If the angel would not forsake her, Zhang Lexuan's worldview shattered, inner demons took root (4K)

Seeing Ghost Nana race toward them with both blades drawn, the mysterious black-robed man and the stern angel maiden briefly paused their fierce, spark-scattering battle. Beneath her golden mask, the holy beauty's lips involuntarily curved upward.

This girl truly rose from the mud unstained. The moment she opened her mouth, she called him a beast of an evil soul master. Poor, innocent Lin Xiaoqing-not only did he earn not a single copper soul coin for his performance, he even suffered unprovoked abuse!

"Stop laughing. Take her home so we can talk properly," Lin Qing said irritably.

"Mm-hmm."

Sensing her dear friend's speechless exasperation, Ye Guyi cheerfully restrained her smile. Her angel wings beat once, and she became a streak of golden light lunging toward Nana. Her last thousand-year soul ring blazed, its sacred energy tracing out her fourth soul skill, the Holy Light Spirit Array.

At the same time, silvery-white flames suddenly lit beneath the loose black robe. Lin Qing released the Snake-Guide Bullet, and a spirit snake spiraled out, its binding power sweeping over everything!

From Nana's perspective, the holy angel and evil soul master who had been bitterly fighting suddenly called a perfectly coordinated truce, then both turned their weapons on her!

The girl was instantly dumbfounded. The hot blood boiling in her chest plunged to freezing point.

Wait, I think the holy angel and the evil soul master teamed up to set me up!

Even if she killed a hundred million brain cells trying, she could not understand what made her so special that the forces of good and evil would shake hands and make peace.

Overwhelmed by grief and fury, Nana raised her twin blades. But between her shaken mind and the enormous gap in strength, she had almost no power to resist.

The sacred radiance of the Holy Light Spirit Array greatly weakened her ghost martial soul. The Snake-Guide Bullet coiled around her exotically beautiful, toned body again and again, leaving only a pair of terrified eyes exposed.

Creak-

Cold metal forced her jaw apart. The snake's head shoved its way into her mouth, preventing Nana from screaming and attracting unnecessary trouble.

"Heh heh heh..."

After three classic evil chuckles, a pink sack came down over her head.

Her vision dissolved into murky darkness, and Nana closed her eyes in despair. She had stumbled upon an angel battling an evil soul master; the ghost had abandoned darkness for light, only to be ambushed instead. One wrong step had become an everlasting regret, ushering in a miserable end.

After an unknown stretch of time, someone tipped Nana out of the sack. Light returned before her eyes, and the spirit snake binding her body slowly loosened.

"Hello, our kindhearted classmate Nana."

A clear, lilting female voice rang out. Nana focused her eyes and discovered that she was now in a lavishly and imaginatively decorated room. The angel raised a hand and removed her mask, revealing a familiar, holy face.

"Ye Guyi!?" Nana exclaimed in shock. "Aren't you a bright swan? How are you a holy angel?"

"There's only one truth: she has twin martial souls. She's been hiding her holy angel all along, blending in with everyone under the low-profile identity of a bright swan."

Nana looked toward the voice and watched, wide-eyed, as the utterly wicked evil soul master removed his black robe and became Lin Qing, the rising celebrity of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy.

"She's already confused enough, and you're still pulling her leg."

Ye Guyi complained about Lin Qing's shameless behavior, then looked at the bewildered Nana with gentle eyes and slowly explained, "There are no twin martial souls. As you can see, I am a holy angel.

"Ten thousand years ago, the last Angel God, Qian Renxue, infiltrated the Heaven Dou Empire and disguised her six-winged angel as the imperial family's inherited martial soul, the swan. She hoodwinked the heavens and crossed the sea; no one saw through her.

"I followed my ancestor's example, enrolling in the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy with my holy angel under the name of bright swan. While diligently cultivating, I also searched for the mysterious evil soul master organization beneath the Sun Moon Empire's glittering exterior."

Pausing for several seconds to give Nana time to digest the information, Ye Guyi continued, "During the first match of the Hongchen Class selection tournament, I detected the aura of an evil soul master on you. I suspected you had been in contact with one recently.

"You had contact with evil soul masters, yet you weren't one yourself. I couldn't be sure of your identity or your purpose in enrolling in the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, so we devised today's plan to confirm where you truly stood. I'm terribly sorry for leaving you with such an awful impression."

"No, no, no, you aren't to blame. This... this is wonderful!"

At last, Nana understood the whole story. Thankfully, the angel was still that savior angel. Her words tumbled out incoherently:

"I'm a holy servant sent by the Holy Spirit Cult to study soul tools at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy. They threatened me with my parents' souls. I had no way out and was forced to obey their orders...

"Please show mercy, holy angel, and save my parents from these deep waters and scorching flames!"

"The Holy Spirit Cult-is that the evil soul master organization's name?" Ye Guyi asked in understanding. "Don't panic. We traveled countless miles to this foreign land precisely to slay evil and root out wickedness. Let's take this slowly. First, tell us what you know about the Holy Spirit Cult."

"All right!"

