By the time the Ordinary Alliance's people arrived, Lin Xiao's figure had long vanished from the scene. Only a shriveled corpse lay on the street, swaying lightly in the breeze as if it weighed nothing at all.
"Evil soul master…"
A low voice drifted far into the night wind.
At the Holy Spirit Cult's branch altar, Lin Xiao pushed the mechanism by the table and entered the passage, letting out a slight sigh of relief.
Upon reaching the underground hall, he noticed Nightmare Douluo and two Holy Spirits were also present, their expressions grim.
"Teacher."
"Where are the others?" Nightmare Douluo glanced at him, his tone sharp.
Lin Xiao stepped forward and briefly recounted what had happened earlier.
"Hmph!" Nightmare Douluo abruptly stood, "That old woman has gone too far. Tonight's attackers were definitely not just from the Ordinary Alliance."
Lin Xiao remained silent. Tonight, Nightmare Douluo had not been idle either. As a Titled Douluo, he had gone to other locations to deal with the Ordinary Alliance's experts. From his words, it was clear that things hadn't gone smoothly for him either.
It was evident that the Ordinary Alliance indeed had some capability.
Nightmare Douluo had thought he could easily succeed and gather some materials in the process, but he hadn't expected to come up empty-handed and lose several members instead. No wonder he looked so displeased.
"Lin Xiao."
After a long silence, Nightmare Douluo suddenly spoke.
"Teacher." Lin Xiao bowed slightly.
"For the time being, you'll oversee the affairs of the branch altar in my place. I need to return to headquarters." Nightmare Douluo said as he began walking out. "Mingdu's underground market is too vast for the second and third elders to ignore."
"Yes." Lin Xiao responded.
So, unable to handle the Ordinary Alliance himself, he was heading back to headquarters to rally support.
Not long after Nightmare Douluo left, Lin Xiao, seeing the late hour, prepared to return to the academy. But just as he stood, he saw the two Holy Spirits approach with worried expressions.
"Holy Envoy."
"What's the matter?"
The two Holy Spirits exchanged a glance. "Sir, the Sixth Holy Servant has not returned."
Lin Xiao looked at them, his brow furrowing slightly. "Is it because of tonight's operation?"
"Sir, likely not. The Holy Servants have low cultivation and were not sent to dangerous areas tonight. Most were stationed at various intersections to relay messages. The other Holy Servants have returned, but there's been no word from the Sixth."
"Where did you send them?"
"Sir, we've already searched those areas, but there's no trace of her…" The Holy Spirit in front of Lin Xiao hesitated. "The Sixth Holy Servant is special. We were wondering if we could use the power of the Holy Flag to locate her."
"Special?"
Lin Xiao looked at the two with some confusion.
Recalling Nightmare Douluo's recent arrangements, the Holy Spirit finally spoke haltingly.
"Sir, you may not know, but the Sixth Holy Servant was brought back by the Elder from outside. When she first arrived at the Holy Cult, she was reluctant to stay, so the Elder performed the Spirit Ascension Ceremony on her."
At the mention of the Spirit Ascension Ceremony, Lin Xiao suddenly recalled someone.
Shortly after Xu Jing's ascension, when the Holy Spirit Cult had just established a foothold in Mingdu, Nightmare Douluo had introduced him to the members of the branch altar. One of the Holy Servants had caught his attention.
All Holy Spirits in the cult had incomplete souls, but that individual, despite being only a Holy Servant, was missing a portion of their soul, which even affected their physical body, leaving them in a dazed, muddled state.
Now that he thought about it, that person was indeed the Sixth. He hadn't expected her to have undergone the Spirit Ascension Ceremony as well.
Lin Xiao fell silent for a moment, lost in thought. "You mentioned using the Holy Flag. What's that about?"
"Sir," the other Holy Spirit responded, "A part of the Sixth Holy Servant's soul is currently within the Holy Flag. By invoking the flag, we can locate her position based on her residual soul."
"Then follow me."
After a moment of contemplation, Lin Xiao turned around, his expression subtly shifting.
Zhong Liwu had once said that after the Spirit Ascension Ceremony, the process of verifying identities could be bypassed. Moreover, as the ceremony approached, Nightmare Douluo's attitude toward him had changed.
He knew the Holy Spirit Cult had methods to control souls and had vaguely suspected as much. The words of these two Holy Spirits now confirmed his thoughts. The so-called Spirit Ascension Ceremony was the Holy Spirit Cult's method of separating and controlling the souls of its disciples.
Only through this could they trust these disciples to handle more of the cult's affairs.
And this missing Sixth Holy Servant might be an opportunity to learn exactly what the Spirit Ascension Ceremony entailed.
If a day came when he had no other choice, preparing in advance was better than being left at their mercy.
On the wall of the underground hall hung a dark gray flag. Merely approaching it sent a chill through the air, and upon closer inspection, one could almost see distorted faces writhing in torment.
This was not only a tool used by the Holy Spirit Cult to store souls but also a formidable seventh-level soul tool. By unleashing the resentful spirits within, even an ordinary Soul Douluo would struggle to contend with it.
Standing before the flag, Lin Xiao slowly closed his eyes. The Higanbana flower rose beside him, orbiting slowly.
Roars of resentment, sorrow, or rage echoed in his ears. Lin Xiao allowed them to surge toward him, futilely venting their hatred.
Soon, he found a familiar aura.
Lin Xiao's eyes snapped open. He raised his right hand, and the Higanbana flower flew into his palm. With a gentle flick of his left hand, a translucent shadow slowly drifted out from the flag, settling into the flower's stamen.
The two Holy Spirits nearby grew even more respectful upon seeing this. Though they were also disciples of the Holy Spirit Cult, they couldn't directly control souls like this.
Their original plan had been to use the Holy Flag to determine the Sixth Holy Servant's location, but they hadn't expected Lin Xiao to be able to extract her soul directly from the flag.
"There's no need to invoke the Holy Flag unless absolutely necessary. I've extracted the Sixth Holy Servant's residual soul, which can also be used to locate her."
Lin Xiao glanced at the two with a calm expression. "I'll take this residual soul with me. My identity makes it easier for me to move outside. I'll investigate this matter personally."
"Yes, sir."
The two Holy Spirits didn't think much of it and responded in unison.
"Mm."
Lin Xiao nodded and left first.
The events of the night didn't cause much of a stir in Mingdu. True to the Holy Spirit Cult's style, the slain disciples carried no useful information.
Only Lin Xiao's actions led them to suspect involvement of evil soul masters, but that was as far as it went.
The Ordinary Alliance seemed unwilling to publicize the matter of evil soul masters, and the night's commotion gradually faded into the mix of true and false rumors on the streets, no longer mentioned.