Dai Mubai, the Incompetent Husband

His Evil Fire needed to be released every so often. But while it built up, Ma Hongjun spent every day thinking about all that crap.

He spent all day discussing which girls were like what with Dai Mubai, and what new tricks they could try. Hearing all that made the girls absolutely sick of them.

By now, it wasn't just a dispute between Ning Rongrong and Oscar. The whole group was ganging up on Ning Rongrong.

Zhu Zhuqing frowned slightly. Unable to bear watching Ning Rongrong go on like this, she wanted to step in and help.

Just as she was about to act, Dai Mubai stopped her.

"What? You want to fight?"

After all, he and Oscar had known each other for years, and lately he'd also had a lot of complaints about Zhu Zhuqing.

Seeing Zhu Zhuqing try to intervene, Dai Mubai immediately used Martial Soul Possession, white light gathering in his hands.

Seeing this, Tang San summoned his Blue Silver Grass as well, looking ready to start a fight at the slightest provocation.

Ma Hongjun followed suit and summoned his Martial Soul.

The atmosphere instantly grew tense.

Seeing so many of his brothers backing him up, with Flender silently allowing it from the side, Oscar grew even more brazen and reached straight for Ning Rongrong's face.

Ning Rongrong tried to break free, but couldn't. As they were both support-type Soul Masters, Oscar had the advantage in physical strength, and he held one of her legs firmly in place.

As the hand drew closer, Ning Rongrong covered her face with both hands and screamed in terror.

At the brink of despair, a figure suddenly appeared in her mind...

As if grasping at her only lifeline, she screamed with all her might, calling out that name.

"Xia Ran!!!"

The Useless Husband, Dai Mubai

The shrill, distinctly feminine voice pierced everyone's ears, and they all froze!

"Xia Ran? What does he have to do with her?"

What surprised them wasn't that Ning Rongrong had screamed, but that she'd called out Xia Ran's name.

Of all the people the boys least wanted to see, Xia Ran was at the top of the list.

They were all the same age, yet his strength far surpassed theirs. He rarely spoke with them, either.

As a result, they had gradually grown distant from him without even realizing it.

Xia Ran was training in the Back Mountain when he suddenly heard a scream. After listening carefully, he recognized Ning Rongrong's voice.

He wondered what could have gone wrong at the academy. Then he immediately used his Soul Skill to appear on the training field.

"What's going on?"

A shadow flickered, and Xia Ran appeared in the middle of the field, still in his Martial Soul Possession state.

As soon as he landed, he saw Oscar pinning one of Ning Rongrong's legs between his own.

"Huh? What are you doing?"

Still at a loss, Xia Ran looked at Oscar, who seemed just as stunned. Then he noticed Ning Rongrong's tear-streaked face.

His golden and black eyes swept over everyone, but no one said a word.

Perhaps Oscar had been distracted. Ning Rongrong suddenly struggled free.

Ignoring the people around her, she rushed into Xia Ran's arms and began to sob.

"Xia Ran, you're finally here!"

Clinging tightly around his waist, Ning Rongrong trembled all over.

She couldn't bear to imagine what Oscar might have done if Xia Ran hadn't shown up.

Maybe he would have touched her face. Maybe he would have kissed her. Perhaps when no one else was around—or even with Dai Mubai and the others there—he might have forced himself on her.

What had happened today filled her with fear. Only Xia Ran made her feel safe.

"Xia Ran, sob..."

Xia Ran, held tightly in her arms, was completely bewildered. He'd only heard a scream and come to check what was going on. He had no idea what had happened before that.

He looked over at Flender, hoping to get an answer from him.

"The students were just joking around. It got a little out of hand! I didn't expect the girl to call you over. It's nothing serious. You can get back to what you were doing."

"Joking? A little out of hand?"

Looking at Ning Rongrong clinging to him, trembling and crying so hard she could barely breathe, Xia Ran asked in disbelief.

"A joke scared her this badly?"

His gaze swept over everyone. The boys lowered their heads, not one of them saying a word.

The main thing was, several of them had summoned their Martial Souls. They looked ready to fight.

The girls nearby also looked awkward and remained silent.

Xia Ran turned to Zhu Zhuqing and ordered in a tone that brooked no argument:

"What happened? Tell me!"

Zhu Zhuqing immediately recounted Flender's assignment and the details of Oscar provoking Ning Rongrong.

