Douluo Continent: The Underworld Emperor Halosa Lets Three Fly

Chapter 144 The Incompetent Husband

The deathly silence in the conference room on the top floor of the Spirit Pagoda was broken by the deep, resolute voice of the ancient east wind:

"Summon all Super Douluo level and above at headquarters! All members of the First, Second, and Third Soul Spirit Research Groups, bring all spare equipment! Immediately report to the newly built Superconducting Isolation Chamber No. 9 and stand by!" His sharp gaze swept over the still-shaken high-ranking officials, finally landing on Leng Yaozhu and the eerie skull figurine in her hand, his eyes filled with complex and unfathomable emotions. "I, the Tower Master, will personally oversee the research on the Undead Bone Seed!"

"The Tower Master?!" an elder couldn't help but exclaim in shock. "This thing is too eerie! And it just happened..."

"Shut up!" Qian Gu Dongfeng abruptly turned his head, his eyes like icy knives, instantly chilling the elder to the bone. "The blood of the Seventh Group cannot be shed in vain! The losses of the Spirit Pagoda cannot be wasted! The Federation, the Tang Sect, the Sea God Pavilion—they're all waiting to see us make a fool of ourselves! To see us cower in fear! Our research qualifications were earned with our lives! If we retreat now, the Spirit Pagoda's years of hard-earned foundation will be reduced to second-rate status!" His voice wasn't loud, but it carried an almost obsessive resolve and unquestionable authority. "I, Qian Gu Dongfeng, will bear all the risks! Execute the order!"

The orders were absolute. Despite lingering doubts and fears, the higher-ups acted swiftly. The communication devices flashed in the conference room, and commands were rapidly issued. This meeting, which was supposed to be a stern accountability session with Leng Yaozhu, ended hastily in this eerie and high-pressure atmosphere. As they left, their gazes swept over Leng Yaozhu, who remained seated, pale-faced, clutching her Lin figurine, her eyes vacant, and over the Tower Master in the main seat, who exuded an aura of desperate gamble.

Shrek Academy, Sea God Pavilion, Core Forbidden Area - Eternal Seal Chamber.

The heavy doors, crafted from living gold and star mithril, slid open silently. Yun Ming appeared in the doorway, his face so grim it could drip water. Behind him followed two elders of the Sea God Pavilion, their faces filled with shock and disbelief.

The room was bathed in soft light, provided by pure, luminous gems. At the very center, a three-dimensional sealing array composed of countless intricate golden runes floated in mid-air. At the core of the array, where the crudely shaped skull figurine should have been quietly suspended, lay empty!

There was no trace of an energy burst, no fluctuation of spatial tearing, and not even the slightest sign of external intrusion. The skull figurine, which had been personally imbued with divine power by Yun Ming and combined with the top-tier sealing technique accumulated by the Sea God Pavilion over ten thousand years, vanished without a trace as if it had evaporated into thin air, leaving only the sealing array operating on its own, as if mocking their futile efforts.

"When did you find it?" Yun Ming's voice was icy, like the cold wind of the Arctic.

"Just fifteen minutes ago, during a routine patrol," an elder's voice trembled, "the seal was intact, the alarm system didn't react at all, it just vanished!"

Yun Ming slowly walked to the empty sealing array, extended his slender fingers, and gently brushed them across the ever-flowing golden runes. His fingertips felt the warm, smooth energy of the seal functioning normally, without the slightest sign of disruption. His gaze grew increasingly deep, as if a storm was brewing within it.

It wasn't broken by external force. It was itself, or rather, the being behind it, that, in a way they couldn't comprehend, ignored these layers upon layers of seals powerful enough to imprison any being below the level of a god, and "took" it away.

"Harosa," Yun Ming spat out the name through clenched teeth, his voice low and filled with boundless rage and deep-seated hatred. That lingering, cold, deathly aura, yet imbued with a higher level of authority—who else could it be but the Underworld Emperor, who had long since become the nightmare of Shrek Academy and even the entire continent?!

Those ten undead spirit creatures that ravaged the continent, slaughtered powerful individuals, and even repeatedly stormed Shrek City's defenses, causing massive casualties, were perhaps only known to others as terrifying beings. However, the core members of the Sea God Pavilion, especially Yun Ming himself, had already recognized their shared origin with the gray-robed figure from their unique death aura and fighting style! They had only grown stronger, so strong that even he, the Sky-Supporting Douluo, had to personally intervene to barely suppress them! All of this was the work of Harosa!

A deeper, more venomous suspicion, gnawing at his heart like a venomous snake, became crystal clear. That mysterious figure who called himself "Hakimi," who appeared out of nowhere and awakened him and Chen Xinjie to the realm of half-gods with astonishing methods—that seemingly gentle yet indifferent gaze, that unique understanding of the rules of life revealed in every gesture—how similar they were to Harosa! If, if that person really was Harosa, Yun Ming's heart clenched violently; a suffocating pain and overwhelming self-reproach instantly engulfed him!

Ya Li—his beloved wife, the Holy Spirit Douluo Ya Li—disappeared shortly after the appearance of "Hakimi"!

Harosa himself came knocking on her door, and his wife disappeared without a trace, neither living nor dead! It was as if she had vanished into thin air!

And after all these years, he still hasn't found any news about the person who called himself Hakimi. It's as if a supreme expert has no trace on this continent.

If "Hakimi" is Harosa, then isn't Ari's disappearance a result of him personally pushing his wife towards that demon?! It was he who was blinded by the temptation of a higher realm, letting the wolf into the house!

He was the one who brought him to Shrek Academy, and it was he who asked his wife to treat him.

It was he who, when Yali needed protection the most, immersed himself in the "insights" given to him and went into seclusion, becoming slightly oblivious to the changes in the outside world!

