"Ma Hongjun, let go!"
Cuihua staggered from being pulled, tears streaking her face as she desperately tried to pry Ma Hongjun's hand off her wrist with her other hand.
Ma Hongjun panted heavily, the flesh on his face trembling. The dark red flames spilling from his palm frightened Cuihua into shrinking back.
"Cuihua, I didn't mean to. Give me one more chance. I'll definitely hold it back from now on."
"You say that every time!"
Cuihua cried until her voice was hoarse. Red burns had already appeared on her arm. When she saw Tang San and Xiao Wu rushing over, she hurriedly shouted, "Help me! I really can't take it anymore!"
The moment Xiao Wu heard that, her temper flared.
She rushed forward and kicked at Ma Hongjun's wrist.
"Let her go!"
Ma Hongjun had already been irritated by the Evil Fire burning inside him. When that kick knocked his hand away, his expression immediately darkened.
"Who are you? Stay out of my business!"
Xiao Wu pulled Cuihua behind her and said coldly, "You're bullying a girl, and you think you're in the right?"
Tang San followed, stepping slightly in front of Xiao Wu.
"Ma Hongjun, calm down first."
When Ma Hongjun saw Tang San, his breathing grew heavier.
"You're Tang San? Boss Dai said you were strong, but this is my business. It's not your place to interfere."
Dai Mubai caught up to them at the village entrance. When he saw the burn marks on Cuihua's arm, his expression turned ugly.
"Fatty, you lost control again?"
"I didn't!"
Ma Hongjun had just started to argue when the fire in his chest surged upward, turning the words on his lips into a mouthful of dark red flame.
Cuihua recoiled behind Tang San, crying as she shook her head.
"Brother Dai, I really don't want to be with him anymore. Every time he acts up, he's like this. I'm afraid he'll burn me to death someday."
Dai Mubai fell silent.
He knew about Ma Hongjun's problem, and he also knew Cuihua was right.
Hearing those words, the flames in Ma Hongjun's eyes burned even fiercer, and his whole body began to tremble.
"Cuihua, even you hate me?"
Cuihua cried, "I don't hate you, but I don't want to die!"
Those words tore apart the last shred of Ma Hongjun's reason.
Dark red flames erupted from his shoulders and back. Behind his plump body, the phantom of a mutated phoenix appeared, and the heat wave curled the grass at the village entrance.
Xiao Wu shoved Cuihua backward.
"Run!"
Cuihua turned and fled without daring to look back.
Ma Hongjun watched her run away, his face twisting.
"Don't go!"
He lifted a foot to chase after her, but Tang San's Blue Silver Grass had already shot across the ground, wrapping around his ankle.
"You can't go after her right now."
Ma Hongjun looked down at the Blue Silver Grass. Flames swept down his leg, instantly charring and snapping the vines.
"Blue Silver Grass? You think this can stop me?"
Tang San's expression darkened.
Fire attributes restrained Blue Silver Grass too severely.
Ji Yuan, hidden in the layered sole of Tang San's shoe, had already tightened his main body the instant the flames rose.
Hot.
Even through the soil and the sole, that Evil Fire made the Demon Vine's surface sting with searing pain.
A plant's instincts warned him to stay away.
But Ji Yuan did not retreat.
Though the fire within Ma Hongjun was impure and violent, it was exactly what he lacked most right now.
Fire resistance.
As long as he devoured the source of that mutated flame, he would no longer need to rely on evasion when facing fire-attribute soul masters.
Tang San was still blocking the flames openly.
Ji Yuan had already extended his roots through a crack in the sole and into the ground, drilling through the soil toward Ma Hongjun's feet.
Dai Mubai stepped forward and said in a deep voice, "Fatty, withdraw your Martial Soul!"
Ma Hongjun panted. The sweat that had just emerged on his forehead was instantly dried by the heat.
"Boss Dai, I can't hold it back."
Dai Mubai cursed.
"Are you insane? This is the village entrance!"
Ma Hongjun clutched his head, but the flames only burned more fiercely.
"I don't want this either! But it keeps burning, keeps burning! What am I supposed to do?!"
Xiao Wu frowned.
"Then I'll beat you awake!"
She was just about to rush forward when Tang San reached out and stopped her.
"Don't get close. His fire will hurt you."
Xiao Wu asked anxiously, "Then what will you do?"
Tang San raised his right hand as Blue Silver Grass began to grow once more.
"I'll hold him off."
Hearing this, Ma Hongjun raised his head, the fire in his eyes overwhelming his reason.
"Hold me off? Tang San, do you really think you can control me just because you beat Teacher Zhao?"
Tang San did not argue.
Blue Silver Grass lashed out from three directions, avoiding the areas where the flames were strongest as it tried to bind Ma Hongjun's shoulders and waist.
Ma Hongjun opened his mouth and spat out a Phoenix Fire Wire.
The stream of fire swept across the vines, charring whole patches of Blue Silver Grass black. Tang San was forced to use Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to dodge to the side.
Xiao Wu pulled Cuihua farther away and shouted back, "Tang San, be careful!"
When Tang San landed, his chest felt tight.
