Tang Sect's Mortal Enemy: Heaven Soul Sect!

Huo Yuhao's outpouring came to an abrupt halt. His incredulous blue eyes stared fixedly at Tang Ya, who looked as though she had just heard the best news imaginable. The bit of warmth that had only just returned to his heart rapidly cooled.

His mother was dead, and that was wonderful news to Tang Ya?

Tang Ya's fairly pretty face overlapped with the Duchess, whose image he could never banish from his mind. Sensing its master's rage, his Spirit Eye Martial Soul gradually released a wave of spiritual power that ordinary people could not detect.

Lin Wan'er, who had noticed this farce, could no longer sit still either. She had never imagined that, even after the original plot had been altered, Tang Ya could still utter that classic line! The Soraka Martial Soul mourned, mourning for a small child who had never been blessed by anyone since birth. Disdainful gazes had always surrounded him, and now that Huo had finally become even a little healthier, his circumstances had begun to improve.

A heart that had been about to open itself to outsiders suddenly became incomparably sensitive. Sorrow filled Lin Wan'er's entire being.

Tang Ya, shameless as ever, chattered enthusiastically, "My parents are gone, and your mother has left you too. From now on, we're family. Let's work hard to build the Tang Sect together, and one day bring honor to our ancestors!"

"Enough!"

Overwhelmed by grief, Huo Yuhao could not help roaring. His eyes were bloodshot as he glared at Tang Ya. "My mother's death makes you that happy, doesn't it?! You're just like that Duchess! Human-faced, beast-hearted! Completely unreasonable!"

What had his mother ever done wrong all these years? She had merely been deceived by someone she should never have loved, given birth to a child who had not inherited the family Martial Soul, and been constantly mocked and suppressed by that woman's children, forced to do the work of servants.

Even before she died, his mother had reminded him not to let hatred cloud his eyes. Perhaps she believed that she herself was the one at fault.

Such a wonderful mother—why did she still have to suffer the slander of these people who knew nothing after her death?!

Startled by Huo Yuhao's reaction, Tang Ya had yet to come back to her senses. She naturally slipped into the spoiled manner Bei Bei had indulged in, half-complaining and half-acting cute. "I just thought too much for a moment and misspoke. I didn't mean it..."

Having calmed down, Huo Yuhao said quietly, "I understand. Sorry, and thank you, Sister Tang Ya."

The instant he spoke the words "Sister Tang Ya," Lin Wan'er knew that Huo Yuhao would not be deceived into joining the Tang Sect as free labor, entering the range of Sea God Tang San's surveillance as described in the original story.

With a smile curling her lips, Lin Wan'er watched the farce with a pleasant expression. She hoped Tang Ya would say a little more. Just a little more, and she would not be able to resist making a move.

Bei Bei, having finally reacted, pressed Tang Ya's shoulder and rose to apologize to Huo Yuhao. "I'm very sorry. Sister Xiaoya meant no harm. She's just too quick with her words."

Wonderful. The more the two of them explained, the worse it sounded.

After clearing her throat, Tang Ya spoke seriously again. "Little Brother Huo Yuhao, join the Tang Sect. As the Tang Sect's current leader, I can have Bei Bei help you obtain your first soul ring, then use a recommended admission slot to send you to study in Shrek Academy's Outer Courtyard. What do you think?"

Now that he had calmed down, Huo Yuhao would have been lying if he said he was not tempted by Tang Ya's offer.

Only by obtaining a soul ring, becoming the soul master his mother had hoped he would become, and entering Shrek Academy would he have a chance to begin his plan for revenge against those nominal older brothers of his.

But...

Remembering that Tang Ya's delight just now had not seemed fake, Huo Yuhao found it difficult to agree to join the Tang Sect and become one of its members.

Seeing Huo Yuhao waver, Bei Bei instinctively spoke up for his girlfriend, hoping Huo Yuhao would put aside the unpleasantness from before and join them in rebuilding the Tang Sect.

At the same time, he offered another reward on Tang Ya's behalf: anyone who joined the Tang Sect could learn the secret techniques left behind by Tang San, the Tang Sect's founder, who had held the twin god positions of Sea God and Shura God.

