Don't Fear a Villain's Schemes-Fear a Fool's Sudden Stroke of Inspiration

[Speaking of Yan Shaozhe, compared with Xuan Zi, that guy was even worse!]

[First, there was his background. As the dean of Shrek Academy's Martial Soul Department and a Super Douluo with the top-tier Bright Phoenix Martial Soul, he was actually a descendant of Ye Xishui, the continent's greatest Evil Soul Master. Of course, that wasn't really Yan Shaozhe's fault. It was just a ridiculously melodramatic twist.]

[But wasting his own incredible talent was entirely his own fault. He had the Bright Phoenix Martial Soul and Mu En, one of the continent's top Limit Douluo, as his teacher, yet he completely squandered his potential. He was already quite old and still only a Super Douluo, utterly failing to live up to Mu En's expectations that he would carry the banner of Shrek Academy.]

[On top of that, Yan Shaozhe was narrow-minded and a poor judge of character despite being the dean of the Martial Soul Department, and as a result, he let a talent like Huo Yuhao slip through his fingers. Huo Yuhao had just won the freshman competition, yet Yan Shaozhe stripped him of his core disciple status on the grounds that he had a Ten-Year Soul Ring and low Soul Power. Later, he casually handed Huo Yuhao over to the Soul Tool Department. After Huo Yuhao rose to prominence, this guy shamelessly went to the Soul Tool Department to demand him back, trying to snatch him away all over again.]

[His short-sightedness was bad enough, but he was also incredibly narrow in his outlook. Anyone with eyes could see the direction Soul Tools were headed, but somehow the dean of the Martial Soul Department couldn't. He had long rejected the Soul Tool Department and prioritized the Martial Soul Department when allocating the academy's resources, leaving Shrek lagging behind the Sun Moon Empire in Soul Guidance Technology for a time.]

[If Huo Yuhao's descendants hadn't later poached so many talents from the Sun Moon Empire's Mingde Hall, Shrek Academy's Soul Tool Department would never have come close to the Sun Moon Empire.]

[His love life was a whole other mess. While he was dating Xian Lin'er, the dean of the Soul Tool Department, he was also flirting with other women. After Xian Lin'er caught him red-handed, they went their separate ways.]

[After that, he got involved with Feng Ling, the Evil Phoenix Douluo. His Bright Phoenix aura accelerated the awakening of Feng Ling's Evil Phoenix Martial Soul. Feng Ling had already made it clear that she was an Evil Soul Master and had even tried to devour Yan Shaozhe, yet he still let her go because he couldn't forget their past.]

[And now? Feng Ling is a vice leader of the Holy Spirit Cult, one of the Evil Soul Masters' top figures. Yan Shaozhe, you may have been devoted to her, but now the whole continent is going to suffer because of you!]

[What do you call that? Don't fear a villain's schemes—fear a fool's sudden stroke of inspiration! When you let Feng Ling go, did you ever think about how many people across the continent would die because of it?]

Th-this... These were things her teacher had done?

Ma Xiaotao stared blankly at the words in the diary, disbelief surfacing in her pale pink eyes.

This... had to be a lie, right?

In Ma Xiaotao's eyes, her teacher had always been a refined, easygoing, and charming man. But every single thing Ao Yao described had utterly shattered that image.

The teacher she had so deeply admired crumbled in her heart.

The earlier incidents could still be called flaws or shortcomings in her teacher's character, but that last one was the final straw.

As a member of Shrek Academy's Inspection Corps, she had lost count of how many Evil Soul Masters had died at her hands.

She knew all too well how evil Soul Masters sinned.

An Evil Soul Master with only the cultivation of a Two-Ring Soul Grandmaster could already cause a horrifying tragedy. And her teacher had let an Evil Soul Master of Titled Douluo rank escape...

One could only imagine how many people an Evil Soul Master who had reached Titled Douluo rank would kill!

What her teacher had done... Who knew how many innocent lives he had put at risk!

Ma Xiaotao took a deep breath.

She felt that from now on, she might never be able to face her teacher with a calm heart again.

Within the Inner Court.

Zhang Lexuan, who was usually so composed, was staring blankly at a tree outside the window, lost in thought.

After a long while, she finally came back to herself and let out a long breath.

Until now, she had still been able to reassure herself that Shrek Academy wasn't as bad as Ao Yao described.

But now... perhaps Ao Yao was right.

Shrek Academy really wasn't a wonderful place.

The beliefs she had always held, those seemingly beautiful memories, were nothing but self-deception.

The things Ao Yao had written in the diary earlier surfaced in Zhang Lexuan's mind once more—had Mu En really just happened to be nearby and just happened to save her?

After finishing his accusations against Yan Shaozhe, Ao Yao suddenly realized that Yan Shaozhe seemed even more despicable than Xuan Zi.

Oh, no.

Let's stick with the original verdict.

They were as bad as each other, so neither of them had any room to mock the other.

One was an honorary Grand Elder of the Holy Spirit Cult, and the other was the Holy Spirit Cult's hidden Saint. They were joining hands to build a bright future for the Holy Spirit Cult, so to speak.

[Oh, right. I almost forgot—Yan Shaozhe was partly responsible for Ma Xiaotao becoming an Evil Soul Master, too.]

That short sentence made Ma Xiaotao's breath catch.

Ever since Ao Yao wrote in the diary that she would become an Evil Soul Master, she had always believed it was because she failed to control her Evil Fire and had accidentally killed many innocent people, which was what turned her into an Evil Soul Master.

But why was Ao Yao saying that her teacher was also responsible for her becoming an Evil Soul Master?

[During the finals of the All-Continent Soul Fighting Tournament, Ma Xiaotao was ambushed. The Level 8 Soul Tool Sword of Judgment, wielded by Ma Rulong of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy, affected her, completely transforming her Martial Soul into the cold and evil Black Phoenix and sending her into an uncontrolled state.]

[Ma Xiaotao was unlucky, to put it simply. The Sword of Judgment's essence was to first corrupt its target's Martial Soul with dark energy, then suppress its attributes with the power of light. It was originally a powerful weapon against Evil Soul Masters, but because of the hidden danger of the Evil Fire within Ma Xiaotao, it instead triggered a mutation in her Martial Soul.]

[Fortunately, Xuan Zi reacted in time this time. He knocked Ma Xiaotao unconscious and brought her back to Shrek Academy. Mu En used the Sea God Pavilion Ice Bed and the power of light to seal her, but the seal could only suppress the Black Phoenix's evil power temporarily; it couldn't eliminate it.]

[It wasn't until Xuan Zi led a team away to hunt Soul Rings that Shrek Academy's top forces were left depleted. After Mingde Hall colluded with the Holy Spirit Cult, they broke Ma Xiaotao's seal and sent several Titled Douluo to wreak havoc.]

[But with Shrek Academy's strength, those Titled Douluo shouldn't have been able to cause much trouble. The key was Yan Shaozhe, who went to stop Ma Xiaotao.]

[I really can't understand why Yan Shaozhe, a Super Douluo, couldn't stop Ma Xiaotao, who was only a Soul Saint. Don't give me that nonsense about turning evil making you three times stronger... Even if a Soul Saint got stronger after turning evil, there was no way she could escape Yan Shaozhe.]

[Hey! That guy Yan Shaozhe really did fail to stop Ma Xiaotao!]