In the underground hall of the Holy Spirit Cult's branch altar in Mingdu, Lin Xiao was seated in the main seat, wearing a black cloak no longer simply edged with silver lines, but embroidered with intricate silver patterns.
Behind him, the holy flag fluttered lightly, constantly emitting the mournful wails of countless resentful spirits.
In front of him, more than a dozen Holy Spirit Cult disciples were prostrated toward him.
"Greetings, Eighth Elder."
Zhongli Wu had acted extremely quickly. In just two days, the news that the Nightmare Douluo had died at the hands of Shrek's inspection team and that Lin Xiao, as the Holy Envoy, had taken his place as the new Eighth Elder had rapidly spread among the upper echelons and core disciples of the Holy Spirit Cult.
Although a few elders were somewhat surprised by this matter, none dared to question Zhongli Wu's courage.
Looking at the group of disciples before him, Lin Xiao did not speak immediately. Instead, he slightly raised his head and glanced upward.
After scanning the room, his gaze finally settled on one particular disciple. "Which one of you brought a 'tail' here?"
The underground hall fell completely silent. Only after a long while did the disciples cautiously look at each other. In the end, everyone turned toward the disciple Lin Xiao was staring at.
"El… Elder."
That disciple kept his head lowered, his tone carrying a slight tremor.
"Go bring her in." Lin Xiao did not say anything more.
Although he was sitting in the underground hall, the assassin's soul still wandered above ground, and he could clearly see everything happening outside.
With these disciples' abilities, it was indeed impossible for them to detect the person outside.
"Yes." The disciple cupped his fists and hurriedly walked out.
However, once he reappeared on the street, there was nothing unusual around him.
Just as the disciple was about to walk farther away, a sudden sound of something shattering came from an alley nearby.
Joy flashed across his face. He fiercely swung his right hand, and an infant's head appeared in his palm. The face was cracked in multiple places, revealing the white bone beneath, the skin still stained with blood that had only recently coagulated, leaving dark brown streaks.
With a flick of his wrist, the infant's head shot out, curving into the alley.
Yet in the next instant, a red light flashed. A fire-red short blade carrying intense heat struck, and the infant's head instantly flew back.
Several more heads appeared around the disciple, spinning rapidly. His figure had already shot toward the alley. However, when he clearly saw the person inside, he was slightly stunned.
"Nana?"
Like Lin Xiao, this disciple was normally arranged to infiltrate the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy, using soul tools to conceal his evil soul master identity.
As a student of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy, he had naturally seen Nana, who often appeared on the competition stage, not to mention that Nana had once represented the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy as a reserve member in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Competition.
"You…" Nana's tone was far from calm. "All those children… You killed them?"
"So what if I did?" The disciple laughed loudly. "So the one who followed me here is you. Perfect the Eighth Elder is right inside the branch altar. I'll offer him as a congratulatory gift for the Elder to enjoy."
The disciple licked his lips. Six soul rings rose around him. With a wave of both hands, he charged forward.
Although Nana had some fame in the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy, the combat strength of an evil soul master was still above that of ordinary soul masters. He truly wasn't afraid of the person before him.
The battle raged fiercely on the surface, while the underground hall remained completely silent. Lin Xiao did not speak for a long time, merely leaning back in his chair, listening to the wails of countless resentful souls within the holy flag.
"Teacher, can we make them stop suffering like this?"
"I can purify them now."
Lin Xiao gently shook his head. "Let them sleep for a while longer. There will be a chance in the future."
"Alright, I'll teach you," Electrolux responded in Lin Xiao's mind.
Without any visible movement from Lin Xiao, his lips merely moved slightly. Suddenly, all the Holy Spirit Cult disciples felt a chill run through their bodies. In the next moment, they felt the entire hall become much quieter, yet they didn't know exactly what had happened.
Before they could figure it out, the disciple who had just left soon returned, dragging Nana with him.
She bore numerous wounds; clearly, she had not gained the upper hand against Nana. Still, relying on the strength of an evil soul master, he had managed to bring her back.
"Elder, the person has been brought back."
The disciple threw Nana to the ground and looked up at Lin Xiao, seemingly awaiting a reward. Yet in the next moment, Lin Xiao pointed a finger, and the disciple's body fell heavily backward, soon losing all signs of life.
His face still carried a trace of disbelief. A small, exquisite other-shore flower bloomed on his chest, gently swaying as his heartbeat gradually faded.
"I have said it several times: this place must not be exposed." Lin Xiao finally spoke, slowly standing up. "From now on, if any of you cannot control your own martial soul and expose your evil soul master identity, your end will be the same as his."
"Yes."
Looking at the disciples who had fallen silent like cicadas in winter, Lin Xiao took two more steps forward.
Nana, thrown to the ground, saw only the hem of a black cloak drawing closer and closer. The corpse lying right beside her made her body tremble slightly.
"I already told you I would come find you when the time came. Why did you still come here?"
Only upon hearing this did Nana slowly raise her head. Then, she saw the mask that had appeared countless times in her nightmares.
Back when she had followed Holy Spirit Cult disciples and been discovered by Lin Xiao, Nana had worried for a very long time. Many times she dreamed that this mask would suddenly appear beside her, forcing her to do all sorts of things.
Yet several years had passed, her strength had grown greater and greater, but Lin Xiao had never appeared again.
"I… I wanted to see my mother one more time…"
Lin Xiao looked at the Nana before him and suddenly raised his hand. With a "clink," a token fell to the ground.
"Since you came on your own initiative, from now on, you will work for the Holy Church. From this day forward, you are the new Number Six Holy Servant."
Nana looked at the token before her. For some reason, it gave her a strange sense of familiarity.
Lin Xiao had already turned away, no longer paying attention to Nana. He raised his head to look at the assembled disciples. "You should all recognize me. No matter what my identity is, what I previously asked of you is not difficult to accomplish, and there will be no other demands in the future."
"But if you cannot do it, you have already seen the consequences."
"Yes, Eighth Elder."
"Disperse."
Lin Xiao raised his hand slightly. Several disciples hurriedly stepped forward to clean the floor.
"What are you still waiting for?"
Lin Xiao spoke again. Only then did Nana reach out and grasp the Number Six Holy Servant token before leaving the underground hall.
"Sigh."
Lin Xiao let out a soft sigh and turned to look at the holy flag hanging on the wall.
He did not wish to see more people like himself appear in the Holy Spirit Cult, but some things were bound to happen.
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