Mu Tianyi's reaction was astonishingly fast.
Almost at the exact instant the girl threw her punch.
His left hand shot out, yanking Gongyang Mo, who was still standing there dumbfounded, behind him. He raised his right arm horizontally, and a pale golden glow burst across its surface.
Radiant Dragon Body activated, and his second soul ring lit up.
A golden membrane covered his entire body, enveloping both him and Gongyang Mo.
Bang!
The girl's fist smashed into the golden membrane with a dull, thunderous crash.
The membrane shook violently but did not shatter.
Mu Tianyi did not budge, but the blue bricks beneath his feet cracked outward from where he stood, web-like fractures spreading in a complete circle.
The commotion was like tossing a bomb into a calm lake.
The small courtyard instantly erupted.
Windows along the dormitory building were pushed open one after another, curious heads poking out.
Chaotic footsteps rang out in the corridors as groups of students poured from the building.
Some stood on the steps, others leaned against pillars, all their gazes fixed on the center of the courtyard.
"Holy shit, they're fighting! They're fighting!"
"Aren't those the newcomers? Why are they throwing hands the moment they arrived?"
"Who's that redhead? She looks pretty strong."
"No idea, but judging by her stance, she's at least a Soul Elder, right?"
Protected behind Mu Tianyi, Gongyang Mo finally came back to his senses.
His fair face went pale at first, then flushed red, his rainbow-colored eyes filled with indignation.
"What the hell is wrong with you?! You attacked without a word? Are you sick?"
The girl ignored him completely.
Or rather, she could not respond at all.
Her gaze passed over Mu Tianyi's shoulder and landed on that pale golden membrane.
The girl threw back her head and let out a long howl. A faint black light flickered in her eyes, and the flames around her clearly surged to another level.
At the same time, the three soul rings around her lit up.
Yellow, yellow, purple.
Two hundred years, two hundred years, one thousand years—the standard Soul Elder configuration.
Dark crimson flames erupted from her body, and the scorching heat distorted the surrounding air.
A second punch.
This one was faster and fiercer than the first, carrying dark crimson Evil Fire straight at Mu Tianyi's face.
Wherever the flames passed, the moisture in the air instantly evaporated with sizzling sounds.
Mu Tianyi did not dodge.
He remained where he was. With a flick of his right hand, golden light condensed into a palm-sized shield that precisely blocked the girl's fist.
Boom!
Evil Fire collided with the light shield, erupting in a piercing blast.
Sparks scattered everywhere, burning black pits into the blue bricks.
Mu Tianyi's arm trembled slightly, but his feet did not move an inch.
After having her attacks blocked again and again.
Even though the girl had already lost control, a trace of surprise still flashed through her eyes.
Even fourth-year students would not dare take her full-force three-ring attack head-on.
Yet this boy, who looked about the same age as her, had blocked it so effortlessly?
Mu Tianyi looked down at her, golden points of light slowly flowing through his black eyes. His tone was neither cold nor warm.
"Had enough?"
Mu Tianyi stared at her face, distorted by the reflection of Evil Fire, his thoughts racing.
Evil flames, a red-haired girl, signs of losing control...
Those keywords flashed through his mind one by one before finally forming a complete name:
Ma Xiaotao.
The fire-type soul master from the original story, exceptionally gifted yet tormented by Evil Fire.
Yan Shaozhe had once tried to use the power of the Bright Phoenix to help her suppress the Evil Fire, but with little effect.
Later, Ling Luochen had used her ice-element Martial Soul to suppress it for her, only to suffer backlash and earn Ma Xiaotao's resentment.
And Xu Sanshi, among others...
At that thought, an indescribable disgust rose within Mu Tianyi.
He disliked Ma Xiaotao.
Not because of her Evil Fire, but because of who she was.
Her double standards were extreme.
Ling Luochen had risked her life to help suppress her Evil Fire and was injured by the backlash. Not only had Ma Xiaotao failed to show gratitude, she had instead resented her for it.
A textbook case of repaying a small favor with gratitude but a great favor with resentment.
The same went for Xu Sanshi.
In her eyes, Xu Sanshi's help was simply something she was entitled to.
And in her cultivation, she knew perfectly well that cultivating would worsen her Evil Fire, knew it could lose control and hurt others, yet she still did whatever she pleased without restraint.
To Mu Tianyi, how was that any different from willingly becoming an Evil Soul Master?
A soul master who could not control her own power was a walking bomb.
Shrek did not need bombs.
Mu Tianyi's gaze turned cold.
He had never been an indecisive person.
Since Ma Xiaotao had delivered herself to him, he would use this chance to make things clear.
Once he defeated her and she regained her senses, he would give her two choices.
First, Ma Xiaotao would leave Shrek herself, and Mu Tianyi would no longer concern himself with what became of her.
As for the second...
Mu Tianyi would choose to completely cripple Ma Xiaotao.
Mu Tianyi took a deep breath, and the two ten-thousand-year soul rings behind him lit up simultaneously.
His fourth soul ring was black, a ten-thousand-year ring.
Mu Tianyi's fourth soul skill was called the Light Wing Judgment Array, obtained from a pureblood Bright Winged Dragon.
Several golden energy blades shaped like wings condensed out of thin air behind the boy.
Each radiated an incomparably sharp aura of light as they slowly unfolded in the air, as though angels had descended.
The temperature in the courtyard abruptly soared, yet the power of light pressed it into a suffocating heat.
Ma Xiaotao's pupils suddenly contracted, and she instinctively took half a step back.
She felt it.
The power contained within those light wings was not something she could contend against.
Mu Tianyi raised his eyes. His black irises ringed with gold reflected Ma Xiaotao's shocked face. His voice was not loud, yet every person present heard it clearly.
"You want to fight? Then I'll play with you."
The light wings vibrated, and the boy vanished from where he stood.
"Brother Mu, I'll help you!"
Gongyang Mo shouted furiously, and the two yellow soul rings around him lit up at the same time.
A stream of rainbow light erupted from his body, condensing behind him into a giant dragon spreading its wings.
The giant dragon's seven-colored wings shimmered brilliantly, its eyes dazzling as it radiated a gentle yet powerful supportive glow.
"Crimson Strength! Orange Soul!"
Two pillars of light shot from the Rainbow Dragon and precisely sank into Mu Tianyi's body.
One crimson, one orange-gold.
Crimson Strength poured into every limb and bone, sending his strength soaring; Orange Soul flowed into the core of his Soul Power, making it surge violently.
According to Gongyang Mo's earlier introduction.
The amplification effects of his first and second soul skills should have been around thirty percent at minimum.
Yet when the enhancement was truly applied to Mu Tianyi, he sensed something different!
Mu Tianyi's figure, which had already shot forward like a meteor, paused slightly in midair.
He felt the enhancement Gongyang Mo had given him.
A thirty percent increase in strength and Soul Power.
Just hearing it was enough to show how extraordinary Gongyang Mo's support abilities were.
Even the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda Martial Soul, known ten thousand years ago as the world's greatest support Martial Soul, had only gradually improved its amplification effects as its soul rings increased.
Yet the actual feedback from the enhancement within Mu Tianyi's body far exceeded the numbers Gongyang Mo had described!
Before you continue