Watching Mu En leave, Xuan Zi stood there pondering for a long while, but still could not make sense of it.
After a long time without finding an answer, Xuan Zi could not help snorting.
"Ever since Shrek was founded, we have acted in the name of justice and safeguarded the continent's peace."
He raised a hand to wipe the grease off his face, his tone suddenly growing impassioned.
"For so many years, we have carried the banner of the holy land of Soul Masters and nurtured countless pillars of the Douluo Continent."
"The Sun Moon Empire has the ambition of wolves, repeatedly raising armies to sow chaos and coveting the territories of the original three nations. Who has stepped forward time and again to stand at the very front? We of Shrek!"
"The Holy Spirit Cult's Evil Soul Masters wreak havoc across the world and slaughter living beings. Who has spared no sacrifice, even the lives of disciples, to repeatedly purge those fiends and protect the peace? Again, we of Shrek!"
"To uphold righteousness on the continent, how much blood have we shed, how many outstanding disciples have we sacrificed, and how many people's painstaking efforts have we exhausted? Yet we have never retreated so much as half a step!"
"Among all the Soul Masters on the continent, who doesn't regard Shrek as a holy land? Who doesn't yearn to step through these doors? Yet that brat-what right does he have to think so poorly of us? To even refuse to join Shrek Academy?"
"He merely encountered a few worthless disciples in the outer court, and he condemned all of Shrek with a single sweep of the pole. Utterly absurd!"
Xuan Zi's expression was cold and full of disdain.
"I'll investigate personally and find out just where that brat is hiding. Let's see how grievously he was wronged, that he dares to slander Shrek's supreme glory like this!"
"Especially with such exceptional talent-wouldn't staying out of Shrek be a waste?"
As his words fell, the Soul Power around Xuan Zi suddenly surged.
His hunched figure instantly straightened, and his tattered robes stirred without wind as the immense presence of a Level 98 Super Douluo spread like a tide.
His figure flashed, leaving only a faint afterimage where he had stood.
"Even if he flees to the ends of the earth and hides deep within the Sun Moon Empire, I'll drag him out and demand an explanation!"
The last light of dusk spilled over the square. Only lingering fluctuations of Soul Power remained in the air, along with those words laden with resentment and obsession, gradually fading into the evening breeze.
Mingdu, Sun Moon Empire.
Inside the dormitory building of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, Lu Ren sat cross-legged on his bed, his eyes closed as he regulated his breathing.
The resentment, humiliation, frustration, and anger surging in the hearts of every opponent he had defeated that day turned into wisps of invisible negative energy, which he was steadily absorbing.
Cursed energy coursed through his meridians, intertwining with Soul Power like two rivers flowing into the same lake.
A faint crack came from deep within his body, as though some invisible barrier had been broken through.
Lu Ren opened his eyes and brought up the system panel.
[Host: Lu Ren] [Soul Power Level: 45] [Soul Ring Configuration: purple, purple, black, black] [Currently acquired Cursed Techniques: Malevolent Shrine, Blood Manipulation...]
"Not bad." The corners of his mouth curled upward.
Level 45. His Soul Power and cursed energy advanced side by side, nourishing each other.
This dual-track method of cultivation left him with almost no opponents at his own level.
The abilities granted by those cursed techniques further gave him the means to fight above his level.
He did not care what his Martial Soul was or what specific Soul Skill effects his Soul Rings possessed.
He only needed to know the quality of his Martial Soul and the ages of his Soul Rings. That was enough.
Yet those very things he cared nothing about were the most important aspects of being a Soul Master-important enough to serve as bargaining chips for greater power.
That was a binding vow.
He could impose a binding vow upon himself, paying a certain price in exchange for greater power.
He had long since thoroughly figured out Sukuna's loan-style self-imposed restrictions.
As he was thinking, an aged voice rang out deep within his mind without warning.
"What a disgusting yet familiar power."
Lu Ren's pupils contracted slightly.
The dull gray, utterly unremarkable bead that had lain dormant within his Sea of Consciousness had vanished.
In its place, an ancient consciousness was slowly awakening.
"Young friend, it seems there is more to your existence than meets the eye."
Electrolux had awakened.
Lu Ren suppressed the turmoil in his heart. Rather than responding immediately, he quietly sensed the changes in that consciousness.
The voice continued, carrying both scrutiny and puzzlement.
"Though it is not the power of the undead that I command, what you are absorbing now is energy condensed from the negative emotions in the hearts of living beings..."
"This is the first time I have seen anyone cultivate in such a manner."
"Aren't you afraid, young friend, that these negative emotions will one day turn against you and devour you?"
The aged voice echoed through his mind.
Lu Ren's expression remained unchanged, his tone calm and composed.
"With the correct method, negative emotions can be controlled. How, then, could they turn against me?"
He paused. Just the right amount of surprise and suspicion surfaced in his eyes, and his brows furrowed slightly, as though he were sizing up a stranger who had suddenly intruded into his courtyard.
"But... I have yet to ask who you are. Your presence is ancient and weathered, nothing like that of someone from this age."
"You have remained hidden and dormant in my Sea of Consciousness all this time. Why have you suddenly awakened and revealed yourself today?"
"Moreover, you saw through the nature of the power I cultivate at a glance. Such insight and depth are beyond any ordinary Soul Master. Please enlighten me."
His tone was neither servile nor overbearing, carrying both the wariness a youth ought to have and a measure of seriousness that would brook no perfunctory answer.
Electrolux's voice grew much gentler, as though moved by his composure.
"Boy, I was never meant to belong to this world."
"All I remember is that I was about to die. Perhaps my soul was so powerful that, at the moment death descended, it broke through space, allowing a wisp of my divine consciousness to survive."
"And so I came to your world. At the time, you were absorbing energy condensed from negative emotions. It bore some resemblance to the abilities I possessed in life, and so it drew me over."
"Thus, this wisp of my divine consciousness took up residence in your Sea of Consciousness. Rest assured, I bear you no ill will, though I fear I will not be able to leave this place in the future."
Lu Ren's brows drew together slightly. Just the right amount of surprise, suspicion, and wariness appeared on his face, making him look as though he were digesting this astonishing information.
"So that was the reason."
He spoke slowly, his tone steady and measured.
"No wonder, whenever I occasionally focused my mind and calmed my breathing, I could always sense a faint, unfamiliar fluctuation lingering deep within my consciousness. It turns out you had already taken up residence here."
He raised his eyes, his gaze scrutinizing, and continued asking.
"You were on the verge of death, yet your divine consciousness survived across planes, and then my energy drew you here. Could the power you controlled in life also share its source with this world's negative emotions?"
Electrolux's consciousness stirred slightly, as though nodding, yet also as though sighing.
"There are slight similarities, but they are ultimately different paths. What I commanded was the power of the undead's origin, cultivating through the deathly stillness of living beings and the lingering might of their souls, whereas you absorb negative emotional energy condensed from the resentment and anger, joy and rage of living beings."
"Both have their source in darkness, which is why they draw each other."
A hint of reassurance entered his voice.
"But you may rest easy. All that remains of me now is a wisp of a remnant soul. Even protecting myself is a struggle. I have absolutely no intention of possessing you and taking over your body."
Before you continue