Fierce Battle with Evil Fire Ma Xiaotao! Tian Meng's Development Plan!

Before the words had even faded, Tang Qi's pupils contracted sharply.

Not far ahead, a petite figure was running toward him. It was Xiao Xiao, who had chased after them.

Her little face was full of bewilderment.

Tang Qi suddenly accelerated. In a few flickering steps, he appeared beside the little girl.

"Xiao Xiao, summon your Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron!" Tang Qi said rapidly.

Xiao Xiao obeyed without thinking.

As Soul Power surged, an ancient round cauldron with three legs and two handles appeared out of thin air, landing steadily before them.

Without another word, Tang Qi grabbed a handle and stuffed the two girls inside, one after the other.

"Hold tight!"

With a low shout, he leaped into the air.

The instant his feet left the ground, the blood-red figure behind him slammed down where he had just stood.

Boom!

Stone chips flew and dust billowed.

Even curled up inside the cauldron, Xiao Xiao and Huo Yutong could clearly feel the heat radiating through its walls.

Having missed, the blood-red figure seemed enraged.

She pushed off the ground and lunged at Tang Qi like a rabid hyena, ready to tear into him.

"Going to keep snapping at me?"

Tang Qi jerked his arm and hurled the Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron high into the air.

Then he opened his left hand. The Clear Sky Hammer appeared, its crimson and violet-black divine markings gleaming together.

Bearing the force of ten thousand jun, the Clear Sky Hammer crashed toward Ma Xiaotao.

Bang!

The blow drove Ma Xiaotao back several steps, but she charged again.

Tang Qi caught the falling cauldron and retreated in a blur, his movements like a ghost's shadow.

After several rounds of tossing and catching, the two girls inside were already reeling, their world spinning.

Xiao Xiao clung to the cauldron wall, her little face deathly pale. Huo Yutong, who had been awake all night and was already exhausted, closed her eyes and fainted outright.

Tian Meng's spiritual form drifted out and hovered in midair. Watching Tang Qi repeatedly toss the cauldron while fending off Ma Xiaotao, she could not help frowning.

She had expected Tang Qi to use some heaven-defying trump card befitting a Deity's inheritor. Instead, he had done nothing but "flee," without making any other move.

During another brief opening after Ma Xiaotao was knocked back, Tian Meng darted to Tang Qi's side, anxiety flashing across her pretty face.

"Tang Qi, we can't get away. Let me possess Yutong and freeze her!"

As if afraid he would not believe her, she patted her ample chest. "Don't forget, your big sister is a million-year Soul Beast of both spirit and ice!"

Tang Qi shook his head and tossed the cauldron up again, his tone unshakable. "If I want to leave, the road is right beneath my feet!"

"Clear Sky Nine Absolutes: Tremor Art!"

Layer upon layer of vibrations erupted from the hammer, surging like furious waves against the shore to meet Ma Xiaotao's mindless charge head-on.

"Argh!"

A visible shockwave burst from the point of impact.

Ma Xiaotao flew backward, hit the ground, and rolled several times.

A somewhat weaker recoil traveled up the hammer into Tang Qi's arms.

At the critical instant, he circulated the inner energy of the Mysterious Heaven Skill, using four ounces to deflect a thousand pounds and sending the recoil back into the Clear Sky Hammer.

An ordinary Clear Sky Hammer Soul Master would never dare let his Martial Soul bear that recoil.

One slip could damage his Martial Soul at best or injure his body at worst.

But Tang Qi was no ordinary Clear Sky Hammer Soul Master.

Did Ma Xiaotao really think her paltry Evil Fire could shatter a Clear Sky Hammer branded with Destruction Divine Power and Asura Divine Power?

If she actually could, there was nothing left to say. She could have it. Tang Qi would just start over.

Tian Meng stared from midair, wide-eyed.

She had thought she knew Tang Qi well enough. Now she saw she was nowhere close.

"Tang Qi! You really are full of secrets!"

