"Urgh... Huh? Where or am I?"

A little girl with long red hair and red eyes woke up in a comfortable bed. She looked up at the unfamiliar ceiling and wondered where she was.

The girl sat on the bed.

"What? Where are my burn wounds?" The little girl was surprised to see the state of her body.

She was wearing a simple red one-piece sleeveless dress. But that wasn't what surprised her.

"Where are my burn scars? I'm not dead, am I? Is this place the afterlife?"

The little girl had serious doubts about her current situation. The memories of her being suddenly burned by her own flames are still very vivid within her memory. She's sure it wasn't a nightmare or a hallucination, she really was burned by her own.

But how did she survive? And why doesn't she have any injuries on her body? These questions remained in the girl's head.

"You're not dead, you're alive and well."

At that moment she heard a young boy's voice. She looked in the direction of the voice and saw a 6 year old boy entering the room with a tray with a mountain of food on it.

This boy is naturally Feng Lie.

"Are you that boy who appeared at that moment?" The little girl asked with a bit of caution and doubt.

Before losing consciousness from the pain of being burned alive, she could see Feng Lie approaching her, after which she fainted and woke up here. She didn't know what happened after that but at least she was healed and healthy.

'Did he save me at that moment? How did he heal me? He doesn't seem like a bad person but I can't let myself down, I've been through a lot of difficulties these past 2 years and I know I can't trust others.'

The little girl had a lot of doubts in her head and she didn't know whether or not to trust the little boy who was there.

"So you remember me? My name is Feng Lie and I brought you here, to my base. Are you hungry? I don't know what you like so I brought you a little bit of everything, I hope you might like it of this food that I prepared."

Feng Lie spoke with a smile in a friendly way, he tried to make a good first impression on the little girl.

"I'm sorry but I'm not hungry-"

*GGHHNNNNRRRR*

The little girl tried to decline the food politely but her stomach got the better of her. She was very embarrassed and her face completely red.

Feng Lie tried to contain his laughter at such a cute situation. Something that was noticed by the little girl and made her even more embarrassed and upset. In the end, there was no way she could refuse the food, which Feng Lie did.

When she took the first bite of food her eyes widened.

"It's delicious!!"

She exclaimed with shining eyes, in her entire life this was the most delicious food she had ever eaten. After that she quickly ate the food, she was so hungry and the food was so delicious that it made her finish eating in two minutes.

"Was it to your liking?" Feng Lie asked with a bit of surprise, a mountain of food disappeared in no time and it fit this small body.

"It was great! This is the best food I've ever eaten in my entire life, did you make this delicious food?" the little girl asked. Any caution or doubt that had been in her head had already been greatly diminished.

"I'm glad you liked it, I put some effort into making good food. By the way, you still haven't told me your name." Feng Lie spoke. He enjoyed hearing her compliments about her food.

"Uh, ahh! I'm sorry, I haven't said my own name yet. My name is... Xiatao." The little girl who introduced herself as Xiaotao spoke. Though she was hesitant and felt a little guilty about not being completely honest with him.

"Xiaotao, huh? It's a beautiful name." Feng Lie said with a thoughtful and amused expression on his face. He held his chin with his right hand.

"Xiaotao, how are you feeling? Do you still feel any burning inside you?" Feng Lie asked with a bit of concern.

"No, I feel great. Did you heal me, Feng Lie?" Xiaotao asked, she was curious to know.

"Yes, I extinguished your Evil Fire and healed your wounds." Feng Lie replied with a simple smile, as if he hadn't done a big deal.

"But how did you do it? As far as I can see there is no burn scar on my body, are you a healing Spiritual Master?" Xiaotao asked.

"I think I'll be more convincing if I show proof before your eyes."

Feng Lie took a small knife from the tray and made a small cut on his index finger. A little blood fell but in the next moment black steam enveloped his finger and the small cut disappeared.

"Thank you so much for healing me. I have nothing on me but I promise I'll make it up to you somehow." Xiaotao spoke gratefully. Now she was convinced he had cured her.

"Oh, since you want to make it up to me then I won't be polite. Xiaotao, before I tell you what I want to get in return I need to tell you about your delicate situation." Feng Lie spoke seriously.

"What do you mean by that?" Xiaotao was a little worried.

"Xiaotao can you show me your Martial Spirit and Spirit Ring?" Feng Lie asked.

"Clear." Although she had a slight hesitation, she followed Feng Lie's request.

A small white spirit ring appeared on her hand and a small dark red flaming bird appeared inside the spirit ring.

"What?!"

Xiaotao exclaimed in surprise at what she saw, her martial spirit was very different from the last time she saw it. Before her Martial Spirit was a flaming Eagle. But now it's a...

"Is it a Phoenix?!" Xiaotao never in his dreams would have thought that one day her Martial Spirit would evolve. She even remembered the words of her clan elders.

Someday in the future, the Phoenix will return to the Douluo continent.

"Oh, it's the first time I've seen a phoenix. Judging by your expression I should assume your Martial Spirit wasn't like that, right?"

"I have good and bad news for you about your martial spirit. Which one do you want to hear first?"

Feng Lie asked her.

"Ahh? The good news?" Xiaotao didn't know which one to choose so she chose to hear the good news first.

"Okay, the good news is that your Martial Spirit has evolved into an Evil Fire Phoenix, thus making you one of the most powerful Martial Spirits on the continent. The power and temperature of your flames are very close to the Ultimate Fire level. ." Feng Lie spoke with a small smile, as if he wanted to congratulate Xiaotao.

"Really, that's good!!" The little girl didn't understand what Ultimate Fire meant, but if it means that her Martial Spirit has gotten stronger then she is very happy to hear about it.

