Karmic Fire?!

[Fourth place on the ranking: wreathed in karmic fire, Ma Hongjun.]

When he saw the words on the Heaven Ranking, Ma Hongjun's first reaction was not joy. Instead, he shuddered and instinctively went on guard against his surroundings.

Only a second later did he recover his senses. He was already inside Spirit Hall in Spirit City now. There would be no repeat of Tang Hao killing people to seize their bones.

Meanwhile, in the Papal Hall halfway up the mountain, Bibi Dong looked at Ma Hongjun's name. The longer she looked, the more familiar it seemed. "Have I met this person before? Why does his name sound so familiar?"

"Your Holiness, this is the student we brought back from Shrek Academy earlier."

Only then did Bibi Dong realize. She had not expected this unexpected delight. "Ghost Elder, sorry for the trouble, but please go and bring them up."

Gui Mei accepted the order and soon brought the Shrek group up.

"Not bad, little fatty. You actually made fourth place on the Pride of Heaven Ranking. Hmm? Little fatty, where are you looking?"

Ma Hongjun's face instantly flushed red. Under the influence of evil fire, whenever he saw a woman, his eyes instinctively drifted toward her surging swells.

And this was no ordinary situation. Bibi Dong was no ordinary woman.

Although she was nearly fifty that year, her skin was fair and delicate. She looked every bit a married woman of thirty, and this married woman was rich and generous.

Ma Hongjun sprang upright. Not only did he stand up, but he even rose onto his toes and thrust upward.

Flender had not expected Ma Hongjun to be so impulsive either. Startled, he slapped the back of Ma Hongjun's head.

They had already made an enemy of Tang Hao. If they offended the Pope of Spirit Hall now as well, they could all wash their necks and wait to die!

"I'm sorry, Your Holiness. My disciple is affected by his Martial Soul. He may be a little... unable to control himself."

Bibi Dong did not believe that excuse at all. "Unable to control himself? Hmph. I've said it before: not a single man is any good. They all think with their lower halves. This so-called inability to control themselves is nothing but an excuse!"

"Exactly!" Hu Liena bristled with righteous indignation beside her. This fatty was far too disgusting. Just thinking about being on the same team as him in the future made her feel a little sick.

And she had never expected him to look at her master with that disgusting gaze. This was the master who had taught her since childhood, whom she regarded as her mother!

Hu Liena's anger boiled over. "Guards, give that little fatty twenty lashes!"

"Your Holiness the Pope, he was only..."

Bibi Dong raised her phoenix eyes slightly, and the pressure immediately silenced Flender.

The Temple Army guards outside naturally understood the Pope's meaning as well. They came forward, dragged Ma Hongjun aside, and briskly administered twenty lashes. Ma Hongjun gritted his teeth in pain but dared not say anything more.

After all, he really had been in the wrong, and these twenty lashes were only a lesson. For a Soul Master, they did not count as particularly serious injuries.

"Hmph. I originally intended to have you join the Spirit Hall Golden Generation, but judging by your behavior, you're nothing but a beast filled with lust."

Bibi Dong's anger had yet to subside, but she merely reprimanded him and said nothing more.

Hu Liena had just been about to continue when the reason for Ma Hongjun's inclusion finished updating.

[Reason for inclusion: a phoenix is reborn through bathing in fire and should fear no flame. Yet there is a kind of karmic fire in this world that even a phoenix capable of rebirth through flames cannot withstand. Never mind a phoenix-even the gods in heaven, should they be touched by the slightest trace of this karmic fire, would lose their wisdom in an instant and find calamity at their door, falling before long.]

[Under the influence of their Martial Soul, possessors of the Karmic Fire Phoenix Martial Soul can greatly increase their resistance to karmic fire. Yet they inevitably remain affected by it and are greatly influenced by their bodily instincts.]

[Possessors of the Karmic Fire Phoenix Martial Soul have an extremely small chance of mastering a trace of karmic fire's power. If they temper their hearts in the mortal world, comprehend the seven emotions and six desires, and behold their true selves, they have a very high chance of mastering a trace of karmic fire's power.]

[Evaluation: reborn through bathing in fire, one may attain the aspect of true suchness.]

Ma Hongjun struggled to his feet, just in time to see the description of his Martial Soul. "Karmic Fire Phoenix? Isn't it the Evil Fire Phoenix?"

Flender and the others were astonished as well. "So our understanding of your Martial Soul was actually wrong. What's on the Heaven Ranking is its true form."

Beside them, Bibi Dong, who had just declared that blaming one's Martial Soul was nothing but an excuse, suddenly felt rather awkward.

She had never expected that someone's Martial Soul really could make it difficult for them to control themselves. Had she not just slapped her own face?

But the Pope could do no wrong. The Pope's authority could not be sullied!

She could not apologize to Ma Hongjun in public, but she decided to compensate the little fatty properly in a moment.

Bibi Dong's face reddened slightly, but she still maintained the Pope's dignity. "Provide seats for these guests."

Several members of the Temple Army were somewhat bewildered. Seats, right after a beating?

They glanced at Bibi Dong for instructions.

"I said provide seats. Do you not understand?"

"And this one?" a member of the Temple Army asked further.

"Give him a seat as well."

At the summit of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's mountain, there was likewise a pavilion, a table, and a flask of wine on the table.

Although it had been destroyed in the earlier battle, rebuilding a mere pavilion had not taken much time.

Ning Rongrong and the others, however, were not sitting by the pavilion. Instead, Ning Fengzhi and the Sword and Bone Douluos sat inside, drinking as they waited to watch the Pride of Heaven Ranking.

Ning Rongrong and the others stood on the grass beside the pavilion.

A strange creature the size of a puppy crouched on the grass. Its whole body was covered in blue scales, and two little wings grew from its back. Ning Rongrong held the collar around its neck.

"Teacher, what kind of flame is this karmic fire? According to the Pride of Heaven Ranking, it can even burn gods to death?" Ning Rongrong asked Wang Qiye.

Wang Qiye shook his head. "Not just gods. Anything at all will inevitably move toward death when faced with it."

"Ah, it's that frightening? Doesn't that mean we'll have no choice but to run whenever we encounter Ma Hongjun from now on?" Ning Rongrong exclaimed.

Wang Qiye chuckled softly. "You don't have to imagine this flame as something so terrifying. You should know that karmic fire already burns on everything in the world. We've simply grown accustomed to it."

Ning Rongrong hurriedly examined her surroundings. "Is there karmic fire on me too?"

"Not just you. The reason everything in the world dies is that it is devoured by karmic fire."

"That's still frightening." Ning Rongrong turned in a circle, trying to find karmic fire on herself, but she could not see anything at all.

"Karmic fire is the most fundamental logic underlying the world's law of destruction. Looking like that, you could look until you died and still never see it."

Wang Qiye turned around. "Sect Master Ning!"

"What is it?"

"Help me find out where Ma Hongjun, the one on the ranking, is now."

"All right, understood."

Ning Fengzhi raised his cup in acknowledgment from afar.

Meanwhile, at Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

"That little fatty actually counts as a prodigy too? Just looking at him disgusts me."

"Yanyan, don't talk nonsense!"

Dugu Yan curled her lips. "But it's true. At least the people who made the ranking before were handsome men or beautiful women. What is this thing that's made the ranking now? If I run into him, I'll definitely teach him a lesson!"