It was this incompetent husband who ruined his wife!

"Ya Li" Yun Ming's fists were clenched tightly in the wide sleeves of her robe, her nails digging deep into her palms, bringing a sharp pain, but it was far less than a fraction of the self-blame and torment in her heart.

He dared not think about what Yali would suffer if she fell into Harossa's hands. That demon who treated life like dirt and toyed with death—just imagining that possibility made his soul tremble and almost drive him mad!

Do not!

"Pavilion Master," an elder next to him spoke cautiously, looking at Yun Ming's terrifyingly gloomy face, which seemed ready to explode at any moment, and sighed inwardly.

Since Her Majesty the Holy Spirit Ya Li disappeared, the once gentle and humble Douluo has completely changed.

He became taciturn and irritable, his eyes always carrying an unyielding gloom and resentment.

That virtuous and righteous guardian of Shrek Academy seems to have perished along with his wife's disappearance.

Yun Ming took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the karmic fire that was almost burning his reason and the bone-deep self-blame back to the deepest part of his heart.

Now is not the time to break down. He slowly turned around, his face returning to its icy expression, but the chill deep in his eyes was even more intense than ten thousand years of ice.

"Pass on the order." His voice was cold and emotionless. "First, report the news of the skull figurine's disappearance from the Eternal Sealing Chamber to the Federal Supreme Council, the War God Temple headquarters, and the Tang Sect headquarters with top-secret information. Tell them that the Holy Spirit Cult's reach is deeper and more sinister than we imagined!"

"Second," Yun Ming's gaze drifted out the window, as if piercing through space to see the dark corners of the continent, "Intensify the crackdown on all known and suspected evil spirit master strongholds and activities! Allocate all resources of the Intelligence Division! I need to know everything about those ghostly things and the core of the Holy Spirit Cult! Report any clues, no matter how small, to me immediately!"

"Yes, Pavilion Master!" The two elders solemnly accepted the order, not daring to be negligent in the slightest, and quickly withdrew to carry it out. In the empty Eternal Sealing Chamber, only Yun Ming remained, standing before the empty sealing array. A cold silence enveloped him, with only the slight, teeth-grinding cracking sound of his clenched fists and the silent roar in his heart.

Incompetent?

The endless ocean, the unknown depths, the hidden headquarters of the Holy Spirit Cult—the Eye of the Ruins.

There is no sunlight here, only the dark red lava glow emanating from the underwater volcano, and the deep-sea crystal clusters that emit a ghostly blue phosphorescence embedded in the huge rock dome, which make this huge space, which is isolated from the seawater by a powerful soul-guiding force field, appear bizarre and full of a repressive demonic atmosphere.

The air was humid and sticky, filled with the pungent smell of the deep sea, a mixture of salty and sulfurous odors.

Inside the enormous hall, constructed from the skeleton of some kind of deep-sea behemoth and strange black stones, figures moved about.

Most of them wore black robes or strangely styled clothing, exuding a cold, evil, and powerful aura. They were at least Soul Douluo level, with many being Title Douluo, and some even stronger.

But at this moment, these powerful evil soul masters, who could stir up bloodshed in the outside world, all lowered their heads slightly, their posture respectful, even with a hint of fear, their eyes focused on the two huge thrones floating above the lava pool in the deepest part of the hall.

The throne on the left is entirely carved from shadow crystals that are as black as ink and seem to absorb all light.

A woman reclined languidly on the throne. She wore an elaborate and gorgeous black court dress, the hem of which flowed like a night sky and was adorned with dark diamonds that seemed to be formed from fragments of stars.

The dress perfectly accentuated her breathtaking curves: full breasts, a slender waist, and voluptuous hips, exuding a fatal allure in the dim light.

It was Ye Lan, the Holy Maiden of the Holy Spirit Cult. Decades ago, Harosa sent her with ten Undying Spirit Knights to stir up trouble in the Douluo Continent.

Calling her the leader of the Holy Spirit Cult wouldn't be an exaggeration, but she claims there's another entity above her.

And those ten undead spirit knights silently confirmed this.

Her exquisite face held a nonchalant, cat-and-mouse-like smile. Her slender white fingers toyed with a shadowy creature that seemed to writhe as if alive. Her red lips curved slightly as she glanced at the throne to her right.

The throne on the right is completely different. It is made of deep purple deep-sea magic marrow gold covered with natural magic patterns, and exudes a chilling and sinister pressure.

Seated on the throne was another woman. She wore an extremely luxurious purple-gold dress, the dress seemingly flowing with liquid purple-gold. As the light shimmered, countless mysterious and evil dark purple magic patterns appeared and disappeared on the hem of the dress and on her bare, snow-white arms, shoulders and neck.

Her face was stunningly beautiful, yet she possessed a cold and arrogant air that looked down upon all living beings. She was none other than the Demon Emperor, the queen of the Deep Sea Demon Whale clan.

However, at this moment, the Demon Emperor, whose strength was unfathomable, had a terrifyingly gloomy expression. In her deep, abyss-like purple eyes, suppressed anger and resentment flickered, and her tightly pursed red lips exuded a chilling aura that kept strangers at bay.

The air around her was slightly distorted by that powerful and restless aura, clearly indicating that she was in a very bad mood and had just experienced a confrontation or defeat that she found extremely unpleasant.

The atmosphere within the Eye of the Ruins was heavy and subtle. All the evil spirit masters held their breath, sensing the silent power struggle between the two queens.

Ye Lan slightly adjusted her languid sitting posture, making her alluring curves even more prominent.

Her red lips parted slightly, and her voice, like a hooked night breeze, languid and alluring, broke the silence:

"Well, my esteemed Demon Emperor?" A wisp of shadow coiled around her fingertip like a serpent. "Have you considered my conditions clearly?"