put considerable distance between itself and Xu Zihuang and Ma Xiaotao. The suspicion in its large eyes remained, but now it was mixed with more indignation.
"Mom was right after all, humans really are the greediest and most vicious creatures. I'm the princess of the Demon Spirit Great White Shark clan! Hmph! I clearly didn't do anything, yet you want to attack me!"
"Buzz—" The sea surface suddenly trembled violently. A circle of blue crystalline ripples spread from the shark's forehead, instantly enveloping the island and a large surrounding area of the sea.
Despair Light Wave is one of the innate soul skills of the Demon Spirit Great White Shark clan. This was an area-of-effect control-type spiritual skill. Once successfully enveloped, enemies within the Despair Light Wave would be restrained. If the enemy's spiritual force was too weak, even their soul skills could be temporarily sealed.
After releasing the Despair Light Wave, the Demon Spirit Great White Shark dove underwater and fled far away.
Both Xu Zihuang and Ma Xiaotao had fused high-quality skull spirit bones. Xu Zihuang was completely unaffected by the Despair Light Wave. Ma Xiaotao was only briefly slowed before soaring upward, her anger surging.
"Hmph! Think you can escape? Do you take this old lady for a freeloader?!"
Ma Xiaotao was known in Shrek Academy's inner courtyard as the Flame Mad Demon; her explosive temper was no less than Wu Ming's. Being sneak-attacked by a soul beast now, her fury was unimaginable.
But Xu Zihuang's expression changed slightly. After his spiritual force reached the tangible realm, he could read minds within a certain distance.
He had clearly heard the thoughts in that Demon Spirit Great White Shark's mind just now.
That Demon Spirit Great White Shark was indeed Bai Xiuxiu.
With Bai Xiuxiu, the princess of the Demon Spirit Great White Shark clan, appearing here, it meant the Demon Spirit Great White Shark group was likely nearby, even if she had snuck out alone for now.
Unlike the Evil Demon Orca, Demon Spirit Great White Sharks acted in groups of hundreds. Led by Bai Xiuxiu's mother, the Demon Spirit Great White Shark King, the strength of this group would only be more terrifying.
Yet what concerned Xu Zihuang most was the person behind the Demon Spirit Great White Shark King.
Xu Zihuang waved his right hand, and a massive wall of dark-red crystal appeared in front of Ma Xiaotao.
"Senior Sister Xiaotao, don't chase."
"What are you doing?!"
Ma Xiaotao angrily turned back, but a single sentence from Xu Zihuang calmed her down.
"Demon Spirit Great White Sharks act as an entire clan."
Then Xu Zihuang stepped onto the crystal mirror surface and reached the edge of the island. He took out the Devil Whale from his storage soul guidance device and spoke seriously to Ma Xiaotao.
"Senior Sister Xiaotao, get on. Let's return to the continent first."
He wasn't sure if a certain God King was involved in this matter, but leaving the sea and returning to the continent was undoubtedly the correct choice right now, before the Demon Spirit Great White Shark clan arrived.
Although Ma Xiaotao felt a bit frustrated, she still followed Xu Zihuang's advice, withdrew her martial soul, and landed on the Devil Whale, standing behind him.
Xu Zihuang no longer hesitated. He fully activated the Devil Whale and headed from east to west toward the Extreme North. This was the shortest straight-line distance to the continent, less than a hundred kilometers.
Compared to this sea area where the Demon Spirit Great White Shark clan might appear, the outer regions of the Extreme North were far safer for them. Moreover, that stretch of sea was the territory of the giant Devil Whale, so they wouldn't encounter attacks from powerful sea soul beasts along the way.
And indeed, that was the case. Just one hour later, Xu Zihuang and Ma Xiaotao arrived at the easternmost coastal outer region of the Extreme North.
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