Xia Ran's brow furrowed as he listened to the whole story. He hadn't expected Oscar to be so bold as to harass the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

If he hadn't shown up today, that brat might really have kissed Ning Rongrong.

The girl kept sobbing in his arms without saying a word. She looked genuinely terrified.

"Xiao Ao, pack your things and get out of here!"

Xia Ran looked at Oscar as if he were already dead. It would have been a bit much for him to fight Oscar just for Ning Rongrong; they weren't close enough for that.

But once Ning Rongrong recovered, if she didn't get people from her sect to take revenge, she wouldn't deserve the title of Little Demoness.

Hearing this, Oscar gradually calmed down. He thought back to what he'd just done and remembered Ning Rongrong's background. A wave of fear washed over him.

Especially after Xia Ran said that, Oscar couldn't shake the uneasy feeling in his heart.

"Then what's with all these people? Are you training? Why have you all summoned your Martial Souls?"

"I wanted to help Rongrong, but they stopped me!"

Well, look at that—accomplices, too!

Xia Ran had thought this was just between Ning Rongrong and Oscar. He hadn't expected it to involve other people as well.

Dai Mubai and Tang San had at least some excuse for kicking someone when they were down. But Ma Hongjun, who had no backing whatsoever, had no business butting in.

His icy gaze passed over them, Darkness Law surging around him.

The sight frightened Dai Mubai into dismissing his Martial Soul Possession first, followed by Tang San and Ma Hongjun.

Except for Ma Hongjun, Xia Ran had already taught the other two a lesson, and both of them were wary of him.

Still, Xia Ran didn't say much. What had happened today had nothing to do with him, and he wasn't unreasonable. He couldn't be bothered to meddle.

"Zhu Zhuqing, train with me for a few days. I'm very interested in your Martial Soul."

"Ning Rongrong's in no state to keep attending class, so I'm taking her back to my place."

Xia Ran looked at Flender and left him with those two sentences. Then he used his Second Soul Skill to take the two girls to the Back Mountain.

The others could only stare at one another on the training field.

"Dean, are you really just going to let him take them away?"

Dai Mubai was the one who spoke. Zhu Zhuqing was his fiancée, yet that bastard had taken her away in broad daylight.

He'd even said right in front of Dai Mubai that he wanted to study her Martial Soul.

Flender sighed, looking helpless.

"Then go get her back! Tell him you don't agree."

Dai Mubai shut his mouth in embarrassment, embodying the phrase "daring to be angry, but not daring to speak."

Truth be told, Flender felt rather helpless, too. Although Xia Ran had been his student for years, the guidance he'd provided amounted to little more than general knowledge about Soul Beasts and help when it came time to hunt for Soul Rings.

Most of the time, Xia Ran trained along his own path and never sought advice from them, the old-timers.

Even so, he'd become a Soul Ancestor at the age of twelve.

That only proved that the path Xia Ran had chosen for himself was the right one; he didn't need anyone to guide him.

So as his teacher, Flender never felt very confident when dealing with Xia Ran.

Flender often wondered whether Xia Ran might have achieved something entirely different by now if he hadn't recruited him and Xia Ran had instead joined the better-resourced Spirit Hall.

Then he sighed again and dismissed everyone.

There was no use dwelling on it now. He might as well focus on tomorrow's trip to the Star Dou Forest to get Soul Rings.

Meanwhile, in the Back Mountain, Ning Rongrong was still clinging tightly to Xia Ran.

Zhu Zhuqing stood to the side, feeling helpless. She hadn't expected that simply trying to help Ning Rongrong would get her surrounded by Dai Mubai and the others. Fortunately, Xia Ran had arrived at the last moment.

Xia Ran stood in the clearing with a helpless look on his face. He had no idea how long Ning Rongrong would stay like this.

But thinking it over, what had just happened counted as bullying. Anyone would be frightened to be surrounded by a group of boys.

He couldn't train in this position, so he thought about the upcoming Soul Ring hunt.

Then, as if something had just occurred to him, he turned to Zhu Zhuqing.

"What level is your Soul Power now?"

Zhu Zhuqing was slightly taken aback by the sudden question.

"I just reached level twenty-eight. Why?"

Some time had passed since she enrolled, and Zhu Zhuqing had advanced from level twenty-seven to level twenty-eight.

"Tsk, this is a bit of a problem."