Underworld Emperor? No Excuses! The Holy Spirit Cult's Headquarters Destroyed

[The full image is in the group]

Ha Luosa fell into the ruins.

He struggled to his feet. Most of his gray armor had shattered.

But he did not beg for mercy. He only looked at the Starfarer, a bitter smile touching his lips.

"I lost."

Chen Xing brought the Starfarer down before Ha Luosa and looked at him from above.

"Is there anything else you want to say?"

Ha Luosa was silent for a moment before he spoke.

"I was born in a small city."

"When I was born, there was something unclean about me. I was white all over, without a trace of color."

"My family was afraid of me. They abandoned me."

"I was sent to an orphanage, but because I looked strange, no one wanted to come near me."

"When I was six, my Martial Soul awakened."

"At the same time, I awakened an innate domain: Netherworld Rebirth."

"When the domain appeared, so did those Skeleton Warriors."

"They went berserk and slaughtered the entire orphanage."

"The children, the teachers—they all died."

"My domain devoured their flesh and blood and turned it into my power."

"I was stunned. I didn't know what had happened."

"But I felt the power too. Such overwhelming power!"

"That power fascinated me, but their deaths kept me awake night after night."

"After that, I began to kill."

"One village, one city..."

"The more people I killed, the stronger I became."

"At nineteen, I became a Titled Douluo."

"At twenty-five, I became a Super Douluo."

"They called me the Gray Terror."

"Everyone feared me."

He raised his head and looked at Chen Xing.

"Do you understand what that feels like?"

Chen Xing was silent for a long time. Then he spoke.

"I do."

Ha Luosa's eyes lit up.

But Chen Xing continued.

"I understand how numb you became. That doesn't make what you did right."

Ha Luosa's smile froze.

Chen Xing went on. "You say you had no choice? You did."

"At every village, at every city, you could have chosen to stop."

"But you didn't. You chose to keep killing. You chose to trade other people's lives for your own strength. So..."

Chen Xing lowered his head and met his eyes.

"There's no excuse for you."

Ha Luosa was silent for a long time. Then he smiled, a look of relief on his face.

"You're right. There's no excuse for me."

"Once I became obsessed with that power and grew numb to everything else, there was no going back."

He slowly closed his eyes.

"So do it."

Chen Xing nodded and guided the Starfarer to deliver the final blow.

Orbital Annihilation Pulse!

A massive golden beam erupted from the Starfarer's chest.

The beam pierced the entire ice hall.

Ha Luosa vanished within it.

When the light faded, most of the ice hall was gone. Ha Luosa was nowhere to be seen.

In the cockpit, Chen Xing let out a long breath.

It was over.

He opened the communicator.

"Na'er, how are things on your end?"

Na'er's voice came through, sounding a little relieved.

"We've cleared out the Evil Soul Master followers. Not one was left."

Chen Xing nodded. "Good. We can discuss what to do about the Evil Soul Masters elsewhere on the continent later. Let's regroup first."

With that, he pushed the control lever and took to the air.

As he flew out of the Ice Fortress, he glanced down.

The Holy Spirit Cult's headquarters, once home to over ten thousand Evil Soul Masters, lay in ruins.

Snow was slowly covering the wreckage.

Before long, it would be a vast white snowfield again, as though nothing had happened.

Chen Xing looked away and faced forward.

The Holy Spirit Cult, made up of Evil Soul Masters, was hateful enough.

But sooner or later, he would tear away Shrek's and the Tang Sect's masks of hypocrisy too.

After all, they reeked of the old order left behind by a certain God King for twenty thousand years.

Meanwhile, at the Spirit Pagoda headquarters.

Ghost Emperor sat in a private chamber.

Across from him sat Qiangu Dongfeng.

Qiangu Dongfeng wore a smile and spoke gently, but Ghost Emperor knew the chill lurking beneath it.

Lifting his teacup, Qiangu Dongfeng said at an unhurried pace,

"Those old fools at Shrek think they're the backbone of the continent. But we both know how many talents they've suppressed, how many resources they've swallowed, and how many people they've sold out over the years to buy this false peace."

The two had just settled on a plan.

They were preparing to strike at Shrek.

With a weapon powerful enough to slay a god, they would tear those sanctimonious hypocrites apart.

Just then, a communication Token belonging to the Holy Spirit Cult vibrated in Ghost Emperor's robes.

He took it out and looked. His expression changed at once.

The Token held only one line, a message Ha Luosa had sent just before his death.

"Headquarters destroyed. Do not return."

Ghost Emperor's hand clenched around the Token.

His face showed little, but fury surged in his eyes.

Qiangu Dongfeng noticed the change.

"Ghost Emperor, what's wrong?"

Ghost Emperor was silent for two seconds. Then he put the Token away, his expression calm again.

"Nothing. There's a minor matter at headquarters I need to handle."

"I'll take my leave."

He rose and cupped his hands toward Qiangu Dongfeng.

Qiangu Dongfeng stood too and returned the gesture with a smile.

"Safe travels, Ghost Emperor."

Ghost Emperor turned and left the chamber.

The moment he stepped outside, his face darkened completely.

He strode down the corridor and disappeared into the depths of the Spirit Pagoda.

The chamber door closed.

Qiangu Dongfeng remained where he was.

He narrowed his eyes at the corridor where Ghost Emperor had vanished, a knowing smile curling his lips.

"Interesting. Has something serious happened to the Holy Spirit Cult...?"

He turned, ambled back to his seat, and took a sip of tea, calculation gleaming in his eyes.

"But what does that have to do with me? All I need is for that old fool Yun Ming to die alongside the Shrek he holds so dear!"

After destroying the Holy Spirit Cult's headquarters, Chen Xing returned to his daily training.

Notably, Na'er used her own advantages to join the Spirit Pagoda without difficulty afterward.

The Holy Spirit Cult also fell quiet during that time. Its activities across the continent dwindled to almost nothing.

As for Na'er's Ferocious Beast subordinates, she sent them to assist Chen Xing, though he usually had them remain hidden among the people.

Two years later, Chen Xing called Tang Wulin over.

"Brother, what did you need me for?"

"Wulin, I'm taking you somewhere to deal with something."

Tang Wulin sprang to his feet, his gaze firm as though he had just joined some grand cause.

"Brother, what is it? I'll get it done!"

"I'm taking you to Shrek."