Ma Hongjun makes advances on Qing Tan!

The image on the sky screen slowly froze.

[Number Four Explorer: Ma Hongjun.]

[Encountered disciples of the Hall of Darkness, a superpower of the Northern Xuan Region.]

[Status: out of danger.]

[Current identity: brought back to the Hall of Darkness for possessing inferior flame; reduced to a fire-tending servant preparing medicinal baths for the future saintess.]

[Live feed temporarily suspended.]

As Ma Hongjun's view temporarily darkened, people across the Douluo Continent entertained all sorts of thoughts.

Although Ma Hongjun had survived, the words "inferior flame" and "fire-tending servant" still left many proud Soul Masters feeling stifled.

At Shrek Academy.

Yu Xiaogang paid no attention to any of that, continuing to loudly proclaim his theories on the training grounds.

"Did you see that? That's the wisdom of survival!"

"Ma Hongjun may only be a servant, but at least he's latched onto that Hall of Darkness or whatever it's called!"

"That faction sounds incredibly powerful. As long as Fatty performs well in front of that future saintess, he'll never lack fine food and drink!"

"He might even learn a trick or two of their profound otherworldly martial arts!"

Hearing Grandmaster's boasting.

Dai Mubai, Oscar, and the others nodded repeatedly, actually feeling a trace of envy.

After all, compared to being frozen into an ice sculpture or eaten as a snack by an otherworldly Demonic Beast.

Being taken back by such a powerful faction and given food and lodging was simply a stroke of dumb luck.

The sky screen did not keep everyone waiting long.

After the fifth explorer, the fallen one from Slaughter City, had his head shattered by a Great Yan Dynasty martial artist's finger in an underground black market.

Three of the five explorers in the second group were already dead.

Only Dugu Bo, who had been captured to scout paths and test poisons, and Ma Hongjun, who had become a servant, remained.

Then ripples flowed across the sky screen.

The scene switched back to Ma Hongjun's perspective.

Ma Hongjun was now deep inside a magnificent palace built entirely from enormous black stones.

This was a restricted area in the rear mountains of the Hall of Darkness.

A cold, sinister aura permeated the surrounding air.

Before Ma Hongjun stood an enormous black cauldron fully three stories tall.

Inside it, various precious spiritual herbs simmered, giving off astonishing energy fluctuations.

"Whew, I'm roasting to death here..."

Ma Hongjun was bare-chested, all his flab flushed red by the fire.

With a miserable expression, he drove the Evil Fire within him, desperately feeding flames beneath the enormous cauldron.

To prepare this medicinal bath for the saintess.

He had been shut inside this Underground Fire Room, tending the fire day and night for three whole days.

The Soul Power within him was almost squeezed dry.

"These black-clad bastards don't treat Lord Fatty like a human being at all!"

Ma Hongjun wiped the sweat from his forehead, cursing under his breath.

But when he remembered what the female disciple who had brought him back had just said, a lecherous gleam returned to his little eyes.

"Hehe, as long as I get through this, when Her Highness the Saintess comes down for her bath..."

"I'll hide underneath and feast my eyes."

"A saintess treasured by a superpower like this has to be an absolute beauty!"

Ma Hongjun swallowed, all sorts of obscene images already surfacing in his mind.

Just as Ma Hongjun was indulging in his fantasies.

Someone carefully pushed the fire room's heavy stone door open a crack.

Then a petite figure slipped through the gap like a thief.

Ma Hongjun froze, hurriedly stopped the flames in his hands, and turned to look.

The intruder was a girl of about fourteen or fifteen.

She wore an ordinary gray-black cloth dress, with a few bits of grass stuck to it from who knew where.

But even such plain clothing could not conceal her fresh, lovely features.

Her skin was white as snow, and her large eyes shone as though they could speak, brimming with mischievous liveliness.

This girl was none other than Qing Tan, whom Hall of Darkness Master Bo Xuan had forcibly brought back!

As someone possessing the Fiend Demon Body, rare in the Great Thousand World.

Qing Tan had been living perfectly well, only for the hall master to take a fancy to her and insist on making her his direct disciple.

After she arrived at the Hall of Darkness.

The elders and disciples treated her like a bodhisattva every day, imposing endless rules and forbidding her from wandering around.

How could the lively Qing Tan endure such boring days?

And so, while the maids watching her were distracted.

She had casually thrown on an ordinary maid's clothes and sneaked out to play.

Now Qing Tan was curiously examining the enormous fire room.

"What a huge pot."

Qing Tan blinked, looking at the three-story medicinal cauldron before her.

Then her gaze naturally fell on the bare-chested, flabby Ma Hongjun beside it.

At the sight of this innocent-looking girl who had suddenly barged in.

