Today's Reward Recipient: Ma Xiaotao

Meanwhile, in Shrek City, Tang Ya was having a meal with Bei Bei.

Tang Ya gnawed on a rib while eagerly reading the Diary and enjoying the gossip. When she saw that Shrek Academy was actually such a place, she was surprised and found it hard to believe, but she didn't feel much else.

After all, she was the Tang Sect's leader. She had only come to Shrek Academy to study. To her, Shrek Academy was simply a place of learning; she had no sense of belonging there, so she was perfectly content to watch the drama unfold.

But when she read the later entries, the rib in her mouth dropped straight into her bowl, and her whole body froze.

???

How had this gossip ended up landing on her head?

The Holy Spirit Cult's Saintess? An Evil Soul Master? Her?

Tang Ya's brows immediately knitted together. If this had happened before, she would have slammed the table and cursed the Diary for spouting nonsense.

She was the Tang Sect's leader. How could she possibly become an Evil Soul Master?

But after being tempered by several previous diary entries, she had grown wiser.

When faced with something this absurd, she couldn't rush to deny it. She had to think carefully first—could it really happen?

No one knew her martial soul better than she did. Her Blue Silver Grass had mutated to possess a devouring attribute. Devouring others' flesh, blood, and vital essence to increase her cultivation was undeniably the behavior of an Evil Soul Master.

Did that mean there was truly a high chance that she would walk down this path in the future?

But she didn't want that.

Her greatest wish in life was to revitalize the Tang Sect and restore its former glory.

If she became an Evil Soul Master hated and condemned by everyone, how could she revitalize the Tang Sect? What face would she have left to meet the Tang Sect's ancestors?

What had happened in the future? What had she gone through that made her abandon everything she stood for, join the Holy Spirit Cult, and become that so-called Saintess?

Tang Ya's face alternated between pale and red. She gripped her chopsticks so tightly that her knuckles whitened. She didn't even hear Bei Bei speaking to her, her mind filled with that sentence from the Diary and the fate that might await her.

Lin Ye continued ranting, padding out several more pages before finally stopping. They were all various bits of Shrek's dirty laundry, though comparatively speaking, none of it was too serious.

He stretched lazily. He felt that he had written enough. Today's diary had been padded out to a full five or six pages—definitely enough.

The moment the Diary stopped updating, countless minds across the continent tensed at once.

At the bottom of the Lake of Life in the core region of the Star Dou Forest.

Gu Yuena, with silver hair and violet eyes, slowly opened her eyes. Beside her, the golden-furred Three-Eyed Golden Lion pricked up its ears, its round eyes brimming with curiosity as it stared fixedly at the Golden Diary in its mind.

In Shrek Inner Court, Ma Xiaotao sat cross-legged on her bed, her palms soaked with cold sweat.

The Evil Fire within her body was beginning to surge again. Every breath came with searing pain, but at this moment, all her attention was nailed to the Diary in her mind. She had even temporarily cast aside suppressing the Evil Fire.

Wang Dong'er sat on her bed, her pale blue hair falling over her shoulders, her cheeks faintly flushed.

Her fingertips unconsciously twisted the bedsheets. She was both expectant and a little disappointed. It seemed Lin Ye hadn't mentioned her very often in today's diary.

Xiao Xiao in the dormitory and Tang Ya, who was eating, both held their breath at the same time, waiting for the Diary's final settlement.

They all knew the Diary's rules. When its daily updates ended, it was time for that day's rewards to be distributed.

The person mentioned the most in the diary would receive a reward from the Diary. They had witnessed the heaven-defying nature of those rewards more than once already.

Under everyone's gaze, the Golden Diary floating in each of their minds suddenly lit up across its cover. A line of striking golden words appeared, one character at a time:

[Person mentioned most in today's diary: Ma Xiaotao.]

In an instant, reactions varied from place to place.

Gu Yuena's violet eyes lifted slightly, but she didn't look surprised.

Wang Dong'er pouted slightly before quickly returning to normal.

More than half of today's diary had revolved around Shrek Academy. Ma Xiaotao, as Shrek Inner Court's signature figure, had been mentioned repeatedly. It was only natural that she had been mentioned the most.

In the Inner Court, Ma Xiaotao froze completely the moment she saw those words.

She even wondered whether the Evil Fire's backlash had caused her to hallucinate.

Her? It was really her?

The next second, indescribable ecstasy swept through every inch of her body, making her tremble uncontrollably.

She didn't ask for some heaven-defying Soul Bone, nor did she ask for some invincible cultivation technique. Her only wish was to get rid of the Evil Fire clinging to her bones!

That thing had tormented her for far too many years. Even Elder Mu had been helpless against it, able only to suppress it temporarily. One careless mistake could trigger a backlash, and she even risked falling onto an evil path.

Just as her heart pounded wildly, nearly leaping out of her throat, the words on the Diary changed again. Today's reward slowly appeared before everyone's eyes:

[Today's reward: All Soul Ring ages increased by 1,000 years, martial soul defect completely repaired, soul power level increased by one.]

The moment she saw the words "martial soul defect completely repaired," Ma Xiaotao's tears fell instantly.

She had waited far, far too long for this day.

As for gaining one level of soul power and increasing her Soul Ring ages, they were utterly insignificant compared to those words!

Before she could recover from her overwhelming joy, three warm golden spheres of light floated out from the Diary and instantly entered her body.

An unprecedented coolness, like melting snow in spring, spread from her dantian in an instant, sweeping through every meridian and every inch of bone in her body.

The Evil Fire that had lurked inside her for years, like a volcano that could erupt at any moment, was like ice and snow beneath the blazing sun before that coolness. It was instantly soothed and dissolved, leaving behind not even a trace.

The searing pain that accompanied every circulation of soul power completely disappeared.

She could even clearly sense that her Evil Fire Phoenix Martial Soul was undergoing an earth-shaking transformation.

The phoenix flames that had once carried a dense evil nature became incomparably pure. They were still blazing hot, yet fully under her control. They no longer carried that feeling of possibly going out of control at any moment.

Her martial soul's defect had been completely repaired!

Ma Xiaotao couldn't help letting out a soft cry. Her entire body went limp on the bed as she gasped for breath, her face covered in the wild joy and tears of surviving a disaster.

It worked! It really worked!

The problem that had plagued her for so many years—the Evil Fire problem that even the elders of Sea God Pavilion had been powerless to solve—had been completely resolved by a casual reward from the Diary!

She slowly clenched her fists, her eyes shining with incomparably resolute light.

Lin Ye!

That name had risen to first place in her heart.

She absolutely had to cling tightly to this thigh!

What Inner Court's number one genius? What Shrek's pride? Before Lin Ye, they were nothing!

She wished she could grow wings and fly straight to the Haotian Sect to meet the young man who had casually solved the greatest problem of her life. Her only thought was to hope that Lin Ye would come to Shrek Academy soon.