"Dai Yueheng!! What the fuck are you doing!!"
As her furious, blazing shout exploded through the air, a dark-red fireball streaked down like a meteor and slammed into the ground between Dai Yueheng and Huo Yuhao.
The scorching wave instantly tore apart the pressure of a Six-Ring Soul Emperor.
Ma Xiaotao stood in front of Huo Yuhao with her hands on her hips. Her beautiful eyes burned with fury as she glared at Dai Yueheng and pointed at his nose, cursing him without the slightest restraint.
"Dai Yueheng, have you no shame?"
"You're a dignified Six-Ring Soul Emperor, and you came to the Outer Academy to bully a freshman with a single ring?"
"Did your White Tiger Duke's family teach you to behave by feeding you to the dogs?"
Dai Yueheng's brows knitted sharply as he was forced to withdraw his Soul Power.
He looked at Ma Xiaotao, who had suddenly appeared, and his expression turned ugly.
Dai Yueheng hadn't expected things to escalate like this, nor had he expected Ma Xiaotao to show up out of nowhere.
Didn't she have anything else to do? Why did she keep hanging around a grilled fish stall every single day?!
Things had already gone beyond Dai Yueheng's expectations. He was beginning to regret it, feeling that he'd acted rashly this time.
As the White Tiger Duke's eldest son, Dai Yueheng had always understood the consequences of his actions.
He'd thought that, even if this encounter wasn't a sure thing, he could at least leave Huo Yuhao with a good impression and use it to strengthen his image among the students as a kind and approachable senior.
Who knew Huo Yuhao would have such a temper and deliberately provoke him time and again, making him lose his reason?
He'd only acted on impulse for a moment, but now not only was the persona he'd spent years building at risk, he might even end up clashing with Ma Xiaotao. It was a terrible deal,
a colossal loss.
But with things having come this far, Dai Yueheng could only take a deep breath and force himself to maintain the dignity of a senior as he explained,
"Xiaotao, you've misunderstood."
"This kid was rude to me. I was only trying to teach him some manners on behalf of the academy."
Behind Ma Xiaotao, Huo Yuhao silently swallowed the wisp of Ultimate Ice that had just welled up at the corner of his mouth.
Even he hadn't expected Ma Xiaotao to appear.
But judging by the situation now, it seemed there was no need for Sky Dream Ice Silkworm to step in.
Dai Yueheng might have been inwardly unconvinced, thinking Ma Xiaotao's arrival had saved the freshman in front of him, but in reality, Ma Xiaotao's arrival had saved him.
Hearing Dai Yueheng say he was going to teach him some manners, Huo Yuhao tugged at the corner of his mouth but said nothing.
Ma Xiaotao, however, wasn't having it.
"Teach him manners? Who do you think you are? What makes you think you get to teach him?"
Ma Xiaotao wasn't buying Dai Yueheng's attempted explanation. When she got riled up, she didn't care whose feelings she hurt.
"I think you're just used to getting beaten down by me in the Inner Academy and can't take it, so you came here to save face, right?"
"If you've got a problem, take it up with me! What kind of skill is it to bully your junior?"
Dai Yueheng was furious at her unreasonable ranting.
As the White Tiger Duke's eldest son, he'd inherited the Evil Eye White Tiger Martial Soul, but he had no Hell Spirit Cat to match it. Naturally, he'd had to endure plenty of criticism from his family.
He was already stewing over Huo Yuhao's remark that he was "unworthy." Now Ma Xiaotao was pointing at his nose and cursing him. Even a clay figurine had a temper.
"Ma Xiaotao, don't get too cocky!"
Dai Yueheng took a step forward, a ruthless glint flashing in his eyes.
"This is the Outer Academy, not a place for you to run wild!"
"So what if it's the Outer Academy? I can beat you wherever we are!"
Ma Xiaotao cracked her knuckles, utterly unafraid of Dai Yueheng. She even strode two steps toward him, her joints popping crisply.
Now that she'd completely resolved the Evil Fire problem last time, she'd been itching to find somewhere to test her current limits!
"Enough talk. If you've got the guts, come with me to the Soul Fighting Zone!"
"If I don't beat you until you're crawling around with your teeth scattered across the ground today, then I'm not Ma Xiaotao!"
