How could one make the Holy Spirit Cult's reputation even more foul and detestable—loathed by all, even by dogs?
Naturally, by dragging them into the light—exposing them in front of the entire world!
Xu Tianran's plan was clear. If he expanded the range of participants in the Continental Soul Master Tournament to include sects, there would definitely be many eager to compete for fame—and the Holy Spirit Cult would surely be one of them.
As long as the Holy Spirit Cult joined the competition, its evil soul masters would be revealed for all to see. Once the world witnessed their bloody and ruthless methods firsthand, their hatred for the Cult would only deepen. Then, when Xu Tianran led the charge to "exterminate" the Holy Spirit Cult, his reputation would soar to unimaginable heights.
And that wasn't even all—by allowing sects to participate, Xu Tianran could also detain all the contestants from both academies and sects in Mingdu, the capital of the Sun and Moon Empire.
With all these contestants—each one a promising young elite—under his control, Xu Tianran could use them as hostages to restrain the actions of their respective sects and academies. It would buy the Sun and Moon Empire a decisive advantage in any future war.
After all, those chosen to represent their academies or sects were always the most talented young soul masters, the ones with the brightest futures. No academy or sect would ever tolerate losing such prodigies. If their disciples were detained, they would be forced to act cautiously.
And once that happened, the Sun and Moon Empire could simply issue commands forbidding them from joining any war.
One or two sects wouldn't make much difference—but if six or seven tenths of the academies and sects across the three Douluo Empires were prevented from fighting, the Sun and Moon Empire's resistance on the battlefield would be drastically reduced.
A plan that served multiple purposes at once!
It would make the Holy Spirit Cult "famous" throughout the continent, raise Xu Tianran's own prestige, and remove obstacles for the war he planned to launch soon.
Everything seemed to be moving perfectly in Xu Tianran's favor.
He could already envision the day he would unify the continent and ascend the supreme throne.
Such a flawless plan, such overwhelming advantages—surely the Douluo Continent was destined to be unified by him.
I, Xu Tianran, am truly the god of wisdom!
(He… he actually pulled out the Eight Spider Lances!)
Meanwhile, far away in the Evil Demon Forest—the headquarters of the Holy Spirit Cult—
Long Xiaoyao sat staring blankly at the five or six books before him, his expression frozen in shock as his mind plunged into utter chaos.
As an Ultimate Douluo, his brain—or "CPU"—was working at full capacity, trying desperately to comprehend what he had just read.
Especially the novels Phoenix Plays with Two Dragons and Kindred Spirits—they had practically fried his brain. His current expression wasn't much different from Mu En's the first time he'd read those books.
Long Xiaoyao knew exactly what had really happened in the past. The early chapters of Phoenix Plays with Two Dragons were fairly accurate—back in their youth, he and Mu En had indeed been both rivals and companions, pushing each other to grow stronger. It was also true that, in that year's Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament, he had lost to Mu En's Shrek Academy team.
But what in the world was with the rest of the story?!
"Mu En dominates the day, while I, Long Xiaoyao, rule the night"?
What kind of twisted nonsense was that?!
He clenched his teeth. The black-and-white joke meme is haunting me again!
Looking at those utterly outrageous illustrations and the endless plot twists that turned their story upside down again and again, Long Xiaoyao genuinely felt like his brain was melting.
And the ending—he and Ye Xishui holding a child as they left, then leaving that child in a remote mountain village to live an ordinary life—followed by a continuation in Kindred Spirits…
Long Xiaoyao was stunned beyond words.
Wait… I, Long Xiaoyao… have a child?!
In an instant, he dashed out, clutching copies of Phoenix Plays with Two Dragons and Kindred Spirits, heading straight to where Ye Xishui was in seclusion.
"Xishui… did you… did you give birth to my child?!" Long Xiaoyao's voice trembled as he asked.
Ye Xishui blinked, startled.
"Yes, we have a child."
Wait—no, that wasn't right. She quickly corrected herself, eyes widening in shock.
"How did you find out?" she asked, genuinely surprised.
As an Ultimate Douluo, it was perfectly normal for her to enter seclusion for months or even years at a time. Recently, she had been refining her life-bound soul tool—the Death God Tower—and hadn't paid attention to the outside world at all.
Perfecting a ninth-level soul tool was no simple task. Although she had received significant assistance from Kong Deming, the core design still had to be completed by her own hand—otherwise, how could the Death God Tower ever reach the threshold of a half-step tenth-level soul tool?
Thus, she had remained oblivious to recent events.
Normally, if something major happened, Zhongli Wu would have informed her—but he himself had been busy tinkering with his undead bone dragon, and he hadn't emerged from seclusion in nearly half a year either.
And those books—Phoenix Plays with Two Dragons and Kindred Spirits—hadn't even been published for six months yet.
Since both Ye Xishui and Zhongli Wu were unaware, and even though Feng Ling knew about it, she certainly wouldn't spread the word about her own "Kindred Spirits" scandal. That woman had been so furious she nearly marched to Shrek Academy to strangle Yan Shaozhe herself.
If the Vice Master didn't dare bring it up, then naturally, no one else in the Holy Spirit Cult would be foolish enough to do so either.
After all, who would dare approach their superior with a copy of the book and ask, "Master, how exactly did you remodel the Vice Master and then lock her up again afterward? Can you teach us your technique?"
They'd be beaten to death on the spot—Zhongli Wu and Feng Ling would probably tear out their soul and light a lantern with it.
Since neither Zhongli Wu nor Ye Xishui knew anything, Long Xiaoyao had no clue either. Believing himself guilty for past sins, he had merely stayed by Ye Xishui's side in quiet repentance, paying no attention to the Cult's affairs. He was basically a figurehead at this point.
If he hadn't grown restless a few days ago and gone to Mingdu to clear his mind—visiting the same restaurant where, in the original story, he had met Huo Yuhao—he would have remained completely ignorant.
While drinking and eating roasted meat, he overheard the rumors circulating everywhere. Curious, he bought a few copies of the books to read—and nearly lost his mind in the process.
After all… what Ultimate Douluo would ever concern themselves with the gossip of mortals?
But the rumors were everywhere—so widespread that it was impossible not to hear them once he stepped outside.
And now, looking at Ye Xishui's expression—surprised but not denying it—Long Xiaoyao's mind went completely blank.
"So… there really is one?!"
"Yes," Ye Xishui said calmly. "There was one. But he must have long since died of old age. Though he did have descendants—Mu En's disciple, in fact. I'm not sure if it's a grandson or a great-grandson; I never bothered to check."
She said it matter-of-factly, without hesitation. Ye Xishui had always acted according to her own will. There was nothing to hide.
If Long Xiaoyao hadn't known, she wouldn't have said anything. But since he came to ask, there was no reason to lie.
Ye Xishui was not the kind of woman who lowered herself to deceit.
End of Chapter)
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