Ma Hongjun Goes Berserk

Xue Tianyu stopped less than three meters from Zhao Wuji, looking coldly at the Soul Saint who had once been so arrogant.

"Seeing you wag your tail and beg for mercy like this makes me sick."

The Frost Sword Qi in his hand slowly rose, its razor-sharp tip pointed straight at Zhao Wuji's throat.

The dark-red Sixth Soul Ring glimmered once more.

"When you accepted the assassination contract and came to take my life, why didn't you think about sparing mine?"

"Once you choose to be an assassin, you have to accept that you might be killed in turn."

Xue Tianyu flicked his wrist, and wind and snow gathered over the blade.

"Take that laughable arrogance of yours to hell and become the King of Hell's ox and horse."

"I'll take you down with me!"

Knowing there was no hope of survival, Zhao Wuji let out a despairing roar.

He wrung out every last trace of Soul Power in his body and suddenly swung up his left arm, bringing it down on Xue Tianyu's head like a heavy hammer.

This was his final, dying blow.

Xue Tianyu's eyes didn't waver in the slightest.

Just as the hand was about to fall, a flash of ice-blue sword light, swift beyond imagining, streaked past.

"Whoosh!"

The sword Qi swept across Zhao Wuji's neck as easily as a knife through tofu.

His raised left arm froze in midair, unable to move another inch.

Zhao Wuji's eyes widened as a strange "gurgle" sounded in his throat.

The next moment.

A dark-red line of blood appeared across his thick neck.

The overbearing Ultimate Ice surged through the wound and into his brain.

There was no gruesome spray of blood.

Zhao Wuji's enormous head was frozen into a solid ball of ice, which rolled off his neck.

It struck the ground with a thud and shattered into pieces.

The fragments of ice were mixed with red and white.

The headless corpse lost all signs of life and toppled backward, kicking up a cloud of cold dust.

Immovable Wisdom King Zhao Wuji had met his end in Sunset Forest.

Xue Tianyu gave his wrist a light shake, scattering the ice chips from his Frost Sword Qi.

He didn't even glance at the corpse on the ground.

"Couldn't take a hit."

He turned to Ice Empress beside him.

"Let's go. The smell of blood will draw other Soul Beasts here soon."

"We still have to make a trip to Heaven Dou City. There's no point wasting too much time on these little fry."

Ice Empress chuckled, her form transforming into a streak of emerald light before vanishing back into Xue Tianyu's body.

The wind and snow gradually died down, and night once more cloaked the mountain forest.

Only a shattered headless ice statue remained, silently telling the tale of the kind of killing god Shrek Academy had provoked.

The night wind howled through layers of branches, its mournful wail like ghosts crying.

The edge of Sunset Forest, once teeming with countless high-level Soul Beasts, now lay as still as the depths of the netherworld. For ten li in every direction, not even the faintest insect chirp could be heard.

Xue Tianyu stepped across the frost-covered leaves, his pace calm and unhurried.

Behind him, the terrifying aura of the one-hundred-thousand-year God-Bestowed Soul Ring had gradually faded, but the lingering pressure of Ultimate Ice still raged deep beneath the earth. Not a single foolish Soul Beast dared to approach the god of slaughter just then.

Ice Empress's peerlessly beautiful phantom floated beside Xue Tianyu.

She stretched lazily, her emerald-green dress shimmering alluringly in the moonlight.

"You butchered that stupid bear without a second thought. Your temper's getting more and more to my liking."

Ice Empress folded her arms, smiling as she studied Xue Tianyu's profile.

"But beat the young ones and the old ones come running. Kill the old ones and the even older ones will come snapping at you like mad dogs. I hear that Flender, the headmaster of Shrek Academy, is fiercely protective of his own. You chopped his deputy headmaster up like firewood. That grudge is tied in a knot that'll never come undone."

At her words, Xue Tianyu not only showed no concern, but let out several cool laughs.

"Protective?"

"That high-sounding word is nothing but a fig leaf Shrek uses to cover up its bullying."

He raised a hand and brushed a snowflake from his shoulder.

"Tang San hurt people with Hidden Weapons in the street. He was outmatched and crippled by me—that was his own fault. Zhao Wuji was a Soul Saint, yet he threw aside his dignity and came to Sunset Forest to ambush me, a junior. I killed him in return, and he deserved to die. If they really dare come after me for revenge, I don't mind adding a few more ice statues outside Heaven Dou City."

