Evil Fire

"Stop fighting! Both of you, stop fighting!" Cuihua suddenly called out from the side and hurried toward Ma Hongjun. The flames around Ma Hongjun seemed to have been snuffed out by the fall. Dizzy and disoriented, he barely managed to climb to his feet.

Cuihua helped Ma Hongjun brush the dirt from his clothes. "Are you all right?"

Ma Hongjun snorted. "I'm not dead yet. Little girl, come again."

"Miss Cuihua, what is this..." Seeing Cuihua's concern for Ma Hongjun, Lan Xue could not make heads or tails of it. Hadn't this fatty been bullying her just now? Then why...

Cuihua pleaded, "Please stop fighting. Actually, Hongjun is a good person. We just aren't suited for each other, so I could only break up with him. You should go. I'll explain things to him."

Ma Hongjun snapped, "Stay out of my business. Move aside." With that, he shoved Cuihua away and was about to charge Xiao Wu again. But wary of hurting Cuihua, he did not use his second soul skill again.

Just then, a surprised voice rang out. "Tang San, Fatty, what are you doing?"

Tang San and Ma Hongjun both turned toward the voice. Dai Mubai, dressed in white with his hair combed impeccably neat, was walking toward them.

Lan Xue snorted. "What happened? Ask him. This fatty was bullying a girl in broad daylight. We couldn't stand it, so we decided to teach him a lesson."

The stern expression on Dai Mubai's face suddenly gave way to a smile. "Lan Xue, I think you've misunderstood. Miss Cuihua, couldn't you stand him anymore either?"

Cuihua blushed and nodded before turning and running away. This time, Ma Hongjun did not try to stop her. His face was simply full of dejection.

Tang San walked over to Dai Mubai's side and asked in confusion, "What exactly is going on?"

Dai Mubai looked at the fatty. "Will you explain it yourself, or should I explain it for you?"

Ma Hongjun shot Dai Mubai a glance and lowered his head. "You tell them."

Dai Mubai laughed heartily. "What, Fatty? You can get embarrassed too? Fine, I'll tell them."

He turned to Tang San and Lan Xue. "Do you remember when I told you that, including me, the academy only had three students in total?"

Tang San immediately understood. "You mean he is..."

Dai Mubai nodded. "That's right. Fatty is the third one, and before you two, he was the most recent student to enter the academy. I didn't see what happened just now with my own eyes, but I can guess. Actually, you can't blame Fatty for this. If anyone is to blame, it's his Chicken Martial Soul."

"Bullshit! Your Martial Soul is the Chicken Martial Soul! Mine is a phoenix! Even if all my elders' Martial Souls were chickens, mine is still a phoenix. Haven't you heard? A golden phoenix can rise even from a chicken coop!" Ma Hongjun said irritably.

Dai Mubai's smile did not fade. "Phoenix, then. We'll call it a phoenix. Tang San, Fatty's Martial Soul is very strange. The Dean said it is a Mutated Martial Soul."

"What Martial Souls mutated to create it?" Tang San pressed. Master had told him a great deal about Mutated Martial Souls. Once a Martial Soul mutated, there were only two possibilities: it either became exceptionally powerful, or it became weakened. Master himself had suffered greatly because of a Martial Soul mutation. Ma Hongjun's Martial Soul clearly belonged to the beneficial kind of mutation.

Dai Mubai said, "Not even Ma Hongjun himself probably knows, much less me. In his village, everyone's Martial Soul was basically a kind of domestic fowl with no offensive power. No one knew what happened, but when it came to him, his Martial Soul mutated, giving him the innate ability to control flames. Fatty didn't enroll in the academy on his own. Three years ago, the Dean discovered him in their village and brought him back. He should be about the same age as you two."

"Because of the mutation, Fatty gained powerful fire abilities. This fire is also extremely strange. Not only is it incredibly hot, but it is highly adhesive and very difficult to extinguish. The Dean said that after his Martial Soul mutated, it was genuinely possible that he became a phoenix. However, his Martial Soul also has a huge flaw. While the mutation granted him powerful Soul Power, it also affected his body to a certain extent. It made him exceptionally capable in matters between men and women, and his desires and urges are ten times those of an ordinary person. If he merely suppresses them without releasing them, then at any moment, he could be struck by this Evil Fire and explode to death."

Ma Hongjun hurriedly added, "When the Evil Fire rises, I can't hold it down!"