Traces of Evil Soul Masters

Since transmigrating, Qi Xuan had rarely felt anger.

Everyone knew that the Douluo Continent was a world where the strong devoured the weak, and Soul Masters were creatures for whom victory meant a crown and defeat meant ruin.

But now, he could truly feel something pounding inside his chest.

Was it his heart, or his fury?

Attacking innocent civilians crossed the line of what Qi Xuan could accept, no matter what.

These two elderly people had shared half their flatbread with him at noon, and before parting that evening, they had promised to see him again tomorrow.

Yet now, they had become two cold bodies that would never breathe again.

Qi Xuan forced himself to calm down and examined them carefully.

The old couple's clothes were torn and ragged. They had clearly struggled.

But the expressions on their faces were pleading, not the terror Qi Xuan had imagined.

Pleading?

As though waking from a dream, he quickly searched the room.

He found no sign of Cui'er's body.

Recalling that the patrol officer had told him most of the missing people were girls, Qi Xuan felt that Cui'er was probably still alive.

The room was neat and orderly. It hardly looked like the home of wicked people.

Qi Xuan pulled open the wardrobe, took out a black robe, slipped it on, and vanished into the night.

Afraid of giving himself away, Qi Xuan had to slow down once he reached the street, suppressing his anxiety as he pretended to make his way devoutly toward the Church.

There was no one else on this street.

Only when he reached the Church entrance did Qi Xuan see a handful of people in black robes.

It was now nine fifty, almost the announced time for Mass.

As soon as he approached the Church, Qi Xuan felt a powerful pressure. It even suppressed the flow of soul power inside him, making it sluggish.

A man in priestly robes stood at the Church entrance, smiling and giving a gentle nod to everyone who entered.

It was Zheng Hua, whom Qi Xuan had met that morning.

Now, his face brimmed with a happy smile, as though he rejoiced in helping lost lambs escape their sea of suffering.

Seeing that no identification was required to enter the Church, Qi Xuan hurried forward as well, trying to avoid interacting with Zheng Hua.

As Qi Xuan brushed past him, Zheng Hua suddenly turned his head and laughed in praise:

"God has said that we shall meet again!"

In that instant, even beneath his black robe, Qi Xuan's back broke out in a cold sweat.

He nearly activated his Yang Lei Transformation.

But Zheng Hua made no further move. He simply resumed reciting some scripture of unknown origin, seemingly nothing more than a fanatically devout believer.

Qi Xuan shook his head and entered the Church.

The moment he stepped inside, whispers flooded his mind. Even with his mental strength, he felt dizzy.

Fuck, you could lose SAN on the Douluo Continent too?

Drawing on his years of experience reading Cthulhu fiction, Qi Xuan forced himself not to comprehend or decipher the true meaning of those whispers.

Some things, once they latched onto you, could never be shaken off for the rest of your life.

A gray mist enveloped Qi Xuan, shielding him from that aura. Elder Yi had intervened.

As a former demigod, Elder Yi was naturally unaffected by these debuffs.

But to Qi Xuan's surprise, Elder Yi's voice abruptly turned grave. "This... there's actually the aura of a deity here?"

This was serious.

Qi Xuan could guarantee that when the academy had assigned him this task, they had absolutely never mentioned anything involving deities.

And judging by the nature of this place, this deity was probably no righteous figure, either.

In short, there was absolutely no way he could handle this himself.

Without hesitation, he crushed the token Mu En had left him.

Nothing happened.

Qi Xuan's expression changed drastically. Mu En, the Dragon God Douluo who stood at the pinnacle of the world, could not have had every message cut off even if Ye Xishui and Long Xiaoyao joined forces.

That meant only a deity's power could sever his connection with Mu En!

Now, he could only hope Xuan Zi would notice something wrong here. Failing that, he would find a way to trigger another heavenly tribulation. That would certainly cause enough of a stir.

Unfortunately, the Little Thunder Dragon in his dantian swam around twice, indicating that he could do nothing.

The trace of aura used to trigger the previous heavenly tribulation had been completely exhausted. There was no chance of Qi Xuan triggering another one on his own now.

He could only take things one step at a time.

Qi Xuan forced his emotions back under control and followed the crowd into the hall.

The Church's hall was spacious, with candles burning dimly every few paces, lending it an eerie, chilling air.

Around twenty or thirty people had gathered in the hall.

Of course, these twenty or thirty people could not all be Evil Soul Masters. Given that this sinister place could drain people's SAN, quite a few had probably become believers only after being brainwashed.

A statue stood on a circular dais, shrouded beneath a pitch-black curtain.

The instant Qi Xuan saw it, his instincts screamed without pause. The divine aura Elder Yi had mentioned probably came from this statue.

Elder Yi, on the other hand, breathed a sigh of relief. "This is probably a statue of some deity from your world. Naturally, it would carry traces of that deity's aura. It's a very common way of offering believers protection. At least it isn't an actual divine relic, and it can't bring about a true divine descent."

Qi Xuan's lips twitched uncontrollably. "Old man, I'm only level thirty-six. Is it really appropriate for me to tackle a dungeon this difficult already? Are you going to make me fight Tang San at level fifty?"

Oh, Huo Yuhao really had fought Tang San at level fifty. Never mind, then.

The oppressive, dangerous atmosphere here was sheer torment for Qi Xuan. He was already considering whether to slip away on the pretext of needing the toilet. A strategic retreat to contact reinforcements would hardly make him less of a brave man.

But considering that the priest probably would not accept that excuse, he could only tough it out here.

A few more minutes passed, and the hall doors slammed shut. The priest who had been standing at the entrance strolled inside, his shadow winding long and thin in the candlelight.

Qi Xuan chose a spot near the side in the back row, circulating his soul power at full speed so he could spring up and flee at any moment.

The priest Zheng Hua's voice remained as gentle as ever, yet it seemed to carry some strange resonance, sounding from every direction in the Church hall at once:

"Children of God, tonight we gather here to hear God's will."

"God never manifests in the mortal world. He entrusts His radiance to angels. Tonight, we shall humbly invite the great angel to be born into the mortal world and lead us to the heavens."

Something was wrong.

Qi Xuan realized it in an instant. Zheng Hua was still preaching the same Angel Society doctrine he had tried to instill in him that morning. According to his words, the covered statue should have depicted God's apostle, some angel or other.

But Elder Yi had told him with absolute certainty that it carried the aura of a deity itself, unmistakably pointing to a particular deity.

There was definitely something wrong with Zheng Hua's words.

While Qi Xuan racked his brain below, Zheng Hua's sermon reached its climax.

"The angel's true countenance shall be revealed among mortals, and the angel's majestic radiance shall be remembered in this earthly world. Do not close your eyes-this is my sole commandment to you."

"Let us gaze upward together."

He pulled away the curtain.

Qi Xuan's first instinct was to lower his head immediately. His intuition told him that even one glance at this thing would definitely require a SAN check.

With bad luck, he would go insane on the spot.

But the statue seemed to exert a pull, forcibly holding his gaze.

In that instant, Qi Xuan saw it.

It was a Fallen Six-Winged Angel.