With the help of new flying soul tools, the people from Shrek Academy managed to escape even faster.
To intercept them, Feng Ling sped up alone and cut them off ahead of their path.
At this moment, Feng Ling wore a loose black robe, yet it couldn't hide her explosive figure. Her exposed face was that of a stunning mature woman—fair-skinned, with bright red lips and lustrous black hair tied in a bun behind her head.
Perhaps due to her martial soul's influence, her face exuded a sense of wickedness, making her look like a beautiful but poisonous flower.
Feng Ling's eyes were especially strange, with a natural seductive charm and a radiant gleam. At the corners of her eyes, dark red patterns extended all the way to her temples, adding a demonic allure to her presence.
With her narrow phoenix eyes slightly squinted, Feng Ling scanned the Shrek Academy team. Though she was talking about Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen, her eyes were locked on Cai Mei'er.
The Sun Moon Empire had collected intel on every member of the Shrek Academy team and had shared it with the Holy Spirit Sect.
Thus, Feng Ling knew well that Cai Mei'er was Yan Shaozhe's wife.
Coincidentally, Feng Ling had once been Yan Shaozhe's lover. Though they were only together for three months, their feelings had run deep.
Yan Shaozhe had even let Feng Ling go after she became an evil soul master—at the cost of being punished by Mu En and made to face the wall in repentance for three years.
If it hadn't been for Feng Ling's Evil Phoenix martial soul awakening and her evil aura attempting to devour Yan Shaozhe, she might have been his wife today.
There would've been no place for Xian Lin'er or Cai Mei'er.
Yan Shaozhe and Feng Ling's story happened before he met Xian Lin'er.
Had they ended up together, they might have earned a title akin to the "Light and Dark Twin Dragons" of Mu En and Long Xiaoyao in the past—perhaps as the "Light and Dark Phoenix Couple."
Before her martial soul fully awakened into the Evil Phoenix, Feng Ling's soul had been the Dark Phoenix—perfectly complementing Yan Shaozhe's Bright Phoenix.
Thoughts of her past with Yan Shaozhe emerged in Feng Ling's mind, making her expression gradually manic. A cruel smile formed at the corners of her lips.
Like a malicious predator toying with her prey before the kill.
The members of Shrek Academy were on high alert.
Xian Lin'er immediately warned everyone, "Be careful, she's a Super Douluo—and stronger than I am!"
Though both were Super Douluo, Xian Lin'er felt she had no chance of winning against Feng Ling.
Not only due to a difference in power, but also due to exhaustion—Feng Ling was at her peak, while Xian Lin'er had already fought a battle. Even with recovery from soul power batteries, she was only at 30-40% of her power.
Beibei spoke up to remind everyone, "She's the Deputy Sect Master of the Holy Spirit Sect. She's very strong!"
"No matter how strong she is, if we want to escape, we must fight to the death!" Xian Lin'er said solemnly. "Lexuan, I leave the others to you. You must ensure your junior brothers and sisters escape safely. Don't worry about me."
Zhang Lexuan nodded earnestly. She understood her duty.
"Xian Lin'er, I'll stay and cover the retreat with you," Cai Mei'er stepped forward, taking responsibility.
"I'll stay too. I can now face a Super Douluo head-on," Huo Yuhao said. Then he turned to Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen and said, "Thank you both for your help. Later, leave with the others. Shrek Academy will never let our friends face danger alone."
Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen were stunned by Huo Yuhao's confidence, speechless.
Xian Lin'er, however, was anxious. "Yuhao, you can't stay. You have to leave too!"
"No, I must stay…"
As the group argued, Feng Ling neither spoke nor acted. She simply smirked coldly.
Just then, a sword aura laced with the power of death shot in from afar, aimed at the center of the team.
Xian Lin'er sensed the danger first. She swung her Dragon Spear, unleashing a green flame dragon that shredded the sword aura.
At the same time, she shouted, "Who's there?!"
"Hehehe… Shrek Academy, none of you will escape!" An elder wielding the Nether Sword, full of killing intent, flew over rapidly from the distance. As he spoke, he had already blocked the left flank of the team.
Behind him were more than a dozen evil soul masters of Soul Douluo level, including the Zhongli Brothers.
They quickly encircled the team.
Feng Ling's smile grew even more sinister. She looked at Shrek's people playfully. She had been waiting for the encirclement to form—what were they waiting for?
"That's the Fourth Elder of the Holy Spirit Sect—Nether Douluo! And those are the Zhongli Brothers, house servants of Sect Master Zhongli Wu," Beibei urgently revealed.
Ironically, the Nether Douluo's title was the same as Zhu Zhuqing's from ten thousand years ago.