"But unfortunately every advantage brings with it a disadvantage. Because of the Evil Fire attribute your life is in constant danger." Feng Lie spoke with a bit of concern and pity for the little girl.

"What do you mean by that?" Xiaotao asked with a bit of concern. She felt a bad premonition in Feng Lie's words.

"The Evil Fire attribute that exists in your martial spirit is very powerful, this type of flame is also exceptionally monstrous, not only is the temperature of the flame extremely high, but it also has very powerful sticking properties, very difficult to extinguish."

"Although its Martial Spirit is very powerful, unfortunately there is a huge defect, as it creates an effect on the user's body. The Evil Fire creates a strong sexual desire, in addition to making you have appetite impulses 10 times greater than a person's. common. If this Evil Fire is only suppressed and not driven, then it is very likely that you will combust and end up exploding."

“What happened to you before might have been a reaction when your martial spirit received your Spirit Ring, spirit rings can influence martial spirits when they are absorbed so you need to be careful when choosing the Spirit Beast of the Spirit Ring. growing and becoming stronger and stronger as a Spirit Master, your Evil Fire will also grow stronger."

Feng Lie explained to her with a calm expression.

"But this... isn't there any way to solve this Evil Fire?" Xiaotao asked with a lot of insecurity and concern. She understood the gravity of her situation. She wanted to become strong to avenge her clan that was destroyed 2 years ago.

"There are a few ways to change your situation, but for now the only viable way available to you is to cool your Evil Fire with icy energy." Feng Lie spoke.

"So I just need to find an ice element Spirit Master to help me?" Xiaotao asked a little discouraged because in her current situation it wouldn't be easy to get some Spiritual Master's cooperation. No one would want to help her if she knew her circumstances. And she doesn't have a lot of money either, which makes her situation even more difficult.

"Unfortunately, it's not as simple as it seems. Due to the Evil Fire level being very close to the Ultimate Fire level, ordinary spirit masters of the ice element will have little or no effect in helping you, only ice at the Ultimate level would be able to help you. to cool the Evil Fire."

Xiaotao's face turned even more bitter after hearing this, because even though she doesn't know exactly what Ultimate Fire or Ultimate Ice is, she knows that it must be extremely rare and difficult to find nowadays.

"You don't need to worry about looking for Ultimate Ice, I myself am enough to cool your Evil Fire." Feng Lie crossed his arms with a confident smile.

"Feng Lie aren't you a healing Spiritual Master?" Xiaotao asked in confusion as she didn't think that Feng Lie himself would be able to help her.

Feng Lie didn't say anything, he just lightly waved his right hand and the temperature in the room dropped drastically causing a few ice spikes to appear floating in Feng Lie's hand.

Xiaotao felt an intense cold, she could feel that this was not an ordinary cold that a Spiritual Master could create. At that moment, a small hope appeared in Xiaotao's head.

"Feng Lie do you have Ultimate Ice?" Xiaotao asked curiously.

"Not exactly, I have the power to manipulate the temperature however I want, whether it's to reach Ultimate Fire or Ultimate Ice, that's pretty easy for me." Feng Lie spoke confidently.

The only limitation of his Herrscher powers is the amount of Honkai energy he currently has, but the potency level of Herrscher powers has never been nerfed. So using Herrscher of Ice's powers on Xiaotao is no problem for him.

"Xiaotao, I can help you keep your Evil Fire under control so that you can grow stronger with peace of mind, but I have one condition." Feng Lie calmly spoke to me as he sat down beside Xiaotao.

"What do you want from me?" Xiaotao asked with a bit of apprehension, after all she didn't have anything of value with her.

"You don't need to worry so much, it's nothing too serious. I want you to become my subordinate and for you to join the organization I intend to create. I promise that in addition to ensuring that your Evil Fire won't be a problem for you I will also guide you on the path of cultivation Spirit Masters, as I possess an amount of knowledge that can rival the Spirit Hall library. I also promise that I will give you the best spirit rings suitable for you, as well as a few more resources. of cultivation."

Feng Lie proposed to Xiaotao.

Feng Lie had already decided to create a loyal organization for him. He had no desire to join any existing clan or sect on the Douluo continent, after all he would need to start from the bottom to rise, and even if he already starts in a high position he would still be restricted under some rules.

Rather than obeying a sect or clan, isn't it better to create my own organization and be the leader with absolute power without being questioned? With that thought Feng Lie made that decision.

Since he obtained the knowledge of Spirit Masters and Spirit Beasts he understood how highly valued spirit rings are, in the future when he has a large collection of spirit rings he will be able to distribute the will to his subordinates.

Of course, Feng Lie also decided to make his subordinates sign a contract made with magecraft to not betray him, but in exchange for that they will receive a lot of benefits that will make all other powerhouses on the Douluo continent look poor.

Feng Lie plans to keep a low profile for now after all, there are many sects and clans with considerable power that he doesn't dare to offend right now. But in the future none of them will be a problem.

"Feng Lie... I'm sorry but I can't accept your proposal." Xiaotao spoke with an apology.

"May I know the reason? If there was something you didn't like then I..." Feng Lie kept his cool and spoke.

"It's not like that Feng Lie. Actually I would like to join you, but if I do then I'll be dragging you into my own problems." Xiaotao spoke with a slightly guilty and sad expression.

In fact, she wished she could accept Feng Lie's offer. Because Feng Lie said some truths that she couldn't ignore about his martial spirit. He managed to prove that he had a lot of knowledge about spirit masters, he also had how to suppress their Evil Fire. She is not so naive as to easily believe others, but Feng Lie has come up with several points that prove his words.

But unfortunately she didn't want to drag him into her problems.

"Feng Lie, actually my full name is Ma Xiaotao and I'm being chased around Spirit Hall."

Ma Xiaotao spoke with a bit of hesitation and frustration.