Secretly Drawing Out Mutant Flames, Suppressing the Backlash

"Tang San!"

Xiao Wu rushed forward, but Dai Mubai grabbed her and held her back.

"Don't go over there. The fire will burn you!"

Xiao Wu anxiously raised her leg and kicked him.

"Let go!"

Dai Mubai took the kick head-on, and his expression turned even uglier.

"You'll only make things worse if you go over!"

The stream of fire shot toward Tang San. He forcefully sidestepped using Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, but part of his sleeve was still burned away, and a searing pain spread across his skin.

At the same time, Ma Hongjun felt a sudden chill beneath his feet.

The demon vine root hidden underground slipped in through the outlet where fire leaked from his Yongquan acupoint, tearing away a strand of the mutated Phoenix Evil Fire's origin.

Ma Hongjun was still spewing flames, but it felt as though someone had pulled a chunk of fuel out from inside him. The stream of fire immediately weakened.

Tang San seized the opportunity and used Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon. His palm force knocked Ma Hongjun's arm aside, while Blue Silver Grass coiled around his waist from the side.

"Fall!"

Ma Hongjun lost his footing and was thrown into the mud by Tang San's borrowed momentum.

The flames rolled outward, scorching a wide swath of grass leaves black.

Yet Ji Yuan did not feel the slightest relief.

After that evil fire entered the demon vine root, it burned along the meridians toward the main body. Charred blackness spread from the root tip toward the inner layer of his shoe sole.

The pain made every fiber of the demon vine contract.

Ji Yuan immediately mobilized Dai Mubai's White Tiger vitality, Ning Rongrong's overflowing supportive essence, and the cool watery energy stored within the wellwater spores. The three energies pressed down on the evil fire at once.

The flames refused to submit.

They rampaged through the demon vine's interior, burning through layer after layer of dark-red fibers.

Ji Yuan did not let go.

Plants feared fire, but as long as the core remained intact, even fire could become nourishment.

Ma Hongjun lay sprawled on the ground, his chest heaving rapidly, but the agony on his face gradually eased.

He raised his head and stared blankly at his own hand.

"I... don't feel hot anymore?"

Tang San stood nearby, pale-faced, his right hand still held in the posture of Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon.

He had not figured out what had happened either.

That throw had indeed interrupted Ma Hongjun's Soul Power circulation, but the sudden weakening of the evil fire was far beyond anything he could have accomplished.

Dai Mubai released Xiao Wu and hurried over to press down on Ma Hongjun's shoulder.

"Fatty, are you awake now?"

Ma Hongjun blinked, and much of the dark-red firelight in his eyes faded.

"Boss Dai, I think... I'm fine now."

Xiao Wu ran to Tang San's side and pulled up his sleeve to inspect him.

"Your arm's burned!"

Tang San shook his head.

"Just a minor injury."

Xiao Wu glared at him angrily.

"Can you stop calling everything a minor injury?"

Ning Rongrong also walked over, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda glowing in her palm.

"Do you want me to boost your recovery? I'm not a healing-type Soul Master, but I can help your Soul Power circulate faster."

Tang San had just been about to refuse when Ji Yuan had already intercepted a trace of her supportive origin and pressed it into the edge of the fireline burning within the demon vine.

So when Tang San spoke, all he could say was, "Thank you."

Ning Rongrong gave a soft humph.

"Don't misunderstand. I just don't want you collapsing and leaving us one person short who can take a beating in tomorrow's training."

Oscar immediately pushed his cart over.

"At a time like this, you still have to rely on me. A Recovery Sausage, guaranteed to stop the pain."

Xiao Wu immediately turned around.

"Go on, I dare you to recite it."

Oscar stopped in his tracks and looked at Tang San with a wronged expression.

"Tang San, be the judge here. They want me to save someone, but they won't even let me recite my chant. Aren't they making things difficult for a food-type Soul Master?"

Tang San looked at the burns, then at Ma Hongjun, who was still lying on the ground.

"Give it to Ma Hongjun first."

The moment Oscar heard that someone was willing to eat it, he immediately perked up.

"I've got a big sausage!"

Ning Rongrong's face turned green as she backed away.

Zhu Zhuqing turned her face aside as well.

Ma Hongjun, however, showed no disgust at all. He took the sausage and bit into it.

"Thanks, Xiao Ao."

Oscar was so moved that his eyes turned red.

"Fatty, you're the one who understands me."

As Ma Hongjun chewed the sausage, he suddenly looked at Tang San with a complicated expression.

"Was it you who suppressed my evil fire just now?"

Tang San paused.

"I only threw you down and interrupted your Soul Power."

