"Zygarde didn't even defend, yet a full-power attack only caused a tiny flesh wound."
Bai Mu looked at Ma Hongjun as if he were a clown and asked coldly:
"This is your Phoenix Fire? Are you serious?"
"Impossible! I'm a monster! My Phoenix Fire is the strongest flame!"
Under everyone's gaze, Ma Hongjun felt utterly humiliated.
"Phoenix Bathed in Fire!"
He roared as his second spirit ring lit up.
Dense purple light surged forth, accompanied by blazing flames, as a chubby "turkey" phantom slowly appeared behind him.
"Phoenix Fire Wire!"
Empowered by his second Spirit Ability, Ma Hongjun opened his mouth again, spewing out an even more violent torrent of flames.
The scorching heat distorted the surrounding air.
Ma Hongjun's overall strength might only surpass the two support-type members of Shrek, but in terms of raw flame power, only Dai Mubai dared rely on White Tiger Vajra Transformation to take it head-on.
Seeing Ma Hongjun erupt with full force, Zhu Zhuqing's eyes flickered. She was ready to activate her Spirit at any moment to help Bai Mu block the attack.
"That's it?"
Bai Mu gently patted the little kitty's shoulder, signaling her to calm down, then said:
"Little Soft, show him what real Phoenix Fire looks like."
"Awoo~"
Zygarde opened its mouth, releasing a golden-red flame imbued with an overwhelming holy aura.
Its temperature wasn't high, yet it carried the feeling that it could burn everything to ashes and purify all impurities.
This was Sacred Fire, originating from Ho-Oh in the Pokémon world!
The instant the two flames met, the Phoenix Fire Wire was like mud entering the sea—vanishing without even a spark.
Not only that, the golden-red flames surged backward along the fire stream, wrapping around Ma Hongjun like a lit fuse.
"Ah——!!!"
Ma Hongjun screamed miserably, collapsing to the ground and rolling in agony.
The flames weren't just burning his body—they were scorching straight into his soul.
He could feel the Spirit Origin of his Evil Fire Phoenix trembling, burning, and even being destroyed.
Sacred Fire could purify Evil Fire—and it completely countered it.
Before Sacred Fire, the Evil Fire Phoenix was like prey meeting its natural enemy, roaring in madness.
"Fatty!"
Dai Mubai was shocked and rushed forward, only to realize he couldn't extinguish the flames at all.
"Bai Mu, spare Fatty this time," Tang San said softly. After all, they knew each other—there was no need to kill him.
"Yeah, yeah, Little Mu," Xiao Wu nodded in agreement.
"Right. That disgusting fatty deserves it, but spare his life. Just burn him into a plucked chicken as a warning," Ning Rongrong added, clearly enjoying the spectacle more than helping.
With Teacher Zhao nearby, unless Bai Mu intended to completely tear things apart, killing Ma Hongjun was impossible anyway.
Turning him into a plucked chicken was entertaining enough.
Zhu Zhuqing said nothing.
In her eyes, Ma Hongjun and Dai Mubai were birds of a feather—incorrigible lechers.
They deserved to die.
"Don't worry. I know what I'm doing," Bai Mu said calmly.
Through telepathy, he instructed: Little Soft, isn't his Evil Fire strong? Burn it all away.
"Awoo~"
Zygarde responded, its flames intensifying instantly, turning Ma Hongjun into a living torch.
Seeing Bai Mu not stopping but pushing further, Zhao Wuji could no longer sit still.
"Bai Mu, that's enough. Stop now!"
He hurried forward, preparing to disperse the flames—when Bai Mu's leisurely voice rang out:
"Teacher Zhao, if I were you, I definitely wouldn't disperse the Sacred Fire."
Zhao Wuji paused and frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"This flame is called Sacred Fire. As the name implies, it's extremely holy and can purify all evil—including Evil Fire."
"Though the process is painful, the 'harvest' will be enormous."
