These three powerful evil soul masters, who could even hold their own against ordinary Titled Douluo when they joined forces, were as insignificant as ants in the face of true god-level combat power and were instantly killed.
This terrifying scene caused the Second Elder, Nangong Wan, the Fifth Elder, Wanhun Douluo, and the others who were also trying to rush forward to freeze in place as if they had been turned to stone, their faces filled with horror and fear. Even Feng Ling, the Evil Phoenix Douluo with a cultivation level of 97, was sweating profusely at this moment. Even she hadn't seen how Xiao Wu had made her move.
This meant that if Xiao Wu had targeted her just now, she would probably have suffered the same fate—being instantly killed.
Absolute force brought absolute deterrence.
Huo Yuhao remained expressionless, as if he had only done a trivial thing. He stepped over Zhongli Wu's still-warm body, ascended the steps one by one, and finally sat on the throne that symbolized the supreme power of the Holy Spirit Cult. His icy gaze swept over the silent crowd below, and his deep, powerful voice echoed in the hall:
"From this day forward, I am the leader of the Holy Spirit Cult."
He paused slightly, a dangerous glint flashing in his crimson eyes.
"Who's in favor? Who's opposed?"
The scene was deathly silent; one could hear a pin drop. The air was thick with the stench of blood and a suffocating sense of oppression.
"Greetings, Sect Master!"
After a brief silence, the Third Elder, Scarlet Douluo Fei Yan, stepped forward first, bowed to Huo Yuhao on the throne, and spoke in a clear and firm voice.
With her taking the lead, the Sixth Elder, Scorpion Tiger Douluo Zhang Peng, and the Fifth Elder, Evil Moon Douluo Yue Ming, also stepped forward and bowed their heads in submission:
"Greetings, Sect Master."
Seeing this scene, the High Priest of the Holy Spirit Cult, Blood Scythe Douluo Shi Yue—whose cultivation level was as high as ninety-eight and who had been observing coldly—curled his lips into a faint smile and exclaimed:
"Interesting."
Then, he slowly walked to Fei Yan and the others and bowed to Huo Yuhao as well:
"Greetings, Sect Master."
Even the most powerful and highest-ranking High Priest had chosen to submit, and the remaining worshipers had no further hesitation. The Second and Fourth Worshipers, along with Blood Bat Douluo, Plague Douluo, Demon Spirit Douluo, Evil Cloud Douluo, Spider Emperor Douluo, Blood Lion Douluo, Sorrowful Douluo, and Raven Douluo Wu Yun, stepped forward one by one, bowing respectfully, their voices rising and falling in unison:
"Greetings, Sect Master."
The entire worshiper faction of the Holy Spirit Cult had now sided with him.
At this moment, everyone's attention was focused on the elder faction led by Evil Phoenix Douluo Feng Ling and the First Elder, Demon Sound Douluo.
The Second Elder, Tianwu Douluo Nangong Wan, the Fifth Elder, Wanhun Douluo, the Sixth Elder, Zang'e Douluo, the Eighth Elder, Shuiyan Douluo, and the others all looked at Feng Ling and Demon Sound Douluo with pale faces, awaiting their decision.
Feng Ling's face turned ashen, her fingernails digging deep into her palms, blood seeping out without her noticing. With her husband dead before her eyes and her enemy sitting high on the throne, her heart was filled with anger and hatred.
However, reality was cruel.
The opponent possessed terrifying combat power capable of instantly killing her, as well as an unfathomable new leader, and all the worshipers had already submitted… Resistance would only lead to death.
Just as Evil Phoenix Douluo Feng Ling, her face pale, was struggling internally with the thought of kneeling in submission to preserve her life and the remaining strength of the elder faction, the ever-silent First Elder, Demon Sound Douluo, suddenly stepped forward, channeling his soul power and shouting:
"Your Majesty, Demon Empress, if you don't appear now, when will you?!"
The shout was like a thunderclap, exploding in the deathly silent hall.
As he finished speaking, the space in the center of the hall distorted, and two figures appeared without warning.
The leader was a woman with a captivating and alluring figure, stunning beauty, yet exuding a chilling aura. Purple lightning bolts of destruction flickered around her like tiny snakes; she was none other than the Demon Empress. Next to her stood a young girl with long blue hair, her eyes filled with curiosity and a hint of helplessness—her daughter, Lan Fozi.
"I really got to watch a good show." The Demon Empress parted her red lips slightly and let out a cold sneer.
