Evil Fire: Kids, This Isn't Funny

Happy times were always short-lived.

Before long, the time came to part ways.

Gao Ren's group and the two Soul Beasts stood on opposite sides of a towering tree.

Of everyone there, one person looked conspicuously worse for wear.

That person was Gao Ren.

Right now, he looked as though something had sucked him dry.

Gao Ren: I'm burned out!

He had ended up like this for one reason alone: he had made too many Overlord Drumsticks.

Ordinary Overlord Drumsticks, his first and second Soul Skills, Overlord’s Belly-Filling Leg and Pure World Overlord’s Leg—put together, the three kinds numbered more than fifty thousand!

Even Gao Ren had lost track of exactly how he had made so many.

All he remembered was that he kept making them while Xuan Zi restored his Soul Power, then he made more and Xuan Zi restored it again... He was like a battery charged and discharged over and over, its capacity wearing down with every cycle.

The cycle continued until the Auspicious Beast's and Scarlet King's Storage Soul Tools were packed so full they could hold no more. Only then did Gao Ren stop.

As it happened, that Storage Soul Tool had originally belonged to Xuan Zi.

To keep the Overlord Drumsticks fresh for as long as possible, he had gritted his teeth and given away the Storage Soul Tool Qian Duoduo had made for him.

Xuan Zi and the Soul Beasts were hardly close enough to exchange gifts.

In a sense, his gesture was an investment in Gao Ren.

The Auspicious Beast and Scarlet King owed him for it. When Gao Ren next came to the Star Dou Great Forest for a Soul Ring, wouldn't he be able to have whichever Soul Beast he wanted?

With a little luck, the Auspicious Beast might even help Gao Ren get a full set of Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings and Soul Bones.

However he did the math, it was a bargain. All it would cost was some rare metal materials and dragging Qian Duoduo back to work.

He could give away the old one and have a new one made for himself—bigger and better. He would even come out ahead!

He would never find a better excuse to get a new Soul Tool!

"I'll miss you, Overlord Drumst—oh, no, Gao Ren. I'll miss you!"

Looking at the adorably guileless Auspicious Beast, Gao Ren managed a strained smile.

"I'll miss you too, Auspicious Beast."

On the way back, Xuan Zi did not take out the eighth-grade Flying Soul Tool again.

The reason was simple: Gao Ren was in no condition to withstand high-speed flight.

Carrying Gao Ren on his back, Xuan Zi led the Inner Court students onward at a relatively steady pace.

Thanks to Xuan Zi's Soul Power, Gao Ren felt not the slightest jolt on his back.

In such comfort, he soon fell asleep.

When Gao Ren opened his eyes again, the first thing he saw was a familiar face.

Ma Xiaotao was sitting beside his bed. When she saw that he was awake, a smile finally appeared on her face.

"Little Ren, you're finally awake!"

Gao Ren struggled to sit up, but his body was still limp, without much strength to draw on.

Making more than fifty thousand Overlord Drumsticks in a single day had been far too much for him at his current level.

Under normal circumstances, a food-type Soul Elder who had just broken through to level thirty could feed five hundred people.

At three meals a day and two Overlord Drumsticks per person, normal production would be around three thousand drumsticks a day.

Fifty thousand was far beyond that—more than ten times the normal daily output.

And Gao Ren's Soul Power was still two levels short of the level thirty used in that example.

After overtaxing himself so badly, how could he have any strength left?

"Don't move. I'll help you."

Ma Xiaotao reached out and gently helped Gao Ren sit up against the headboard.

"Here, drink some water first."

She picked up a glass of water from the bedside table and held it to Gao Ren's lips.

"Xiaotao..."

"Enough chatter. Open your mouth!"

Gao Ren could not win against her, so he obediently opened his mouth and let her feed him the water herself.

After drinking the whole glass, Gao Ren felt a little better. Then again, perhaps he didn't... It was a cup of water against a cartload of firewood.

Grrr~

Gao Ren was hungry. That had been his dinner bell.

He had no idea how long he had been asleep. It was already dark outside, and the cafeteria was probably about to close.

"Hungry? Wait here. I brought you something to eat." Ma Xiaotao froze for a moment when she heard Little Ren's tummy rumble, then burst out laughing.

She took a food container from her Storage Soul Tool. When she opened it, inside was a bowl of steaming steamed egg custard with minced meat.

"I made this specially for you," Ma Xiaotao said proudly. "I used the Overlord Drumstick you gave me for the minced meat, and eggs from a Five-Colored Pheasant. What do you think? Looks pretty good, doesn't it?"

Warmth welled up in Gao Ren's heart as he looked at the bowl.

Who was Ma Xiaotao?

A madwoman nicknamed the Flame Maniac!

For her to personally make Gao Ren a bowl of this stuff—her whole image had fallen apart!

"Ah, open wide." Ma Xiaotao scooped up a spoonful of egg custard and brought it to Gao Ren's mouth.

After what had happened with the water, Gao Ren was much more compliant. He obediently ate what she fed him.

"It's surprisingly good," Gao Ren said.

"Then eat more." Ma Xiaotao paid his assessment no mind. She fed Gao Ren spoonful after spoonful, talking all the while:

"Little Ren, you're so good at looking after other people. How can you be so bad at looking after yourself?

Those two Soul Beasts, honestly! Giving you a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring was a good thing, but they couldn't squeeze you dry like that!

You aren't even a Soul Elder yet. How could you possibly make that many?"

"Sister Xiaotao, I did it willingly..." Gao Ren tried to explain.

"Willingly or not, it's still not okay!" Ma Xiaotao glared at him. "I was so worried I ate several fewer drumsticks than usual, and I didn't touch a drop of wine!"

"Haha..." Gao Ren laughed weakly. She really had been worried, then.

After finishing Ma Xiaotao's steamed egg custard with minced meat, Gao Ren leaned against the headboard and rested for a while. A little strength slowly returned to his weakened body.

"Xiaotao, let's try my second Soul Skill. It might work on your Evil Fire."

"If we're going to try it, we can wait until tomorrow. Look how weak you are..." Ma Xiaotao sighed.

Gao Ren: How dare you! Since when am I weak?!

"It's fine. It's only one drumstick." Gao Ren raised his right hand and recited the Soul Incantation: "Overlord Drumstick, sweep all evil clean; banish all that harms and set the body right—Pure World Overlord's Leg!"

He handed the Pure World Overlord’s Leg to Ma Xiaotao. "Sister Xiaotao, try it."

Ma Xiaotao did not refuse again. She carefully savored the new flavor.

As the meat from the Pure World Overlord’s Leg went down her esophagus and into her stomach, she gradually began to feel something.

The faint, constant heat she usually felt vanished without a trace.

The sinister aspect of her Evil Fire was purified completely.

For the first time, her whole body felt truly cool. Even when her Evil Fire was not acting up, it always left her feeling slightly feverish.