Chapter 57: Doubt (Please Recommend)

"For now, only a few major powers on the Douluo Continent, including Shrek Academy, have publicly stated their acceptance of the Abundance Church."

"Well, you can slowly learn the details in the future. After all, you will inevitably come into contact with them."

"I see..."

Huo Yuhao nodded, his gaze still lingering in that direction.

The follower of Abundance was not disheartened by the setback. Perhaps he had experienced such verbal abuse many times before, yet he still tirelessly preached the benevolence of the God of Abundance to others.

In his own words, he had once been redeemed by the God of Abundance, freed from his pain, and thus he wished to liberate others from their suffering.

Having experienced the disasters brought by the "Abundance" and now witnessing its salvation, Huo Yuhao gained a deeper understanding of that Outer God. A vague shadow surfaced in his mind, though it remained difficult to form into shape.

Seeming to notice his gaze, the Abundance follower turned and looked over, a bright smile on his face.

This smile... so familiar...

Huo Yuhao's mind drifted. Before he could investigate further, Ma Xiaotao said coldly, "Avoid contact with the 'Abundance' whenever possible, and never worship the God of Abundance. That is no benevolent deity."

"I agree with the philosophy of 'Abundance', but I will never approve of the entity itself."

"Ling Luochen, take Yuhao to tour the city first. I'm going to arrange his admission."

Watching her figure disappear into the sea of people, Ling Luochen shook her head helplessly. "This girl is so stubborn. Is she still dwelling on that matter?"

Hearing this, Huo Yuhao asked curiously, "That matter?"

"Nothing. After all, who hasn't been young and reckless? Just some foolish things done in the past," Ling Luochen replied concisely.

Seeing this, Huo Yuhao asked no further questions and, accompanied by Ling Luochen, strolled around Shrek City.

Meanwhile, Ma Xiaotao did not go to arrange the admission as she had claimed. Upon entering Shrek Academy, she headed straight for the more core area, spreading her fiery red wings to fly across the Sea God Lake, and finally landing beside a wooden cabin on Sea God Island.

Instead of entering the cabin immediately, she looked up at the ten-thousand-year-old Golden Ancient Tree that never withered. From some time ago, she always felt that the Golden Ancient Tree seemed to have changed.

Yet, she couldn't quite put her finger on what exactly had changed.

"Save me... save me..."

***

Ma Xiaotao, who was about to knock on the door, froze. She abruptly turned her head to survey her surroundings. Just a moment ago, she thought she heard an extremely weak voice calling for help.

However, no further sound came for a long time, leading Ma Xiaotao to suspect she had merely misheard. She closed her eyes and massaged her temples, a trace of fatigue showing on her face.

She sighed, "Perhaps I really am too tired."

"You know you're tired, yet after taking on a patrol mission, you led a team out for days without returning, not even sending back a single message! If the Leaf of Vitality on my end hadn't remained unwithered, I would have thought you were killed by Evil Soul Masters or Abundance Abominations!"

Yan Shaozhe's figure appeared behind Ma Xiaotao, sternly reprimanding her with a lingering trace of worry in the depths of his eyes.

Having no children of his own, he treated this only disciple like his own biological daughter, though her unruly personality often gave him massive headaches.

This was not the first time Ma Xiaotao had experienced such discipline. She obediently lowered her head to admit her fault, claiming she would never dare do it again.

Yan Shaozhe gritted his teeth. "There'll be a next time? You clearly have zero concern about whether you can suppress your evil fire!"

Seeing Ma Xiaotao's pitiful appearance, Yan Shaozhe's heart finally softened. He sighed, "Your soul power rank is almost out of your control, isn't it? Once you break through to Soul Saint at level seventy, the evil fire within your body will grow stronger once more. By then, I'm afraid even the Xuanming Douluo won't be able to suppress it."

"If it can't be suppressed, then so be it," Ma Xiaotao said with utter indifference. "When it truly gets out of hand, Master, you can just toss me outside. A rampaging evil fire might even burn a few Abundance Abominations to death."

"You..."

Yan Shaozhe was so startled by Ma Xiaotao's words that his eyes widened. Just as a lecture rushed back to his throat, Ma Xiaotao directly interrupted him.

She excitedly said, "I think I've discovered a way to restrain the Abundance Abominations!"

"What!"

Yan Shaozhe was startled. No longer caring about reprimanding Ma Xiaotao, he said with a completely serious expression, "Tell me in detail. What is going on?"

He knew Ma Xiaotao never lied, so what she spoke of was likely true, and if it were true...

A surge of excitement rose in his heart. The current continent was plagued with suffering: the heinous Abundance followers, the plundering Evil Soul Masters, and the chaotic, mad Abundance Abominations.

Among them, the destructive power of the Abundance Abominations was the worst. Even Yan Shaozhe at full power could not claim he could completely kill them.

His Light Phoenix martial soul's attack power specialized against evil was completely useless against the Abundance Abominations, proving even less effective than the volatile evil fire inside Ma Xiaotao.

Now that Ma Xiaotao claimed she had found a way to deal with the Abundance Abominations, how could he not be excited?

***

If it were true, at least one of these three disasters could be eradicated.

Soon, Ma Xiaotao recounted everything she had encountered outside the city earlier, including her own suspicions.

Yan Shaozhe said, "So you suspect that Huo Yuhao, who just reached the first ring, possesses the ability to solve the Abundance Abominations?"

Just a first ring, twelve years old... Yan Shaozhe's initially burning heart cooled down. He was someone who valued talent immensely. Even with a special martial soul, Huo Yuhao could not possibly catch his eye.

Therefore, he now harbored deep skepticism regarding Ma Xiaotao's judgment, even suspecting that his disciple had fabricated the story just to appease him.

Seeing his expression, Ma Xiaotao understood her master's thoughts and said helplessly, "This disciple also knows how absurd this judgment sounds, but at the time, he was the only unknown factor present, and upon careful thought after the attack, I found many suspicious anomalies."

"What's more..."

The brilliance in the depths of Ma Xiaotao's eyes turned profound as she said in a deep voice, "Didn't this disciple once find it unimaginable that an ordinary person without a shred of soul power could turn out to be an Outer God traversing the starry seas, leading to the destruction of the Douiling Empire?"

A vague figure flashed across Ma Xiaotao's mind. From some point onward, she could no longer remember the entity's appearance, as if a force had deliberately shielded it.

Preventing anyone from casually peering upon the divine countenance.

"You're still unable to let go of that incident," Yan Shaozhe sighed. "You're right. We shouldn't doubt him just because he's a first-ring soul master. I'll go examine him personally later. If it's true, I'll report it to your grandmaster."

"Understood. Then I'll go find Beibei to secure that specially recruited student quota."

Ma Xiaotao nodded, stepped out of the wooden cabin, and closed the door. At that moment, her mind suddenly went blank.

A tall figure appeared in her mind's eye, calling out to her for help.

"Help... save me..."

The image vanished in a flash. When Ma Xiaotao's vision returned to normal, she saw a few withered yellow leaves slowly drifting down. She stared in astonishment, "The Golden Ancient Tree is shedding leaves?"