Sparring with Ma Xiaotao

"How about this?" Jiang Wu held up two fingers. "If I win, I get two requests. Senior, suppress your strength to three rings, three rings against three rings. You can't use power beyond that level. If I win, you'll help me with two things that aren't too much to ask. If I lose, I'll treat you to meals for a month. Order whatever you want at the Shrek cafeteria."

Ma Xiaotao raised an eyebrow, thinking the kid was quite the bargainer. But she was a Soul Emperor, and even with her strength suppressed to three rings, she couldn't possibly lose to a freshman, no matter how she looked at it.

Ma Xiaotao nodded. "Fine, two requests. It's a deal."

"After you, senior."

Ma Xiaotao took five steps back and stood at the other end of the clearing. Taking a deep breath, she suppressed the fluctuations of Soul Power around her like a receding tide. The red light faded, and the high temperature dropped with it.

Her Soul Rings appeared one by one, their number shrinking from six to three. Her presence also fell to that of someone just over level thirty.

Ma Xiaotao flexed her wrists, three Soul Rings slowly rotating beneath her feet. "Satisfied?"

Jiang Wu nodded and used Martial Soul Possession. Three Soul Rings rose from beneath his feet.

"Begin!"

Ma Xiaotao moved first. Even with her strength suppressed, she was still fast. Her red clothes flashed as she closed in on Jiang Wu and attacked him with her right fist.

Jiang Wu turned sideways to dodge and raised his left arm to block. Their arms collided, and Jiang Wu took a step back. Ma Xiaotao also swayed.

"You're pretty strong." Ma Xiaotao's eyes lit up. She drew back her fist and attacked again, throwing punches and kicks in rapid succession. Her attacks carried the ferocity unique to a fire-type Soul Master, each one aimed where Jiang Wu would have trouble dodging.

Jiang Wu dodged left and right, using his Soft Skill. With twists of his waist, he always managed to evade her attacks at the last moment. Now and then he counterattacked from tricky angles, forcing Ma Xiaotao to pull back and defend.

Jiang Wu was somewhat puzzled by Ma Xiaotao's attacks. Why did she keep fighting at close range?

After more than a dozen exchanges, Ma Xiaotao was secretly astonished.

The kid's close-combat skills were far better than she had expected. He was as slippery as a loach: every time she thought she had caught him, he twisted his waist and slipped out of her grasp, then immediately hit back with a sneaky move.

Second Soul Skill: Illusory Charm Eyes.

Ma Xiaotao's vision blurred. The woods vanished, replaced by a primeval forest, and the illusion of countless beasts charging down upon her pressed in from all sides.

Though it caught her somewhat off guard, breaking free wasn't difficult for someone of Ma Xiaotao's Soul Emperor level.

After breaking free of the control, Ma Xiaotao instinctively attacked behind her.

Ma Xiaotao had assumed that in this situation, Jiang Wu would surely sneak up on her from behind.

But to Ma Xiaotao's surprise, Jiang Wu wasn't behind her.

"Oh no!"

Realizing something, Ma Xiaotao hurriedly retreated.

Boom-

A pit had appeared where Ma Xiaotao had been standing, and Jiang Wu stood at its center.

By now, Jiang Wu had already used Golden Dragon Body.

Ma Xiaotao looked at the pit in the ground, then at Jiang Wu standing in its center. The corner of her mouth twitched.

"You little..." She had clearly broken free of the illusion. Normally, someone who had just escaped being controlled would surely first guard against a sneak attack from behind. But the kid hadn't gone behind her at all. He had simply lain in wait right where she stood, waiting for her to step into his trap.

"Senior, all's fair in war." Jiang Wu jumped out of the pit, his gold-scaled right arm gleaming coldly in the sunlight. "You broke out of the illusion too quickly. I'd planned to keep you under a little longer."

Ma Xiaotao snorted and loosened her neck. Her three Soul Rings lit up again. "Fine, no more close combat. Even with my strength suppressed, I'm still a Soul Emperor. My Soul Skills are right here. Block them if you can."

She took a deep breath, her chest swelling slightly, and her First Soul Ring lit up.

First Soul Skill: Phoenix Fire Line.

Ma Xiaotao opened her mouth and spat out a straight line of crimson fire. Its temperature was so high that the air warped and twisted, and wherever it passed, the blades of grass on the ground instantly blackened and curled.

Jiang Wu dodged sideways. The line of fire brushed past his shoulder and burned a hole straight through the trunk of a small tree behind him. Sparks still sizzled at the edges of the hole.

"Good grief." Jiang Wu didn't dare take her lightly. His Third Soul Skill, Instant Beast Flash, lit up, and he vanished.

Ma Xiaotao was ready for him. Her Second Soul Ring lit up.

Second Soul Skill: Phoenix Bathing in Fire.

A layer of red-gold flames rose from her body, wrapping her in what looked like a mass of flowing fire. Every attribute of her phoenix fire power increased, and her perception sharpened considerably.

Jiang Wu had just appeared behind and to her side with Teleportation when another Phoenix Fire Line came at him.

Jiang Wu barely managed to turn his head aside, and the line of fire singed a lock of hair above his forehead.

"Senior, watch it! Hair takes ages to grow back when it's burned!"

"Worried about your hair in a fight?" Ma Xiaotao was merciless with her words, and even more so with her hands. Her Third Soul Ring lit up immediately afterward.

Third Soul Skill: Phoenix Wings Soaring.

A pair of enormous, dazzling wings of fire spread from her back, spanning a full two zhang. As flames flowed across them, they scattered sparks of gold and red. At the same time, a long phoenix tail hung down behind her waist, and flames spiraled upward around her.

The temperature of the flames abruptly doubled. A wave of heat rushed toward him, and even the surrounding air crackled and popped.

Ma Xiaotao tapped the ground with her toes and shot skyward, flying more than ten meters into the air and looking down at Jiang Wu.

"Let's see how you dodge this." Ma Xiaotao's lips curved upward. With a beat of her wings, the range of her flame attacks increased dramatically.

Two Phoenix Fire Lines swept down from the sky, crossing each other and cutting off Jiang Wu's escape to either side.

"So what if you can fly? Take my Mitu Shockwave."

"So what if you can fly?" Jiang Wu shouted. "Take my Mitu Shockwave!"

He took half a step back with his left foot and brought his hands together in front of his chest. Soul Power surged out from within him, traveling through his meridians all the way to his palms.

A ball of pink light rapidly took shape between his palms, soft ripples of Soul Power churning across its surface. It then stretched and flattened. Two long ears emerged first, followed by a round body and a short tail.

A pink rabbit-shaped Qi wave condensed from pure Soul Power took form. It was plump and round, with a pair of long ears standing upright.

Ma Xiaotao saw the pink rabbit from midair and froze. "What the heck is that?"

Jiang Wu thrust both arms forward, and the pink rabbit Qi wave roared out.

The rabbit's ears flattened back as it flew. Moving at tremendous speed, it swelled in the wind from the size of a basketball to that of a millstone. Trailing pink Soul Power behind it, it charged straight at Ma Xiaotao.

Ma Xiaotao instinctively beat her fiery wings and dodged sideways, sending a Phoenix Fire Line at the rabbit. The two collided.

The rabbit's rippling Soul Power tore a gap straight through the line of fire. It emerged from the flames a size smaller from the burning, but its speed did not drop as it headed straight for Ma Xiaotao's face.

"Pretty fierce!"

Ma Xiaotao beat her fiery wings and rose several feet. The pink rabbit flew past the soles of her feet and exploded behind her, scattering a pink blast of Soul Power that made the surrounding leaves rustle.