Douluo Continent: The Eternal Order of the Azure Sky.

"Yes, the soul imprint that carries part of my cultivation can be passed down from generation to generation and will eventually reach its limit."

Zhong Liyuan nodded, and with a slight lift of his finger, nine astonishing soul rings, black, black, black, black, black, black, red, red, red, red, rose up. In the holy radiance, the eerie demonic puppet figure reappeared.

This time, Kong Tianxu finally fully sensed the aura of this figure. In addition to its powerful and unpredictable spiritual attributes, it also carried a noble quality that made people want to worship it and seemed to cleanse their souls.

This doesn't seem like light; it's more like...

sacred?

"This is my martial soul, the Holy Spirit Puppet. You can probably guess its attributes; it is spirit and holiness."

"In the beginning, its name was Soul Devouring Demon Puppet, a pure spiritual attribute martial soul, but it was extremely evil. Its innate abilities were Soul Control and Soul Devouring. The former can manipulate and even modify the soul of a living being, while the latter is the power you see that strips away the martial soul, which can perfectly transform the soul of others or soul beasts into one's own."

"This should have been the most terrifying evil martial spirit in history. Once the user truly falls, it will surely become a shadow over the entire continent."

"Fortunately, the first owner of this martial soul, who was also the ancestor of my Zhongli lineage, received a donation from a six-winged angel martial soul owner by chance, and thus mastered the power of divinity, evolving the martial soul into the Holy Spirit Puppet we know today, thus maintaining his mind from the negative effects of the martial soul."

"This is also one of your rewards. In addition to integrating myself into the Xuan Tian Treasure Mirror, which is the main body of this Qiankun Wenqing Valley, I will transfer it and all my power to you to help you become an unprecedented owner of the Three Lives Martial Soul. In the future, up to the point of becoming a demigod, your path will be smooth sailing."

"But before that, would you like to hear the story of my Holy Spirit Cult?"

Divine attributes, demigod-level mental power, and a third martial soul...

Kong Tianxu took a deep breath—

"I'm all ears."

……

In a corner of Mingdu, the headquarters of the Xishui Alliance stands in an inconspicuous gray building.

"Bastard!" Zhongli Wu was furious and slapped the kneeling Sin Douluo so hard that blood and teeth flew out.

Still not satisfied, he kicked the fallen Sin Douluo several more times, but the Sin Douluo remained silent, only vomiting blood in silence.

"You... how dare you disobey my orders? It's one thing to deal with Kong Tianxu on your own, but to expose such a huge flaw is another. The hundreds of years of work done by my grandfather's generation will be destroyed in an instant. You deserve to die!"

His finger trembled as he pointed at the Original Sin Douluo, and the phantom of the Death God Puppet behind him fluctuated violently, clearly indicating that he had murderous intent.

"Master, I am guilty and deserve to die ten thousand times. But things have come to this. Kong Deming has already begun to gather forces from all sides to attack our branch. Although the headquarters of the Xishui Alliance is well hidden, it is only a matter of time before it is found. Please, Supreme Master, come out of seclusion!"

“I am a sinner, but I am still a force to be reckoned with. Whether the leader eats me or sends me to fight against the people of the Sun and Moon Sect, at least let me die for something that is beneficial to the Holy Church.”

Original Sin Douluo struggled to his feet and kowtowed heavily.

"How much longer do you think you have to live?" Zhongli Wu sneered, flicking his sleeve.

"Take him away! Seal his soul core."

"Go underground, we'll go invite the Supreme Master." He instructed the dozen or so evil spirits behind him.

……

Mingde Hall, underground, is a top-secret research laboratory.

"Holy Spirit Cult! Holy Spirit Cult! Damn evil spirit masters!" Jing Hongchen roared furiously, tearing up all the information that Elder Tong had entrusted to him.

"Master, what should we do? Should we follow Elder Kong's advice?" Lin Jiayi asked tentatively.

Jing Hongchen clenched and unclenched his fists several times, finally uttering a fierce statement:

"Screw them! They dare to touch my grandson and granddaughter! I'll make them pay!"

"Jiayi!"

"Master." Lin Jiayi stepped forward.

"Immediately transfer all test subjects except for Number One to Master Kong's side and personally hand them over. Remember, do it discreetly," Jing Hongchen coldly ordered.

