That night.
The evening breeze brushed past the eaves. All around was quiet and secluded, with only moonlight blanketing the ground in tranquil silence.
However.
That peaceful stillness didn't last long before a scream of "Ah—" rang out from inside the little house, shattering the quiet.
And that wasn't the end of it.
Before the first scream had even faded, a second followed right on its heels.
The two cries came close together, but their meanings couldn't have been more different.
The first was mostly startled disbelief.
By comparison.
The second was filled with shock and pain, along with a hint of embarrassment.
"Bang—"
With that loud crash, Jiang Yang was suddenly driven out of the courtyard by the Evil Fire.
A faint streak of crimson blood still stained his manhood. Even he, usually so composed, found the whole thing rather unbelievable.
"Who are you?!"
The next moment.
Ma Xiaotao stood in the doorway, having hurriedly pulled on a dress. Crimson blood stained its hem and trailed down to her ankles. Her face was furious.
The phantom of the Evil Fire Phoenix behind her and the six Soul Rings beneath her feet both showed just how angry she was.
"My name is Jiang Yang."
"I was a victim in this, too. You should go talk to your teacher."
Jiang Yang quickly regained his composure once he'd processed what had happened.
He also took a set of clothes from his Soul Tool and quickly changed.
"How dare you, you scoundrel!"
"At a time like this, you still dare to slander my teacher?!"
Hearing that the boy before her was still trying to pin the blame on her teacher,
Ma Xiaotao flew into a rage.
Her second and third Soul Rings flashed in succession, and she charged at Jiang Yang like a fire phoenix.
"First Soul Skill—"
"Ice Emperor Bodyguard!"
Jiang Yang instantly gathered his Soul Power, freezing all the flames surging toward him.
Ma Xiaotao had never intended to take Jiang Yang's life, but the ice wall that sprang up from the ground blocked her path all the same.
"Ultimate Ice?"
"A hundred-thousand-year-old First Soul Ring?"
Ma Xiaotao wasn't stupid. She was just a little impulsive.
After seeing the Ultimate Ice Martial Soul and the hundred-thousand-year-old First Soul Ring, she began to believe Jiang Yang's explanation.
However.
Even if taking her most precious thing from her had been an accident.
Even if that accident had a great deal to do with the first scream she'd let out after waking up.
She still felt that this man ought to pay some price.
At the very least, she wanted to test his strength.
To see whether he was worthy of being her man.
"Second Soul Skill—"
"Bathing Fire Phoenix!"
"First Soul Skill—"
"Phoenix Fire Line!"
Ma Xiaotao first used her second Soul Skill to boost herself, then attacked with her first.
Clearly.
She was trying to test Jiang Yang's true strength.
"I suggest you go talk things over with your teacher first. I'd also like to ask why I ended up here."
Though these two attacks from Ma Xiaotao were enough to force back a Soul Ancestor-level expert,
they weren't enough to trouble Jiang Yang. He didn't even use the Xuanyuan Sword. With a mere thought, he controlled the Ultimate Ice and froze the stream of fire into ice.
"So you're still saying you were the one who got bullied, huh?!"
"You little brat! Prepare to die!"
Ma Xiaotao's face flushed at his words, and she immediately threatened him.
From Jiang Yang's actions just now, she'd also seen that he was no ordinary opponent.
So.
She decided to turn up the heat.
"Fourth Soul Skill—"
"Phoenix Roaring Sky Strike!"
At the name of the Soul Skill, the serious look on Jiang Yang's face immediately turned to amusement.
Phoenix Roaring Sky Strike, huh...
But.
Amused as he was,
he still had to take things a little more seriously.
Though they were both Soul Emperors, Ma Xiaotao wasn't some lightweight like Zhou Yi.
If Ma Xiaotao got serious, she could take on a Soul Saint by herself.
That was the overbearing power of an Ultimate Attribute.
"First Soul Skill—"
"Ice Emperor Bodyguard!"
"First Soul Skill—"
"Ice Emperor Pincer!"
"Second Soul Skill—"
"My Heart is Bright!"
Jiang Yang unleashed three Soul Skills in succession, layering them one atop another, yet the terrifying pillar of fire still forced its way into the heart of the ice wall.
"Huh?!"
Seeing this from the air, Ma Xiaotao quickly pulled back her Soul Power, worried she might kill him.
