Little Punk, Polish My Shoes!! (Seeking Collection, Seeking Follow-up Reads)

Seeing that Huo Yuhao had noticed her, Ma Xiaotao asked with curiosity.

"Little Junior, what are you doing?"

It was no wonder Ma Xiaotao was curious; she had been at Shrek for so many years, and this was the first time she had ever seen someone offering incense to the Sea God Statue at the entrance.

"Nothing, just a habit."

Facing this recognized genius beauty of the Inner Court, Huo Yuhao simply smiled and responded naturally.

"I grew up listening to stories about the Sea God. My family always said that the Sea God would cast his gaze upon the devout and bless them."

"I also want to receive the Sea God's blessing so that my future path might be a little easier."

"Is that so?"

Ma Xiaotao nodded, half-understanding. She didn't find anything amiss in Huo Yuhao's words; instead, she felt that this little junior was exceptionally sincere.

She had heard a few days ago that someone was offering incense to the Sea God Statue, and since she happened to run into it today, she had come over to take a look.

She hadn't expected it to be something like this.

What a simple, good kid.

Ma Xiaotao directly labeled Huo Yuhao as such in her heart.

Huo Yuhao remained silent, offering only a faint smile.

This was the charm of language.

After all, Huo Yuhao wasn't lying.

In a sense, what he had just said to Ma Xiaotao was the most heartfelt thing he had said in a long time.

He truly wanted God King Tang to look his way sooner and hurry up and send away the God of Slaughter residing within his body.

However, compared to that, what was more important right now was that the distance between the two of them seemed a bit too close.

Just now, in order not to disturb Huo Yuhao while satisfying her own curiosity, Ma Xiaotao had unconsciously leaned in closer and closer.

Now, Huo Yuhao could even feel the warm breath from her nose.

But Ma Xiaotao was completely unaware of this, continuing to lean in with an ambiguous, forward-leaning posture.

So much so that Huo Yuhao's gaze now had nowhere to rest, and it was involuntarily drawn to places it shouldn't be looking.

It really wasn't his fault; Ma Xiaotao's stats were simply off the charts. Even her specially tailored school uniform seemed to be struggling to contain them, and at such close range, the cleavage between her breasts was clearly visible.

In Huo Yuhao's mind, why was she called Ma Xiaotao? It would be much more fitting to just change her name to Ma Datao.

If Tang Ya were here, she would probably be moved to tears, Then start to wonder if this was something a human could possess.

Finally, she would lodge a serious protest:

How are we supposed to play if these stats aren't nerfed??!!

Fortunately, after receiving Huo Yuhao's explanation, Ma Xiaotao's curiosity was satisfied, and she returned to a normal standing posture, though her chest remained exceptionally eye-catching.

The advantages of Ma Xiaotao's figure were not limited to her chest; every part of her was an advantage.

As a standard tall beauty, Ma Xiaotao's legs were exceptionally straight, and there wasn't an ounce of excess fat on her entire body.

Aside from her slender waist, the curves above and below were quite exaggerated, but due to her frequent training, this didn't affect her overall aesthetic; instead, it gave her an extremely fluid and perfect appearance.

Although Ma Xiaotao was currently wearing a veil that covered her face, it still couldn't hide her world-shaking beauty.

"So, are you leaving now?"

Ma Xiaotao felt no embarrassment at all about how close she had just been to this little junior. Or rather, given her personality, she probably hadn't even realized it, and simply followed the previous topic.

Truth be told, she really liked this little junior and inexplicably wanted to chat with him a bit more.

"Yes, I'm heading to the market."

Huo Yuhao nodded, making no attempt to hide it.

There was nothing to hide; Ma Xiaotao had a straightforward personality, and there was no need to beat around the bush when talking to her.

"Coincidentally, I'm heading to the market too. Want to go together and take a look?"

Sure enough, the second Huo Yuhao finished speaking, Ma Xiaotao extended an invitation without a second thought.

In her view, there was no reason to hesitate; she had nothing better to do, and there were no signs of the evil fire within her acting up recently.

Since she found this little junior quite pleasing to the eye, she figured she might as well go for a stroll.

"Sure."

Huo Yuhao agreed with a smile; he had no reason to refuse.

"By the way, my name is Ma Xiaotao. Just call me Senior Sister Xiaotao. What about you, little junior?"

Ma Xiaotao asked casually.

"Senior Sister Xiaotao, my name is Huo Yuhao. I'm a new student who just enrolled."

Huo Yuhao answered honestly, and the two began walking together toward the market outside the city gate.

"A freshman, huh."

Ma Xiaotao nodded, then waved her hand with a flourish.

"From now on, Sister Xiaotao will have your back. If anyone bullies you, just mention my name!"

"Understood, Sister Xiaotao."

Huo Yuhao could only agree.

It had to be said that Ma Xiaotao's personality, much like her figure, was quite appealing.

It was just a pity that her Evil Fire Phoenix martial soul destined her to be an unstable and dangerous factor.

But was it truly impossible to change?

Huo Yuhao suddenly thought of something.

On the Douluo Continent, martial souls were never set in stone; the more exceptional a martial soul, the greater the possibility of mutation.

