Hello, little friends of the Holy Spirit Cult

Sun Moon Empire, Bright City, Holy Spirit Cult headquarters.

Bang!!!

Zhongli Wu smashed the table to pieces with a single palm strike, the darkwood tabletop exploding into powder.

Though he had long learned to keep his emotions hidden, Zhongli Wu still could not suppress the fury in his chest.

The figure kneeling in the hall trembled slightly, his forehead pressed tightly against the cold stone tiles, not daring to raise his head.

Wood chips drifted down over him, leaving him afraid even to breathe too loudly.

"Speak." After a long silence, Zhongli Wu finally forced down his shock and rage. His voice was as calm as possible, though it still trembled. Hearing the anger in his voice, the person kneeling below shuddered again. "Start from the beginning."

"Reporting to the Cult Leader," the man said tensely, "as of noon today, fourteen branch divisions throughout the Empire have completely lost contact. The Moonlight City branch, the Red Cliff branch, the Heavenly Wind Gorge branch... I sent people to investigate them one by one. Every location showed the same scene."

The kneeling Holy Spirit Cult Soul Sage swallowed, seemingly trying to organize his words, only to find that there was no gentler way to put it.

"The... the entire base seemed to have been wiped off the earth by a giant flaming hand."

The great hall fell terrifyingly silent.

Zhongli Wu said nothing. Cold light flickered in his deep violet eyes, the veins on his forehead throbbing ceaselessly. The aura around him made even the air grow thick and heavy.

Those familiar with him knew that he had already developed murderous intent.

"The buildings, the formations, the soul tools, the cult members..." The kneeling man seemed not to notice Zhongli Wu's mood as he continued tremblingly, "nothing was left behind. It was as if the entire branch had been erased in an instant. Not one living person remained in any of the fourteen branches..."

The Evil Soul Saint paused, apparently recalling what he had seen. But when he slightly raised his head, he discovered that Zhongli Wu had appeared before him at some point, murderous light flashing in his eyes.

"Cult—"

Bang!!!

Before the Evil Soul Saint could utter another word, his head exploded into a cloud of blood mist.

A phantom blood-red soul flew out and was caught in Zhongli Wu's palm. Amid a shrill scream, Zhongli Wu crushed the soul in his grip.

"Good! Very good, Xiao Yan!!!" Zhongli Wu gritted his teeth, his fury reaching its peak.

Those fourteen bases had not left behind absolutely nothing. Apart from being burned into scorched wastelands, there were still some remnants on the ground.

They were five large characters formed from blood-red flames.

Killer: Xiao Yan!

Just like those five words that seemed to have descended from the heavens, something in the great hall appeared to tighten abruptly. After his rage subsided, Zhongli Wu fell silent for a moment, as though chewing over that unfamiliar name. He had never heard of such a person on the continent.

The flames had been examined by a Title Douluo sent to investigate. Even one of the Holy Spirit Cult's Eight Great Elders had been unable to erase those flaming words.

Zhongli Wu searched through his memories in detail, even dredging up records from several thousand years ago, yet he could find no fire-related powerhouse surnamed Yan—or even Xiao. No such person existed anywhere on the continent.

So the question was, leaving one's name after killing generally served to announce one's existence and intimidate lesser people.

But what was the point of leaving behind a name that nobody in any region had ever heard of?

Could it be nothing more than pure provocation?

Zhongli Wu did not think so. Who would have nothing better to do than provoke the Holy Spirit Cult for no reason?

Then why was he slaughtering his way through one city after another? There seemed to be no logic to it at all...

Carefully searching through the fragmented memories in the remnant soul, Zhongli Wu's frown deepened.

He suddenly raised his head and looked toward the map on the other side of the hall, then darted over in a single stride.

The enormous hanging map marked the Holy Spirit Cult's branch layout throughout the Sun Moon Empire, even clearly recording the personnel stationed at each location.

Zhongli Wu's gaze fell upon Moonlight City, a small city near the Ming Dou Mountains. That was where Xiao Yan had first appeared.

