Evil Nature Enters the Root
Upon entering the Sea God Pavilion and seeing Chen Yuan and Gong Changlong return, Mu En's visibly hunched posture finally straightened a bit.
The lingering shadow on my face these past few days has faded considerably.
"Changlong, Chen Yuan, you're back. How was the harvest this time?"
"Pretty good, Mu En. You'd never guess how many years Chen Yuan's sixth Soul Ring has!"
As soon as he opened his mouth, Gong Changlong was filled with joy.
He had no intention of hiding Chen Yuan's physical body and the age of his Soul Ring; rather than letting others discover it, he preferred to just say it directly.
Hiding things is nothing short of having something to hide. Only by taking the initiative to tell others will they trust you more.
Mu En's face also showed a bit more curiosity. In his estimation, Chen Yuan's sixth Soul Ring age would definitely not be less than 60,000 years, and might even reach 70,000 or 80,000 years.
In that case, perhaps Chen Yuan's seventh Soul Ring could reach 100,000 years like his.
As for the sixth ring, a hundred thousand years, Mu En could only dream about it. Putting aside whether Chen Yuan's body could absorb it, Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast was simply beyond the capabilities of Chen Yuan and Gong Changlong.
"Let me guess, 80,000 years?"
Gong Changlong shook his head, his face full of smugness.
"It can't be 90,000 years, can it?"
"Wrong, wrong! Chen Yuan's sixth Soul Ring is 100,000 years!"
"Ten thousand years?! Gong Changlong, don't talk nonsense! How could you possibly deal with Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast?!"
Before Mu En could say anything, Xuan Zi on the other side couldn't sit still any longer.
He's been through a lot lately. First, Chen Yuan was captured by Di Tian, and he went deep into the Core Zone alone, where he was almost torn apart by that guy Xiong Jun.
When Mu En returned, he told Xuanzi that Chen Yuan had returned safely. At that moment, Xuan Zi felt as if the whole world had turned upside down.
Two days later, a group of Evil Soul Master attacked him. He was actually suppressed by the Level 98 Evil Soul Master whose martial spirit was a puppet, and he almost lost the fight.
Because of his actions, Mu En's lifespan is almost over; he may not live for more than a year.
Now that Gong Changlong has returned, he tells him that Chen Yuan's sixth Soul Ring is 100,000 years old! Xuan Zi feels that what he has experienced during this period is somewhat magical.
Seeing that everyone was as surprised as he had been at the beginning, Gong Changlong was very satisfied.
That's right, how can I lose my composure in something like this? Everyone has to be together!
Then, Gong Changlong told the elders present the version of the story that he and Chen Yuan had already prepared.
Upon hearing that Gong Changlong and his group had just encountered a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast that had just survived its Heavenly Tribulation, and that Chen Yuan's physical attributes and Spiritual Power were just right to absorb the Soul Ring and Soul Bone of such a Soul Beast.
The expressions on the faces of these elderly gentlemen were, "Are you kidding me?"
This story is so fantastical, yet there's absolutely no problem with it.
Having witnessed the blood-red Soul Ring on Chen Yuan's body, the elders had no choice but to believe Gong Changlong's words.
Is there any other explanation besides this? It can't really be that Gong Changlong killed a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast himself, right?
"Teacher, now that Chen Yuan has obtained Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring and Soul Bone, his martial soul attribute must have increased significantly. With all his Soul Skill activated, he should be able to suppress the Ultimate Fire of the Dark Attribute! He can definitely save Xiaotao!"
"Yan Shaozhe, I advise you not to have too much hope. Xiaotao's condition is more serious than you and I think. It's really hard to say whether it will be successful."
"And ultimately, the root of the problem lies with you."
"Chen Yuan, would you be willing to come with this old man to take a look?"
Chen Yuan accepted Mu En's invitation, respecting Mu En's wishes, but still wanted to offer a heads-up.
"Mu En, let me make this clear first: I will not help if it would harm my future cultivation."
What?! Xiaotao is your senior!
"And then what? She's just a senior, and not even someone I know very well. You want me to sacrifice my future to help her? Dean Yan, maybe you can do it, but I can't. I'm selfish."
"You!"
"Yan Shaozhe! Your heart is in turmoil. Chen Yuan is right! Can you waste your future on someone you've only just met?"
After being told that by Mu En, Yan Shaozhe regained some composure, but his gaze toward Chen Yuan was somewhat unfriendly.
Ma Xiaotao was his apprentice, and he had long regarded Ma Xiaotao as his own child. How could he possibly watch his child lie on Ice Bed for the rest of her life?
The only one who sacrificed himself was Chen Yuan, whose relationship with Shrek wasn't that close.
"By the way, Mu En, Chen Yuan and I also encountered two Evil Soul Master in Heaven Dou City this time, one Soul Douluo and the other a Soul Saint."
Upon hearing Gong Changlong's words, everyone's expressions turned extremely serious. They never expected that Evil Soul Master would appear in Heaven Dou City.
