The small courtyard fell deathly silent.
Gongyang Mo stood three steps away, his multicolored eyes filled with shock as he subconsciously swallowed.
The students upstairs looked at one another. Some sucked in a cold breath, while others widened their eyes, unable to believe what they had just heard.
Ma Xiaotao's face turned deathly pale. Her lips trembled twice, and her voice came out hoarse and shaking. "You... you dare? This is Shrek! What gives you the right...?"
"Because you just tried to kill me."
Mu Tianyi cut her off. His voice remained calm, yet everyone present felt a chill creep down their backs.
"If I'm not mistaken, your Martial Soul is a phoenix, and an Evil Fire Phoenix at that."
"Judging by your behavior alone, you can't control your Evil Fire. You even became its slave just now."
"A Martial Soul like yours is a ticking time bomb, yet you stay at Shrek with a clear conscience, waiting for others to clean up your mess."
He stepped forward, looking down at the red-haired girl at the bottom of the pit. For the first time, a trace of cold severity surfaced in his black-and-gold-ringed eyes.
"To put it bluntly, you are a potential Evil Soul Master!"
The moment those words came out, the atmosphere in the courtyard changed abruptly.
Evil Soul Master!
Those three words were like a basin of ice water poured into boiling oil, instantly causing an uproar.
"An Evil Soul Master? How could Shrek have an Evil Soul Master?!"
"That fire really was wrong just now. It was dark red—it looked downright evil!"
"I knew it! What normal person uses flames that color?!"
The students upstairs began shouting over one another, their voices rising wave after wave.
Some leaned over to peer into the pit, curiosity on their faces turning into vigilance. Others instinctively backed away several steps, as though the dying girl below were some terrifying beast.
What were Evil Soul Masters?
They were enemies of the entire continent, scourges who had destroyed countless families.
And yet Shrek Academy, the foremost academy on the Douluo Continent, had produced a potential Evil Soul Master.
It was the greatest irony imaginable.
"Throw her out! Shrek doesn't take Evil Soul Masters!"
"That's right! Make her get lost!"
"Why just throw her out? Keeping someone like her around is asking for trouble! I say kill her and eliminate future problems!"
For a time, the crowd was worked into a frenzy, cries to beat and kill her coming from all directions.
Those speaking were not only students of common birth. Even the noble children nodded along with grim expressions.
There was never any room for negotiation when it came to Evil Soul Masters on the continent.
Yan Shaozhe stood where he was, his brows knitted tightly together.
His gaze fell on Ma Xiaotao.
She possessed a top-tier phoenix Martial Soul from the same lineage as his own, one with the fire attribute and exceptional offensive power.
Although those dark-red flames were indeed a characteristic of Evil Fire, it was not her fault. It was an inherent flaw in her Martial Soul.
If a suitable method of suppression could be found, and she were properly guided and trained, her future would be limitless.
He began to consider taking her as his disciple.
It would be such a pity for a genius like her to be ruined over a single loss of control.
Besides, she had only launched a surprise attack earlier. She had not truly hurt anyone.
But Mu Tianyi's words were like a thorn lodged in his mind, impossible to pull out.
"A potential Evil Soul Master."
It was not that Yan Shaozhe did not understand the logic. Evil
Soul Masters had never become that way overnight. They all slid toward the abyss one step at a time.
If Ma Xiaotao truly could not control her Evil Fire, then sooner or later, she would cause a catastrophe.
When that time came, every person who had spared her today would be an accomplice.
Was it worth it?
Yan Shaozhe's gaze drifted unconsciously toward the entrance of the courtyard...
Mu En was still seated on the stone steps, his silver-white hair gently stirring in the afternoon breeze. His expression was calm as water, his eyes half-closed, as though he were asleep—or as though he had seen nothing at all.
He offered no opinion, made no move to stop anything, and did not even open his eyes.
In Yan Shaozhe's view, his teacher's silence was consent.
Consent to everything Mu Tianyi had said, and consent to everything Mu Tianyi had done.
Yet Yan Shaozhe still wanted to make one last effort.
A genius like this was simply too precious to let go.
Yan Shaozhe had only just taken a step forward.
"Shaozhe."
Mu En's voice immediately sounded beside his ear.
"Do you still remember Little Feng?..."
Yan Shaozhe's steps faltered.
The Little Feng Mu En spoke of was none other than Feng Ling, his former girlfriend and the nightmare that had haunted him all his life.
