Dead silence.
A silence that could freeze the soul.
Under Lan's gaze, Ma Hongjun trembled like a leaf.
"Shadow Abyss Shark, Martial Soul Possession!"
Before the words had even left his mouth, the two Shark Blades in Lan's hands shot away.
Whum—
The blades swept to either side, carving two streaks of deep blue light through the air as they spun at high speed. At last, they joined together in front of him.
A gigantic blue disc appeared out of thin air. Complex, mysterious runes flowed across its surface, like an ancient magic circle summoned from the Abyss.
At the center of the magic circle, space rippled faintly.
A colossal, deep-blue Shark Phantom silently roared as it burst up from the bottom of the circle!
It had no physical form, yet its oppressive presence was more terrifying than that of any living creature, as though the will of the ten-thousand-year-old deep sea had descended upon this place.
The Purple Scorpion Girl, sheltered behind Lan, stared in stunned silence.
Her beautiful eyes were wide, her little mouth parted, and for a moment she forgot to breathe.
So handsome.
Master... was truly so handsome.
Even his Martial Soul Possession looked like a god descending into the mortal world, radiating an indescribable, cold beauty.
At the other end of the crowd, "Xue Qinghe," who had maintained a gentle smile all along, saw his pupils suddenly contract.
Within him, that supreme and noble Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul was actually... trembling.
Yes, trembling!
It was a tremor that came from the deepest part of the bloodline, an instinctive fear that a lower-ranking life-form simply couldn't suppress when faced with its natural enemy!
This wasn't suppression through Soul Power Level. This was... the crushing force of a higher level of life!
Raging Waves surged through Xue Qinghe's heart.
How was this possible?!
By then, the enormous Shark Phantom had spiraled upward and finally transformed into a streak of light that fused into Lan's body.
With a thought from Lan, the two Shark Blades that had formed the magic circle quietly separated and returned to his hands like swallows returning to their nest.
"Lock on."
Two words, as light as the wind.
The Shark Blades vanished from his hands in an instant.
The next moment, Ma Hongjun felt a chill between his legs, as if a bitterly cold gust of wind had blown past.
And then... there was no then.
"Ah—!"
A scream so shrill it barely sounded human tore through the night sky above the long street.
Agony!
A pain that seemed to rip his very soul to shreds erupted from somewhere on his body and swept over him in an instant!
Ma Hongjun's legs gave way, and he nearly fell to his knees.
His face drained of color as he trembled and lowered his head.
His trousers were already soaked in blood, the glaring red stain still spreading.
An absurd, horrifying thought forced its way into his mind.
Could it be...
No!
Impossible! Absolutely impossible!
With a trembling hand, he fumbled to undo his trousers.
A bloody lump fell to the cold stone pavement with a wet slap.
Ma Hongjun's eyes widened like bells as he stared fixedly at the lump on the ground.
His mind went blank.
His hopes were utterly shattered.
He... had really become a eunuch.
"My..."
In the depths of his despair, a frenzied thought surfaced.
Put it back! Maybe it could still be put back!
He lunged forward like a madman, reaching to pick up the only hope he had left.
But just as his fingertips were about to touch the bloody lump,
a wisp of icy blue mist drifted down without a sound and settled gently over it.
Crack.
It froze solid in an instant.
Then, with a crisp shattering sound, it crumbled into glittering ice shards that scattered across the ground and mixed with the dust, impossible to tell apart.
"Ah—!"
"You brat, I..."
Ma Hongjun's eyes were bloodshot.
But his curses soon turned to whimpers.
He was in despair.
To him, that thing was more precious than his Evil Fire Phoenix Spirit!
At the other end of the long street, the corner of the Crown Prince "Xue Qinghe's" mouth twitched faintly.
Looking at Ma Hongjun's blood-soaked misery, she found herself feeling a strange twinge of sympathy.
He'd been sliced off in one stroke...
How painful must that have been?
In her heart, Xue Qinghe mourned for the unlucky fat man for three breaths.
Good thing.
Good thing I'm a woman.
The thought flashed through her mind, and her gaze toward Lan changed completely.
This kid really was ruthless when he struck.
He went straight for the weakest spot and ended it with one blow, leaving no room for mercy.
"Hahahaha!"
A bright, slightly deranged laugh broke the bizarre silence.
The Purple Scorpion Girl, still sheltered behind Lan, laughed so hard she doubled over, tears nearly streaming from her eyes.
Pointing at Ma Hongjun, she mocked him without the slightest restraint:
"You fat bastard, where'd all your swagger go?!"
"Keep acting tough! Why'd you stop now?"
"Now that you've got the chance, you can't even perform!"
"You damn eunuch, serves you right! Hahaha, serves you right!"
Her words lit the fuse.
The twin sisters who had been running the sachet stall earlier looked at Ma Hongjun's miserable state, their eyes full of satisfaction.
At last, the thug who had harassed them day after day and kept them living in fear had gotten what was coming to him!
The onlookers around them began to chatter too.
"That's right! That fat bastard's been using his status at Shrek Academy to harass respectable women on the street every day. Someone should've taught him a lesson ages ago!"
"Exactly. He's rotten to the core. Today, he finally met his match."
"This young man really has rid the people of a menace!"
Every word of gossip stabbed into Ma Hongjun's heart.
Humiliation, agony, despair.
The emotions tangled together until he was nearly driven mad.
He wanted to charge at Lan and fight him to the death.
Even if he died, he'd at least splatter the other man with his blood!
But the last shred of reason poured over him like ice water, bringing him back to his senses.
He couldn't win.
Charging in would only get him killed for nothing.
Ma Hongjun gritted his teeth so hard that his lips began to bleed.
Clutching his mutilated body, he limped away through the countless gazes—some sympathetic, some scornful, some gleeful—enduring the pain that seemed to tear his soul apart.
"I'll remember this grudge!"
For Lan, killing someone took no more than a single stroke.
But when it came to someone like Ma Hongjun, he thought making him a eunuch would be better than killing him.
Alive.
And fully conscious.
Letting every day of his life be steeped in pain and despair.
That was the best punishment.
Lan slowly drew in the aura around him, and the two Shark Blades quietly vanished.
He remained standing in the middle of the long street, as still as ever, as if he had just done something utterly trivial.
"Master!"
A fragrant breeze swept over him.
With stars of admiration in her eyes, the Purple Scorpion Girl threw herself into Lan's arms without hesitation and hugged him tight.
"Master, you were amazing!"
The crowd burst into cheers.
"Good job, young man!"
"Nicely done!"
The twin sisters who sold sachets were especially relieved. They exchanged glances, each seeing gratitude and ease in the other's eyes.
Now everything was fine.
That damn fatso had become a eunuch. He'd never come bother them again.
Before you continue