Douluo Continent: Thunder Roar

The dean's office on the third floor of the Martial Soul Department's office building was quiet.

When Ma Xiaotao pushed open the door, Yan Shaozhe was sitting behind his desk, looking down at the documents in his hand. The moonlight from outside the window shone in and fell on his profile, outlining a somewhat cold and hard face.

"Teacher." Ma Xiaotao stood at the door, her voice soft and gentle, without the slightest hint of her usual arrogance.

Yan Shaozhe raised his head, glanced at her indifferently, and said in a calm but authoritative tone: "Come in and close the door behind you."

Ma Xiaotao followed instructions and entered the office, gently closing the door. She stood there with her hands at her sides, without speaking.

Yan Shaozhe did not let her sit down, but just stared at her with a deep gaze. His gaze seemed calm, but it carried an invisible sense of pressure, which made Ma Xiaotao subconsciously lower her head.

"Tell me about what happened on Lake Poseidon," Yan Shaozhe spoke first, breaking the silence in the room.

Ma Xiaotao lowered her head and said in a very low voice, "I just... sparred with Ling Yu."

"A friendly spar?" Yan Shaozhe's tone was a bit colder, with obvious displeasure. "The academy has a fighting arena with referees and spectators. If you want to spar, you can do so openly and fairly. But you insisted on going to Sea God Lake for a private duel, causing chaos throughout the entire inner academy."

Ma Xiaotao pursed her lips, clenched the hem of her clothes, but ultimately didn't dare to argue, and remained silent with her head down.

Yan Shaozhe stared at her for a few seconds, then stopped asking about the private fight. Suddenly, he changed the subject: "That Ling Yu, how strong is he?"

Ma Xiaotao was taken aback, clearly not expecting her teacher to suddenly ask this question. After considering for a moment, she slowly said, "He... is quite strong."

"Pretty strong?" Yan Shaozhe raised an eyebrow, his tone tinged with a hint of probing. "You're a six-ring Soul Emperor, the top student in the inner academy. A three-ring freshman, and you just call him 'pretty strong'?"

Ma Xiaotao raised her head, glanced at him quickly, and then quickly lowered her head again.

She knew that her teacher was testing Ling Yu's true strength. After hesitating for a moment, she finally told the truth: "After he activated his second martial soul, I couldn't beat him."

Yan Shaozhe's eyes narrowed slightly, and he leaned forward slightly: "A second martial soul?"

"Hmm." Ma Xiaotao nodded, recalling the scene carefully. "After transforming, his speed, strength, and defense all increased significantly compared to before."

Yan Shaozhe remained silent for a few seconds, then lightly tapped his fingertips on the table.

Twin Martial Souls. He recalled the report about Ling Yu at the Sea God Pavilion meeting, which said that his soul ring configuration far exceeded the theoretical limit. Now it seems that this kid has more secrets than he imagined.

"Those strange moves of his," Yan Shaozhe asked again, his tone inquisitive, "aren't they soul skills?"

Ma Xiaotao shook her head: "No. He can condense water into walls and lightning into light blades. He doesn't need to activate his soul rings to unleash those moves; he can just form a few hand gestures and release them himself."

Yan Shaozhe's gaze deepened, and he stopped tapping his fingers.

Self-created soul skills?

And there's more than one kind?

It's truly remarkable that a newcomer could create so many techniques that don't require the activation of spirit rings.

He paused for a moment, then returned to the core question: "How did he manage to suppress your evil fire?"

Ma Xiaotao closed her eyes, carefully recalling the scene on the Sea God Lake that day, and slowly said, "He used a sealing technique, not a simple suppression. He drew the evil fire out of my body, sealed it in a scroll, and took it away."

Yan Shaozhe's brows furrowed tightly, and his body stiffened slightly.

Sealing technique?

Can it directly remove pathogenic heat from the body?

He studied Ma Xiaotao's evil fire for more than ten years, trying every possible method and searching for all kinds of suitable martial souls, but he still couldn't completely solve it.

Xu Sanshi's water-attribute martial soul had some effect at first, but it became weaker and weaker later. He originally thought that he could only find Xiao Tao an extreme ice-attribute partner to barely suppress the evil fire.

But this Ling Yu, a freshman from the Third Ring Road, actually managed to do something that he hadn't been able to do for over a decade?

Yan Shaozhe remained silent for a long time, his gaze falling on Ma Xiaotao. He clearly saw the fleeting light in her eyes when she mentioned Ling Yu.