Such as Hidden Weapons and the Tang Sect's peerless movement techniques.

As she spoke, Tang Ya demonstrated one of the Tang Sect's secret arts, stunning Huo Yuhao, who had never seen much of the outside world.

Noticing Huo Yuhao's growing hesitation, Lin Wan'er pursed her lips and proactively stepped into the confrontation between the three. Smiling sweetly, she said, "The Tang Sect is not your only option. I think Yuhao would be well suited to join the Heaven Soul Sect. I wonder what Yuhao thinks?"

"The Heaven Soul Sect?!"

Tang Ya's shriek made Lin Wan'er frown. Huo Yuhao was confused, while Bei Bei was shocked.

Tang Ya, who had always acted overly familiar, once again used Sea God Tang San's famous technique from back then. With Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, she appeared in front of Huo Yuhao, her moderately endowed chest rising and falling as her eyes filled with identical hatred.

"What is your relationship with the Heaven Soul Sect? Who exactly are you?"

Hearing the familiar yet unfamiliar name of the sect, Huo Yuhao quietly asked the grim-faced Bei Bei, "What is the Heaven Soul Sect?"

He vaguely remembered that when he had been very, very young, he had once heard his mother sighing alone one night, muttering that it would have been better if people from the Heaven Soul Sect had come sooner and taken him away.

Because of that, Huo Yuhao had a small degree of goodwill toward this sect that existed only in his faint memories.

Called upon, Bei Bei uncertainly introduced the Heaven Soul Sect. "The Heaven Soul Sect is the greatest sect within the Heaven Dou Empire. In recent years, the strength it has displayed seems capable of rivaling sects and academies such as the Clear Sky Sect, Shrek Academy, and the Body Sect. Their specialty is spirit entities created through the fusion of Soul Tools and soul beasts, which make them incredibly powerful. I've also heard that they have a very good relationship with the Sun Moon Empire."

"The Heaven Soul Sect's most formidable figures are the Ten Great Protectors, who are replaced roughly once every century; the soul masters under the Four Beast Sects; the Sect Holy Maiden, who appears once every five hundred years; and that Goddess, whom no one has ever seen in person and who claims to be a god."

Thinking of the Holy Maiden, who appeared on the continent once every five hundred years and was enough to usher in the tides of a new era, Bei Bei—who knew some of the historical records kept by Shrek Academy—looked at Lin Wan'er in uncertainty. She had been smiling sweetly from the very beginning, without displaying the slightest displeasure.

Could she be...

There was no doubt that Douluo Continent was hostile toward outsiders. After the continental collision, they harbored an unavoidable hatred for the citizens of the Sun Moon Empire who had invaded Douluo Continent, not to mention the Heaven Soul Sect that had emerged from within.

After hesitating for several seconds, Bei Bei saw that Tang Ya was not in the right state and was about to add the rumors he knew, when he heard his girlfriend begin relentlessly accusing the girl, who had yet to do anything at all.

"You people from the Heaven Soul Sect were the culprits behind the death of the Tang Sect Leader and the Four Sects breaking away from the Tang Sect overnight, weren't you?! Do you even know what you've done?! The Tang Sect has fallen so far that only Bei Bei and I are left. This is all your fault!"

"So it's all our fault? Then shouldn't I apologize to you on behalf of my sect?"

Tang Ya's furious scolding did not stir the slightest ripple in Lin Wan'er's heart. Looking at this pitiful person who had devoted her entire life to the Tang Sect yet gained nothing in the end, she smiled.

Tang Ya's first soul ring suddenly lit up yellow behind her. "First Soul Skill: Entanglement!" Without so much as a warning, she launched an attack straight at Lin Wan'er's face.

It seemed their Tang Sect Leader really cared about Lin Wan'er's flawless face. Otherwise, she would not have sent Blue Silver Grass, which was meant primarily for restraint, to strike someone in the face.

Witnessing this, Huo Yuhao's favorable impression of Tang Ya immediately dropped considerably, and any thought of joining the Tang Sect vanished without a trace.

"Overestimating yourself."