Pope Palace

His current strength is at the peak of Dao Entry, which is a level 20 quasi-Soul Grand Master.

In his past life, due to the limitations of the world, by the time he began cultivating the Dao, the world was already thin on spiritual energy. Even with his natural talent, it took him a full ten years just to reach Dao Entry.

If nothing unexpected happened, he would have stopped at the Purple Mansion at best in that life, and that was not even accounting for the ever-declining spiritual energy of the world.

Driven by necessity, he studied forbidden arts in an attempt to break through the limitations of the world.

What are forbidden arts? Naturally, they are techniques that damage one's karmic virtue or possess severe flaws.

He had once practiced several forbidden arts, among which was one called the Soul Origin Scripture, which could absorb the origin of ghosts to strengthen the Primordial Spirit. Not only did it damage his karmic virtue, but it also carried the risk of causing schizophrenia.

However, he never considered himself a good person, so he felt no psychological pressure regarding the absorption of ghost origins.

It was also because the chaotic times back then were full of slaughter, so there was no shortage of ghosts. Furthermore, Shang An possessed a firm will and maintained his true self without losing it. Only after his constant refinement did he successfully master it.

In order to practice forbidden arts, he had caused quite a bit of karmic debt through slaughter, even inciting a Hundred Ghosts Night Parade in a small eastern island nation.

However, he rarely practiced or used forbidden arts in Huaxia. On one hand, it was his homeland; on the other, he feared trouble from the various great Daoist sects.

Unfortunately, there is no such thing as an airtight wall in this world. His secret practice of forbidden arts and the slaughter he caused eventually became known to others.

He was thus labeled as being on the Evil Path, and many high-level experts from the Daoist sects even descended from the mountains with sect-protecting artifacts left by their ancestors to subdue demons and eliminate monsters.

Afterward, he was forced to hide and flee constantly until he broke through to the Pure Yang Realm and suppressed the various great sects.

Then, he seized the secret manuals of various Buddhist and Daoist schools, took the best from each to make up for his own shortcomings, and tempered himself through hundreds of scriptures. Only after enduring countless hardships did he create the first version of the Great Freedom True Scripture.

Finally, in the Age of Dharma Decline, he attained the Primordial Spirit Realm.

It was also due to the lack of spiritual energy that his physical body could not transform into a celestial body; otherwise, he might have been able to achieve the Dao of Immortality directly in the Age of Dharma Decline, and there would have been no need to rely on the Teleportation Array on Kunlun Mountain.

However, although he lost the cultivation and magic power of his previous life, he improved his natural talent. Moreover, this world has abundant spiritual energy, the Dao of Immortality is within reach, and longevity is attainable. One can only say that misfortune and fortune are interdependent; there are gains and losses.

Just as Shang An was thinking, a black-robed figure, appearing both real and illusory, strode into the entrance of the Holy Temple. The crowd could not see his face, but they could feel his gaze sweeping across the hall before finally fixing on Shang An.

This must be Ghost Douluo, one of the two Heng and Ha Generals of Martial Soul Hall, Shang An thought to himself.

"You are Shang An?"

Ghost Douluo's voice rang out. He had tried his best to restrain it, but his words still sounded cold and chilling, enough to make one's hair stand on end. A child with less courage might have been frightened.

However, this was also influenced by his own martial soul.

Shang An knew that Ghost Douluo's martial soul, Gui Mei, was actually his own soul. Therefore, calling him a "living dead" was a very accurate description.

In his childhood, Ghost Douluo was an existence with very poor talent, and his martial soul was merely a useless ghost fire.

Everyone had no expectations for him; children bullied him, and even his family did not treat him well.

This made Ghost Douluo's childhood very miserable. However, it was in this environment that Ghost Douluo encountered a strange opportunity.

One day, while playing, the children in the village deliberately made him jump into a large lake.

He died, yet he did not die completely. Somehow, he returned from the Ghost Gate Pass.

His soul reunited with his body, thereby awakening the special martial soul "Gui Mei."

At this point, he was no longer the weak and easily bullied existence he once was, but had become a genius.

After undergoing this experience, which was like being reborn, he killed all his relatives and friends, and he had also killed his former self. Only one belief remained in his heart: to become stronger.

After Gui Mei became his martial soul, it provided him with powerful strength, and he eventually became a Title Douluo.

Looking back, he had become a person who was neither human nor ghost. As it turned out, the boy from back then no longer existed in the world; only the powerful and mysterious Ghost Douluo remained.

In Douluo Continent, Ghost Douluo Gui Mei was a character that left a deep impression on Shang An's memory.

After all, being reborn after death and having one's soul become a martial soul had the same effect as his own Primordial Spirit, making him very worthy of study.

Thinking this, Shang An nodded and looked at Ghost Douluo "curiously" with his large, pure eyes.

"Then come with me. His Holiness the Pope wants to see you."

After speaking, Gui Mei waved at Shang An, signaling him to follow, and then turned to walk toward the Pope Palace.

For some reason, he always felt that the way this child looked at him was a bit strange, giving him a hair-raising sensation.

