The Evil Soul Masters Are All Condemned, Ma Xiaotao Joins the Holy Spirit Cult

The small courtyard fell into a deathly silence.

Gongyang Mo stood three paces away, his multicolored eyes filled with shock as he subconsciously swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

The students upstairs exchanged glances; some gasped in cold air, while others widened their eyes, unable to believe what they had just heard.

Ma Xiaotao's face turned deathly pale, her lips trembling as she spoke in a hoarse, shaky voice: "You... you dare? This is Shrek Academy! By what right do you..."

"By the right that you just tried to kill me."

Mu Tianyi interrupted her, his voice remaining calm, yet it sent a chill down the spines of everyone present.

"If I'm not mistaken, your Martial Soul is a phoenix, and specifically, an Evil Fire Phoenix."

"Judging solely by your performance, you cannot control your own evil fire, and you even became a slave to it just now."

"A Martial Soul like yours is nothing but a ticking time bomb, yet you remain in Shrek Academy with peace of mind, waiting for others to clean up your mess."

He took a step forward, looking down at the red-haired girl in the pit, a flicker of cold severity appearing for the first time in his black-rimmed, golden-eyed gaze.

"To put it bluntly, you are a potential Evil Soul Master!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the courtyard shifted abruptly.

Evil Soul Master!

These three words were like a basin of ice water poured into boiling oil, instantly causing an uproar.

"An Evil Soul Master? How could there be an Evil Soul Master in Shrek Academy!"

"That flame earlier was indeed wrong; it was dark red, and it looked sinister just by watching it!"

"I knew it! What normal person would use flames of that color!"

The students upstairs clamored in a chaotic mess, their voices rising wave after wave.

Some leaned over to peer into the pit, their curiosity turning into wariness; others subconsciously took a few steps back, as if the dying girl at the bottom of the pit were some kind of terrifying beast.

What kind of people were Evil Soul Masters?

They were the public enemies of the entire continent, scourges who had caused countless families to be torn apart.

Shrek Academy, as the premier institution of the Douluo Continent, had actually harbored a potential Evil Soul Master.

This was nothing short of a massive irony.

"Kick her out! Shrek doesn't accept Evil Soul Masters!"

"Right! Make her get out!"

"Get out? Someone like this is a disaster if left alive! In my opinion, kill her now to prevent future trouble!"

For a moment, the crowd was incensed, with shouts of violence and calls for execution pouring in from all directions.

It wasn't just the commoner students speaking; even the noble disciples nodded in agreement with grim faces.

When it came to Evil Soul Masters, there was no room for negotiation on the continent.

Yan Shaozhe stood where he was, his brows knitting into a deep frown.

His gaze fell upon Ma Xiaotao.

She possessed a top-tier phoenix Martial Soul that shared the same origin as his own, and it was a fire attribute specialized in offense.

Although the dark red flames were indeed a characteristic of evil fire, it was not her fault; it was a flaw inherent to the Martial Soul itself.

If a suitable method of suppression could be found, and if she were guided and nurtured properly, this girl's future would be limitless.

He began to consider taking her as a disciple.

It would be a great pity if such a genius were discarded just because of one loss of control.

Furthermore, she had only launched a surprise attack just now and hadn't actually harmed anyone.

Yet, Mu Tianyi's words were like a thorn stuck in his mind, impossible to pull out.

"A potential Evil Soul Master."

It wasn't that Yan Shaozhe didn't understand this logic. Evil Soul Masters were never created overnight; they always slid toward the abyss step by step.

If Ma Xiaotao truly couldn't control her evil fire, she would eventually cause a catastrophe.

By then, everyone who had let her go today would be an accomplice.

Was it worth it?

Yan Shaozhe's gaze drifted involuntarily toward the courtyard entrance...

Mu En remained seated on the stone steps, his long silver hair drifting gently in the afternoon breeze. His expression was as calm as water, his eyes slightly closed as if he were asleep, or perhaps as if he hadn't seen anything at all.

He offered no stance, no intervention, and didn't even open his eyes.

In Yan Shaozhe's view, his teacher's silence was a tacit approval.

Tacit approval of everything Mu Tianyi said, and tacit approval of everything Mu Tianyi did.

But Yan Shaozhe still wanted to try one more time.

To let such a genius go is truly a great pity.

Yan Shaozhe's footsteps had just moved forward.

"Shaozhe."

Mu En's voice immediately rang out right beside his ear:

"Do you still remember Xiao Feng?..."

Yan Shaozhe's footsteps faltered.

The Xiao Feng in Mu En's mouth was none other than his ex-girlfriend Feng Ling, the nightmare he could never shake off in this lifetime.