Nana nodded through her sobs. With ultimate metal and a holy angel joining forces, how could the righteous path fail to flourish? Her parents could be saved!

"The Holy Spirit Cult is a colossal monster. It definitely has Evil Douluos presiding over it-no fewer than five. Its evil shrouds several major cities in the Sun Moon Empire.

"Mingdu is only a small branch, led by a Seven-Ring Evil Soul Sage. Almost everything I know about the Holy Spirit Cult came from things he let slip.

"The Evil Soul Sage has several subordinates whose cultivation ranges from Soul Emperor to Soul Ancestor. Most branch members are holy servants threatened just like me, with their loved ones' souls imprisoned by evil soul masters in an evil altar."

"Evil Douluos..." Ye Guyi's delicate brows knitted tightly. "Evil soul masters accelerate their cultivation by devouring life. Every Evil Douluo carries mountains of corpses and seas of blood on their back..."

Lin Qing narrowed his silver-gray eyes. He was a child chosen by the Netherworld, and the evil soul masters' vile imprisonment of souls disrupted the order of reincarnation. He, too, had reason to eradicate them.

"But Mingdu is the Sun Moon Empire's capital. Every major power should take it seriously and send sect experts to hold their positions here. Why does the Holy Spirit Cult do the opposite? Its headquarters has multiple Evil Douluos, yet its strongest member in Mingdu is only an Evil Soul Sage?" Ye Guyi asked in puzzlement.

Nana's heart tightened, and she instinctively lowered her voice. "The Mingdu branch is just a name. At most, it's a small organization for recruiting underlings.

"The Evil Soul Sage once mentioned that the Holy Spirit Cult's actual subordinate organization in Mingdu has already changed its face. Very few people know evil blood flows beneath its skin. I'm not qualified to know which power it is."

"That's all right. We'll take things one step at a time, starting by slaughtering the Holy Spirit Cult's Mingdu branch and slowly fighting our way to its headquarters!"

The angel maiden's golden eyes shone brilliantly, and her entire being brimmed with enthusiasm. Compared with gnawing through obscure, incomprehensible soul tool textbooks, slaying evil soul masters naturally excited a holy angel far more!

"Have pity on us, angel. Our family was happy at first. Then the Holy Spirit Cult took an interest in my mother's ghost martial soul and, without a word of explanation, controlled her and turned her into an evil soul master..."

Lowering her head, her eyes blurred with tears, Nana recounted the tragic destruction of her family. "Mother resisted to the death and frequently broke free of the Holy Spirit Cult's control. To destroy her will to resist, the evil soul masters cruelly controlled her and made her kill Father.

"After regaining her senses, Mother couldn't accept what had happened and took her own life. The evil soul masters still refused to let them go. They seized her soul and Father's, forcing me to take Mother's place.

"I've always wanted to rescue my parents' souls and escape the Holy Spirit Cult. But after drifting helplessly for years, I had never met a savior.

"If you will not forsake me, holy angel, Nana is willing to acknowledge you as my master. I will gladly serve as your slave and maid for the rest of my life, without a single word of objection!"

Having spoken, Nana moved to kneel and kowtow, begging the holy angel to shed her sacred light of salvation.

Ye Guyi hurriedly supported Nana and lifted her up, saying solemnly, "We are equals. From now on, we can simply call each other friends.

"Punishing evil and promoting good is a holy angel's duty. Destroying evil soul masters is a responsibility I cannot shirk. But my soul power is still insufficient. I can't save your parents right now."

A Four-Ring Soul Ancestor against a Seven-Ring Soul Sage-the gap of three soul rings was simply too great. A holy angel was not a six-winged angel, after all, and lacked a massive area-of-effect soul skill like the Angel Domain. She had to weigh her strength before acting.

Besides, deep down, Ye Guyi did not want to drag Lin Qing into danger with her. Once her soul power reached rank fifty, her holy angel at the Soul King level would be able to threaten an Evil Soul Sage through its sacred attribute.

"I understand."

Nana wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. For someone so unfortunate who had fallen into the abyss, even a little hope was enough.

"I'll guard the holy angel's secret with my life. Meanwhile, I'll secretly contact the holy servants. Many of them are as helpless as I am. When the time comes, we'll work together from inside and out. We'll surely accomplish something great!"

"That would be excellent."

Shrek Academy, Sea God Island.

At night, ripples glittered across Sea God Lake, reflecting the cold light of the chilly moon illuminating the sky.

Crackle-

Blue-violet lightning erupted and swirled. A dazzling flash crossed Sea God Lake, and the lightning-cloaked figure came to a stop on Sea God Island's shore. The electricity enveloping his body dispersed, revealing a handsome young man.

Bei Bei spread his arms, stretching his body, which had warmed up from the exercise.

Today had been the final of the assessment held three months after the first-years enrolled. The three-person team of Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao had defeated the team led by the White Tiger Soul Elder Dai Huabin, winning the freshman assessment championship.

To celebrate their victory, Bei Bei and Tang Ya had treated the trio to a lavish meal. During dinner, they recruited Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao into the Tang Sect.

