17: Chapter 17 The Solution to Evil Fire

On the cold jade bed.

Ma Xiaotao's eyelashes trembled slightly, and she slowly opened those alluring phoenix eyes.

The demonic crimson tint in her eyes had completely faded, returning to its usual clarity, though she still looked somewhat weak.

Su Chen squatted down and looked at Ma Xiaotao's face as its color gradually returned, his brows furrowed tightly.

“Sister Xiaotao, how are you feeling?”

“I... feel much better.”

Ma Xiaotao's voice was still weak, carrying a hint of raspy sexiness.

She struggled to sit up but lacked the strength.

Su Chen reached out to support her, helping her sit steadily against the head of the bed.

He withdrew his hand and asked with a serious expression:

“After the last suppression, it was clearly stable for a month. Why was the interval so short this time?”

“Did you touch something that could stimulate the evil fire?”

Hearing this, Yan Shaozhe's gaze also sharpened as he stared intently at Ma Xiaotao.

Ma Xiaotao's eyes flickered evasively, then, as if remembering something, she raised a hand to press against her chest.

She caught her breath before whispering:

“A few days ago, I went to the edge of the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt Spirit Beasts.”

“I encountered a ten-thousand-year-old fire-attribute Demonic Lion; its flames carried a very strong violent aura.”

“I didn't pay much attention to it at the time, but I didn't expect that after returning, the evil fire in my body would start acting up.”

“Foolish!”

Yan Shaozhe stood to the side, his face as black as the bottom of a pot. He stroked his beard, his tone full of frustration at her lack of better judgment.

“The Phoenix Martial Soul naturally coexists with Yin and Yang, and your evil fire grows stronger when it meets strength.”

“That Demonic Lion's violent aura was practically a grand tonic for your evil fire, and you dared to provoke it?”

Yan Shaozhe grew angrier as he spoke.

“It seems that from now on, not only must we control your cultivation speed, but even the Spirit Beasts you hunt must be strictly screened.”

“You are absolutely forbidden from touching any fire-type Spirit Beasts with dark, evil, or violent attributes!”

Ma Xiaotao lowered her head, her fiery red hair falling down and obscuring her expression.

She knew her teacher was doing it for her own good, so she could only give a small “Mhm” in response.

In that state, she looked like a little girl who had done something wrong, lacking even a hint of her usual domineering, older-sister persona.

Listening from the side, Su Chen's heart also sank.

This was treating the symptoms, not the root cause.

Yan Shaozhe was still huffing and puffing, but as he scolded, his tone suddenly shifted.

“Constant suppression is ultimately a poor strategy.”

“To eradicate it, we must work on the concept of 'mutual generation and restriction'.”

As soon as these words were spoken, not only Ma Xiaotao but even Su Chen was stunned for a moment.

Yan Shaozhe put his hands behind his back, walked slowly to Su Chen's side, gave his back a heavy pat, and intentionally raised his voice a few notches.

“Little Chen, the Prison-Suppressing Thunder Breath in your body, evolved from Chaos Qi, is a special existence of ultimate Yang and ultimate Cold.”

“And the evil fire produced in Xiaotao's body is a substance of ultimate Yin and ultimate Aridity.”

“One Yin and one Yang, one cold and one hot...”

“If these two powers could truly 'merge' a bit, allowing the Thunder Breath to temper the evil fire...”

Yan Shaozhe drew out his words, looking at Su Chen and winking.

“That effect, tsk tsk, might just allow Xiaotao's evil fire to completely transform, becoming a pure Divine Fire Phoenix!”

Merge?

How to merge?

Even if Su Chen hadn't 'eaten pork' in his past life, he had certainly 'seen pigs run'.

He instantly reacted to the improper hint in Yan Shaozhe's words.

“Elder Yan, you...”

He was just about to speak up in protest.

But Yan Shaozhe had already sent him a look that said “Don't let me down, kid,” forcefully making Su Chen swallow his words back down.

“Ahem.”

Su Chen could only cough twice and take a deep breath to calm himself down.

