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

Chapter 44 After the Ceremony

Lin Xiao hovered on the brink of life and death, but the Holy Spirit Church seemed to be still the same Holy Spirit Church as before.

Various sounds came from all directions, occasionally mixed with a few screams, but they did not attract anyone's attention, as if they were commonplace.

Lin Xiao lowered his head slightly and hid his expression completely under the cloak. He only felt that his perception seemed to have become much more sensitive, and the voices of the wronged souls in his ears were clearer.

"The leader."

Upon hearing this, Zhongli Wu looked up at Sleepy Nightmare Douluo, then shifted his gaze to Lin Xiao.

"Successful? What was the result?"

Sleepy Nightmare Douluo lowered his voice slightly, "The soul-raising process wasn't smooth, but the result is good, five ten-thousand-year soul rings."

Zhongli Wu sat up abruptly, his gaze shifting slightly as he looked at Lin Xiao. Even in the Holy Spirit Sect, where there were methods to increase the age of spirit rings, possessing five ten-thousand-year spirit rings at this level of cultivation was extremely rare.

In addition to the reason of using the 100,000-year-old soul beast as a sacrifice, there was also a lot of reason related to Lin Xiao himself.

Looking at Zhongli Wu's constantly changing eyes, Sleepy Nightmare Douluo felt a little uneasy and whispered a reminder, "Master?"

"Forget it." Zhongli Wu sighed and sat back down. "Don't worry, the Holy Church won't take your disciple away. If he achieves something in the future, the Church will also remember your achievement."

"Thank you, Master." Sleepy Nightmare Douluo's expression became noticeably better.

Zhongli Wu shook his head upon seeing this. "Although the sect will provide you with resources, if you don't aspire to make further progress, it will be difficult to improve your cultivation."

"Master, you also know that when one reaches my level of cultivation, every step forward involves considerable risk. Ordinary people are no longer of much use to me. Only spirit masters can barely satisfy me, and opportunities like this are rare."

"Hmph." Zhongli Wu snorted coldly and said no more. He also knew the mentality of these evil soul masters. If they really had the perseverance to practice with their own strength, they would not have become evil soul masters.

"Well, he just finished the soul raising ceremony, so he probably won't be able to recover to his original state for a while. Let him recuperate in the church for a while."

Sleepy Nightmare Douluo looked at Lin Xiao anxiously again, and finally replied with a helpless "yes".

"Yeah." Zhongli Wu nodded, and suddenly seemed to remember something, "I remember that your disciple's martial spirit is related to death?"

"Exactly."

"That's perfect. I'll have him go with me in a couple of days."

"Where is the leader going?"

Sleepy Nightmare Douluo's expression changed slightly. Although Zhongli Wu had said he wouldn't take Lin Xiao away from him, judging by the current situation, the Holy Church had clearly begun to deliberately cultivate Lin Xiao. From now on, matters concerning Lin Xiao might not be decided by him alone.

"Of course, I'll take him to a place where he can improve his cultivation. When it comes to death, how can these minor fights in the sect compare to war?"

war?

Sleepy Nightmare Douluo understood, "Master, are you going to the front lines?"

"Indeed. This Xu Jing is different from the previous Xu Chang. Since he ascended the throne, he has placed particular emphasis on military affairs. This time, Xu Tianran is going to the Xingluo front as the crown prince to comfort the generals. I think these father and son have great ambitions."

"Especially Xu Tianran, he's been trying to win over experts and nobles everywhere, not just me, but also Jing Hongchen, the current head of Mingde Hall." Zhongli Wu said, his eyes narrowing slightly. "It's a pity that the crown prince and the royal family are not exactly the same..."

"Master, what do you mean?"

"Since he came to ask me personally, I will go with him. It is true that our Holy Church cooperates with the royal family, but if he wants us to work for Xu Tianran, we have to see his ability. After all, our Holy Church only wants a place to practice cultivation."

As an elder of the Holy Spirit Sect, Zhongli Wu's plans were not hidden from Sleepy Nightmare Douluo. As for Lin Xiao, he had already undergone the spirit-raising ceremony, so they did not need to be too secretive.

Lin Xiao stood behind Nightmare Douluo without saying a word. It was a blessing in disguise. After all, before this, he probably wouldn't have been able to hear so much from Zhongli Wu.