The Nether Elder noticed Beibei and immediately recognized him beneath his robe. He sneered and said, "Holy Dragon Saint Son, if you kill these Shrek people now and come back with me, I'll guarantee your safety."
"In your dreams!" Beibei refused firmly. "Even if I die, I'll never return to the Holy Spirit Sect!"
Feng Ling finally spoke again. "Enough talk. Capture them. Bring the Holy Dragon Saint Son back to receive the Holy Sect's baptism. He will once again be loyal to us."
"By your command, Deputy Sect Master!" the Nether Elder grinned wickedly. He had been waiting for her order.
In the next moment, he struck. Wielding his Nether Sword, he slashed forward. Black mist billowed out, filled with countless sword shadows. The elder himself also split into thousands of figures and rushed at the group.
Having failed to catch them last time, this time he used his ultimate move from the start.
"You think I'm scared?!"
Huo Yuhao stepped forward to meet the attack, shouting as he summoned his Frost Centipede Dragon Spear and charged into the mist.
"Yuhao!" Cai Mei'er tried to stop him, but it was too late.
The rest quickly joined the battle, as the evil soul masters clashed with Shrek Academy.
Huo Yuhao plunged into the black mist, sweeping his spear in a flurry of strikes, piercing through many of the Nether Elder's shadowy forms. But all of them turned out to be illusions—his attacks hit nothing real.
Suddenly, a sharp aura surged toward him. He raised his spear in time to block—clang!—a sword shadow that should have been illusory became real, crashing into his spear and knocking him back.
Had he not reacted quickly, he would have been injured.
"Hehehe… How many of my sword shadows can you block?" the Nether Elder's voice echoed from all directions.
In the black mist, every one of his forms seemed both real and false, impossible to tell apart.
His martial soul—the Nether Sword—was unique. It could open a parallel space during use, allowing attacks to shift between illusion and reality, unpredictably.
The reason it was classified as an evil martial soul was that each activation of the parallel space consumed a human soul.
After becoming a Title Douluo, the Nether Sword could store up to nine souls—meaning this killer technique could be used nine times!
And the first use wasn't even over yet.
As the elder's voice faded, countless sword shadows filled the air, all aimed at Huo Yuhao. Each shadow shimmered with soul skill light.
While he may not have committed as many atrocities as other elders, in battle the Nether Elder ranked among the top. A level 93 assault-type Title Douluo, his killing power was terrifying.
But Huo Yuhao was using the body of a Lesser Variant Frost Centipede, and could only draw on its powers. Its absorption of his bloodline power was limited and expendable—a last resort.
Just as the sword shadows were about to strike, Huo Yuhao's body suddenly glowed with pink energy.
"Divine Skill: Love at First Sight!"
Although the young Frost Centipede Variant's memory had been cleansed, the memories related to divine abilities were actually left intact.
Moreover, those divine abilities were already imprinted onto the body. Once mastered, they couldn't be forgotten. If someone asked, he could just say he didn't know how he could use them.
Huo Yuhao: "Who doesn't like me? Come fight me if you've got the guts~"
Don't ask why. It's the miracle of love.
The effect of "First Encounter" was to manipulate gravity and pull the target toward the user.
Faced with a group of phantoms that might or might not be the real Nether Elders, Huo Yuhao used the ability over a wide area. At the same time, his eyes scanned all the figures, searching for a flaw.
Sure enough, one figure at the back surged forward unnaturally.
Although Huo Yuhao had just grasped First Encounter and hadn't yet refined it, it was powerful enough to affect the Nether Elder.
The moment he locked onto the true body, Huo Yuhao struck decisively, ignoring all the fake illusions. Holding the Dragon Spear, he charged straight at the real Nether Elder.
The Nether Elder realized he'd been exposed the moment he was affected. Though he forcefully shook off the ability's influence, it was too late — his killing move had already been seen through.
Seeing Huo Yuhao charging toward him, the elder snorted coldly. Rather than flee, he dropped his disguise and slashed out a blade of energy to kill Huo Yuhao on the spot.
"Even if you're an Ultimate Element Spirit Master, you're only a Soul Sage! Let me show you the power of a Titled Douluo!"
"Eighth Soul Skill — Nether Void Slash!"
Clearly, the Nether Elder's intel was outdated, and he hadn't verified Huo Yuhao's true strength.
Using his eighth soul skill was a sign of respect for an Ultimate Element Spirit Master's combat power.
This situation arose because Huo Yuhao had also concealed his true strength.
When Huo Yuhao reached the elder, he released his full power, revealing the soul power of a Soul Douluo, stunning the elder.
