Douluo Jueshi: I Don't Want to Be an Evil Soul Master

Chapter 42 Failure

The wailing-like sound continued to ring out, and the howling of the Ghost-Faced Owl appeared in Lin Xiao's ears again, like pieces of blades attacking him, and like the Ghost-Faced Owl's claws tearing his soul.

The Higanbana martial spirit had appeared beside him unknowingly, and even it was covered with cracks, as if it could not withstand the powerful force.

Time passed in pain, and Lin Xiao seemed to have gotten used to this feeling and gradually came to his senses.

The meridians in his body seemed to be broken bit by bit, and the violent power inside filled his whole body, making his body a little swollen.

No, something was wrong. If the Ascension Ceremony was simply to allow the Holy Spirit Cult to take the disciples' souls and control them, his body shouldn't have endured such severe pain. This feeling was vaguely familiar to him. There must be something he hadn't expected.

"Humph--"

The piercing pain made Lin Xiao groan, and his thoughts were also interrupted.

A sticky feeling spread throughout his body, and the temperature around him continued to rise, as if the entire blood pool was boiling. Lin Xiao's chest heaved continuously, and he forced himself to search through his memories of the Holy Spirit Church and the Ascension Ceremony.

Even in his memories of his previous life, there was not much mention of the soul-raising ceremony. He only knew that after the soul-raising ceremony, all disciples would be controlled by the Holy Spirit Church.

And during the years he lived in the Holy Spirit Church, other people were extremely secretive about the spirit-raising ceremony and did not dare to mention it at all.

So what's the difference between those disciples who have gone through the soul-raising ritual and everyone else? Besides their incomplete souls, there's also...

"Humph--"

Another muffled groan came, and unlike the previous feeling, this pain did not come from the body, but fell directly on his soul. The sea of ​​​​spiritual sea continued to surge, and his soul seemed to be torn apart by something.

My limbs gradually went numb, my vision grew darker, and my consciousness felt like it was about to leave my body at any moment. Compared to the pain in my soul, the pain in my body was nothing.

At this moment, a warm feeling suddenly came from above my head.

Lin Xiao no longer had the strength to look up to see what that thing was, but he could feel that the closer he got to that thing, the pain in his body would gradually decrease, and for a moment he couldn't help but get closer.

"Come, offer your soul to the Holy Emperor, and give everything to the Holy Church. The world is a sea of ​​suffering, and only where the Holy Light shines can there be a moment of warmth."

The voice of Sleepy Douluo came from nowhere, waking Lin Xiao suddenly up.

He didn't know when, but he was holding a gray candle in his arms. As the flame danced, the pain in his body was gradually fading away.

He lowered his head slightly and saw that there was another "Lin Xiao" lying in a pool of blood under him, with his eyes closed, as if he was asleep.

He didn't know what happened in this confusion, but he knew that the body under his feet should be his destination.

However, just as Lin Xiao stretched out his hand, a sharp pain made him subconsciously retract his hand.

Leaving the protection of the candlelight, the same soul-tearing pain that had once again struck me. It was as if, as Nightmare Douluo had said, only where this light shone could I escape the pain.

Looking around, there was only darkness outside the candlelight. The only things that were clearest were his body lying in the pool of blood and the statue of the Holy Emperor that was getting closer and closer to him.

A moment of peace allowed Lin Xiao to roughly understand what this brainwashing ritual called "Soul Ascension" was all about.

No wonder all the disciples who had gone through the soul-raising ceremony seemed to have lost themselves and had a fanatical belief in the Holy Spirit Church. It was not only because part of their souls had been deprived and were controlled by the Holy Spirit Church.

It was also because, in this pain that was beyond their endurance limit, this so-called "Holy Emperor" made them stop suffering.

When their consciousness is on the verge of collapse, they are instilled with the idea of ​​devoting themselves to the holy religion, so that they unknowingly accept this concept in the process of instinctively avoiding pain.

No wonder Holy Servant No. 6 looked so painful when he recalled the ascension ceremony.

Lin Xiao looked at the gray candle flame in his arms. The constantly jumping light made him feel warm. He looked up at his surroundings. The pain just now made him have no courage to reach out again.

Perhaps he wasn't the first to realize that the soul-raising ritual was actually a brainwashing ritual, but after experiencing the pain just now, no one wanted to try it again. Perhaps in the end, they still chose to sacrifice their souls in exchange for a moment of peace.

