Ma Hongjun's Second Outlet: Master Yu Xiaogang!

Lin Jiang put an arm around Ning Rongrong and turned toward the passage exit.

After the deathly silence, the clamor erupted again, filled with astonishment, doubt, and fervor.

Ning Rongrong clung tightly to his side. Beneath her mask, her beautiful eyes seemed veiled in a misty sheen as she gazed foolishly at the cold, sharp line of Lin Jiang's jaw.

He's... simply... so handsome...

A surging, indescribable feeling

exploded from the deepest part of her body along with the strength and warmth transmitted through his arm, sweeping through her entire being.

In an extremely awkward posture, taking tiny steps, she was practically pressed against Lin Jiang as he half-embraced her and helped her inch down from the arena.

Every step tugged at that secret, surging thrill.

Under the glaring soul tool lights, at the center of the arena where they had just stood, aside from the pits and cracks left by battle,

a small patch of inconspicuous, viscous moisture glimmered faintly beneath the lights as it quietly spread across the cold stone surface,

silently telling of the uncontrollable heartbeat and burning shame no one knew about, beyond that heart-stopping battle...

Lin Jiang and Ning Rongrong stepped down from the arena together. Flander had already brought Dai Mubai, Oscar, Ma Hongjun, Zhu Zhuqing, and Xiao Wu to wait below.

Everyone wore approving smiles and came forward to congratulate them.

Flander patted Lin Jiang on the shoulder, his tone carrying a hint of praise.

"Lin Jiang, well done!"

But then he frowned slightly, changing the subject.

"Still, I remember you had two purple soul rings, didn't you? Why were the ones I saw on the stage just one white and one yellow?"

Lin Jiang scratched his head. He had already prepared an excuse.

"Actually... I have a soul bone. Its skill lets me disguise the age of my soul rings."

Flander's eyes lit up, and his voice rose a little.

"Oh? So that's how it is! To possess a soul bone at such a young age is indeed remarkable!"

Though he praised him outwardly, realization dawned on him inside.

That brat tricked me! I thought his first two soul rings were purple, that he was some rare genius...

Who knew they were actually just one white and one yellow? His talent is merely ordinary. And that soul bone can only pull off this little disguise trick. It has no real combat value at all!

Although Flander muttered to himself inwardly, the others around them completely believed Lin Jiang's explanation.

After all, compared with the shocking notion of a first and second soul ring reaching the thousand-year level, a soul bone capable of changing a soul ring's color was clearly more reasonable and easier to accept.

The night wind streamed through the cracks in the inn window.

Ma Hongjun curled up on the bed. The flesh on his greasy fat face was taut, and the evil fire rampaged through his veins, burning his internal organs into a twisted knot.

[ Ding! Mission issued: Target—Master Yu Xiaogang! ]

The cold mechanical voice, carrying a nauseating excitement, once again drove fiercely into his buzzing brain.

[ Mission objective: Vent the evil fire! ]

[ Mission reward: Soul power level +1 ]

[ Mission failure: Your manhood explodes on the spot ]

[ Time limit: 2 hours ]

"Fuck!!!"

As if scalded by a branding iron, Ma Hongjun sprang off the bed. His tiny eyes bulged as though they were about to split apart.

"Tang San would be one thing! But that old fossil?! Yu Xiaogang?!!"

His stomach churned violently, and the food he had eaten during the day mixed with gastric acid and surged up his throat.

He forcibly swallowed it back down, letting out a muffled "gurgle."

The sheer disgust made every bit of fat on his body tremble.

"Bleurgh..." He dry-heaved several times, his face deathly pale.

Soul power level +1 was one thing.

What was even more terrifying was the image of his manhood exploding, which made him clench up and shiver.

The evil fire warped under fear and greed into an even more sickening madness.

"Fuck... fuck!"

He slammed his fist against the bedboard, sending wood chips flying.

"For my manhood... I'll... I'll do it!"

The last trace of clarity in his eyes was replaced by murky desire and viciousness.

"Knock, knock knock."

The knocking sounded especially clear in the silent hallway late at night.

Inside Yu Xiaogang's room, the oil lamp burned like a bean-sized flame.

He had his head buried in a pile of yellowed theoretical manuscripts, attempting to numb himself against the scenes playing through the system with this torn-apart-and-reassembled "core competitiveness."

The knock interrupted his fragile concentration.

"Who is it?" Yu Xiaogang's voice carried annoyance at being disturbed and a trace of late-night wariness.

"Master... it's me, Ma Hongjun..."