"Huh?" Lin Jiayi looked up.

"Is there a problem?" Jing Hongchen frowned.

"But Elder Tong had already moved all the experimental subjects away when he left," Lin Jiayi said innocently.

……when?

Jing Hongchen sat heavily in the chair, dumbfounded.

……

"Xi Shui, Xiao Wu and the others are here. It seems like something important has happened."

A tall figure emerged from the darkness. The Dark Holy Dragon, Dragon Emperor Douluo Long Xiaoyao, looked at the woman trembling in the crimson light and spoke with heartache:

“Xi Shui, you almost lost control again. Every time you practice the Blood Soul Technique, you have to endure the pain of ten thousand souls devouring your heart. Why do you always have to force yourself like this?”

“My cultivation level comes directly from the soul imprint of that old ghost Zhong Li Kui, and the Blood Soul Demon Puppet means that I cannot cultivate in a normal way. If I don’t do this, I will never be able to achieve that goal.”

Ye Xishui's trembling gradually subsided. She rose from the bottomless pool of blood, a red robe covering her delicate curves that resembled those of a young girl. In an instant, she regained the cold and dignified aura of the Death God Douluo and the Supreme Leader of the Holy Spirit Cult.

This blood pool, located in a corner of Mingdu, is her usual place for seclusion. The reason she did not choose the lesser-known headquarters of the Demon Forest was to avoid the all-knowing spiritual spying of the Evil Eye Tyrant.

"Is it worth it? Is it really worth it? You should know that the goals of the Holy Spirit Cult are impossible to achieve. Even if I do my best to help you, it will still be impossible."

Long Xiaoyao's voice was filled with an unyielding sense of loss.

"Did you ever genuinely and wholeheartedly help me?"

Ye Xishui responded coldly.

……

"The prototype of the Holy Spirit Cult appeared more than three thousand years ago, at the beginning of the holy war that determined the ownership of the continent."

Zhong Liyuan's voice carried a distant bewilderment, as if he were lost in a long memory.

"In order to change the living conditions of evil spirit masters who are hated by everyone, and to be truly recognized by the spirit master world, and also to research a way to completely eliminate the evil energy in evil spirits, a group of high-level evil spirit masters with my ancestors as the leader formed a group. At that time, there was no name called Holy Spirit Cult."

"Thanks to the sacred attribute of the Holy Spirit Puppet Martial Soul, even without devouring souls, one can quickly improve cultivation by purifying the evil energy in the evil soul master's martial soul. At that time, my ancestor's cultivation had already reached the Limit Douluo level, and with the soul control talent of his martial soul, he could keep the evil soul master conscious, which gathered a large number of followers."

"Just when the Holy War was at its most intense and the continental coalition was suffering repeated defeats, they took the initiative to approach Dean Shrek, the then leader of the Holy War coalition, and used the Ultimate Flame Limit Fighting Roman Three-Way to exchange full participation in the war for the official status of evil soul masters after the victory."

Ma Santong? Ma Xiaotao's ancestor? The powerful figure in Shrek's records who led the Three Kingdoms Alliance to defeat the Sun Moon Empire? Kong Tianxu seemed to be deep in thought.

"Ma Santong agreed, but did not allow them to appear as a regular army; they could only act as shadow troops."

"This is the beginning of a tragedy."

……

Long Xiaoyao slowly walked to Ye Xishui's side, his gentle spiritual energy flowing over her like a spring breeze, attempting to soothe her violently fluctuating emotions:

"Xi Shui, give up. The Holy Spirit Cult, a sect of evil soul masters, cannot last long. No matter where it appears, it will be attacked by all sides. Even if the Sun Moon Empire can unify the continent in the future, believe it or not, the first thing they will do is the same as back then: wipe out all evil soul masters at all costs, leaving no one alive."

"Shut up!" Ye Xishui suddenly roared, unleashing a terrifying burst of bloodthirsty energy that instantly tore Long Xiaoyao's spiritual power to shreds.

Long Xiaoyao remained silent. Ye Xishui's breathing became slightly rapid.

……

"Led by two Super Martial Soul Limit Douluos and joined by a large number of unorthodox evil soul masters, the Douluo Alliance reversed its decline and gradually sounded the horn of counterattack, constantly recapturing lost ground."

