A whole night passed.
When Huo Yuhao woke up, he immediately felt a chill around his lower body. Looking down, he realized his original underwear had completely vanished. Panic surged, and he quickly curled up, carefully checking his "brothers" to make sure they weren't suffering from the cold.
Gradually, his memories returned. Huo Yuhao began recalling what had happened the previous night.
In his memory, there was no interruption except for the final blackout and unconsciousness. Perhaps this was a mark of an excellent spirit-type soul master — even during moments of lost consciousness, his memory recorded everything clearly.
"My virginity… is gone…" Huo Yuhao felt a wave of helplessness and sadness but couldn't help licking his lips, as if savoring some lingering aftertaste.
Then his eyes caught four large characters carved on the wall behind him, etched with soul power:
"Short and Weak!"
Huo Yuhao instantly exploded with anger. "You just wait! Thirty years on the east bank, thirty years on the west—don't underestimate a young man in poverty!"
After stretching his body, Huo Yuhao found no abnormalities and finally relaxed. Since Zhongli Wu had brought him back to their headquarters, the Church would undoubtedly focus on cultivating him. For now, his best option was to play along and make full use of his Holy Son identity.
When he stepped out of the attic, two sweet-faced twin maidservants were waiting for him.
"Feifei/Yingying pay respects to the Holy Son."
Huo Yuhao responded coldly with a simple "Hmm." With his current spiritual power, he didn't even need his eyes to see the fervor burning in these two girls' gazes. As the saying goes, what you can't have always seems best—since all the Holy Spirit believers were so eager for him, he might as well toy with them a bit.
"The Church Leader instructed that after you wake up, the two of us will lead you to meet him."
"Let's go then." Huo Yuhao had no idea what kind of test awaited him among the Church's upper echelons, but as the Holy Son, he had to control his demeanor first.
Seeing his cold attitude, the two maidservants dared not show any more emotion and obediently led Huo Yuhao deeper into the main hall.
Usually hard to find, evil soul masters were everywhere here, bowing respectfully when they saw Huo Yuhao. Their rarity was comparable to soul masters' rarity among humans. Along the way, Huo Yuhao saw many strange and fascinating martial souls.
By talking with the maidservants, Huo Yuhao learned their martial souls and abilities. Wow, white snake and green snake—no wonder these young girls were so charming. Given the serpent nature, Huo Yuhao couldn't help but suspect Zhongli Wu's motives for assigning these two so close to him.
After winding through long corridors and multiple buildings, the three finally arrived at a shrine — their destination for the day.
Zhongli Wu and several elder-level Church leaders were already waiting there. Huo Yuhao keenly noticed that all of them knelt on meditation cushions, faces filled with solemn devotion. Before them lay a bottomless abyss, with only the head of a huge stone statue protruding from the depths.
Was this a ritual sacrifice?
The two maidservants stepped back — clearly they had no right to go further. Huo Yuhao gave the abyss a thoughtful glance and then stepped forward.
"Yuanjia, come here." Zhongli Wu turned solemnly toward him.
"Leader," Huo Yuhao obediently approached.
"As the Holy Son, you must undergo the Church's most sinister baptism and inherit its legacy. No matter your past, after this, I will entrust the Holy Spirit Church to you without hesitation."
"Your real name should be Huo Yuhao, right?" Zhongli Wu obviously had someone investigate his background and was displeased that Huo Yuhao had concealed his real name.
"Leader, using a false name yesterday was just for self-protection." Huo Yuhao responded calmly. Since he had no notable background at the moment, even if they discovered he was the Duke's son, he had ways to handle it.
"Child, you've suffered," Zhongli Wu stepped forward and gently ruffled Huo Yuhao's hair. "I never imagined our Holy Son would be treated like a servant and bullied in that Duke's mansion because of his lowly birth."
Huo Yuhao's expression suddenly turned confused — lowly birth? But with his strong spiritual power, his thoughts quickly shifted. So the Duchess had indirectly covered up his true identity through an important deception.
"The explosion at the Duke's estate — you used the soul-guided cannon, right?" Zhongli Wu continued, expression cold.
"Yes." Huo Yuhao did not deny it; he still wanted to use the Church's power to take revenge on the White Tiger Duke and his two sons who had gone to Shrek Academy.
"Those nobles treated me like trash and killed my mother. I swear I will destroy the entire White Tiger lineage!" His eyes reddened as a fierce, soul-deep rage surged out — such hatred was genuine and undeniable.
Seeing this, Zhongli Wu's face grew even more satisfied. He exchanged a glance with the other elders. Their earlier suspicion about Huo Yuhao hiding his true name instantly vanished.
"No one dares bully our Holy Son. Once the inheritance is complete, I will personally arrange people to avenge you."
"No!" Huo Yuhao's eyes blazed. "I want to become stronger myself and personally deal with those who harmed my mother!"
Huo Yuhao's display of furious determination delighted Zhongli Wu deeply. A soul master who only sought others to avenge him would be limited in achievement. Huo Yuhao had perfectly played their psychology — appearing half-true, half-fake, which eased the Church's guard.
"Holy Son, come with me." Zhongli Wu took Huo Yuhao's small hand and led him toward the abyss.
"Do you know the foundation of our Church?"
"Is the inheritance beneath here?" Huo Yuhao asked, since this secret had never appeared in the original story.
"That's right. Our Church has few equals in the world precisely because of our supreme inheritance." Zhongli Wu's reverent demeanor resembled a pilgrim worshipping a shrine.
"Because the one who bestowed our inheritance is the supreme god!"
"What?" Huo Yuhao almost exclaimed. His mind felt as if it had grasped something but dared not speak it aloud.
"Our Church has long been marginalized by various powers across the continent because our followers have awakened all kinds of evil martial souls, causing endless suffering and wickedness. But this is the task and test given to us by the god."
"Since the massacre in the Secret Realm of the City of Slaughter ten thousand years ago, that evil paradise sank underground and drifted here with tectonic shifts."
"There are two gods of slaughter in the world: one is the great Asura deity inherited by the hypocrite Tang San, and the other is the most evil Rakshasa deity — our most treasured inheritance."
"Ten thousand years ago, our god once killed Tang San, but shameless godly enforcers resurrected him and gave him the complete Asura deity, resulting in the defeat and death of our god, who was subsequently removed from the divine realm."
The name Rakshasa made Huo Yuhao's heart shiver. Zhongli Wu was definitely referring to the Rakshasa inheritance left in Douluo Continent after the death of Bibi Dong.
To be honest, Huo Yuhao was not especially eager to inherit this deity. The original story described how the Rakshasa god was too suppressed by the Asura god. If he became the Rakshasa god in the future, wouldn't he still be ground down by Tang San's godly power in the divine realm? That was not what he wanted.
The Rakshasa god, the Angel god, and the Sea god were all first-tier deities, while the attack-powerful Asura god was a god king. The gap was huge. To quote the original text in Douluo 4: if first-tier gods rank around level 120, god kings start at level 150 or higher. Plus the suppression factors, the ancient dual god war was a complete one-sided slaughter.
Should he inherit or not? Huo Yuhao found himself torn in a fierce inner battle.
(End of Chapter)
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