In his mind, plot points from the original work flashed by rapidly.

The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, the Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower.

That thing was the treasure Ma Hongjun used back then to purify his evil fire.

Although that place had long since become a legend and was surrounded by deadly toxins that ordinary people couldn't penetrate.

But it still sounded more normal than Yan Shaozhe's unreliable “merging” therapy.

He took a deep breath, turned to look at Ma Xiaotao, and his expression became incredibly serious.

“Sister Xiaotao, there is actually another way to fundamentally cure your evil fire.”

“What way?”

Ma Xiaotao's phoenix eyes lit up.

“Your ancestor, Senior Ma Hongjun, was also deeply troubled by evil fire back then.”

“Later, he was fortunate enough to consume an immortal herb called the 'Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower', which completely solved the problem.”

“That immortal herb can not only suppress evil fire but also purify the flames and nourish the origin of the Spirit.”

“If we can find it, perhaps we can solve this once and for all.”

Even as he said this, Su Chen didn't speak the second half.

Such an immortal grade grew in a forbidden land like the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, blooming once every hundred years and bearing fruit once every thousand.

Guarding it were terrifying Spirit Beasts of the hundred-thousand-year level.

With their current strength, let alone picking the herb, they didn't even have the qualifications to get close to that place; going there would just be throwing their lives away.

As soon as Su Chen finished speaking, Yan Shaozhe directly shook his head.

“Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower?”

He gave a sneer, as if he had heard some fairy tale.

“That thing is rarer than a hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beast transforming into a human.”

“You think it's like a cabbage on the side of the road that you can find just by looking?”

“Back then, Senior Tang San was able to obtain such a fortunate opportunity because he was the chosen one, blessed by fate. Anyone else wouldn't even be able to find where the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well is.”

After Yan Shaozhe finished speaking, he ignored Su Chen and walked up to Ma Xiaotao.

His expression became serious.

“Xiaotao, think back carefully.”

“Just now when Su Chen's Thunder Breath entered your body, what was the reaction of your evil fire?”

This question hit the mark.

Ma Xiaotao was stunned for a moment, then she reacted.

“I... when my evil fire erupted...”

“The feeling of the Thunder Breath... flowing through my body...”

She paused, seemingly gathering immense courage.

“It was very comfortable.”

After saying those four words, she quickly glanced at Su Chen and then lowered her head like a lightning bolt.

Her small earlobes were already so red they looked like they might drip blood.

“Hahaha!”

Seeing this, Yan Shaozhe clapped his hands and laughed loudly.

“Little Chen, you see, your Chaos Thunder Breath can both save her from fire and water and complement her Phoenix Fire.”

“This is perhaps destiny at work.”

He waved his hand, making a final decision.

“When Xiaotao's body is better, you two should get closer and 'exchange' more!”

“Maybe after a few more times, this evil fire will dissipate on its own!”

Su Chen: “...”

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but met Ma Xiaotao's secretly raised phoenix eyes.

In those bright phoenix eyes, the usual dominance and sharpness had faded, leaving only a bit of shyness and a hint of... expectation.

Su Chen's heart skipped a beat.

Immediately following that, fragments of the original work began to flash wildly in his mind like a movie.

Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament.

Star Luo Empire.

The Ma Xiaotao of that time was practically a walking, brainless powder keg.

Once she got worked up, not even nine oxen could pull her back.

Knowing full well that her attacks were useless, she would still charge forward recklessly.

She even pinned the protagonist to the ground and gave him a brutal beating in front of everyone.

That scene, tsk.

She was a pure, unstable factor.

A layer of cold sweat quietly broke out on Su Chen's back.

Get “closer” to a woman like this?

“Exchange” more?

What a joke.

If he failed to serve her well one day and this big sister's evil fire flared up, giving him a set of her “loving combination punches,” who could withstand that!

Too terrifying!

He absolutely could not have this thought!

Su Chen subconsciously shook his head, throwing Yan Shaozhe's unreliable proposal out of his mind.