Predicament and Breakthrough

Gui Xiao's arrival would naturally alter the existing power structure, but Mu Feng had never expected it to happen so quickly. In just one month, nearly all the branch masters had bypassed him, the Holy Son, and chosen to deal directly with Gui Xiao.

This left Mu Feng with little to do, though he still made regular visits to inspect the sites. He continued to punish anyone who violated his rules as usual, yet Gui Xiao seemed to turn a blind eye to it all and never even asked a single question.

Thanks to Gui Xiao, the Angel Holy Church shed its previous month's caution under his leadership and expanded at an astonishing pace.

It had gone from small villages on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest to gradually infiltrating border towns across the three great empires.

Sometimes, when Mu Feng strolled through Shrek City, someone would even quietly slip him a flyer inviting him to join the Holy Church.

Under Gui Xiao's careful design, the Holy Church's Angel God statue had been fashioned into a Holy Angel holding a longsword, with an indistinct face and the graceful figure of an adult woman. It bore absolutely no resemblance to Mu Feng himself.

However, Faith Power did not change because the statue's appearance had changed. As long as the doctrines Mu Feng had left behind remained, and as long as they continued to guide the believers, his Faith Power would not be cut off.

Yet strangely, although the Holy Church's followers had grown from a few dozen to several hundred, the ball of holy light energy in Mu Feng's spiritual sea had barely increased.

Electrolux explained that Faith Power came from the devout prayers of believers. Simply increasing the number of followers provided no benefit at all.

And that was indeed the case. Under Gui Xiao and Wei Yan's leadership, the Holy Spirit Cult quickly abandoned Mu Feng's original method of establishing relief halls.

They had largely given up on recruiting common people as believers, instead placing greater emphasis on Soul Masters. Their recruitment methods were primarily based on material incentives, resulting in Soul Masters of wildly varying quality joining them.

Even beneath the several villages that had formed the Holy Church's original core, Gui Xiao had hollowed out the underground and converted it into strongholds. Over this past month, he had practically developed the Angel Holy Church into a second Holy Spirit Cult.

Watching his plans and hard work likely go to waste under that fool's command, Mu Feng knew that if he wanted to change the Holy Church and pull it back onto its intended path, the most difficult and unavoidable obstacle before him was Gui Xiao.

Over the past month, Gui Xiao had taken advantage of Mu Feng's time at Shrek Academy to secretly entice the branch masters. These evil Soul Masters had long been dissatisfied with the righteous doctrines and strict rules Mu Feng promoted, so they easily defected to Gui Xiao's side.

In the end, Mu Feng, the Holy Son, had completely become the Holy Church's mascot.

It could be said that after a month, Mu Feng was back to square one. Worse still, according to Electrolux, the power of holy light had sometimes receded over the past month, meaning that the true believers of the Angel Holy Church he had founded were decreasing rather than increasing.

Its core doctrines were gradually being eroded by the Holy Spirit Cult. Before long, the rules and teachings he had left behind would likely be erased by Gui Xiao himself.

Ever since realizing this cruel truth, Mu Feng had constantly searched for a way to break the deadlock. Most of the time, his brows were tightly furrowed, and anyone could see the deep worry on his face.

He had considered countless methods, but in the end, he could not get around Gui Xiao's Soul Douluo-level combat strength.

Mu Feng sighed. He had thought that, with two Soul Sage-level fighters by his side, Zhongli Wu would not be foolish enough to waste resources by sending another agent to interfere.

But no matter how thoroughly Mu Feng calculated, he had failed to account for the warped obsession with power Zhongli Wu had developed under Ye Xishui's long-term oppression.

Furthermore, Zhongli Wu had sent a Soul Douluo-level expert from the very start. If Gui Xiao had merely been a Soul Sage, Mu Feng believed he would still have feared the Black and White Impermanence at his side. But before a Soul Douluo, Mu Feng could not even be sure whether Xiao Hei and Little White would switch sides out of fear of the overwhelming gap in strength.

By sheer coincidence, Zhongli Wu's move had nearly forced Mu Feng into becoming completely isolated.

After explaining the situation to Electrolux, Mu Feng had hoped Electrolux could act and remove this obstacle. But Electrolux had remained silent for several days without responding.

That was one reason Mu Feng sighed. If even Electrolux had given up, was there any point in him, a Soul Ancestor, competing against a Soul Douluo?

Beside Sea God Lake, the slightly cool breeze drifted through the dense grove. Mu Feng sat on a bench, gazing toward the faint light in the direction of the inner academy at the lake's center.

Without realizing it, whenever he felt lost and confused, Mu Feng would always unconsciously come to this vast lake. Only here could he calm his mind. Over time, this secluded spot had become one of Mu Feng's secret bases.

"I'm ready," the long-silent voice sounded once more.

Mu Feng froze for a moment before saying in delight, "Elder Yi, you're finally awake. I thought you were preparing to give up."

Electrolux explained, "A Soul Douluo's strength is indeed formidable. With the power I currently possess, I fear that acting even once would leave my soul in a precarious state."

Mu Feng asked in confusion, "Then what did you mean when you said you were ready?"

"Do you remember the plane I mentioned when I helped you absorb your soul ring?" Electrolux said. "I have been absorbing the power of its laws within it these past few days."

"You little fellow may not know this, but I am a necromantic holy mage known to the world as the Calamity of the Undead," Electrolux explained.

Electrolux said solemnly, "The dimensional space I possess is called the Undead Demiplane. It was a space I created while researching undead magic, and over time, it gave birth to the power of laws."

"Although directly killing him would consume a great deal of my power, I can use the laws of my Undead Demiplane to contaminate this Soul Douluo and turn him into part of my demiplane. That would solve the problem."

Mu Feng's face lit up, but he immediately thought of something and hurriedly asked, "Would that directly kill the target as well?"

Gui Xiao's existence was certainly troublesome, but killing him outright was only the worst option. After all, he had been sent by Zhongli Wu. If he died here directly, it would be far too suspicious and would inevitably make Zhongli Wu suspect Mu Feng.

Electrolux said, "No, but he will completely lose his sense of self. Still, relying on his Soul Douluo-level strength, he will retain a small amount of intelligence."

"But I only have one chance to act. And because he is so powerful, the process will require a certain amount of conversion time to succeed. During that time, he cannot resist too fiercely, and it must be done without anyone nearby interfering."

Mu Feng drew a deep breath and pondered. "Keeping others from interfering should be easier, but making a Soul Douluo obediently refrain from resisting seems no less difficult than killing him outright."