The fat man's voice came from outside, deliberately lowered but unable to hide his heavy breathing.

Yu Xiaogang frowned tightly and rose to open the door.

The moment the door opened a crack, Ma Hongjun's round body, glistening with sweat and grease, squeezed inside. A stench mixed with body odor rushed straight at him.

"Ma Hongjun? What do you want at this hour?"

Yu Xiaogang's gaze was sharp as a blade, filled with scrutiny.

He instinctively sensed that something was wrong. The gleam in the fat man's tiny eyes was definitely not the look of someone seeking guidance.

"Master." Ma Hongjun licked his cracked lips. His eyes darted about, too afraid to look directly at Yu Xiaogang, his voice seeming to be forcibly squeezed from his throat.

"For... for my cultivation... you... please help me..."

"Help you?" Alarm bells rang in Yu Xiaogang's mind, and he subconsciously took half a step back.

"Cultivation matters can wait until tomorrow..."

Before he could finish, the last bit of hesitation in Ma Hongjun's eyes was completely swallowed by the evil fire!

His fat body suddenly lunged forward with brute force!

"Outrageous!"

Yu Xiaogang was both shocked and enraged, his gaunt face flushing crimson in an instant!

He had never suffered such monstrous humiliation! Almost instinctively, he shouted, "Luo Sanpao!"

"Luo—luoluo!"

Luo Sanpao, fat as a pig and pale purple all over, instantly appeared in a flash of soul power!

Its clear, round eyes also held a trace of confusion and its master's fury!

Yu Xiaogang's rage soared to the heavens. His gaunt finger pointed fiercely at the charging Ma Hongjun, his voice shrill and warped by extreme fury.

"Farts like thunder! Heaven-shattering Luo Sanpao!"

Luo Sanpao's round body suddenly contracted like a spring compressed to its limit!

The yellow ring around its body abruptly burst into a blinding light, instantly forming an enormous shield of light around it!

The next second, its body twisted clumsily in midair, its butt aimed at the target!

BOOM—!!!

A deafening blast, like thunder exploding from dry ground, detonated inside the cramped room!

Along with the blast, an indescribable horror of a stench—blending rotten food, old sewers, and burning sulfur—erupted violently from Luo Sanpao's rear like tangible yellow smoke!

It instantly filled the entire room!

The dense, suffocating stench was like countless steel needles stabbing viciously into their nostrils and shooting straight to the tops of their heads!

Even Yu Xiaogang himself was nearly blacking out from the smell. His stomach convulsed violently, and he almost vomited!

Ma Hongjun bore the brunt of it, struck head-on by the yellow-green "artillery fire." Tears and mucus streamed down his face as his movements instantly froze!

Just as Yu Xiaogang fought through the dizziness and nausea, preparing to command Luo Sanpao to launch a second attack and blast this audacious disciple out the door—

[ Ding! Green Light System mission triggered: Endure for a moment, and all will be calm! ]

[ Mission objective: Endure above all else! Indulge Ma Hongjun! ]

[ Mission reward: Luo Sanpao Golden Sacred Dragon bloodline purity +1% ]

[ Mission failure: Luo Sanpao devolves into a fat pig (completely loses its dragon's might; martial soul quality permanently downgraded)! ]

Yu Xiaogang was struck as if by lightning, his blood seeming to freeze solid in an instant!

Golden Sacred Dragon bloodline... that was his lifelong obsession!

But "indulge Ma Hongjun"? That felt worse than killing him!

And the punishment for failure... Luo Sanpao devolving into a fat pig?!

Completely losing that faint trace of dragon's might that had only just emerged?!

No! Absolutely not!

During that split-second struggle, Ma Hongjun's mind, muddled by the stench, remembered only the terror of mission failure.

The evil fire, mixed with his desire to survive, overwhelmed his disgust once more. Braving the stench, he lunged again like a raging bull!

Yu Xiaogang's gaunt fingers clenched tightly, his nails digging deep into his palms, nearly drawing blood!

A despair and cold humiliation even more nauseating than Luo Sanpao's stench seeped like poison into every limb and bone.

He closed his eyes in agony.

His teeth clenched tight, the muscles in his cheeks bulging like stone.

Luo Sanpao seemed to sense the violent tremors in its master's soul. It let out uneasy "luoluo" sounds, its pale purple body trembling slightly, while the scales that had just begun to glimmer with a trace of gold dimmed again.

Yu Xiaogang was forced to understand what Tang San had once tasted...

That feeling...