"Things just keep getting worse. Ever since we crossed that plague god, the Holy Spirit Church has been going downhill every day."
Holy Spirit Church Main Hall.
In a dim and winding corridor, two teams dressed in black cloaks, fully wrapped from head to toe, slowly passed under a flickering wall lamp.
One of them muttered complaints.
"What could we do? Blame the former leader? Or the Crow Elder who attacked that guy?"
"What, you want to dig up corpses to flog them?"
"Shh! Don't drag me into this! I'm just a regular Evil Soul Master. I'll be satisfied to become a high-ranking member of the Holy Spirit Church in this life… Besides, I heard the leader has recovered her strength."
"And, you know about all the souls being sent to reincarnation, right?" one of the black-robed men whispered.
"Of course, I'm not blind," the other sneered.
"I heard all those who cultivated by controlling or devouring souls lost their cultivation overnight… The guy next door to me was a peak Soul Ancestor, aiming for sainthood, but the next morning, he dropped to Level 10 and got absorbed by his longtime enemy."
"Tsk tsk. That's tragic." The other had a touch of schadenfreude. "If the blood-sucking, man-eating cultivation methods get patched by the heavens one day, won't we also lose all our cultivation overnight?"
"Probably not…" The black-robed man's eyelids twitched. "As long as I don't mess around before I die, it doesn't matter after. Let fate decide."
What's the point of the Holy Spirit Church then?
Forced to go straight.
"Who knows. Live one day at a time."
Their footsteps paused as the corridor opened up into a brightly lit main hall. The gloomy atmosphere still lingered, unsettling to normal people.
But this was the Evil Soul Masters' lair. Here, they were like rats returning to the sewer—a familiar "home."
…
Meanwhile,
In a secret chamber.
Scarlet blood pooled into a small pond, rippling with a stench so strong it was nauseating. Yet the figure in the center of the pool looked indifferent.
In the next moment, she slowly opened her arms.
The blood churned violently, and strands of red energy converged upon her. Her half-white, half-purple hair gradually returned to its former strange purple hue, and her aura climbed higher and higher.
Huff…
But some kind of backlash caused her to suddenly cough up blood, her face turning pale before quickly recovering.
"Suddenly changing cultivation methods really isn't easy…" Her chest heaved, her gaze uncertain.
Her cultivation had plummeted. Was she supposed to cultivate like the righteous path now? Impossible. Taking advantage of her martial soul's power, she had devoured several powerful Evil Soul Masters and quickly regained some strength.
But this was her limit.
She was nowhere near even half her former peak power with the Death God Tower…
"Xishui."
Long Xiaoyao's figure slowly emerged, looking at Ye Xishui with pity. "Such evil arts only give a brief surge in strength, but in the long run it's all downside. We're both Ultimate Douluo, with life spans far beyond mortals—why…"
"Shut up!" Ye Xishui snapped in rage.
Her purple hair drifted, her eyes blood-red, on the verge of madness.
"If you won't help, fine, but don't stand there spouting nonsense! If I'd listened to you, I might as well wait for death! After all these years building the Holy Spirit Church, you want me to just throw it away?!"
"…"
Long Xiaoyao fell silent.
Like a helpless husband watching his wife go mad from life's pressures, driven to extremes…
It was absurd for an Ultimate Douluo to end up so powerless.
But for love, what could he do…
"Get out!" Ye Xishui glared.
"Fine, fine, I'm going…" Long Xiaoyao sighed, turning to leave.
But she called him back again.
"Come here!"
Long Xiaoyao looked confused, glancing at Ye Xishui sitting in the blood pool, then at himself.
"Are you deaf? I said come here!" Ye Xishui snapped, but no one noticed the flush of red on her pale ear.
Her whole body was trembling slightly.
When she'd first received this demonic blood art, those animals hadn't warned her about… this part!
Damn it!
At first, she could suppress it with her Ultimate Douluo power, but now, as her strength returned, that surging desire was rapidly overwhelming her consciousness. If she didn't find an outlet soon, she feared…
"Hug me."
Ye Xishui's voice softened, losing its earlier venom and anger.
"Uh…" Long Xiaoyao froze, throat dry, body trembling—was it excitement or something else?
"Xiaoyao, you…" Ye Xishui's tone was now completely gentle, full of charm, sending Long Xiaoyao's mind back to that stormy night a hundred years ago.
Splash—
Blood water splashed as clothes slipped into the pool, drifting away. Now, only Ye Xishui's head remained above the surface.
Pant, pant… Long Xiaoyao's eyes reddened.
After all these years, was it finally his turn?
He walked into the blood pool.