Heaven Dou City Prison.
This was a facility specifically built to detain soul masters.
Ma Hongjun was kept alone in a single cell.
Outside the cell, Flender stood watching his student's calm expression, and for a moment, he felt slightly relieved.
"Hongjun, don't worry. Stay here and cultivate properly. I'll go try to get your sentence reduced."
Flender's concern and fatherly tone touched Ma Hongjun's heart.
In this world, only Flender truly cared about him.
"Don't worry, Teacher. I'll train hard here. Tell Boss Dai and the others not to worry."
A smile appeared on Ma Hongjun's face, making him look genuinely repentant.
But in truth, Ma Hongjun didn't think he had done anything wrong by killing someone.
Soul masters were superior beings — the dead man was just an ordinary person.
What truly landed him in prison wasn't the killing itself, but that the fire he caused spread too far, damaged property, and disturbed public order in Heaven Dou City.
Over the past few days, his life in prison had not been bad at all. On the contrary, he was happy — away from Yu Xiaogang's grueling training and finally free to relax.
"Mm, Hongjun, rest assured," Flender continued, "with my spirit power rank and your talent, I'm sure you'll be released soon."
"And once you're a noble, nobles don't need to compensate commoners."
After comforting Ma Hongjun for a few more words, Flender reluctantly left the prison.
Next, he planned to pull some strings — to see if anyone could help release Ma Hongjun early.
However, the day Flender left… was the day Ma Hongjun's real suffering began.
Normally, as a genius spirit master, he wouldn't face much punishment.
Emperor Xue Ye and Crown Prince Xue Qinghe didn't care much about this incident.
But not everyone shared their indifference.
For example — Xue Beng and Prince Xue Xing.
Prince Xue Xing had long been suspicious of Xue Qinghe, but without evidence, all he could do was secretly amass his own power.
One of his pawns was Xue Beng.
And Xue Beng, too, needed to build his own influence and disrupt Xue Qinghe's recruitment of talented people.
Ever since the last time Xiao Lin and his team joined the Emperor Battle Team, Xue Beng had regretted it bitterly.
He regretted not stopping Xiao Lin and the others from joining Xue Qinghe's faction.(In his view, the Emperor Battle Team's good relationship with Ning Rongrong meant good ties with Ning Fengzhi — and thus, with Xue Qinghe himself.)
Now, he'd heard there were other geniuses no weaker than Xiao Lin's group —the Shrek Academy students who had once challenged the Emperor Battle Team.
They were so young, it was monstrous.
Even knowing Xiao Lin's group's spirit power levels, Xue Beng still believed the Shrek students were super-geniuses.
So when he learned that Ma Hongjun had been imprisoned, Prince Xue Xing got an idea.
He wanted Xue Beng to recruit Ma Hongjun and perhaps even the other Shrek students — and through them, their teachers as well.
But Xue Beng wasn't a fool.
He and Xue Xing merely used each other.This time, Xue Beng came personally to the prison to recruit Ma Hongjun — and by extension, his classmates and teachers.
And he had no intention of handing that power over to Xue Xing.
He planned to make Ma Hongjun his double agent, secretly placed beside Xue Xing.
To that end, Xue Beng decided to offer a very generous deal.
Entering the prison, Xue Beng quickly spotted Ma Hongjun — the youngest among the inmates.
Watching the boy still diligently training inside the cell, Xue Beng's lips curled into a smile.
Soon, under the warden's guidance, he arrived in front of Ma Hongjun's cell.
"Ma Hongjun, Shrek Academy's prodigy, direct disciple of Dean Flender…"
As Xue Beng rattled off his credentials, Ma Hongjun frowned and looked up.
The young noble before him, dressed like a typical rich wastrel, was someone he didn't recognize.
He didn't know who this man was or what he wanted.
But to Ma Hongjun, only Flender mattered — so he glared at the intruder impatiently.
"What do you want?"
"Nothing much," Xue Beng replied with a sly smile. "Just here to make a very big deal — one that's greatly to your advantage."
Ma Hongjun snorted.
"Tch."
He looked at Xue Beng with open disdain. He couldn't be bothered with someone who didn't even introduce himself.
"My name is Xue Beng."
At that, Xue Beng gestured for the guards to unlock the cell and dismissed them all.
He stepped closer to Ma Hongjun and began explaining his offer.
"So… you want me to help you deal with Crown Prince Xue Qinghe?"
Ma Hongjun wasn't stupid. After all, Dai Mubai himself was fighting for a throne, so it didn't take long for him to figure it out.
"Exactly. More precisely — I want you to infiltrate my uncle Prince Xue Xing's side, then help me fight both Xue Qinghe and Xue Xing."
"As a double agent, you'll get rewards from Xue Xing's faction and from me."
Xue Beng spoke softly, smiling confidently, as if betrayal was the last thing he worried about.
"What's in it for me?" Ma Hongjun asked bluntly.
"In return, you and your brothers will each receive territories within the Heaven Dou Empire — your own duchies, where you'll be kings."
"Your teachers will also enjoy generous treatment."
"That's it?"
Ma Hongjun frowned, unimpressed.
He didn't care about such promises — Dai Mubai had already said that once he became Emperor of the Star Luo Empire, he'd also grant them territories.
And Ma Hongjun trusted his "Boss Dai" far more.
"I know what you're thinking," Xue Beng chuckled. "You're talking about that Dai Mubai — the Star Luo prince, right?"
"Tell me, do you really think he can win? That he can become Emperor?"
"He will win!" Ma Hongjun answered confidently.
"You're dreaming," Xue Beng said flatly, eyes full of certainty.
"Do you think the Emperor of Star Luo would ever let someone who can't use a martial soul fusion technique inherit the throne?"
"Do you think the Dai family — a lineage that has never produced a Title Douluo — could've kept ruling such vast lands without it?"
"Think carefully. Two Soul Douluos performing a martial soul fusion technique can defeat most Title Douluos. Without that, how could they sit on the throne?"
Xue Beng's words hit hard.
Ma Hongjun began to waver.
Indeed — even if Dai Mubai reached the level of Title Douluo, without a fusion technique, he couldn't inherit the throne.
Unless Dai Mubai alone possessed the power of a Super Douluo.
The Dai family and the Zhu family's bloodline fusion was the key to their rule.
Even with their help, if the Emperor didn't trust Dai Mubai, it was meaningless.
Otherwise, why had there never been word of Dai Mubai's second brother?
Those without martial soul fusion — were simply unfit to be Emperor.
"Fine. What do you want me to do? But your reward's too little. I want you to find me an Extreme Ice treasure…"
Soon, Ma Hongjun stated his demand.
Moments later, screams echoed through the prison.
What happened inside that cell —only Xue Beng and Ma Hongjun knew.
(End of Chapter)