Some secrets about Ultimate Element Spirit Masters had already spread: a Soul Sage with an ultimate element could rival a Titled Douluo. So what about one at the Soul Douluo level?
Answer: Comparable to a Super Douluo!
"Take this — Frost Centipede Forbidden Evil Domain!"
A giant Frost Centipede apparition appeared, shattering the blade of energy, and with the spear's tip, surged toward the elder.
Derived from Mu En's Dragon Emperor Shock Domain, the evolved technique Frost Centipede Forbidden Evil Domain also had a powerful restraining effect on evil soul masters.
Not only was the elder's attack torn apart, but he himself had no resistance against the technique.
"No!!!"
The elder screamed as the Frost Centipede's apparition bit into him and flung him into the air — in reality, Huo Yuhao had lifted him with a spear strike.
When the elder hit the ground, a gash ran from his chest to his abdomen, exposing damaged internal organs. Half his body was drenched in blood.
Huo Yuhao had severely injured a Titled Douluo in one strike!
The elder didn't die thanks only to the tenacity of Titled Douluo-level vitality. He spat blood, staggered upright, and fled.
As the elder was injured, the black mist he released faded, and the phantoms vanished.
No one expected that the first decisive clash would be between Huo Yuhao and the Nether Elder.
"Huo Yuhao is that strong?!" exclaimed Meng Hongchen.
"No, it's like he got even stronger after healing!" said Xiao Hongchen in a serious tone.
They were both curious about Huo Yuhao's recovery, suspecting he had gained a huge opportunity.
But since Meng Hongchen had been sent to Shrek Academy and needed to be accepted, Xiao Hongchen didn't press the matter.
"Nice work, Yuhao!" Cai Meier cheered happily.
At the time, Cai Meier and Xian Lin'er were teaming up to resist Feng Ling's attacks. Even together, they were steadily losing ground.
Feng Ling was not only powerful, but equipped with ninth-level soul tools, making her extremely dangerous.
"Useless trash!" Feng Ling noticed the elder's defeat and coldly ordered,
"Zhongli brothers, go hold off Huo Yuhao!"
She planned to finish off Xian Lin'er and Cai Meier first before dealing with the rest. Only the Zhongli brothers among her evil soul masters had a chance of holding back Huo Yuhao.
The Zhongli brothers looked dumbfounded:
"Huh? Us?!"
They weren't stupid — if the elder lost so quickly, how strong must Huo Yuhao be?
Still, they didn't dare disobey Feng Ling. With Zhongli Wu absent, Feng Ling held absolute authority.
So, the three brothers abandoned their fight with Ma Xiaotao, Ling Luochen, Hua Yao, and Wu Ming, letting other evil soul masters take their place.
They intercepted Huo Yuhao just as he was chasing down the fleeing elder, surrounding him in three directions.
Huo Yuhao halted mid-air, eyes narrowing.
The Zhongli brothers were a formidable trio even in the original story. Born of the same mother, they all wielded Nether Domain Serpents — a rare and powerful martial soul. Together, they could fight a Titled Douluo and were especially skilled in defense.
They also carried soul tools to boost their power for this ambush.
They were the reason Cai Meier, despite being a Titled Douluo, earned the mocking title "Disgrace of the Title" — because few Titled Douluo had ever been so intimidated by Soul Douluos.
Facing Huo Yuhao, the brothers went all-out. They didn't expect to defeat him, just hold him off with their combined defenses.
But Huo Yuhao merely glanced at the eldest, Zhongli Tian, and the next second, he froze in place — their combination technique fell apart.
First encounter killing ability — and Huo Yuhao had more than one.
Spiritual Ice Seal!
"Big Brother!"
Zhongli Di and Zhongli Ren shouted and attacked.
But they couldn't do anything — Zhongli Tian's consciousness was completely frozen. All that awaited him was Huo Yuhao's Frost Centipede Dragon Spear.
"Frost Centipede Demon-Slaying Strike!"
One spear pierced Zhongli Tian, taking his life.
"No! Big Brother!!"
"Ahhh!! I'll kill you!"
The other two charged Huo Yuhao in grief.
But with two more spear thrusts, all three lay in a row — the brothers grim.
"Old people sometimes go to sleep... and just don't wake up."
When Huo Yuhao looked around for the Nether Elder, he was already long gone.
Huo Yuhao snorted and turned to support Xian Lin'er and Cai Meier, joining them in attacking Feng Ling.
"Is that guy Huo Yuhao even human? He's a monster! Where the hell did a Soul Douluo like that come from?!"
The Nether Elder had fled far away, grumbling as he looked for a place to recover.