With two more promising members joining the declining former number-one sect on the continent, sect master Tang Ya was overjoyed and let her feelings carry her away. She downed three large bowls of wheat juice, then flopped down with a thud.

Bei Bei carried his carefree girlfriend to the foot of the dormitory building and entrusted Xiao Xiao with taking her back to the girls' dorm to rest. Rather than return to his own room to meditate, he crossed Sea God Lake along a familiar route and landed on Sea God Island.

As a descendant of the Sea God Pavilion's master, the Dragon God Douluo, Bei Bei was practically Shrek Academy's crown prince. Having grown up on Sea God Island, he knew every blade of grass and every tree intimately, and now headed straight toward the Golden Tree.

His radiant sacred dragon awakening was not stable enough. Although Bei Bei did not need intense external emotional stimulation to awaken his bloodline like his good brother Xu Sanshi did, he was still a hair's breadth from perfect, effortless control.

Thus, he planned to absorb some of the Golden Tree's light power to temper the radiant sacred dragon bloodline within him, encouraging his Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon martial soul to evolve toward the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, so that he could one day inherit the light-attribute ultimate techniques that had made his great-great-grandfather famous across the Douluo Continent.

Like a divine pillar anchoring the sea, the Golden Tree stood at the center of Sea God Island, watching over the continent's foremost soul master academy as always. A quiet, breathtakingly beautiful figure stood before the towering ancient tree, her lovely features tinged with a sorrow that would not fade.

"Senior sister, you're back!"

Bei Bei spoke in surprise. After three months, the inner court's senior sister Zhang Lexuan had returned to Shrek Academy.

"Yes." Zhang Lexuan nodded gently. "Xuan Zi must have overcome his inner demons. I saw him dead drunk on the lakeshore, clutching a half-eaten chicken leg.

"Bei Bei, did you persuade Xuan Zi to come out of the Golden Tree?"

"I suppose... so." Bei Bei hesitated.

"What do you mean?"

"After you left the academy, I steeled myself and knocked on Xuan Zi's door," Bei Bei admitted honestly. "He'd shut himself away for half a year. I never really expected to persuade him. Who would have thought that after just a few words, he would actually agree to come out!

"Xuan Zi said you had knelt for seven days and seven nights, and he truly couldn't bear to watch you harm your health.

"I told him you'd left Shrek City to shoulder responsibility. He paused, then said this would be a perfect surprise for you. He had worked everything out and was willing to carry his pain forward, honing himself through hardship."

"..."

His voice grew increasingly faint. Bei Bei's cheeks burned, and he turned his head to avoid Zhang Lexuan's dark eyes, whose pupils were slowly widening. He immediately changed the subject:

"Senior sister, did your journey go smoothly?"

"Following the sources of the seven juniors' admission recommendation letters, I brought news of their deaths to their families," Zhang Lexuan said with a long sigh.

"Because they signed life-and-death waivers upon entering the inner court, inner court disciples receive no material compensation regardless of how they die in battle. The academy engraves their names on the Sea God Stele to commemorate their lifetime achievements.

"The academy has its rules, but my conscience tormented me. So I took all my savings, divided them equally into eight shares, and gave them to the families of the deceased...

"But their reactions were utterly different from what I'd imagined. I'd prepared myself for blame, insults, even soul skill attacks. Yet the behavior of their loved ones was nothing I had anticipated."

Zhang Lexuan said forlornly, "An unremarkable little sect in the Dou Ling Empire had a child awaken a mutated martial soul. Everyone in the sect saw him as their hope of rising. That child passed trial after trial set by the city lord, finally obtaining a recommendation letter and entering Shrek Academy. Several years later, he passed the examination to pursue further study in the inner court.

"In the end, that rising star's future was cut short in the inner court's soul hunting operation. When I visited the sect, his father looked as though lightning had struck him. He stood there staring blankly at me, and the emotion flickering in his eyes was actually fear.

"That scene was unimaginable..."

Closing her eyes, Zhang Lexuan said bitterly, "He kept bowing, asking the academy to forgive his son's incompetence. He repeatedly refused my compensation and even wanted to offer his sect's treasures to apologize to Shrek, saying the reason his son died in battle was that he hadn't worked hard enough at cultivating.

"But the ones at fault were clearly me and Xuan Zi..."

"Senior sister, Shrek Academy is, after all... the leader of the righteous path in the soul master world," Bei Bei said weakly.

The implication was painfully clear: the small sect could not afford the price of hating Shrek.

Bei Bei was intelligent, and so was Zhang Lexuan.

"I understand, but I simply...

"Cannot accept it."

Zhang Lexuan gazed up at the bright moon hanging high in the sky, her eyes filled with unprecedented confusion. Images flashed through her mind from time to time: the families of the dead bowing while holding back their grief, and Lin Qing's resolute back as he turned and walked away. That was hatred that needed no spoken vent.

Inner demons quietly took root. Zhang Lexuan knew full well that the tragedy in the Star Dou Great Forest would haunt her forever, hindering her soul power cultivation and obstructing her breakthroughs.

Until she emerged from the shadows, or received true forgiveness...