My Heart Is Kind; I Can't Bear to Watch This

"It's gone."

Ma Hongjun pressed his hand against the solid ice in a daze. The Fire Rat that should have been his had already been unsealed from the ice by his Evil Fire, and the yellow soul ring floating above it meant it had become a corpse.

But Ma Hongjun refused to give up and reached out to touch it again. The response he received was... Buzz— The soul ring was instantly repelled, not giving him any chance to make contact.

This meant the Fire Rat had not been killed by Ma Hongjun, so naturally, he could not absorb this soul ring.

"Ah, what a pity."

Flander shook his head regretfully.

After examining it just now, he had discovered that the Fire Rat's heart meridians and internal organs had first been damaged by the low-temperature ice. Then, after being 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.

"Enough. What are you doing lying there like that?"

Flander's tone was deliberately disdainful, but in truth, he felt a trace of embarrassment because there were outsiders watching. His thick skin simply kept it from showing.

"My apologies, you two. My disciple came from the countryside, and this is his first time..." After casually explaining to Ouyang Ling and the other man, he grabbed Ma Hongjun and hauled him up. Leaning close to his ear, he whispered, "Enough! How much more do you want to embarrass your teacher?"

"But, Teacher..."

Ma Hongjun looked at the Fire Rat's corpse.

That had supposed to be his first soul ring... It was gone!

"When the old goes, the new comes. At most, we'll spend more time looking. We might even find something better."

Flander looked helpless.

His disciple had only left that little place less than a year ago. He did not look like a Soul Master at all.

Should he find a way to train him properly when they returned?

"Ah... I see."

Since his teacher had said so, Ma Hongjun was no longer quite as dejected, though he still felt some regret.

Seeing that his disciple was no longer dwelling on it, Flander paid no attention to his remaining feelings. He turned to Ouyang Ling and the other man. "Then we shall take our leave as well, gentlemen." Even if they did not know each other, the atmosphere had been fairly pleasant just now. Proper courtesy was still necessary.

The Flying Tiger Soul Sage said nothing, merely clasping 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 used the excuse of comforting a peer and deliberately showed Ma Hongjun a relieved smile. "Little Fatty, it's actually a good thing that you didn't obtain this Fire Rat soul ring."

Hm?

The moment he said that,

Flander merely raised an eyebrow as he prepared to leave.

But while Flander could remain patient, that did not mean Ma Hongjun could. Ouyang Ling's single remark immediately stirred his disciple's curiosity.

"Why do you say that?"

Ma Hongjun turned around, his soybean-sized eyes filled with 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?"

Ma Hongjun's attention was immediately drawn in.

The more he thought about it, the more reasonable that sounded!

Children's thoughts were always fickle. One moment, he regretted failing to obtain the Fire Rat soul ring; the next, he felt fortunate over the very same matter.

"That makes a lot of sense!"

Convinced, Ma Hongjun nodded repeatedly. Even the way he looked at Ouyang Ling had changed.

He felt that this person, who could not be much older than himself, seemed to understand more than even his teacher.

Was this what Soul Masters from big places were like?

Clearly, Ma Hongjun had made his own judgment based on Ouyang Ling and the Flying Tiger Soul Sage's clothes.

It was admiration—pure admiration for an impressive, knowledgeable person his own age.

"Of course."

Ouyang Ling seemed pleased by the praise.

"I've had to read vast numbers of books since I was little to enrich my mind. I've seen all sorts of things."

"Take this as an example..."

Ouyang Ling, seemingly carried away by his pride, developed a strong desire to talk. Ignoring the Flying Tiger Soul Sage's warning look, he said, "Little Fatty, your martial soul is a mutated martial soul, right?"

"Don't call me Little Fatty. I have a name."

For a moment, Ma Hongjun missed the point entirely and focused instead on how he was being addressed. But he quickly came to his senses, his face filling with surprise.

"How did you know?"

"Simple."

"From your flames."

"My flames?"

"That's right."

Ouyang Ling nodded. At that moment, he finally revealed his true purpose. "There's something very wrong with your flames."

"I know that!"

Ma Hongjun looked proud.

"My teacher says my flames are powerful and hard to extinguish! That's one of the benefits brought by my mutation."

"There are benefits, but I can also see evilness."

Flander had originally intended to stop Ma Hongjun from revealing all his personal information to unfamiliar Soul Masters. But when he heard Ouyang Ling's words, he immediately halted, surprise flashing beneath his black-rimmed glasses.

This kid could see it?

That reaction also caused the Flying Tiger Soul Sage, who had become alert because of Flander's movement, to stop.

"Is evilness bad? As long as it's powerful, that's enough."