But before he could decide where to go, someone stepped on his back, pinning him to the blood-soaked ground.
Feeling the power behind the step, he knew the attacker was a master far stronger than him. Ignoring his pain, he begged for his life:
"Wait! Spare me! I'll give you anything!"
"Oh? Then answer me a question and I'll spare you," said a cool, youthful voice — one the elder vaguely recognized.
"Yes! Ask me anything!"
"Then tell me — what is love?"
"...Huh?" the elder was stunned.
Squelch!
Huo Yuhao ended him with a single strike — then began soul extraction, skinning, and consumption...
In a blink, the elder was completely destroyed.
"You fool. Killing you just makes everything yours mine now~" Huo Yuhao sighed.
"Now the elders of the Holy Spirit Cult are complete."
The elder had escaped Huo Yuhao's clone, but not his true self.
Thus, his disappearance became another unsolved mystery.
And Huo Yuhao turned his attention back to the distant battlefield.
With Elder Youming's "retreat" and the deaths of the Zhongli brothers, the situation immediately reversed.
Huo Yuhao joined the battle against Feng Ling.
With the power of a Super Douluo, Huo Yuhao and Xian Lin'er, combined with Cai Mei'er—whose martial soul counters evil soul masters—the three of them fought Feng Ling evenly.
This was largely because Xian Lin'er was heavily drained and Cai Mei'er's strength lagged behind. Otherwise, the three might have seriously injured Feng Ling.
Feng Ling's expression grew increasingly grim.
She was unable to quickly defeat the three of them, while the other evil soul masters from the Holy Spirit Cult were being eliminated one after another by the Shrek Academy team.
These evil soul masters were elites directly under the Cult Leader!
With Bei Bei and Zhang Lexuan working together, even while protecting weaker juniors, they could still suppress a group of Contra-level evil soul masters.
The Holy Spirit Cult's original plan had no flaws. The only unexpected variable was that neither Zhongli Wu nor Feng Ling anticipated Huo Yuhao not only gaining a fortuitous opportunity and healing his injuries but also breaking through to Contra and achieving Super Douluo-level power.
With the mission no longer viable, Feng Ling decided to stop wasting the Cult's elite forces. She erupted with power, forced back the trio, and shouted, "Retreat!"
The remaining evil soul masters, as if receiving amnesty, ignored the enemy's attacks and risked injury to escape at once.
Even Feng Ling herself used a technique—releasing an evil phoenix clone—to block the trio's pursuit.
Huo Yuhao, wielding a dragon spear, joined Xian Lin'er. Their two spears danced like twin dragons emerging from the sea, spiraling together to destroy the evil phoenix clone.
With a loud boom, the clone was annihilated.
But Feng Ling, the one who had released it, had already escaped and disappeared.
Before leaving, she gave Ma Xiaotao a lingering glance.
The Evil Phoenix martial soul needed to devour similar martial souls to evolve. Her true target today had been Ma Xiaotao. She had a feeling that devouring Ma Xiaotao would allow her to break through again.
Unfortunately, she missed the chance.
Cai Mei'er looked at Huo Yuhao and Xian Lin'er with a complicated expression. She could sense a certain tacit understanding between them, but both had forgotten their past love. Perhaps what remained was merely muscle memory.
"Maybe it's for the best. At least, it's something I can report back to Qian Duoduo." Cai Mei'er thought to herself.
If both of them had forgotten each other, then nothing had ever happened. Once back at the Academy, a gag order could cover everything, and life could return to normal.
Huo Yuhao could reconcile with others—but as for Xian Lin'er, best not.
However, Cai Mei'er didn't notice that Huo Yuhao and Xian Lin'er were looking at each other with strange expressions.
Because when they had worked together just now, they both felt their soul powers resonating.
This meant… they might share a Martial Soul Fusion Technique!
The memoryless Xian Lin'er was shocked, thinking:
"Could it be that I have a martial soul fusion technique with this boy? That seamless coordination just now must've been its effect."
"If we really can activate a fusion, then with our current power, we might be able to challenge Ultimate Douluos! That would give the Academy another trump card!"
Her heart burned with excitement.
If the situation were appropriate, she would've pulled Huo Yuhao aside to experiment immediately.
But she made a firm decision to test it with Huo Yuhao once they were safe.
Huo Yuhao, for his part, silently marveled:
"So this is what the soul compatibility granted by the Goddess of Love feels like? It's nothing like the forced imitation of fusion techniques—it feels just like the one I have with Zhu Lu."
He could artificially simulate the effect of martial soul fusion through cultivation techniques, but those lacked the true spiritual intimacy. Only his technique with Zhu Lu felt the same as this one with Xian Lin'er.
