"Damn it!"
"You'd better hope this old man never finds you, or I'll tear you limb from limb!!!"
His furious roar surged into the sky. The enraged Godly Taotie Bull bellowed at the heavens, sending sound waves crashing in every direction and shattering everything within a thousand meters into fragments.
But he was only raging in helpless fury.
His rage could solve nothing. It only showed his guilty conscience and how he blustered to hide his weakness.
After a long while, the furious Xuan Zi seemed to have had a bucket of cold water dumped over him. He sank dejectedly to the ground, unfastened the wine gourd at his waist, and poured wine madly into his mouth.
"I am guilty!"
"I have to get the news back quickly!"
An earthy yellow light shot into the sky.
Heaven Dou City, Heaven Dou Empire.
This Heaven Dou City was not the Heaven Dou City of old. The former capital of the Heaven Dou Empire had long since vanished into the river of history.
After the Heaven Dou Empire split apart, the Heaven Dou Empire renamed its own capital Heaven Dou City in memory of the former empire. Though they bore the same name, they were not the same city.
Ming Zhao had no interest in the history of the past. He had only come to Heaven Dou City to find a temporary place to stay.
After wiping out the twelve Shrek Inner Court disciples at the Departed Soul Mountain Ravine, he had come straight here without stopping.
Ming Zhao had naturally heard Zhang Lexuan's murmurs before her death, and he felt somewhat fortunate.
Luckily, the person guarding Zhang Lexuan and the others had been Senior Taotie. Had it been any other Titled expert from Shrek, he could not have so easily turned the Inner Court disciples Shrek had painstakingly nurtured into nourishment for himself.
I admire Elder Xuan.
When the time comes, I, Ming Zhao, will surely nominate Senior Taotie as leader of the Holy Spirit Cult and drive those two grotesque old geezers, Long Xiaoyao and Ye Xishui, from power!
Ming Zhao drained the ale in his cup. Listening to the noisy conversations around him, he began enjoying the food on the table like any ordinary patron.
"My cultivation has improved again. I've reached level seventy-nine. Just one more step, and I can break through to level eighty, hunt down my Eighth Soul Ring, and become a Soul Douluo." As he ate the succulent roast meat, Ming Zhao also took stock of his gains this time.
The twelve elite Inner Court disciples, Zhang Lexuan included, had raised his Soul Power by four levels and strengthened his Martial Soul as well.
His Martial Soul had grown noticeably stronger, especially after he turned Zhang Lexuan into a Ghost Bride.
Ming Zhao was a transmigrator, but one with a very special fate.
In his previous life, he had died in a yin year, a yin month, a yin day, and a yin hour. After transmigrating to the Douluo Continent, he had been born in a yang year, a yang month, a yang day, and a yang hour.
He had died in ultimate yin and been born of ultimate yang.
This had left both his fate and his soul profoundly affected by ultimate yin and ultimate yang. At three, he had broken through the mystery of the womb and recalled his past and present lives. At six, he had awakened his Twin Martial Souls on his own.
Ming Zhao's two Martial Souls were the Ghost Bridal Sedan and Ghost Bride of ultimate yang and great joy, and the Ghost Coffin and Water Vengeful Spirit of ultimate yin and great sorrow.
The Ghost Bride was a vengeful ghost in red who had died a tragic, unjust death on her wedding day. The Water Vengeful Spirit was a fierce, baleful yin spirit born when someone drowned and joined with Yin Qi in a place of ultimate yin beneath the water.
On the day his Martial Souls awakened on their own, he had used a Self Martial Soul Fusion Skill without being able to control it.
At midnight on the Ghost Festival, Red and White Colliding Calamities.
A hundred ghosts ran rampant through the mountain village, turning its entire population of over a hundred villagers into sacrifices for Ming Zhao's awakening. It also made him an irredeemably wicked Evil Soul Master.
To this day, Ming Zhao had cultivated for a total of twelve years. Starting with Innate Full Soul Power, he had reached his current cultivation as a Seven-Ring Soul Sage, with a Soul Power Level of seventy-nine.