Ma Hongjun's wicked eyes instantly lit up.

Back on the Douluo Continent, he had always liked visiting brothels and places of that sort.

After tending the fire for days in this sunless fire room, he could no longer suppress the Evil Fire within him.

Now that such a fresh-faced young girl had suddenly appeared, how could he hold himself back?

"Tsk, tsk, what a top-quality beauty."

Ma Hongjun looked Qing Tan's figure up and down. Though she had yet to fully develop, her curves were already taking shape, and a glistening thread of drool slipped from his mouth.

He saw that she wore an ordinary maid's coarse clothing, and he sensed no powerful Yuan Power fluctuations from her.

In Ma Hongjun's eyes.

This girl was probably nothing more than an ordinary little maid at the very bottom of the Hall of Darkness, specifically tasked with cleaning.

"Little sister, which courtyard do you serve?"

"What brings you to the fire room in the rear mountains?"

Ma Hongjun rubbed his hands, forced out a sleazy smile he considered charming, and slowly approached Qing Tan.

Seeing Ma Hongjun's familiar expression on the screen.

Everyone at Shrek Academy on the Douluo Continent could not help covering their foreheads.

"Fatty's old problem is acting up again."

Oscar sighed.

"He's inside a powerful otherworldly faction. Isn't he afraid of causing trouble?"

Yu Xiaogang, however, snorted and waved dismissively.

"What's there to fear?"

"Take a close look at that girl's clothes."

"Coarse cloth and hemp, no attendants, and judging by the way she's looking around so curiously, she clearly hasn't seen much of the world."

"She's definitely just an utterly insignificant little maid in the Hall of Darkness."

Yu Xiaogang clasped his hands behind his back, looking like a sage who had seen through everything.

"Our Ma Hongjun is now the dedicated fire attendant responsible for preparing the saintess's medicinal baths!"

"Even a prime minister's doorkeeper ranks as a seventh-grade official. Fatty's standing is definitely far above a bottom-rung maid like her."

"Even if Fatty really does something to her, those lofty elders would never make trouble for a useful servant like him over an ordinary maid."

Hearing Grandmaster's seamless logical analysis.

The surrounding students nodded, finding it perfectly reasonable.

Dai Mubai chuckled too. "Looks like these days of tending the fire have left Fatty pent up. He can let it out on this little maid."

"Consider it giving these otherworlders a little taste of Douluo shock."

Meanwhile.

In the image, as she watched the sleazy-faced Ma Hongjun advance step by step.

Qing Tan could not help knitting her delicate brows, a trace of disgust flashing in her eyes.

"What business is it of yours which courtyard I'm from?"

"You're so ugly, and you stink. Stay away from me."

Qing Tan pinched her nose, expressing her disgust without the slightest courtesy.

She had grown up following Lin Dong and seen all kinds of geniuses, so naturally she felt no fondness for a flabby, leering fellow like this.

Hearing Qing Tan's merciless mockery.

Ma Hongjun not only failed to get angry, but the Evil Fire in his heart burned even hotter.

"Oh my, this little girl's got quite a temper."

"Lord Fatty likes them thorny."

Chuckling lewdly, Ma Hongjun strode straight forward and spread his thick arms, intending to force Qing Tan into his embrace.

"Three days in this lousy fire room have left Lord Fatty pent up."

"Since you've delivered yourself to my door, be good and have some fun with Lord Fatty!"

"Once I've served the saintess well, I'll protect you in this Hall of Darkness!"

Seeing that this damned fatty actually dared to lay hands on her.

Qing Tan's innocent, adorable little face instantly turned cold.

"You want to bully me?"

"Come any closer, and my Brother Lin Dong will beat your head into a pig's head. Just try me!"

Qing Tan backed away as she shouted.

But Ma Hongjun, whose head was already clouded by Evil Fire, could no longer take any of it in.

Brother Lin Dong, Brother Li Dong-whatever.

As far as he was concerned, a bottom-rung maid's brother was probably just a servant chopping wood outside.

"Hahaha, go ahead and scream!"

"You can scream your throat raw in this Underground Fire Room, and no one will come save you!"

To keep Qing Tan from escaping.

Ma Hongjun even directly activated the Soul Power within him.

"Phoenix Fire Line!"

With a flick of his fingers, several dark-red flames instantly shot out, completely cutting off Qing Tan's retreat.

Their scorching heat even made the black stone floor hot.

"Little beauty, be good and submit to Lord Fatty!"

Ma Hongjun laughed loudly and lunged savagely at Qing Tan like a tiger pouncing on its prey.

On the Douluo Continent.

Everyone watching thought that the seemingly frail little maid was about to fall victim to Ma Hongjun's vicious hands.

