Douluo: Founding the Heavenly Court from the Holy Spirit Cult

The pursuit continued for half an hour before finally coming to a halt, as the trail had gone cold.

It was primarily because the duration of Wan Hun's Avatar of the Martial Soul had expired, forcing him to make a decisive retreat.

With no traces of the battle left and the pitch-black darkness of night, tracking him further was impossible.

Though regretful, Yang Hao did not linger. He immediately returned to his previous stronghold to rest, activating the comprehension boost of his cheat to contemplate the devoured Phoenix Fire and compare it with the Ultimate Ice attribute he had obtained from the Ice Jade Scorpion Soul Bone.

By the time dawn broke, Yang Hao was just about to chew on some dry rations when a ball of fire flew past from not far away, then, as if sensing Yang Hao's presence, it changed direction and lunged toward him.

At the same time, the Phoenix Fire on Yang Hao's spider leg soul bone began to resonate—resonating with the person approaching.

Needless to say, the newcomer was Ma Xiaotao.

Before Yang Hao could react, Ma Xiaotao swooped down at incredible speed, pinning him to the ground, and then her burning, scarlet lips descended, intent on stealing the first kiss Yang Hao had cherished for two lifetimes.

What the hell is going on?

Yang Hao was stunned, instinctively turning his head to protect his pure first kiss.

But what kind of situation was this?

He immediately met Ma Xiaotao's dazed eyes and felt the violent, evil energy continuously erupting from her body, and he instantly understood what was happening.

Clearly, her Evil Fire had flared up, and she had lost control.

Unlike Ma Hongjun from ten thousand years ago, Ma Hongjun was a man and could go to such places to expend his Evil Fire, but Ma Xiaotao, being a woman, naturally could not do so, so she chose to suppress it constantly.

However, as the saying goes, blocking is not as effective as dredging. This kind of suppression usually seemed fine, but once it erupted, it was fatal and enough to make one lose control.

In the original work, Ma Xiaotao had lost control many times because of this, and now she was clearly out of control, perhaps even related to the earlier encounter with Wan Hun.

So now the question arose: should he resist fiercely, preferring death over submission, or should he save a life, which is better than building a seven-story pagoda?

"Amitabha, I am just too kind!"

Looking at Ma Xiaotao's beauty, Yang Hao sighed and ultimately decided to sacrifice himself to save her.

Who else but him had such a kind heart?

Thinking of this, he formed his hand into a blade and struck the back of Ma Xiaotao's neck.

This hand-chop made Ma Xiaotao's body sway, but she continued to follow her instincts.

"TV shows are all lies!"

After a moment of silence, Yang Hao took a wooden stick from his storage soul tool and struck her, finally making the young girl go quiet.

Without delay, he manipulated his fire-attribute spider leg to pierce Ma Xiaotao's shoulder, devouring the soul power within her body, along with that evil energy.

He did not have the bad habit of selfless dedication; he could save someone, but not for free, and this Phoenix Evil Fire was the best reward.

He had felt that he hadn't absorbed enough earlier, and now that she had delivered herself to his doorstep, he naturally had to absorb a bit more.

After all, this was Ultimate Fire, which was very rare.

As the soul power and evil energy in her body were devoured, Ma Xiaotao's physical state gradually stabilized, and she stopped twisting and struggling.

On the other side, Dai Yueheng and the others were tracking from behind, but unfortunately, they did not know that Ma Xiaotao had changed direction because of the Phoenix Fire on someone, and they continued to pursue in a straight line along the previous path, missing her entirely.

After Yang Hao had devoured all the soul power from Ma Xiaotao, he decisively hoisted her onto his shoulder and moved to a new location.

That's right, he would not let Ma Xiaotao go back. For one, he needed to devour more Phoenix Fire to evolve his fire-attribute spider leg, and for another, Ma Xiaotao was a good "letter of introduction."

In the original work, as the Fire Phoenix Saintess, she was deeply loved by Feng Ling, the Vice Holy Master of the Holy Spirit Cult. She even risked taking people to attack Shrek Academy to snatch her away, designating her as the Fire Phoenix Saintess of the Holy Spirit Cult and grooming her as a disciple and successor.

This was an important bargaining chip for him to get promoted, receive a raise, become the Holy Son and Holy Master within the Holy Spirit Cult, marry a wealthy beauty, and reach the pinnacle of his life.

He sprinted all the way while carrying Ma Xiaotao, knocking her out every time she woke up, then devouring the soul power that recovered on its own within her body, only feeding her some fresh water during the process.

He ran out of the Mingdou Mountain Range and deep into the Sun Moon Empire for hundreds of miles before stopping, finding a hidden place to continue devouring Ma Xiaotao's Phoenix Fire.

Once she entered the Holy Spirit Cult, her status would become noble, and it would certainly not be easy to devour her Phoenix Fire again, so he had to take advantage of the present to devour as much as possible.

Upon waking up again, Ma Xiaotao rubbed the back of her aching head, and after feeling the large bump there, she winced in pain.

"Who are you?"

After regaining her composure, she glared at the young man, gritting her teeth.

"My name is Yang Hao; you shouldn't be unfamiliar with this name."

Yang Hao, who was flipping the roasted meat, replied, stating his name.

"Yang Hao?"

Ma Xiaotao was puzzled, but then she reacted, her eyes widening.

"You are that Yang Hao, the evil soul master who killed seven of our teachers and students at Shrek half a year ago."

She was naturally not unfamiliar with this name; it was the first mission failure she had experienced after joining the Shrek Inspectorate.