Then his gaze traveled upward along the map.

Red Cliff, Heavenly Wind Gorge...

The longer Zhongli Wu looked, the more enraged he became.

Judging by the sequence, Xiao Yan had made no attempt to conceal his actions. Starting with the first destroyed branch, his route was perfectly clear.

He had begun from Moonlight City in some corner of the Ming Dou Mountains and advanced city by city according to the distribution of cities within the Sun Moon Empire. Every Holy Spirit Cult branch in every city had been uprooted.

From the very beginning, he had seemingly come to declare war on the Holy Spirit Cult!!!

"Good! Good! Good!" After saying "good" three times in succession, Zhongli Wu could no longer restrain his aura. The lighting soul tools throughout the room shattered beneath the terrifying pressure he unleashed.

The killing intent in his eyes had become terrifyingly dense.

Bang!

In a fit of rage, Zhongli Wu shattered a stone pillar in the hall with one palm. He abruptly turned and looked at the map again.

If Xiao Yan continued in that direction, then the next location...

His gaze settled on a certain point on the map, cold light flickering in Zhongli Wu's eyes.

"Since you dare flaunt your defiance before our Holy Cult..." Zhongli Wu's voice seemed squeezed through clenched teeth, and a cruel smile appeared on his face.

His gaze abruptly shifted to the nameplates of several Elders and Consecrated Ones who had yet to receive specific assignments.

He was simply courting death!!!

With a wave of his hand, Zhongli Wu pressed a soul tool. The next moment, several shadows entered from outside the hall.

After issuing several orders, Zhongli Wu sat behind a newly arranged desk, turning his head toward the map as he sank into thought.

There was no longer any need to worry about the provocateur. Several Title Douluo would each guard a city. The trap had been set, the ambush prepared. All that remained was to wait and catch the turtle in the jar.

Zhongli Wu had already decided to use this person to make an example of someone.

But another question immediately followed.

What exactly did this person want?

Revenge? That was certainly not how one took revenge. There should have been priorities.

Could he be an expert from Douluo Three Kingdoms? Judging from his route, he did seem to have come from Douluo Three Kingdoms. But his actions still made no sense.

An expert from Douluo Three Kingdoms carrying out a secret mission here would never be so conspicuous.

A ploy to lure the tiger from the mountain? That was not right either.

Zhongli Wu had never intended to send a large number of elites to intercept a single Xiao Yan. Sending several Elders was already the greatest effort he would make. He did not care which side died, and he simply did not believe the killer could stir up any great trouble.

Even if he somehow survived, he would surely come to challenge the headquarters. Zhongli Wu could destroy him then, and he did not believe the other party would fail to anticipate that.

Then why was he doing this? It could not be that he simply disliked the Holy Spirit Cult and came here to kill, could it?

Zhongli Wu could not make sense of it no matter how hard he thought.

Sunrise City.

"Hic~" Ye Guyi could not help letting out a satisfied burp. Even though she had basically been carried through the dungeon by a powerful expert while idling for experience,

the feedback from participating in the extermination of Holy Spirit Cult evil soul masters still left her unable to digest it all.

That feeling of being about to overflow gave her an unprecedentedly blissful kind of trouble.

Fortunately, the special cultivation method Xiao Yan provided caused a certain peculiar transformation in her dantian, greatly accelerating the refinement of energy.

But before Ye Guyi could finish digesting it, a frivolous voice came from ahead, making her expression change.

Oh no, I'm going to burst...

Ahead, Xiao Yan seemed to have finally found what he was looking for. He cheerfully waved at the camera pointed at him, his smile becoming ever more amiable.

"Hello, little friends of the Holy Spirit Cult. Uncle Xiao Yan has come to bring you warmth. If you do not leave now, it will be too late."

Sensing several frigid auras in the distance fleeing in all directions, Xiao Yan's smile widened. His body instantly dissolved into firelight, while several figures were swallowed by flames at the same time.

"Hehehehe, I lied. It's too late to run!"