Leaving a mark on Ma Xiaotao

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Chapter 23: Leaving a mark on Ma Xiaotao

The home Tang Ya spoke of was naturally her residence in Shrek City. Considering that she would spend at least six years studying and living in Shrek Academy's outer court, she had taken out a long-term lease so she would have somewhere to go at the end of each semester.

It was a single courtyard residence in the southern part of Shrek City.

The courtyard was not large, measuring less than fifty square meters. Walls enclosed it on three sides, and it had only three rooms.

Ye Xixuan and Tang Ya usually stayed in the northern and eastern rooms. The main gate lay to the south, while the western room served as a storage room.

The southern part of Shrek City was farther from Shrek Academy's eastern gate, and it was already late at night when the two returned.

The small, exquisite courtyard was filled with plants of all kinds, chosen to suit Tang Ya's tastes. Soft soul guidance lamps lit up one after another, dispelling the darkness in this little world and lending it a quiet, peaceful air.

As they chatted, Ye Xixuan brought up some of his experiences accompanying their eldest senior sister to hunt soul beasts and obtain soul rings.

Tang Ya and Ye Xixuan sat side by side on the steps at the edge of the courtyard. With her knees together and both hands braced against the ground behind her, she tilted her head back to gaze at Shrek City's dim night sky.

"Xixuan, our eldest senior sister treats us so well. How should we repay her in the future?"

"Sister Lexuan isn't doing this because she wants anything in return." Ye Xixuan shook his head gently, pillowed his head on his hands, and lay back on the clean bluestone floor.

Tang Ya turned her head. As though something had occurred to her, she raised a delicate eyebrow at Ye Xixuan with a mischievous look.

"Why do I get the feeling you've grown even closer to our eldest senior sister since coming back?"

"Have I?" Ye Xixuan himself had not felt that way.

"She's strong, beautiful, and gentle. It's perfectly normal to feel close to her."

"So you're saying I'm not gentle enough?" Tang Ya immediately stood up, planted her hands on her slender waist, and thrust out her modestly developed chest.

"Oh, I see how it is! You really have picked up bad habits from that fellow called Bei Bei!"

Ye Xixuan looked utterly innocent. "No, Sister Xiaoya. You're very gentle too."

"Really? I don't believe you."

Tang Ya could no longer quite suppress her smile. Every time she teased Ye Xixuan, she felt an inexplicable sense of accomplishment. It was rather like raising and shaping a cute little boy from childhood; she wanted to single-handedly mold Ye Xixuan into the perfect person she envisioned.

"Unless you give me a kiss. Hehe."

"Ah..."

Tang Ya had done this countless times over the past two years. What she had not realized, however, was that as Ye Xixuan grew older, her teasing and joking were gradually taking on a different flavor.

And eventually, she would pay the price for it.

Early the next morning, Ye Xixuan and Tang Ya returned to Shrek Academy together after breakfast.

Thinking about the pressure she might face while studying in the outer court, Tang Ya no longer slept in as she used to. Instead, she planned to spend the entire day cultivating in the Freshman Dormitory.

Unlocking the dormitory door, Tang Ya immediately spotted Jiang Nannan, who had just finished meditating, and greeted her with a radiant smile.

"Morning, Nannan!"

"Morning." Looking at Tang Ya acting as though nothing had happened, Jiang Nannan no longer knew what to say. Getting a boyfriend at such a young age and even staying out all night-surely they were two entirely different sorts of people.

Still, she did not rely solely on her own assumptions and decided to check with Tang Ya.

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"Was that boy yesterday your boyfriend?"

"Pfft-" Tang Ya froze for a moment, then suddenly widened her eyes and laughed.

"Nannan, what are you thinking? Xixuan might be a little tall, but he really is only eight this year."

Jiang Nannan froze too. Her face flushed crimson, though what she felt most was shame.

"He's only eight?"

"Being eight doesn't matter. Xixuan will definitely be a handsome man when he grows up, and he's talented too. You just have to wait a few years. What do you think? Want me to introduce you?" Tang Ya seemed to have been born with this irrepressible personality. Her teasing left Jiang Nannan unable to utter a word for quite some time.

Still, although she said that, she might not actually be willing if she truly had to make good on her offer.

Meanwhile, Ye Xixuan passed along the Lakeside Path alone and arrived beside Sea God Lake.

Although Sea God Lake was an artificial lake built to commemorate Sea God Tang San, its water was exceptionally clear, a pure azure blue. The blue sky, white clouds, and shady green trees along the shore were reflected on its surface. A thin mist rose and drifted, lending it the secluded tranquility of an earthly paradise.

Ye Xixuan released his Heavenly Spider Claws. With a flick of their sharp silver tips, he launched himself into the air, swiftly weaving through the mist toward Sea God Island.

Before long, he suddenly stopped in midair and looked up toward the distant Sea God Island. A red dot had faintly appeared within the thick mist and was rushing toward him at an astonishing speed.

Surely it couldn't be such a coincidence?

Ye Xixuan's heart jolted. He immediately changed direction, retracting the transparent spider silk around him as he began moving sideways. If things were as he suspected, then with his current cultivation, his best option was to get out of the way in time, not stubbornly charge headfirst into danger.

Yet the red dot seemed to have locked onto him. The moment he changed direction, it followed.

In the blink of an eye, a red figure appeared within Ye Xixuan's view.

It was a red-clad young woman of about sixteen, with a tall, well-proportioned figure. Her exaggerated peaks rose high, threatening to burst free. Her waist was extremely slender, her curves only widening sharply at her hips, and her legs were straight and shapely.

Her stunning face carried a hint of coolness, but her blood-red eyes possessed a sinister allure that could steal souls and shake hearts, as though they could stir the wicked desires within people and plunge them into utter depravity.

A piercing phoenix cry rang out. The fiery wings behind the red-clad woman spread, and her speed surged once again. Five soul rings-two yellow, two purple, and one black-circled her. She was unmistakably a Soul King!

Ye Xixuan had nowhere left to dodge. He also recognized the woman as Ma Xiaotao, the wielder of the evil fire phoenix martial soul, but at that moment, he was utterly dismayed.

Why me?

After breaking through to two-ring cultivation, his martial soul might indeed have gained the ability to help Ma Xiaotao dispel her evil fire. Yet it was as though Ma Xiaotao had sensed him and deliberately sought him out.

Ye Xixuan controlled his transparent silver spider silk to bind Ma Xiaotao, but under her terrifying evil fire, it was instantly burned into nothingness, accomplishing absolutely nothing.

Intense heat swept toward him. Even the lake's surface gave off scalding vapor with a hissing sound, and everything around him seemed swallowed by scarlet.

The next instant, Ma Xiaotao was right before him, an indescribably frenzied aura erupting from her body.

Ye Xixuan was utterly unable to resist. He could only barely release his Mind Demon Mark to protect himself before Ma Xiaotao slammed into him and drove him into the lake. As his consciousness blurred, he managed to reach out with his right hand and place it on Ma Xiaotao's slender waist.

The black demonic markings seemed to writhe out of his skin, spreading across Ma Xiaotao's flat abdomen and finally leaving behind a patterned mark.

With this mark serving as a conduit, the evil energy within Ma Xiaotao's soul power was immediately drawn into Ye Xixuan's body, while she let out a moan of boundless relief and bewitching allure. Her body trembled wildly, even leaving a patch of warmth in the icy lake water.

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(End of chapter)