Bai Mu reined in the amusement in his eyes, pulled Zhu Zhuqing back to her seat, and continued calmly:
"Whether to continue the purification or stop is up to you. But there's only one chance."
"Purification?!"
Everyone was stunned, staring at Ma Hongjun, who was engulfed in flames and suffering miserably.
Despite his agonized screams, he didn't seem to have suffered serious physical damage.
Could it really be purification?
"This…"
Zhao Wuji released his spirit power to investigate and indeed found that Ma Hongjun's Evil Fire was steadily disappearing.
"Hongjun! Hold on a little longer!" Zhao Wuji encouraged loudly. "To become stronger, endure it! Once you get through this, your Evil Fire Phoenix can be purified into a true Fire Phoenix!"
"Ahhhhh—!"
Ma Hongjun could only scream and roll in pain.
"I'm sorry, Bai Mu. I misunderstood you!" Tang San apologized sincerely.
He hadn't expected Bai Mu—who usually hated evil—to be so merciful this time.
Not only did he spare Ma Hongjun, he was even helping purify his Spirit.
"Sigh~ Isn't it because you're all my friends?" Bai Mu said lightly.
"If he weren't your classmate, I wouldn't waste this much energy on some irrelevant person."
He flawlessly reinforced his image as Tang San's "good brother."
In truth, Bai Mu sneered inwardly.
Purification? What a joke.
In the Pokémon world, purification never involved pain.
So why was Ma Hongjun screaming like this?
Because Sacred Fire was burning his Spirit Origin directly.
Purification removes the bad and keeps the good.
This was Burn Up—burning away both the evil and part of the origin itself.
The Evil Fire Phoenix's flaw was lust-induced backlash.
Its strength lay in its sticky, corrosive, hard-to-extinguish flames.
After Burn Up, the lust backlash was gone—but so were those powerful flame traits, along with part of the Phoenix Origin.
In short, Zygarde's fire burned the Evil Fire Phoenix into nothing more than a slightly stronger firebird.
Though it still looked like a Fire Phoenix, its rank had dropped below top-tier Spirits.
Its strength fell from 10 to 8, and its potential was cut in half.
As the flames continued, Ma Hongjun's movements grew weaker and weaker.
"That's enough. Come back, Little Soft," Bai Mu said while taking a bite of food.
"Awoo~"
Zygarde nodded, drawing the flames—and part of the Phoenix Origin—back into its own body.
It returned to Bai Mu's side, lay down, and let out a satisfied burp.
After absorbing the Fire Phoenix Origin, its Sacred Fire felt even stronger.
"Cough… cough…"
Ma Hongjun lay sprawled on the ground, his body charred black, hair and eyebrows mostly burned off, looking utterly miserable.
"I have a big sausage!"
Oscar hurried over and handed him several sausages.
After eating a few, Ma Hongjun finally felt like he'd survived.
"Fatty, how do you feel?" Dai Mubai asked, suppressing his disgust.
"I feel…"
Ma Hongjun sensed carefully, then his eyes lit up.
"Eh? My Evil Fire… it's really gone!"
He activated his Spirit again. Though he looked terrible, it was obvious that his possessed form was far cleaner than before.
"My Evil Fire is finally gone! This is amazing!"
Ma Hongjun was overjoyed, completely unaware that a large portion of his Phoenix Origin had already been devoured by Zygarde.
Nor did he realize that without the Evil Fire's boost, now that he was a "normal person," he would never again be able to "stand tall" in front of women.
He walked over to Bai Mu and bowed sincerely.
"I'm sorry, brother. This was my fault. Thank you for helping me!"
Look—he even has to thank us!
Hearing this, Bai Mu nearly laughed out loud.
He waved his hand dismissively.
"If you really want to thank me, then stay away from me. I get annoyed just looking at you."
"Got it."
Delighted by what he thought was a huge gain, Ma Hongjun didn't care about Bai Mu's attitude and happily ran upstairs.
"It's late. Get some rest. We're heading out to hunt spirit beasts tomorrow," Zhao Wuji said casually before heading upstairs himself.
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