I'll Take You to Meet the Evil Emperor

No!!! I was wrong! That wasn't a sea of spirit at all—it was a universe. Countless stars revolved silently across the black canopy, shrouding the entire space. At the center of it all, a gigantic, deathly pale tree supported a slowly rotating river of stars.

I could not even comprehend what I was seeing before me—

"What exactly are you?"

The voice came from every direction at once, each word striking deep into the Evil Eye's soul like a heavy hammer.

"Talk. I can give you a quick death."

As the words fell, Ye Chenxing's figure materialized from the starry sky.

The Evil Eye trembled in terror at the sight, its tentacles shaking nonstop. "What are you? Are you even human?"

A bolt of golden lightning split down from the void.

The Evil Eye let out a silent scream. It was originally a spiritual body, and lightning like heavenly tribulation nearly tore its soul apart. Within this space, Ye Chenxing was the rules themselves.

"Don't answer a question with another question." Ye Chenxing lowered his finger. "You tried to possess me? The fact that I'm letting you speak at all is already an act of mercy. Now talk. What are you? Where did you come from? What did you want? Tell me everything."

"Oh? So you've already lived for hundreds of thousands of years?"

"That's right! I lived for revenge!" The Evil Eye's tone became feverish again, its gaze revealing a human-like hatred.

Ye Chenxing remained unmoved. "Hundreds of thousands of years... After living so long, that brother of yours wouldn't happen to be the one in the Evil Demon Forest—"

"That's him!! You people call him the Evil Emperor now! He devoured me to become what he is today! His eyes, his strength, everything he takes pride in—it should all have been mine! He's a thief! A bandit! I'll kill him and take back everything that belongs to me!"

Ye Chenxing did not respond. He lowered his head and watched the crippled Evil Eye, allowing it to pour out all its resentment and venom in one breath. Only after its roaring finally subsided did he speak again.

"So you're a complete spiritual body. You have no flesh, so you can't cultivate. After hundreds of thousands of years, you only have about ten thousand years of cultivation. The Wolf King's soul was devoured by you at the moment of its death. This Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring around me was disguised by your spiritual power. What it actually contains is you."

"Yes. If I keep moving from host to host, one day I'll find a suitable body. Then I'll defeat the Evil Emperor and devour him. At that time, I might even glimpse the path to godhood..."

Ye Chenxing sighed. Hundreds of thousands of years of hatred had turned the Evil Eye's desire for revenge into an overwhelming obsession. It did not consider whether possessing a suitable body was even feasible. Even if it truly encountered the body of an unparalleled genius, the odds of it cultivating through that body and defeating the Evil Emperor were infinitesimal...

Without Ye Chenxing's influence, in the present-day Douluo Continent, perhaps only Di Tian could confidently claim he could defeat the Evil Emperor without fail.

It was merely its only hope, so it had no choice but to persist and believe in it wishfully.

"Enough. Unfortunately for you, you met me. Your grand ambitions end here. One last question..."

"Any last words?"

Ye Chenxing's voice was calm. The Evil Eye had tried to possess him. That was a red line it should never have crossed. He could sympathize with its circumstances and admire the obsession it had maintained for hundreds of thousands of years.

But one thing was one thing, and another was another. He could never allow something that had once attempted to seize his body to continue living in his Mind Star Sea, even if it could not stir up any trouble here.

Though Ye Chenxing was rational, he often judged matters according to his own preferences.

"No! No, you can't! I haven't—I!!"

The Evil Eye went mad. It began to charge wildly through the boundless starry sky, streaks of lingering light trailing behind it as its spiritual power surged.

"I won't accept this! Why?! Why could he become the Evil Emperor and rule an entire race, while I could only live under another's roof and barely survive for hundreds of thousands of years?! Why could he become renowned across the continent, while I don't even have a body of my own?! Why did I end up like this in the end?!"

It flew for a long time. Or perhaps only a moment. Within this Mind Star Sea, time had no meaning. When it finally stopped, everything around it remained unchanged. The stars still revolved silently in the distance, as if its struggle had never happened.