But Ma Hongjun shook his head.

"No. Boss Dai has beaten me up before, and the dean has suppressed it too, but it never felt this comfortable."

Dai Mubai said from the side, "Don't overthink it. Maybe Tang San's Mysterious Heaven Skill is special."

Tang San frowned.

He did not want to expose the Mysterious Heaven Skill.

But Ma Hongjun had already made up his mind.

"Tang San, if my evil fire acts up again, can you help me?"

Xiao Wu immediately became displeased.

"What do you take him for? Someone specially assigned to put out your fire?"

Ma Hongjun scratched his head awkwardly.

"That's not what I meant. It's just... I don't want to hurt anyone either."

Cuihua had been hiding in the distance. Only after the fire was extinguished did she dare to walk back.

She looked at Ma Hongjun, fear still lingering in her eyes.

"Ma Hongjun, let's not see each other again."

The ease vanished from Ma Hongjun's face in an instant.

"Cuihua..."

Cuihua took a step back.

"You didn't burn me to death today because they stopped you. What about next time?"

Ma Hongjun opened his mouth, but no words came out.

Dai Mubai patted his shoulder.

"Let her go."

Ma Hongjun lowered his head. The half-eaten sausage in his hand was squeezed out of shape.

"I'm sorry."

Cuihua wiped away her tears and turned to leave.

This time, Ma Hongjun did not chase after her.

Tang San looked at him, his tone softening somewhat.

"What you need to do most right now is learn to control yourself."

Ma Hongjun gave a bitter smile.

"You think I don't want to? That fire is inside my body. When it flares up, I don't even know what I'm saying."

Flender's voice came from behind them.

"That's why I told you long ago to stop going into the village so often."

Everyone turned around. Flender was standing by the roadside at some point, his expression behind his lenses far from pleasant.

Ma Hongjun lowered his head.

"Dean."

Flender looked at the scorched village entrance, then in the direction Cuihua had left.

"Tomorrow, go apologize to them. The money will be deducted from this month's allowance."

Ma Hongjun muttered, "Got it."

Flender then looked at Tang San.

"How did you do that just now?"

Tang San's heart tightened.

Ji Yuan was suppressing the evil fire beneath the sole of his shoe. Hearing that question, he immediately stirred Tang San's meridians into a weak, chaotic state.

Tang San's face turned even paler. He had to brace himself against a nearby wooden post to remain standing.

"I don't know. I only used Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon to disrupt his exertion of force."

Flender stared at him.

"Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon?"

Tang San nodded.

"A force-borrowing technique I created myself."

Xiao Wu immediately cut in.

"Dean, he's already hurt this badly, and you're still questioning him?"

Flender withdrew his gaze.

"Mubai, take them back. Fatty, come with me."

But Ma Hongjun did not move.

He looked at Tang San, then suddenly bent at the waist in a serious bow.

"Tang San, I owe you one for today."

Tang San waved a hand.

"We're classmates. There's no need for this."

Ma Hongjun raised his head, forcing a smile onto his face.

"From now on, you're my big brother."

Xiao Wu's eyes widened.

"Who wants a chubby little brother like you?"

Oscar slapped his thigh and burst out laughing beside them.

"Fatty, aren't you recognizing a big brother a little too quickly?"

Ma Hongjun glared at him.

"What do you know? Anyone who can suppress my evil fire is family."

Dai Mubai could not help saying, "Just go with the dean first. Stop embarrassing yourself here."

Ma Hongjun followed Flender away. After taking a few steps, he turned back and shouted.

"Tang San, I'll treat you to a meal tomorrow!"

Xiao Wu immediately shouted back.

"Nothing roasted over fire!"

The farce at the village entrance finally dispersed for the time being.

Xiao Wu supported Tang San as they headed toward the dormitory. Dai Mubai and Ning Rongrong walked behind them, while Zhu Zhuqing remained silent the entire time, only occasionally glancing at Tang San's feet.

Ji Yuan cut off all prying eyes.

The demon vine's true body curled within the sole's inner layer. Its outer surface had blackened and flaked away, but after being seared by the evil fire, tiny fiery-red patterns had grown within.

This fire had yet to be fully refined.

But the hardest step had already been crossed.

Ma Hongjun believed Tang San had saved him.

Tang San believed Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon had worked by sheer coincidence.

Everyone had placed the answer out in the open.

Yet amid the charred roots, Ji Yuan slowly dragged that mass of mutated flame toward the core.

Just as he was preparing to completely seal the evil fire, Tang San's left palm suddenly grew hot. The Clear Sky Hammer's origin was stirred by the fire energy, and heavy black light surfaced beneath his skin.