"Of course, if neither of those two options satisfies you, I can make an exception just for you: a life worse than death. After all, our Holy Spirit Cult has no shortage of ways to torture people."
Xu Cheng spoke with a cheerful smile.
In the firelight, that fair face looked hideous and terrifying to Tang Ya.
"I... I choose to go with you..."
Tang Ya trembled. Only after a long while did she speak in a small voice.
"A good choice."
Xu Cheng sounded satisfied.
Tang Ya suddenly felt everything spin around her. The world shattered, then pieced itself back together. The voice she had just heard seemed to draw closer from far away, and a wave of disorientation washed over her.
But once she recognized her surroundings, her eyes flew wide.
The meat roasting before her sizzled now and then, its crisp skin curling back, glistening with fat and giving off a rich roasted aroma.
The warm campfire enveloped the area, driving away the chill.
She turned to look. Where was that bottomless black abyss in the distance? She was still sitting beside Xu Cheng, her head raised just as it had been when she heard the words "Evil Soul Master."
It was as though none of that had ever happened...
Tang Ya felt a chill rise from the soles of her feet and shoot straight to the crown of her head.
His methods were as unfathomable as gods and ghosts, yet she had noticed absolutely nothing from beginning to end!
In other words, there was no way she could leave!
"Here, eat something to replenish your strength. You still need to add your second Soul Ring in a bit." Smiling, Xu Cheng handed her a roasted thigh.
Tang Ya looked up, Xu Cheng's kindly smile reflected in her eyes, yet the cold seeped into her marrow. So this was what an Evil Soul Master could do.
"No, this is just what I can do," Xu Cheng said with a smile.
Tang Ya: "..."
All she felt was despair. Before Xu Cheng, she seemed to have been stripped naked, without a single secret left...
She cautiously accepted the roasted meat. All she wanted now was to survive. As for reviving the Tang Sect... that prospect was probably hopelessly distant.
Huh...
Holding the chicken leg, Tang Ya took a small bite.
Her eyes suddenly widened.
How... how was it this delicious?!!
Crimson Fire Chickens were found all across the Douluo Continent and were among the most common, ordinary ingredients. Naturally, she had eaten them plenty of times, but they had mostly been bland and tasteless.
But this Crimson Fire Chicken... it was an absolute delicacy!
Meat that melted in her mouth, a wonderfully satisfying crispness, and those seasonings-it was unbelievably delicious!
Watching the young girl lose herself in the food,
Xu Cheng smiled in satisfaction.
Obviously. Why was Huo Gua's grilled fish so delicious?
Because of his superb cooking skills? That certainly played a part, but the main reason was his spiritual power!
A spiritual-type Soul Master could exercise incredibly precise control over every detail while grilling fish, ensuring that every inch of flesh was cooked to perfection.
Then were there no other spiritual-type Soul Masters grilling fish?
Leaving aside the fact that cooks occupied the very bottom of the food chain on the Douluo Continent, anyone who awakened a spiritual-type Martial Soul would have the four great empires, Shrek Academy, and others scrambling to recruit them.
Who would ever give them a chance to work as a cook...?
In that respect, Xu Cheng's specialty was perfectly suited to the job.
His blood eyes might be evil, but they were a genuine spiritual-type Martial Soul. Come to think of it, even in the Body Sect, a top-tier Martial Soul like his would have earned him the position of Holy Son at the very least...
So although Wu Yun constantly complained about being busy and told him not to call unless it was important, his body was much more honest.
After all, Xu Cheng's cooking really was damn delicious...
"What are you choosing for her second Soul Ring?" Wu Yun wiped the grease from the corner of his mouth and prodded Xu Cheng.
Xu Cheng would be enrolling tomorrow anyway, so there would be no more free meals to mooch. He might as well finish up early and get out of here.
Hearing this, Tang Ya also stopped eating and pricked up her ears to listen quietly.
"Dark Blue Silver Grass..."
Xu Cheng pondered.