After all, she'd only said she wanted Jiang Yang dead. She hadn't meant it.
But soon,
she spotted the Xuanyuan Sword gripped in Jiang Yang's hand and the two purple and one black Soul Rings beneath his feet.
She couldn't help letting out a surprised cry.
"Looks like you won't listen to a word I say unless I beat you into submission!"
When the dust cleared,
one corner of the ice pillar in front of Jiang Yang had clearly been blasted away. Beyond the opening, a trace of warm blood marked his face.
Ultimate Fire still flickered over the ice pillar.
"Jiang Yang, I'm a Six-Ring Soul Emperor, and I haven't underestimated you. So please don't look down on me."
"I know you're still holding something back. Otherwise, the Sea God Pavilion wouldn't have appointed you Outer Court Chief."
"An eleven-year-old Outer Court Chief is truly unprecedented in Shrek's history."
Ma Xiaotao hovered in the air with her arms crossed.
Her crimson dress and phoenix wings, set against the bright moon, gave her a strikingly cold and fierce air.
"Fine. I knew it wouldn't be that easy."
"Ma Xiaotao, have you ever lost?"
Jiang Yang smiled faintly, his expression growing a little more serious.
"To be honest, if you don't count sparring with my teacher and senior sister, then no, I've never lost."
Ma Xiaotao smiled as she replied.
As the wielder of an Evil Fire Phoenix Martial Soul, bearing the Ultimate Fire attribute and a trace of divine-beast blood,
and as the direct disciple of Shrek Academy's dean,
she had every right to be proud of saying that.
"Then can you accept defeat?"
"I mean the kind where you lose completely."
As soon as Jiang Yang finished speaking,
Ma Xiaotao's eyes sharpened. She wondered whether this boy, several years younger than her, was just spouting nonsense,
or whether he truly had a trump card.
However.
As a genius herself, she quickly swept that doubt away.
"Student Jiang Yang, you're the first new student who's ever dared to talk to me like that. I don't care what trump cards you have."
"If you're a man, then fight me with everything you've got!"
"The rules are simple—"
"The winner takes all. The loser gets on their knees and licks!"
"If you beat me, you can hit me or scold me as you please, and we'll call this matter settled."
"If you lose, then you'd better give me an explanation for what happened today!"
Jiang Yang hadn't meant to provoke her at all, but it was precisely his calmness
that got under Ma Xiaotao's skin even more.
As the best among her year in Shrek's Inner Court, she had her own pride.
"Sounds like a good deal—"
"I accept."
Jiang Yang nodded.
"Then come on. Let me see what you're made of!"
As soon as she finished speaking,
Ma Xiaotao immediately entered battle stance.
"First Soul Skill—"
"Insightful Autumn!"
"Martial Soul Domain—"
"Righteous and Bright!"
"Third Soul Skill—"
"Hundred-Step Flying Sword!"
As one Soul Skill after another took effect, Ma Xiaotao, who had been feeling rather pleased with herself,
immediately changed her expression.
Especially when Jiang Yang unleashed his Martial Soul Domain. Even her Soul Power, backed by Ultimate Fire, was compressed by 200%.
She also dropped from the air.
A sudden panic seized her.
Then Jiang Yang's sword, carrying a mental shock, shot free from his hand without warning.
For a moment, her mind went blank.
By the time she came to her senses, the flying sword was already right in front of her.
"Fourth Soul Skill—"
"Phoenix Roaring Sky Strike!"
At the brink of life and death,
Ma Xiaotao's years of battle instinct made her use this strike without thinking.
But through Jiang Yang's Insightful Autumn, she still looked as slow as a crawling turtle.
There was a "bang!"
Jiang Yang's left hand was tucked behind his back as his right followed the flying sword. He darted forward, then flickered slightly to one side, dodging the attack with ease. The wave of fire blasted the distant courtyard wall to pieces!
The birds and insects among the trees nearby immediately fled.
The silent night was noisy once again.
"Thud—"
At the muffled sound of a hand catching the sword hilt, Ma Xiaotao—who had thought she was surely going to die that night—slowly opened her eyes.
A few drops of cold sweat had already run down her forehead.
She stared in disbelief at Jiang Yang, standing over her with his left hand behind his back and the Xuanyuan Sword in his right. It seemed as if light shone in her eyes.
"Oh? What a lively scene. Looks like I picked the wrong time to show up?"
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