The Tang Sect's True Face

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's god-making plan was ultimately quite successful, but Huo Yuhao's spiritual sea was already very crowded.

Qin Chuan had no intention of being manipulated by this ice silkworm in this life, and with the "Revenge and Hatred" system, a million-year soul ring was just a cold string of numbers to him.

Since he had already chosen to cut Huo Yuhao off, the only value of Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was as a walking million Snow Hatred Value, and being recycled by the system was its greatest worth.

"Devour Electrolux's remnant soul." Qin Chuan spoke calmly.

The next moment, a pitch-black figure bearing three pairs of dark wings materialized behind him.

Third Martial Soul, Undead Angel.

The Undead Angel opened its gaping black mouth, and a terrifying suction force emanated.

A gray, indistinct mist that ordinary people couldn't see drifted slowly in this direction.

"Want to devour this old man... you don't have the ability... not good—"

The gray sphere that was Electrolux was swallowed into the Undead Angel's belly, and with the system's help, it was refined in an instant.

"Buzz buzz buzz—"

As the owner of the Undead Angel martial soul, Qin Chuan felt an astonishing power merging with him. His body alternated between being filled with sacred aura and then wrapped in deathly energy—true necromantic power. Even Ye Xishui, the strongest Evil Soul Master of this era, would likely be daunted at the sight.

The surrounding grass and trees withered at an alarming rate. Green leaves turned yellow, dried up, and scattered with the wind.

Electrolux was once the Child of Light but ultimately became the Holy Necromancer who mastered necromantic magic.

At its core, Qin Chuan's third martial soul existed between light and death. It inadvertently aligned with Electrolux, initiating a process of fusion between the two.

Qin Chuan effectively underwent repeated trials of life and death, his breath sometimes present, sometimes absent.

He sat cross-legged like this for an entire night. When the sun rose the next day, Qin Chuan stood up tall.

By now, his pupils had turned completely black, and the Undead Angel behind him had grown increasingly real.

It bore Qin Chuan's face, clad in a tattered black robe. The three pairs of Soul Wings behind it, condensed from countless undead souls, let out mournful cries with every flap. The sound pierced one's mind as it gazed coldly ahead.

Qin Chuan's voice was cold, devoid of any emotion.

"Lucky. After absorbing it, I not only gained all of Electrolux's necromantic magic but also obtained a fourth skill."

Fourth Skill: Undead Great World.

The so-called Undead Great World was a complete realm where all beings were undead. The undead's level would rise alongside Qin Chuan's soul power, equivalent to the Undead Half-Plane Huo Yuhao once possessed.

And Qin Chuan's Undead Great World was a true plane—a plane belonging solely to the undead.

Paired with the third skill he could only use after becoming a god in the future—Gate of Reincarnation—it might even create a place of reincarnation unique to this world, or even the universe.

The black in Qin Chuan's eyes faded completely, and the Undead Angel vanished along with it.

This trip to the Star Dou Great Forest had been far too rewarding.

Leaving the Star Dou Great Forest, Qin Chuan did not immediately return to the Sun Moon Empire. Instead, he headed for Shrek City, where the Martial Soul Hall was located.

Shrek Academy was built on the Lima Plain. This boundless plain covered an exceptionally vast area, home to over two million people. It was the premier city on the Douluo Continent and the heart and cradle of Shrek Academy.

Qin Chuan stood in the distance, silently gazing at the majestic city ahead. His eyes gradually turned cold.

"Ahead is Shrek City. We're almost there."

Bei Bei's warm, magnetic voice rang out as three figures approached side by side from not far away.

Qin Chuan turned his head and instantly understood who they were.

Bei Bei, Tang Ya, and Huo Yuhao, whom he had met once before.

Judging by the surging soul power around Huo Yuhao, he had likely just absorbed a soul ring. It seemed that with Bei Bei and Tang Ya's help, Huo Yuhao had already absorbed a soul ring and officially become a soul master, possibly even joining the Tang Sect.

"Good, he's already a soul master. Bei Bei and Tang Ya are only Soul Elders right now—too weak. Killing them would only yield about three thousand Snow Hatred Value. Not worth it. Fatten the pigs first."

Since Snow Hatred Value could be exchanged for soul rings and soul bones, Qin Chuan had reached the point of sizing up enemies by their cultivation level first, then calculating how much Snow Hatred Value killing them would yield. He was almost obsessed.

"Friend, are you heading to Shrek City?" Bei Bei took the initiative to ask upon seeing Qin Chuan gazing at the distant city.

"That's right." Qin Chuan nodded, neither warm nor cold.

"In that case, let's enter together. It's good to have company on the road." Bei Bei suggested.

"Then I'll gladly accept. My name is Qin Ming."

"I'm Bei Bei. This is Tang Ya, and this is my junior brother, Huo Yuhao."

Bei Bei introduced everyone one by one.

"Excuse me, have we met before?" Huo Yuhao suddenly asked. He felt that this person carried a shadow of "Brother Chuan."

"Have we?" Qin Chuan smiled and shook his head. "This is my first time in Shrek City. I've never met you before."

"I'm sorry, I was overthinking." Huo Yuhao shook his head in disappointment. He wasn't Brother Chuan. Brother Chuan didn't look like this.

Before coming here, Qin Chuan had changed his appearance using a face mask provided by the Martial Soul Hall. "Brother Chuan" was now a thing of the past.

Qin Chuan watched this scene unmoved. "Brother Chuan" had already become an important figure on Huo Yuhao's path of growth.

Inside Shrek City, the streets were bustling with surging crowds.

A Soul Tool train arrived at the station. Qin Chuan tossed in a coin, pressed the button for the street where the Soul Hall was located, and sat down with Bei Bei and the other two.

