The Founder of the Holy Spirit Cult, Godly Douluo!

Meng Xinghe looked at the Martial Soul awakening certificate in his hand. It was somewhat similar to the Soul Master handbook issued by Spirit Hall.

It recorded the Soul Master's name, Martial Soul, Innate Soul Power, and awakening date.

On the certificate's cover, four great angels occupied the four corners, jointly guarding a massive golden eye in the center.

"That is the Eye of the Heavenly God, symbolizing the founder of the Holy Spirit Cult, His Excellency the Godly Douluo."

Seeing Meng Xinghe staring at the golden eye, the old assistant priest explained gently. However, when he mentioned the Godly Douluo, a trace of fervent faith flashed through his aged eyes.

Meng Xinghe remained silent and merely raised his head to glance at his fervent believer.

No, who told you people that the Eye of the Heavenly God was golden?

My eyes were obviously blue! Blue, the color that symbolized the sky!

Forget it. The ignorant were blameless. As a magnanimous man, he would not hold it against them.

In the future, when the old assistant priest learned that he had once awakened the Martial Soul of the Godly Douluo and had even touched the Godly Douluo's head, he became so excited that he fainted on the spot and nearly never woke up.

"Godly Douluo... I've heard his legends."

Meng Xinghe put on the reaction expected of an ordinary child, allowing a suitable trace of admiration and reverence to appear on his face.

After two full millennia of preaching by the Holy Spirit Cult, its founder, the Godly Douluo, was no less renowned than Sea God Tang San.

In the hearts of the common people, the Godly Douluo's prestige undoubtedly crushed that of Sea God Tang San.

Among the upper classes, however, the Godly Douluo and Tang San each had their own merits. Those who liked one simply liked one, while those who did not, did not.

A Federation with a population exceeding six billion could not possibly lack groups with differing beliefs.

After all, even heaven had factions, let alone the mortal world.

Seeing this, the old assistant priest's smile grew even more kindly.

Praise the Heavenly God. The great Godly Douluo had gained another talented Soul Master believer.

The Godly Douluo's believers were not limited to Holy Spirit Cult clergy. Anyone who favored the Holy Spirit Cult but could not join because they failed to meet its entry requirements was also a believer of the Holy Spirit Cult and worshiped the Godly Douluo.

Donations from believers were also the Holy Spirit Cult's primary source of income.

Carried away by his enthusiasm, the old assistant priest began recounting the Godly Douluo's legends at length, leaving Meng Xinghe no choice but to listen quietly at the side.

But the longer he listened, the more embarrassed he became.

The Godly Douluo of legend was practically a flawless paragon of goodness—a paragon of goodness with a sword in his hand, one who dared to defend justice with that sword.

If the Godly Douluo had not stepped forward to quell everything back then, the Holy Spirit Cult would have been branded as remnants of Spirit Hall and wiped out by the factions of that era.

If that had happened, the continent's common people would once again have fallen into the predicament of having no one to help them awaken their Martial Souls.

Over time, they would not even know what Martial Souls were. They would think humans had no Martial Souls, and even if they learned of them, they would believe that not everyone possessed one.

Due to the uniqueness of that era, the Godly Douluo's strength remained a mystery to this day.

The reason was that when the Holy Spirit Cult was founded, there were no Limit Douluo publicly known in the Soul Master world, and the number of Super Douluo could be counted on one hand.

Among the few Titled Douluo the Godly Douluo had forcefully slain, the strongest had only been Rank 95.

Thus, some speculated that the Godly Douluo might have been a Limit Douluo, though more believed he had merely been a Super Douluo.

That was not entirely wrong. Meng Xinghe's combat strength at the time had indeed not reached the threshold of a Limit Douluo.

But he had been a Soul Beast then, not a Soul Master, so those speculations had been fundamentally mistaken.

Moreover, he had only founded the Holy Spirit Cult because he knew there were no Limit Douluo in that era. Did they think he was an idiot?

