The Holy Spirit Cult's Secret Treasures, the Holy Emperor's Statue!

Black World, Shrek Academy, Sea God Pavilion.

The Heavenly Screen continued to play.

In the scene, Huo Yuhao dragged the Asura Demon Sword behind him as he ventured alone into the lowest level of the Holy Spirit Cult headquarters' great hall.

His blood-red eyes were especially striking in the dim passage. Whenever he passed a hidden chamber,

he flicked his sword, and its lock shattered.

He pushed open the first hidden chamber and found it filled with golden light.

Neatly stacked gold ingots and rare metal ingots reached all the way to the ceiling.

Huo Yuhao kicked open several locked agarwood chests, and all kinds of medicinal herbs tumbled out.

In the second hidden chamber, rows of jade bottles filled with medicinal pills bore labels marking their age. The oldest batch dated back several hundred years.

The Evil Eye Tyrant's voice came from his shoulder, carrying a hint of amusement at the spectacle.

"That bastard Zhongli Wu spent half his life amassing this fortune, and now it's all yours."

Huo Yuhao smiled faintly and continued forward.

At last, he stopped at the end of the passage.

Before him was a deep stone chamber, with a ring of deathly pale soul tool crystals embedded in the surrounding walls.

Their faint glow cast shifting shadows over a statue several zhang tall in the very center of the chamber.

The statue was carved entirely from some kind of dark red stone. It bore the likeness of a young man holding a blood-red greatsword.

Huo Yuhao's pupils abruptly contracted for an instant.

"So this is the 'Holy Emperor' Zhongli Wu spoke of."

The Evil Eye Tyrant's voice carried a measure of disgust.

"It's the sacred statue in the deepest part of the Holy Spirit Cult's great hall. Only the cult leader and the grand cult leader are qualified to come in and worship it."

"When my father was invited to the Holy Cult's headquarters back then, I was allowed to see it from a distance."

Huo Yuhao stared at the statue's face in silence for several breaths, then suddenly let out a cold laugh.

"So it's you?"

Black World, Shrek Academy, Sea God Pavilion.

The instant the statue appeared on the Heavenly Screen, it was as though the air had been sucked out of the Sea God Pavilion.

Yan Shaozhe was the first to frown.

He took two steps closer and stared at the dark red face on the Heavenly Screen, the confusion on his face deepening.

"Why does the Holy Spirit Cult's statue of the Holy Emperor... look a little familiar?"

Xian Lin'er stood up as well. She studied it for a moment, hesitant and uncertain as she spoke.

"It seems... somewhat similar to the statue of Ancestor Tang San?"

There were statues of Sea God Tang San both in Shrek Academy's plaza and on Sea God Island.

Although the dark red statue on the Heavenly Screen had a colder, harsher bearing, the contours of its face were unmistakably those of the same person.

"Bullshit!"

Xuan Zi sprang straight out of bed with a roar.

His injuries had yet to heal properly, and the movement pulled at his wounds, making him bare his teeth in pain.

"Are you two blind?"

"Who was Ancestor Tang San? He personally destroyed the evil Spirit Hall and slew the two evil gods, Rakshasa and Angel!"

"How dare you say he had anything to do with Evil Soul Masters?"

Yan Shaozhe looked a little embarrassed after being buried under that torrent of angry scolding and spoke in a low voice.

"Xuan Zi, I only said it looked like him..."

"Even that won't do!"

Xuan Zi said, glaring at him.

"There are plenty of people in the world who look alike! You actually believe this common Evil Soul Master trick?"

White World, Holy Spirit Cult headquarters, the stone chamber in its deepest depths.

"Zhongli Wu said it before."

The Evil Eye Tyrant continued.

"The Holy Spirit Cult was originally founded by Evil Soul Masters who escaped from Slaughter City ten thousand years ago, together with their descendants."

"They said they were only able to see the light of day again because Slaughter City was destroyed back then."

"And the person who destroyed Slaughter City and set them free was the Holy Cult's 'Holy Emperor.'"

"Legend also has it that this Holy Emperor ultimately ascended to godhood, and even became the king of the gods!"

Huo Yuhao listened without a trace of surprise on his face.

The Asura Demon Sword trembled in his hand, its blood-red light flickering as though responding to something.

"Holy Emperor?"

Huo Yuhao chewed over the words, the curve of his lips revealing undisguised derision.

"Tang San, wherever you go, you just have to erect a monument to your own virtue!"

He raised his head and looked at the dark red statue, its familiar face reflected in his blood-red Eyes of Asura.

"Ten thousand years ago, Tang San was the one who destroyed Slaughter City."

"Slaughter City was the Asura God's place of inheritance. Countless Evil Soul Masters hunted by Spirit Hall were imprisoned inside, along with countless villains who couldn't survive in the outside world."

"When Tang San destroyed it, some of the people inside died, while the rest escaped."

"Those who escaped were the origin of the Holy Spirit Cult."

The Evil Eye Tyrant fell silent for a moment.

"You mean the Tang San the Holy Spirit Cult calls the Holy Emperor is that human who ascended to godhood on the Douluo Continent ten thousand years ago?"

"That's right," Huo Yuhao said calmly.

"There should be records of it in some ancient texts, provided certain people with ulterior motives haven't destroyed them in advance."

He slowly raised the Asura Demon Sword, pointing its tip at the statue's face.

"And proving it is actually very simple."

"The Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul is itself a divine-level Martial Soul of ultimate holiness and ultimate light."

"The Angel Godhood likewise has the attributes of light and holiness."

"Qian Renxue inherited the Angel Godhood, and her sacred power countered every dark and evil thing under heaven."

"Yet in the Battle of the Two Gods, Tang San personally defeated an Angel God possessing ultimate holiness and light."

"He could defeat ultimate light and holiness, naturally because he wielded power diametrically opposed to them. Wouldn't that be evil and darkness?"

He turned his wrist, and the Asura Demon Sword's blade blazed with blood-red light, dark golden demonic patterns writhing across it like living things.

"This Asura Demon Sword originally belonged to Tang San, but I've seized it for myself now."

"I didn't expect Asura God Tang San to be revered as the Holy Emperor by the Holy Spirit Cult, with his statue enshrined in the Evil Soul Masters' lair."

Huo Yuhao chuckled.

"Tang San, your foundations are far dirtier than that face of yours, which you claim is as pure as ice and clean as jade!"

Black World, Shrek Academy's plaza.

The freshmen looked at one another, none daring to speak first.

Wang Dong opened her mouth and stole a glance at Huo Yuhao beside her, then quickly looked away.

Inside the Sea God Pavilion, Xuan Zi's face had turned the color of pig liver.

"Utter nonsense! Nothing but shit coming out of his mouth!"

"The Angel God and the Rakshasa God were evil gods. Ancestor Tang San slew evil gods, so of course he represented justice!"

Yan Shaozhe had learned his lesson this time and didn't respond.

Xian Lin'er folded her arms and gazed thoughtfully at the Heavenly Screen. Her lips moved, but in the end she said nothing.

Mu En finally opened his eyes. He gazed calmly at the dark red statue on the Heavenly Screen.

"Never mind how much truth there is to what was said on the Heavenly Screen for now."

Mu En spoke slowly.

"If it's true that the Holy Spirit Cult worships the Holy Emperor, then the connection between Ancestor Tang San and the Holy Spirit Cult can't be swept aside with a mere 'Evil Soul Master trick.'"

Xuan Zi opened his mouth, but a single look from Mu En silenced him.

He couldn't help feeling somewhat aggrieved. Was the so-called truth really more important than Shrek's ten thousand years of honor?