"Are those your last words?"

That voice came from every direction. The surrounding stars suddenly shifted, nebulae flowing in reverse and the Milky Way contracting. In an instant, the entire universe shrank into Ye Chenxing's outstretched palm.

"I promise you."

The Evil Eye froze.

"Go in peace. You brothers were originally one. I'll take you to meet him."

"Only, you'll be my Soul Ring. I hope that when you two brothers become one again inside my body, you truly will be able to glimpse the opportunity for godhood, just as you said..."

The Evil Eye never had a chance to speak again. Its soul dispersed, and the resentment, unwillingness, and obsession accumulated over hundreds of thousands of years were strangely quiet in its final moments as they transformed into a Soul Ring.

Ye Chenxing slowly opened his eyes and looked behind himself with satisfaction. One yellow and one black, two Soul Rings quietly circled him. Their light was restrained, yet both carried an aura utterly different from ordinary Soul Rings.

Clap, clap, clap— Jing Hongchen walked over while applauding, his face filled with emotion. "A miracle, truly a miracle. Chenxing, you've broken the human limits of ten thousand years—perhaps even a hundred thousand years. Absorbing a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring as your second Soul Ring... I've lived this long, and being able to witness this with my own eyes is a blessing across three lifetimes!"

Ye Chenxing shook his head and rose to his feet. "Hall Master, you flatter me. No matter how much I've surpassed the limits, I'm still only a Two-Ring Soul Master. There's nothing worth praising."

Jing Hongchen was stunned for a moment before nodding firmly.

To possess peerless talent and still remain so clear-headed, neither arrogant nor impetuous—this child was truly rare. Jing Hongchen had seen too many geniuses become conceited after achieving even a little success. Ye Chenxing's temperament impressed him even more than his Dual-Ultimate Martial Soul.

"How was it, Chenxing? Was your Sun Martial Soul affected in any way? Did your idea prove correct?"

"My Sun Martial Soul suffered no negative effects. This Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring gave me a soul skill just as I expected: a short-term enhancement to my spiritual power. At the same time, I gained the Silvermoon Wolf King's elemental affinity, making my control over my Martial Soul far more effortless."

Jing Hongchen was overjoyed. To be honest, the Sun Moon Academy team had no experience nurturing Ultimate Martial Souls, so they had always been uncertain about how Ye Chenxing should develop, cultivate, and choose his Soul Rings.

Even though Ye Chenxing's theory had convinced him, it was only now, after witnessing Ye Chenxing's success, that he finally let go of his concerns.

Of course, that was not Ye Chenxing's true soul skill.

The soul skill granted by this Soul Ring was called Mental Connection. The name was ordinary, but its effect was anything but. He could forcibly establish a Mental Connection with other Soul Masters. As long as their spiritual power was lower than his, he could connect with them unconditionally.

Through that connection, he could interfere, simulate, weaken, detect, share, and even briefly control their minds or read their memories.

Almost every kind of spiritual-type soul skill could theoretically be used as long as the connection was established.

At this point, Ye Chenxing could not help silently mocking something in his heart. Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was at least a million-year soul beast, yet the four soul skills it gave Huo Yuhao combined seemed less useful than this single one he had now.

However, spiritual-type soul skills had a common flaw—when facing an opponent with stronger spiritual power, forcibly connecting to them would cause severe backlash.

That rule did not apply to Ye Chenxing.

What a joke. Backlash against my Mind Star Sea? Interesting.

As long as he could establish a connection, even if it lasted only a second, he could interfere without bearing any consequences. When ordinary spiritual-type Soul Masters forcibly interfered with targets stronger than themselves, they would suffer spiritual injuries at best and be reduced to idiots by the backlash on the spot at worst. But he was different. Now, it was only a matter of how strong the effect was and how long it lasted; there were no side effects. That meant that even if a Titled Douluo stood before him, he would dare to give it a try.