Ma Xiaotao's evil fire

Xuan Zi returned the competition credentials to Qian Xixi. Before Qian Xixi could bring it up himself, Xuan Zi said, "In that case, let's travel together. The Tang Sect and Shrek share quite a deep connection."

Qian Xixi said, "Sure, we couldn't ask for more. But we still have quite a few missions to do along the way. Would that delay your journey?"

"Missions? What missions?"

Qian Xixi said, "They're all missions to wipe out evil soul masters."

"Haha, so they're missions to wipe out evil soul masters. Our Shrek Supervisory Group was founded for that very purpose. Naturally, we won't stand by with folded arms.

I'll send them to help you complete your missions. That way, it won't delay our journey too much either. None of you have any objections, I take it?"

Ten-Year Veteran said, "Of course not. We'd welcome having help completing our missions."

Some players were already tagging the game system to ask whether story characters would take a share of their experience.

[Story characters participating in missions will not take a share of player experience. Players may invite story characters to participate without concern.]

Hearing the game system's announcement, the players finally put their minds completely at ease.

And so, the players continued toward Star Luo City alongside the people from Shrek Academy.

The next day, when they reached the vicinity of a reputation mission's location, the players set off to complete it. Zhou Yi sent Ma Xiaotao and Huo Yuhao along.

She also gave them a task: to get a clear picture of the players' strength.

While searching for the mission target with the players, Ma Xiaotao could clearly sense that there was something strange about the way they looked at her.

Those strange looks made her very uncomfortable. With her fiery temper, she simply couldn't tolerate it.

"What exactly do you mean by looking at me like that?"

What Ma Xiaotao didn't know was that a heated discussion was already underway in the players' team voice chat.

Wang Zhongwang said, "This Ma Xiaotao is pretty pitiful too. For the sake of so-called Shrek glory, she killed someone in the arena and nearly got herself killed too."

Spirit Hall Eternal said, "Shrek only ever cares about glory. They don't care whether their students live or die."

Primordial One said, "That's going a bit too far, actually. Shrek certainly isn't anything good, but it's not like they don't care whether their students live or die."

Primordial One said, "It's just that everyone's been swept into a whirlpool called glory and can't pull themselves out."

Spirit Hall Eternal said, "Those are all just excuses. Could Shrek Academy really not solve Ma Xiaotao's evil fire problem?"

Invincible Tyrannosaurus Warrior said, "They probably really couldn't, right? They didn't have any immortal herbs, after all."

Wang Zhongwang said, "Speaking of which, did Tang San really not leave Shrek any information about the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well?"

Spirit Hall Eternal said, "Get your facts straight. The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well wasn't Tang San's. It was Dugu Bo's medicinal garden in the first place. Dugu Bo did Tang San such a great kindness-where did his clan go?"

Primordial One said, "We're getting off topic. Weren't we discussing Ma Xiaotao?"

I Am an Angel said, "There's something I can't understand either. Shrek Academy clearly knew that the Evil Fire Phoenix Spirit's evil fire backlash was extremely severe, so why did they still let Ma Xiaotao increase her strength so quickly?"

I Am an Angel said, "The faster Ma Xiaotao grows stronger, the worse the evil fire backlash gets. If they can't resolve the backlash, wouldn't stopping her cultivation be the best solution?"

Qian Xixi said, "Exactly. Having Ma Xiaotao raise her soul power rank as quickly as other geniuses looks more like pushing her down a road to ruin."

Spirit Hall Eternal said, "Maybe Shrek Academy never considered Ma Xiaotao's future at all. She's just a tool to discard once they're done using her."

Agile Dog in the Mountains said, "Surely it isn't that bad? I remember Ma Xiaotao was raised by that Yan Shaozhe. If there isn't any affection at all, then the people at Shrek Academy are far too cold-blooded."

Qian Xixi said, "There's definitely some affection, but Shrek Academy's interests and glory outweigh Ma Xiaotao's life. That's certain too."

Ma Xiaotao's sudden shout drew the attention of the players engrossed in their heated team voice chat discussion.

Huo Yuhao also looked at Ma Xiaotao strangely.

"Sister Xiaotao, what's wrong?"

"It's them. Every now and then, they glance at me with those strange looks. Just what do you mean by it?"

Ten-Year Veteran said, "Please don't misunderstand. We mean no harm."

I Am an Angel said, "Right, we don't mean any harm at all. It's just... do you know how your ancestor Ma Hongjun solved his evil fire backlash problem?"

"Of course I know that. Back then, my ancestor took an immortal herb, which finally resolved his evil fire backlash completely."

Wang Zhongwang said, "Since you know, haven't you thought of looking for one? Has Shrek Academy ever searched for one for you?"

"Something as precious as an immortal herb can only be encountered by chance, not sought out. You can't find one just because you want to."

Primordial One said, "Whether you can find one is a question of ability. Whether you look is a question of attitude. Besides, why are you cultivating so quickly? Don't you know that the faster you cultivate, the faster you'll die?"

"What did you say?!"

Ma Xiaotao looked ready to attack. Huo Yuhao hurriedly held her back. "Sister Xiaotao, calm down! Calm down!"

Qian Xixi said, "Stop talking. She won't listen. There's no need to waste too much time on a story character. The mission target is just ahead."

Hearing Qian Xixi's words, the other players immediately stopped paying attention to Ma Xiaotao.

We only said a few extra words because we pitied your fate as a story character. Since you don't appreciate it, there's no need to press a warm face against a cold backside.

Left hanging like this, Ma Xiaotao felt thoroughly stifled.

"Sister Xiaotao..."

"Follow them!"

"Oh..."

Before long, they finally found the mission target: an evil soul master who cultivated by sacrificing civilians' blood and souls. The withered bones scattered around him made it clear that he had already killed quite a few people.

Ten-Year Veteran shouted, "Attack!"

Immediately, all the players sprang into action, some applying buffs and others cutting off the escape routes.

The control types acted first, prioritizing locking the monster down completely before the damage dealers moved in to deal damage.

Although their coordination wasn't perfect yet, it was already quite practiced.

Before long, the mission target was successfully dealt with, turning into experience and gold soul coins for the players.

The reputation mission was completed as well, netting the players another batch of experience and gold soul coins.

Yet Ma Xiaotao and Huo Yuhao, who had watched from the sidelines, found it all very strange.

First, the players' soul rings were strange. Their combinations were worlds apart from those of ordinary soul masters.

Some players had three yellow rings (they hadn't spent money to reroll them), while others had a black first ring but two yellow rings after it. There was even one-Qian Xixi-whose three rings were all black.

Second, there was an enormous gap in the quality of their martial souls. Despite that vast difference, the soul power ranks of their group weren't very far apart.

As natives of the Douluo Continent, Ma Xiaotao and Huo Yuhao found this very difficult to understand.