"Since her first Soul Skill is Entanglement, her second could be parasitism from an Oak Spirit Vine, speed and poison from a Mandala Snake, or potent poison and webs from a Man Faced Demon Spider. Bring whichever you find at a suitable age."
"All right."
Wu Yun's figure transformed into crows that flew off in every direction through the forest beneath the pitch-black night sky.
That was the second reason Xu Cheng had called him over.
He could cover a wide field of vision, making Soul Beasts easy to find.
Martial Soul Avatar: Black Crow Swarm. He could split into dozens of crows, each one a clone that could become his true body. It was a means of preserving his life, but in ordinary circumstances, he could also use it for reconnaissance...
Beside the campfire,
Tang Ya stared, dumbfounded.
She had never imagined that this man would know even her first Soul Skill as intimately as treasures in his own home.
And he had already planned out the path of her future Soul Rings...
It was as though the young man her age sitting before her was not an Evil Soul Master, but one of her elders...
"Ten thousand years ago, your Tang Sect's founder, Tang San, used this combination. He was extremely similar to you, so we might as well borrow it," Xu Cheng said casually.
"Impossible! Ancestor Tang San, he... he wasn't an Evil Soul Master!" Tang Ya pouted, glaring furiously at Xu Cheng.
"I may have fallen, but you can't insult my faith!"
"Sorry, sorry. That was careless of me. It seems the term 'Evil Soul Master' didn't exist ten thousand years ago," Xu Cheng said earnestly.
Tang Ya froze at his words.
He actually apologized?
"But your Ancestor Tang San wasn't all that different from an Evil Soul Master, was he?"
That one sentence nearly shattered Tang Ya's composure. She stood and pointed at Xu Cheng, her eyes filled with anger.
He simply reached out and gently moved her finger aside.
"What defines an Evil Soul Master?"
Xu Cheng remained calm. Watching Tang Ya's pretty face flush red with anger, he spoke with a soft chuckle.
"A devouring-type Martial Soul? Relying on devouring other people's lives to strengthen oneself?"
"Then Tang San's Martial Soul was much like yours. It could drain the life force of anyone it entangled, and the Eight Spider Lances could do the same. As an heir to the Tang Sect, surely you know that..."
"But Ancestor Tang San would never go around slaughtering people like you Evil Soul Masters!" Tang Ya said angrily.
"Ten thousand years ago, there was a place on this continent called Slaughter City. Your Ancestor Tang San was the seventh person to emerge from it. Do you know what someone had to do to get out?"
Xu Cheng stirred the campfire, his voice still as calm as an unruffled lake.
"Win a hundred matches. In every match, they had to kill at least nine people. The only survivor was the winner..."
"Nine hundred people. He killed enough to pile their bodies into a small mountain."
"They all deserved to die! They were utterly vicious criminals!" Tang Ya's voice brimmed with indignation.
"Is that so? Then what about Spirit Hall?"
Xu Cheng raised his head and stared into Tang Ya's eyes, the corners of his mouth lifting.
"After his victory, Tang San wiped out everyone in Spirit Hall, from the Supreme Pontiff down to the local stewards. At least hundreds of thousands of people died at a single command from Tang San."
"..."
"Spirit Hall... was the villain! Ancestor Tang San was ridding the people of a scourge!" Tang Ya hesitated for an instant, her voice noticeably less forceful.
"The villain... heh."
Xu Cheng shook his head.
"The victor becomes king, the loser a bandit. What is this talk of villains? Did Spirit Hall slaughter common people?"
"..."
"Then what heinous deeds did Spirit Hall commit?"
"..."
"Heh, see? Even you can't name any. You only know Spirit Hall was the villain, but you don't know why." Xu Cheng smiled and shook his head.
"Then let me tell you. It was simply because Spirit Hall had a feud with Tang San. That made it the villain..."
Tang Ya lowered her head. Everything she had been taught stood in stark contrast to Xu Cheng's words.
The conflict nearly broke the girl.
Xu Cheng watched her composure crumble with a cheerful smile, then drove in another blade.
"Come to think of it, our Holy Spirit Cult reveres Tang San as our founding patriarch..."
Before you continue