Ma Hongjun did not understand.

After all, in his mind, he only wanted to become a powerful Soul Master, bring honor to his ancestors, and return home in glory!

"Of course it's bad!"

Ouyang Ling's attitude abruptly changed, frightening Ma Hongjun into instinctively taking a step back. Before he could react, however, Ouyang Ling continued, "Evilness comes in different forms. If you don't solve this problem, it will definitely affect your whole self. Because this evilness is Evil Energy! It's inside your flames!"

He was certain of it.

Flander had definitely failed to notice this.

That Evil Energy was dormant and extremely well concealed. If Ma Hongjun did not obtain soul rings or cultivate, people would probably only mistake it for the unusual evilness of his flames.

Just as he had said, evilness came in different forms, yet their manifestations were extremely similar and difficult to distinguish.

"What!?"

Just as expected, Flander's expression changed drastically.

He lunged forward in a single step!

But before he could get close, the Flying Tiger Soul Sage immediately noticed Flander's sudden movement and stepped forward to stop him. "Flying Horn, what are you trying to do!?"

"My apologies. I acted rashly."

Anxiousness flashed through Flander's eyes. "Child, can you be certain? This is not something you can joke 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 the master and disciple had lived together for a year, this lifelong bachelor had truly come to regard the chubby boy as his own son.

He had thought that the flames brought about by Ma Hongjun's martial soul mutation merely possessed the strange evil trait of strong adhesion and being difficult to extinguish. Who could have imagined it was Evil Energy!

If something happened to him...

The moment Flander thought of a possible future, his already unpleasant expression grew even uglier.

Evil Energy was generally unknown to ordinary people, but anyone with sufficient knowledge could learn of it.

Especially Flander. As one of the Golden Iron Triangle, he had once traveled and trained outside with a broadly knowledgeable Master as his companion.

Thus, he happened to know about it himself. And this sort of thing generally only appeared in Fallen Ones.

However, Spirit Hall had dealt with Fallen Ones harshly and strictly in the past. Therefore, they had never truly encountered any Fallen Ones while traveling and training outside.

At that moment, Ouyang Ling spoke. "My entire family was killed by Fallen Ones, so I've seen them."

(Ouyang Ling: I regard everyone in the village as family, so that isn't a lie.)

That single sentence filled Flander's eyes with complicated 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,

And his pain was for Ma Hongjun.

This child had encountered Fallen Ones. His entire family had even been killed by them. Could his senses be wrong?

Flander's final shred of hope was crushed.

"Teacher, what's wrong?"

Noticing that something was off, Ma Hongjun spoke up, only for three gazes 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. Because once it erupted, if one did not fall, one might as well wait to die!

"Uh..."

Being stared at like that made Ma Hongjun instantly 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 that moment, he had already changed how he addressed Ouyang Ling. "You should be from a major power and have seen much of the world. I wonder if you know of any solution. If you do, whatever you ask 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.

That was why he had caught Ma Hongjun's attention from the beginning and brought up the topic of Evil Fire.

Of course,

Part of it was also because he was kind-hearted.

But getting back to the point, the main reason he had set his sights on Shrek Academy was for the five people within it.

Three of his targets were teachers: Flander, Zhao Wuji, and that food-type Soul Sage, Shao Xin.

There was no need to explain what a food-type Soul Sage represented. Even Spirit Hall would have to take the initiative and extend an olive branch. As for Flander and Zhao Wuji, barring surprises, they could both break through to Soul Douluo. Two high-level combatants like them would be valued by any force.

Among the students were Oscar and Ma Hongjun, the only two Soul Masters of commoner origin among the Shrek Seven Monsters. Both possessed extremely high talent and were entirely worth nurturing.

Even without any great fortuitous opportunities, the former could become a food-type Titled Douluo as long as he received careful cultivation from a faction. Especially for a nation like the Heaven Dou Empire, a food-type Titled Douluo meant that the army's needs could be supplied in future wars.

As for the latter, as long as they found a way to solve the flaw in his martial soul, with the quality of the Fire Phoenix martial soul and sufficient resources, reaching Super Douluo would not be a problem.

Could he possibly not covet such a group of talents?

One had to know that he intended to become the next Heaven Dou Emperor. If he wanted to develop the Heaven Dou Empire well, he absolutely could not lack talents and powerhouses like these.

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 enemies. That woman had become a madwoman who wanted to destroy the entire Angel Clan, even all of Spirit Hall.

And a madwoman like that could not be reasoned with.

However, facing Flander's request at that moment, Ouyang Ling still swallowed the words that had nearly left his mouth. He decided to solve Ma Hongjun's problem first.

He was kind-hearted. He could not bear to watch this.