At the same time, a terrifying pressure, no less powerful than Xiao Wu's and belonging to the divine level, spread out like a tide, instantly enveloping the entire hall. The oppressive aura, carrying a will of destruction and violence, caused the faces of High Priest Shi Yue and the others, who had just chosen to side with Huo Yuhao, to change drastically, and they inwardly cried out in distress.
They had just placed their bets on the new sect leader, but who would have thought that the First Elder had such a trump card up his sleeve that could overturn the entire situation?
Another god-level powerhouse.
This made their recent surrender seem so ridiculous and dangerous.
Not only the worshipers, but even Evil Phoenix Douluo Feng Ling and the other Titled Douluo elders looked at the First Elder, Demon Sound Douluo, in disbelief. They were equally unaware of when he had formed a connection with a god-level expert and how he had kept it so well hidden.
"Your Majesty, Demon Empress, please make your move. The Holy Spirit Cult will now serve you as its master," the First Elder, Demon Sound Douluo, hurriedly said, his tone carrying a hint of relief.
His acquaintance with the Demon Empress had been purely accidental. At that time, the Demon Empress had not yet joined the World Serpent, had not obtained the Herrscher Core, and was merely a powerful deep-sea soul beast. The two had clashed in an encounter overseas. Demon Sound Douluo had witnessed her strength and then tried to invite her to join the Holy Spirit Cult. The Demon Empress had not immediately agreed out of caution, but in order to accumulate power for revenge against the Sea God, she accepted this kindness and left her contact information.
She came today intending to formally accept the power of the Holy Spirit Cult, but unexpectedly stumbled upon this exciting internal power struggle.
The appearance of the Demon Empress caused Huo Yuhao, who was sitting on the throne of the sect leader, to suddenly change his expression. This was completely outside his plan. But he quickly forced himself to calm down, his mind racing. He actively activated the Core of the Herrscher of Sentience within his body, and a faint purple Honkai energy, different from soul power and carrying an eerie and ominous aura, appeared around him, forming a faint halo.
"Demon Empress." Huo Yuhao's voice returned to normal, even carrying a peculiar rhythm. "The Third Throne of the World Serpent, the King of Conquest. I know you."
He paused, his scarlet eyes meeting the Demon Empress's oppressive gaze.
"I think we have a common enemy."
The Demon Empress knew Huo Yuhao, and Huo Yuhao also knew the Demon Empress. After all, in that battle in the parallel world, Huo Yuhao had personally witnessed the Demon Empress suddenly appear and launch a sneak attack on the Rakshasa God Bibi Dong. But it wasn't that battle that made Huo Yuhao understand the Demon Empress better.
Immediately afterward, his spiritual power and Honkai energy became even more active, as if resonating with some power of the same origin, and he said in a low chant:
"God gave me wings, allowing me to control the minds of all beings, between dreams and reality, as the King of Spirits… Demon Empress, you should be familiar with this power."
Upon hearing Huo Yuhao's words, especially the keywords "World Serpent" and "King of Spirits," a look of realization flashed in the Demon Empress's eyes. She recalled that in the message Mobius had previously given her, it had mentioned that a new member had joined the organization and would wield spiritual power.
"I see…"
The Demon Empress's sneer deepened. "You are the Eighth Throne, the King of Spirits. So, in that sense, we're still on the same side?"
She said that, but the violent aura of the Herrscher of Thunder emanating from her body did not subside at all. Instead, it surged even more fiercely, colliding and squeezing against the divine power emanating from Xiao Wu in the air, producing an invisible explosion that caused the space of the entire hall to begin to distort slightly. Even the weaker soul masters felt difficulty breathing.
Clearly, even though they were both members of World Serpent, this identity did not deter her. Moreover, World Serpent had never stipulated that fighting between Thrones was prohibited. Power and interests were the only principles there.
The First Elder, Demon Sound Douluo, who had been worried when he saw the Demon Empress recognize Huo Yuhao, breathed a sigh of relief and his face lit up with hope again after realizing that the Demon Empress had not lessened her hostility. It seemed that this Demon Empress was not here to help Huo Yuhao.
The atmosphere inside the hall, due to the Demon Empress's intervention, instantly transformed from Huo Yuhao's unilateral suppression into a complex and dangerous situation where two god-level powerhouses confronted each other with different intentions. The situation, which had just stabilized, was once again fraught with enormous uncertainty.
All eyes shifted between Huo Yuhao, Xiao Wu, and the Demon Empress, waiting for the next moment when a conflict that would determine life, death, and fate would erupt.
Huo Yuhao endured the Demon Empress's overwhelming divine pressure, his bones creaking softly, yet he remained upright, speaking in a deep voice, his words like sharp swords piercing the Demon Empress's deepest wounds:
"Demon Empress, I know your purpose. You want to seek revenge against that… high and mighty Sea God."
