Word Count: 2,771 Words
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Heavenfiend Douluo Huang Jinxu took a deep breath and announced loudly: "The 2-2-3 battle format has concluded. Shrek Academy is victorious. This Continental Elite Spirit Master Academy Tournament has now come to a complete end. The champion is—Shrek Academy!"
A cheer that sounded like mountains collapsing and seas surging broke out in full force. The audience was so excited that their faces turned red. After enduring countless hardships, Shrek Academy had successfully defended its championship title, while that woman who seemed like a deity descending to the mortal world was deeply imprinted in everyone's hearts.
The entire Star Luo Plaza was boiling over. Even the nobles and ministers of the Star Luo Empire couldn't help but shout out loud. Star Luo Emperor Xu Jiawei and White Tiger Duke Dai Hao were equally excited, because this victory held great political significance.
With victory decided, Ling Bai released his Martial Spirit Manifestation. The six-winged illusory figure behind him became blurry once more as he walked down from the competition stage, lost in thought.
He had been born in Jialing City. He knew his Twin Martial Spirits most likely originated from the Angel God and Rakshasa God. He just hadn't expected Rings Fusion would actually summon that Angel God. The Angel God was quite nice though. Before dissipating, she had conveniently helped him restore all his spirit power.
"Jialing Pass, I'll need to make a trip there..."
The dark clouds in the sky had been casually dispersed by the Angel God. The light illuminated that handsome figure walking toward his team, seeming to drape him in a layer of transparent golden gauze. Wang Yan still seemed immersed in the previous decisive battle. Only when Ling Bai brushed past him did he mutter to himself:
"Did we... did we win? Shrek won again! We've defended our ten thousand year glory!"
His voice started as a tremor, then became a hysterical shout. By the time he spoke the last word, he was already sobbing uncontrollably.
Over the past month, Wang Yan had endured pressures he had never faced in his forty years of life. After the battle against the Death God Envoy ended, three of the main Shrek Seven Monsters were seriously injured and three lightly injured. Shrek had relied on Ling Bai's unparalleled individual combat power and the reserve team to hold on step by step until everyone recovered. During this time, Death Abyss Douluo had severely injured Elder Xuan, the main team had ignored him as their lead teacher, and so much more...
Although Shrek finally fielded its full lineup, the Star Luo Imperial Academy and the Sun Moon Imperial Academy stood as two formidable obstacles in their path, possessing high-level Spirit Guidance Devices that were enough to make anyone's scalp tingle. Fortunately, everyone overcame countless difficulties, using their blood to once again forge Shrek Academy's glory.
After receiving Immortal Doctor Douluo's treatment, Bei Bei, He Caitou, and Wang Dong recovered sufficiently to stand one after another. The first two sincerely applauded Ling Bai in gratitude, while the latter pouted with obvious reluctance and gave only a few half-hearted claps.
Ling Bai chatted briefly with Ning Tian and Shadow Dragon Douluo Xie Qin before heading over to Ma Xiaotao's side.
"You... you won..."
The familiar figure in her vision grew larger and larger. Ma Xiaotao smiled brilliantly and unsteadily extended a hand as if to high-five Ling Bai. But Ling Bai directly grasped that hand. It was scorching hot to the touch, like grabbing a piece of charcoal heated red by fire.
Ling Bai closed his eyes slightly and sensed for a moment before sighing. He asked:
"Senior Immortal Doctor, can she still be saved?"
"Too difficult, too difficult..."
Immortal Doctor Douluo shook her head gravely. Her Martial Spirit was the Healing Angel, which traced back to being a subsidiary angel of the Angel God. She instinctively felt a bloodline affinity toward Ling Bai. She explained in detail:
"This child's Evil Fire Phoenix naturally carries an evil aura. I can sense that in the past you used Ultimate Holy to suppress it, but she actively stimulated the evil aura and was further infused with darkness attributes by the Class 8 Judgment Sword.
The evil fire attacking her heart is actually a precursor to Martial Spirit mutation. This will very likely lead her to develop toward becoming an Evil Spirit Master. Her spirit power has soared all the way to Rank 70, and her attribute has advanced to Ultimate Fire level evil fire. Once evil thoughts devour her consciousness, the threat this child poses as a Black Phoenix Evil Spirit Master would be no less than that Death Abyss Douluo with Ultimate Death. She would certainly become a grave threat to the Douluo Continent.
She has already reached Ultimate Fire. In this world, only another Ultimate attribute can counter an Ultimate attribute. I'm very sorry, but I have no means to help her."
"I understand. Thank you, senior."
Ling Bai wasn't surprised. In another timeline, she had her evil origin triggered by the Judgment Sword. All efforts by Mu En, Elder Xuan, Yan Shaozhe and others at Shrek Academy were futile. In the end, she became the Phoenix Sacred Lady controlled by the Holy Spirit Cult.
"Lin... Bai..." Ma Xiaotao called out weakly.
"I'm here."
