Martial Soul: Evil Fire Phoenix, Starting with Four out of Seven

"Damn it, was there any opening more despairing than this?"

Suotuo City, inside a dilapidated thatched hut.

Ye Feng gritted his teeth and endured the searing agony burning through his organs, his heart gradually sinking.

As a transmigrator, he had thought he could rely on his foresight to beat up Grandmaster, kick Tang San around, win over countless beauties, and rise step by step to the pinnacle of the world.

Instead, fate dealt him a heavy straight punch.

The Martial Soul he had awakened was the famed Evil Fire Phoenix!

Not the mutated chicken Martial Soul like Ma Hongjun's, but a genuine top-tier beast Martial Soul—the Evil Fire Phoenix—with Innate Full Soul Power!

However, high returns always came with high risks.

It was not that the Evil Fire Phoenix was bad. It was simply too good—so good that Ye Feng was about to explode.

Half a year had passed since he awakened the Evil Fire Phoenix. Let alone adding a Soul Ring, Ye Feng did not even dare meditate.

There was no other reason. The Evil Fire Backlash was just too damn painful!

The pain of the process would have been one thing, but the intervals between each flare-up of evil fire were getting shorter and shorter.

It had gone from once a month at first to once a week now.

The Evil Fire Backlash was already this terrifying before he had even added a Soul Ring.

Would he not simply explode on the spot once he added one?

At the same time.

A series of footsteps approached from outside the thatched hut.

A tall middle-aged man with a hooked nose stood before the door with his hands behind his back. As he watched the distorted air around the hut, shock filled his eyes, though a faint smile curled his lips.

"Damn, Ye Feng's evil fire is practically heaven-defying!"

Beside the middle-aged man, a short, pale, chubby boy with a lecherous-looking face unconsciously opened his mouth wide at the sight.

At most, his own Evil Fire Backlash only affected himself, putting little Hongjun under some kind of spell. Yet Ye Feng could actually affect the surrounding environment.

If it erupted, how painful would that be?

The pair, one old and one young, were none other than Flender and Ma Hongjun.

Flender narrowed his hawk-like eyes, as if he could see through the room. "Ye Feng's Martial Soul is a pure Evil Fire Phoenix. It is definitely much stronger than your acquired mutation."

Hearing his teacher praise Ye Feng, Ma Hongjun curled his lips. "What good is talent? He does not know how to adapt. Clinging to that little bit of chastity, he is still going to..."

"Hongjun!"

Flender raised a hand to stop him, then said deeply toward the room, "Ye Feng, I will give you one final chance. As long as you agree to become my disciple, I will immediately solve your evil fire problem."

"You should think it over carefully."

Inside the hut, Ye Feng opened his eyes and roared with all his strength:

"Get lost!"

"Even if I, Ye Feng, die from the Evil Fire Backlash today, I will never take a bottomless liar like you as my teacher!"

If not for that bastard Flender, he would never have ended up like this.

A top-tier beast Martial Soul, Innate Full Soul Power—unless the Spirit Hall awakening staff had been idiots, they would definitely have tried to recruit him.

With his talent, he would surely have caught the eye of a powerful enshrined elder.

Yet, by sheer coincidence, Flender had seen him awaken his Martial Soul.

After Ye Feng rejected his private offer to take him on as a disciple, Flender immediately resorted to underhanded tactics.

He had not only bribed the awakening staff to conceal Ye Feng's information, but also restricted Ye Feng's personal freedom.

Everything he had done was to force Ye Feng into becoming his disciple.

"Ye Feng, anger is meaningless. In this world, strength is everything."

Flender sneered and mocked, "Being favored by a Soul Sage is your fortune, yet you refuse to appreciate it."

"Exactly!"

Ma Hongjun crossed his arms and chimed in from the side. "You are an orphan with no one to rely on. Being chosen by Teacher is already an honor, yet you are still being picky. Why do you not look in the mirror and see whether you deserve it?"

"If Teacher had not been generous enough to overlook the past, you would already be dead!"

Listening to their utterly shameless words, Ye Feng felt a suffocating tightness in his chest.

It was hard to imagine that such thick-skinned people existed in this world—and that two had appeared at once.

Seeing no response from within, Flender continued persuading him. "Ye Feng, if you dislike the women from the brothel, I can find you a respectable one. You will not need to take responsibility afterward either. I will handle it for you."

"That way, you can solve your evil fire problem without carrying any psychological burden."

After a long while, a suppressed roar came from inside.

"I would rather shatter like jade than remain whole like tile!"

Flender froze, then laughed in fury. "Good, good, good! What a 'rather shatter like jade than remain whole like tile'!"

"Since you want to die, I will grant your wish!"

What an utter fool!

He, a Soul Sage, had already yielded at every turn, yet Ye Feng still refused to know what was good for him.

Since Ye Feng was determined to die, then Flender would grant his wish.

"Let us go. Leave him here to fend for himself!"

Flender turned and left without the slightest hesitation.

Ma Hongjun looked at the tightly shut door, a mocking expression appearing on his chubby face.

Ye Feng, Ye Feng. When we were children, I thought you were quite clever. Now it seemed you were the stupidest one of all.

For the sake of so-called dignity and chastity, he was giving up his talent and his life.

Tsk, tsk. He had originally thought this fellow might threaten his standing in Teacher's heart. It seemed he had overthought it.

"Pah!"

Ma Hongjun spat on the ground and ground it beneath his foot. When he turned around, however, he saw Flender staring at him, making the fat on his face tremble in fright.

"Teacher, why did you come back?"

Flender said nothing. Soul Power gathered in his right hand, and with a wave, he set up a Soul Power barrier around the area.

"That little bastard has remarkable willpower. He probably will not die anytime soon, so we need to reinforce the barrier just in case," Flender sneered.

Since such a genius could not be used by him, it would be better to leave him to fend for himself, lest he become a future threat.

"Teacher is wise!"

Ma Hongjun could see it now. Teacher had completely abandoned Ye Feng and intended to leave him to fend for himself.

"Enough. Let us go."

Inside the hut.

Listening to the footsteps gradually fade away, Ye Feng clenched his teeth, his eyes bloodshot.

Flender, Ma Hongjun!

He swore that if he survived today, he would make those two beasts pay the price!

Yet as he felt the increasingly vigorous evil fire within his body, along with the burning pain worse than death,

Ye Feng could clearly feel his life force constantly slipping away.

Was he going to die?

After six years in this world, had it all been nothing more than a dream?

Anger, unwillingness, numbness...

Just as Ye Feng was about to succumb to despair, an ethereal voice suddenly rang out in his mind.

[Ding! Gold Trait System activated!]

[Drawing trait options for you...]

[Options drawn. Please select four from the following seven gold trait options...]

[Newbie Journey: Randomly obtain a titled-level protector.]

[Atavism: Martial Soul awakens an ancient bloodline.]

[Twin Awakening: Obtain a second Martial Soul slot and directly receive a Martial Soul Replicator.]

[God King Favor: Gain the favor of the future God King, Tang San.]

[Upgrade Refund: Immediately increase Soul Power by two levels. For every two levels gained afterward, automatically gain one additional level.]

[Demon Contract: Sacrifice lifespan to gain cultivation, but can no longer obtain Soul Power through meditation.]

[Radiant Charm: All females' favorability toward you increases by thirty percent.]

"Ha?"