"Although the casualties were heavy, the problem of the Evil Martial Soul was constantly guaranteed and endorsed by the Three Kingdoms. Our ancestors felt that they had seen the dawn of victory."

"The Battle of Mingdou Mountain Range was the decisive battle. Our ancestor led his last troops to block the elite Sun Moon Army's desperate counterattack. He fought against the Sun Moon Empire's three Title Douluo, Zihuang Mietianlong, Taiyang, and Yinyue, who possessed a three-in-one martial soul fusion skill. The holy light shone through the night."

"Finally, they saw the arrival of the allied forces, and victory and the future seemed to be just around the corner."

Zhong Liyuan's voice was impassioned, but his face showed no attempt to hide his mockery.

Kong Tianxu remained silent; he already knew what the Three Kingdoms and Shrek Academy would do.

"But what they received was not reinforcements, but the annihilation by the three kingdoms, led personally by Phoenix Fighting Rome Santong."

"In the end, only our ancestor survived."

……

“Why bother? You’ve already done so much for the Holy Spirit Cult.” Long Xiaoyao sighed.

Ye Xishui suddenly turned around and stared coldly at Long Xiaoyao.

"Moun asked me the same question back then. You Soul Masters who grew up in privileged environments, how could you understand the pain of us outcasts? We have talent but can't cultivate, and we are children whose hands are not stained with blood but are killed. We are all human, we are all Soul Masters, so I have to ask you, why?"

……

"After realizing that it was impossible to allow evil spirit masters to live in the light of day through normal negotiations, our ancestor went into hiding and began to try to solve the problem of evil spirits at its root. He traveled across the continent, gathering together countless spirit masters who had awakened evil spirits due to various encounters, or spirit masters whose talents contained elements of evil spirit masters. Thus, the Holy Spirit Cult was founded."

"While protecting and restraining them, the ancestors also tried to use divine power combined with their soul-controlling talents to remove the primordial evil that affected their cultivation and even their minds."

"Initially, it was very effective. Many evil soul masters who were not strong in evil attribute were even really reversed and gained the ability to cultivate normally. Among the evil soul masters, the name of Holy Emperor gradually spread."

"But the good times didn't last long. Some evil soul masters who returned to the world of soul masters experienced a resurgence of the original evil energy of their martial souls within one or two years, or even five or six years, and eventually fell into evil ways. My ancestor also suffered damage to his original essence due to a great battle with Ma Santong during the breakout years ago. He only lived ten years longer than Ma Santong before passing away."

"Because of the inability to stably inherit super martial souls, the Zhongli lineage did not produce Holy Spirit Puppet martial souls for a long time, and even the Soul Devouring Puppet was rarely seen, so research was put on hold."

"The Holy Spirit Cult has always lacked top-tier experts because its evil martial souls are unable to break through to the Title Douluo and Super Douluo levels. As a result, it can only desperately hide itself. Although it can still develop with difficulty, the name of the Holy Emperor is only a legend."

"Until my generation, the Holy Spirit Puppet finally reappeared in the human world."

……

In the western suburbs, on an inconspicuous street.

Liao Mengkai looked at the bloody scene inside the broken-down gate, behind him was a row of white-clad men who were tightly bound and covered with thick hoods.

His hand swung down coldly:

"The Palace Master has ordered that none be spared."

A flash of gleaming blade.

In the gradually spreading pool of blood, dozens of fallen white, round objects were stained red.

Suddenly, raging fires broke out throughout the city, which had no walls.

……

"The sect placed high hopes on me, and I did not disappoint them. After becoming a Title Douluo at the age of twenty-nine, my first battle after leaving the sect was before the Shrek Academy inspection team arrived, in which I captured a level ninety-seven Blood Infant Douluo."

The Blood Infant...it seems to have killed quite a few Shrek Academy members. Kong Tianxu's memories surfaced.

"Furthermore, he combined divine attributes with soul control abilities to complete the method of purifying the soul, thus becoming a new generation of Holy Spirit Emperor."

At this point, a strong sense of pride appeared on Zhong Liyuan's face.

"Even after reaching the Limit Douluo realm, no matter how powerful I became, I still couldn't break through the shackles of my ancestors and could never completely solve the problem of the essence of the Evil Martial Soul."