Yu Xiaogang even stroked his chin smugly.

"That's right."

"In this world where the weak are meat for the strong, once we find a soft persimmon to squeeze, we must show the domineering might of us Douluo Soul Masters!"

But before the smile on Yu Xiaogang's face could even fully blossom.

The scene in the image abruptly changed.

Facing Ma Hongjun's lunge and the dark-red Evil Fire closing in around her.

Qing Tan was genuinely a little angry now.

"Do you really think I'm easy to bully?"

Qing Tan did not dodge at all.

Her large eyes, originally clear and bright, instantly turned pure black!

Then a terrifying aura of extreme cold erupted from Qing Tan's petite body!

This aura was neither Yuan Power nor Soul Power.

It was the Yin Fiend Qi unique to the Fiend Demon Body, one of the Great Thousand World's most powerful constitutions!

Boom!

Before that terrifying surge of Yin Fiend Qi.

The Evil Fire Phoenix flames Ma Hongjun took such pride in, which he claimed even Defense-Type Soul Masters dared not face head-on.

Did not even last a second. With a "pfft," they went out instantly, leaving not so much as a spark!

Not only that, but the black Yin Fiend Qi instantly swept through the entire enormous fire room.

Crack!

In an instant, the walls and floor of the entire Underground Fire Room, and even the giant cauldron three stories tall, were coated in a thick layer of solid black ice!

In midair, Ma Hongjun was still lunging forward, but the lecherous grin on his face instantly froze.

He felt a chill capable of freezing even his soul rush straight at him.

A layer of black frost instantly formed over the fat covering his body.

"Crack, crack, crack..."

Like a puppet whose strings had been cut, Ma Hongjun slammed heavily into the ground with a bang.

Qing Tan looked at Ma Hongjun, who had landed face-first in the dirt. The pure black in her eyes had yet to fade.

"You bad guy! You actually dared to burn me with fire!"

Qing Tan angrily raised her small, fair hand.

A mass of black Yin Fiend Qi rapidly gathered in her palm.

If she brought that palm down, Ma Hongjun would definitely be frozen into a heap of ice shards on the spot.

Although Ma Hongjun's body was frozen stiff, he was still conscious.

The sight of that mass of black light radiating a deadly threat frightened his soul out of his body, and tears and snot instantly streamed down his face.

"Mercy, my lady! I was wrong..."

Just as Qing Tan was about to strike.

A sudden burst of hurried footsteps came from outside the fire room, accompanied by an angry shout.

"Who's running wild in there?!"

"You dare cause trouble in the Saintess's medicine room!"

The commotion outside startled Qing Tan too.

She had sneaked out. If the hall's enforcement squad caught her, her master would definitely lock her up again.

"Hmph, consider yourself lucky!"

Qing Tan withdrew the Yin Fiend Qi in her hand and stuck out her tongue a little guiltily.

Then her figure flickered, and she slipped straight out through the fire room's back door like an agile cat.

Almost the very instant Qing Tan left.

Someone shoved open the fire room's heavy stone door.

Several enforcement disciples wearing fitted black outfits with blood-red crescent moons embroidered on their chests charged straight in.

The deacon leading them radiated the formidable aura of the advanced Qi Creation Realm.

The moment he entered, the deacon saw the solid black ice covering the room and Ma Hongjun shivering on the ground.

"This is..."

The deacon's pupils contracted, and he hurried forward to sense the lingering chill in the air.

Others might not recognize that Yin Fiend Qi, but how could he, an enforcement deacon, fail to recognize it?

In the entire Hall of Darkness.

Who else could release such pure Fiend Demon Qi besides the Future Saintess whom the hall master treasured like his own heart?

A layer of cold sweat instantly broke out on the deacon's forehead.

It was as clear as a mirror in his mind: Her Highness the Saintess had obviously sneaked out to play again and somehow ended up in this fire room.

But even with ten times the courage, he would never dare expose something like this!

If word got out and Her Highness the Saintess blamed him, he would certainly suffer more than he could bear.

At that thought, the deacon shifted his gaze and looked coldly at Ma Hongjun on the ground.

He waved his hand, and a surge of Yuan Power shattered some of the solid ice on Ma Hongjun's body.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Able to move again, Ma Hongjun lay sprawled on the ground, gasping for breath as though he had just made a trip to death's door.

"Sir! Sir, you have to get justice for me!"

Seeing the enforcement squad was like seeing his saviors, and Ma Hongjun hurriedly scrambled toward them.

"A little maid in a gray cloth dress just sneaked into the fire room to cause trouble!"

"She even knew sorcery! She nearly froze me to death!"

"Sir, hurry and arrest that wretched girl and punish her severely!"