"Ridiculous! Who dares to judge me?!"
Ma Xiaotao sneered, the flames around her body roaring as she prepared to dive toward Jiang Jue, planning to close the distance and crush him in one decisive blow.
Jiang Jue's lips curled slightly. He didn't bother arguing with Ma Xiaotao; he simply raised the Judgment Sword in his hand and swept the black edge of the blade in her direction.
In that instant, a streak of black light—like the embodiment of the night itself—flashed through the air and vanished, not even disturbing the falling raindrops.
Ma Xiaotao frowned, the flames around her surging fiercely. Though she looked down on Jiang Jue tactically, this endlessly tricky and bizarre Soul Sect kept her on high alert.
But when that black light reached her, all of her defenses proved useless. The dark glow simply flickered and then merged straight into her body.
"Isn't it tiring to reject the darkness? Why not open your arms and embrace it?"
Watching the black light seep into Ma Xiaotao, Jiang Jue whispered to himself, a voice only he could hear.
Ma Xiaotao's face changed instantly. A strange sensation surged through her body—her crimson phoenix flames suddenly turned black, a chilling darkness spreading across her entire being.
Even the evil fire that had been suppressed within her body suddenly surged out, fusing with those black flames, pushing her toward losing control entirely.
"No! What kind of soul tool is this—it's triggering my inner evil fire!"
Ma Xiaotao hurried to use her soul power to suppress the evil fire within. If it erupted completely, she could very well fall into darkness.
"To think, after so many years as an Evil Soul Master, there'd come a day I'd wield the power of light to judge others… and the one I'd judge would be a member of Shrek's Evil Soul Master hunting unit."
Jiang Jue smiled faintly, pouring another surge of rich life force mixed with soul power into the Judgment Sword.
In a flash, the white side of the Judgment Sword burst into a blazing incandescence, the golden edge shining to its peak, flooding the arena with a holy aura.
Ma Xiaotao screamed in agony as the black flames on her body began to vaporize in large swaths, her entire being feeling as though the light itself was dissolving her.
Even her phoenix flames began to collapse entirely, as if trying to escape her body—her soul power slipping from her control.
This was the Judgment Sword's greatest peculiarity: the fusion of darkness and light—using darkness to infiltrate the enemy's soul power, turning it into uncontrollable dark attributes, then using overwhelming light to pass judgment.
A perfect nemesis for someone like Ma Xiaotao, whose martial soul was half-tainted, neither fully holy nor fully corrupted.
Watching her gradually lose control, Jiang Jue shook his head with a trace of pity.
"I'd originally planned to use Luo Bai this time… who could've guessed that incident would happen? Still, the Judgment Sword will suffice."
"Now… it's time to truly begin."
Jiang Jue's expression turned solemn. A bright silver glow emanated from his body, countless ice-blue vines thrashing behind him as a flicker of emerald flashed in his eyes.
His left hand flipped over, revealing a pitch-black cicada with blood-red eyes quietly resting in his palm.
"Ahhh!"
Ma Xiaotao screamed in pain, her phoenix flames turning entirely black. The evil fire within her, drawn by the dark power, burst forth violently, her once-ice-restrained flames now surging as chaotic dark fire raging through her body.
In this timeline, Ma Xiaotao had never had Huo Yuhao's Ultimate Ice to suppress her. Her evil fire had been building, and now, near the Soul Sage level, it was at its breaking point—just one final push.
Now, with Jiang Jue's interference, her body teetered on the brink of collapse.
"Is it over just like this? Am I going to lose? Is Shrek going to lose? The glory of Shrek…!"
Ma Xiaotao's heart was filled with desperate struggle. Her unwillingness exploded like a geyser. She had just stepped onto the stage, her teammates falling one by one to buy her time—how could she fail now?!
"No! I won't fall!"
With a guttural roar, dark red demonic patterns crawled up her once-pink neck, the crimson in her eyes churning violently.
At that moment, all suppression burned away. Fueled by her obsession, her martial soul began mutating and evolving in an instant.
Within Ma Xiaotao's body flowed partial phoenix blood—but impure, forever unable to become a true Fire Phoenix due to the influence of her evil fire.
But now, under the pull of the Judgment Sword, her bloodline transformed—into a dark phoenix, one of despair and fury, brimming with endless destruction and annihilation.
A piercing phoenix cry split the air, but this one was filled with hatred and darkness, like a beast born from shadow.
"Not good! Xiaotao's martial soul has mutated!"
Just finished eating, Xuanzi looked up at the scene on the stage, his expression twisting in shock.
At that moment, Jiang Jue moved. His eyes sharpened, and beneath his feet, a massive ice vine unfurled, lifting him higher.
With a flick of his toes, Jiang Jue shot forward like an arrow, in an instant appearing behind Ma Xiaotao. His hands, glittering with ice crystals, lunged for her flaming black wings.
"I don't want to be an Evil Soul Master! I won't fall!"
Ma Xiaotao's will still resisted, but Jiang Jue had already seized her wings.