After a brief glance, the two turned to assess the situation.
The Holy Spirit Cult's assault had been like a raging flood, but their retreat was like a diarrhea burst.
It all ended rather anticlimactically.
Upon inspection, none of the Shrek Academy members had died—only some were injured.
The evil soul masters, however, left behind six corpses, all at the Contra level. Three of them were the Zhongli brothers.
Huo Yuhao stored the corpses in a soul storage device and explained,
"Evil soul master corpses must be purified. Leaving them unattended could lead to the spread of dark power and harm innocents. I'll take these back to Sea God's Island and purify them with the Golden Ancient Tree."
No one objected—this was common sense.
No one could guarantee what dangerous things might remain in an evil soul master's corpse.
While burning them on the spot was common, purifying them with light-attribute power back at the Academy was also practiced—especially for high-level evil soul masters. Though it was more troublesome.
After all, it's not normal to carry corpses around.
Thankfully, soul storage devices made it possible.
Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen didn't say much. They were both amazed by Shrek Academy's strength. They had to admit that in terms of soul master prowess, Shrek's students were indeed stronger.
Without Xu Tianchen's support, they'd been like frogs at the bottom of a well.
With the Holy Spirit Cult defeated, the Shrek team continued north, with the Hongchen siblings following.
From that point on, the journey was much smoother.
There were still enemies, but none as strong as before—no more Super Douluos. The later attackers weren't from the Holy Spirit Cult, but from the White Lotus Sect.
In this part of the plan, Ju Zi personally led White Lotus members to hunt down teams that had split from the main group.
They didn't wipe everyone out, but still caused heavy casualties.
Eventually, she "escorted" Shrek Academy's team north until they reached the edge of the Extreme North.
The Shrek team dared not linger. They hurried forward and reached the northern border of the Sun Moon Empire in less than a day.
Faster than both the Body Sect and the Heavenly Soul Empire teams.
Though weary, everyone was visibly relieved.
In a nearby town, they purchased warm clothing at high prices and prepared to enter the Extreme North.
As they prepared to part ways, Huo Yuhao invited Xiao Hongchen:
"Brother Xiao, come with us to Shrek. You helped us—if the Holy Spirit Cult finds out, and you return to Mingdu, they may retaliate."
It was disappointing that Xiao declined.
Xian Lin'er and Cai Mei'er had both hoped to bring him along. Not only for his strength and potential, but also because he and Meng Hongchen shared a martial soul fusion technique—they were strongest together.
No one now dared call them weaklings powered by "drugs."
Xiao Hongchen, however, shook his head:
"I can't. If I don't go back, my grandfather and family will be in danger. Don't worry—given my talent and reputation, at most I'll be punished a little. My family will be fine."
"After all, it was the Holy Spirit Cult that attacked you—not the Sun Moon Empire's plan," he said with a smile.
The others also realized the truth.
It had indeed been the Holy Spirit Cult, under secret orders from the Empire, that hunted escapees. But no Sun Moon official had been publicly involved.
"Then I'm relieved. Take care," Huo Yuhao said sincerely.
Xiao turned his head away,
"Go already. I came to see off Meng—not you!"
Meng Hongchen was visibly reluctant.
In the end, she left with the group—over twenty people—crossing the Sun Moon Empire's northern border into the Extreme North, disappearing into the snow.
Xiao's smile faded slowly, and his soul engineer guards stood silently behind him.
"Meng, I hope you find a way to cure yourself. I'll build achievements here. If you fail, I'll beg His Majesty for help. If he truly becomes a god, he'll surely have a way."
Huo Yuhao's main body remained within the territory of the Sun Moon Empire, finishing the final stages of his plan.
Mingdu.
Sun Moon Imperial Palace.
The Emperor's bedchamber.
Huo Yuhao sat facing Xu Tiancheng. Grand Eunuch Gao and a clone of Huo Yuhao stood waiting nearby. There were no outsiders present, and the area was sealed off with barriers to ensure no one could eavesdrop.
A dim soul lamp lit up between Huo Yuhao and Xu Tiancheng.
The two appeared to be conversing, taking turns speaking, but it was actually Huo Yuhao performing a monologue — a solo dialogue as he sorted through his plans aloud.
"This assassination has completely ignited all the forces on the Douluo Continent. From now on, no one can stay uninvolved in the coming upheaval. The more dishes in the pot, the more I get to feast on." Huo Yuhao said with a smile.
Xu Tiancheng wore the same smile and added, "Next, it's time to fulfill our promises to the Holy Spirit Cult. Tang Ya will become the Left Chancellor, and the Cult will gain access to prisoners from the imperial dungeons. It will also be officially recognized as a legal sect in the Sun Moon Empire, receiving generous annual funding."