In truth, Tang Ya had been observing Qin Chuan for a long time during this journey, and she had also exchanged thoughts with Bei Bei through soul power. Both agreed that Qin Chuan was a person who concealed his true depth.

Suddenly, Tang Ya spoke up and asked, "Qin Ming, do you know the Tang Sect?"

"The Tang Sect? That sect that was crushed by the Sun Moon Empire four thousand years ago and has long since fallen into obscurity?"

Tang Ya was momentarily stunned. Bei Bei's brow furrowed slightly, and Huo Yuhao's gaze also shifted over.

Qin Chuan swept his eyes over the three of them, a faint smile curling at the corner of his mouth. "Did I say something wrong?"

"The Tang Sect hasn't declined... it's just that there are no people left." Tang Ya was excited at first, but soon her voice became barely audible.

"However, as long as you're willing to join the Tang Sect, one day my Tang Sect will reclaim the glory it had ten thousand years ago." Tang Ya envisioned the future.

Yet Qin Chuan carelessly poured cold water on that.

"The Tang Sect's decline truly lies in the progression of the era. If the Sun Moon Empire hadn't collided with the Douluo Continent four thousand years ago, then perhaps the Tang Sect would still be the number one power on the Douluo Continent today."

"But now I've heard that the Tang Sect has long been replaced by the Iron Blood Sect, and even the Tang Sect's original site has been lost. Where is this so-called Tang Sect?"

Bei Bei, who had remained silent all along, spoke up. "The Tang Sect has always been in our hearts."

"Then I'm very curious. What exactly is the Tang Sect in your heart supposed to be like?"

"Naturally, like any other sect, prosperous and thriving." Bei Bei replied.

Tang Ya, sitting beside him, nodded repeatedly. Which sect wouldn't want their own to keep getting better?

"What a shallow answer. Let me tell you what the true Tang Sect really is."

Bei Bei suddenly had a foreboding feeling, but before he could speak, Qin Chuan had already taken the lead.

"The Tang Sect was founded ten thousand years ago. The original Tang Sect Master, Tang San, established it with the purpose of opposing the Martial Soul Empire. Historical records say he became a god and left this world, so let's just say he became a god."

"I once learned from a historical text that before he left, Tang San warned the Tang Sect to destroy all hidden weapons and from then on never involve themselves in conflicts between nations."

"But in that battle four thousand years ago, it was clearly mentioned that the Three Kingdom Allied Forces using Tang Sect Hidden Weapons were far inferior to the Sun Moon Empire Allied Forces using Soul Tools."

"So let me ask, where did the Three Kingdom Allied Forces get their Soul Tools back then?"

"Of course, they were provided by our Tang Sect!" Tang Ya said proudly.

But the next second, Tang Ya realized what she'd said and immediately covered her mouth.

Qin Chuan smiled faintly. "That's right, provided by the Tang Sect. The Tang Sect was indeed glorious in the past. Before Soul Tools appeared, Tang Sect Hidden Weapons were the first choice for the three empires and even some independent soul masters. A powerful sect comes down to money and resources. Without war, where do money and resources come from?"

"Naturally, from selling hidden weapons."

"A sect that built its fortune on selling hidden weapons declined because of the emergence of Soul Tools. That's the tide of the era."

Qin Chuan looked at the three people before him, their faces pale, and shook his head. "You three are the last remnants of the Tang Sect, and you still intend to go against the current of the times to revive it, then keep being arms dealers selling weapons."

"Our Tang Sect is not as despicable as you say!" Tang Ya argued, her eyes reddening.

"Remember what I said earlier. The Tang Sect's ancestor, Tang San, once stated that the Tang Sect would exist as a sect, would not interfere in continental wars, and would never produce hidden weapons for anyone."

"You descendants have completely forgotten the ancestor's instructions. You got rich selling hidden weapons. How many people have died at the hands of hidden weapons over the millennia? Tens of thousands. While you enjoy all these resources stained with blood, you've probably long forgotten Tang San's instructions."

"This is betraying your ancestors, an act of gross impiety!"

"For a sect that defies its own ancestors like this, you still want to revive it? Is there something wrong with your head?"

Qin Chuan's relentless pressure made the usually good-tempered Bei Bei slam the table and stand up. Tang Ya was crying like pear blossoms in the rain, her head buried under the table as she sobbed.

Qin Chuan paid no attention to Bei Bei's murderous glare, instead looking at the bewildered Huo Yuhao. "A sect that betrays its ancestors like this, and you still want to join it? You really have no backbone. Could it be that if someone is just a little kind to you, you'd offer up your life? You must have been very insecure as a child."

"Shut up!" Bei Bei ground his teeth.

"What? Did I hit a nerve? Or is this what you call the Tang Sect spirit? A wicked sect that got rich selling hidden weapons and cultivated using innocent blood and resources—I don't see how it's any different from the Holy Spirit Cult today."

"The Holy Spirit Cult kills people directly. You make hidden weapons and sell them to others, letting them do the killing. You're even more detestable than the Holy Spirit Cult."

Finally, the train slowly came to a stop. Qin Chuan had arrived at his station.

Under Bei Bei's dark gaze, Qin Chuan slowly stepped off the train. "Every sect wraps itself in a flawless image, but who knows what dirty dealings go on behind the scenes? Your Tang Sect is one of them, and it certainly won't be the last."

"You still want to revive the Tang Sect's glory? Are you really unable to tolerate this peaceful era, wanting to reignite the flames of war just to keep selling weapons?"

"Desperate for money to this extent, fallen into a money pit at such a young age—your future achievements won't amount to much."

With that, Qin Chuan strode away.