At first, Feng Ling's Martial Soul had merely manifested as a Dark Phoenix. Yan Shaozhe had wanted to recreate the Light and Dark Twin Holy Dragons with a pair of light and dark phoenixes.
But when they got intimate, the Bright Phoenix triggered the evil origin within her Martial Soul, transforming her from a Dark Phoenix into an Evil Phoenix—and she had nearly devoured Yan Shaozhe.
If Mu En had not arrived in time, Yan Shaozhe would have become Feng Ling's humanoid puppet.
Mu En had said enough.
Yan Shaozhe also gave up the thought of taking Ma Xiaotao as his disciple.
As one of the members deeply poisoned by Shrek Academy's ten-thousand-year glory.
No matter how great heaven and earth were, they could not surpass Shrek's glory, passed down for ten thousand years!
Yan Shaozhe drew a deep breath and finally took that step.
He did not walk toward Mu Tianyi, but toward the edge of the pit.
He looked down at the girl at the bottom, her red hair disheveled and her entire body in a sorry state. His gaze was complicated.
There was regret and reluctance, but more than that, there was the calmness forged by reality.
"Hello, student. I am Yan Shaozhe, dean of Shrek Academy's Martial Soul Department."
His voice was not loud, but it was clear enough for everyone present to hear.
Ma Xiaotao raised her head, and the last spark of hope ignited in her amber eyes.
Yan Shaozhe looked at her, fell silent for a breath, then spoke those words.
"Taking all factors into consideration, Shrek Academy cannot accept you as an official student."
Ma Xiaotao's eyes abruptly widened.
"You... what did you say?"
Yan Shaozhe did not repeat himself. He merely turned his head slightly, no longer looking into her eyes.
His voice was so steady it was almost cold. "Go home. The academy will provide you with appropriate compensation."
"You have good talent. If you find a suitable academy, there may still be a path forward for you."
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 to look at Mu Tianyi by the pit.
The spark of hope was completely extinguished at that moment.
What replaced it was humiliation and resentment surging up from the depths of her bones.
"You... you..."
Ma Xiaotao's voice trembled as tears burst from her eyes.
She suddenly climbed out of the pit, staggered to her feet, and pointed at Yan Shaozhe's nose as she cursed.
"What kind of Shrek are you?! What kind of number one academy?! My, Ma Xiaotao's, talent is inferior to no one! You're driving me away today, but one day, you'll regret it!"
Yan Shaozhe said nothing.
Among the watching crowd, some looked reluctant, some remained expressionless, and some wore gloating smiles.
Ma Xiaotao gritted her teeth, tears blurring her vision.
She gave Mu Tianyi one final deep look.
That slender, upright white figure was carved deep into her memory.
Then she turned around. Phoenix wings spread behind her, dark-red flames erupted, and she shot into the sky, flying away from Shrek Academy.
That dark-red figure grew farther and farther away, eventually becoming a tiny dot on the horizon before vanishing from sight.
The courtyard was quiet for a moment before hushed discussions began to rise.
Ma Xiaotao sped onward, her phoenix wings flapping madly.
She did not know how long she had flown, nor how far.
Her Soul Power was rapidly draining, and her body was protesting.
But she did not want to stop. She did not dare to stop. She was afraid that the moment she stopped, she would remember the white-haired youth's back and the humiliation carved into her bones.
At last, her Soul Power was exhausted.
Ma Xiaotao fell from the sky and stumbled into an unfamiliar forest.
The instant her feet touched the ground, her legs gave out. She slid down against a tree trunk and sat on the ground, gasping for breath.
The forest was silent, filled only with the rustling of leaves in the wind and her heavy breathing.
Ma Xiaotao lowered her head, both hands clutching the fabric over her knees so tightly that her knuckles turned white.
Tears flowed again, but this time, she did not wipe them away.
"You bastards... Yan Shaozhe... Shrek..."
She gritted her teeth, her voice hoarse and trembling, as though each word had been forced through clenched teeth.
"I'll make you pay... I'll make Shrek pay..."
As she spoke, her voice grew softer and softer until it became a soundless murmur.
Exhaustion, pain, humiliation, resentment—every emotion surged over her like a tide and swallowed her whole.
Just then.
A sinister woman's voice sounded beside her ear, as though whispering directly into it, yet also as though it seeped from the depths of her soul.
"Little girl, you said... you want to make Shrek pay?"
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