"The Holy Spirit Cult!"
Ethan's heart trembled violently.
He never expected to encounter them here — and not just any members, but their highest-ranking elite.
The Holy Spirit Cult — the ultimate villains of the original story — even by the standards of modern Earth, were beyond redemption.
An organization built entirely from Evil Soul Masters, their crimes spanned millennia. No one truly knew how much blood they had spilled in the shadows.
From the darker records of history, Ethan recalled the truth:
the rise of the Holy Spirit Cult was linked to the destruction of the City of Slaughter by the God-King Tang himself.
Once that grim prison for Evil Soul Masters was annihilated, its inmates scattered across the continent — birthing the Cult that would one day threaten the world.
Even worse, the divine Angel Martial Soul — once the greatest nemesis of Evil Soul Masters — had fallen from grace after the God-King's final battle.
The sacred bloodline of the Six-Winged Angel had dwindled to mere fragments: weakened variants like the Holy Angel and Prayer Angel, stripped of divinity, reduced to simple healing and support souls.
> "An age creates its heroes," Ethan thought bitterly, "but even a hero should never become a scourge upon the innocent."
Reading about it had been one thing —
but now, standing before a figure who was most likely Zhongli Wu, the Supreme Leader of the Holy Spirit Cult, Ethan finally grasped the weight of fear.
Against this man, his current power meant nothing — unless, by some miracle, a nuclear warhead had traveled through worlds with him.
---
Ethan forced himself to stay calm.
"Junior Ethan Hartwell," he said quietly, "may I ask the senior's name?"
The black-robed man chuckled.
"Well, well. My surname is Zhongli. I never imagined that this little outing would bring such an extraordinary gift to our Cult."
He patted Ethan's shoulder with a strange mix of amusement and satisfaction.
> So it really is you… Zhongli Wu!
Ethan cursed silently.
To fall into the hands of this monster — the final boss himself — was the last thing he wanted.
He could only hope to escape before the Cult twisted him into one of their undead puppets.
---
"Senior," Ethan asked cautiously, "someone called me an Evil Soul Master earlier, but my Martial Soul is just a pair of eyes. How could that be?"
It wasn't false curiosity — he genuinely didn't understand.
The timeline shouldn't have reached this point yet.
In the original story, it would be another year before Huo Yuhao (his body's former owner) even began learning necromancy under Electrolux's spirit.
Zhongli Wu smiled, evidently pleased by Ethan's confusion.
"The Holy Son has just awakened. It's natural you don't yet understand your own power," he said, voice rich and low. "Your Martial Soul is a second awakening. I've heard of geniuses born with Innate Full Soul Power — even of mythical prodigies born with Innate Level Twenty. But Innate Level Thirty? That surpasses mortal understanding. You, my child, are the first I've ever seen."
> "Level thirty?" Ethan blinked in disbelief.
He could clearly feel only level ten Soul Power within him.
Zhongli Wu chuckled softly.
"You've not cultivated long enough to sense your true strength. Ancient records from the Spirit Hall state that Soul Power continues to accumulate even without rings — it does not stagnate.
You've surpassed the divine threshold — the Innate Level Twenty limit for godhood potential.
Thus, your Martial Soul has produced a phenomenon unseen in ten thousand years — a self-generated Soul Ring.
Once you slay a beast whose attribute matches your own, this self-born ring will merge and evolve — becoming a genuine Soul Ring at the limit of your absorption capability."
He smiled, eyes gleaming with fanatic devotion.
"No wonder the heavens guided us here. As expected of our Holy Son… truly, you bear the mark of a god!"
---
While they spoke, the Titled Douluo-level Cult Acolytes had already finished off the entire Shrek Inspection Team, leaving only one survivor — the unconscious red-haired woman whose body still burned faintly with cursed fire: Eva.
At this point in time, she was still young — not the tempered warrior from the stories, but the fierce Crimson Phoenix known for her uncontrollable rage.
