Volume 2, Chapter 67: The Song of Fire
The smell of burnt grease and old iron hung heavy over the red dirt.
Yuhao stood in the middle of the main street, his breath coming in short, ragged gasps. Black oil from the broken mechanical beasts stained his boots. His clothes were torn at the shoulder, showing a patch of skin that still hummed with a strange gold light. The leap to Level 77 Soul Power had happened too fast. His meridians felt like a riverbed that had suddenly been blasted open by a flash flood. He kept his hand wrapped tightly around Wang Qiu'er's wrist, using her solid weight to keep his spinning mind from floating away into the sensory static.
Beside him, Qiu'er didn't move a muscle. Her golden spear was buried six inches into the skull of a mechanical wolf. Her pink eyes were fixed on the northern ridge, where the purple clouds were still bubbling like a pot of bad stew.
"They are coming," she said. Her voice was flat, but her fingers tightened against Yuhao's grip.
"I know," Yuhao whispered. He could feel it through the soles of his feet. The ground wasn't shaking, but the natural rhythm of the dirt had stopped. It felt dead.
From the ridge, a line of silver armor appeared.
They didn't march like regular soldiers. They moved like shadows across the red clay, their white cloaks snapping in the cold wind. There were twelve of them, all carrying long, heavy executioner blades that didn't reflect the light. At the front of the line walked a woman with hair as white as bone.
High Arbitrator Ye Xishui.
She didn't look at the ruined houses or the wounded local guards who were huddled near the well. She looked at the pile of iron scrap and dead flesh in the street. Then she looked at Yuhao.
The pressure hit us before she even took a step down the hill. It wasn't a blast of wind or a flash of fire. It was just a cold, heavy weight that made it hard to draw a full breath. The local guards immediately slumped against the stone walls, their faces pale as they tried not to vomit from the sudden drop in air pressure.
I stayed near the back, leaning against a shattered wooden cart. I pulled a small piece of dried meat from my pocket and started chewing on it. I looked like an old, useless academy teacher who had crawled under a wagon to hide from the big, scary monsters. But under my coat, my hand was resting on my hip. I was already tracking the silver guards. If Ye Xishui tried to put her hands on my kids, I would have to break her neck before she could blink. It would ruin my quiet life at the academy, but some things are worth the trouble.
Ye Xishui stopped ten paces from Yuhao. Her white hair fluttered around her face, but her eyes stayed perfectly still. They were the color of stagnant water.
"Who gave a group of students permission to enter a restricted quarantine zone?" she asked. Her voice was quiet, but it filled the entire street. "This town is under the direct authority of the Hall of Execution. Any unauthorized people are considered hostile."
"We didn't enter the zone, Arbitrator," Yuhao said, stepping forward. He didn't let go of Qiu'er. His Level 77 soul power flared up around them, a thick shield of purple light that pushed back against her cold pressure. "The beasts broke the perimeter. They were targeting the civilian shelters. We stopped them."
Ye Xishui looked at the mechanical wolf pinned under Qiu'er's spear. Her eyes narrowed. "These are not normal beasts. They carry the method of the deep North. They are highly complex tools. A normal Level 70 soul master should have been torn to pieces in three seconds."
She took another step forward. The silver guards behind her drew their blades with a synchronized click.
"You will surrender your weapons and submit to a core extraction," Ye Xishui commanded. "The Hall needs to verify what kind of energy you used to destroy these assets. If you resist, you will be executed on the spot."
"They are my students, High Arbitrator," I called out from my cart, keeping my voice shaky and thin. "They were just trying to help. Surely we can talk about this over a cup of tea back at the academy?"
Ye Xishui didn't even turn her head to look at me. "Be silent, old man. One more word and I will have my guards remove your tongue for interfering with a federal inquiry."
Yuhao's third eye began to bulge under his skin. The golden slit was twitching, ready to blast her with everything his new Soul Core had to offer. I sighed mentally. I was going to have to kill them all. I really hated getting dirt on my favorite boots.
But then, the air changed.
It started with a note. It was a single, long sound that came from the eastern woods. It sounded like a flute, but it didn't carry the light, playful tone of Xiao Xiao's normal music. This note was deep. It carried the smell of old hearths, dry leaves, and the kind of heat that lives deep inside a mountain before it bursts.
The silver blades in the guards' hands began to vibrate.
A second later, a brilliant flash of crimson-gold fire erupted in the center of the street, right between Yuhao and the executioners. It wasn't an explosion. It didn't throw up dirt or knock over the broken carts. It was just a massive, solid pillar of light that tasted like summer. The cold pressure from Ye Xishui didn't just push back; it vanished. It dissolved into the warmth like morning frost on a hot tin roof.
From the heart of the fire, a woman stepped out.
She was tall and elegant, with a slender yet full figure that still carried the quiet grace of a mature woman. Her long black hair was tied high, revealing a graceful neck and a pair of sharp, clear eyes that held both warmth and absolute authority. The white robes of the Phoenix Hall draped over her body in clean lines, the hem embroidered with dozens of golden feathers that seemed to move on their own. She carried a long flute made of dark, polished mahogany, wrapped in thin bands of red gold.
This was Su Qinghe, known to the entire Federation as Adarna, the current Great Priest of the Phoenix Hall. Xiao Xiao's mother.
