Chapter 196: If Not for Tang San, I Would Have Already Become a God!
Oscar lay on the bed.
His brows were tightly furrowed, cold sweat seeping from his forehead, and even his lips pressed pale.
In the illusion, there was a dilapidated thatched hut.
The lighting was dim.
A thick medicinal smell rushed toward him, so pungent it made his nose sting.
On the bed lay a man at the end of his life.
His hair was gray, his face full of wrinkles, his skin hanging loosely over his bones. His breath was faint, as if he were about to die at any moment.
Oscar's steps moved forward uncontrollably. His gaze fell upon that face, and his heart suddenly tightened, as if half the blood in his body had turned cold.
"That is…"
That face looked exactly like his!
Only aged by several decades.
"This is me? I… how did I become like this?"
Oscar could not believe it.
There was none of his usual liveliness or brightness in the old man's eyes, only dense, unresolvable despair and hatred.
The future Oscar saw him, and a sharp light suddenly burst from his murky eyes.
He struggled to sit up with his frail body and roared at him hoarsely.
"It's all because of Tang San! All because of him!"
Oscar froze in place, his mind completely blank.
Tang San?
"If it weren't for him, my foundation wouldn't have been damaged; I wouldn't have absorbed a trash third soul ring. I would have already inherited the Food God's divine position and ascended to the God Realm with Rongrong!"
"He ruined me! He destroyed my entire life!"
"Cough, cough, cough!!!"
The future Oscar roared while coughing violently.
Black-red blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, a horrifying sight.
Food God's divine position?
Ascend to the God Realm?
Together with Ning Rongrong?
These key phrases exploded in Oscar's mind, making his world spin.
His greatest dream in this life was to win Ning Rongrong's heart, to be worthy of her, to be recognized by the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, and to spend his life with her.
No longer being mocked as a toad lusting after a swan.
So he originally had the chance to stand above the clouds, to become an immortal couple with Ning Rongrong, living forever.
A chilling cold rose from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, even his fingertips turning cold.
He recalled when he absorbed his third soul ring, how Tang San's interference caused him to fail and damaged his foundation.
"Oscar, kill him!!!"
The future Oscar roared again, the hatred in his eyes almost tangible.
"My life was ruined by him!"
"I could have stood above all others with Rongrong, but now, I've lost all my soul power and am left in ruins!"
These words were like wildfire, igniting every negative emotion in Oscar's heart.
Oscar's fists clenched tightly, his knuckles turning white, veins bulging on the back of his hands.
A cold killing intent gradually crept into his eyes.
The face that usually carried a smile was now as cold as eternal ice.
So in the end, the culprit who destroyed his entire life was Tang San.
"Kill him… kill him… I will kill him!"
Oscar muttered to himself.
…
Next, it was Fatty's turn.
Ma Hongjun had spent his entire life struggling against his own evil fire.
What he feared most was that he would ultimately fail to control it and end up consumed by his own flames.
Then let him properly taste what it meant to fall into eternal damnation.
In Ma Hongjun's room, he tossed and turned on the bed, his entire body soaked in cold sweat.
His inner clothes clung tightly to him, as if he had just been pulled out of water.
In the illusion, there was an endless sea of fire.
Crimson flames surged like ferocious beasts, surrounding him from all sides.
Even the air was distorted from the heat.
Behind him, his Evil Fire Phoenix martial soul spread its massive wings.
Flames coiled around it, its feathers full and radiant.
Every feather glowed with dazzling golden light. This body's cultivation was far beyond his current level, more than twice as strong.
He could clearly feel his soul power rapidly rising.
Power surged endlessly through his meridians, even on the verge of breaking through to the realm of Titled Douluo.
A surge of wild joy rose in his heart.
He was finally going to succeed, finally going to rid himself of the title "lecherous grass chicken."
Finally, he could become a respected top-tier soul master like Lin Qingmo and the others.
Finally, he could make his teacher, Flender, proud.
But at that very moment, the evil fire within his martial soul suddenly broke loose like an untamed beast, rampaging wildly inside his body.
The evil fire grew stronger and stronger, more and more uncontrollable.
It coursed through his meridians, burning through his limbs and bones.
He could clearly feel his skin being scorched, his muscles melting, his bones crackling as they were roasted.
"Aaaahhh!"
Ma Hongjun howled in agony.
The pain was terrifyingly real.
Every inch of his flesh was being flayed by flames, so painful that he was on the verge of losing consciousness.
"No! Don't!"
Ma Hongjun roared desperately.
He desperately circulated his soul power, trying to suppress the wildly rebelling evil fire.
But the soul power that usually obeyed him now only fueled the flames, making them burn even fiercer.
The evil fire was about to reduce his internal organs to ashes.
He remembered what his teacher Flender had told him.
The Evil Fire Phoenix martial soul was a top-tier beast martial soul.
But the evil fire within it was also a blade hanging over his head.
A slight oversight would lead to eternal damnation.
He had always believed that as long as he cultivated hard and vented it properly, he could control this evil fire.
He could escape the ridicule and stand proudly before everyone.
But he never expected that in the end, he would still die to this evil fire.
The illusion shifted.
He saw outside the sea of fire, Flender standing there, along with those soul masters who used to mock him.
Flender shook his head, his face filled with disappointment and pain, his voice passing through the flames.
"Hongjun, I already told you, evil fire is hard to control. Yet you refused to listen. Now you've ended up like this, truly hopeless."
The people beside him burst into laughter, their mocking voices stabbing into his ears like needles.
"Look, that evil fire fatty burned himself to death!"
"I told you, with that kind of martial soul, he'd eventually die playing with fire!"
"Serves him right. A useless waste who only causes trouble with his evil fire still dreams of becoming a Titled Douluo? What a joke!"
"The stronger he gets, the stronger his evil fire becomes. In the end, there's only one path, death."
The flames drew closer and closer, already reaching his eyes.
He could smell the pungent scent of his own flesh burning.
He wanted to run but found his feet nailed to the ground.
He could only watch helplessly as the flames devoured him bit by bit.
From his limbs to his torso and finally his head, all swallowed by the sea of fire.
At the final moment before his consciousness faded, what flashed through his mind were the mocking voices that had followed him his entire life.
His teacher, Flender's, disappointed gaze.
And the fact that, in this life, he ultimately failed to control his evil fire and still became a joke.
Boundless fear and despair engulfed him like a tidal wave.
Even the last trace of strength to struggle was burned away completely.
End of Chapter
[35+ advanced chapters available on Patreon—next arc already unlocked (search: Taichu372).]