However, mutations could be good or bad, and they often depended on the original quality of the martial soul.

Case in point: Yu Xiaogang.

As a classic example of martial soul mutation, he was clearly the type who had failed completely.

Ma Xiaotao's Evil Fire Phoenix, however, was of excellent quality; it was only the existence of the evil fire that caused her instability.

What made Huo Yuhao suddenly think of this was the Ghost Killing Art.

In the original plot, they had always relied on elemental suppression to keep the evil fire in check, which never addressed the root cause of the evil fire's existence.

But what if Ma Xiaotao could control the evil fire herself, or even suppress and conquer it?

After all, the evil fire was, in essence, a manifestation of inner desire.

The Ghost Killing Art contained techniques specifically for controlling one's emotions and converting them into killing intent.

If Ma Xiaotao could use this method to control the evil fire, perhaps she could resolve the defect in her martial soul and even guide it toward a positive evolution.

Thinking of this, Huo Yuhao's eyes lit up.

The more he thought about it, the more feasible the plan seemed.

After all, ten thousand years ago, there had already been an example of an Evil Fire Phoenix successfully mutating into a positive form after removing the evil fire.

However, Ma Hongjun had relied on immortal herbs dug up by Tang San, which counted as an external force.

Perhaps such immortal herbs still existed in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, but given his current strength, he couldn't afford to covet the treasures there just yet.

He wouldn't risk exposing himself for Ma Xiaotao, whom he had only just met; it was not something he should know about at this stage, as it would easily arouse suspicion.

But that example proved that the flaw in the Evil Fire Phoenix martial soul lay in the evil fire itself. Once the evil fire was resolved, everything would move in a positive direction.

What excited Huo Yuhao the most was this:

If this could truly be achieved, it would prove that the arrival of the Ghost Demon Venerable was not necessarily a bad thing for him.

If used correctly, the power of the Ghost Demon Venerable could actually become an asset in changing his original destiny.

Much like... God King Tang's dog-training plan?

From the very beginning, Huo Yuhao had realized one problem: he could not rely on the native power of the Douluo Continent to defeat God King Tang.

After all, that man already stood at the pinnacle of the entire power system, having locked everything down.

Without the intervention of a new variable, no matter how much he struggled, he would never escape the palm of the God King.

But now, he actually possessed that variable.

The Ghost Demon Venerable was that variable.

Although this variable might be even more dangerous than God King Tang, it was a variable nonetheless.

Huo Yuhao began to think seriously.

His greatest advantage right now was that neither the God King nor the Ghost Demon Venerable truly considered him a threat.

Because he was still too weak.

But this was not necessarily bad news.

It provided him with the opportunity to play both sides against each other.

In the most ideal scenario, Huo Yuhao would use Tang San's hand to eliminate the Ghost Demon Venerable, and then, using the power gained from the Ghost Demon Venerable, he would strike a vicious blow to the God King! He would break free from this damned dog-training plan!!

Huo Yuhao had long felt this impulse in his heart, but he had hesitated to consider its practical feasibility.

The reason was simple: the pressure exerted by the Ghost Demon Venerable was too overwhelming.

Every day, upon waking, Huo Yuhao had to confirm whether he was still himself.

This pressure forced him to settle for the next best thing: the safest path, which was to eliminate the Ghost Demon Venerable first.

But now, the appearance of Ma Xiaotao was a turning point.

She made Huo Yuhao realize that perhaps the God King's plan was not as unbreakable as he had thought.

At the very least, leveraging the power of the Ghost Demon Venerable was feasible.

It was just that the risks were immense.

Reality, naturally, could never be as ideal as he imagined.

The Ghost Demon Venerable and God King Tang were also unlikely to act entirely according to his wishes.

But, at least there was hope, wasn't there?

Who would willingly be another person's dog? Huo Yuhao certainly didn't want to; he had simply been out of options before.

Now, the Ghost Demon Venerable had arrived.

With the opportunity right before his eyes, Huo Yuhao had to consider whether this might be the only chance he would ever have in his life.

No, there was no need to consider it; this was his only chance.

The only thing Huo Yuhao needed to hesitate about was that once he made this decision, he would never again have the chance to live a peaceful life.

Trying to seize that sliver of survival from the schemes of the Ghost Demon Venerable and God King Tang—to call it dancing on the edge of a blade would be downplaying the danger of this plan.

Once he chose this path, he would either become the final winner or die without a corpse left; there was absolutely no third possibility.

Do it or don't do it? That is the question.

"..."

That's a load of crap!!

Huo Yuhao suddenly felt his heart surge with excitement. What was there to hesitate about! Screw it all!!

You, a dog of a God King, want to control my fate? Pfft!!

My fate is decided by me, not the heavens!!

Damn it, when the Ghost Demon Venerable hadn't arrived, you wanted to train me like a dog, and I said nothing.

Now that the Ghost Demon Venerable is here, if you still want to train me like a dog, then wouldn't the Demon Venerable have come for nothing??!

Huo Yuhao directly thrust a middle finger fiercely toward the sky.

You little punk!

Go shine my shoes!!