Of course, now that Liu Yuan had recruited so many Evil Soul Masters, he naturally needed to keep them under control.
After all, Evil Soul Masters were vicious and brutal by nature.
If he didn't keep them on a tight leash, their ruthless ways could easily lead to widespread devastation.
Liu Yuan didn't consider himself a good person, but he did have some principles. At the very least, he couldn't let the Evil Soul Masters under his command run amok. After all, his divine title was God of Death, not Evil God.
And so, as the number of Evil Soul Masters Liu Yuan had subjugated continued to grow,
he first established an organization of his own: the Holy Spirit Cult.
In fact, Liu Yuan had simply borrowed the name from the Holy Spirit Cult, the Evil Soul Master organization from history. His own organization was made up of Evil Soul Masters, so he felt the name suited it quite well.
As for the positions within the Holy Spirit Cult,
Liu Yuan naturally took the role of Cult Master, leading all the Evil Soul Masters in the organization.
Beneath him were three elders, all of whom were Evil Soul Masters above Level 90.
The Third Elder was Level 92, the Second Elder was Level 94, and the First Elder was Level 96.
Below the elders were the ordinary members.
Among the more than one hundred Evil Soul Masters, most had Soul Power Levels between 60 and 70. Only a handful were between Level 80 and Level 90, and not one was below Level 60.
That was the general state of the Evil Soul Master army under Liu Yuan's command.
Although their numbers were small, amounting to just over a hundred,
first, every one of these Evil Soul Masters was an elite, with a high Soul Power Level. The three elders even possessed strength on the level of Titled Douluo.
Second, these Soul Masters had all been revived by Liu Yuan, and each of them possessed at least some Power of the Death God within their bodies. That made them half-undying soldiers.
So if this Evil Soul Master legion really went into battle, Liu Yuan believed they could wipe out an entire Upper Three Sect without much trouble.
The Clear Sky Sect might put up more of a fight, since it had Tang Xiao and Tang Hao, along with a whole host of elders at the Titled Douluo level.
But against sects like the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, Liu Yuan's Evil Soul Master legion could wipe them out with ease.
Of course, that was simply what the legion was capable of. Liu Yuan hadn't sent them to do anything like that.
Ever since the Evil Soul Master legion was formed, they had kept a very low profile.
After all, Liu Yuan knew it wasn't time for him to emerge from seclusion yet.
So since its founding, the Evil Soul Master legion had mostly stayed hidden in various parts of the Douluo Continent, awaiting orders and gathering information.
As a result, Liu Yuan no longer needed to send out his clones to investigate. He could keep track of everything happening across the Douluo Continent through the information network his Evil Soul Master legion had built.
As for Liu Yuan himself,
after more than a year of hard work, he had completed two more inheritances.
The God of Death's inheritance consisted of ten trials. Once Liu Yuan completed all ten, he would inherit all of the God of Death's powers and become the new God of Death.
He had already completed two trials before. Now that he had completed two more, Liu Yuan had finished nine of the God of Death's ten trials. He was only one step away from becoming a god!
His strength was formidable, too.
By now, he no longer needed to worry about Soul Rings or Soul Bones.
Those things no longer mattered to Liu Yuan.
After all, he had already completed nine inheritances from the God of Death.
He had completed nine of the ten trials. Although he still wasn't as powerful as the God of Death, Liu Yuan already possessed the strength of a First-Class God.
What's more, he was probably in a class of his own even among First-Class Gods. Sea God, Angel God, Rakshasa God, and the like would be no match for him.
Liu Yuan had essentially become the strongest being on the Douluo Continent. All he had to do was complete the God of Death's inheritance to become the new God of Death, with strength far beyond that of a God King. Then he could emerge from seclusion and slaughter Tang San and Yu Xiaogang!
Liu Yuan had originally planned to ignore everything for a while, focus all his efforts on completing the inheritance, quickly obtain all the God of Death's power, and then emerge from seclusion and make everyone who had ever hurt him pay.
But he hadn't expected the Battle of Jialing Pass to have already begun.
According to Liu Yuan's memories, in the original story, Bibi Dong and Qian Renxue were later killed by Tang San during the Battle of Jialing Pass, allowing him to lead the nobility of the Heaven Dou Empire to victory.
This wouldn't normally have affected Liu Yuan. After all, once he completed the inheritance and emerged from seclusion, any insignificant obstacle in his path would be swept away with ease.
However, Liu Yuan was still someone who valued loyalty.
His nature was extreme: a drop of kindness would be repaid with a flood, while the slightest grudge would be returned a thousandfold.
There was no need to mention Tang San and the others. Because of the grudge between them, Liu Yuan would never let them go.
But the same went for Bibi Dong.
Back when he had yet to obtain the God of Death's inheritance, Liu Yuan had passed through Spirit City and only survived thanks to Bibi Dong's help and charity.
Later, it was even the travel money Bibi Dong had given him that allowed him to continue his journey.
So Bibi Dong had shown Liu Yuan kindness—and a great deal of it.
By now, Bibi Dong might not even know who Liu Yuan was, but he wouldn't forget what she had done for him. He wouldn't let her die at Tang San's hands.
Besides, this would benefit the entire Douluo Continent.
As long as Spirit Hall remained, both Evil Soul Masters and order across the Douluo Continent could be kept in check.
But things would be different if Tang San won. He would leave behind a huge mess, then simply walk away. The ordinary people of later generations would be the ones to suffer.
Of course, Liu Yuan wasn't some great hero. The main reason he wanted to help Bibi Dong was the kindness she had shown him. Helping the other people of the Douluo Continent was merely a side benefit.
"First Elder, Second Elder, Xiao Wu, the three of you are going to Jialing Pass."
With that in mind, Liu Yuan summoned the First Elder and Second Elder of the Holy Spirit Cult, along with Xiao Wu, who had served him all these years.
"The Battle of Jialing Pass has begun. Bibi Dong once showed me kindness, so you can help her in secret and repay that debt."
"Of course, I'm asking you to help Bibi Dong, not Spirit Hall."
"Spirit Hall is divided into two factions. One belongs to Bibi Dong. It consists of her people, so if they run into trouble, you can lend them a hand when appropriate."
"As for Qian Daoliu's faction, forget it. Don't bother whether they live or die."
Liu Yuan spoke to the three of them. At the end, he suddenly thought of Yu Xiaogang.
"Oh, right. If you get the chance, kill Yu Xiaogang while you're at it."
"I've tortured him enough already. As a cripple, he's suffered quite a bit."
"But that brat has been doing well again lately. Now that Tang San has gained the upper hand, he's back to living comfortably. It's irritating to see."
"Find a chance and kill him. I don't want to see him enjoying himself."
Before you continue