The Holy Maiden Fights Dirty

With the enormous surprise Huo Yuhao had brought, the Holy Spirit Church rarely welcomed a grand banquet amid cheers and celebration. As for the Holy Maiden Ma Xiaotao, who was still unconscious, she would only officially appear after waking up. For now, only the higher-ups of the Holy Spirit Church knew of this extra piece of good news.

Of course, compared to the enormous delight brought by the arrival of Huo Yuhao, the Holy Son, that detail was automatically overlooked.

Most of the younger Evil Soul Masters knew how to read the room. No matter how weak Huo Yuhao was without any soul rings attached, his immense potential was enough to drive the entire Holy Spirit Church mad. From now on, any young Evil Soul Master with half a brain would spare no effort in currying favor with this newly appointed Holy Son.

Looking at the cups of Bloody Mary filling the table, Huo Yuhao wanted to vomit. It seemed the Holy Spirit Church had perfectly inherited the fine traditions of Slaughter City from ten thousand years ago. Drink too much of this stuff, and it went straight to the head. At best, it affected one's mind; at worst, it caused mental derangement. No wonder most Evil Soul Masters described in the original story were so insane. They had clearly drunk plenty of this stuff!

It was Huo Yuhao's first time witnessing an Evil Soul Master banquet. It truly was a wild dance of demons. People with every bizarre Martial Soul imaginable had gathered together, enjoying this rare time of leisure. These rats everyone wanted to beat to death could finally indulge themselves and enjoy life in this unfathomably deep underground world.

Perhaps it was just as described in Douluo IV: no one was born an Evil Soul Master. It was merely that their unique cultivation methods had destined them to become different from ordinary people.

But the crimes they committed could not be forgiven. It was like someone born with a psychological defect—if they did not cause trouble, all was well, but if they did, they would face justice's harsh punishment and lifelong imprisonment.

At the banquet, Huo Yuhao also met several Holy Spirit Church disciples who would only appear later in the original story: Jili of the Brain Devouring Beast Martial Soul; Wang Xiaolei and Tang Dai of the Skeleton Type Martial Soul; Lu Genggeng of the Abomination Martial Soul; Gu Yu of the Bone Staff Martial Soul; and Yan Feng, Zhongli Wu's direct disciple, who possessed the Bone Dragon Martial Soul.

Unable to refuse their enthusiastic hospitality, Huo Yuhao reluctantly downed a few cups of Bloody Mary with them. Then, claiming that he felt unwell, he left the scene and found somewhere to vomit his guts out.

Zhongli Wu had arranged a separate small loft for him, located in the deepest part of the Underground Palace. This was effectively the greatest security guarantee he could give Huo Yuhao. Even if an Evil Soul Master with ulterior motives wanted to take something from Huo Yuhao, they would first have to get past Zhongli Wu and the several elders.

Huo Yuhao swept the room with his powerful Spiritual Power and found no surveillance within his residence. Only then did he relax slightly. Going deep into a place like the Holy Spirit Church was no different from seeking a tiger's skin—like dancing ballet on a steel wire. One wrong move, and he would be doomed beyond redemption.

Before this, because Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Power had yet to transform, things would have become disastrous if Zhongli Wu had intended to probe his memories. Of course, that would also severely damage Huo Yuhao's mind. After weighing the pros and cons, Zhongli Wu had not done so.

Thus, the first thing Huo Yuhao did upon arriving at his quarters was set up a safeguard in his Sea of Spirit, to guard against the Holy Spirit Church possibly searching his memories in the future.

Although Huo Yuhao had never learned any methods for wielding Spiritual Power, the Spiritual Power of the Spirit Abyss Realm was already enough to forcibly protect memories. If one day Zhongli Wu and the others truly tried to thoroughly inspect his Sea of Spirit, this safeguard would immediately activate and erase every trace of memories from his past life. Likewise, Huo Yuhao himself would lose all memories of his previous life.

That was still far better than letting the terrifying organization known as the Holy Spirit Church obtain the entire script of the story.

After placing a safeguard over his memories of his past life, Huo Yuhao finally let out a long breath. Next, he only needed to deal with the Holy Spirit Church's methods of nurturing him. As long as he did not lose his sanity and reason, whether a person was righteous or evil was still decided by their heart.

"Although my Spiritual Power has increased hundreds, even thousands of times over, my physical condition has not changed much." Huo Yuhao examined himself internally and stated his most pressing problem. Years of malnutrition had left his physique far inferior to that of Soul Masters at the same level. This was also why, despite possessing the accumulated Soul Power of Level 30 in Zhongli Wu's perception, he could only outwardly release Level 10 Soul Power.

Soul Power far weaker than Spiritual Power would also limit the use of Spiritual Power. Suppose Huo Yuhao had a skill like Soul Shock right now and faced a Level 20 Soul Grandmaster. At most, he could only unleash attack power equivalent to that of the Spirit Connection Realm. If he used Spiritual Power beyond what his physique could withstand, his head would explode from the overload.

"I need to improve my body as soon as possible." Huo Yuhao clenched his fist and muttered to himself.

Creak—

At that moment, Huo Yuhao's door opened without warning, and a curvaceous figure appeared in his field of vision.