If a Limit Douluo had participated in the operation to destroy the Holy Spirit Cult, then it would have been completely over.

I wasn't that perfect. But then again, which legendary figure wasn't perfect? In the hearts of those who worship Sea God, wasn't Sea God's image perfect too?

It was all for faith!

Meng Xinghe asked himself why he had supported a faction. It was to gather Power of Faith.

The Power of Faith accumulated over twenty thousand years was his greatest source of confidence in creating his own Divine Position!

Whether it was the Holy Spirit Cult or the Spirit Pagoda, all the Power of Faith they had accumulated was held in his own hands.

After a long while, the old assistant priest finally finished recounting the Heavenly God's legends, still wanting more. Looking at the child before him, he said apologetically, "Ah, when people get old, they tend to ramble. Child, I hope you don't mind."

"I don't mind. I like listening..."

After leaving Holy East Sea Church, Meng Xinghe looked toward the Spirit Pagoda across from it.

Though they were said to be right next to each other, a broad road lay between the Holy Spirit Cult's church and the East Sea Spirit Pagoda, with wide streets on both sides of the road as well.

Holy East Sea Church and the East Sea Spirit Pagoda faced one another from afar, separated by the bustling traffic.

"Spirit Pagoda, here I come."

Once the pedestrian light turned green, Meng Xinghe crossed the road and entered the East Sea Spirit Pagoda.

In the first-floor lobby, the young woman at the front desk had just been about to say something when she saw a six-year-old child walk in. Then she saw him place an awakening certificate on the counter.

Having worked at the Spirit Pagoda for several years, she almost instinctively opened the certificate. Once she clearly saw the information on it, a genuine smile instantly filled her face as she looked at the child before her.

Heavens, an opportunity for promotion and a pay raise had actually delivered itself to her doorstep. She absolutely had to seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

"Little Meng Xinghe, this way please. I'll take you to the VIP room."

Taking back the awakening certificate the receptionist returned with both hands, Meng Xinghe thought:

The Holy Spirit Cult's awakening certificate really was useful.

It was a gold-standard credential. No one would suspect the information on a Holy Spirit Cult awakening certificate of being forged.

If they did, then someone must have forged a Holy Spirit Cult awakening certificate, and the Inquisition's adjudicators were already on their way.

Within the Holy Spirit Cult, only clergy at the rank of bishop or above were qualified to join the Inquisition, and a bishop's cultivation could not be lower than Soul Saint.

No one would risk having a Holy Spirit Cult clergyman whose cultivation was at least Soul Saint come "pay them a visit" just to forge a Holy Spirit Cult awakening certificate.

The benefits simply did not match the risks. It was not worth it.

Taking the private elevator in the VIP passageway, Meng Xinghe arrived without obstruction at a luxuriously furnished room. Every corner displayed the Spirit Pagoda's lavish wealth, and even the air smelled sweet.

It was not that his sense of smell was malfunctioning. The room was suffused with specially formulated fragrance, luxurious and elegant while remaining at a perfectly suitable concentration that did not feel overpowering.

The receptionist chatted with Meng Xinghe for a while. Then the VIP room's doors opened, and a tall, cool-tempered beauty with an icy aura walked in.

Upon recognizing the newcomer, surprise flashed through the receptionist's eyes. She hurriedly bowed in greeting.

"Greetings, Pagoda Master."

"Mm. Well done. The front desk is no longer suitable for you. I'll have someone transfer you to another department."

As she spoke, the icy beauty gave the receptionist a meaningful look.

The receptionist instantly understood. Overjoyed, she left the VIP room, remembering to offer her thanks before departing.

"Thank you for your guidance, Pagoda Master!"

"Wrong. The Spirit Pagoda nurtured you; individual performance."

The icy beauty corrected her.

"The Pagoda Master is right. The Spirit Pagoda nurtured me; individual performance."

The receptionist humbly accepted the correction, then left with light, cheerful steps.