Seeing that Zhongli Wu stopped talking, Sleepy Nightmare Douluo also led him towards a deeper corridor.

"Lin Xiao?"

On both sides of the corridor were stone chambers, where the disciples of the Holy Spirit Sect rested. Just as Lin Xiao followed Sleepy Nightmare Douluo past quickly, a voice rang out softly.

Lin Xiao stopped and turned to look behind him. On the other side, Sleepy Nightmare Douluo also looked over.

"Really you?"

The person who spoke was a girl of about the same age as Lin Xiao. Her clothes were a little messy. When she saw Lin Xiao turn around, she seemed to realize something and hurriedly straightened her clothes.

Looking at the person in front of him, Lin Xiao didn't say anything, and the corridor became quiet for a while.

The faint smile on the girl's face disappeared instantly, her eyes became more lonely, and she opened her mouth, but no words came out.

Just as she was about to leave, the stone chamber next to her suddenly opened, and two disciples of the Holy Spirit Sect walked out. Then, another person who looked exactly like the girl poked his head out.

"Wu Yu, you can come in now."

"Sister." Wu Yu came back to his senses, looked away from Lin Xiao, and walked to the side.

Lin Xiao looked in the direction of Wu Yu into the stone chamber, and the person inside was her twin sister Wu Yun.

The moment the door was opened, a faint smell came out from inside. Without looking closely, Lin Xiao knew what had just happened inside.

A light veil barely covered Wu Yun's body, but there was not much embarrassment on her face. After seeing Lin Xiao, she just bowed slightly to him.

Lin Xiao nodded, then turned around and stopped looking at them.

"Sister, you..."

"It's okay." Wu Yun shook his head and just looked in the direction where Lin Xiao left.

"I remember you rescued the twin sisters from Sunrise City, right?"

Lin Xiao naturally remembered those two. Their parents had passed away early, and they had never had the opportunity to awaken their martial spirits. It was not until they were captured and tortured that they awakened their spirits of revenge in their resentment.

I don't know how the Holy Spirit Church got the news about them, which is why I was asked to bring them both back to the church.

It can't be said to be "rescue". Lin Xiao doesn't know whether bringing them here from Risheng City can be considered as saving them or taking them from one devil's cave to another.

Seeing that Lin Xiao hadn't spoken yet, Sleepy Nightmare Douluo had no intention of continuing. After all, he had just gone through the Spirit Ascension Ceremony and offered his soul to the Holy Emperor. There would always be some gaps or confusion in his mind and memory, but it would naturally get better after a while.

"This is it." Sleepy Nightmare Douluo stopped and said, "You heard what the leader said just now. In a few days, follow the leader to the front line. There are casualties there every day, so this is also a rare opportunity for you to practice."

Chapter 45 Orange

The door of the stone chamber was closed again, and only Lin Xiao was left inside. Only then did he have the opportunity to carefully feel the changes that had taken place.

In addition to the increase in the age of his soul rings, his physical strength has also increased. Although the level of his soul power has not changed, it has become much more condensed than before.

He raised his palm to activate his soul power, and the red spider lily appeared in his palm. The enchanting color became brighter, and the voices of the remaining souls appeared more clearly in his ears.

Among them, there was a remnant soul that was tiny but very active. It did not feel uncomfortable at all in the pistil of the red spider lily. Instead, it kept wandering around like a fish in water.

Lin Xiao smiled slightly, put away his martial soul, felt the changes in his body, and sighed softly.

His ascension ceremony seemed to have lasted quite a while, and his body bore many signs of aging. It was nearing the end of the year when he returned to the Holy Spirit Church. Calculating the time, it seemed the new year had already arrived outside.

It has to be said that the Holy Spirit Church does have some capabilities. Putting aside the brainwashing process, the ability to increase the lifespan of spirit rings and even enhance spirit masters in all aspects is indeed not something that ordinary forces can possess.

It’s a pity that even though he had experienced it personally, he had no time to think too much during the painful process, and he couldn’t figure out what the "Holy Emperor" was.

It seems that even with the memories of his past life, there are still many things in the Holy Spirit Church that he does not understand.

Putting away his thoughts, Lin Xiao slowly entered into meditation...

A few days later, several figures flew through the air along with the light of flying soul guides.

