Chapter 167: Six-Winged Blazing Seraph
Within the main hall of the Church of the Water God's headquarters, the Four Protectors, led by Lei Bao, along with Ye Guyi, had long been waiting.
As for the heads of the various departments, most were absent due to their respective duties. They understood well enough—Furina had never cared much for such empty formalities. Even when she was present, she rarely held any ceremonies, finding them a hassle.
It was rather His Excellency the Water God Envoy, Monsieur Neuvillette, who occasionally requested simple observances on specific occasions to lend a bit of atmosphere and promotional effect to the Church.
Seeing Furina and her group step into the main hall, Lei Bao and the others bowed in unison. "Welcome back, Your Holiness! And welcome to young friend Huo Yuhao and the friends of Her Holiness!"
Ye Guyi also came forward to greet them, a smile on her face. "Welcome back, Furina, Huo Yuhao. And thank you, Furina, for your help. We can speak of the details a little later."
Furina inclined her head slightly, already having a fair idea of the situation in her heart. Judging by Ye Guyi's expression, killing that Titled Douluo-level evil soul master must have yielded immense rewards—a breakthrough in soul power, an evolution of her martial soul, nothing was likely missing.
With her original cultivation at around rank forty to fifty, personally finishing off a dying Titled Douluo evil soul master would bring benefits that were absolutely immeasurable. Moreover, the Angel God position had long since been burned to nothing by Qian Renxue. The current inheritance of the angel martial soul relied entirely on the fixed mechanisms left behind by the deceased deity—essentially equivalent to an "artificial imbecile" with no autonomous consciousness, so its scrutiny would naturally not be overly stringent.
Her gaze swept over the Four Protectors. Lei Bao and the other three remained at the Soul Sage level, but their soul power auras had already begun to exhibit distinct variations corresponding to their respective cultivation techniques. Yan Luo, though his frame had not grown more massive, appeared increasingly solid and robust—clearly the benefit of physical tempering.
Furina withdrew her gaze and smiled at the assembly. "Thank you all for your welcome."
She turned aside and introduced the others: "Allow me to introduce—these four are the Four Protectors of my Water God Church. Protector Long Ziyun you are already acquainted with. The remaining three are Protector Lei Bao, Protector Yan Luo, and Protector Feng Chuixue. That young lady with the golden hair over there is Ye Guyi."
Ye Guyi waved at the group, her smile radiant. "Hello, everyone! I'm Ye Guyi!"
Lei Bao stepped forward, his bearing steady and courteous. "Greetings. I am Lei Bao. I was once the lord of this Fontaine City—or rather, Thunderclap City. Now, however, the true lord of the city would have to be Lady Furina."
Furina waved a hand dismissively, laughing. "Ha ha, I'm still not fit to be the city lord. You had best continue in the position for now. I'm quite content just being the city lord in name."
"Her Holiness jests," Lei Bao also chuckled.
The most burly and muscular of the group, Yan Luo, stepped forward, his voice booming. "I'm the lord of Wildlands City, and also one of the Four Protectors—Yan Luo!"
Holding a folding fan with an air of elegant refinement, Feng Chuixue gave a graceful bow. "Feng Chuixue, lord of Northsea City, and also one of the Four Protectors of the Water God Church. It is my honor, everyone."
Wang Dong and the others responded politely in turn:
"Hello! I'm Wang Dong!"
"I'm Xiao Xiao!"
"I'm Tang Ya, and this is my boyfriend, Bei Bei!"
"Hello, hello!"
After the brief exchange of pleasantries, Furina addressed Lei Bao and the others: "Protector Lei Bao, you may all attend to your duties for now. I will inquire about the Church's development and other affairs a bit later."
Lei Bao and the other three responded in unison: "As you command, Your Holiness!"
With that, they dispersed of their own accord, leaving only Ye Guyi still standing in place.
Furina stepped closer and asked directly, "So? After killing that evil soul master, did you achieve a breakthrough?"
Ye Guyi nodded, a trace of lingering excitement still in her eyes. "Yes. After killing him, I broke straight through from rank 48 to rank 50. And after absorbing a soul ring, I reached rank 55 directly!"
She paused, unable to suppress the thrill in her voice: "But that's not even the most important part—my martial soul has evolved! My cultivation speed has also greatly increased because of it!"
Huo Yuhao and the others all revealed expressions of curiosity upon hearing this. Although Huo Yuhao knew that killing evil soul masters could increase Ye Guyi's cultivation, what exactly would happen after taking down a Titled Douluo-level evil soul master from so many ranks below, and how her martial soul would evolve—that, he had no way of knowing either.
Bei Bei and Tang Ya's eyes lit up even brighter.
The two of them—one yearning for his martial soul to evolve into the Bright Sacred Dragon, the other dreaming of her Bluesilver Grass evolving into the Bluesilver King or even the Bluesilver Emperor. If such evolution could succeed, Tang Ya's innate talent would be utterly transformed, and restoring the Tang Sect's glory would no longer be an empty fantasy. She could even completely abandon that cultivation method of the devouring attribute.
Furina raised an eyebrow and asked with keen interest, "Oh? Just as I expected. What has it evolved into?"
By her estimation, barring any surprises, it should have evolved into the Sacred Four-Winged Angel or the Six-Winged Angel.
Ye Guyi said nothing further and simply released her martial soul directly.
Amidst the blossoming radiance, everyone clearly saw the change behind her. Where originally there had only been a single pair of wings, now there were three pairs! Six wings spread out expansively, their edges flowing with a golden, sun-like afterglow—magnificent and solemn.