Huo Yuhao replied, "We mustn't shortchange the Holy Spirit Cult. Only with sufficient resources can they produce more talent. Zhongli Wu and Feng Ling both have the potential to break through to Ultimate Douluo. We can guide them specifically."
Xu Tiancheng continued, "I'm also planning to place Juzi into the military to command the Beast King Legion. When war breaks out, she'll be our best candidate for general."
Huo Yuhao nodded, "The arrangements within the Sun Moon Empire are complete. All we have to do now is wait for the events to ferment. But I need to return to Shrek Academy to handle Tang dog's schemes."
Xu Tiancheng chuckled, "Heh, since Tang dog has delivered Wang Dong to your doorstep, why not taste the flavor? Besides, Wang Dong is a divine offspring — immensely talented and with great potential. As a host for reverse innate rebirth, she's a worthy candidate. But let's be honest — don't you have other motives?"
Huo Yuhao grinned, "You're right — I just want her body~"
The two looked at each other and burst out laughing, pointing fingers at each other in unison:
"You pervert! Hahaha…"
Huo Yuhao's main body suddenly dropped his smile. "Alright, now that everything else is settled, it's time to deal with your issue. I'll help you with your cultivation!"
Xu Tiancheng became serious.
With the power of an empire behind him, Xu Tiancheng had forcefully raised his cultivation to the level of Ultimate Douluo.
But he encountered a problem.
His cultivation had increased too rapidly, causing conflicting energies within him to swell dangerously.
As a result, Xu Tiancheng didn't dare to engage in combat easily. A single misstep could disrupt his internal balance — he'd explode without any enemy needing to attack.
Because of this, Xu Tiancheng had even stopped cultivating further.
Now that Huo Yuhao had decided to further nurture Xu Tiancheng, he couldn't allow him to be stuck at a bottleneck.
The solution was simple: drink poison to quench thirst — cultivate the Fourth Layer of the Nine Deaths Divine Art!
No one else could assist with cultivating this fourth layer — only Huo Yuhao could personally guide it. Even then, he wasn't confident.
The Nine Deaths Divine Art was infamous — no one had ever successfully cultivated the fourth layer. Even completing the third layer was extremely rare.
The first layer refined the bones,
The second refined the organs,
The third refined the flesh and meridians,
And the fourth skipped straight to the soul.
One misstep, and the soul would be scattered — no second chances.
But for Huo Yuhao, even soul annihilation wasn't a big deal.
After all, it would be Xu Tiancheng's soul being shattered. As long as the body remained intact, Huo Yuhao could still use his skin to operate in the world.
At that point, Xu Tiancheng would become a true puppet, with no further potential as a soul master.
If the path of the clone couldn't continue, then the path of the puppet might still work.
In the end — all roads lead to Nirvana.
So, Huo Yuhao didn't feel much pressure over this breakthrough.
To be cautious, he had a body double return from the field to assist Grand Eunuch Gao in guarding the area.
Grand Eunuch Gao had studied Blood Slaughter Soul Shattering, which also involved soul research — perhaps he could offer assistance.
After all preparations were made, they began cultivation directly in the grand hall — not in a secret chamber.
If anything went wrong, the larger space offered more room to react.
Xu Tiancheng closed his eyes and drew forth the soul of the original Third Prince, beginning the cultivation of the fourth layer of the Nine Deaths Divine Art.
The Third Prince's soul was a chaotic mess — years of Huo Yuhao's soul intrusion and reckless cultivation had driven his consciousness into madness, filling his soul with impurities.
The current Third Prince was essentially insane.
This was normal for most evil cultivators — not surprising.
Frankly, after examining the quality of the Third Prince's soul, Huo Yuhao believed the chances of failure were very high.
Still, the cultivation had begun — even if it failed, he had to push forward.
"Soul Shatter!"
BOOM!!!
A sound like thunder roared in Huo Yuhao's ears. Accompanied by the Third Prince's soul-shattering scream, his soul exploded into fragments.
The essence of this stage was to rebuild the soul, searching for the true spirit hidden within.
The true spirit is considered the core of a person's existence — said to be what carries over in reincarnation.
If the true spirit is extinguished, there is no rebirth.
Only if it survives can one reincarnate, accumulate karma over generations, and eventually ascend to immortality.
Like the idea of ten lifetimes of virtue or evil — merit and sin are all attached to the true spirit.
The fourth layer of the Nine Deaths Divine Art seeks to master one's true spirit, transcend life and death, and declare: "My fate is mine, not the heavens'."