Lin Xiao stood up. The statue of the Holy Emperor drew closer. From its blurred face, he seemed to see a handsome man with open arms, embracing him. The pleasant praises in his ears made him want to join in.

only--

Lin Xiao took a step forward, and the hymns in his ears suddenly turned into painful groans of residual souls. The piercing pain came from all directions again. In an instant, he felt as if his soul was about to be torn apart.

Similarly, he might not be the first person to give up offering his soul, and he didn't know what would happen next. He just knew that the body in the pool of blood was where he should go.

"what?"

Beside the blood pool, Sleepy Nightmare Douluo's eyes flickered slightly. He raised his head, looked at the candlelight floating in the air, which was getting weaker and weaker, and sighed softly.

"What a shame! It's so rare to have such a well-behaved and sensible disciple like you. You've been successful in everything you do over the years, but I didn't expect you to fail at this point."

As he spoke, he took two steps forward and looked at the completely boiling pool of blood. "With your talent, you will definitely achieve greater success. It's such a pity. Now, you can only..."

As Sleepy Nightmare Douluo was speaking, a splash suddenly erupted from the blood pool, and Lin Xiao's naked body flew into the air. He closed his eyes tightly, and his body was covered with dazzling blood-red streaks, just like blood vessels, through which the liquid in the blood pool was constantly flowing.

The red spider lilies swirled around him, and the five soul rings of yellow, yellow, purple, purple and black flickered.

"Still alive?" Sleepy Nightmare Douluo looked up at the candlelight in the air again, his face full of surprise and doubt.

On the other side, Lin Xiao didn't know what was happening outside. When his consciousness returned, the physical pain came again.

The swelling feeling finally made him understand where the familiar feeling came from.

When he absorbed the spirit ring for the first time, the power in the spirit ring poured into his body all at once, and he also felt a power that did not belong to him filling his meridians.

And now, this feeling is only more intense and more violent.

Chapter 43 Ascension to Spirit

The short break just now made Lin Xiao think about many things. The biggest difference between the disciples who had gone through the soul-raising ceremony and other disciples, besides the incomplete soul, was the age of their soul rings.

Among the core disciples of the Holy Spirit Sect, none had a first spirit ring that was a hundred years old; the worst was a purple spirit ring. He had originally thought the Holy Spirit Sect had some secret method to increase the age of spirit rings, but now he realized it was actually this spirit-raising ritual.

Why didn't the Holy Servant No. 6 need a sacrifice, and why did Sleepy Nightmare Douluo take him to the Star Dou Great Forest to capture soul beasts?

That's because the ascension ceremony that Holy Servant No. 6 experienced was not complete. To be precise, she only experienced brainwashing, but what Lin Xiao experienced at this time was the real ascension.

Those ten-thousand-year soul beasts, whether it was the Ghost-Faced Owl or the black cat, were more or less related to death. In other words, they shared similarities with Lin Xiao's martial spirit. Another function of the Spirit Ascension Ritual was to forcibly increase the age of a soul master's spirit rings by sacrificing soul beasts.

The people of the Holy Spirit Church said that the ascension ceremony would make the disciples extremely powerful, and this was also the reason.

Unfortunately, even after figuring these things out, Lin Xiao no longer had much time to think about the spirit ring.

He was indeed lucky enough, as although he had lost those ten thousand year soul beasts, he had gained a hundred thousand ghost-faced owls in exchange for upgrading his soul rings. However, he was also quite unfortunate, as the power of the hundred thousand year soul beasts surged into his body, causing far more pain than the ten thousand year soul beasts.

Coupled with the constantly torn soul, Lin Xiao felt that his consciousness was slowly fading, and the sea of ​​​​spiritual sea was gradually collapsing...

A slight sound of wind woke Lin Xiao up. He opened his eyes slightly and saw a strange yet familiar place in front of him.

It felt strange because he had never been here before, and familiar because his martial soul, the red spider lily, was growing all around his feet.

Looking up, a small path is faintly visible in a sea of ​​flowers.

He subconsciously raised his legs and walked forward. Figures gradually appeared beside him. Perhaps they were former disciples of the Holy Spirit Church, or perhaps they were passers-by whom he had only met once. They accompanied him as he slowly moved forward on this small path.

The breeze brought by the corner of his clothes made the red spider lilies on both sides sway slightly. They watched Lin Xiao walk by quietly, just like he had watched those wisps of residual souls passing by him quietly.

Until the sound of the river came from my ears.