The name "Sea God" was like a spark that ignited a powder keg.
Boom—!
The Demon Empress's eyes instantly erupted with boundless hatred and a killing intent that almost solidified into reality. The purple lightning surrounding her suddenly surged, transforming into countless dancing electric snakes. The terrifying pressure was no longer diffused, but swept out like a tsunami.
"Thump, thump…"
Under this pure, god-level destructive pressure, apart from a few people, all the evil soul masters of the Holy Spirit Cult, including those Titled Douluo elders, were as if crushed by an invisible giant mountain. They all knelt down uncontrollably, their faces pale and their bodies trembling. Even High Priest Shi Yue, whose cultivation level was as high as ninety-eight, could only hold on for one more breath before letting out a muffled groan and kneeling on one knee, veins bulging on his forehead, his eyes filled with horror.
Crack… Crack…
Under this terrifying pressure, the floor of the main hall, paved with hard obsidian, cracked inch by inch like fragile glass, with millions of spiderweb-like fissures spreading out from the Demon Empress as the center.
The power of the Demon Empress had reached this level.
Faced with this overwhelming pressure, Xiao Wu frowned slightly, stepped forward, and silently protected Bei Bei and Tang Ya behind her. A soft blue aura of divine power unfolded, like the strongest dam, firmly blocking the Demon Empress's destructive aura and protecting the two people behind her.
At the very center of the oppressive aura, Huo Yuhao's eyes flashed with a fierce glint. He knew that he absolutely could not show weakness at this moment.
"Ugh—!"
He let out a low roar, and the Core of the Herrscher of Sentience within his body began to operate at an unprecedented speed. A surge of immense Honkai energy mixed with his spiritual power erupted forth.
Buzz—!
A dark purple beam of energy shot upward from his body, instantly dispelling the gloom on the ceiling of the hall. Within the light, Huo Yuhao's form underwent a dramatic change—
[Herrscher Armament: Illusion of Mind]
Huo Yuhao donned a suit of armor with a deep dark purple base, adorned with eerie blue energy patterns resembling cracks in ice. His face was covered by a dark metal mask that resembled an abstract combination of a skull and wings, and the goggles around his eyes shimmered with an unstable crimson light. His hair seemed to have grown longer, the ends tinged with a dark purple glow from Honkai energy.
He was covered in streamlined, dark purple bio-material light armor. The armor was not solid plate, but a mixture of living nerve bundles and ice crystals. It pulsed slightly with his breathing, constantly absorbing and dissipating spiritual energy. Sharp, dark blue ice spikes protruded from the joints, serving as both weapons and energy outlets.
Most peculiar of all, at the location of his shoulder blades, there were not physical wings, but translucent dark purple energy wings composed of highly condensed Honkai energy and spiritual power. Fluorescent light constantly emanated from the edges of the wings, their shapes shifting erratically—sometimes spreading out like feathers, sometimes waving like tentacles.
Wearing this [Herrscher Armament: Illusion of Mind], Huo Yuhao's aura became incredibly strange, cold, and powerful. He was surrounded by a mental field that distorted reality and dreams, and he managed to carve out his own domain amidst the Demon Empress's raging divine power.
He hovered a foot above the ground, his dark purple energy wings slowly flapping behind him, scattering specks of spiritual light. Beneath the visor, crimson eyes peered through the goggles, meeting the Demon Empress's destructive gaze without fear.
"Now." Huo Yuhao's voice echoed through the mask, carrying multiple resonances, as if countless consciousnesses were whispering simultaneously. "Can we discuss the possibility of cooperation on an equal footing?"
He had demonstrated his power and identified their common enemy. Now he was qualified to speak with the Demon Empress.
Inside the main hall, on one side stood the King of Conquest, her anger blazing like lightning. On the other side was the unpredictable and mysterious King of Spirits, whose existence unfolded in the realm of the mind. The two Thrones of World Serpent formed a brief but dangerous standoff at the headquarters of the Holy Spirit Cult.
Everyone's life or death hinged on the outcome of their next negotiation.
Sensing the Herrscher of Sentience's power emanating from Huo Yuhao—a power system different from this world, yet containing considerable potential—a hint of approval flashed in the Demon Empress's eyes. Although Huo Yuhao's current strength was far inferior to hers, this potential and the significance it represented were enough to give him the right to have a dialogue with her.
Moreover, his mention of a "common enemy" did indeed pique her interest.
"Hmph!"
The Demon Empress snorted coldly, and the terrifying, suffocating pressure emanating from her body suddenly receded like a tide.