"The Saintess," Zhongli Wu murmured, crouching beside her. "Her Evil Fire Phoenix bloodline is rare indeed. With the Holy Son's guidance, her soul could be reborn as the Dark Phoenix of Destruction — a being capable of ending worlds. To think the Shrek bloodline still carried this cursed flame…"
He grasped Eva's wrist briefly, feeling her pulse, and sneered with satisfaction.
Ethan stood beside him silently, gazing down at the unconscious girl.
He remembered how, in the original timeline, she would later become Huo Yuhao's ally — a fiery sister figure who would eventually sacrifice herself for him.
There was a hint of respect in his eyes, but it quickly faded.
> She tried to kill me just an hour ago, he thought. That bit of sympathy's gone now.
Still, if he ever had the chance to reason with her, he wouldn't mind turning her to his side.
After all, Eva's potential in this era rivaled even the greatest prodigies of the Tang Sect.
---
"Come, Holy Son," Zhongli Wu said at last, his tone both commanding and reverent.
"Let us return — to our true sanctuary."
Ethan nodded faintly.
"As you wish, Senior."
---
Just as the original story described, the Holy Spirit Cult's connections with the Sun–Moon Empire ran deep — dangerously so.
Zhongli Wu himself possessed a high-grade flying soul device manufactured by the Empire's Mingde Hall.
With such technology, traveling across nations was child's play for him.
Inside the flying vessel, Ethan sat quietly behind its shimmering wind barrier.
Having flown countless times in his previous life, he felt oddly calm — almost comfortable.
His composure earned approving glances from the black-robed elders around him.
The craft soared faster than sound, rivaling Earth's fighter jets.
Ethan couldn't help but marvel.
> No wonder that in later eras — like the Dragon King Legend — they developed full-scale mecha and aerial suits.
Through conversation, Ethan subtly probed Zhongli Wu for information — playing the role of an innocent prodigy while extracting everything he could.
He soon pieced together their plan.
The Sun–Moon Empire's army was stationed at the Mingdou Mountain Range, locked in a tense standoff against Duke Whitlock's Starro forces.
The Duke's strategic brilliance had long frustrated the Empire's generals.
Zhongli Wu's mission was to infiltrate the Starro Empire and capture the Duke's relatives — to hold them hostage for the coming war.
In the original history, the Duchess's early death had been explained away as illness.
But now Ethan knew the truth — it was the Cult's doing, an assassination meant to shatter the Duke's focus before the war.
Ironically, that plan had already failed spectacularly.
The Duke's Mansion had been reduced to ashes — by Ethan himself — and Lady Whitlock's soul had long since become fuel for his Spirit Eyes.
---
Their flight ended above a vast, dark forest in the northern frontier — the Demonic Forest.
From the air, it stretched endlessly — dense conifer trees fading from deep green to shadowy black.
A suffocating aura filled the air.
No ordinary Soul Master would dare to fly over such a place.
It was suicide.
But Zhongli Wu and his followers were anything but ordinary.
They descended directly into the forest's depths, landing amidst the mist-shrouded trees.
> So this is it, Ethan thought, gazing around.
The Holy Spirit Cult's headquarters — hidden beneath the Demonic Forest itself.
If he hadn't already known from the story, he would never have guessed.
Buried beneath this cursed woodland was a sprawling underground palace — vast enough to rival royal fortresses.
The Demonic Forest, within Sun–Moon territory, was equivalent in power to the Star Dou Great Forest of the original Douluo lands.
It was home to some of the most terrifying Soul Beasts in existence — including the Evil-Eyed Tyrant Lord, ranked second among the Ten Great Beasts.
Ethan remembered:
in the original tale, his seventh Soul Ring — granted by the Spirit Eyes — had come from this very forest, after he slew a hundred-thousand-year Evil-Eyed Tyrant.
He had nearly died that day.
---
"Welcome back, Master Zhongli Wu!"
Dozens of black-robed guards appeared from the shadows, bowing deeply.
Zhongli Wu raised a hand.
"Summon everyone to the Sanctum of Souls.
Prepare a ceremony of cleansing and honor — for the arrival of our Holy Son and Saintess!"
---
(End of Chapter 3)