Welcoming the Holy Son Back to the Cult

What kind of background did this person Qian Gu Zhangting want her to kill have, exactly?

Nanali lowered her head, masking the sudden glimmer of dark light in her eyes.

Interesting.

Truly, it was getting more and more interesting.

A dangerous arc curled at the corners of her mouth.

I do not know how much time had passed.

The journey had been calm and peaceful.

"Let's head back. The Evil Soul Master has likely retreated by now," Luo Yang said.

"Alright."

Yuanen Yehui did not need to think; she believed she only needed to follow Luo Yang's lead.

"Big sister, where are you two from?" Nanali asked at this moment, feigning curiosity.

"We are from the Spirit Pagoda. We came here to carry out a mission and hone our practical combat skills," Yuanen Yehui replied with a smile.

"You people from the Spirit Pagoda are so great. When I grow up, I want to join the Spirit Pagoda too and serve the people," Nanali said with an expression of admiration, looking like a well-behaved child.

"That's great."

Yuanen Yehui was very happy, feeling as though she had recruited new strength for the Spirit Pagoda.

"..."

Luo Yang maintained his smile, but he thought viciously to himself.

You had better be a well-behaved child!

Otherwise.

If you really try to pull any tricks, don't blame me for grabbing those two twin tails of yours and teaching you a lesson.

They hadn't walked much further when, just as the three of them were about to exit the ruins area—

"Ahhhhhhh—!!!"

A shrill, piercing scream, like a pig being slaughtered, suddenly tore through the dead silence of the air!

"What's going on?!"

Yuanen Yehui instantly entered combat mode!

Luo Yang's gaze sharpened as he looked toward the source of the sound.

He saw a security officer wearing the gray-blue uniform of the Spirit Pagoda rushing out from a nearby alleyway like a madman!

"Dead, they're all dead—!"

"They're all dead!!"

His face was filled with horror, his eyeballs nearly bulging out of their sockets, and he let out a shriek that didn't sound human:

"Our people! The whole squad! They're all, all dead!!"

"Speak clearly!" Luo Yang blocked his path and said in a deep voice.

But the man could no longer hear a word.

His eyes suddenly went vacant, his face turned ashen at a speed visible to the naked eye, and it seemed as if something was surging violently beneath his skin—

"Pfft—!"

Right before their eyes, his entire body burst like a punctured water bag, turning into a puddle of thick, foul-smelling pus that flowed across the ground.

His clothing, Soul Tool, and bones... everything dissolved, leaving only a shocking stain behind.

Yuanen Yehui's face turned deathly pale.

Nanali's brows furrowed tightly.

Luo Yang's pupils constricted. Without hesitation, he shouted in a low voice:

"Run!"

This was not an enemy they could handle.

To be able to wipe out an entire well-equipped security squad silently, without leaving a single survivor to escape.

It was at least a Soul Saint-level Evil Soul Master, or perhaps even higher!

Running was the only option.

However.

Three minutes later.

"Have we... been here before?" Yuanen Yehui stared at the shocking puddle of pus on the ground that hadn't been cleaned up yet, her voice tight.

Luo Yang was silent.

He recognized that half-piece of a shoulder patch bearing the Spirit Pagoda emblem, which had not yet fully dissolved.

They returned to the original spot.

"Try again."

He said decisively.

The three of them chose a direction once more and sprinted at full speed.

Five minutes later.

That pool of pus appeared before their eyes again.

Yuanen Yehui's heart sank to the bottom of the abyss.

The mask of ease on Nanali's face vanished completely. She raised her head, carefully sensing the spatial fluctuations in the surroundings, her voice lowered:

"This isn't right... This isn't a soul skill, nor is it a spatial blockade..."

"It's a domain."

Luo Yang spoke, his voice calm.

"This isn't a spatial-type soul skill, nor is it an illusion; it is a domain. Its purpose isn't to trap us, but to distort our perception of space and direction, making us return to the starting point no matter how we walk."

He paused: "I also possess a domain, so I am very sensitive to this kind of aura."

Yuanen Yehui stared at him, stunned.

A domain... She didn't have one herself, but she had heard of it. It was an extremely rare and incredibly powerful ability.

"What about Aunt Leng?" Yuanen Yehui asked. "Isn't she supposed to be protecting us from the shadows? Did she not notice anything unusual either?"

Luo Yang was silent for a moment before stating the worst-case scenario:

"I am not certain if Aunt Leng is still near us. In the most optimistic scenario, she has also been dragged into this domain and is currently searching for a way to break it."

He paused.

"If it is the worst-case scenario... this domain isolates the inside from the outside, and she cannot sense us at all."

The air seemed to stagnate.

Just then—

A suffocating, terrifying aura swept in from all directions without any warning!

The aura was cold, decaying, and deathly silent, like the corpse aura accumulated over a thousand years in a mass grave, or the blood dripping from the scythe of a Death Messenger.

Yuanen Yehui's breathing suddenly became rapid.

Then.

Her expression changed drastically.

"This isn't a Soul Emperor... not even a Soul Saint! This is..."

Her words stuck in her throat.

Because that figure had already appeared.

There was no warning.

It was as if he had been standing there all along, above the ruins.

A Black-Robed Man.

His figure was tall and withered, his black cloak obscuring his entire silhouette. Beneath the hood was a deep darkness where no face could be seen, save for a single point of ghostly green light flickering in the dark like the gaze of death itself.

He hovered silently in mid-air, releasing no soul rings and revealing no soul power fluctuations.

His mere existence was enough to make one suffocate.

"Wasn't it said... that the Evil Soul Masters were only at the Soul Emperor level at most?"

Yuanen Yehui's voice was terrifyingly dry, every word seemingly squeezed out from her throat.

Luo Yang did not answer.

He knew the answer.

The intelligence was wrong.

Or rather, they were never here for those few "fish that slipped through the net" to begin with.

For a powerhouse of this level to be lurking here, there was only one possibility.

He was waiting for someone.

The Black-Robed Man finally spoke.

The voice was hoarse, low, and devoid of any emotion, as if two rusted iron plates were grinding against each other. Every word pressed heavily upon the souls of the three.

"This Seat... is the Death Messenger."

He paused, and the ghostly green light slowly swept over the three people below.

Finally.

It locked onto Luo Yang.

"By order of the Cult Master, we are here to welcome the Holy Son back to the cult."

The wind died down.

Even the air seemed to cease its flow.

The wind died down.

Even the air seemed to cease its flow.

Yuanen Yehui went rigid, her mind turning blank.

Nanali's pupils constricted sharply, her heart skipping a beat.

Order of the Cult Master? How could she not know about this?!

As for Luo Yang, his head was filled with question marks.

Wait, brother, how did I get targeted by the Holy Spirit Cult??

Luo Yang brainstormed frantically.

He suddenly thought of the only possibility: his martial soul.

Undead Scourge.

Being scouted by the Holy Spirit Cult must be because of his martial soul!

But the problem was, he had never once exposed his martial soul in front of an Evil Soul Master, nor had he ever encountered anyone from the Holy Spirit Cult.

Furthermore, the most important question of all was:

Where on earth did the Holy Spirit Cult get their information?

But there was no time to dwell on these doubts now.

Because.

The Black-Robed Man moved.

He lunged toward Luo Yang, shrouding him in darkness.