Black evil fire continuously emerged from her body. A layer of scorching red covered Ma Xiaotao's exposed skin. The dark red in her eyes grew even deeper, and her red hair was so vivid it seemed about to drip blood. She gritted her teeth:
"Take me... back to the hotel. I have something... to tell you alone."
"Bai-ge, you go ahead. I'll handle the award ceremony and such."
Ning Tian couldn't bear to see Ma Xiaotao suffering and losing dignity before countless people. She stepped forward and spoke to Ling Bai.
"Okay."
Ling Bai wrapped one arm around Ma Xiaotao's legs and placed the other behind her neck. The instant he touched her, a sizzling sound like grilling squid actually rang out, showing just how high her body temperature was.
His angelic wings unfolded as he flew toward the Star Emperor Hotel, leaving behind the Star Luo Plaza immersed in boisterous celebration.
…
Bang—
The door was violently pushed open as the two rushed into the room. Worried that Ma Xiaotao might ignite the entire room, Ling Bai used his left arm's Snow Empress spirit bone to condense an ice bed and placed her on it.
"You can speak now."
The ice bed was entirely white and glowing softly. The black flames that had been continuously emanating from her body were gone, but Ma Xiaotao's face was extremely pale, with a layer of black aura occasionally flashing across her delicate features. She spoke with difficulty yet with extraordinary determination:
"Ling Bai, if... I really become... an Evil Spirit Master, kill me... you must kill me!"
Ling Bai was slightly taken aback, his brows furrowing. "Why me, of all people? Wang Yan is the lead teacher. You should tell him this."
The ice bed gradually melted from the high temperature. She smiled: "Wang Yan wouldn't dare. Neither would Bei Bei or Xu Sanshi. Among all these people, only you would dare to kill me. Don't worry, I'll write a note. This is my own choice. Teacher and the academy definitely won't blame you..."
"Is it worth it? Staking your entire life for illusory honor."
A trace of reminiscence surfaced in those dark red eyes. Ma Xiaotao said softly: "I grew up at Shrek Academy. Teacher and Teacher's Wife had no children of their own and treated me like their own daughter, always considering everything for me. I love Shrek Academy, because that is my home. I can't just stand by and watch the home I love be humiliated.
Ling Bai, if you replaced Shrek Academy with the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan, and you replaced me with yourself, would you fight with your life on the line for the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan? Would you still stop to wonder whether it's worth it?"
Ling Bai suddenly fell silent. The Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan had raised him. He had received great kindness from Ning Fengya and Jianmu Douluo. Naturally, he would repay that kindness by defending the clan's interests and honor. This was indeed an unsolvable proposition.
"So now we can only slowly wait for me to become an Evil Spirit Master?"
With the situation seemingly beyond remedy, Ma Xiaotao instead let go completely. She looked at Ling Bai sitting silently by the bedside and suddenly smiled. She gently held the hand that was hanging by his side. When he met her gaze with a puzzled expression, her eyes curved sweetly:
"Ling Bai, I know this might sound sudden, but Spirit Masters are beings who admire strength. My ideal type has always been someone more talented than I am, stronger than I am, and able to conquer me in every way. That is why, on the day you moved from the wooden cabin into the Ancient Golden Tree, I agreed to Teacher's suggestion to try to... you know, 'cook the rice' with you. But we weren't as familiar then as we are now, and I ended up backing out.
I'm truly grateful for your appearance in my life, grateful that you've helped me stop worrying about the evil fire eruptions. This has been the happiest, most relaxed year of my life. You brought hope and change I've never experienced before. I love the feeling of your light shining on me.
This time, it has nothing to do with Teacher or Shrek Academy's interests. I'm simply following my own heart. To be honest, I've developed some feelings for you."
Ma Xiaotao nervously stared at Ling Bai's profile. For the first time in nineteen years, she experienced what it meant to have her heart pound like a drum. Although Shrek's Inner Courtyard called her the Blazing Flame Demon and Inner Courtyard's Active Volcano, she too had fantasies about love.
If the cost of the evil fire's outbreak was forever degenerating into an Evil Spirit Master, she would rather die than bring trouble to Shrek Academy and the Douluo Continent. All she hoped for was that it would be at the hand of the only person who sparked these feelings in her, letting her depart peacefully and leave her unspoken wish fulfilled.
Having lived two lives, this was the first time Ling Bai had been sincerely confessed to by such an outstanding woman. After seriously considering for a moment, he replied:
"I admire your courage. Life is too short to be timid in front of someone who makes your heart race. Bravery is the respect both parties deserve.
Neither of us is particularly gifted in matters of the heart. The future holds infinite time to recognize that true heart, so I look forward more to you getting yourself back again. I hope you'll be the sunny and bright Ma Xiaotao, never troubled by the evil fire again. Let me try once more. The result can't be worse than now anyway."
"Mm."
Ma Xiaotao heard the undisguised sincerity in his words. Having said everything she wanted to say, she had no regrets. She simply opened her mind and allowed the holy power to surge into her body.