"I'm not fond of heights. Mind coming down?"
Jiang Jue said softly. The next moment—splurt! A crisp, wet sound as his ice clashed with her fire, filling the air with a burst of steam.
A scream tore from Ma Xiaotao's throat. Her eyes snapped wide open, violet light blazing as terrifying energy flared alongside towering black flames.
"Down you go!"
Jiang Jue roared, his right arm's Ice Emperor bone flaring emerald. The Eternal Frozen Domain burst forth, precisely controlled to spread only across Ma Xiaotao's body.
Today, Jiang Jue would bring down a phoenix.
Ice and fire collided relentlessly, fog flooding the entire arena.
Rumble!
A massive ice-blue sphere plummeted from above toward the center of the stage, the phoenix's cries resounding—pitiful, tragic.
Boom—!
Jiang Jue pinned Ma Xiaotao down, black flames spilling from her, spreading wildly. Wherever the black fire touched, the rocky arena floor ignited, turning into a sea of flames.
Yet the sea of fire was swiftly devoured by an icy-blue frost, extinguished in moments, leaving only scattered glowing embers.
"Just as expected—go black, power times ten; purify back, down by thirty percent."
Jiang Jue growled softly, holding down the still-struggling Ma Xiaotao. At this moment, she truly felt the torment of ice and fire together.
"Let me open the door to darkness for you!"
"Domain—unfold!"
"Endless Sea of Woes!"
As his voice fell, the six-faced Ghost Dream Cicada on Jiang Jue's shoulder shrieked, waves of sound rippling outward. In that instant, a domain of mingled ash and crimson erupted from Jiang Jue.
Behind him, a purple-black banner materialized, blood-red sigils crawling across it, vomiting forth that blend of ash and blood.
At last, Jiang Jue's first martial soul—the Soul Refining Banner—fully revealed itself.
"What is this?!"
Feeling her body being corroded by the intermingled ash and crimson, Ma Xiaotao screamed with what clarity she had left.
"Fall into illusion."
Jiang Jue's lips curled, his palm slamming onto her back.
"Hot! So hot!"
A blazing sun floated above, mottled with patches of darkness. The ground beneath was no longer earth but endless leaping magma, sulfur choking the heavens and earth.
Ma Xiaotao appeared in this infernal magma field, her face contorted with struggle, painful groans spilling endlessly.
Buzz—buzz—buzz!
Ripples spread across the sky, and a figure in a blood-red robe appeared above, ghostly light shining from his eyes as he gazed down.
Next, countless crimson rays and ashen embers gathered together in the air.
From their union, a gray throne veined with bloody patterns materialized in the sky, carved with the howling faces of trapped souls.
Jiang Jue settled onto the throne, looking at the struggling Ma Xiaotao. He tapped the Ghost Dream Cicada lightly, coaxing it to scream louder.
Dark red evil fire engulfed Ma Xiaotao; her face twisted in pain and panic, her lips mumbling,
"I don't want this! I don't want to become an Evil Soul Master!"
"I cannot fall!"
Jiang Jue sat silently upon his throne, eyes fixed upon her, then spoke solemnly:
"Who decides the world's justice?"
"Is it you? Or Shrek Academy?"
His voice rolled like muffled thunder, shaking the world itself.
"I don't know! I don't know!"
"I can't tell! I truly can't tell!"
Ma Xiaotao's words turned incoherent, lost within the illusion, who knew what horrors she saw.
"From now on… you too will be an Evil Soul Master."
Jiang Jue's cold voice echoed again.
"No! I'll change back! I'm part of Shrek's Monitoring Group!"
"I won't—I won't!"
Ma Xiaotao desperately tried to open her eyes, screaming without cease.
"One day an Evil Soul Master… a lifetime an Evil Soul Master."
"You… cannot escape."
A sharp gleam flickered in Jiang Jue's eyes as he spoke softly, yet with absolute, undeniable authority.
Thunder roared across the sky, magma churned below; it was as if the world itself answered Jiang Jue's words.
Upon hearing them, Ma Xiaotao's body shuddered violently, then stilled. Her expression gradually calmed.
Time trickled by. Jiang Jue stood quietly, watching her burning silhouette, his eyes steady, unchanging.
After an unknown while, Ma Xiaotao finally spoke.
"How… should I address you?"
A spark flickered within Jiang Jue's heart. He knew—it had worked.
He rose slowly, thoughtful. He hadn't really decided on a name yet, but when his gaze fell upon the throne beneath him, his eyes lit up, and he spoke:
"You may call me… the Lord of Ash and Crimson."
Then, turning, Jiang Jue strolled toward the edge of this illusory world.
Behind him, the world shattered piece by piece, even the great sun above seeming to follow his steps.
But Jiang Jue paused slightly, as though remembering something, and his cold voice drifted back:
"Of course… you may also call me—"
"The Godslayer-to-be."
In the next instant, the entire world crumbled into dust, dissolving into desolation.
(End of chapter)