Would You Rather Remain an Obscure Loser for Life, or Become the Demon's Most Loyal Servant?

Hearing Qian Jue's frivolous, almost casual reply, Tang Ya fell silent.

Her gaze remained fixed on the parchment floating in midair, intense struggle flashing through her eyes.

Her instincts were screaming frantically: once she accepted this power, her life would completely stray from its original path and plunge into an abyss of no return.

But at the same time, this was her only chance to avenge her parents and the brothers and sisters of the Tang Sect who had died!

"What's wrong? Having second thoughts?"

Seeing the girl frozen in place, the smile on Qian Jue's lips turned cold, his words pressing forward like blades.

"Looks like your desire for power, your determination to reclaim the Tang Sect and avenge your parents, is nothing more than this."

"Are you planning to hide in this gutter and live out your life as an obscure, homeless cur, or will you seize this power, avenge your parents, and reclaim what belongs to you? Choose."

"Dad... Mom..."

Qian Jue's words seemed to trigger something, and nightmarish images instantly surged into Tang Ya's mind:

The Ironblood Sect's arrogant faces, the Tang Sect estate stained red with blood, and the miserable sight of her parents desperately sending her out of the encirclement.

At that thought, the hesitation in Tang Ya's eyes was completely swallowed by madness and resolve.

She no longer hesitated. Suddenly raising her head, she stared straight at Qian Jue. Her young voice carried a bone-chilling firmness. "What should I do?"

To avenge her parents, she could no longer care about anything else!

Even if the price of this power was her soul, even if this contract took her life, as long as she could kill those beasts from the Ironblood Sect, it would all be worth it!

"You made the correct choice."

Qian Jue smiled in satisfaction, a trace of approval in his eyes. "Cut your finger and drip your blood onto this parchment."

Without hesitation, Tang Ya bit through her fingertip.

Crimson blood seeped out, running along her trembling fingertip before falling precisely onto the parchment burning with dark-red patterns.

Sizzle— The instant the blood touched the contract, the parchment squirmed violently as though alive. Then it transformed into a dense gray-black mist that instantly engulfed Tang Ya's small body.

"Mm..." Tang Ya felt a scorching, violent current surge madly from her fingertip into every corner of her body, forcing a pained groan from her throat.

Then, the resentment and dark aura that had lain hidden in the deepest parts of her body erupted like a volcano under the Demon Contract's forceful stimulation!

"Aah—!!!" A shrill scream rang out from the gray mist, shaking dust from the stone walls of the alley.

"What did you do to that child?!"

Zhang Lexuan, standing in the distance, was horrified. No longer caring about her wariness of Qian Jue, she rushed forward.

In her perception, Tang Ya's originally weak aura was rising at an extremely terrifying rate, while that nauseating dark aura spread and rooted itself wildly within her like weeds.

"Don't be nervous. I'm merely awakening the power that truly belongs to her."

Qian Jue reached out to stop Zhang Lexuan from approaching. He watched the figure in the gray mist with interest. "She's a one-in-ten-thousand talent."

At that moment, Tang Ya's martial soul burst uncontrollably from her body.

The originally frail, pale-blue Blue Silver Grass instantly turned an eerie black under the frenzied corrosion of dark power.

Furthermore, every blade of grass ignited with a layer of icy, violent dark-red demonic flame!

Along with the dark mutation of her martial soul, Tang Ya's soul power also underwent an explosive eruption.

Level thirteen... level fifteen... level eighteen... level twenty!

In just a few breaths, her soul power forcibly broke through its bottleneck and rose directly to the threshold of a level-twenty Grand Soul Master!

As the gray-black mist gradually dispersed, Tang Ya reappeared before them.

It was not just her strength and martial soul that had transformed. Under the catalysis of the Demon Parchment, Tang Ya's body underwent astonishing development as well.

Her originally small, thin body was forcibly stretched taller.

