After hearing Blood Blade Douluo's words, Lin Yun finally nodded and agreed to go with him.
"But first, I'm taking her out of here."
Lin Yun looked at Zhang Lexuan, who had fainted amid the commotion just moments ago.
"No, no, no. All three of them have to come with us!"
Inside the carriage, Blood Blade Douluo said,
"You don't need to feel resentful, either. When the time comes, just let those two stay by your side. Isn't that nice? You'll have two delicate flowers at your side, and it'll save you a lot of trouble with mundane affairs. It'll be much easier to rise further."
Lin Yun took a deep breath and eventually stopped arguing. He simply asked calmly,
"Then where are you taking me?"
Blood Blade Douluo replied,
"To our Holy Spirit Cult headquarters, of course. You'll find out exactly where it is once you're one of us."
Lin Yun nodded and stopped looking at Blood Blade Douluo, turning instead to gaze out the carriage window.
By and large, the factions on Douluo Continent were all rotten. Whether it was the Holy Spirit Cult or the so-called Shrek Academy, neither mattered much to Lin Yun. He wasn't some benighted native, after all.
Everywhere was just a place to grow stronger. In the end, what to do was still Lin Yun's choice.
He just didn't know how the upcoming Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament would proceed now that Ma Xiaotao and two elders were gone.
According to Blood Blade Douluo, only Chen Zifeng, Dai Yueheng, Ling Luochеn, and Xixi remained of Shrek's previous generation of the Seven Devils.
Three had been lost before the tournament even began. Lin Yun was rather eager to see what Shrek Academy would do.
A little over ten days later, in a remote mountain range in the Sun Moon Empire.
Zhang Lexuan watched Lin Yun bring her a cup of water. Her expression was complicated, and her eyes filled with struggle and pain as she asked him,
"Are you really going to join the Holy Spirit Cult and become an Evil Soul Master?"
Lin Yun reached out and smoothed Zhang Lexuan's bangs.
"What do you think we should do? Die for some lofty, illusory notion of justice, while the evildoers in the Holy Spirit Cult keep doing as they please—and throw away two lives that could one day reach the rank of Titled Douluo?"
"To put it more bluntly, doing that would be a loss for this world."
Lin Yun's words left Zhang Lexuan silent. Then he gently stroked her cheek to comfort her.
"At least this way, we survived. And if we can secure even a minor position in the Holy Spirit Cult, we can keep our subordinates from committing as many evil deeds. That's definitely better than throwing our lives away for nothing."
Zhang Lexuan closed her eyes and leaned slightly against Lin Yun's palm. Her clenched hand slowly relaxed, clearly persuaded.
The door, which could only be opened from the outside, suddenly swung open. Blood Blade Douluo said,
"All right. The ritual I prepared for you is ready. Come with me."
Lin Yun looked at the noticeably younger man standing behind Blood Blade. He pointed at him, then said,
"Senior Blood Blade, please keep watch here. I'll go with this senior."
Blood Blade's interest was piqued. He curled his lips into a smile and said,
"You're quite trusting of this old man, little one."
Lin Yun abruptly turned around. A yellow, diamond-shaped crystal appeared above his head, and an oppressive force that made Evil Martial Souls bow in submission suddenly poured toward Blood Blade Douluo.
Lin Yun's voice had changed, growing cold and resolute.
"It has nothing to do with whether I trust you. I trust my own strength, and I'm absolutely certain I can take you down with me."
The crystal Lin Yun had obtained earlier in Flying Star City was the remnant soul of the first two characters in the Holy Spirit Cult's name: "Holy Spirit" itself.
It was also the second half of the cult's motto: "Let holy light shine upon the earth, and let the Holy Spirit descend upon the mortal world."
This so-called Holy Spirit was, like Electrolux and the Evil Eye Clan, an extraterrestrial visitor from another plane who had come to Douluo Continent.
When the Holy Spirit first arrived several thousand years ago, it couldn't control its power. It radiated a light that could interfere with human minds, causing the Martial Souls of some Soul Masters to undergo unusual mutations.
Specifically, it could affect people's emotions and personalities. For example, some classic Dark-attribute Martial Soul users tended to become extreme and commit evil deeds. Taotie Martial Soul users, meanwhile, loved to eat.
Their genes had all been influenced, to varying degrees, by the Holy Spirit's divine light.
That was why, during the Douluo I era, Bone Douluo, who possessed the Bone Dragon Martial Soul, and Ghost Douluo, who possessed the Ghost Martial Soul, hadn't been influenced by their Martial Souls into becoming madmen who only wanted to kill.
Yet by the Douluo II era, several Bone Dragon Martial Soul users had appeared who committed evil deeds, along with the wicked cultivation methods of many other Martial Souls.
For example, Blood Infant Douluo's practice of sucking the blood of infants was also caused by interference from the Holy Spirit's light.
Why the Holy Spirit had ended up like this—or why it was still called the Holy Spirit despite being such a mess—only the gods knew. The remnant soul Lin Yun possessed couldn't remember.
But that remnant soul was a real help at critical moments. It had promised to act once if Lin Yun burned seventy years of his lifespan.
In a situation where no one could really afford to make a move and the threat was purely for show, that was certainly useful.
Blood Blade Douluo was also the most cowardly, life-loving Evil Soul Master. Other Evil Soul Masters killed because they wanted to. He killed because if he didn't, his Martial Soul would turn around and kill him.
He was one of those who couldn't survive without fighting.
At heart, he was a coward who clung to life. Naturally, Lin Yun's approach worked on him.
Lin Yun followed the young man, who hadn't said a word the entire time and had the expression of a stone-faced statue, into one of the Holy Spirit Cult's halls.
On the right side of the hall, Ma Xiaotao was bound by chains and immersed in a crimson pool.
"Do I have to soak in it too?"
Lin Yun narrowed his eyes. For the first time, he spoke to the stone-faced young man leading the way.
The young man paused, then replied,
"Yes. This is the Martial Soul Awakening and Dark Resurrection ritual. But you're doing it voluntarily, so there's no need to use the Blood Chain to melt away your memories, and you don't have to soak for as long."
Lin Yun nodded. No wonder the Holy Spirit Cult had so many people who could absorb Soul Rings beyond their limits. Turns out they had their own special tricks.
That was fine. He'd just learn from a hundred different schools.
With that thought, Lin Yun was led to the center of the hall.
"What do I do?"
The stone-faced young man said,
"Just walk in. If you want to make it more ceremonial, you can take your clothes off first; it won't make any difference. Sit in the middle of the pool, then don't think about anything. Just let your body handle it."
Lin Yun nodded, walked into the pool, and slowly sat down. Then he closed his eyes.
A powerful surge of Soul Power poured into Lin Yun's body. At the same time, he felt a cold breeze sweep past.
The instant he opened his eyes again, he saw a thousand-zhang-tall Three-Headed Bone Dragon standing quietly before him. The cold breeze just now had been the breath from one of its heads, lowered toward him.
It was the true form of the Skeletal Bone Dragon. All six of its eyes were fixed on Lin Yun as it sent him a single, united will:
"We pledge ourselves to you as our emperor!"
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