Three Rings, Seven Skills?! Could Shrek Be Secretly Harboring Evil Soul Masters?

Mu Jin seemed to sense the gazes behind him. He hurriedly cleared his throat twice and resumed the air of a modest, kindly teacher.

"To be born in the same era as someone like him—is that our good fortune, or our misfortune?"

The students of Class Nine watched Tang Qi. One of them could not help murmuring aloud.

Everyone knew Evil Soul Masters were far stronger than others at the same level. Tang Qi's accomplishments spoke for themselves.

The Phoenix Cloud-Piercing Strike missed, and Ma Xiaotao grew even more frenzied.

Even the Evil Fire knew to squeeze the soft persimmons first. Hearing Class Nine chattering away, it changed targets.

Ma Xiaotao suddenly raised her hand. Countless fiery meteors poured down like a torrential rain, packed close together and covering a vast area.

It was her sixth Soul Skill, Phoenix Meteor Shower!

"This is bad!"

Mu Jin's expression changed drastically.

He was also a Six-Ring Soul Emperor, but his Martial Soul, like his name, belonged to the plant category.

Control types were theoretically the strongest in one-on-one combat, but against an element that countered his, he would struggle to hold his own.

With no time to think, he thrust the Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron in his arms into Wu Feng's hands behind him.

Every Soul Ring around him lit up as he prepared to block the attack.

The students of Class Nine finally came to their senses. Some screamed; others ran for their lives. But the meteor shower covered too wide an area. How could their short little legs outrun it?

"Blue Silver: Rashomon, rise!"

A low shout rang out.

Tang Qi snapped the fingers of one hand. The third Rashomon, still standing before him, broke apart with a crash and became a cloud of wood chips.

Then he thrust out his left hand and clenched it.

"Ring Fusion!"

His first and second Soul Rings flew up from beneath his feet and fused in midair. They formed a brand-new Soul Ring that sank back into his body.

In an instant, three new Rashomon gates erupted from the ground. Under the tremendous boost of his first Soul Skill, they swelled wildly, standing like three shields that could prop up the sky between the meteor shower and Class Nine.

That was right.

Once I've learned Ring Detonation, how could I not learn Ring Fusion too?!

By arranging his three Soul Skills in special combinations, Tang Qi could now produce seven effects: one, two, three, one-two, one-three, two-three, and one-two-three.

"Quick!"

Fortunately, the students of Class Nine were no fools. As soon as the three enormous gates rose, they all ducked behind the Rashomon gates, as instinctively as people running home when it rained.

"Seven Treasures Have Names: first, speed."

"Seven Treasures Have Names: second, strength."

Two streaks of glazed light flew from the pagoda in Ning Tian's hand and entered Tang Qi's body.

Feeling the meager boost within him, Tang Qi pursed his lips.

Better than nothing.

On the other side, Ma Xiaotao, possessed by the Evil Fire, trembled with rage when she saw her attack blocked again.

There was nothing in front of Tang Qi, while three more Rashomon gates had risen in front of Class Nine.

The Evil Fire could not help thinking.

Could it be—

The Phoenix Meteor Shower had not yet ended when Ma Xiaotao, possessed by the Evil Fire, flicked a finger. A red-black thread of flame shot toward Tang Qi.

"Look out!"

Mu Jin had clearly realized the limitation of Tang Qi's second Soul Skill too, and cried out in alarm.

Countless Blue Silver Wood stalks surged from the ground, wrapping Tang Qi in layer after layer.

The instant the black-red flame struck, it burned fiercely, clinging like maggots to bone, and swallowed the entire barrier of Blue Silver Wood.

"Tang Qi—!"

"Deputy class monitor—!"

"Seven Treasures Have Names: second, release!"

"First Soul Skill, Dragon's Fire!"

"First Soul Skill, Thunder Like a Fart, blast the heavens...!"

"Ghost Vine Entanglement!"

For a moment, everyone in Class Nine hurled their skills at Ma Xiaotao.