Shang An followed obediently behind Ghost Douluo. In Martial Soul City, there was an iron-clad prohibition: no flying!

Within Martial Soul City, all soul masters were forbidden from flying through the air.

Anyone who flew in Martial Soul City was showing disrespect to the Pope, which was a grave crime!

Even though Gui Mei was an elder of Martial Soul Hall, he would not fly over Martial Soul City unless there was an emergency.

Walking behind Gui Mei, Shang An looked around from time to time. Martial Soul City was orderly, and its architectural style leaned toward a combination of ancient and modern.

The streets were clean and tidy, with two rows of neat streetlights on both sides. On the road, some people rode horses, some sat in carriages, and there were even vehicles similar to the cars from his previous life.

This made Shang An click his tongue in wonder; it was truly worthy of being the Douluo Continent with its skewed technology tree.

Before the age of six, Shang An had basically stayed in the orphanage. Because he was too young, the teachers at the orphanage would not let the children go out at will.

Therefore, most of Shang An's understanding of this continent came from the novels of his previous life and the books provided by the orphanage's director and teachers.

However, after today, he would become a soul master and truly integrate into this world.

Along the way, Ghost Douluo remained silent. Shang An did not mind, following behind Gui Mei while observing his surroundings on his own.

Before long, they passed through layers of architecture and arrived before the Pope Palace.

Standing in front of the Pope Palace were rows of Holy Imperial Warriors, and in Shang An's perception, the aura of each one surpassed that of Dean Qin from the orphanage.

Although the Dean was advanced in age, he was still a genuine five-ring Spirit King, which meant these Holy Imperial Warriors were very likely Spirit Emperors or even Spirit Saints.

"Open the gate."

Ghost Douluo took out his Elder Token, and the Holy Imperial Warriors bowed slightly before stepping forward to push open the gate, which stood over ten meters high.

Ghost Douluo led Shang An, who was looking around in curiosity, into the Pope Palace.

Upon entering the main hall of the Pope Palace, Shang An's first impression was that it was vast—incredibly vast—followed immediately by a sense of ancient, magnificent historical weight that rushed toward him. The Pope Palace was adorned everywhere with Angel reliefs, adding a sacred atmosphere to the hall.

Looking toward the head of the grand hall, a figure wearing a purple robe and the Nine-Curved Purple Gold Crown, possessing a breathtakingly beautiful face, sat upright upon the Pope Throne.

This was the current Pope of Martial Soul Hall, Bibi Dong.

Bibi Dong sat with an elegant posture, her entire being suffused with majesty, making one feel inferior just by looking at her.

Of course, that feeling of inferiority did not include Shang An, who was currently gazing at Bibi Dong sitting above with his pure, wide eyes.

Bibi Dong was not tall, standing at about 1.7 meters. Her brilliant golden gown fit her perfectly from head to toe, the dazzling dress shimmering with precious light, inlaid with over a hundred red, blue, and gold gemstones.

The Nine-Curved Purple Gold Crown atop her head radiated ten thousand rays of light, and she held a scepter about two meters long, encrusted with countless gems.

Her fair skin and near-perfect features made her appear truly extraordinary.

In particular, the intangible air of nobility and holiness she exuded made one unable to resist the urge to prostrate and worship.

Bibi Dong was stunningly beautiful, noble, elegant, and serene; all sorts of wonderful adjectives seemed applicable to this woman.

Although she was no longer young, the traces of time seemed to have left no mark upon her.

What a beautiful person.

Shang An sighed in his heart. In his past life, outside of his cultivation, Shang An had encountered many women and had several romantic relationships.

Although he had once been a Daoist of the Quanzhen Sect, he would never strictly adhere to the sect rules like Third Brother.

He advocated for a balance between work and rest, believing that one should experience the beauty of life while cultivating.

It was a pity that, in the end, Shang An had to watch all those women pass away before him; mortals simply had lives that were too short, and none could walk the path with him. Afterward, he stopped seeking out these short-lived beings and focused solely on his cultivation.

But the Douluo Continent was different; this was a world rich in spiritual energy where longevity was within reach, and many women, including the Bibi Dong before him, possessed the potential to become gods.

Hmm, it wouldn't be shameful to properly relax and enjoy oneself outside of cultivation, would it?

"Greetings, Your Holiness the Pope. Your subordinate has brought the person here."

Gui Mei, standing to the side, knelt on one knee and spoke toward Bibi Dong, while simultaneously nudging Shang An to signal him to kneel. Staring at Bibi Dong like that was truly quite rude; Martial Soul Hall placed great importance on etiquette.

Shang An did not hesitate and prepared to kneel on one knee; after all, he would just consider it kneeling to his future wife.

He personally admired Bibi Dong quite a bit, as he saw some of his own reflection in her.

Moreover, as someone labeled an practitioner of the Evil Path by others, he would not view these villains from the original story through colored glasses. She was merely a pitiful and tragic woman, though perhaps hateful to some.

But what did that have to do with him? He wasn't exactly a good person himself.