Her eyes shone with excitement she could not suppress, and her slender hands grasped at the air. "Once I get the chance, your big sister is going to explore you thoroughly!"

Tang Qi caught the falling cauldron and shot her an exasperated glare. "You want to explore me? Just wait until the day you obediently get ready for me to explore you thoroughly!"

Tian Meng tucked in her neck and wisely slipped back into Huo Yutong's Sea of Consciousness. "Haki Qi, keep talking big to your big sister~"

Tang Qi glanced back and realized he had somehow reached Shrek Academy's famous tree-lined avenue.

Ten statues stood along its sides, depicting the original Shrek Seven Devils and the Golden Iron Triangle.

He sprang up and used Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, bounding between the statues as easily as if he were walking on level ground.

Classes were in session, so few people were on the avenue, but quite a few students still passed through.

Ma Xiaotao, however, cared nothing for the statues.

With a roar, she became a fiery streak and shot straight at Tang Qi.

As Ma Xiaotao rammed through them, statue after statue lost arms and legs. The sight was unbearable.

Fragments rained down like hail, sending the students below fleeing in every direction. The avenue was a wreck.

"This crazy chicken's gone demonic." Standing on "Tang San's" shoulder, Tang Qi clicked his tongue in wonder.

"An Evil Soul Master?! An Evil Soul Master broke into the academy!"

"Damn it! How could there be an Evil Soul Master in Shrek Academy?!"

"Go find a teacher! We can't handle this!"

The Outer Court students, who had yet to enter the Inner Court, had not been infected by the Shrek Loyalty Gu. They still had some sense.

They did not do something stupid like charge in to throw their lives away while shouting about bonds and hot blood.

Meanwhile, in Freshman Class Nine.

Mu Jin stood at the lectern. The class bell had rung some time ago, yet the seats of Tang Qi, Xiao Xiao, and Huo Yutong were still empty.

Anger flared up in him at once.

"He gave me a lecture, then turned around and skipped class? He hasn't even won the Freshman Assessment Tournament yet, and he's already this brazen!"

Mu Jin folded his arms and snorted. Rather than wait any longer, he beckoned to the students below. "Everyone, assemble downstairs!"

After a quick head count, Mu Jin led the students of Freshman Class Nine toward the Soul Fighting Zone in a great procession.

The Soul Fighting Zone was one of Shrek Academy's main attractions. Countless energetic young men and women who could not keep their fists to themselves came here year-round to clash with gusto.

Since the Soul Fighting Zone was not open to first-year freshmen, their homeroom teacher had to book it with the academy in advance.

But the central tree-lined avenue, the only route to the Soul Fighting Zone, was now in chaos.

"Hurry up! Who the hell stepped on my shoe?!"

"We pay so much every year. What is Shrek Academy even doing? An Evil Soul Master gets in, and there's not a teacher in sight!"

"Get out of my way! My uncle is the Giant Strength Douluo of the Star Luo Empire. I'll have him mow down anyone who blocks me!"

Students fled from ahead in panicked groups of three or five, from every year level. Terror was written across their faces.

Mu Jin stood at the front of the class, his brows drawn tight. He grabbed a male student sprinting past him.

"I'm Mu Jin, a teacher in the Outer Court's Martial Soul Department." He spoke quickly, his gaze sharp as a blade. "What happened up ahead? Tell me clearly."

The student had been scared out of his wits. After all, the Evil Soul Masters' reputation cast a long shadow; when had these pampered noble children ever seen anything like this?

At the word "teacher," he seized on a lifeline and hurriedly replied, "A fire-type Evil Soul Master appeared out of nowhere in the academy and started crashing into everything! But... but a student in a white uniform is holding her back!"

"Right! That student's carrying a huge cauldron, too, and he runs incredibly fast! Too bad the Evil Soul Master uses fire. His Martial Soul seems to be plant-type, so she completely counters him! I'm afraid he won't make it!"

An Evil Soul Master?

What were they talking about?

How could an Evil Soul Master possibly appear inside Shrek Academy?