The wind rustled in his ears, and Lin Xiao turned his head slightly to glance at Xu Tianran, who was flying ahead. He hadn't expected Xu Tianran, a crown prince, to travel without a ceremonial guard. Instead, he was dressed in smart attire and, like other soul guides, used a flying soul guide to travel.

"The front line is full of dangers. Your Highness, please travel light and please don't stay too far away from us." Someone among the people traveling together also spoke up, fearing that Xu Tianran might encounter an accident.

"The soldiers on the front lines are fighting bravely for the Sun Moon Empire, protecting the country. How can there be any crisis?" Xu Tianran said, then smiled and looked at Zhongli Wu. "Besides, with Zhongli Gongfeng here, there's nothing to worry about."

Seeing this, Zhongli Wu just glanced at Xu Tianran and didn't say anything.

Xu Tianran was not annoyed and still had a smile on his face, only occasionally turning back to glance in Lin Xiao's direction.

This time he asked Zhongli Wu to accompany him, naturally he wanted to win him over. Among the people Zhongli Wu brought with him, besides the two priests of the Holy Spirit Church, there was only Lin Xiao.

Xu Tianran didn't know Lin Xiao's identity, but he could sense during the flight that Lin Xiao's cultivation level couldn't compare to the two priests. For someone with such a level of cultivation to be able to be kept by Zhongli Wu's side, he must have something special going on.

Looking at the mask, Xu Tianran kept wondering what was underneath it, and he didn't know if there was any chance to win him over to his side.

Xu Tianran's little thoughts could not be completely hidden from Zhongli Wu, but he did not mind at all.

Lin Xiao followed behind him without saying a word, still looking as calm as he did a few days ago.

"Huh?" As the scenery below him kept passing by, Xu Tianran suddenly said, "That's where..."

"Your Highness, those are refugees who have fled here from the front lines. The nearby cities below should be distributing porridge to them."

Someone on the side immediately responded.

"Alas, the people have also sacrificed a lot for the great cause of the empire." Xu Tianran sighed compassionately and looked at Zhongli Wu again. "It's just right, shall we go down and take a look?"

"It's all at your command, Your Highness." Zhongli Wu seemed polite, but only he knew what he was thinking.

Although they did not display the title of the Crown Prince, the attire worn by Xu Tianran and his companions revealed their extraordinary status. As soon as they entered the city, many people turned to look at them.

The refugees who had fled here, however, hadn't changed much. Their numb eyes were fixed on the porridge stall in front of them. To them, the sudden appearance of a stranger was far less important than a bowl of porridge.

There were only a few young children who looked over here out of curiosity.

"Your Highness..." The person following Xu Tianran spoke softly, as if he didn't want Xu Tianran to be too close to them.

Seeing this, Xu Tianran no longer insisted. He frowned, sighed, and continued to move forward.

"I think it's getting late. Do you want to rest here for a while?" Xu Tianran said, but his eyes were looking at Lin Xiao.

The cultivation base of the others was not low, so the energy consumption from just traveling was not that great, and there was no need to stop to rest. Xu Tianran's words seemed to be specially taken into consideration for Lin Xiao.

"That's not necessary, Your Highness." Zhongli Wu spoke, drawing Xu Tianran's attention. "This place isn't far from the border. It won't be too late for us to rest once we get there. This will also put the rest of our lives and the border soldiers at ease."

Zhongli Wu's words made the others around Xu Tianran look at him again, and a look of relief appeared on their faces.

Their mission was to protect Xu Tianran. If they stopped here suddenly, they didn't know if they would encounter any danger. If something happened, not only themselves, but also their wives and children would be implicated. If they could reach the border earlier, with the protection of a large army, their burden would be lighter.

"Since Zhongli Gongsheng said so, that's fine." Xu Tianran nodded and said no more.

However, just as he was about to leave the city and continue on his journey, his eyes suddenly fell on the street.

A little girl of about eleven or twelve was kneeling there. She looked a little thin because of fleeing, and her face was covered with dust, but her pretty features could still be seen.

Xu Tianran's eyes moved slightly, and he suddenly took a few steps forward and brushed away the weeds on the girl's head.

"Are you going to buy me?"

The girl's timid voice rang out. Although her face was covered in dirt, her eyes were still bright and she looked quite clever. Xu Tianran stared at her carefully for a long moment, then suddenly laughed a few times.