Ma Xiunuo

The hall fell silent!

"T-Tao, what are you doing here? Grandmaster Ma Xiunuo and I were just discussing knowledge about martial souls. It's not what you think." After the silence lingered for a brief moment, the woman beside the old man was the first to break it.

There seemed to be a trace of guilt in her eyes. After hurriedly straightening her somewhat disheveled clothes with her delicate hands, she sprang up from the old man with lightning speed. Even Cao Yan, who had been silently watching from the side, was slightly taken aback by how swift her reaction was.

For now, however, he wisely remained silent.

A faint flush still lingered on the woman's pretty face. Thus, whenever she looked at Su Yuntao, her gaze darted away, and she did not even dare raise her head.

She had never expected things to turn out like this. Based on what she knew of Su Yuntao, there was no way he would normally appear here at this time. Otherwise, she would not have let herself go so completely.

But clearly, she had miscalculated this time.

"Hehe, Sisi, Grandmaster Ma Xiunuo, these two young friends have come to have their Soul Power Levels assessed. I'll have to trouble you with them." Su Yuntao spoke indifferently, then pointed at Cao Yan and Xiao Wu beside him. His voice seemed somewhat low, and a faint, barely noticeable self-mocking smile tugged at his lips.

Su Yuntao stood rooted to the spot as though petrified, wearing an expression that was neither quite a smile nor quite not. His hands clenched and loosened, then loosened and clenched again...

The woman before him was named Sisi. From the moment he had first seen her at Spirit Hall, he had been deeply captivated by her beauty. At last, after his fervent pursuit, she had agreed to be with him.

As a genius Soul Grandmaster and a Spirit Hall deacon, he possessed dual status and remarkable standing.

Who knew how many women in Nuoding City admired him? Yet Su Yuntao had rejected every last one of them.

The reason he had done so was to be able to stay with the woman before him until the very end.

But today—or rather, everything before him at this moment—was like a bolt from the blue, striking deep into his heart. The blow could not have been heavier.

"Sisi." Su Yuntao's voice was hoarse. Warm memories continuously surfaced in his mind. Every moment he had shared with the woman before him felt as though it had happened only yesterday. Yet now, those memories that should have been so beautiful and precious brought him nothing but heart-wrenching pain.

He knew that perhaps, from this day onward, those memories should fade away like smoke.

"T-Tao, believe me. Grandmaster Ma Xiunuo and I only have that kind of relationship." Sisi spoke softly. For some reason, when her beautiful eyes looked upon that familiar face, a face that seemed capable of being forever etched into the depths of her heart, her voice—which should have been resolute—sounded somewhat weak.

"Hehe, Grandmaster Ma Xiunuo, I'll leave these two children to you. Yuntao won't disturb you any longer." Su Yuntao merely smiled faintly at Sisi's words. Then he turned his head toward Grandmaster Ma Xiunuo. After saying this, he slowly turned around and walked directly out of Spirit Hall. His steps were steady and firm, as if nothing here could make him look back.

"Tao..." Sisi's choked voice rang out as her beautiful eyes followed Su Yuntao's figure until it disappeared beyond the doors of Spirit Hall.

"Sisi, Yuntao will never amount to much in his life. He's merely a Soul Grandmaster. Why be sad over him? Rest assured, so long as you stay properly by my side, within three years, I guarantee that your standing in Spirit Hall will not be beneath his." Beside her, Grandmaster Ma Xiunuo looked sympathetically upon Sisi's pitiful appearance, his aged voice carrying a trace of comfort.

"Sisi, don't you think you ought to make it up to me tonight?" Ma Xiunuo grinned, completely ignoring Cao Yan and Xiao Wu beside him. He stepped forward, intending to pull Sisi's delicate body into his embrace.

"Grandmaster Ma Xiunuo, please don't do this. We should not contact each other again in the future. I'm afraid Tao will misunderstand." Seeing Ma Xiunuo's hands about to lunge toward her, Sisi hurriedly spoke up. This time, she did not let the old man before her have his way.

"Hmph, Sisi, don't fail to appreciate favors. In this Spirit Hall, even that brat Su Yuntao has to tuck his tail between his legs before me. Do you believe that with a single word from me, I can make either of you get out? Besides, do you think he can still forgive you now?" Ma Xiunuo snorted coldly, his expression abruptly changing. Clearly, Sisi's rejection displeased him.