Ji Yuan casually siphoned off part of the Mysterious Heaven Skill inner strength Tang San had just mobilized, using it to maintain the heat-resistant outer layer around his underground roots.
Tang San only felt the old injury in his body stirred by the fire. He gritted his teeth and endured.
Seeing that something was wrong, Dai Mubai shouted at Ma Hongjun, "Fatty, if you keep this up, I'm stepping in!"
Ma Hongjun turned to look at him, his voice hoarse.
"Boss Dai, don't force me."
"You're the one forcing everyone else."
Dai Mubai released his White Tiger Martial Soul. White Tiger vitality surged through him, but a familiar emptiness suddenly came from his ankle.
Ji Yuan casually siphoned off a mouthful of White Tiger vitality from the White Tiger node and transferred it into his underground roots.
The White Tiger vitality was dense and heavy, perfect for helping the Demon Vine withstand the first wave of Evil Fire backlash.
Dai Mubai's legs went weak, and his face darkened.
"Damn it, that feeling again."
Oscar came running over, panting hard, nearly overturning the cart he was pushing.
"What's going on? Did Fatty blow up again?"
Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing also arrived at the village entrance.
When Ning Rongrong saw the flames, she immediately frowned.
"This is his Martial Soul defect?"
Zhu Zhuqing said nothing. Her gaze fell on the ground beneath Ma Hongjun's feet.
She kept feeling that something there was strangely off, but the Evil Fire fluctuations were too chaotic for her to catch the source.
Noticing Zhu Zhuqing's attention, Ji Yuan immediately pressed his underground roots deeper into the soil.
This spirit-cat blood bag was too sensitive.
He could not let her notice something was underground.
Ma Hongjun's flames continued to rise.
Flender was absent, and Zhao Wuji had not come either. Dai Mubai did not dare use his full strength to injure Ma Hongjun, while Tang San was restrained by fire. The situation had instead been pushed to the brink of losing control by Ma Hongjun alone.
Ma Hongjun clutched his chest, forcing out a painful growl from his throat.
"Hot. So hot. Boss Dai, don't stop me. I'll go find Cuihua and explain things properly."
Xiao Wu snapped, "If you go over there now, are you explaining things or burning her to death?"
Ma Hongjun's face twitched.
"I won't hurt her."
Tang San stared at the flames in his palm.
"You already have."
As those words fell, Ma Hongjun froze for a moment.
But immediately afterward, even more violent flames burst from his body.
"I said I didn't mean to!"
He raised his hand, and his second Soul Ring lit up.
Dai Mubai's expression changed drastically.
"Fatty, stop!"
Ma Hongjun could no longer hear him.
Phoenix Bathing in Fire activated. Dark red flames wrapped around his entire body, burning more fiercely than before and scorching the surrounding dirt until it gave off a charred smell.
The moment Tang San's Blue Silver Grass reached toward him, it was burned apart.
Ning Rongrong raised her Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda and asked urgently, "Tang San, do you need support?"
Tang San said gravely, "Don't come any closer yet!"
Oscar grabbed a sausage, wanting to hand it over but not daring to approach.
"This fire's too fierce. Even my sausage can't withstand it."
Zhu Zhuqing moved to the side, trying to circle behind him.
Dai Mubai immediately shouted, "Zhu Qing, don't get too close!"
Zhu Zhuqing replied coldly.
"Worry about yourself."
Dai Mubai felt his chest tighten from being shut down, yet he still kept his eyes on Ma Hongjun, ready to act at any moment.
Ji Yuan's underground roots had already reached beneath Ma Hongjun's feet.
The Evil Fire leaked out through the meridians in his soles. Near the Yongquan acupoint was one of the outlets in the fire's circulation.
The temperature there was highest, and it was also the most dangerous.
But it was the least guarded.
Ji Yuan did not strike immediately.
He waited for Ma Hongjun to fully activate his second soul skill.
The fiercer the flames, the thicker the defenses.
The thicker the defenses, the larger the gaps.
Tang San was forced back to the edge of the village road. His Blue Silver Grass was repeatedly burned apart, and his hand had already reached for the hidden weapons in his belt.
Ma Hongjun spread his arms, and flames expanded outward.
"None of you stop me!"
A chill rose in Tang San's eyes. He activated Mysterious Jade Hand, preparing to take one blast of fire head-on before using hidden weapons to seal Ma Hongjun's acupoints.
Ji Yuan opened his feeding aperture within the sole. The outer layer of his roots had been charred black, but the inside was protected by White Tiger vitality and the chill of well water.
He fixed his attention on the fire outlet beneath Ma Hongjun's foot.
When the next wave of flames erupted, it would be his chance to devour the fire.
Ma Hongjun raised his head. A ball of dark red firelight had already gathered in his mouth.
Tang San was just about to move when Ji Yuan siphoned away a strand of his inner strength, slowing him down.
Xiao Wu cried out in alarm, "Tang San, dodge!"
The fire wire had already shot out. At the same instant, Ji Yuan's roots broke through the soil and pressed against Ma Hongjun's scorching sole.
Before you continue