Douluo Continent: Copying Ya Li, the Carefree King of the Sun and Moon

He didn't rush to speak, but first squatted down and slowly released his martial spirit.

The phantom of the Holy Angel of the Sun and Moon flashed past behind him, two purple, three black, and one red, with six spirit rings rising from his feet, their holy light instantly illuminating the dusty village entrance.

The villagers had never seen anything like this before, and their legs went weak. Several of the more timid villagers even knelt down.

Xu Yanli ignored them, raised his hand, and his first spirit ring lit up.

Holy Prayer: May the light of the sun and moon bring healing.

A soft white light emanated from his palm and gently fell on the wound on the boy's forehead.

The gruesome wound healed at a speed visible to the naked eye, the bleeding stopped, the torn flesh slowly closed up, and finally only a faint red mark remained.

The boy finally moved and slowly raised his head.

It was a dirty little face, so thin that its cheekbones protruded, but its eyes were exceptionally bright, with clear black and white, and it looked very energetic.

He stared blankly at Xu Yanli, at the angelic phantom behind him that hadn't completely dissipated, his lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but he didn't.

Xu Yanli smiled gently at him, stood up, and turned to the villagers.

The gentleness on his face vanished instantly, replaced by a calm coldness.

"Did this child kill someone?" he asked.

The sound wasn't loud, but the villagers all shrank back, and no one dared to respond.

"Did they steal your things? Or vandalize your house?"

Silence remained.

Xu Yanli's gaze swept across the faces of those people one by one, finally landing on a middle-aged woman who seemed relatively calm.

"You said."

The woman trembled under his gaze. After hesitating for a long time, she finally mustered her courage and spoke: "Sir...sir, you don't know, this child has awakened an evil martial spirit! Even if he hasn't killed anyone yet, those evil spirit masters...they specifically target children like this, leading them down the evil path. In the end, the first to suffer will be ordinary people like us!"

She became more and more anxious as she spoke, and her voice grew louder.

"This isn't the first or second time this has happened! In the neighboring Li Family Village, there was a child with an evil martial spirit two years ago. He was kidnapped by an evil spirit master, and not long after he returned, he slaughtered the entire village! Not a single person was left alive!"

As she spoke, tears began to fall.

"We...we had no choice, sir...we just wanted to live...we just wanted to live..."

Xu Yanli fell silent.

He stood there, looking at the emaciated villagers, at the fear and despair in their eyes, and suddenly couldn't say a word.

Are they wrong?

It is wrong to lay a hand on a ten-year-old child.

But why would they do that?

Because of fear.

Because those true evil spirit masters, those who use evil spirits as weapons, never spare their villages.

They are not harming the child; they are saving themselves.

Xu Yanli closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them again, the coldness in his eyes had dissipated, replaced by an indescribable weariness.

Chapter 90 Bone Dragon Martial Soul

“This child has never killed anyone,” he said calmly. “From now on, he belongs to my Xiaoyao Pavilion. Just pretend he never existed.”

He pulled out a low-grade Xiaoyao Pavilion token from his pocket and casually tossed it to the woman.

"This is the token of the Free and Unfettered Pavilion. If any evil spirit masters come looking for you in the future, take this to the nearest Free and Unfettered Pavilion, and someone will protect you."

The woman hurriedly caught the token and stared at him blankly.

Xu Yanli didn't say anything more. She turned around, squatted down, and looked the boy in the eye.

"Can we walk?"

The boy was stunned for a while before nodding slightly.

Xu Yanli extended his hand.

The boy looked at the clean, slender hand, then at his own muddy and bloodstained hands, hesitated for a moment, and finally placed his hand on it.

Xu Yanli grasped his hand and gently pulled him up.

"Come on, take me to your house."

The boy lowered his head and spoke in a voice so soft it was almost inaudible: "...I live alone in my house."

Xu Yanli's fingers tightened slightly, then quickly loosened again.

"Then take me to see it."

The boy's home was at the very edge of the village, a crooked mud-brick house with half of the thatched roof gone and the door hanging crookedly, creaking in the wind.

Xu Yanli stood at the door, looking at the house that seemed ready to collapse at any moment, and remained silent for a long time.

"Go inside," he said softly.