This time, Ling Bai had no certainty. The Phoenix Evil Fire at Ultimate Fire level was vastly different from what it had been before. In his memories, dozens of Titled Douluo at Shrek Academy were helpless against it. In the end, it was Huo Yuhao breaking through to Titled Douluo, and the combined efforts of Ultimate Ice, spiritual power, and Necromancy that barely removed the evil fire at the cost of Ma Xiaotao's cultivation dropping. Then she consumed the Blazing Rubber of the 100,000-year Infernal Delicate Apricot to break through to Ultimate Fire again.
Holy power traversed Ma Xiaotao's body. The evil fire had been present since her Martial Spirit awakened. Her meridians, bones, and internal organs had long been corroded by the evil aura. Most troublesome was that the evil aura was also strongly invading her Spiritual Sea.
Ling Bai's eyes flickered slightly as he precisely controlled every bit of Ultimate Holy spirit power to forcibly suppress the evil fire. Like peeling silk from cocoons, he annihilated the evil aura bit by bit. These evil auras initially resisted fiercely. As the Snow Empress spirit bone's aura spread and the radiance of the six-winged illusory figure flashed after Ling Bai's Martial Spirit Manifestation, the evil aura's resistance greatly decreased.
Ultimate Holy, Snow Empress, and Angelic Divine Power worked together in three prongs to eliminate seventy to eighty percent of the evil fire in Ma Xiaotao's body. Ling Bai then entered her Spiritual Sea.
Ling Bai once had his own Spiritual Sea invaded by the Death Abyss Spider Emperor, leaving it marred by countless ravines. By contrast, Ma Xiaotao's Spiritual Sea was filled with rolling crimson magma, a black sun hanging in the sky, and a black phoenix occasionally roaming.
The Spiritual Wall created by the Thousand Illusion Charming Appearance's attached skill formed a protective membrane. The Seraphim wasn't a spiritual-type Martial Spirit, and Ling Bai's control over spiritual power wasn't as precise as a spiritual-type Spirit Master's. His spiritual power transformed into a gigantic Angel Sword and slashed down. One sword violently tore apart the black sun and black phoenix. This was the evil aura origin of the Evil Fire Phoenix.
Boom—
The black phoenix charged headlong at the Angel Sword but was blocked by the 100,000-year humanoid Thousand Illusion Charming Fox raising the Spiritual Wall. It let out a wretched screech as it fell into the seething crimson magma.
Drastic changes occurred in the Spiritual Sea. Ma Xiaotao's breath hitched. It felt as if a scorching hot current surged from deep within her body, stimulating her limbs and bones. Her ample, lofty bosom rose and fell, and an unnatural flush spread across her neck, though no one was there to see it.
The evil aura suffered merciless attacks from the Angel Sword. It attempted to resist, but both being Ultimate attributes, the Seraphim's Ultimate Holy was superior to the Black Phoenix's Ultimate Fire. It had no way to deal with the Seraphim. The evil fire in her organs had been cleared earlier. The remaining evil aura could only hide in the Spiritual Sea, secretly influencing Ma Xiaotao.
Since the magma represented Ma Xiaotao's spiritual power, and cleaning out the evil aura entirely was impossible at present, Ling Bai could only withdraw for the time being. Just as he opened his eyes, thick water vapor had risen beside him at some unknown time, obscuring his vision. Ma Xiaotao's heavy breathing sounded in his ears.
"Mm..."
Unintentionally, Ling Bai seemed to catch a glimpse of something large and white in the mist. Immediately after, a scorching hot delicate body embraced him from behind. Her voice sounded drowsy and dreamlike:
"What did you do? I feel so hot... I'm burning up."
Turning his head, he saw those mesmerizing pink-colored eyes and her flushed, alluring face. A complicated expression flitted across his own as he said:
"There's good news and bad news. The good news is I've removed most of the evil fire while minimizing damage to the Evil Fire Phoenix's fire attribute origin. You still count as stepping into the Ultimate Fire threshold.
The bad news is the evil fire is still erupting, just not enough to turn you into an Evil Spirit Master. Your lineage's original Evil Fire Phoenix was actually the Lust Fire Phoenix. When evil fire surges uncontrollably, it means burning with lust...
In other words, you've reverted to your ancestor's state. Like your ancestor Ma Hongjun, you're suffering from lust fire. The only difference is that you need to release over ten years' worth of accumulated lust all at once..."
"Is that so? Then I'd call both of those good news."
Ma Xiaotao's exceptionally fiery, delicate body leaned forward, pressing close to the one who made her heart flutter. She smiled sweetly at Ling Bai, her breath fragrant as orchids:
"You helped Shrek win the championship and saved me from falling into becoming an Evil Spirit Master. Don't you want some sort of reward, like... maybe we graduate together?"
Their faces were so close they almost touched. The white light of the hotel lamp cast their overlapping shadows together.
"Hey, I'm already like this. You wouldn't refuse me, would you?"
She spoke with a teasing smile, though her tone betrayed a hint of nervousness.
"No, it's that now you won't be able to regret it..."