He had cultivated his First Martial Soul, the Ghost Bride, as his main Martial Soul. His initial Soul Ring Configuration had been two yellow and two purple, but as his strength grew, his Self Martial Soul Fusion Skill, Red and White Colliding Calamities, became an unparalleled divine ability that raised his cultivation and increased the age of his Soul Rings.
Before tonight, Ming Zhao's Soul Ring Configuration had been two purple, four black, and one red.
But after devouring eleven Shrek Inner Court elites and planting the talented Soul Master Zhang Lexuan in the Ghost Bridal Sedan, turning her into his own Ghost Bride, Ming Zhao's Soul Ring Configuration had become five black and two red.
The speed at which evil cultivators improved truly defied reason.
Since setting foot on the path of cultivation, Ming Zhao had scarcely spent a few nights meditating properly.
With that time, he might as well summon an army of yin soldiers to sweep through and use the twin red and white calamities to refine his prey in an instant. It was much faster.
For that very reason, he had often been hunted by the people of Shrek Academy. Of his twelve years of cultivation, he had spent two-thirds being hunted and fleeing.
In the past, when he had been too weak and the Shrek Inspection Corps had hunted him, he could only hide wherever he could, not daring to face their edge.
But after cultivating to the Soul Saint realm, Ming Zhao had far fewer misgivings. He had decisively devoured the five Inner Court disciples sent to hunt him, which had drawn Zhang Lexuan and her party to him.
It was foreseeable.
Once news of Zhang Lexuan and the others' deaths reached Shrek Academy, Ming Zhao would surely face an even more frenzied hunt and retaliation from Shrek.
At the thought, Ming Zhao lowered his eyelids slightly, hunger and longing for flesh and souls hidden deep in his eyes.
Soon... I'll soon be able to cultivate to the Titled Douluo realm, he murmured inwardly.
Once I reach nine rings, I can begin adding Soul Rings to my Second Martial Soul, the Water Vengeful Spirit, quickly travel the path from level ninety-two to level ninety-eight, and touch the threshold of the limit in a very short time.
When that time comes...
I, Ming Zhao, shall reign over the world as the Death God Douluo!
What? You say the title of Death God Douluo has already been claimed by Ye Xishui and her son Zhongli Wu?
Then I'll kill them!
Was the name of Death God Douluo something those two ants could lay their hands on?
Only I, Ming Zhao, am worthy of bearing the name of the Death God!
Ming Zhao casually tossed down two Gold Soul Coins, pulled out a few napkins, and wiped the grease from the corners of his mouth and his hands. Then he strolled out of the restaurant.
The food was good. I'll spare their lives.
Walking in the sunlight, Ming Zhao narrowed his eyes slightly, his expression relaxed and pleased.
Unlike other Evil Soul Masters, he had been born in this life in a yang year, a yang month, a yang day, and a yang hour. Even as an Evil Soul Master, he had no fear whatsoever of the attribute energies that naturally suppressed yin and evil, such as light, holiness, and lightning.
In other words, his twin red and white calamity Martial Souls had no natural enemies.
Even if Qian Renxue were brought back to life and the Six-Winged Angel stood before him, she could not suppress him through her Martial Soul or attributes.
That was also why Ming Zhao did not dislike sunlight and instead enjoyed basking in it.
In a sense, he was rather like Electrolux. Both were necromantic cultivators, yet neither feared those so-called "forces of righteousness."
The difference was that Electrolux had relied on his own strength to turn misfortune into fortune and transform light into darkness, freeing himself from fear of those powers.
Ming Zhao could do something similar thanks to his innate special fate.
"Come to think of it... at this point in time, the story should be about to officially begin, shouldn't it?"
After making inquiries and checking from various sources, Ming Zhao had long since discovered that he had transmigrated much earlier than Huo Yuhao was born.
He was already eighteen this year, while Huo Yuhao was only eleven.
"No matter what... there are some treasures and opportunities I can't afford to miss."