If one had prior spiritual accumulation, there could be surprises — maybe even extract stored merit early.
As for sin — if you can control your own true spirit, who needs it?
Put simply, the true spirit is like the key to a private vault. Inside are your stored merits or sins. You can't open the vault or even know what's inside until Heaven checks your records.
Now, you take the key back — keep the good stuff, discard the bad — and store more good things for the future.
Douluo Continent may not have a Heaven doing the accounting, but mastering one's true spirit still brings great benefits.
After the Third Prince's soul was shattered, one of Huo Yuhao's clones used spiritual power to maintain the fragments and slow their dissipation.
Meanwhile, Huo Yuhao's main body focused on locating the Third Prince's true spirit.
And then…
"Didn't find it?"
As he watched the soul fragments almost completely dissipate, Huo Yuhao found nothing resembling a true spirit. The result was clear.
It felt like fusing a hundred puzzle pieces and ending up with nothing.
"So this is the difficulty of the legendary fourth layer of Nine Deaths Divine Art — that can supposedly lead to immortality? I'm in love~"
"Damn it! Plan A failed. Time for Plan B… Wait, I suddenly have a bold idea!"
Huo Yuhao examined Xu Tiancheng's body — still lifelike, with soul power circulating. Only the martial soul mark was about to break.
"This body is already cultivated — just missing a true spirit. What if I use a substitute for the true spirit?"
This kind of operation had been attempted before!
He still remembered that day — how the mutated Ice Centipede martial soul managed to stand up on two legs…
Xu Tiancheng's condition was somewhat different from the case of the mutant Frost Centipede martial soul.
The mutant Frost Centipede martial soul was like missing a piece of software—it only needed a compatible system disk to run.
But Xu Tiancheng required the integration of a true spirit, akin to programming something from scratch.
The difficulty was on another level.
However, the method to resolve the issue remained the same: find the appropriate thing and shove it in.
At present, Xu Tiancheng's body was just a sliver of true spirit away from breaking through to the fourth level of Nine Deaths Divine Art.
And if there's one thing Huo Yuhao had in abundance—it was souls!
Without hesitation, Huo Yuhao summoned a small banner and began extracting souls from it, crushing them one by one to search for that precious sliver of true spirit.
The banner wasn't the Hao Emperor Banner, but an ordinary soul-storing spiritual artifact, filled with souls he'd gathered recently—mainly the buried-alive souls of genius contestants from various factions.
He didn't use the ghosts within the Hao Emperor Banner, because once souls enter it, their true spirit becomes part of the banner—even if crushed, it's impossible to retrieve.
The Bloodslaughter Bead's bloodthirsty souls were also useless for this reason.
While the souls of geniuses were precious, they paled in comparison to the importance of helping Xu Tiancheng break through the fourth level of the Nine Deaths Divine Art.
Time was of the essence—they had to complete the fusion before Xu Tiancheng's martial soul mark completely shattered.
Even Huo Yuhao couldn't stop the collapse of the martial soul mark—he could only delay it.
To increase his success rate, Huo Yuhao even tapped into the power of fate, forcibly boosting his luck.
"Come on, fate—show me your limits!"
Finally, when Huo Yuhao crushed the 364th soul, he obtained that invaluable trace of true spirit.
Counting the soul of the third prince, that made exactly 365.
"Even with luck-enhancing fate power, I had to crush 350+ souls just for a trace of true spirit. No wonder no one's ever cultivated to the fourth level. Those who succeed on their first try must either have Heaven itself as their father, or some almighty being lending a hand," Huo Yuhao couldn't help but complain.
In truth, no one had ever succeeded in cultivating the fourth level. After all, those with such powerful backgrounds practiced far superior techniques—or could even lie flat and become immortals without risking their lives.
Without wasting time, once he obtained the true spirit, Huo Yuhao directly implanted it into Xu Tiancheng's body.
The fourth level of the Nine Deaths Divine Art finally began to operate once more. The crumbling martial soul mark ceased disintegrating and even began to slowly recover.
However—it still wasn't fully completed.
"What the hell?" Huo Yuhao was shocked.
Suddenly, a Grade-9 soul tool, the Sun-Shooting Divine Crossbow Cannon, appeared before Xu Tiancheng, hovering in midair.
It was his life-bound artifact, and now it was showing signs of strange activity—like it was hungering for something.
Instinctively, Huo Yuhao tried to probe it with his spiritual power that was still linked to Xu Tiancheng.
Unexpectedly, the moment his spiritual power touched the cannon, it was sucked directly into it!
And worse, a strange pulling force traveled along the spiritual connection, grabbing hold of Huo Yuhao himself.
