A Deal with Ma Xiaotao

"It has nothing to do with Teacher Wang; I guessed it myself."

"You are the dignified captain of the Shrek Seven Devils, Senior Sister. We didn't think we were qualified to have you serve as a teaching assistant."

"And I happen to know a little about the characteristics of the Evil Fire Phoenix. After thinking it over, your target could only be me."

Lu Chen shrugged and explained in a flat tone.

After listening to Lu Chen's explanation, Ma Xiaotao fell silent.

She thought she had found a flawless reason, one that would let her get close with proper justification without having to lower her head and ask for help.

As a result, just a single day later, her intentions were seen through completely.

Seeing that Ma Xiaotao didn't speak, Lu Chen continued, "Be a proper sparring partner for me this class, and I'll help you suppress your evil fire after class."

"Really?!"

As soon as Lu Chen's voice fell, Ma Xiaotao's eyes lit up instantly, and she blurted it out.

Ever since she awakened her martial soul, she suffered the torture of the evil fire almost every day.

Previously, she had also asked Ling Luochen for help.

However, the other girl had coldly said that her ice was not meant to suppress evil fire for her.

Although her teammates didn't say anything, every time she went berserk, she could feel others growing distant from her.

The rest of the people avoided her like the plague.

Yet this junior she had only met once agreed so readily.

"Of course." Lu Chen nodded, then changed the subject. "But I also have a small request."

Ma Xiaotao subconsciously took half a step back, cast a wary glance at Lu Chen, her cheeks flushed, and her tone carried a hint of firmness. "What request? Let's make it clear first—anything too outrageous is definitely out of the question."

She knew just how great the temptation of her figure was to these hot-blooded young boys, judging by the looks the other boys had given her yesterday.

She worried that Lu Chen would seize the opportunity to make excessive demands.

Lu Chen couldn't help laughing or crying at her reaction. "Rest assured, Senior Sister, it's nothing difficult. It'll be trivial for you. You'll find out when class is over."

Seeing Lu Chen say this, Ma Xiaotao finally set her mind at ease, then said somewhat sheepishly, "Then conjure up some ice for me first; I'm a bit uncomfortable."

She had been training with Lu Chen just now, and seeing that he hadn't followed her plan, she had grown a bit anxious.

Now the evil fire was churning inside her body, making her extremely uncomfortable.

Lu Chen didn't speak, simply raising Hyorinmaru high.

"Reign over the Frosted Heavens."

With the falling of Lu Chen's voice, chilliness suddenly pervaded the mid-air of the training grounds, and fine snowflakes drifted down slowly.

The air, which had been sultry just a moment ago from Ma Xiaotao's phoenix soul power, cooled down instantly.

Some classmates covered by the snowflakes only felt the circulation of their soul power begin to slow down.

Their faces were full of amazement—was this the power of Ultimate Ice?

He could change the weather without soul rings and soul skills, and the falling snow could even affect the circulation of their soul power.

Wang Yan stood in the training grounds, deliberately using his own body to feel the snowflakes in the air.

Then he rapidly recorded in his notebook.

If Lu Chen could see the notes in Wang Yan's notebook, he would surely be greatly astonished.

Trainee: Lu Chen

Martial Soul: Sagittarius Gold Cloth, possesses light attribute, suspected to possess annihilation attribute.

Soul Ring Configuration: Purple, Purple, Purple

Soul Skill: Golden Arrow. No other soul skills have been seen; currently surmised that this martial soul possesses only this single soul skill. Full-power strike, power comparable to a Spirit King.

And now there was another small line of text in Wang Yan's notebook: Second martial soul, Hyorinmaru. Possesses the ability to influence the weather. Ice and snow affect the soul power circulation of Spirit Masters, holding immense strategic value.

Although Wang Yan didn't record much, every single item was extremely precise.

Meanwhile, Ma Xiaotao raised her face, letting the cold snowflakes fall onto her cheeks and neck.

The fine chill penetrated through her skin and into her meridians.

This chill might affect the circulation of soul power for other Spirit Masters.

But for her, Ma Xiaotao, it was just right.

The scorching evil fire that had been rampaging through her meridians unexpectedly melted away a bit quietly upon touching the snowflakes, like snow meeting the blazing sun, suppressing that burning pain.

