Douluo Dalu: Path of Power

Since Bei Xuan and Ma Hongjun appeared so young, Huo Wushuang softened his tone when speaking to them. Bei Xuan hadn't expected that someone with the Unihorn Blazing Fire Dragon as his martial soul would have a demeanor so unlike his spirit.

Seems like a decent guy. That was Bei Xuan's first impression of Huo Wushuang.

"Hello, senior. We're not in the wrong place. We're here to enroll in the Intermediate Academy," Bei Xuan said.

"What? Just you two? How old are you even? Stop messing around and get out of here. Don't disturb our admissions process." Huo Wushuang remained silent, but beside him, Huo Wu impatiently waved them away.

It seemed as if these siblings had been given the wrong martial souls at birth— the fiery spirit ended up with the gentle older brother, while the temperamental sister received the graceful Fire Shadow.

Bei Xuan wasn't good at dealing with hot-tempered girls, and he knew that arguing would be pointless. Instead, he turned to Ma Hongjun and said, "Hongjun, activate your martial soul. Let our seniors take a look."

Ma Hongjun nodded. Without hesitation, he and Bei Xuan released their martial souls.

A sudden phoenix cry echoed as two completely opposite forces surged from their bodies.

One was an ultra-high-temperature flame that surpassed even the Unihorn Blazing Fire Dragon's fire. The other was enveloped in dark energy—though burning with purple flames, it made the surrounding temperature drop slightly instead.

Both of them were surrounded by a single yellow soul ring. Huo Wushuang and Huo Wu were instantly stunned—these two kids, barely six years old, had already reached level ten or above!

At that moment, a male teacher, who had been dozing off, abruptly woke up. In a flash, he moved at high speed from his recliner to stand before them.

"These martial souls…?" The teacher first looked at Ma Hongjun. Unlike the inexperienced Martial Soul Hall Awakening Master, who had once mistaken his spirit for a mere fire chicken, this well-informed teacher instantly recognized the truth. "This scorching temperature… and the phoenix cry just now… Could this be the most powerful fire-attribute martial soul— the Fire Phoenix?"

"Yes, sir. My martial soul is the Fire Phoenix." Ma Hongjun spoke with pride. Under Yulin's guidance, he now fully understood how powerful and rare his martial soul truly was.

Huo Wushuang and Huo Wu also understood this. They were well aware of the strength of a Phoenix martial soul. Their rival academy, Tianshui Academy, had a student with an Ice Phoenix martial soul. Despite being younger than them, she had already reached a level nearly on par with theirs.

And in a real fight, neither Huo Wushuang's Unihorn Blazing Fire Dragon nor Huo Wu's Fire Shadow could match her Ice Phoenix. The difference in martial soul quality was simply too great.

An unexpected surprise! That was the only thought in their minds. Our Blazing Fire Academy finally has its own Fire Phoenix!

The teacher looked very satisfied. With such a martial soul, it might not be impossible to make an exception and admit Ma Hongjun into the Intermediate Academy early.

As Bei Xuan had said before, in this world, everything was determined by strength.

The teacher then turned his gaze to Bei Xuan. "A Fire Phoenix is already considered extremely rare, but to think there's also you—someone with a Purple Fire martial soul capable of attacking the soul itself. Forgive my ignorance, child, but could you tell me what your martial soul is?"

"My martial soul is called Nightmare Charm," Bei Xuan explained. "You could consider it a superior version of Dream God Machine's Black Demon martial soul from the Heaven Dou Royal Academy. Like his, it has the ability to pull opponents into dream illusions, but it possesses incredibly strong spiritual power and can burn an enemy's soul and martial soul directly with soul fire."

He couldn't reveal everything about Nightmare Charm's abilities, but this explanation made it much clearer. After all, the Black Demon martial soul was famous across the continent. In an era where there were only about a dozen titled Douluos, Dream God Machine's strength could easily rank in the top thirty.

Huo Wushuang and Huo Wu were overjoyed once more. A superior version of the Black Demon martial soul— one infused with fire and capable of directly burning souls— was in no way inferior to the Fire Phoenix!

It looked like they had just secured a teammate for the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Tournament in eight years.

"All right, you've seen enough now, haven't you?" Yulin stepped forward and spoke. "With the strength of these two nephews of mine, there shouldn't be any problem enrolling in your Intermediate Academy. Now, take me to see your principal. I have something to discuss with him."

His usual carefree demeanor was gone, replaced by an air of authority.

This was the true commander of the Evil Warding Royal Guard— a man who only showed his relaxed side to his family and friends.

"You… are these two children's guardian?" The male teacher was puzzled. Coming in and demanding to see the principal was a bit arrogant. "The principal is usually very busy. If you have any concerns, you can discuss them with me."

"Hmph, a martial soul of Fire Blade, level 58. You're not strong enough. You wouldn't be able to help with what I need to discuss," Yulin said dismissively.

The teacher was startled. This man had identified his martial soul and level without him even releasing his spirit!

That was something even most Soul Emperors couldn't do.

A Soul Saint! That was his immediate assessment of Yulin.

He couldn't afford to be careless now. In the hierarchy of power, a Soul Saint was leagues above a Soul Emperor. A Soul Saint could use their Martial Soul Avatar and take on multiple Soul Emperors at once. On a battlefield, they could move freely within an army of thousands. Only at the rank of Soul Saint did one truly step into the higher echelons of the Douluo Continent.

Huo Wu, always fiery-tempered, couldn't tolerate this anymore. "Hey, old man! You're being really rude! You think you can just demand to see my grandfather whenever you want?"

So, Huo Wu and Huo Wushuang were actually the grandchildren of Blazing Fire Academy's principal. No wonder Huo Wu was so arrogant.

"Huo Wu, show some respect." The teacher quickly scolded her.

If a Soul Saint wanted to meet their principal, it wasn't impossible. Even within Blazing Fire Academy, there were only three Soul Saints— one was the academy's head instructor, while the other two were the deans of the Intermediate and Advanced Academies.

Even the dean of the Elementary Academy was only at the Soul Emperor level.

"Sir, I am Ye Ping, a teacher at Blazing Fire Intermediate Academy. Please, allow me to escort you to the principal's office. This way, please." Ye Ping suddenly became very polite.

Watching Ye Ping change his attitude so quickly, Ma Hongjun gained a deeper understanding of Bei Xuan's words— In this world, strength reigns supreme.

Seeing that there were no more applicants at the Intermediate and Advanced Academies for now, Huo Wu and Huo Wushuang decided to follow along. They wanted to see exactly who this man was— what kind of person had the qualifications to meet their grandfather?