Ice Empress covered her lips with a laugh, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

"What an arrogant brat. But I like it."

"Where are we going now? Back to Heaven Dou City to sleep, or straight to that run-down academy of theirs to kill that Flender, too?"

Xue Tianyu shook his head slightly, looking toward the distant, glittering lights of Heaven Dou City.

"A hunt is more entertaining when you pluck away the prey's wings one by one. Zhao Wuji was just an appetizer. A few of the Shrek Seven Devils still think far too highly of themselves. Tonight, let's start with that mutated barnyard chicken reeking from head to toe."

The two moved at incredible speed, streaking through the night like twin shafts of light.

Before long, the towering walls of Heaven Dou City appeared before them.

Heaven Dou City was divided into two entirely different worlds late at night. The dignitaries had long since settled into their warm mansions, while the brothels and pleasure quarters in the city's south were in full swing, steeped in wine and song.

A narrow alley called Spring Breeze Alley reeked of cheap perfume and nauseating liquor.

The red lanterns outside several back-alley brothels swayed precariously in the night wind.

"Creak—"

A battered wooden door was shoved open. A round, fleshy figure staggered out, as fat as a meatball.

Ma Hongjun let out a loud belch as he hitched up his loose waistband. A few long strands of hair from some unknown woman clung to his weed-like red hair.

"Ptooey!"

He spat a glob of phlegm onto the threshold, his chubby face full of scorn.

"What a lousy place. Those women couldn't even keep me busy for half an hour, all together. If I weren't short on cash lately, I'd have gone to the highest-class Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion in Heaven Dou City to enjoy myself."

Ma Hongjun rubbed his greasy cheeks and staggered down the dark alley. He grumbled and cursed under his breath, full of complaints.

"Boss Dai's got no loyalty, either. He spends all day trailing after that stuck-up Zhu Zhuqing. He doesn't even take me to the brothels anymore. And Tang San acts like a saint, but when he ran into that pretty boy Xue Tianyu, didn't he get beaten like a dog and made to kowtow in the street? He really brought shame on the Shrek Seven Devils!"

Just thinking of Xue Tianyu made Ma Hongjun's anger flare. The Evil Fire caused by his Mutated Martial Soul not only tormented his body, but also made him short-tempered and irritable.

"Just wait until Teacher Zhao kills that brat who doesn't know his place. Let's see how cocky he is then!"

"The headmaster said Teacher Zhao's sure to win this time. A Soul Saint against some punk who's only a few dozen levels—he'll crush him without breaking a sweat."

Imagining Xue Tianyu being picked up like a chick and having his limbs broken by Zhao Wuji, Ma Hongjun grinned broadly and let out an incredibly lewd laugh.

Just as the fat pig was enjoying himself most.

The air in the alley suddenly stopped without warning.

Ma Hongjun, overheated from the liquor and Evil Fire, shuddered violently.

To his shock, the warm breath he exhaled turned into a cloud of white ice crystals the instant it left his lips! The temperature was plunging at a horrifying speed.

The puddles on the uneven flagstones at his feet froze in the blink of an eye, hardening into a sheet of ice. Thick frost rapidly spread across the mottled brick walls on either side of the alley.

"Hiss—"

Ma Hongjun sucked in a breath, sobering up in an instant. He clutched his arms, his whole body trembling with fat as he shivered.

"What the hell kind of weather is this? I was sweating a moment ago, and now it's like I've fallen into an ice cave!"

He stopped warily, rapidly circulating his Soul Power. A stream of dark-red Evil Fire seeped out of his body, trying to drive off the unnatural cold. Yet his vaunted Evil Fire seemed like a dying candle flickering in the wind before this bitter chill, ready to go out at any moment.

"Who's there? Who's hiding in the dark and playing tricks?"

Ma Hongjun bellowed, trying to cover his panic with his voice.

"Playing tricks?"

A voice, cold to the extreme and utterly devoid of human feeling, drifted from the far end of the alley.

It wasn't loud, but it pierced Ma Hongjun's eardrums like a pair of ice blades, making his heart skip half a beat.

Clear footsteps followed.

"Crack—crack—"

The sound of boots crushing ice beneath them.

Ma Hongjun stared at the deep shadow at the alley's entrance. In the faint moonlight, a tall, slender figure slowly emerged from the darkness.

He wore white robes as pure as snow, his back straight as a sword.

