"Gone."
Ma Hongjun pressed his hand against the solid ice in a daze. The Fire Rat that had belonged to him had already been unfrozen by his Evil Fire, and the yellow Soul Ring floating above it signified that it had become a corpse.
Yet Ma Hongjun refused to give up and reached out to touch it again, only to receive the response... "Buzz—" The Soul Ring swiftly bounced away, not giving him any chance to make contact.
This meant that the Fire Rat had not been killed by Ma Hongjun, so naturally, he could not absorb this Soul Ring.
"Sigh, what a pity."
Flander shook his head regretfully.
After examining it just now, he discovered that the Fire Rat had first suffered damage to its heart, veins, and internal organs after being frozen in low-temperature ice. Then, struck by the pressure of two auras, the timid creature had literally scared itself to death.
No one could be blamed for this. It could only be considered bad luck.
"Alright, what are you lying around like that for?"
Flander's tone was deliberately disdainful, but in truth, having outsiders watch had made him feel a little embarrassed. His thick skin simply kept it from showing.
"You two, please excuse him. My disciple came from the countryside, this is his first time..." After saying that to Ouyang Ling and the other man, he grabbed Ma Hongjun by the back and hauled him up, then leaned close and whispered, "Enough! How much more do you want to embarrass your teacher?"
"But, Teacher..."
Ma Hongjun looked at the Fire Rat's corpse.
This should have been his first Soul Ring... and now it was gone!
"Out with the old, in with the new. At most, we'll spend a little more time searching. We might even find something better."
Flander looked helpless.
His disciple had only been out of that little place for less than a year and did not resemble a proper Soul Master at all.
Should he think of a way to train him once they returned?
"Ah... so that's how it is."
Now that his teacher had said so, Ma Hongjun was no longer quite as dejected, though he still felt a little regret.
Seeing that his disciple was no longer dwelling on it, Flander did not bother with his remaining feelings. He turned his gaze to Ouyang Ling and the other man. "You two, then we shall take our leave." Though they did not know one another, the atmosphere had been fairly pleasant just now, and courtesy still had to be observed.
Flying Tiger Soul Sage said nothing, merely cupping his fists in farewell.
Ouyang Ling, on the other hand, shifted his gaze away from the Fire Rat's corpse. Seeing that Ma Hongjun still seemed somewhat upset, he took advantage of their similar age to comfort him and deliberately revealed a relieved smile. "Classmate Little Chubby, it may actually be a good thing that you didn't obtain this Fire Rat Soul Ring."
Hm?
The moment he said that,
Flander, who had been about to leave, merely raised an eyebrow.
He could keep his composure, but that did not mean Ma Hongjun could. That one sentence from Ouyang Ling immediately aroused his disciple's curiosity.
"Why do you say that?"
Ma Hongjun turned around, his soybean-sized eyes full of enormous confusion.
"Of course, because of your martial soul."
Ouyang Ling looked serious. "Your martial soul is a Phoenix. How can a Phoenix not be particular? Shouldn't you be obtaining powerful bird-type Soul Rings instead?"
The moment Ma Hongjun heard that, his attention was immediately drawn in.
The more he listened, the more reasonable it sounded!
Children's thoughts were always fickle. One moment, he had been regretting his failure to obtain the Fire Rat Soul Ring; the next, he felt fortunate over the very same matter.
"What you said makes a lot of sense!"
Convinced, Ma Hongjun nodded repeatedly. Even the way he looked at Ouyang Ling changed.
He felt that this person, who did not seem much older than himself, appeared to understand more than his own teacher.
Was this what Soul Masters from big places were like?
Clearly, Ma Hongjun had also made his own judgment based on Ouyang Ling and Flying Tiger Soul Sage's clothing.
It was admiration—pure admiration for an impressive intellectual of the same age.
"Of course."
Ouyang Ling seemed rather pleased by the praise.
"Ever since I was little, I've had to read a huge number of books to enrich my mind. I've seen all sorts of things."
"Let me give you an example..."
Perhaps because he had become smug, Ouyang Ling developed a strong urge to talk. Ignoring Flying Tiger Soul Sage's warning look, he said, "Little Chubby, your martial soul is a mutated martial soul, right?"
"Don't call me Classmate Little Chubby. I have a name."
For a moment, Ma Hongjun missed the point entirely and instead focused on how he had been addressed. But he quickly reacted, his face filling with surprise.
"How did you know?"
"That's simple."
"From your flames."
"My flames?"
"That's right."
Ouyang Ling nodded. It was at this moment that he finally revealed his true purpose. "There's something very wrong with your flames."
"I know that!"
Ma Hongjun looked immensely proud.
"My teacher said my flames are very powerful and difficult to extinguish! That's one of the benefits brought by the mutation."
"There are benefits, but I also saw something evil in them."
Flander had originally intended to stop Ma Hongjun from revealing all his information to unfamiliar Soul Masters. But upon hearing Ouyang Ling's words, he immediately halted, surprise flashing beneath his black-rimmed glasses.
This kid could see it?
His reaction also caused Flying Tiger Soul Sage, who had become wary due to Flander's movements, to stop moving as well.
"What's wrong with something evil? As long as it's powerful, that's enough."
Ma Hongjun did not understand.
In his mind, he only wanted to become a powerful Soul Master, bring glory to his ancestors, and return home in splendor!
"Of course it's not good!"
Ouyang Ling's attitude abruptly changed, startling Ma Hongjun into instinctively taking a step back. Before he could react, however, Ouyang Ling continued, "Evil traits are different from Evil Energy. If you don't resolve this problem, it will definitely affect your whole person. Because this evil is Evil Energy! It's inside your flames!"
