Sure enough, Xiao Wu gave Ma Hongjun no chance to react. Her body pivoted and she was already behind him. Planting both hands on the ground, her legs whipped up in an instant, clamping directly around Ma Hongjun's neck. Her first Soul Ring skill — Waist Bow — activated.
Xiao Wu's entire body curved like a great arc-shaped bow. The glow of her first Soul Ring swept across her in an instant, and then her body snapped forward with the force of a fully drawn bow under the full moon, flinging Ma Hongjun's body violently through the air.
The effect of the Waist Bow's soul skill: instant enhancement of waist strength by one hundred percent, body flexibility increased by fifty percent. Once Soul Power surpassed level ten, every additional level of cultivation boosted the Waist Bow's amplification by one percent.
In other words, now that Xiao Wu had activated the Waist Bow, she could amplify her waist strength by a full one hundred and nineteen percent. The instantaneous burst of elastic force was enough to hurl any non-strength-type opponent below level fifty Soul Power. Of course, as effective as the Waist Bow was, the prerequisite was closing to melee range before it could have any effect. Otherwise, waist strength alone was useless. It was hard to imagine that Xiao Wu's slender waist — not even as thick as one of Ma Hongjun's thighs — could produce such tremendous elastic force.
Given that Ma Hongjun had restrained his own flames, Xiao Wu had shown a degree of mercy and hadn't slammed his body straight into the ground. Instead, she launched him skyward, leaving him time to control his landing.
However, she had clearly overestimated Ma Hongjun's ability to control his own body. The fat kid tumbled and flailed through the air for several rotations before finally landing hard on his backside, dazed and seeing stars.
"Stop fighting, you two stop fighting!" Miss Cui suddenly spoke up from the side, rushing over toward Ma Hongjun. The flames on Ma Hongjun's body seemed to have been smothered by the fall as well — he crawled up from the ground, groggy and unsteady.
Cui helped Ma Hongjun brush the dirt off his clothes. "Are you alright?"
Ma Hongjun snorted. "Not dead yet. Little rabbit — bring it on!"
Xiao Wu suddenly sprang upward, and with two sharp whooshes, she kicked off the shoes from her feet. Although her Soul Power had blocked most of the effect of Ma Hongjun's second soul skill, Fire Phoenix Immersion, the shoes on the feet that had clamped around his neck had still caught that purple flame.
To Xiao Wu's surprise, the purple flame had a peculiar sticky quality — once it made contact, it wouldn't go out. Left with no choice, she could only fling her shoes away, standing in place barefoot on her small, pale feet.
"Miss Cui, what's going on?" Xiao Wu looked at the concern Cui was showing Ma Hongjun and couldn't help feeling confused. Hadn't this fat kid been bullying her just moments ago? So why was she now…
Cui pleaded, "Please, stop fighting. Actually, Hongjun is a good person — we just aren't suited for each other. That's all. That's why I had to break up with him. Please, just go. I'll sort things out with him."
Ma Hongjun snapped, "Mind your own business — get out of the way!" With that, he shoved Cui aside and moved to charge at Xiao Wu again, though out of concern for hurting Cui, he refrained from using his second soul skill a second time.
Just then, a startled voice rang out. "Tang San? Fatty? What's going on here?"
Tang San and Ma Hongjun both turned toward the source of the voice. It was Dai Mubai, dressed in white with his hair neatly combed, walking in their direction.
Xiao Wu snorted. "What's going on? Ask him! This fat kid was bullying a girl in broad daylight. We couldn't stand by and watched — we had to teach him a lesson."
The stern expression on Dai Mubai's face suddenly cracked into a grin he couldn't suppress. "Xiao Wu, I think you've got it wrong. Miss Cui — you couldn't stand him anymore either?"
Cui's face flushed red. She nodded, turned, and ran off. This time, Ma Hongjun didn't try to grab her. He just stood there, looking utterly dejected.
Tang San walked up to Dai Mubai and asked, confused, "What exactly is going on?"
Dai Mubai looked at the fat kid. "Do you want to tell them yourself, or should I?"
Ma Hongjun glanced at Dai Mubai and said with his head lowered, "You tell them."
Dai Mubai laughed. "What's this? Dead fatty is actually embarrassed? Fine, I'll tell them."
He turned to Tang San and Xiao Wu. "Do you remember me telling you before that the academy only has three students, myself included?"
Tang San immediately understood. "You mean — he is…"
Dai Mubai nodded. "That's right. Fatty is the third one. He was also the last to join the academy before you two came along. I didn't see what just happened with my own eyes, but I can guess well enough. Really, you can't blame Fatty for this — you can only blame his Martial Soul."
"Bullshit — your Martial Soul is the chicken! Mine is a Phoenix! Even if all my ancestors' Martial Souls were chickens, mine is still a Phoenix! Haven't you heard? Even in a humble nest, a golden phoenix can be born!" Ma Hongjun said, irritated.
The smile on Dai Mubai's face didn't fade. "Phoenix — fine, let's call it a Phoenix. Tang San, Fatty's Martial Soul is very peculiar. The Dean told me his Martial Soul is a Mutant Martial Soul."
"A Mutant Martial Soul? What kind of Martial Soul mutated with what to produce that?" Tang San pressed. He had heard the Great Master discuss Mutant Martial Souls at great length. Once a Martial Soul mutated, there were only two possible outcomes — it either became extraordinarily powerful, or it was severely weakened. The Great Master himself had suffered greatly because of his own Martial Soul's mutation. As for this Ma Hongjun's Martial Soul, it clearly belonged to the beneficial kind.
Dai Mubai said, "Don't just ask me — even Ma Hongjun himself probably doesn't know for certain. In their village, virtually everyone's Martial Soul is the same type of harmless domestic fowl. For some unknown reason, when it came to him, the Martial Soul mutated, granting him innate flame abilities from the moment he was born. Fatty didn't enroll on his own — three years ago, the Dean discovered him in their village and brought him back here. He should be about the same age as you two."
"Because of the Martial Soul mutation, Fatty gained tremendous fire ability, and this flame is highly unusual. Not only does it burn at extremely high temperatures, it also has powerful adhesive properties and is very difficult to extinguish. The Dean said that after his Martial Soul mutated, it may have truly become a Phoenix. However, this Martial Soul also comes with a tremendous drawback. The mutation brought powerful Soul Power, but at the same time it also had certain effects on his body—"
Ma Hongjun hurriedly cut in, "When the evil fire flares up, I can't control it!"