"Whew, whew, whew!"
Tang San took several deep breaths—
trying hard to suppress the killing intent surging endlessly within him.
"Ma Hongjun, enough. Shut your mouth! I'll say this one last time: the Mysterious Heaven Skill is a supreme art of my Tang Sect. How could it be passed on so casually?"
Tang San's sharp gaze swept over Ma Hongjun's disgusting, self-righteous face as he emphasized every word.
"More importantly, the prerequisite for cultivating the Mysterious Heaven Skill is starting from scratch, with not even the slightest foundation of Soul Power! You are already a two-ring Soul Grandmaster. Your Soul Power has long fused into your meridians and bones."
"If you want to cultivate the Mysterious Heaven Skill, the only way is to cripple all the Soul Power in your body and start over like a six-year-old child who has just awakened a Martial Soul!"
Tang San's voice rang with unshakable resolve. His gaze nailed Ma Hongjun's face like a cold blade, leaving him no room to argue.
"Ma Hongjun, your Evil Fire exists by relying on Soul Power. Once you cripple your Soul Power, the Evil Fire will lose its restraint and immediately backlash against you.
By then, forget suppressing the Evil Fire. Whether you can even keep your life will be uncertain!
I advise you to give up on this idea as soon as possible. Stop pestering me with such unreasonable demands!"
Tang San paused. His tone softened slightly, though it still carried a cold distance.
"Of course, for the sake of my teacher Yu Xiaogang and Headmaster Flender, if you insist on cultivating the Mysterious Heaven Skill, then come talk to me after you have made up your mind to cripple all your Soul Power. Otherwise, do not mention this again!"
"But let me make this clear first—crippling your Soul Power is a life-or-death process. The agony of the Evil Fire's backlash is absolutely beyond what you can endure. One careless mistake, and your meridians will be shattered, your cultivation destroyed, and your body will explode."
Tang San turned to face Ma Hongjun, carrying a silent warning.
"And even if you, Ma Hongjun, somehow survive and cultivate the Mysterious Heaven Skill from the beginning, whether it will suit the traits of your Martial Soul and whether it can truly suppress the Evil Fire—I, Tang San, take no responsibility for that."
After spending the past few days with Ma Hongjun, Tang San had long figured out his personality. Since he dared say this, he was certain Ma Hongjun would never be willing to give up his Soul Grandmaster cultivation, much less risk his life to endure the pain of the Evil Fire's backlash.
Ma Hongjun bullied the weak and feared the strong, timid as a mouse. He treasured his life too much to gamble his future and life away. Making him cripple everything with his own hands and start from zero, while even risking death from an exploding body, was harder for him than dying.
And sure enough, just as Tang San had expected, all the righteousness vanished from Ma Hongjun's face. The neck he had been holding stiffly moments ago drooped, and though his mouth opened and closed, he could not utter a single word.
"Cripple... cripple my Soul Power?"
"There's even a risk of death?"
"And it still might not suppress the Evil Fire?"
Ma Hongjun swallowed, his voice trembling.
He instinctively took half a step back. His eyes darted away, not daring to meet Tang San's gaze. The urgency and self-righteousness he had shown when demanding the cultivation method had been entirely replaced by panic and dejection.
At the thought of his Soul Grandmaster cultivation vanishing into nothing, only for the Evil Fire to backlash and shatter all his meridians, cold sweat broke out across his body.
Other than Li Xiaoyao and Ning Rongrong, who wore strange expressions—
Dai Mubai and the others exchanged glances and sucked in cold breaths. They had never expected the requirements for cultivating the Mysterious Heaven Skill to be so terrifying. No wonder Tang San had been so resolute.
Ning Rongrong secretly winked at Li Xiaoyao, her confusion obvious.
Li Xiaoyao immediately answered through a Soul Power transmission.
"Sister Rongrong! The Mysterious Heaven Skill Tang San mentioned is the internal cultivation technique, the Mysterious Heaven Skill, that I taught you. It is merely one of the supreme arts within the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record."
"As for everything Tang San just said, it was complete nonsense. He could only fool a worthless idiot like Ma Hongjun, who knows nothing at all."
Li Xiaoyao did not explain where the Mysterious Heaven Skill came from or why Tang San knew it, and Ning Rongrong sensibly did not press him.
Even married couples who had shared a bed for years had secrets unknown to each other.
Sometimes, digging to the bottom of everything would only damage trust and affection. Leaving each other some room was the secret to a lasting relationship.
After hearing the transmission, a knowing smile flashed through Ning Rongrong's eyes. She secretly glanced at Tang San and Ma Hongjun, unable to stop the corners of her lips from lifting.
No wonder Tang San had spoken with such certainty. He was probably counting on everyone else not knowing the details of the Mysterious Heaven Skill, letting him keep making things up based on the claim of "crippling Soul Power." That blockhead Ma Hongjun could not tell what was true anyway; he had simply been frightened by the threat to his life.
Suppressing her laughter, she lightly bumped Li Xiaoyao's arm, mischief in her eyes. She remembered that when she had first begun learning it, Li Xiaoyao had told her that the Mysterious Heaven Skill was exceptionally inclusive and adaptable.
Forget suppressing the Evil Fire—even a Martial Soul with a malignant mutation like Yu Xiaogang's could be compatible with it. Why would anyone need to cripple their cultivation?
Tang San's talent for fooling people was certainly eye-opening.
Li Xiaoyao took Ning Rongrong's little hand and continued transmitting.
"Tang San is very calculating. He knows Ma Hongjun fears death and cherishes his life, which is why he deliberately said all that—this not only kills his desire to demand the Mysterious Heaven Skill, but also preserves Tang San's image of being Pure and Clean. It kills two birds with one stone."
The two exchanged smiles and said no more, merely watching the spectacle as they waited for the next act.
Ma Hongjun swallowed. Fear had replaced everything on his face, which looked more than thirty years old.
"I... I have to cripple all my Soul Power before I can cultivate it?"
"Th-that condition is too outrageous, isn't it?"
"I... I can't do it!"
Tang San sneered inwardly, but his face still wore that I'm doing this for your own good expression. In truth, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief. This excuse was decisive enough; Ma Hongjun presumably would never dare pester him for the Mysterious Heaven Skill again.
Dai Mubai could not stand watching any longer. He stepped forward, patted Ma Hongjun's shoulder, and spoke in a persuading tone.
"Hey! Fatty, don't be stupid! Since you can't bear to cripple your Soul Power, then stop thinking about it!"
Oscar beside him also chimed in.
"Exactly, fatty. Tang San has already made himself this clear. Don't ruin yourself in a moment of impulse."
Tang San also wore an I'm thinking of your best interests expression as he stepped forward and earnestly said,
"Hey! Fatty, I'll leave it at that."
"Think it over carefully. Do you want to preserve your current cultivation and find a safe way to suppress the Evil Fire, or cling to an unrealistic fantasy and gamble away the prospects of your entire life?"
The persuasion from Dai Mubai, Oscar, and Tang San made Ma Hongjun slump like a deflated balloon. His shoulders instantly sagged, and his haggard face was left full of dejection and unwillingness.
He clenched his fists, then released them. After repeating this several times, he finally lowered his head, his voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz.
"I... I understand!"
"I won't ask for the Mysterious Heaven Skill anymore."
Just when it seemed the matter was about to end—
Li Xiaoyao was about to stir up trouble.
Then they heard—
Before you continue