Dark Currents Rise Again, the Holy Cult Appears

The first round of matches ended without much excitement, and the strong teams advanced one after another. Although Shrek Academy's uniforms were ugly, the strength they displayed drew considerable attention. Tang San's Control Type abilities and the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda's enhancements were especially eye-catching.

That night, Ling Yun returned to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's courtyard and continued cultivating. Not long after entering meditation, he frowned slightly and opened his eyes.

An extremely faint energy fluctuation, carrying a cold and sinister aura, came from outside the courtyard. Someone had infiltrated? And this presence... felt somewhat familiar.

Ling Yun moved, vanishing from the room like a ghost. In the next instant, he appeared within the shadows at the corner of the courtyard.

Under the moonlight, a black figure clung to the courtyard wall like a gecko, carefully approaching the window of his room. The person was completely shrouded in black, revealing only a pair of eyes flickering with ghostly green light. Their aura was concealed exceptionally well; if not for Ling Yun's powerful Spiritual Sense, he would have almost been unable to detect them.

A Soul King? Their concealment skills are quite good. Ling Yun thought. The aura on this black-clad person came from the same source as the assassins who had tried to kill Ye Lingling in the Soul Hunting Forest, as well as that vague feeling surrounding Black Wind Stockade in Qingshi Town!

They were from that so-called Holy Cult! They had actually tracked him all the way to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect? Their target was... him?

Just as the black-clad person was about to touch the window, Ling Yun struck. He did not use Soul Power, relying solely on the speed of his physical body as he instantly appeared behind the intruder and jabbed out with a finger.

The force of his finger was soundless, yet swift as lightning!

The black-clad person reacted quickly. Sensing a vicious gust from behind, their body twisted in an eerie manner, bonelessly evading the vital point by a hair's breadth. At the same time, they swung a palm back at Ling Yun, ghostly green poisonous light gleaming from it!

"Hm?" Ling Yun let out a soft sound. This black-clad person's movement technique and reactions far surpassed those of an ordinary Soul King. He changed his finger strike into a palm and lightly slapped forward.

Bang!

Their palms collided with a muffled thud. The black-clad person seemed to have been struck by a speeding carriage. With a grunt, they flew backward, crashed into the courtyard wall, and spat out blood. Their eyes were filled with horror, clearly never expecting Ling Yun's strength to be so terrifying!

They did not dare continue the fight. With a spring of their body, they tried to flee.

"Since you came, don't leave." Ling Yun spoke calmly. Moving like a shadow, he appeared before the black-clad person once more. His five fingers spread open, and an invisible force field instantly descended!

Chaos Dragon God Talent—Space Imprisonment!

The black-clad person felt as if the surrounding space had turned into glue. Their movements became incomparably sluggish, and despair finally appeared in their eyes!

Ling Yun reached out and easily removed their mask. Beneath it was a pale, unfamiliar middle-aged face, with green blood still staining the corners of its mouth.

"Someone from the Holy Cult?" Ling Yun asked directly.

The black-clad person's pupils contracted. They clamped their mouth shut, clearly having no intention of speaking.

Ling Yun could not be bothered with nonsense. He directly extended a finger and pressed it against the person's brow. A thread of domineering Spiritual Sense forcibly invaded their sea of consciousness—Soul Searching!

"Aah—!" The black-clad person let out a miserable scream. Their entire body convulsed violently, their eyeballs bulged, and they soon fell silent. The Soul Searching technique was incomparably tyrannical. With Ling Yun's current Spiritual Sense, a Soul King simply could not withstand it; their soul would collapse outright.

A moment later, Ling Yun withdrew his finger, frowning slightly. The information he obtained from the black-clad person's memories was extremely limited. He only learned that the other party belonged to a mysterious organization called the Holy Spirit Cult. Its members worshiped a so-called Holy Lord, and their goal was to overthrow the continent's existing order and create a new world. This infiltration into the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had been to investigate Ling Yun's identity and strength, and to seek an opportunity to "sanctify" him—brainwash and control him—or eliminate him.

As for the Holy Spirit Cult's headquarters, upper ranks, specific plans, and other core information, this black-clad person's status was too low for them to know.

"Holy Spirit Cult... it seems they're even more troublesome than I imagined." Ling Yun casually reduced the black-clad person's corpse to ash and cleaned away all traces. This organization operated in secret and used ruthless methods. Moreover, it seemed to pay particular "attention" to talented Soul Masters.

He had been targeted, likely not merely because of his talent. It might also have something to do with the uniqueness of the Chaos Dragon God Martial Soul. He had to remain on guard against this Holy Spirit Cult.

At the same time, he thought of the gray-clothed youth with the strange aura at the tournament. Could he... also be from the Holy Spirit Cult? They had infiltrated the tournament—what were they after?

Ling Yun felt that an invisible net was slowly tightening around him. The tournament would likely not remain peaceful.

He returned to his room and continued cultivating, but his vigilance had already risen. It seemed that quietly cultivating until he was strong enough would not be easy. Since trouble had come knocking, then... soldiers would block them, and water would be stopped by earth.

The Holy Spirit Cult? If they dared to come, he would simply destroy them.