Undercurrents Beneath the Storm

The district housing the East Sea City administrative office was the absolute core of the city, where either high-ranking officials or wealthy magnates resided.

Just two streets away from the administrative office, outside a villa, a man in a hurried state knocked on the front door.

Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.

Thump—thump—thump.

Five short knocks and three long ones—clearly a pre-arranged signal.

Soon, the door opened from within, and someone poked their head out, pulling the man inside.

"Pei Wen, what's the situation outside?"

Pei Wen, the man who had knocked, replied, "It's a bit chaotic out there. Many civilians are panic-buying supplies. The administrative office has also issued orders to blockade all major traffic arteries, and all soul-guided trains have suspended operations to prevent anyone from taking advantage of the typhoon."

"Damn it, this typhoon came at the worst possible time!" the man who opened the door cursed.

His name was Cao Chun, and Pei Wen was his subordinate.

"I had planned to use this opportunity to make a run for it, but the people at the administrative office moved so quickly!"

"Big Brother, why don't we just surrender to the Spirit Pagoda? You're a Spirit Douluo; they won't do anything to you," Pei Wen suggested after a moment of thought.

"Shut up! I've worked so hard to establish this connection; how could I just give up now? The Lord said that once this typhoon passes, he will let us join the Holy Spirit Cult!" Cao Chun said with hatred.

"But..." Pei Wen hesitated, leaving his words unfinished.

"No 'buts'!" Cao Chun's eyes were bloodshot, like a beast ready to devour its prey. "Do you still want to live a life where everyone shouts for you to be beaten? We were living peacefully, but just because our martial souls have a bit of an evil attribute, those self-righteous people labeled us as evil soul masters?"

As it turned out, Cao Chun and Pei Wen shared the same martial soul: the Spirit-Devouring Vulture. It was a martial soul with evil attributes, but it wasn't powerful—certainly not enough to influence one's temperament.

Calling them evil soul masters was naturally absurd.

They had met in primary academy, and because their martial souls were identical, the two quickly became close friends.

Cao Chun's talent was significantly better than Pei Wen's, and his temperament was more mature, so Pei Wen called him Big Brother.

The two studied and advanced together, through intermediate academy and then advanced academy, always in the same institution.

However, just as they were about to graduate and had accepted an academy mission to gain experience in a remote border town, an accident occurred.

Evil soul masters attacked that small town, and the vast majority of the residents were slaughtered. Unfortunately, the mecha brigade from other cities arrived a step too late, allowing the group of evil soul masters to escape unscathed.

The only living people found at the scene were Cao Chun and Pei Wen, and they naturally produced their identification documents.

Yet, the administrator of that small town insisted that they were the culprits behind the attack.

The truth of the matter was obvious to anyone with eyes, but the administrator used some unknown means to convince the rescue mecha brigade.

Fortunately, their cultivation levels were not low, and they managed to escape directly.

They had intended to return to the academy and ask their teachers to clear their names, but their wanted posters were spread across the Federation by the next day.

Half a month later, having evaded the manhunt, they finally returned to the academy, only to find they couldn't even enter the gates; their student status had long since been revoked.

Helpless, the two began a life of hiding. Slowly, Cao Chun actually began to cultivate by absorbing the souls of the dead!

At first, he only went to public cemeteries to absorb souls, but later, he began killing enemies who opposed him.

However, he still retained some conscience and would not slaughter civilians.

Pei Wen, who followed him, also absorbed a few, but he didn't dare to absorb too many, so his soul power cultivation progressed much slower, leaving him only as a Spirit Emperor to this day.

Some time ago, a member of the Holy Spirit Cult contacted Cao Chun, stating that as long as they cooperated with their people to complete an operation, he would recommend them both for entry into the Holy Spirit Cult.

Having been hunted for so long, Cao Chun had dreamed of joining the Holy Spirit Cult. It was full of evil soul masters, and as a Spirit Douluo, he wouldn't be chased and forced to hide like this anymore.

Then, the Holy Spirit Cult members attacked the transport team of the Sky Sea City Spirit Pagoda, seizing a batch of soul spirits and rare treasures on the spot, and handed a portion of the soul spirits to the two of them to help divert the pressure of the pursuit.

As long as they could reach the agreed-upon meeting point in the north of the continent, they could successfully join the Holy Spirit Cult.

Pei Wen vaguely felt that something was wrong; after all, evil soul masters were part of the reason they had fallen into such a plight, yet now they were joining an organization of evil soul masters...

"Forget it!" Cao Chun gritted his teeth and whispered, "If we don't leave now, we won't be able to leave at all once the typhoon passes!"

They had relied on years of experience as fugitives to barely evade the Spirit Pagoda's pursuit, but now they were cornered in East Sea City, hiding in plain sight.

If they hesitated any longer, they would never be able to escape.

Therefore, they had to take advantage of this typhoon to get out of East Sea City; it was their only chance at survival.

In the top-floor office of the East Sea City Spirit Pagoda, Leng Yaozhu sat in the main seat, while Lu Fengnian stood respectfully beside her.

"Elder Lu, how are those two people I told you to watch?"

Lu Fengnian replied, "Those two are currently in the villa we identified, and they haven't made any further moves yet."

"Hmm." Leng Yaozhu nodded. "Although these two are just smoke bombs thrown out by the evil soul masters, they are carrying a portion of the soul spirits, so they must be brought back."

This time, the evil soul masters' operation had resulted in the theft of ten top-grade purple soul spirits, several yellow and white soul spirits, and a large batch of medicine.

If it were just soul spirits, it would be fine, but that batch of medicine contained many extremely precious treasures—the quota for Sky Sea City for several years—and even some forbidden drugs that enhanced potential, which had long been banned by the Federation.

Of course, the public excuse remained the recovery of the soul spirits.

"Honestly, this typhoon couldn't have come at a worse time—right when we were about to close the net." Leng Yaozhu rubbed her temples; this typhoon had introduced many variables into her plan.

"I hope nothing unexpected happens."

"By the way, how is my prospective disciple doing, and that fellow Long Yuan?"

"Brother Long has been busy researching forging lately. As for Miss Gu Yuena..." Lu Fengnian recalled, "she has been attending classes at East Sea Academy as usual, though it seems she isn't staying in the student dorms?"

"Not staying in the dorms?"

"That's right. I heard... she seems to be living in Brother Long's dormitory. He holds a position at East Sea Academy, so he has a private room."

Leng Yaozhu bit her lip.

"That really is... a beast..."