Afterward, the academy and Dai Yueheng contacted the three great empires to post wanted posters, confirmed his identity through the Strength Clan, and even the son and grandson of the Strength Clan's patriarch had been murdered by him.

She never expected to run into this damned evil soul master again.

Chapter 16: Vice Holy Master

"You actually dared to ruin my purity."

Feeling the stinging sensation and coolness below, combined with fragmented memories from when she had lost control, Ma Xiaotao gritted her teeth in hatred; she had actually lost her purity to an Evil Soul Master.

"You can eat whatever you want, but you can't just say whatever you want."

Yang Hao was stunned for a moment before retorting unhappily.

"I only knocked you out back then and devoured the Phoenix Evil Fire on your body. I didn't do anything else."

"Still trying to quibble? I can feel it, and one of my stockings and boots were taken off by you."

Ma Xiaotao wished she could burn him to ashes.

Unfortunately, she currently had not a shred of soul power in her body, and her hands and feet were shackled, making it impossible to resist.

"Big breasts, no brains."

Shaking his head speechlessly, Yang Hao pointed to the golden catheter inserted into Ma Xiaotao's fiery red long stocking.

"That is a catheter I made from a Gold Soul Coin. When I was carrying you and running wildly earlier, your urine was shaken out, so I had to find a way to relieve you. Since it was my first time doing it, my technique was a bit clumsy, which inevitably caused some minor damage, but it's at most a little stinging. Besides, I've already applied medicine to you using the catheter, so it won't get inflamed or infected. Because you wet one stocking, I had to take it off and burn it; I didn't want to run away while smelling you."

Even beauties have to eat, drink, and excrete; it is an instinct of bodily function that is hard to avoid unless one becomes a god.

"A catheter?"

Looking down in a daze and staring at the thin golden tube, Ma Xiaotao immediately imagined some unsightly scenes. Her fair, pretty face flushed red, and she bit her teeth even harder.

"I will kill you!"

This bastard is too detestable; he must die!

"Your Shrek Academy is full of people who don't use their brains. No wonder you get used by others without even realizing it. Pitiful, pathetic."

Yang Hao took a bite of roasted meat, expressing his disdain for Shrek, along with a suppressed hatred.

The highest realm of acting is to immerse oneself completely and merge perfectly with the character's persona, and since this hatred was real, he only needed to perform as himself.

"You are not allowed to insult our Shrek."

Ma Xiaotao was annoyed; insulting her was fine, but insulting Shrek was absolutely not.

"That wasn't an insult, it was the truth."

Yang Hao put down the roasted meat and recounted with sorrow and indignation: "Four and a half years ago, a family was exterminated because of a Soul Bone. Only one person escaped with the bone, but due to severe injuries, he eventually died on the road. My parents found his corpse, obtained the Soul Bone, and gave it to my brother to refine. Although they erased all traces at the time, it was still discovered by someone—Tai Wuji, the son of the Strength Clan leader Tai Jingang. He was a comrade-in-arms with my parents and had a bond of life and death. My parents served in the military, so he plotted to frame them, triggering the evil attributes in one of my mother's soul rings, turning her into an Evil Soul Master, and he also schemed to kill many people. He then reported it to the White Tiger Duke, who was stationed at the border, leading to my parents being stripped of their military ranks and hunted down. My parents fought to the death to escape, came back to see my brother and me, and then left, never to return. Only later did I learn that your Shrek Inspectorate was also involved, killing and beheading my parents to take their heads back for verification, while their bodies were surely abandoned in the wilderness to be devoured by beasts. My brother was later secretly harmed by the Strength Clan, who seized the Soul Bone, and my own martial soul was shattered. I was taken to their clan territory under the guise of adoption and care, and it wasn't until half a year ago that I found an opportunity to take revenge and escape. Afterward, I encountered your Shrek people, who wanted to capture me and take me back. The Strength Clan originates from the Tang Sect and are subordinates of the Sea God, having close ties with your Shrek. They even have several disciples studying at your Shrek, and that father-son duo, Tai Jingang and Tai Wuji, are from your Shrek Academy. I knew I couldn't be caught by your Shrek, or I would surely die, and no one would believe me, so I killed them. Since then, I've been hiding and fleeing all the way to this Sun Moon Empire. Heaven has pity on me, letting me meet you here, a genius of Shrek Academy."

After venting these words, Yang Hao glanced coldly at the young girl and continued to gnaw on his roasted meat.

"Impossible, you're lying. You're just an Evil Soul Master."

Ma Xiaotao was stunned for a long time before she came back to her senses and retorted decisively; she would never believe the words of an Evil Soul Master.

"See this? This is called Metal Control, the skill from that Soul Bone. That catheter of yours was molded by me using a Gold Soul Coin."

Yang Hao manipulated the small knife used for cutting meat to hover around him, demonstrating that this was the power of that Soul Bone.

"Don't think you can fool me."

Ma Xiaotao didn't believe him at all; the words of an Evil Soul Master were absolutely untrustworthy, and she didn't believe that their Shrek could be used in such a way, or even used as a tool to kill others.

"You're a person on the verge of death; do I need to lie to you?"

Sneering, Yang Hao said that mainly to plant a new perception in her heart.

After all, they would be colleagues in the future; it would be very troublesome if they were truly hostile and hateful toward each other.

As a member of the Holy Spirit Cult, the future Holy Son and Holy Master, he had to strive for the unity of the cult and could not afford the slightest carelessness.

"Wait, your voice... I feel like I've heard it somewhere before."

Ma Xiaotao discovered a problem and thought for a long time before she finally remembered, though she was somewhat uncertain.

"Are you that Number Nine from the Starlight Auction House?"