"Look!" Ye Guyi's voice brimmed with pride. "I call my current martial soul—the Six-Winged Blazing Seraph! It has evolved from the Sacred Angel into six wings, and additionally, it now carries the fire attribute. The light attribute is also transforming toward ultimate light!"
Furina couldn't help but exclaim, "Good heavens! It evolved to be this powerful?"
She had originally thought it would evolve into a Six-Winged Angel at most. She hadn't expected it to also gain the fire attribute, directly becoming a Six-Winged Blazing Seraph. Though a seraph was supposed to have six wings in the first place, the sheer intensity of this evolution exceeded her expectations.
Wang Dong's eyes widened, and the words escaped his mouth before he could stop them: "An angel martial soul?!"
Bei Bei and Tang Ya also couldn't hide their astonishment: "It's actually an angel martial soul?!"
The reactions of the three were perfectly normal in Furina's view. Wang Dong was Tang San's daughter and the young miss of the Clear Sky Sect; Bei Bei was a direct descendant of the Shrek lineage; Tang Ya was a descendant of the Tang Sect. The three of them were intimately familiar with that history from ten thousand years ago and were naturally extraordinarily sensitive to the words "angel martial soul."
After all, that was the signature martial soul of the Spirit Hall, regarded as the villain by the entire continent back then—an existence that had opposed both the Heaven Dou and Star Luo Empires, and one of the strongest adversaries of the original Shrek Seven Devils.
But time had passed, circumstances had changed. Ten thousand years gone, the grudges of those days had long since scattered like dust on the wind. Ye Guyi, as a descendant of a later generation, bore no enmity toward Bei Bei and the others.
Furina picked up the thread: "Of course it's an angel martial soul. Why else would I have her deal with that evil soul master? And why else would her martial soul be able to evolve after dealing with an evil soul master? At present, only the angel martial soul can accomplish this."
She paused, her tone growing earnest: "I am now hoping to vigorously seek out more angel martial souls, or similar martial souls. This way, dealing with evil soul masters will become far easier. Angel martial souls are their natural bane, and every time one is eliminated, the user's own strength increases as well."
She looked around at everyone, enunciating every word: "One of the objectives of my Water God Church is the complete extermination of all evil soul masters across the continent. Therefore, seeking out this type of martial soul is of paramount importance to me."
Aside from Huo Yuhao and Ye Guyi, everyone else drew in a sharp breath.
They hadn't imagined that Furina's goals extended beyond merely becoming a god, receiving the adulation of the masses, and expanding her power—she also intended to utterly eradicate the evil soul masters.
Bei Bei felt a deep tremor in his heart. He knew full well how noble, and how monumentally difficult, this mission was. Shrek Academy had also always taken the eradication of evil soul masters as its own duty, paying countless painful prices for it, and yet still had not been able to completely annihilate them.
If the angel martial soul truly was the bane of evil soul masters, then this was indeed a force rarely found.
Xiao Xiao: "What a magnificent goal!"
Wang Dong couldn't help but press further: "May I ask, Miss Ye Guyi... is this martial soul of yours passed down from the descendants of the Angel God Qian Renxue from ten thousand years ago?"
Ye Guyi shook her head, her tone calm but carrying a hint of bewilderment: "That, well... to be honest, I don't know myself. By my generation, I'm the only one left with the Sacred Angel martial soul. I've always wandered from place to place, making the slaying of evil soul masters my life's mission."
Bei Bei, hearing this, did not find it strange. After that great war ten thousand years ago, the descendants of the Spirit Hall and all sects associated with it had been suppressed by various factions. Concealing one's true name and living in seclusion was the norm—some even abandoned their original names and identities entirely, just to exchange them for a sliver of peace.
Ye Guyi's situation was perfectly normal in that regard. Besides, one couldn't assume with certainty that she was a descendant of Qian Renxue. The Spirit Hall had also possessed an Angel Legion; perhaps she was descended from other angel martial soul bearers, a variation resulting from generations of inheritance.
Wang Dong, after listening, regained a calm expression, but inwardly muttered to herself: Why did I get so worked up? It's just an angel martial soul...
Furina patted Ye Guyi on the shoulder, smiling. "Looks like the evolution still isn't fully complete. If it were a true, thorough evolution, it should be ultimate light by now, right? Don't worry—later on, I'll find you another Titled Douluo-level evil soul master."
Ye Guyi didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Furina, Titled Douluo-level evil soul masters aren't exactly cabbages..."
Furina blinked, her smile carrying a profound meaning: "Relax. Later, I'll take you to the Sun Moon Empire. Over there, they're all cabbages—plenty of little cabbages too. Train hard and keep it up."
She shifted the topic. "Oh, by the way. Make two copies of your cultivation technique and give them to Bei Bei and Wang Dong to practice. The two of them also have light-attributed martial souls."
Ye Guayi nodded readily. "Alright, no problem! Actually, I already prepared copies long ago. There are quite a few children with light-attributed martial souls at Canaan Academy as well. I'm considered their big sister now, so naturally I have to look after my little brothers and sisters."
Furina said casually, "As long as they're trustworthy, well-behaved children, it's fine."
Bei Bei, however, seized upon another key word and asked, puzzled: "Wait... you've also established an academy?"
Furina smiled faintly, a trace of certainty within her ambition shining through in her tone: "Naturally. I'll take you all to see it in a bit. I fully intend to create an academy capable of defeating the number one academy."
Bei Bei: "..."
A rather ominous premonition suddenly arose within him.
Shrek Academy... it seemed... was in danger.