Sun Moon Emperor Huo Yuhao: Was Tang San an Evil Soul Master All Along?

Black World, Illustrious Virtue Hall.

Jing Hongchen plopped down in a chair, repeating the same words over and over.

"Artificial intelligence... artificial intelligence..."

"It can fight on its own without a Soul Engineer controlling it, and it can even study an enemy's fighting style..."

"This is beyond the scope of Soul Tools. It's practically... an artificial living being!"

No matter how powerful a Soul Tool was, it was still only a tool. That was a truth universally accepted in the world of Soul Engineers.

But no one had expected that the Soul Tools Huo Yuhao had made in the Heavenly Screen would be capable of independent thought.

It was utterly unbelievable!

Soul Tools were lifeless objects. How could they have life?

Kong Deming said nothing.

He gazed at the black mechas on the Heavenly Screen, which had turned dark red, his eyes flickering.

After a long while, the foremost figure in the Sun Moon Empire's world of Soul Tools let out a long sigh.

"Huo Yuhao, just who in the world are you?"

"Could your Soul Tool Technology have become so powerful that you can create life?"

Black World, Body Sect.

Du Busi rubbed his chin, clicking his tongue.

"Artificial intelligence? Lumps of iron that can fight on their own?"

"Damn it, if those things were mass-produced, what would we need Soul Masters for?"

The Body Sect disciples around him exchanged glances. After a long time, one disciple finally spoke up timidly.

"Sect Master, are we... still looking for Huo Yuhao?"

"Yes! Why wouldn't we?!"

Du Busi's eyes widened.

"Something that could overturn the balance of the entire Soul Master World has to be in our Body Sect's hands!"

"No, it has to be in Huo Yuhao's hands, and then our Body Sect will stand on his side!"

Black World, Holy Spirit Cult headquarters.

Zhongli Wu gazed at the rebels kneeling prostrate across the ground on the Heavenly Screen, trembling all over with excitement.

"Did you see that? Did you all see that?"

"Those who submit to me live, and those who defy me die! That's what an Evil Soul Master should be like!"

"To hell with that holy son of the Illustrious Virtue Hall! What flows in that body is clearly the evil blood the Holy Emperor bestowed upon our Holy Cult!"

"Huo Yuhao must be one of us in the Holy Spirit Cult! Pass down the order: double the bounty again!"

Black World, Star Dou Great Forest, Lake of Life.

Di Tian gazed at the golden rain of faith filling the sky on the Heavenly Screen, his golden dragon eyes narrowing slightly.

"Gathering the faith of the masses... This human is actually walking the path of becoming a god through faith!"

"But since he was able to create the Soul Spirit System, perhaps he bears goodwill toward us Soul Beasts!"

"And a deity who bears goodwill toward the Soul Beast Clan would surely be extremely important!"

"Perhaps in the future, our Soul Beast Clan will have a chance to return to the Divine Realm!"

Black World, Shrek Academy.

The students of Freshman Class One sat in the square, looking up at the battlefield on the Heavenly Screen, where blood flowed like a river. For a long time, no one said a word.

Wang Dong's little face had gone somewhat pale with fright, and she instinctively grabbed Huo Yuhao's sleeve.

Xiao Xiao murmured quietly from the side.

"Wang Dong, why do you think... Huo Yuhao from the parallel world hates Shrek Academy so much?"

Wang Dong shook her head, a trace of confusion flashing in her eyes.

"I don't know!"

"But I keep feeling that Huo Yuhao in the Heavenly Screen, the look in his eyes... It's as if he's lost everything important to him!"

Immediately afterward, she looked toward Huo Yuhao again, and a golden trident pattern flashed briefly in her eyes.

Meanwhile, in the Sea God Pavilion, Xuan Zi was trembling all over with rage. His bandaged hand slammed hard against the edge of the bed.

"Monster! This Huo Yuhao is an absolute monster!"

"He killed so many people without batting an eye. How cruel and ruthless can he be?"

"That boy is practically a born Evil Soul Master!"

Yet a complicated glint flashed through Mu En's cloudy old eyes.

"Decisive in killing, wielding both kindness and authority, winning over the army in the blink of an eye!"

"The temperament and methods of this Huo Yuhao in the Heavenly Screen make him an outstanding talent of his generation!"

Xian Lin'er, standing nearby, could not help speaking up.

"Elder Mu, the stronger that Huo Yuhao in the Heavenly Screen is, the more dangerous this Huo Yuhao's situation in our world is likely to become!"

"I've heard that more than one power on the continent is looking for him now."

Mu En shook his head and slowly closed his eyes.

"Precisely because there's more than one, we must protect him here in Shrek all the more."

"Otherwise, he'll bring a calamity down upon Shrek Academy!"

At that moment, Yan Shaozhe, who had been staring at the Heavenly Screen nearby, suddenly seemed to think of something, and his brow furrowed slightly.

"Teacher, there's something I can't understand."

"The Heavenly Screen said before that when Divine Punishment descended, all beings would be equal."

"Under Divine Punishment, all attributes would be reduced to zero, whether for the gods of the Divine Realm, Soul Masters, or Soul Beasts."

"If this Divine Punishment is real, wouldn't Ancestor Tang San and the original Shrek Seven Devils have become ordinary people too?"

As soon as Yan Shaozhe said this, the Sea God Pavilion fell silent.

That was right!

If Divine Punishment was real, if all beings really had become equal?

Then what about Sea God Tang San, the exalted figure in whom Shrek Academy had placed its faith for ten thousand years? Wasn't he now...

Just then, the scene on the Heavenly Screen suddenly changed.

The blood-soaked battlefield vanished, replaced by a lush, verdant forest.

A person dressed in coarse blue cloth stood in the forest, his back to the camera.

A seemingly ordinary blue vine emerged from his left palm.

At that moment, the blue vine had pierced deep into the body of a bovine Soul Beast.

The vine writhed constantly, like a greedy venomous snake, frantically drawing the life force from the Soul Beast's body.

The bovine Soul Beast howled in agony, its powerful body shriveling at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The person showed no mercy whatsoever as he murmured to himself.

"The devouring power of Blue Silver Grass really is formidable. As expected of the gift I inherited from Mother."

"No wonder Mother likes to eat the souls of those Sea God Pavilion Masters as sugar beans."

Hearing this, Mu En, Xuan Zi, and Xian Lin'er all narrowed their eyes.

The souls of Sea God Pavilion Masters?

Eaten as sugar beans?

Was that something a human being would say?

But in the next instant, the person slowly turned around.

The moment they saw his face clearly, the entire Sea God Pavilion fell silent.

It was a handsome face, with sword-like brows and starry eyes, and a refined bearing. He looked as pure and spotless as ice and jade.

Yet he looked exactly like the statue of Sea God Tang San among the statues of the original Shrek Seven Devils in Shrek Academy's square!

No!

He was Tang San!

He was Sea God Tang San, the figure in whom Shrek Academy placed its faith, who had defeated the Angel God and the Rakshasa God ten thousand years ago and ascended to godhood!

But no one had expected that this Sea God, whom Shrek Academy had revered for ten thousand years, this deity who had spoken constantly of justice and had not hesitated to make an enemy of Spirit Hall for its sake,

would actually possess... the abilities of an Evil Soul Master!