"Crap!" Huo Yuhao turned pale and tried to retreat, but it was too late. The pull had already latched onto his body.
Seeing the situation, Electrolux (Yi Laikesi) immediately appeared to protect him.
Sky Iceworm, Golden Xuanwu, Ice Radiant Dragon, and Titan Snow Demon King all materialized to help.
But none of them could do anything.
Electrolux's protection was completely ineffective.
Huo Yuhao only felt his lower dantian tremble, and he involuntarily let out a strange groan.
Then—something dark and ghostly crawled out from his lower dantian.
It looked exactly like Huo Yuhao, except it had a lewd expression, disheveled clothing, exposed chest, and a sleazy demeanor.
Golden Xuanwu cried out, "What the heck is that?!"
"It's over! Bro Hao's soul got sucked out!" Sky Iceworm was horrified.
"If that's Huo Yuhao's soul, then... what's left inside his body?" Electrolux wondered aloud.
Huo Yuhao stared blankly at the figure that had crawled out of him—and then he also cried out in shock:
"Holy crap—Lower Corpse!"
Lower Corpse, one of the Three Corpses in Daoist theory—obstacles to cultivation.
Upper Corpse: Loves adornment.
Middle Corpse: Craves taste.
Lower Corpse: Obsessed with lust.
To reach tranquility and clarity, a cultivator must slay the Three Corpses—only then can they ascend.
"Aren't I a Buddhist cultivator?! Why did my Lower Corpse get pulled out?" Huo Yuhao was both stunned and on high alert.
For cultivators, the Three Corpses are extremely dangerous—they can even turn against the host. After all, only when the cultivator dies can the Three Corpses leave the body and roam freely as corpse-ghosts.
But Huo Yuhao's caution proved unnecessary.
The Lower Corpse merely glanced back at him with annoyance—then was immediately sucked into the Sun-Shooting Divine Crossbow Cannon.
The cannon radiated dazzling light, undergoing visible transformation before fusing back into Xu Tiancheng's body—completing the fourth level of the Nine Deaths Divine Art!
Before Huo Yuhao could react further, Xu Tiancheng also underwent a complete transformation.
No—what stood before them was no longer Xu Tiancheng.
It was:
True Spirit of an Unknown Soul Master
Xu Tiancheng's body
Huo Yuhao's Lower Corpse
Sun-Shooting Divine Crossbow Cannon
The ultimate Frankenstein fusion monster!
Scarlet-red and gray-blue auras simultaneously surged from Xu Tiancheng, lifting him into the air.
Blazing heat and bone-chilling cold erupted from him, triggering a celestial phenomenon over the imperial palace.
A vast great sun hung in the sky, flooding the capital in daylight-like brilliance.
A dragon shadow coiled around the sun—none other than the Purple Radiance Heaven-Extinguishing Dragon Martial Soul.
Then came a deafening boom—sun and dragon vanished, and the once-scorching palace turned icy cold. Snowflakes began to fall.
Inside and outside the palace, people were shocked.
High officials and nobles rushed toward the palace.
The Temple of Worship's elders also arrived, only to find the imperial concubines kneeling in worship toward the direction where the great sun had appeared.
The elders couldn't concern themselves with that—they anxiously gathered outside the hall where Huo Yuhao and Xu Tiancheng were, but dared not enter.
They heard a voice from inside—Xu Tiancheng, now elated, shouting:
"I've done it! I, the Emperor, have succeeded!!"
The elders exchanged glances, stunned.
Bang!
The palace doors burst open.
Xu Tiancheng appeared, glowing with might, eyes radiant with joy—and a trace of lewdness flashing across his gaze.
"Your Majesty… what just happened?" Elder Kong Deming cautiously asked.
"Elder Kong, announce to the people of Mingdu—they need not panic. I've merely had a breakthrough. Just one step further," Xu Tiancheng said casually.
He spoke less regally than before, more laid-back—but his aura was even more terrifying.
"Breakthrough? Your Highness, did you reach Level 100?!" Kong Deming was visibly shaken. The other elders cried out in shock.
"Not yet… but soon~"
Xu Tiancheng offered no further explanation. He turned and returned to the inner palace, leaving a baffled group of elders behind.
The elders could only relay orders to the capital's officials and nobles and calm the citizens.
No need to lie—just tell them the truth, as His Majesty said.
Soon, the capital of Mingdu rang with earth-shaking cheers.
The people knelt and chanted:
"Congratulations, Your Majesty! Long live the Emperor!"
"Cheers for His Majesty! Cheers for the Empire!"
Indeed—the lives of Mingdu's people were looking more promising by the day.