At the beginning, Feng Ling's Martial Soul manifested only as a Dark Phoenix, and Yan Shaozhe had wanted to replicate the Light and Dark Twin Holy Dragons to create a pair of Light and Dark Phoenixes.

As it turned out, during their intimacy, the Bright Phoenix triggered the evil origin of her Martial Soul, transforming it from a Dark Phoenix into an Evil Phoenix, and she had nearly devoured Yan Shaozhe in the process.

Had Mu En not arrived in time, he would have ended up as nothing more than a human puppet for Feng Ling.

Mu En said no more.

Yan Shaozhe also abandoned the idea of taking Ma Xiaotao as his disciple.

As a member deeply poisoned by the ten-thousand-year glory of Shrek Academy.

No matter how vast the world was, it could not outweigh the ten-thousand-year legacy of Shrek!

Yan Shaozhe took a deep breath and finally took that step.

He did not walk toward Mu Tianyi, but toward the edge of the pit.

Looking down from above at the girl at the bottom of the pit with her disheveled red hair and bedraggled appearance, his gaze was complex.

There was regret, there was reluctance, but more than anything, it was a coldness polished by reality.

"Hello, student. I am Yan Shaozhe, Dean of the Martial Soul Department at Shrek Academy."

His voice was not loud, yet it was clear enough for everyone present to hear perfectly.

Ma Xiaotao raised her head, a final flicker of hope igniting in her amber eyes.

Yan Shaozhe looked at her, fell silent for a moment, and then spoke those words:

"Considering various factors, Shrek Academy cannot accept you as an official student."

Ma Xiaotao's eyes widened abruptly.

"You... what did you say?"

Yan Shaozhe did not repeat himself; he merely turned his head slightly, no longer meeting her eyes.

His voice was steady, bordering on indifferent: "Go home. The academy will provide you with appropriate compensation."

"Your talent is decent. If you find a suitable academy, you may still have a path forward."

Ma Xiaotao was completely stunned.

She lay at the bottom of the pit, looking up at Yan Shaozhe's refined yet distant face, then slowly turned her head to look at Mu Tianyi by the edge of the pit.

The flicker of hope was extinguished completely at this moment.

In its place surged a sense of humiliation and unwillingness from the very depths of her bones.

"You... you all..."

Ma Xiaotao's voice trembled, and tears burst from her eyes.

She scrambled up from the pit, stumbled to find her footing, and pointed at Yan Shaozhe's nose, cursing wildly:

"What kind of Shrek are you! Bullshit number one academy! My talent, Ma Xiaotao, is inferior to no one. You are driving me away today, but you will regret it sooner or later!"

Yan Shaozhe did not speak.

Among the onlookers, some showed pity, some remained expressionless, and others wore sneers of schadenfreude.

Ma Xiaotao gritted her teeth, her vision blurred by tears.

She took one last deep look at Mu Tianyi.

That slender, upright white silhouette was carved deep into her memory.

Then she turned, spread her phoenix wings, and dark red flames erupted as her figure shot into the sky, flying away from Shrek Academy.

That dark red figure grew smaller and smaller, eventually becoming a tiny speck on the horizon before vanishing from sight.

The small courtyard was silent for a moment, followed by the sound of hushed whispers.

Ma Xiaotao sped along, her phoenix wings flapping frantically.

She did not know how long she had been flying, nor how far she had gone.

Her soul power was depleting rapidly, and her body was protesting.

But she did not want to stop, dared not stop, fearing that if she stopped, she would recall the silhouette of that white-haired youth and the humiliation carved into her bones.

Finally, her soul power was exhausted.

Ma Xiaotao plummeted from mid-air, stumbling as she crashed into an unfamiliar forest.

The moment her feet touched the ground, her legs gave way. She slumped against a tree trunk and slid down, gasping for air.

The woods were silent, save for the rustling of leaves in the wind and her own ragged breathing.

Ma Xiaotao kept her head bowed, her hands gripping the fabric over her knees so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

Tears streamed down her face again, but this time, she did not wipe them away.

"You bastard... Yan Shaozhe... Shrek..."

She gritted her teeth, her voice hoarse and trembling, as if squeezed through the gaps in her teeth:

"I will make you pay... I will make Shrek pay..."

As she spoke, her voice grew fainter, eventually trailing off into a silent murmur.

Exhaustion, pain, humiliation, and resentment—all these emotions surged like a tide, threatening to drown her.

Just then.

A sinister female voice echoed in her ear, sounding like a whisper right beside her, yet also as if it were seeping from the depths of her soul.

"Little girl, you say... you want to make Shrek pay?"