Ma Xiaotao Couldn't Hold Back

Although Nana was a genius student at the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, she was still too young. Her soul power rank was only slightly higher than Meng Hongchen's.

Facing Steward Zhao, who possessed the strength of a seven-ring Soul Sage, even the thought of resisting was beyond her reach.

Witnessing such vile acts of bullying men and oppressing women unfold before her eyes, Ma Xiaotao became even more convinced that the scenario she had just imagined was real.

At that moment, two little figures were arguing fiercely within her heart.

One of them believed:

"Ma Xiaotao! As a member of Shrek Academy, you are the embodiment of justice! Protecting the weak and punishing evil are your duties. Can your conscience truly bear it if you watch coldly as a pitiful, innocent girl is about to fall into the hands of a tyrannical noble and be toyed with at will?"

The other little figure said:

"Protecting the weak is indeed your duty, but it depends on the circumstances! Master once said that people of the Sun Moon Empire cannot be treated the same way as people from the other three nations. What if there really is something wrong with this girl?"

"Even if there isn't, not to mention that you still have a mission, would intervening really change this girl's fate? Don't be foolish! Even the steward of this estate has the cultivation of a Soul Sage. Who knows how many powerful figures are hiding in the shadows? It simply isn't worth abandoning the objective of this mission for someone from the Sun Moon Empire!"

The two little figures each held their ground, refusing to yield, and their arguing made Ma Xiaotao's head throb.

From a rational perspective, she should have followed the second little figure's advice and stood by coldly. Even if she acted, she might not succeed, and even if she did succeed by some stroke of luck, the girl might not thank her.

Perhaps being favored by this tyrannical noble was even a good thing for the girl?

But...

If she had to carefully weigh the gains and losses before upholding justice, then was she still worthy of upholding justice? Was she still worthy of being a student of the Shrek Inner Court?

Seeing the girl collapse helplessly to her knees, about to be seized and restrained by the old steward, Ma Xiaotao's eyes nearly split with rage. Unable to endure her conscience's condemnation any longer, she shouted:

"Stop right there!"

The sudden shout instantly drew the attention of most people in the estate. Even Xu Tianming and the old steward turned to look at her in surprise.

Xu Tianming was baffled. Why was this woman suddenly going mad for no reason? Did she not know what price she would have to pay for this?

Yet at the very moment confusion arose in his heart, Ma Xiaotao had already summoned her martial soul and mobilized all the soul power in her body. She hurled the teapot in her hand toward the old steward with all her strength, while she herself sprinted toward Xu Tianming.

Though saving the girl had been an impulsive act, her thinking remained clear once she made her move.

If she tangled with the old steward, who possessed the strength of a Soul Sage, she definitely would not be able to win quickly. If the fight dragged on until the estate's other experts arrived to support him, she would undoubtedly lose.

Her only chance of victory was to capture the master of this estate as quickly as possible, before the estate's many experts had time to react.

As long as she could accomplish that, the Sun Moon Empire's experts would surely hesitate to act. With such an important hostage in hand, why would she need to worry about failing her mission?

Therefore, although her actions were extremely risky, they were not entirely without a chance of success.

Before making her move, she had been only around ten meters from Xu Tianming, while the old steward stood over a hundred paces away. Although a Soul Sage was far faster than a Soul King, with such a short distance and her having seized the initiative, Ma Xiaotao believed that she had almost no chance of failure!

Though it was a gamble, fortunately, she would be the winner!

That was what Ma Xiaotao thought when she was only one meter away from Xu Tianming. At the same time, although the old steward had reacted, he was still thirty meters away from stopping her.

Although Ye Guyi, who had led her here, was closest to her and reacted the fastest, the gap in their soul power ranks was simply too great. Even after reacting, she could only watch Ma Xiaotao's retreating figure from afar.

However, twists always came when least expected.

Just as Ma Xiaotao's hand was about to clamp around Xu Tianming's throat, she suddenly noticed the meaningful smile on the young man's face as he looked at her.

Something's wrong! This is suspicious!

The thought had barely appeared in her mind when Xu Tianming nimbly evaded her hand. As she lunged at empty air, he casually shoved the still-dazed Meng Hongchen toward the old steward.

"Uncle Zhao, please protect Sister Meng'er first. Guyi, stay calm for now. Since she wants to cause trouble, let me test how capable she is first. It's been too long since I last fought anyone. My hands are starting to itch."

Upon hearing Xu Tianming's instructions, both Uncle Zhao and Ye Guyi hesitated for a moment before obediently nodding.

Ye Guyi honestly retreated to one side and remained vigilant. As Uncle Zhao shielded Meng Hongchen behind him, he also took out a token from his robes that could control the estate's defensive formation. Without hesitation, he activated it, preventing the slightest trace of abnormal aura from leaking out of the estate.

Xu Tianming's combat strength was currently one of the Sun Moon Empire's greatest secrets. To conceal it, Xu Tianming normally did not personally act when facing enemies. The guards around him usually handled such matters for him.

Now, within the estate, he had finally encountered an opportunity that outsiders would find difficult to notice. Moreover, Ma Xiaotao happened to be a powerful opponent. If he missed this chance to test his strength, who knew when he would encounter another opportunity like it?

Both Uncle Zhao and Ye Guyi understood this well, which was why neither intended to dissuade him.

After all, Ma Xiaotao had already exposed her true capabilities.

Rank 56, fire-attributed soul power.

Although her soul power rank was somewhat higher than His Highness's, her soul power attribute was fire.

Uncle Zhao could say without exaggeration that no fire-attributed soul power could avoid being suppressed by His Highness's martial soul. Even the legendary Ultimate Fire could, at most, stand on equal footing with His Highness's martial soul.

The moment she saw Xu Tianming evade her attack, Ma Xiaotao truly panicked.

Because that gave the old steward, with his Soul Sage-level strength, ample time to stop her.

Yet she had not expected this.

Not only did this tyrannical young noble fail to hide behind the strong in panic as she had imagined, he actually wanted to challenge her!

It almost made her laugh in anger.

"Heh, I really have been underestimated. Fine, then. Since you want to test this old lady's skills, I'll make sure you understand exactly what it costs to look down on me!"