A small river appeared ahead of him, its end unknown, flowing endlessly. Lin Xiao took a step forward, and two faces were reflected in the clear water.

"Here..." Lin Xiao's voice carried far away in the breeze, "I've sent so many people to the other side. It seems that today, it's my turn."

"No, it's not that time yet."

Lin Xiao looked up suddenly. This wasn't some unfamiliar place; it was clearly his own spiritual sea. The sea of ​​flowers had vanished, leaving only a wilderness before him. But even though it was shaky, it still stood firm.

"Boom-"

Something seemed to crack, causing his heart to skip a beat. It seemed as if something was breathing beneath this wilderness.

"Boom-"

The same sound echoed again, and Lin Xiao felt as if struck by lightning. His body trembled violently, and something warm seemed to flow from his nostrils and mouth. And within this spiritual sea, the calm ground suddenly began to bulge, and branches and leaves sprouted from it.

"Boom-"

The third voice, Lin Xiao already knew what was going to happen next...

Beside the blood pool, Sleepy Nightmare Douluo had already widened his eyes. Surrounded by the blood light, the first soul ring beside Lin Xiao suddenly shattered. Immediately afterwards, a pitch-black soul ring condensed and replaced the first soul ring.

Then came the second, third, and fourth...

Even the fifth soul ring, which was originally a ten thousand year soul ring, became darker in color.

Black, black, black, black, black.

He was only a Soul King, and his soul power level hadn't changed at all. But when the five pitch-black soul rings kept rhythmically moving around Lin Xiao, even Sleepy Nightmare Douluo could vaguely sense a powerful aura brewing in his body.

It’s not that Sleepy Nightmare Douluo hasn’t seen first soul rings that are ten thousand years old. The first soul ring of Ye Xishui, the supreme leader of the Holy Spirit Sect, is black.

But what is Ye Xishui's cultivation level?

The Lin Xiao in front of him is just a Soul King. Even if his body is strong, the age of the soul rings he can withstand is only about 30,000 years. How can he withstand five ten-thousand-year soul rings?

Even because the sacrifice was a hundred thousand year soul beast, his five ten thousand year soul rings were not just comparable to the soul rings that had just entered the ten thousand year mark.

Yes, how can I bear it?

Perhaps Lin Xiao himself didn't know. When he realized that his spirit rings were shattering one after another and something was constantly pouring into his body, he only wanted to absorb as much power as possible.

He didn't know how much he had absorbed, nor did he know that even his first soul ring had turned black. He only knew that he had to improve his strength as much as possible.

He no longer wanted to experience the panic he felt as the Spirit Ascension Ceremony drew closer, the powerlessness he felt before a Titled Douluo. He had long understood that in this world, strength was the foundation of everything.

As for the pain in his body? He seemed to have become somewhat numb.

The liquid in the blood pool was gradually becoming shallower, but Lin Xiao's aura was getting stronger and stronger. Sleepy Nightmare Douluo felt a little frightened and would turn his head to look at the almost extinguished candle from time to time.

Although they were in name only, Sleeping Nightmare Douluo knew his attitude towards Lin Xiao. With the talent Lin Xiao had displayed, his position in the sect might even surpass his own in the future. Perhaps this was the only person he could rely on.

Time passed minute by minute, and it seemed like a very long time had passed. Even Sleepy Nightmare Douluo just felt his body stiffen a little.

At this moment, the candlelight in the air suddenly lit up, then slowly rose close to the top of the stone chamber, merging into the residual souls that were constantly "praising" the Holy Emperor.

Sleepy Nightmare Douluo lowered his head and saw Lin Xiao standing beside the completely dried-up pool of blood, wearing only a cloak and bowing slightly towards him.

"teacher."

"Okay, okay." A smile finally appeared on Sleepy Nightmare Douluo's face, and he said yes repeatedly, "Now that the ceremony is complete, you are the true Holy Emissary of our Holy Cult. I will take you to see the Cult Master."

"Yes."

Lin Xiao had an indifferent expression and uttered a word calmly.

Seeing his attitude, Sleepy Nightmare Douluo was not surprised. He took out a token, and as his soul power surged, a stone door appeared in front of him again, and then he stepped in.

Before leaving the stone chamber, Lin Xiao looked back at the candle hanging above, and Long Xiaoyao's words before entering the stone chamber rang in his ears again.

Even the Ultimate Douluo Long Xiaoyao had some things he accidentally overlooked, let alone the Nightmare Douluo?