The tense lines of Ma Xiaotao's neck relaxed bit by bit, and the abnormal flush on her cheeks caused by the rising evil fire slowly faded away.

Even her light pink eyes lost a bit of their restlessness, covered by a layer of comfortable ease.

"So comfortable."

Ma Xiaotao closed her eyes, enjoying the refreshing coolness brought by the ice and snow.

Ever since her martial soul awakened, the evil fire had been like a tarsal maggot, burning her meridians day and night, ready to lose control and go berserk if she wasn't careful.

And now, the tense nerves all over her body could finally relax.

She couldn't remember how long it had been since she felt this relaxed.

A moment later, Ma Xiaotao felt that her condition had recovered quite a bit. She opened her eyes to look at Lu Chen opposite her, her tone losing a bit of its bravado and gaining a bit of genuine sincerity: "Thanks, let's continue."

The training between Lu Chen and Ma Xiaotao unfolded once again.

With Ma Xiaotao, a Spirit Emperor, acting as his sparring partner, Lu Chen's movements also began to grow gradually bolder, constantly trying out several moves he had envisioned in his mind.

The Atomic Thunderbolt Slash, evolved from the Atomic Thunderbolt Light-Speed Fist, almost caught even Ma Xiaotao off guard.

Soon, the morning's actual combat class came to an end.

"Lu Chen, going to eat together?"

As soon as the class ended, Wang Dong brought Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao right over, inviting Lu Chen.

After cooperating with Huo Yuhao this time, they finally understood the powerful effect of Huo Yuhao's soul skill.

They also understood why Lu Chen valued Huo Yuhao so much.

With Huo Yuhao's support, they were the very first group to finish their battle.

"No, I have things to do later. You guys go ahead and eat."

Lu Chen politely declined. Besides needing to help Ma Xiaotao suppress the evil fire, he had more important matters.

"Alright then."

Seeing Lu Chen refuse, Wang Dong said with a hint of disappointment.

Although Lu Chen didn't say it, she could guess roughly—it was nothing more than helping Ma Xiaotao suppress the evil fire.

"So disappointing. I thought I'd get to eat the monitor's cooking."

As for Xiao Xiao, she was mostly disappointed because she wouldn't be able to taste Lu Chen's culinary skills.

After the few of them left, only Lu Chen and Ma Xiaotao were left on the training grounds.

Ma Xiaotao crossed her arms, walked over to Lu Chen, patted his shoulder, and adopted the straightforward manner of an older sister. "Speak, little junior brother. What does big sister need to do? I'll say this first—I won't agree to anything too outrageous."

"Rest assured, it's nothing outrageous."

"Senior Sister is the captain of the Shrek Seven Devils, right? I'd like to ask you to take me into the Inner Court."

Lu Chen didn't beat around the bush, directly stating his request.

"The Inner Court?" Ma Xiaotao was slightly startled, clearly not expecting this answer.

She had still been drumming up doubts in her heart, afraid that this brat would take advantage of having helped her to bring up some outrageous request, but she hadn't expected it to be such a trivial matter.

Ma Xiaotao raised an eyebrow and pursued with a question: "For no good reason, what are you going to the Inner Court for?"

Given her status, let alone bringing one freshman into the Inner Court, even bringing ten wouldn't make anyone say anything extra.

Yet the moment those words left her mouth, she reacted.

Lu Chen still had a "childhood sweetheart" named Qian Renxue in the Inner Court, after all.

Being in such a rush to enter the Inner Court at a time like this, what other business could he have besides looking for Qian Renxue?

Thinking of this, Ma Xiaotao felt an inexplicable, indescribable feeling in her heart, and then she found it rather amusing, waved her hand, and readily agreed: "Fine then, what a big deal. I'll just take you over."

"Many thanks, Senior Sister."

A flash of brightness swept across the depths of Lu Chen's eyes, and the corners of his mouth curled up involuntarily.

At the mere thought of being able to see her shortly, even the fatigue from the training just now dissipated by more than half.

He was even a bit curious: what kind of reaction would Qian Renxue have if she suddenly saw him appear in the Inner Court?