Innate Full Soul Power! Apprenticing Under Flender! Cleansing Evil with Light!

First came a faint blue glow, then it rapidly deepened into a rich azure.

Light spread from Ma Hongjun's palm in every direction, filling the crystal ball completely.

Flender's pupils suddenly contracted.

The blue grew darker and darker, nearly turning purple.

The light was still rising.

The crystal ball began to heat up slightly, and fine cracks appeared across its surface.

"This..." Flender opened his mouth, but not a single word came out.

The next second, the light within the crystal ball broke through its limit. The entire sphere was illuminated until it was nearly transparent, as if it might explode at any moment.

"Enough!"

Flender yanked Ma Hongjun's hand away, and only then did the crystal ball's light slowly fade.

He lowered his head to look at the crystal ball in his hand. It still retained some warmth. Then he raised his head and stared at Ma Hongjun as though he were looking at a monster.

"Innate Full Soul Power... level ten."

His voice was somewhat dry.

He had seen Innate Full Soul Power before.

But those were all children from great families with centuries of heritage, heights attainable only by the descendants of Title Douluo.

A farmer's child from a small village, with Innate Full Soul Power?

And judging from the crystal ball's reaction, this child's Soul Power was extraordinarily pure, almost entirely free of impurities. Even the crystal ball had nearly been unable to withstand it.

"Kid," Flender said tightly, "do you know what Innate Full Soul Power means?"

Ma Hongjun shook his head, his eyes carrying just the right amount of curiosity.

"It means you were born to cultivate," Flender said, enunciating each word. "It means your starting point is a height that others might not reach even after striving for ten years."

He crouched down until they were eye level, and for the first time, solemnity appeared in his gaze.

"Ma Hongjun, I, Flender, am formally asking you—are you willing to take me as your master and come with me to Shrek Academy?"

Looking at the middle-aged man before him, Ma Hongjun felt a complicated surge of emotion.

The Flender from the original story had been harsh, stingy, and sharp-tongued, but he had truly cared for his disciples. He had worried himself sick over Ma Hongjun's Evil Fire problem and given everything for the growth of the Shrek Seven Devils.

In this life, he would let Flender know that he had made the right choice.

"I am willing."

Ma Hongjun did not hesitate. He dropped to his knees cleanly and decisively, then kowtowed three times.

"Disciple Ma Hongjun pays respects to Teacher."

Once the apprenticeship ceremony was complete, the surrounding villagers finally came back to their senses and erupted into discussion.

"That child was actually chosen by such an important figure?"

"Innate Full Soul Power? What is that?"

"I don't know, but it sounds amazing!"

Ma Hongjun's parents were so excited that their eyes reddened. They wanted to step forward and offer their thanks, but Flender stopped them with a single look.

"Everyone, disperse. The awakening ceremony is over." Flender waved a hand, his tone returning to its usual indifference. "Ma Hongjun's parents, come with me. Everyone else, go home."

Though the villagers were curious, they did not dare linger under the pressure of a Soul Saint like Flender. They dispersed in twos and threes.

Ma Hongjun followed Flender to an old locust tree at the village entrance, while his parents hurried after them.

"Dean Flender," Ma Hongjun's father said, rubbing his hands together with a broad smile, "does my son really have such incredible talent?"

"Far better than you imagine." Flender glanced at him, his tone calm. "But talent does not mean everything. You have seen the drawbacks of the Evil Fire Phoenix. If it is not handled properly, this child will not live past twenty."

Ma Hongjun's mother went pale at once.

"However," Flender continued, changing his tone, "since I have accepted him as my disciple, I will naturally find a solution. Starting today, he will return to Shrek Academy with me, and I will personally teach him. Don't worry, his tuition will be fully waived."

Ma Hongjun's father nodded repeatedly and pulled his wife into a bow before Flender.

Standing to the side and watching it all, Ma Hongjun felt a little bitter.

Though his parents in this life were poor, they had truly treated him well.

For the past six years, whenever there was something good to eat at home, they had always saved it for him, and they had never let him do heavy labor.

Although they did not understand why he trained his body, they had never stopped him.

"Dad, Mom, I'll come back and visit often," Ma Hongjun said softly.

His mother's eyes reddened. She seemed to want to say something, but in the end, she only nodded.

Flender did not give them much time to say goodbye. After giving a few simple instructions, he took Ma Hongjun and left the village.

Master and disciple walked along the small road leading to Suotuo City.

Ma Hongjun followed behind Flender, his steps light and brisk, showing none of the exhaustion one would expect after awakening.

"Kid, is your body all right now?" Flender asked without turning his head.

"I'm fine. Teacher's suppression just now was very thorough," Ma Hongjun answered honestly.

Flender snorted, neither confirming nor denying it.

After walking for a while, Ma Hongjun began organizing his thoughts.

He was considering how to bring it up.

The Evil Fire Phoenix problem had to be solved, and his plan was to hunt Light Element soul beasts.

But no one on Douluo Continent had ever proposed such a plan. How could a six-year-old child explain how he knew these things?

Obviously, he could not simply say, "I'm a transmigrator."

Calling it "intuition" would sound too far-fetched.

Ma Hongjun gritted his teeth and decided on a compromise—he would package the memories of his previous life as "blurred images he had seen during awakening." That would explain the source of his information without exposing the truth of his transmigration.

"Teacher," Ma Hongjun began, "when I awakened just now, some... images appeared in my mind."

Flender's steps paused slightly, but he did not turn around.

"What images?"

"Some light." Ma Hongjun carefully chose his words. "Very, very bright light. It shone on me, and then that uncomfortable feeling inside my body faded away."

Flender stopped and turned around, narrowing his eyes as he examined Ma Hongjun.

"Are you sure?"

Ma Hongjun nodded forcefully.

"And," he continued, his tone so serious that it did not sound like that of a six-year-old, "I was thinking that the Evil Fire Phoenix's problem lies in the word 'evil.' If I use soul rings with Light Element attributes to neutralize it, could I slowly cleanse away the evil nature?"

Flender's pupils suddenly contracted.

He stared at Ma Hongjun for a full five seconds, his gaze sharp enough to pierce right through him.

"Did you come up with this idea yourself?"

"Yes." Ma Hongjun met his gaze without flinching. "The Evil Fire makes me feel terrible. That feeling is dirty and dark. So I thought that if there were something clean that could wash it away, it would be good. Light... should be clean."

The explanation was simple and direct, fitting a child's way of thinking.

Flender fell silent for a long time.

He was thinking.

As a Soul Saint, his understanding of martial souls far surpassed that of ordinary people.

Soul rings could indeed influence a martial soul's attributes to some extent, though that influence was usually extremely weak, and few people deliberately made use of it.

But if a martial soul itself had a certain elemental inclination, suitable soul rings could indeed strengthen or suppress it.

The "evil" of the Evil Fire Phoenix was, in essence, impurities within its flames.

If it were paired with pure Light Element soul rings, then in theory, it might indeed be possible to remove those impurities bit by bit.