He was certain of it.
Flander definitely had not noticed this.
That Evil Energy was in a dormant period and extremely well-hidden. If Ma Hongjun did not obtain Soul Rings or cultivate, people would probably only mistake it for an unusual evil trait in his flames.
Just as he had said, evil traits and Evil Energy were different, yet their manifestations were extremely similar and difficult to distinguish.
"What?!"
As expected, Flander's expression changed drastically.
He lunged forward in a single step!
But before he could get close, Flying Tiger Soul Sage immediately noticed Flander's sudden movement and stepped forward to stop him. "Flying Horn, what are you trying to do?!"
"Sorry, I was impulsive."
Anxiousness flashed through Flander's eyes. "Child, can you be sure? This isn't something you can speak nonsense about!"
Ever since Ma Hongjun's martial soul had awakened, Flander had initially accepted him as a personal disciple because of his mutated Phoenix martial soul. But after master and disciple had lived together for a year, this old bachelor had truly come to regard the little chubby boy as his own son.
He had thought that the flames brought by Ma Hongjun's mutated martial soul merely possessed the strange evil quality of being highly adhesive and difficult to extinguish. Who could have imagined that it was Evil Energy!
If something happened to him...
At the thought of a possible future, Flander's already unpleasant expression grew even uglier.
Evil Energy was generally unknown to ordinary people, but anyone with enough knowledge could learn of it.
Flander in particular was one of the Golden Iron Triangle. When they had traveled and trained outside in the past, he had had a broadly knowledgeable master as a companion.
Thus, he happened to know about it. This sort of thing generally only appeared in Fallen Ones.
However, Spirit Hall had once cracked down on Fallen Ones with great severity. Therefore, when they had trained outside in the past, they had never truly encountered any Fallen Ones.
At that moment, Ouyang Ling spoke. "My entire family was killed by Fallen Ones, so I've seen them before."
(Ouyang Ling: I consider everyone in the village my family, so that isn't a lie.)
That one sentence filled Flander's eyes with complex emotions.
As an experienced Soul Sage, he could judge whether the emotions contained in a child's words were genuine. Thus, he felt both sympathy and pain.
His sympathy was for Ouyang Ling,
while his pain was for Ma Hongjun.
This child had encountered Fallen Ones, and even had his whole family killed by them. Could he possibly have sensed it wrong?
Flander's final shred of hope was shattered.
"Teacher, what's wrong?"
Sensing that something was off with the atmosphere, Ma Hongjun spoke up, only for three pairs of eyes to turn toward him at once.
Ouyang Ling: "..."
Flander: "..."
Flying Tiger Soul Sage: This kid really was unlucky.
Everyone knew that once a martial soul contained Evil Energy, if one did not promptly find a way to resolve or suppress it... then in the future, one either had to embrace it and become a Fallen One, or stop cultivating altogether. Once it erupted, if one did not fall, one might as well wait to die!
"Uh—"
Being stared at like that made Ma Hongjun immediately uncomfortable. For a moment, he did not know whether to move or stay still.
"Little brother."
Flander's voice was low, but his eyes were full of sincerity.
At this moment, he had already changed how he addressed Ouyang Ling. "You should be from a major power and have seen much of the world. Do you know of any solution? If you do, whatever you need Flander to do in the future, I will never refuse."
What if I wanted Shrek Academy's teachers and students?
The thought lingered on Ouyang Ling's lips.
That was right, he had set his sights on Shrek Academy's teachers and students.
From the moment he had drawn Ma Hongjun's attention and brought up the subject of Evil Fire, it had all been for this purpose.
Of course,
part of it was also because his heart was kind.
But to return to the point, the main reason he had his eyes on Shrek Academy was for the five people within it.
Three of his targets were teachers: Flander, Zhao Wuji, and that food-system Soul Sage, Shao Xin.
There was no need to explain what a food-system Soul Sage represented. Even Spirit Hall would have to take the initiative to extend an olive branch. As for Flander and Zhao Wuji, barring any surprises, they could both break through to Soul Douluo. Two high-level combatants like them would be valued by any faction.
Among the students were Oscar and Ma Hongjun, the only two commoner-born Soul Masters among the Shrek Seven Monsters. Both had exceptionally high talent and were completely worth cultivating.
Even without any great opportunities, the former could become a food-system Titled Douluo so long as he received careful training from a faction. This was especially true for a nation like the Heaven Dou Empire: a food-system Titled Douluo would mean being able to supply an army's needs in future wars.
As for the latter, as long as a way could be found to resolve his martial soul's flaw, the quality of a Fire Phoenix martial soul meant that, with sufficient resources, cultivating to the level of Super Douluo would not be a problem.
With such a group of talents before him, how could he not covet them?
He had to become the next Heaven Dou Emperor, after all. And if he wanted to develop the Heaven Dou Empire well, people like these talents and powerful experts were absolutely indispensable.
From the moment he had chosen Qian Renxue in his heart, Ouyang Ling had already regarded Bibi Dong and more than half of Spirit Hall as his greatest hypothetical enemy. That woman had become a madwoman who wanted to destroy the entire Angel Clan, and even all of Spirit Hall.
And madwomen like that could not be reasoned with.
Yet, faced with Flander's request, Ouyang Ling still swallowed the words that had nearly reached his lips. He decided to first deal with Ma Hongjun's problem.
His heart was kind; he could not stand to see this.
Before you continue