Black Phoenix

"It shouldn't have been like this!"

Images flashed through Ma Xiaotao's mind, each frame like a branding iron searing her most painful spot.

The heavy responsibility of the competition should clearly be borne by their main team, and it belongs to their main players, not by these still-developing kids who have to fight tooth and nail on the field to make up for their mistakes.

To rectify their mistakes, to rectify the grave errors they made due to arrogance and carelessness.

Sun Moon Team is an opponent that the reserve team should never have to face!

It was Ma Xiaotao's mistake as captain that led to the heavy casualties of the main team, forcing the reserve team to step in.

It was also because of her that Jiang Nannan of the Sun Moon Team was seriously injured, Xu Sanshi died, He Caitou was arrested.

The murderer was Bao Liang, and it was also her!

"It's my fault... that they lost their lives in the prime of their lives... It's my fault... that they had to bear unbearable pressure..."

Scenes flashed through Ma Xiaotao's mind, as clear as if they happened yesterday.

That was the reserve team fighting with all their might on the field while the three of them were still recovering from their injuries.

There's a scene where Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong collapse from exhaustion, their mental strength depleted and nosebleeds appearing.

There was a scene where Xiao Xiao risked shattering her Martial Soul He Caitou risked exhausting his life essence, all in order to defeat their opponent.

There's a scene where Xu Sanshi unleashes the Black Tortoise Power because of Jiang Nannan, eventually falls into a coma, and is blown to ashes.

And then there's Bei Bei, wielding light and lightning with abandon, using her own body to shield others, her knees shattered yet refusing to fall.

And she... could only watch.

She could only hide in the background to "recover," watching children much younger than her die, get hurt, and shoulder everything that should have been hers.

The scene ultimately lingers on Xu Sanshi's face, still filled with resentment and anger even after his death; Jiang Nannan's sunken chest; and He Caitou's helpless, desperately seeking rescue face as he was taken away...

"Yes... it's all my fault..."

Ma Xiaotao's expression was sorrowful, and drops of golden-red tears slid down from the corners of her eyes, hitting the scorching arena and turning into steam with a "sizzle".

His expression turned to despair, and a deathly blackness appeared in his fiery red eyes, like two bottomless wells.

"Unworthy of being captain, unworthy of being a teacher's disciple, and even more unworthy of being... a descendant of the Phoenix God..."

A huge explosion rang out on the arena, and the purplish-red flames expanded into a giant fireball, as if a second Sun had appeared on the stage.

Even through the Soul Tool Shield, the people in the audience could feel waves of scorching heat hitting them, and even their breath smelled burnt.

Within the enormous purplish-red fireball, Ma Xiaotao was at the very center. The flames in her eyes had transformed from purplish-red to a deep, deathly black, filled with madness and despair, completely dominated by negative emotions.

Moreover, her Martial Soul also began to transform, or rather, evolve.

Becoming stronger is evolution!

The transformation from an impure, Evil Fire Phoenix into Black Phoenix of Ultimate Fire is undoubtedly an extreme evolution, a leap to the heavens!

"Uh--!"

The hysterical cry of the phoenix echoed throughout the venue, tearing through the clouds and shattering the rain.

The crimson Sun was instantly stained black, transforming into a vast, abyss-like black sun that drew everyone's gaze like a black hole, even swallowing up the light.

BOOM!!!

The Eclipse exploded, and black flames fell from the sky. After landing on the ground, they burned away the extreme cold and poison of the Vermilion-Eyed Ice Toad, which had previously rendered the Phoenix Evil Fire Repelling Ice Ring and Repelling Fire Ring that Meng Hongchen had set up were instantly reduced to ashes like paper in front of the black flames.

The Evil Martial Soul - Ultimate Fire - Black Phoenix, has descended!

Having completely degenerated into Black Phoenix, Ma Xiaotao has utterly lost her mind.

Her last thought... no, it should be called an obsession: to defeat the Sun Moon Team and bring glory back to Shrek.

so...

Completely corrupted, Ma Xiaotao did not hesitate at all, directly using the Soul Skill compression taught by Shrek, compressing her Second Soul Skill, Third Soul Skill, Fifth Soul Skill, and Sixth Soul Skill soul skills as well as her Soul Bone Skill.

Originally, such large-scale Soul Skill compression took an extremely long time and had side effects.

But now Ma Xiaotao's Martial Soul Evolution into the Black Phoenix, and her attribute has also evolved into the Ultimate Fire. And her ultimate talent... is compression.

Thus, the Soul Skill that originally required a long time to accumulate power was compressed and completed in an instant, and it went mercilessly toward Meng Hongchen's face.

That attack concentrated all her Soul Power, all her resentment, and all her obsession; it even burned cracks in space itself.

Surprisingly, Meng Hongchen showed no panic.

"Referee, I surrender, meow~"

Meng Hongchen feigned surrender, her voice sickeningly sweet, and even gave Huang Jinxu a flirtatious wink.

The next second, even faster than the referee, were Bao Liang and Xiao Hongchen, who were well-prepared.

Xiao Hongchen used his body as a shield to block Meng Hongchen, unleashing his Three-Legged Golden Toad Martial Soul to completely block her, leaving not a single gap.

Bao Liang then flew towards Ma Xiaotao, casually shattering Ma Xiaotao compressed Soul Skill with a punch—his fist was wrapped in crimson-gold Lie Yan, which actually dismantled the Black Phoenix attack of Ultimate Fire. He stepped on her shoulder with one foot and raised the other high, aiming at Ma Xiaotao's head.

"Your head is too high, lower it!"

Bao Liang stomped hard and decisively on Ma Xiaotao's face, stomping her straight down from the sky into the ground.

In an instant, the stone slabs of the arena flew about like petals, and a huge crater appeared, billowing smoke and dust that shot up hundreds of meters into the air.

Huang Jinxu's body, halfway through flight, suddenly stopped in mid-air. He looked left and right, unsure whether to advance or retreat.

no?

The way you guys are doing this makes me, the referee, look really stupid!

Can't you show me some respect? I'm the referee, I'm the Titled Douluo!

Money is hard to earn, and life is tough. Being a referee for those few days was like eating all the shit he owed from his past life!

On the arena, Bao Liang stomped Ma Xiaotao into the ground, his eyes sweeping contemptuously around him. At the same time, he was using his mental energy to find a way to attack and cause as much trouble as possible to Shrek without killing Ma Xiaotao.

Although Ma Xiaotao stomped Ma Bao Liang's head into the arena, she was still full of energy, with her Black Phoenix Flame overflowing wildly, wanting to fight back or even kill Bao Liang.

Just then, Bao Liang suddenly remembered the five moves of "Press, Point, Strike, Vibrate, and Deflect" from the secret manual "Eighteen Black Dragon Forms" that the three of them had practiced before, which came from the Dragon Emperor Douluo Long Xiaoyao.

Pressing can suppress the dantian and qi sea; pointing is the most direct acupoint strike; striking bypasses the Soul Master's physical defense and directly sends power into the body; vibrating uses Soul Power to create resonance; plucking moves the meridians horizontally. If replaced by mental power, it can move the edge of the sea of consciousness, like plucking a string on a musical instrument.

Bao Liang was the one among the three who mastered the "Eighteen Black Dragon Forms" most proficiently and was also the one who could best integrate and apply it.

Bao Liang combined the five techniques he had just thought of and then used a special method to kick Ma Xiaotao straight to the heart.

Instantly, Ma Xiaotao coughed up blood after being hit by the attack. Her body arched, and most of the black Phoenix Flame were extinguished. Her body went limp like a kite with a broken string, leaving only instinctive twitching.

"Xiaotao!"