Su Qinghe came from an old Titled Douluo family. Her father's martial soul had been a rare beast-type spirit — a Crimson Flame Luan bird — while her mother's had been a pure tool-type spirit, an ancient jade flute. The two conflicting bloodlines produced a rare mutation in her: the Nine Phoenix Sacred Flute, a martial soul that was both instrument and living phoenix. She had joined the Federation Martial Soul Hall as a young woman, risen quickly through the ranks, and been chosen by the previous Great Priest as the next Saintess. From the God Realm, I had noticed her. I taught her the Seven Tone Chaos Nirvana myself. When the time came, she succeeded the previous Great Priest and was granted the title Adarna.
In the system I created ten thousand years ago, every Great Priest of the Phoenix Hall received a title drawn from the gods of the heavens from my previous life. Those who carried fire or pure light Phoenix blood were called Apo-Laki if they were men, or Hanan if they were women. Those whose power leaned toward ice, water, darkness, or the moon were named Amanikable or Mayari. Those who carried the light of the stars could take the name Tala. And those whose Phoenix martial soul was tied to music and song — the rarest of all — received the title Adarna, regardless of gender.
To the people of the Douluo world, the name Adarna did not really mean the mythical bird that could heal or put the world to sleep with a single note. It was also the name of my own martial soul — the Phoenix-Adarna, the God-level Martial Soul. If i remember it right, it's not normal because it's not just a simple Ibong Adarna, but like a fusion of the Fire Phoenix and the Ibong Adarna. In their eyes, the title Adarna was not just a rank. It was a direct connection to me, the Phoenix God himself.
Adarna's martial soul, the Nine Phoenix Sacred Flute, hovered just behind her shoulder like a ghost made of sparks. She didn't look like a soldier, but the moment her bare feet touched the red clay, the entire valley felt steady again.
"The Hall of Execution has many rights, Ye Xishui," Adarna said. Her voice was smooth, like water flowing over smooth river stones. "But you do not have the right to touch the children of the flame."
Ye Xishui's face went completely stiff. She didn't drop her guard, but she didn't advance either. "Great Priest. The Phoenix Hall stays in the temples. This is a military matter. These children are carrying an anomalous power that threatens the stability of the border."
"They are carrying my orders," Adarna lied perfectly. She didn't even blink. "The Phoenix Hall handles the anomalies of the deep earth. These forged husks are a desecration of the natural order, which means they fall under my jurisdiction. Your silver guards have no power here."
"The Federation will hear about this," Ye Xishui said, her voice dropping an octave.
"Let them hear it," Adarna replied, bringing her dark flute to her side. "But if your men take one more step toward these students, I will play the second tone. And you know what happens to silver when it meets the furnace."
The silence returned, but it wasn't cold anymore. It was hot and tight.
Ye Xishui looked at Adarna, then her eyes drifted past her. She looked at Yuhao, noting the sheer density of the purple aura around his head. She knew a normal teenager couldn't hold that kind of power without exploding. There was something else here. A hidden hand.
Adarna turned her head slightly. She didn't look at her daughter, Xiao Xiao, who was staring at her with wide eyes from the ridge. Instead, the Great Priest looked straight at me.
She didn't say a word. But she lowered her chin, her eyes dropping to the ground in a deep, formal bow of absolute reverence. It was the kind of bow a servant gives to an emperor when the world is looking away. It lasted for only a fraction of a second, but it was there.
Xiao Xiao saw it. I saw her grip on her bamboo flute go slack, her mouth opening slightly as she realized what her mother had just done.
Ye Xishui caught the movement too. Her stagnant eyes followed the line of Adarna's gaze, landing squarely on me. I was still leaning against the broken cart, pretending to clean a spot of mud off my sleeve, but the old woman wasn't stupid. She had survived a hundred wars by noticing the small details. A Great Priest of the Phoenix Hall doesn't bow to a dirty academy teacher unless that teacher is someone who can rewrite the map with a thought.
"Withdraw," Ye Xishui hissed suddenly.
The silver guards didn't hesitate. They sheared away from the street like a flock of white birds, moving back into the purple mist of the valley. Ye Xishui gave me one last, long look before she vanished into the shadows. She didn't have proof, but she had a name now. The highest authorities in the capital would be talking about "Professor Lakas" before the sun went down.
The danger was gone, but the air was still thick with questions.
Adarna turned to her daughter, her robes rustling against the red dirt. "The academy is no longer safe for you three," she said quietly. "The sky is breaking. You need to prepare."
I stood up from the broken cart and stretched my back. "She's right. We're done here for today. Let's go home."
We left the red-dirt town behind and made our way back to Anito Academy. The journey was quiet. Yuhao kept glancing at me, questions clearly burning in his eyes, but he held them back. Qiu'er stayed close to him, and Xiao Xiao kept looking between her mother and me with a complicated expression.
By the time we reached my office, the sun was already setting. Adarna gave a slight nod and left with her daughter, saying she would speak with the Phoenix Hall. Yuhao and Qiu'er lingered for a moment before I waved them off to rest.
Once the door closed and the room was empty, I sat down heavily in my chair.
The situation on the ground was stable enough for now. Adarna had stepped in. The kids had survived. The Hall of Execution had been forced to retreat.
But higher up, something was calling.
I closed my eyes and let out a long breath.
'Time to go back for a while.'
My main consciousness began to pull away from the mortal body. At the same time, I carefully left a split portion of my awareness inside the shell of Professor Lakas — enough to keep watching, enough to guide the children if they truly needed me, but not enough to fully act as the Sovereign.
End of Volume 2, Chapter 67