Side Story 19: Yu Xiaogang's Story 3

Seeing his old friend's pleading gaze, Yu Xiaogang hesitated for a moment, but finally agreed.

After thinking for a long time, he came up with a solution.

The icy, snowy environment of the Extreme North Land was used to forcibly suppress the Evil Fire within Ma Hongjun's body.

Flender thought the idea was feasible, and Ma Hongjun was also eager to solve his own problem, so he immediately agreed.

And so, the three packed a few simple belongings and set off together for the Extreme North Land.

Upon arriving in the Extreme North Land, Ma Hongjun began to cultivate in seclusion amidst the ice and snow, using the extreme cold to suppress the Evil Fire.

Flender and Yu Xiaogang kept watch in a temporary tent nearby, partly to protect Ma Hongjun from attacks by the Spirit Beast of the Extreme North Land, and partly to observe his cultivation progress.

As the days went by, Ma Hongjun's cultivation progressed smoothly, and his Soul Power steadily increased.

But no one expected that danger was quietly approaching.

On this day, Ma Hongjun's Soul Power finally broke through to level 49, just one step away from becoming Soul King.

But at this critical moment, because the Evil Fire had been suppressed by the power of extreme cold for too long, the accumulated energy completely erupted.

Ma Hongjun instantly lost his mind, his eyes turned bloodshot, his whole body was enveloped in raging Evil Fire, and he became unrecognizable to his own family.

To make matters worse, shortly before Ma Hongjun's Evil Fire erupted, a massive Beast Tide suddenly broke out in the Extreme North Land.

Countless Ice Attribute Spirit Beast surged toward them. Flender had no time to think and could only leave the tent to scout the size and direction of the Beast Tide, leaving Yu Xiaogang to look after Ma Hongjun alone.

In other words, at this time and place, only Yu Xiaogang and the out-of-control Ma Hongjun were present.

In a fit of rage, Ma Hongjun saw Yu Xiaogang beside him and immediately mistook him for an enemy.

Before Yu Xiaogang could react, Ma Hongjun charged at him, his fist burning with Evil Fire.

Although Yu Xiaogang's Soul Power is level 69, he is not a Soul Master who excels in combat.

Therefore, it didn't take long for Yu Xiaogang to fall into a disadvantageous position; he was no match for Ma Hongjun in his explosive state.

Furthermore, the extreme cold of the Extreme North Land affected Yu Xiaogang's Soul Power circulation, and within a few rounds, he was struck by Ma Hongjun's Evil Fire and died on the spot.

When Flender finished scouting the Beast Tide and rushed back, he saw Yu Xiaogang lying lifeless in the snow, while Ma Hongjun was still frantically venting his Evil Fire beside him.

Flender felt a pang of pain in his heart, but now was no time for sorrow; the Beast Tide was about to surge in.

He could only suppress his grief, rush forward to forcibly restrain Ma Hongjun, and lead him in a frantic escape towards the outskirts of the Extreme North Land.

During the escape, Flender was severely injured by a high-level Ice Attribute Spirit Beast while covering Ma Hongjun.

Although Ma Hongjun was still somewhat out of control, upon seeing Flender injured, he instinctively picked him up and continued running outside.

Fortunately, they were lucky; stumbling and falling along the way, they actually managed to break through the encirclement of the Beast Tide and successfully leave the Extreme North Land.

Just when Ma Hongjun thought it was safe and was preparing to find a place to heal Flender, a huge, ten-thousand-year-old Titan Snow Demon suddenly rushed out from behind the ice mound next to him.

The Titan Snow Demon was drawn by the commotion of their escape, its eyes fixed on them fiercely, looking as if it wanted to tear them to pieces.

Flender was already severely injured and unconscious, and was completely unable to fight.

Although Ma Hongjun's Soul Power was not weak, the outbreak of Evil Fire had just consumed a lot of energy, and because he had been carrying Flender along the way, Ma Hongjun could only desperately run away again.

They were relentlessly pursued by the Titan Snow Demon.

Just when Ma Hongjun was about to give up, shouts suddenly came from ahead.

It turned out that Oscar and two teammates were passing by when they saw Ma Hongjun being chased by the Titan Snow Demon, and immediately came to his aid.

Oscar and his two companions worked together and, with considerable effort, finally killed the ancient Titan Snow Demon.

After being rescued, Ma Hongjun finally breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed to the ground.

With the help of Oscar and the other two, he settled Flender down and gave him some basic first aid.

Afterwards, once Flender had regained some composure, Ma Hongjun carried him on his back, bid farewell to Oscar and the other two, and headed towards Suotuo City.

After returning to Suotuo City, Flender's injuries gradually improved.

However, neither he nor Ma Hongjun ever mentioned Yu Xiaogang's death again.

They all knew that Yu Xiaogang was a member of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.

Although the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan no longer cares about Yu Xiaogang, the son of the former sect leader.

However, even a starved camel is bigger than a horse. If the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan found out that Yu Xiaogang died at their hands, they would definitely come looking for trouble.

To protect themselves, they could only bury this matter deep in their hearts, as if Yu Xiaogang had never existed.

However, Yu Xiaogang's death also completely dashed any hope of resolving Ma Hongjun's problem of "Evil Fire".

The previous method of suppressing the Evil Fire by relying on the Extreme North Land not only failed to completely solve the problem, but also triggered an even more serious outbreak.

After this incident, Ma Hongjun became completely disheartened and slowly began to give up cultivation.

After giving up cultivation, Ma Hongjun actually began to live a more "happy" life.

He no longer dwelled on the problem of the Evil Fire, nor was he obsessed with improving his Soul Power.

Instead, he frequented the red-light district of Suotuo City, indulging in life and living a life of debauchery.

Although Ma Hongjun gave up cultivation, thanks to his previous accumulation, his Soul Power ultimately remained at the level of Soul Saint, level 79.

A level 79 Soul Saint is considered a powerful figure in the unified Cang Lan Empire.

With this ability, Ma Hongjun thrived in Suotuo City.

Later, Ma Hongjun successfully established his own family and passed on his Evil Fire Phoenix Martial Soul.

Interestingly, perhaps due to the Evil Fire, Ma Hongjun's offspring were exceptionally numerous, and his family population grew larger and larger.

Moreover, Oscar, whom I met in the Extreme North Land, later became a prominent figure in the Cang Lan Empire.

When Oscar was 55 years old (with the support of the Cang Lan Empire and the Zhu Clan, he had no shortage of resources), he became the first Food Soul Master in the history of the Empire to break through the Titled Douluo realm.

At this time, Oscar held a prestigious position, and his family's influence grew increasingly powerful.

Therefore, after Ma Hongjun's family prospered, they sought refuge with Oscar's family.

Because of the friendship between the previous generation, and because the Ma Clan's allegiance would also strengthen the Oscar family, the two families hit it off and got along very well.

And so, the Ma Clan and the Oscar family, like other Soul Master families on the continent, continued to multiply and develop generation after generation, never again having any connection with Yu Xiaogang or the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.

The name Yu Xiaogang was gradually forgotten by the world, becoming an insignificant footnote in the long history of the Douluo Continent.