Mu Jin's eyes looked ready to split with fury. He could not help cursing, "Where are the academy's Titled Douluo? Why hasn't anyone come when an Evil Soul Master has been here this long? Are they all dead?"

What he did not know was that a teacher dressed in Inner Court attire had stopped the Outer Court's director of education.

"Director Du, by order of Dean Yan Shaozhe, the area ahead is temporarily sealed. No one may enter."

"But that Evil Soul Master..."

"What Evil Soul Master? Don't worry. Dean Yan will handle everything."

Only then did Du Weilun relax a little.

Yan Shaozhe was a Super Douluo. If he said there was no Evil Soul Master, then there definitely was none.

The same conversation took place with every teacher who rushed over after hearing the news.

"You dare hurt my students? I'll—" Mu Jin's eyes were bloodshot as he moved to charge out from behind the Rashomon gates.

Just then, a soft laugh came from within the flames. "Hahaha! Who dares hurt me? Who can hurt me?! I finally get to say that line."

"What a shame. My Blue Silver Emperor—"

"Is immune to fire!"

They heard Tang Qi's voice but could not see him.

The mass of burning Blue Silver Wood slowly opened. The flames still burned, but they flickered like candles in the wind.

As soon as he finished speaking, a Clear Sky Hammer shot out of the fire, trailing a savage aura as it flew straight at Ma Xiaotao's face.

Then dozens of Blue Silver Wood stalks burst from the ground. Tang Qi activated Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track beneath his feet, weaving between the stalks so quickly he became a blur.

At that moment, Ma Xiaotao's mind, clouded by the Evil Fire, was like a single-core processor.

She could only deal with the Clear Sky Hammer hurtling toward her. By the time she knocked it away, Tang Qi was already in front of her.

Smack!

A sweeping kick struck Ma Xiaotao squarely in the lower abdomen.

"Ugh—!"

Ma Xiaotao screamed. Just as she was about to fly backward, Tang Qi caught her arm. Then, faster than lightning could cover one's ears, he pressed a palm to her forehead.

"Third Soul Skill, Blue Silver: Woodbinding Eternal Burial!"

"But I prefer to call it Kōan Nyūzen Shusu!"

Pitch-black patterns spread from his palm like living things, covering Ma Xiaotao's entire body in an instant.

"Aaagh—!"

Ma Xiaotao's body convulsed violently. The Evil Fire around her visibly receded.

The Evil Fire... Did Teacher suppress it?

A flash of clarity returned to Ma Xiaotao's eyes. Then a terrible panic surged through her. "My Soul Power? Why can't I feel my Soul Power?!"

She suddenly remembered Yan Shaozhe's stern warning: if she kept indulging the Evil Fire in her cultivation, one day he would personally destroy her Martial Soul.

Back then, she had dismissed it as something he had said in anger. But now, feeling the emptiness where her Soul Power should have been, she was finally afraid.

"Awake?"

Tang Qi looked at her with indifferent eyes.

He slowly raised his right hand. The Clear Sky Hammer Ma Xiaotao had knocked away returned to it.

"W-what are you going to do?" Ma Xiaotao's pupils contracted, and her voice trembled.

"Being awake won't spare you this beating."

"Clear Sky Nine Absolutes—"

"Stop!"

A furious shout came from the distance.

Tang Qi's movement faltered, but only for an instant.

"Piercing Form!"

Tang Qi poured all the strength in his body into the Clear Sky Hammer.

He brought the hammer down. Ma Xiaotao flew backward, tumbled several times through the air, and slammed into the ground.

Momentum carried her several more meters, leaving a shocking trail of blood. At last, she came to a stop amid dust and shattered bricks.

"No—!"

Yan Shaozhe's eyes looked ready to split as he rushed forward like a madman.

He crouched beside the girl. Who knew how many of her bones were broken? Blood covered her face, and her breathing was barely perceptible. His whole body trembled.