The visitor was a woman who looked to be only in her early twenties. Her glossy black hair fell to her waist, and her explosive figure did not show a trace of excess fat. She wore dark crimson eyeshadow, while her foxlike eyes gleamed with a soul-stealing allure. Her vivid red lips parted slightly, inviting endless fantasies.

"Are you the Holy Son, Huo Yuanjia?" The woman lazily sized up Huo Yuhao, who was seated cross-legged on the bed. Her seductive voice made even the still-undeveloped Huo Yuhao blush.

"May I ask who you are, Senior?" Huo Yuhao did not dare treat the woman before him as harmless. How could someone who could freely appear in the deepest part of the Holy Spirit Hall be easy to deal with?

"Calling me Senior is truly too much." The woman walked toward Huo Yuhao with great interest. Her long, rounded legs traced a stunning sight. She leaned down slightly, pressing both hands lightly against the edge of the bed, and said with eyes like silken threads, "I am the Holy Spirit Church's First Holy Maiden, Zhongli Yu, and your future partner."

Huo Yuhao forcibly suppressed the urge to applaud wildly inside. He awkwardly shifted backward a little. It was only his first day after joining the church—how had someone already started lusting after his body?

"Holy Maiden, you must be joking..." Huo Yuhao stared blankly at the peerless beauty before him. She was undoubtedly the most beautiful woman he had seen in all this time. It would be a lie to say he was not tempted, but his current circumstances did not allow it.

Zhongli Yu, Zhongli Wu. Clearly, the woman before him was a direct descendant of the Holy Spirit Church Master. To completely capture Huo Yuhao's heart, Zhongli Wu could truly be said to be using every possible method!

"What the Holy Son does not know is that once the Holy Son of our church descends upon the world, every Holy Maiden in the church becomes your woman." Zhongli Yu leaned closer again, revealing a breathtaking sight as her hands slowly crawled toward Huo Yuhao. Her posture was utterly seductive. "Could it be that the Holy Son has no interest in this?"

"They would belong only to you, Holy Son." Zhongli Yu moved closer to Huo Yuhao again. Their faces were now only inches apart, and Huo Yuhao could even smell the intoxicating fragrance in Zhongli Yu's breath.

"No, no, this won't do..." Huo Yuhao tried to retreat again, only to discover that he had unknowingly backed himself against the wall. Just as he tried to turn aside and evade her, Zhongli Yu grabbed his face with one hand. Then he felt something soft and wet against his lips, sealing back every word he had wanted to say.

Huo Yuhao's eyes widened at once. He wanted to release his Spirit Eyes Martial Soul, but Zhongli Yu forcibly suppressed it with her powerful Soul Power. Immediately afterward, he felt a little snake invade his mouth, carrying an intoxicating fragrance as it moved wantonly.

Amid that utterly intoxicating atmosphere, Huo Yuhao felt his consciousness gradually fading. At the very end, he finally realized this was a method of the Holy Spirit Church. Yet as a virgin across two lifetimes, he would still resolutely accept the Holy Spirit Church's scheme and face the challenge head-on!

The Holy Spirit Church's Holy Maiden fought dirty—she tricked me and launched a sneak attack! Was this good? This was very good. Come again next time...

Feeling Huo Yuhao's sleeping breaths, Zhongli Yu finally released him, her face flushed red. Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Power was truly beyond expectations, and it had taken her quite a while. Even for her, this was the first time she had used this technique.

Its purpose was to plant the Holy Spirit Church's unique mark within Huo Yuhao's body. This mark would evolve as Huo Yuhao grew stronger in the future. No matter what Huo Yuhao did later, Zhongli Yu and the others could decide his life or death with a single thought.

"How did it go?" Zhongli Wu had appeared in the room at some unknown point. He asked expressionlessly.

"Grandfather, Yu'er succeeded." Upon hearing this, Zhongli Yu hurriedly adjusted her clothes and stepped forward to salute him. Her exquisite cheeks still carried a faint blush. She had not expected that brat to really dare paw at her all over. The beautiful expanse of her chest was now covered in scratch marks.

"Whether you can make him sincerely devote himself to our church will depend on you. Do everything possible to make him fall at your feet." Zhongli Wu nodded, as though he were giving an insignificant order. "The Holy Son possesses a spiritual-type Martial Soul. Unless absolutely necessary, our church does not wish for him to become a walking corpse."

"Yu'er understands," Zhongli Yu replied.

Zhongli Wu said nothing further. He had already sent people to gather information on Huo Yuhao. Every Soul Master left a record within the empire when awakening their Martial Soul. Even if Huo Yuhao had blown the Ducal Palace flat, he could not erase what had already been recorded.

Only after confirming Huo Yuhao's true identity and background could Zhongli Wu completely rest at ease and mobilize the full strength of the church to help Huo Yuhao become a god.

As the saying went, when mountains and rivers seemed to leave no path, another village appeared amid willow shade and blooming flowers. Neither Zhongli Wu nor Huo Yuhao could have imagined that, in order to conceal Huo Yuhao's existence, the Duchess had personally used her imperial connections to alter Huo Yuhao's background into that of a servant's son. Could this be considered indirectly providing the person she hated most with an excellent cover identity?

Sure enough, this style of writing is more popular. As long as everyone likes it, I will keep updating!