He instantly made a decision—this girl had feelings for that boy, and not just a little bit.

He withdrew his gaze, picked up the teacup on the table, took a small sip, and his tone gradually softened: "Xiao Tao, how much do you know about Ling Yu?"

Ma Xiaotao paused for a moment, then looked up blankly: "You understand?"

"His background, his origins, why he came to Shrek Academy," Yan Shaozhe looked at her, his tone serious, "do you know all of this?"

Ma Xiaotao opened her mouth, but found that she couldn't say a word.

All she knew was that his name was Ling Yu, that he was a freshman, that he defeated Zhou Yi, helped her seal the evil fire, and that he had a grand and interesting ideal.

As for his origins and background, she knew nothing about them.

Yan Shaozhe looked at her bewildered expression and gently shook his head: "You don't know anything, yet you dare to get so close to him?"

Ma Xiaotao lowered her head, feeling a little wronged, but unable to refute it.

Ling Yu could talk to his teacher about some things, so that the teacher could see his talent and strength and gradually recognize him. But she absolutely could not talk about the "Akatsuki" organization. Judging from the teacher's attitude, he obviously did not agree with that kind of ideology. If she told him, the teacher would definitely make things difficult for Ling Yu in every way.

Yan Shaozhe put down his teacup, the bottom of which clinked softly against the table. "That kid is no ordinary person. He was able to beat Zhou Yi on the first day of school, fight you to a draw, and even use a sealing technique to strip away your evil fire. Do you think someone like that has nothing behind him?"

Ma Xiaotao suddenly raised her head, her tone urgent: "Teacher, you mean... he has someone backing him up?"

"I didn't say anything," Yan Shaozhe interrupted her, his tone still serious. "I'm just reminding you to be more careful and not be too naive."

He paused, his tone softening slightly: "However, since he was able to help you seal the evil fire, that's truly a rare skill. You can spend more time with him in the future; he can be of help with the evil fire."

Ma Xiaotao was stunned for a moment, hardly believing her ears. She looked at Yan Shaozhe's calm face, trying to see something in it, but she only saw indifference, without any trace of joy or anger.

"Alright," Yan Shaozhe waved his hand, "I won't pursue this matter of the private fight this time, but don't let it happen again."

Ma Xiaotao breathed a sigh of relief and quickly said, "Thank you, teacher."

"Go." Yan Shaozhe closed his eyes, picked up the documents on the table again, and stopped looking at her.

Ma Xiaotao stood up and walked quickly to the door, but then suddenly stopped, turned around and looked at Yan Shaozhe, her tone somewhat cautious: "Teacher, Ling Yu... what he said in the bamboo forest today wasn't meant to offend you. That's just his personality, straightforward, please don't take it to heart."

Yan Shaozhe opened his eyes, raised an eyebrow, and said with a hint of mockery, "What, you're already pleading for him?"

Ma Xiaotao's face flushed instantly. She quickly lowered her head and stammered, "No, I just... I think he didn't mean it."

"Alright," Yan Shaozhe interrupted her, his tone returning to calm. "I know what to do; you don't need to remind me."

Ma Xiaotao glanced at him, and seeing that he didn't seem angry, she felt relieved, gently pushed open the door, and went out.

The door closed slowly, and the office returned to silence.

Yan Shaozhe sat in the chair, staring at the closed door, and remained silent for a long time.

He picked up his teacup again and took a sip. The tea had long since gone cold, just like his thoughts at that moment, a mixture of hot and cold.

He put down his teacup, gave a soft hum, and said with a hint of amusement, "Sealing technique, that's quite interesting."

He stood up and walked to the window. The moonlight still shone on him, making his expression even more profound.

Looking out at the dark bamboo forest, various thoughts raced through my mind—if that kid could really get rid of Xiao Tao's evil fire, perhaps keeping him around wouldn't be a bad thing.

He turned his gaze away, looked up at the night sky, and sighed softly.

Forget it, he couldn't be bothered to interfere too much in the affairs of young people.

As long as that kid doesn't hurt Xiao Tao, doesn't do anything out of line, and doesn't break the academy's rules, he can turn a blind eye.

But if that brat dares to use Xiao Tao, dares to have any bad intentions, dares to harm his disciple...

Yan Shaozhe's eyes instantly turned cold, and a faint sense of pressure emanated from his body, making the moonlight outside the window seem to be tinged with coldness.

Then don't blame him, the dean of the Martial Soul Department, for being impolite.