Her immature curves became full and mature with the abundance of power. The weakness she once possessed faded away, replaced by a startlingly seductive and dangerous aura that radiated from her entire body.

Tang Ya stared blankly at her fair, slender hands, feeling the unprecedented, surging soul power within her, like raging waves.

The black Blue Silver Grass coiled around her fingertips radiated a heart-pounding heat and aura of destruction. This power, as though she had been reborn, made her feel as if a lifetime had passed.

She took a deep breath, suddenly turned around, and bent deeply at the waist before Qian Jue in a ninety-degree bow.

Qian Jue remained calm. He merely reached out and lightly patted her shoulder, which trembled faintly from excitement, speaking casually.

"Make good use of this power. Now, go do what you need to do."

"I will never forget your great kindness, Senior!"

Tang Ya raised her head. There was no longer the slightest trace of her former weakness or confusion in her eyes, only absolute determination.

"If I return alive today, Tang Ya is willing to repay the grace of your rebirth with this life!"

As she spoke, a terrifying viciousness flashed through Tang Ya's eyes.

She abruptly turned around and strode away without the slightest hesitation, heading directly toward the former site of the Tang Sect.

That was, the direction where the Ironblood Sect now stood.

Though her back was thin, it now carried a tragic killing intent that would slay gods who blocked her path and kill Buddhas who stood in her way.

Watching Tang Ya's figure gradually vanish at the end of the alley, Qian Jue did not hurry after her.

He slightly turned his head and met Zhang Lexuan's furious, incredulous gaze.

"Elder Xuan was right. You're a complete and utter madman!"

Zhang Lexuan glared at Qian Jue, her chest heaving violently with anger.

"Do you even know what you're doing? You personally turned a child into an Evil Soul Master stripped of all humanity!"

"A madman?" Rather than becoming angry, Qian Jue seemed to have heard an exceptionally amusing joke.

He turned around and looked at the furious Zhang Lexuan with interest. "Then may I ask, exactly how does Shrek define an 'Evil Soul Master'?"

Zhang Lexuan was just about to retort when Qian Jue interrupted her with a cold laugh.

"Could it be that anyone who awakens a dark-attributed martial soul or uses dark power is, in your eyes, immediately nailed to the pillar of shame and branded an unforgivable Evil Soul Master?"

Qian Jue pressed on relentlessly, his eyes filled with undisguised mockery.

"Then by that logic, the genius from Shrek Academy's inner court, Ma Xiaotao, awakened the Evil Fire Phoenix martial soul."

Qian Jue deliberately emphasized the words "Evil Fire."

"There's clearly an 'evil' in its name. Not only is her martial soul evil, but the backlash of that evil fire can make her lose her mind and slaughter innocents.

By that reasoning, isn't she also an Evil Soul Master through and through?"

Zhang Lexuan's pupils constricted sharply, and her face instantly turned pale. "You... you're talking nonsense! Xiaotao isn't—"

"Isn't what? Isn't an Evil Soul Master?"

Qian Jue sneered, his gaze instantly turning merciless and sharp.

"When others awaken dark martial souls, they're Evil Soul Masters. But when one of your Shrek people awakens an evil-fire martial soul, she's a genius who needs protection?

Not only do you refuse to kill her, you even pour the academy's resources into shielding her and suppressing her evil fire?"

Qian Jue walked up to Zhang Lexuan and looked down at her bloodless face. Every word was like a blade piercing her heart.

"What happened to protecting peace on the continent? Shouldn't your Shrek Inspection Group uphold justice over personal ties and eradicate this potential Evil Soul Master threat in its cradle?"

Seeing Zhang Lexuan sway on the verge of collapse, rendered speechless, the smile on Qian Jue's lips grew colder.

"Or are all Shrek people merely hypocrites with double standards, unable to bring themselves to act against their own?

If that's truly the case, do you need me to make a trip to Sea God Island and help you clean house?

Personally, I would be more than happy to oblige."