There was nothing in the house. There was a mud-brick bed with some dry grass and a tattered quilt of indeterminate color on it. Several chipped bowls were piled in the corner, and the stove was so cold that it was covered with ashes.

The boy stood in the middle of the room, twisting the hem of his clothes with both hands, his head almost buried in his chest.

"My esteemed guest..." he whispered, "I..."

"Release your martial spirit," Xu Yanli interrupted him.

The boy paused for a moment, looked up, met those calm eyes, bit his lip, and nodded.

The next moment, a chilling aura emanated from him.

It wasn't evil energy, but a pure, death-like coldness.

Immediately afterwards, Xu Yanli saw it.

A cloud of pitch-black mist slowly rose from behind the boy. Within the mist, a clearly defined spine gradually solidified, piecing itself together segment by segment until it became a complete vertebra.

No, it's not the spine.

It's keel.

The jet-black dragon skeleton, each joint gleaming with a cold, eerie light, with jagged bone spikes protruding outwards, moved slowly behind the boy like a sleeping dragon breathing.

Xu Yanli's pupils contracted slightly.

Bone Dragon Martial Soul.

He suddenly remembered.

In the novel *Douluo Dalu II: The Peerless Tang Sect*, Zhongli Wu, the leader of the Holy Spirit Cult, is a disciple whose martial soul is the Bone Dragon.

In the original novel, this child will appear a few years later at the Soul Master Competition held by the Sun Moon Empire, becoming a major threat to the protagonist group as a core disciple of the Holy Spirit Cult.

But that was after they were taken away by the Holy Spirit Cult.

The child is still here, in a dilapidated mud-brick house, where his head was smashed by a stone from his neighbor.

Xu Yanli stared at the bone dragon slowly swimming behind the boy and remained silent for a long time.

The Bone Dragon Martial Soul was a legendary martial soul in the first season of Douluo Continent; it belonged to the famous Bone Dragon Douluo.

During the second season of the series, he could only become an evil martial spirit.

It's somewhat ironic, and also somewhat ridiculous.

The boy withdrew his martial spirit, lowered his head, and spoke in a voice so soft it was barely audible: "My esteemed... esteemed person, are you afraid too?"

Xu Yanli did not answer, but turned to look at Jing Hongchen.

Jing Hongchen's expression was also not good, but he didn't look at the bone dragon; he looked at Xu Yanli.

"Your Highness," he lowered his voice, "this child..."

“I know,” Xu Yanli interrupted him, her voice very soft, “Bone Dragon Martial Soul.”

Jing Hongchen's expression changed.

"Your Highness, we must leave quickly!" He strode to Xu Yanli's side, his soul power already rising. "If the Holy Spirit Cult receives this news, they will definitely send a Title Douluo-level being."

"I know."

Xu Yanli took one last look at the dilapidated house, then turned around, squatted down, and looked the boy in the eye.

"What's your name?"

The boy stared at him blankly, his lips trembling a few times before he whispered, "Yan... Yan Feng."

"Yan Feng." Xu Yanli murmured the name, then smiled. "My name is Xu Yanli, the Carefree King, and also the head of the Carefree Pavilion. Would you like to come with me?"

Yan Feng's eyes widened instantly, his mouth agape, unable to utter a single word for a long time.

Xu Yanli stretched out his hand, just like he had at the village entrance earlier.

"Come with me, and no one will dare to bully you again."

Yan Feng looked at the hand, then at the gentle-smiling boy in front of him, and tears suddenly welled up in his eyes.

He rubbed his eyes hard and put his hand on them.

"I...I do."

Xu Yanli grasped his hand, stood up, and turned to look at Jing Hongchen.

"Dean Hongchen, could you please give him a ride?"

Without saying a word, Jing Hongchen grabbed Yan Feng and tucked him under her arm.

"Your Highness, let's go!"

Xu Yanli nodded, and the three of them left the house. Jing Hongchen immediately activated his flying soul tool, grabbed Xu Yanli's arm, and took off into the air.

As the city walls of Mingdu drew closer into view, Xu Yanli turned around and glanced back.

That small village has become a blurry shadow; the fields, the smoke from the chimneys, and the villagers standing at the village entrance looking out have all gradually faded into the distance.

He withdrew his gaze and looked at Yan Feng, who was being held under Jing Hongchen's arm.