Sealing the Evil Fire

Su Ming, who had spent years walking the edge of life and death and hunting down Evil Soul Masters, possessed such a wealth of combat experience that he saw through Ma Xiaotao's intentions at a glance. He shook his slightly numb fist and roared angrily at her:

"Damn it, trying to use height to suppress me? I haven't been able to summon the Snow Mastiff Colt yet; if I let you take to the skies, wouldn't I just be waiting to die!"

Before the words even faded, Su Ming directly activated his second soul skill—Gravity Squeeze! This was a classic soul skill he had adapted from Zhao Wuji of the Douluo Continent.

Su Ming had specifically acquired this soul skill for his pure strength-type martial soul. He diligently tempered his physique daily, so this gravity enhancement had no negative impact on him, but for other soul masters, it was enough to instantly turn the tide of battle!

A massive gravity field instantly enveloped Ma Xiaotao, and an invisible, crushing pressure descended from the sky, slamming down upon her.

Ma Xiaotao, who had already soared several meters into the air, was instantly dragged down by the gravity, her ascent coming to an abrupt halt. Not only that, but the evil fire within her body, already thrown into chaos by his heavy punches, began to violently backfire under the pressure of the gravity.

The pain surged straight to her brain, turning her face deathly pale. She could no longer hold on, clutching her throbbing head as she stumbled and fell to her knees, the flames around her body dimming significantly.

The perfect opportunity for battle was right before him! How could Su Ming miss it? He stepped forward, his figure instantly rushing in front of Ma Xiaotao, gripping the Thunder-Shock Axe.

He did not use the sharp blade to attack, but instead turned the axe around, striking her shoulder hard with the heavy back of the weapon!

A dull thud echoed out. Ma Xiaotao's already weakened body could no longer support itself; she was knocked to the ground, completely losing the ability to resist. The evil fire still churned around her, but she could no longer muster even a shred of it.

Seeing this, Su Ming twisted the Universe Belt at his waist. The Taiji patterns rotated slowly, and a Seal Card glowing with a piercing golden light materialized in front of him. The card was engraved with intricate metal-attribute sealing runes, radiating an aura of suppression and purification.

This Seal Card possessed four miraculous effects: first, it released golden sealing light patterns to instantly bind the target's body, rendering them unable to move, escape, or self-destruct;

Second, it stripped away the evil power within the target, suppressed their hostility, and significantly weakened their combat strength;

Third, it could forcibly compress and seal the target, storing them within the armor belt or the summoner;

Fourth, it neutralized dark hostility and purified evil energy, preventing the corrupt energy from dissipating and polluting the surroundings.

Su Ming knew well that Ma Xiaotao was not an Evil Soul Master; her evil fire had simply spiraled out of control, clouding her reason. He had no intention of killing her, only wanting to temporarily suppress the runaway fire within her.

He immediately concentrated metal-attribute energy at his fingertips and activated the Seal Card, intending to use its dual effects of purification and sealing to temporarily lock away the rampant evil fire inside Ma Xiaotao and restore her sanity.

Golden light surged in Su Ming's palm, and the Seal Card engraved with sealing runes hovered above it. Pure, heavy, sacred metal-attribute power flowed through his arm and gathered at his fist. He sank into a horse stance, threw a punch, and shouted: "Thunder-Shock Fist!"

The golden fist energy, wrapped in the power of the Seal Card, struck straight at Ma Xiaotao, making contact the moment it touched the churning evil fire around her.

The originally violent, all-consuming black-red evil fire seemed to encounter its natural nemesis. It thrashed wildly, the flames rolling as they tried to devour this sacred metal energy, but the pure, holy power inherent in the Seal Card was the perfect counter to all evil and hostility. No matter how the evil fire struggled, it was pushed back into Ma Xiaotao's body like a hot knife through butter, firmly locked deep within her Dantian and martial soul.

Ma Xiaotao, who a second ago had been consumed by the evil fire and possessed scarlet eyes, saw the scorching flames around her extinguish the instant the fire was completely sealed.

Her tense body suddenly went limp. She lost all consciousness and fainted, her sharp, violent aura smoothing out.

Su Ming let out a long breath. With a thought, the heavy Snow Mastiff Armor around him dissipated into specks of golden light, and he returned to his original appearance.

He brushed the dust off his clothes and walked toward the unconscious Ma Xiaotao. He crouched down beside her and carefully examined this flame-wielding demon who was famous in the inner court and struck fear into the hearts of countless disciples.

He couldn't help but click his tongue in admiration, secretly marveling that she was indeed a top genius of the Shrek inner court; her strength was not to be underestimated.

If Ma Xiaotao hadn't lost her mind to the evil fire earlier and had instead relied on the aerial advantage of her Phoenix martial soul to harass him from a distance, he really would have had no way to deal with her before he obtained the Snow Mastiff Colt, and he likely would have been forced into a passive defense.

But she had lost her wits and insisted on close-quarters combat with him. Who didn't know that his Snow Mastiff Armor martial soul was a proper, thick-skinned tank?

In terms of pure strength and defense, he considered himself top-tier among his peers. Even if Tang Wulin, who would possess the Golden Dragon King bloodline in the future, were here, he would have the strength to fight him without the slightest fear.

Back when he watched the Douluo animated series, Su Ming had always felt that Ma Xiaotao was not only powerful but also had one of the most outstanding figures and appearances among all the female characters.

Now that Su Ming was examining her up close, he found that she was even more stunning in person than in the animation. Her skin glowed with a delicate luster under the lingering warmth of the flames, and even in her unconscious state, her brows and eyes carried a cold, breathtaking beauty. Su Ming secretly marveled that she was truly worthy of being the highly popular inner court genius of the academy.

Su Ming withdrew his gaze and didn't linger. He leaned down, stretched out his hands, and carefully scooped Ma Xiaotao up in a standard bridal carry, letting the beauty in his arms rest securely against him.

He had already made his plans: he would take Ma Xiaotao to Yan Shaozhe, the Dean of the Martial Soul Department. After all, he had been beaten up by his student, and as the master, Yan Shaozhe would have to provide some compensation.

Even if he wasn't the one who was defeated, you couldn't deny he had been attacked. A student walking by the lake to relax, only to be beaten up for no reason?

He would definitely extort a large amount of cultivation resources as compensation. Besides, as the Dean of the Martial Soul Department, Yan Shaozhe was notoriously wealthy.

In the original work, he had offered a 100,000-year soul ring and a 100,000-year soul bone to win over Huo Yuhao. Even though Huo Yuhao had obtained the soul ring himself later, just based on that offer, he had to squeeze him for everything he was worth.

Su Ming secretly calculated in his heart that he would lie on the ground later and pretend to be severely injured.

As the Dean, Yan Shaozhe would surely provide generous resources to appease him for the sake of the academy's reputation, ensuring his cultivation resources for the coming days.

Thinking of this, the corners of Su Ming's mouth curled up involuntarily, and he subconsciously hugged the beauty in his arms a little tighter. Even though they had just been locked in a fierce battle, the thought of the rich compensation he was about to receive made him look at the unconscious Ma Xiaotao in his arms with much more favor. With a light step, he carried her directly toward the office building of the Shrek inner court's Martial Soul Department.