His peerlessly handsome face held no hint of expression. Only his eyes, glowing with a faint blue light, looked down at Ma Hongjun from on high, as if he were a beast about to be slaughtered.

"You... Xue Tianyu!"

Ma Hongjun let out a frightened yelp and stumbled, nearly falling flat on his behind.

He never could have imagined that one moment he'd be picturing Xue Tianyu's death, and the next this god of slaughter would be standing right in front of him!

After the terror came a flash of humiliation and anger.

Ma Hongjun forced himself to steady his footing, pointed at Xue Tianyu, and launched into a string of curses.

"Hey, you with the surname Xue! Why aren't you asleep in the middle of the night? Why'd you come here to scare me?"

"Do you even know where you are? Heaven Dou City is Shrek Academy's territory! Shouldn't you be in Sunset Forest right now, running for your life from Teacher Zhao? What, you got lucky and escaped? Now you're here to throw your weight around?"

The more Ma Hongjun spoke, the more confident he became. He even felt he'd seen right through the situation.

"Teacher Zhao must not have found you, so you slipped away! I suggest you come over and kowtow to me, then follow me to see Teacher Zhao. Maybe he'll leave enough of you to bury!"

Looking at the barnyard chicken who was still spewing nonsense with death staring him in the face, Xue Tianyu's mocking smile almost spilled from his eyes.

He didn't rush to attack. Instead, he slowly raised his right hand.

He turned his wrist.

"Clang!"

A heavy-metal shard, smeared with dark-red ice, was casually tossed at Ma Hongjun's feet.

It struck the ice with a dull thud.

Ma Hongjun lowered his head and glanced at the shard. His pupils instantly shrank to pinpoints. It was a piece of dark-gold shoulder armor, engraved with a rough bear pattern. A faint but familiar trace of Soul Power still lingered along its edge. It was a fragment of a Martial Soul left behind after the Vajra Bear Martial Soul Avatar had been forcibly shattered!

Only one person in all of Shrek Academy had an aura like that! Immovable Wisdom King, Zhao Wuji!

"This... this can't be..."

Ma Hongjun's voice began to shake violently, and the fat on his face bunched up in terror. He shook his head frantically and took two steps back.

"It's fake! You forged it! Teacher Zhao is a level-seventy-six Soul Saint! How could he lose to a little brat like you?"

"Lose?"

Xue Tianyu chuckled, his laughter especially jarring in the silent alley.

"He didn't lose. He died. He didn't even leave a whole corpse behind."

As he spoke, Xue Tianyu slowly advanced on him.

"He activated his Martial Soul Avatar, and I froze both his arms to pieces with Red Lotus Extreme Abyss. He burned his life trying to escape, but I caught up and cut off that stupid bear's head with one stroke."

"Before he died, he was just like you are now, kneeling on the ground and crying for me to spare him."

"I've seen for myself just how tough Shrek Academy's people are."

Every word struck Ma Hongjun's heart like a heavy hammer.

Looking at the utter lack of warmth in Xue Tianyu's eyes, he finally understood that he wasn't lying.

Zhao Wuji was really dead! Even a Soul Saint had been killed. And him, a Soul Grandmaster... He would die! He would definitely die!

Terror devoured his reason in an instant.

"I'll take you down with me!"

Ma Hongjun let out a desperate howl like a wild boar at death's door. He knew he couldn't escape, so he could only pin all his hopes on one last, desperate fight.

Two yellow Hundred-Year Soul Rings and one purple Thousand-Year Soul Ring shot up from beneath his feet.

"Evil Fire Phoenix, possess me!"

Blazing purplish-red flames erupted, forcibly melting the frost around him. Ma Hongjun's arms transformed into wide, fiery wings, and he leaped into the air, hovering above the ground.

"First Soul Skill! Phoenix Fire Line!"

"Second Soul Skill! Bathing Phoenix!"

"Third Soul Skill! Phoenix Wings Soaring!"

Without hesitation, he poured out all his Soul Power in an instant. Bolstered by both Bathing Phoenix and Phoenix Wings Soaring, the Phoenix Fire Line he spewed forth more than doubled in size.

The terrifying heat turned the walls on either side of the alley red-hot. Even the air warped from the extreme temperature. Carrying a violent force that seemed capable of destroying everything, the purplish-red pillar of fire surged toward Xue Tianyu's face like a fire dragon, swallowing him whole.

"Die! Die!"

Hovering in midair, Ma Hongjun screamed hysterically, his eyes bloodshot with madness.