"You're with the Holy Spirit Cult."
Luo Yang raised his head and looked calmly at the Black-Robed Man hovering in midair. His tone was not questioning, but declarative.
The Black-Robed Man fell silent for a moment, then nodded.
???
Na Nali nearly let the pitiful expression on her face slip.
I've been with the Holy Spirit Cult all these years. How come I've never seen you?!
She was famous within the cult as a "social butterfly."
Well, actually, she was lazy, gluttonous, and always slacking off. She really wasn't familiar with most people in the cult.
But how could she possibly have no impression of a Titled Douluo-level powerhouse?
Unless...
A rather ominous suspicion suddenly occurred to her.
Yuanen Yehui stared intently at the Black-Robed Man.
She had never heard of the "Holy Spirit Cult," but from the name and the aura of decay swirling around the other party, she could tell that they were definitely no good.
And the "Cult Master" this Evil Soul Master had mentioned had taken an interest in Luo Yang?
"Holy Son"?
Yuanen Yehui's heart tightened.
If Luo Yang really got dragged into a place like that...
She didn't dare think any further.
Luo Yang was indeed a little speechless.
He considered himself to have kept a low profile since arriving in this world. Aside from the commotion caused by his Martial Soul awakening in the Blood God Legion, and his little clash with Qiangu Zhangting at the Spirit Pagoda, he hadn't had any contact with Evil Soul Masters at all.
So how had the Holy Spirit Cult set its sights on him?
And even chosen him as their "Holy Son"?
"I'm curious."
Luo Yang spoke up.
"There are so many Soul Masters on the continent who've awakened Evil Martial Souls. There should be plenty who'd make more suitable 'Holy Sons' than me. Why me in particular? And where did you get your information about me?"
He remembered the Holy Spirit Cult.
Its current Cult Master, the Demon Empress, could be called the biggest lovesick fool on the Douluo Continent. To avenge her husband, the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King, she would stop at nothing to destroy the Douluo Continent, hoping to use the deaths of countless living beings to ascend to godhood and then resurrect her "beloved."
That obsession was even more outrageous than those stories where a man had to chase his wife through hell and back.
The Black-Robed Man fell silent for a moment before his hoarse voice rang out:
"If the Holy Son wishes to know, then come back to the cult with me. The Cult Master will personally give you all the answers."
"You can't take me away." Luo Yang shook his head, his tone certain.
Then he turned and looked at Na Nali.
???
Na Nali felt uncomfortable under his gaze.
Why are you looking at me?
She forced an even more frightened expression onto her face and shrank behind Yuanen Yehui, her voice trembling with tears:
"I'm scared..."
"The strongest among you is only a Soul Elder," the Black-Robed Man scoffed from beneath his hood, undisguised contempt in his voice. "And the other one doesn't even have a trace of Soul Power."
His eerie green gaze swept over Na Nali. As far as he could sense, she was nothing more than an utterly ordinary little girl, with no sign of ever having cultivated.
"Or are you still hoping that woman, the Limit Douluo, will save you?"
The Black-Robed Man changed tack, a hint of amusement entering his tone:
"She is indeed powerful. If we fought head-on, I'd be dead for sure. But within my domain, even a Limit Douluo would need time to break free."
He paused, the eerie green light flickering faintly.
"By the time she gets out, you..."
Before he could finish.
His voice abruptly cut off.
Luo Yang slowly closed his eyes.
At that moment, even the wind seemed to stop.
Yuanen Yehui froze.
Na Nali's pupils abruptly contracted.
Because—
An indescribable tremor, born from the depths of the soul, was spreading out from Luo Yang like a rising tide.
Something was wrong.
Something was very, very wrong—
Na Nali's instincts were sounding the alarm like crazy.
She had seen countless powerhouses and survived countless brushes with death, but she had never before felt as if she were being watched by an existence of a higher order!
In midair, the Black-Robed Man's eerie green light flickered violently. For the first time, it wavered noticeably.
That was wariness.
And more than that... confusion.
How could a mere Soul Elder-level youth make him feel threatened?
And yet—
The answer was revealed in the next instant.
Bzzz—!!!
The entire space shook violently!
Yuanen Yehui's eyes widened in shock as she stared at the space behind Luo Yang.
There—
A door was opening.
It towered more than three zhang high, forged from an unknown grayish-white material. Ancient, intricate runes of the undead were engraved across its surface. Each rune seemed to breathe, to pulse, to sing.
Beyond the door lay endless darkness.
But deep within that darkness—
A glimmer of bright gold was emerging.
Brighter and brighter.
Closer and closer.
Like a king asleep for ten thousand years, awakened and stepping out of his chambers.
Na Nali's body began to tremble faintly, beyond her control.
Not from fear, but from excitement.
So that was it.
So that was it!
No wonder the Cult Master had set her sights on him! No wonder he was called the "Holy Son"!
The secret hidden within this youth was far more astonishing than she had imagined!
The Black-Robed Man's eerie green gaze flickered violently. For the first time, his voice carried a note of gravity.
"What... is that...?"
No one answered him.
Because the door had opened completely.
Amid the ruins.
Luo Yang stood before the doorway. His eyes, originally black, had now become a deep, indifferent crimson.
He spoke softly:
"Now, let me introduce you to—"
"My second friend."
As his words fell—
A bare jade foot stepped out through the doorway.
Slender and luminous white, with an ankle as exquisite as a work of art. It touched the rubble without gathering a speck of dust.
Next came a long, straight calf, the hem of a flowing skirt, and a waist slender enough to fit in one hand.
A figure stepped through the door, fully descending into this world.
At that moment, it seemed even the moonlight made way for her.
She was a young girl.
She looked no older than seventeen or eighteen, yet possessed a beauty so breathtaking it stole one's breath away. Her long golden hair cascaded like a waterfall, flecked with points of light. She wore a gown woven from white and gold, simple yet regal.
But what was most astonishing was what lay behind her.
Eight wings.
Pure white and sacred, as though made of the purest light, the angel wings slowly unfurled behind her. A faint golden radiance flowed along the edge of every feather.
She simply stood there in silence, without the slightest trace of Soul Power around her, yet the air throughout the ruins seemed cleansed and purified.
The Holy Angel, Ye Guyi!
Yuanen Yehui's eyes widened, and her breath caught for a moment.
She had seen powerful figures, including a peerless Limit Douluo like Leng Yaozhu, but the girl before her gave her a completely different feeling.
It was sacredness.
Pure, absolute, untouchable sacredness.
Na Nali's pupils contracted sharply. The "innocent" and "frightened" expressions on her face froze completely in that instant.
The Holy Angel.
All evil fled before her.
This was the instinctive fear etched into the bones of every Evil Soul Master!
This Martial Soul had absolute dominion over all darkness, corruption, and evil at the level of bloodline itself! It was more terrifying than a natural enemy—
It was their bane!