Dai Yueheng laughed in anger. As a genius of the Inner Academy, he might truly have been inferior to Ma Xiaotao in talent, but that didn't mean she could humiliate him like this. So he accepted her challenge.
"Fine! Let's go to the Soul Fighting Zone!"
"I'd like to see how you're going to leave me crawling around with my teeth scattered across the ground!"
With that, he turned and headed toward the Soul Fighting Zone.
The two stood at each other's throats, the air so thick with hostility it seemed ready to explode.
Ma Xiaotao gave a cold snort, then turned to Huo Yuhao, her tone instantly softening.
"Yu Hao, wait here. I'll go get even with him for you!!"
But Huo Yuhao took off his apron and casually tossed it onto a chair.
"Sister Xiaotao, I'm coming with you."
When someone else was going to beat up your enemy for you, how could you miss the show?
Wang Dong had been completely stunned beside them.
Once she came to her senses, she raised her hand too,
"I'm coming too!!"
Hearing that, Ma Xiaotao turned to look at Wang Dong. The first thing she noticed was Wang Dong's face, and a flicker of admiration crossed her eyes. She couldn't help thinking that Wang Dong's features were so delicate she looked just like a girl.
Only then did Wang Dong realize this seemed to be their first time meeting. She knew who Ma Xiaotao was, but Ma Xiaotao probably didn't know her.
So Wang Dong gave a simple introduction.
"Um, hello, Sister Xiaotao. I'm Huo Yuhao's roommate..."
Before she could finish, Ma Xiaotao waved her hand and agreed at once.
"If you're Yu Hao's friend, then let's go."
"Watch me give him a good beating and avenge Yu Hao!!"
With that, she led the two of them toward the Soul Fighting Zone.
The sudden turn of events left all the Outer Academy students around them gaping.
Before long, they realized something huge was happening—no, they were about to get a show.
This was a clash between top-tier Inner Academy fighters!
It was the kind of spectacle you couldn't see even if you begged every day, and now it was going to happen in the Outer Academy's dueling arena?!
Holy shit, what huge news!!
The Outer Academy students stopped eating and abandoned their businesses, swarming toward the Soul Fighting Zone.
As they ran, they hurried to notify their friends, telling them to come watch this massive piece of gossip!
After everyone had left, not far from Huo Yuhao's grilled fish stall,
Ling Luochen slowly stepped out of the shadows. Her beautiful brows were knitted tightly, her face full of disbelief, and even her breathing had grown hurried.
She stared fixedly at Huo Yuhao's retreating figure. Her usually aloof face was now written all over with shock.
Ling Luochen had come out of curiosity about the junior Ma Xiaotao had mentioned.
Unlike Dai Yueheng, however, Ling Luochen's reasons were simple.
She only wanted to see what kind of person could bring Ma Xiaotao to heel.
So even after arriving, Ling Luochen had only taken a distant look before planning to leave.
Nothing special.
Her heart had been perfectly calm; she'd even doubted what Ma Xiaotao had said.
Could an utterly ordinary-looking student really cure the Evil Fire inside Ma Xiaotao?
The moment Dai Yueheng released his pressure, Ling Luochen had been about to step in and stop him.
After all, they were all disciples of the Inner Academy. It wouldn't look good if things got too ugly in the Outer Academy.
But just as she was about to act, Ling Luochen sensed a trace of terrifying cold from Huo Yuhao.
Just that tiny aftershock had completely stopped the Ice-attribute Soul Power she was so proud of from circulating.
It wasn't fear.
It was her Martial Soul instinctively submitting!
Ling Luochen had reached her conclusion almost instantly.
That wasn't ordinary ice.
That was... Ultimate Ice!
Ling Luochen's Martial Soul was the Ice Element, so her perception of ice attributes far surpassed that of ordinary people.
The chill she'd sensed in that instant had been incredibly faint, and Ma Xiaotao's fiery aura had nearly drowned it out, but she would never mistake it.
That purity, capable of freezing even the soul—there was nothing else it could be but Ultimate Ice!
"Who... exactly is he?"
Ling Luochen murmured to herself.
A freshman in the Outer Academy whose First Soul Ring was only ten years old could not only help Ma Xiaotao resolve her Evil Fire, but also had Ultimate Ice hidden within him?
This was insane.
She took a deep breath and suppressed the turmoil in her heart. Then she flashed away toward the Soul Fighting Zone.
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