It seems that the Evil Soul Master have now formed a considerable force in a corner unknown to them.
"We'll discuss this in a separate meeting later. Let's go check on Xiaotao first."
The Evil Soul Master have become a force to be reckoned with, something Mu En was well aware of; otherwise, he wouldn't have made the agreement with Chen Yuan to kill Ye Xishui in the future.
When he let Ye Xishui go, Yan Shaozhe later let Feng Ling go, Mu En had foreseen this situation.
He had no idea that the Holy Spirit Cult was even more terrifying and had a much longer history than he had imagined.
Pushing Mu En's wheelchair deeper into the Sea God Pavilion, Chen Yuan and the others soon arrived at the door of a special quiet room.
Here, Huo Yuhao leaned dejectedly against the door. When he saw Chen Yuan pushing the wheelchair, Huo Yuhao felt as if he had seen Core Flame of hope.
He tried to stand up, but because he stood up too suddenly, his body couldn't adjust, and he stumbled and almost made intimate contact with the ground.
"Brother Chen! Please! Please save Sister Xiaotao!"
"Huo Yuhao, all I can say is that I will do my best; I cannot offer any guarantees."
Looking at Huo Yuhao's current state, Chen Yuan really couldn't believe that the person in front of him was Huo Yuhao.
The relationship between Huo Yuhao and Ma Xiaotao is much better now than in the original novel. When Ma Xiaotao gets into trouble, his reaction is more intense than in the original story, which makes sense.
Upon entering the quiet room, Ma Xiaotao lay quietly on the smooth, white stone bed in the center.
Black flames were continuously emanating from her body, her face was extremely pale, and wisps of black smoke would rise from her from time to time.
These bursting black flames were trapped by a layer of golden light, preventing them from affecting the outside world.
"The Mystic Ice Bed?"
Upon seeing the bed, which looked like a stone but was constantly emitting cold air, Chen Yuan recognized it.
Isn't this the same as the Mystic Ice Bed of the Clear Sky Sect?
"That's right, it's the Mystic Ice Bed, and it's ten thousand years old. Combined with my Light Attribute, I forcibly sealed Xiaotao here. This is not a long-term solution. The ultimate level of flames is extremely domineering. Once it breaks free of the restraints, Xiaotao's mind will definitely be swallowed up. At that time, Xiaotao will probably become the most talented Evil Soul Master in history."
"Mu En, what exactly happened to Ma Xiaotao?"
"Among the Evil Soul Master who broke into the academy, there was a Super Douluo whose martial soul was the Evil Phoenix. It was she who completely activated the evil nature within Xiaotao, turning her into what she is now."
No problem. Yan Shaozhe's Bright Phoenix can stimulate Feng Ling's Evil Phoenix to fully Awakening, and Feng Ling's Evil Phoenix can naturally stimulate Ma Xiaotao's Evil Fire Phoenix Martial Soul.
Could this be considered karma?
Mu En looked at Yan Shaozhe with disappointment. His disciple was just as frivolous as he had been back then, but he just couldn't handle things well.
Seeing Mu En's gaze, Yan Shaozhe lowered his head in shame.
"How are you doing, Chen Yuan? Can you keep Xiaotao under control?"
"I'm afraid that won't work. Her evil nature has been fully unleashed. Suppressing her would definitely suppress her martial spirit as well. Moreover, my flames tell me that they want to burn Ma Xiaotao to death."
"You want to burn Xiaotao alive?"
Chen Yuan nodded. This wasn't something he made up. To be precise, it was Sun God Bow who wanted to kill Ma Xiaotao with a single arrow.
Since obtaining the Sun God Bow, Chen Yuan's flames have gained an incomparably powerful divine attribute, an attribute that shows no mercy to Evil Soul Master.
While the Dark Attribute is merely disliked, the evil attribute is something one wishes to eradicate immediately.
Mu En. He naturally believed Chen Yuan, but seeing Yan Shaozhe's doubtful gaze, he was somewhat disappointed.
How can a Bright Phoenix be so fond of speculating about others with the utmost malice? It lacks any magnanimity or righteousness.
"Chen Yuan, summon your martial spirit and let's see."
"Good."
Chen Yuan released his martial spirit, his hair turned bright red, his eyes turned holy golden, and six Soul Ring appeared one after another—one yellow, two purple, two black, and one red.
The instant Chen Yuan spirit appeared, all the flames that had been constantly emanating from Ma Xiaotao's body inside the protective shield disappeared, hiding inside Ma Xiaotao's body and not daring to show themselves.
Mu En carefully examined Chen Yuan's flames, and within them, he actually sensed an absurdly high-quality divine attribute!
Generally, only the Light Attribute can be associated with the Holy attribute, so Chen Yuan really gave him another huge surprise.
"Yan Shaozhe, prepare yourself mentally."
"Teacher, what do you mean by that?"
"It can be saved, but Xiaotao will either become a cripple or her martial spirit will degenerate, making it impossible for her to make any progress in her life."