If Cao Yan and Xiao Wu had not still been here, then given his temperament, he would likely have been consumed by lust and thrown Sisi straight to the ground.

After all, no one in this Spirit Hall had ever dared defy his wishes.

Although this was merely a branch of Spirit Hall, his status here was the highest. If Su Yuntao had not been wary of this earlier, he would likely have flown into a rage on the spot.

Defying one's superior was a grave offense in Spirit Hall!

Thus, it would not be an exaggeration to call Ma Xiunuo the local emperor of all Nuoding City.

"Grandmaster Ma Xiunuo, I believe Tao will forgive me. Let this end here between us." Sisi sighed softly. Though she did not dare look up to see Grandmaster Ma Xiunuo's expression, her gentle voice was exceptionally firm.

After all, between an old man whose strength was roughly equal to that of a handsome young talent, such a choice was not difficult for her to make.

It could be said that she did not possess that kind of feeling for Grandmaster Ma Xiunuo, while she did harbor a faint affection for Su Yuntao.

"Fine. The moment you walk out that door, all the promises I made to you before will no longer count. Think it over carefully. You must understand that Su Yuntao cannot give you the fame, wealth, and status you desire." Rather than becoming angry, Ma Xiunuo laughed. A smug look appeared on his face. Based on his understanding of her, there was no way she could resist such enormous temptation.

"I'm sorry... I can't leave Tao alone. As for that matter, I will beg for Tao's forgiveness." After saying this, Sisi walked out of the hall under Ma Xiunuo's stunned gaze.

"Hehe, forgiveness?" Watching Sisi's departing figure, a mocking expression surfaced on Ma Xiunuo's face. He lightly flicked his hand and withdrew his gaze. His heartless manner was as casual and ordinary as tossing away a crumpled piece of waste paper.

Clearly, Sisi's choice had merely surprised him slightly.

"Hey, old man, I came here to have my Soul Power tested. When are we starting?" Cao Yan finally could not help complaining.

As for what had just happened, the reason he had not wanted to step forward was, first, because he was not familiar with Su Yuntao to begin with. If he casually offered help for the sake of a stranger, that would be giving himself far too much credit.

Though he was a transmigrator, he could not possibly concern himself with other people's grudges whenever he had nothing better to do.

Secondly, he also felt some contempt for the old man before him. He could tell that Ma Xiunuo had likely cuckolded Su Yuntao. As for whether he and Sisi had gone all the way, Cao Yan did not care.

"Hehe, little fellow, you've got quite the mouth on you, haven't you? Do you know that given my status, even the lord of Nuoding City would not dare speak to me like that? Today, I'd like to see where you found the nerve to make such a clamor before me." Hearing Cao Yan's words, Ma Xiunuo frowned slightly. Perhaps because of what had happened earlier, he was already in a bad mood, so naturally his temper was not good now.

It was not that he had not considered Cao Yan's identity. He had more or less dealt with every influential family in Nuoding City, but Cao Yan clearly was not from any of them.

Of course, he had also considered one possibility: that they came from Nuoding Academy. But even if that were the case, it was not enough for them to speak to him in such a tone.

After all, even the child Blue Silver Grass soul master who had come this morning to test his martial soul had been exceedingly polite to him.

Although that child's martial soul was only Blue Silver Grass, he still possessed Innate Full Soul Power and had reached the rank of soul master. Even Ma Xiunuo had no choice but to treat such talent politely.

Clearly, in his eyes, Cao Yan and Xiao Wu had merely just met the conditions to awaken their martial souls. After all, it was impossible for these two children to also possess Innate Full Soul Power like that Blue Silver Grass soul master, right?

If children with Innate Full Soul Power were so easy to encounter, would that not be a blow to people like him, who could never break through to the Soul Grandmaster rank in their entire lives?

"Hmph, old man, who are you looking down on? Don't think you can bully us just because we're young!" Xiao Wu caught the disdain in Ma Xiunuo's eyes. She gave a cold snort, and pink light blossomed from her body. At that moment, the fluctuations of a soul master's Soul Power surged forth.

The century-old soul ring symbolizing her status slowly revolved beneath Xiao Wu. As the gentle Soul Power rippled outward, Ma Xiunuo's breathing stalled slightly.

"A soul master?" Ma Xiunuo spoke in disbelief. The arrogance on his face vanished completely in that instant.

The sight before him struck his visual senses. Though he was extremely unwilling to accept it, the undeniable truth before him slapped him hard across the face.