Ultimate darkness attribute

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Chapter 5: Ultimate darkness attribute

Zhou Yi sped through Shrek Academy with Ye Xixuan. He felt as though an invisible barrier was protecting him, while everything around him blurred.

Without a doubt, by his current standards, Zhou Yi was already a very powerful Soul Master.

Yet Ye Xixuan remained remarkably calm, studying Zhou Yi's face from inside the Soul Power barrier.

Although this was his first time meeting her, he knew this Teacher Zhou's deeds inside out.

In his memories of his previous life, Zhou Yi had favored Huo Yuhao at every turn, even going so far as to transfer Dai Huabin and the others out of Class One, simply because she valued how Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection could help her husband, Fan Yu.

For core disciples like Dai Huabin and Wu Feng, studying in the outer court was merely a transitional stage. They were bound to enter the inner court in the future. Huo Yuhao, on the other hand, was her husband Fan Yu's personal disciple. It was easy to see whom she considered close and whom she kept at a distance.

This world was pragmatic indeed. Some of Zhou Yi's actions seemed like abuses of authority, but upon closer consideration, the reasons behind them could all be traced.

Ye Xixuan's interests did not clash with Zhou Yi's, so naturally, he was not worried about how she might treat him.

About seven minutes later, Zhou Yi stopped on the shore of Sea God Lake, and Ye Xixuan's feet finally touched solid ground again.

Not far ahead of them stood an old man with disheveled hair. His appearance was truly dreadful. His robe, which should have been white, had become a filthy grayish brown and was torn in several places. He held a roast chicken in one hand and a wine gourd in the other.

"Elder Xuan." Zhou Yi bowed respectfully to the slovenly old man.

The old man ignored Zhou Yi, instead staring fixedly at Ye Xixuan with wide eyes. Surprisingly, despite his aged appearance, his eyes were exceptionally bright, a startling crimson.

He no longer cared about eating or drinking and walked up to Ye Xixuan with delight written across his face.

"It really is the aura of an ultimate Martial Soul. Your Martial Soul should be a shadow, with the ultimate darkness attribute. Am I right, little fellow?"

"An ultimate Martial Soul?!" Before Ye Xixuan could say anything, Zhou Yi's expression became quite a sight. In Shrek Academy's ten-thousand-year history, Soul Masters with ultimate attributes had appeared only three times. All three had once shaken the continent with their fame, becoming supreme powerhouses who defined their eras.

"Elder Xuan, then what were those black markings that appeared on him earlier?"

"Those should be an innate ability of his Martial Soul. His Martial Soul is a shadow, which can also be considered a special Body Martial Soul. How could it possibly be connected to an Evil Soul Master's abilities?" Xuan Zi seemed to have guessed Zhou Yi's thoughts and chuckled twice.

"Elder Mu has already confirmed this. All right, Zhou Yi, you can head back. I'm taking this little fellow to Sea God Pavilion to meet Elder Mu."

"Yes, Elder Xuan." Once Xuan Zi had brought up even Elder Mu, Zhou Yi immediately set aside all doubt. Still, she gave Ye Xixuan a long look before leaving.

There was one thing Xuan Zi had left unsaid: even if Ye Xixuan's Martial Soul truly possessed abilities resembling those of Evil Soul Masters, no one would dare say anything as long as Shrek Academy refused to acknowledge it. Wasn't Ma Xiaotao's Evil Fire Phoenix Martial Soul the perfect example?

Shrek Academy had a flexible moral bottom line.

"Hello, Elder Xuan." Looking at the enthusiastic Xuan Zi, Ye Xixuan also stepped forward and bowed with proper decorum. Whatever this "supreme elder of the Holy Spirit Cult's" reputation might be, a powerhouse still deserved the appropriate respect.

Xuan Zi casually wiped the grease from his hand onto his trouser leg, then grabbed Ye Xixuan's shoulder as Zhou Yi had done earlier. Once again, Ye Xixuan found himself soaring through the clouds.

"There's no need for all those pleasantries. You're from the Night Family of Heavenly Spirit City?"

"Yes." Ye Xixuan nodded frankly. For powerhouses of Mu En's and Xuan Zi's caliber, sensing the connection between his Martial Soul's aura and the Night Family's hereditary Dark Element Martial Soul was hardly difficult.

Xuan Zi said solemnly, "The academy knows a little about what happened to your Night Family. Given enough time for you to grow, the Night Family might well have leaped into the ranks of the continent's foremost Soul Master families. Who could have imagined such a calamity would fall from the sky?"

"Do you know something?" A gleam gathered in Ye Xixuan's deep black eyes.

"There were probably Evil Soul Masters lurking behind it."

Xuan Zi's expression grew a little more serious. Yet when he saw the calm look on Ye Xixuan's face, he seemed surprised instead.

"You're not surprised?"

"It seems only those Evil Soul Masters would do something like that." Ye Xixuan gave a slight nod, his expression grave. His elders had sent him away before he could witness the entire massacre of his family, so he did not know the full story. Still, he had already suspected this answer.

What truly puzzled him lay elsewhere.

Xuan Zi traveled much faster than Zhou Yi with Ye Xixuan in tow. After their brief exchange, the two appeared in the clearing before Sea God Pavilion.

There were many buildings on Sea God Island, but only one stood above the rest in grandeur: Sea God Pavilion, at the island's very center.

Apart from the underground world beneath the Golden Tree, Sea God Pavilion had six stories aboveground, each more than ten meters tall, with mist swirling all around,

like an earthly paradise cut off from the world.

In the clearing before Sea God Pavilion, an old man dressed in gray cloth lay half-reclined on a wooden lounge chair. His eyelids drooped, and he looked like a candle guttering in the wind. He appeared much older even than Xuan Zi.

Xuan Zi called softly, "Elder Mu, I've brought him."

"Mm."

The old man opened his dim, yellowed eyes and murmured an acknowledgment. Then he looked at Ye Xixuan, his gaze kindly, but his words astonishing.

"Back then, Xiaoyao and I competed and clashed for over a hundred years, each winning and losing in turn. I never imagined that, when it came to our descendants' talent, his line would prove superior."

At those words, not only Xuan Zi but even Ye Xixuan froze as though struck by lightning.

"Dragon Emperor Douluo, Long Xiaoyao?!" The perpetually impatient Xuan Zi lost all composure.

"Elder Mu, this little fellow is a descendant of Dragon Emperor Douluo?! Then the Night Family..."

"After that incident back then, Xiaoyao and I both started families of our own. This branch of the Night Family took the mother's surname." Mu En's low, hoarse voice sounded as he beckoned to Ye Xixuan.

"Before you left your family, your elders must have given you instructions."

"Yes, Elder Mu." Ye Xixuan drew a deep breath and slowly raised his left hand. Inwardly, he was nowhere near as calm as he appeared, but everything had now fallen into place. It seemed that everything could finally be explained.

With a flash of light, an ink-black scale appeared in Ye Xixuan's hand. It was diamond-shaped, resembling a dragon scale. Unlike a dragon scale, however, it felt smooth and heavy in his palm, with a texture like black crystal.

The instant the scale was exposed to the air, all the surrounding light rapidly dimmed, as though it had been swallowed.

"It really is a Dragon Crystal of the Dark Holy Dragon." Mu En closed his eyes, seemingly lost in memories.

(End of chapter)