"No need to mind them." Zhongli Wu saw Lin Xiao's gaze and shook his head. He then glanced back at the Masquerade Douluo behind him. "Hmph, they brought it upon themselves."
"I told you before to restrain yourself, but instead of thinking about how to recover your cultivation after losing it, you went and provoked the Holy Maiden. I can't interfere in this matter; you'll have to handle it yourself."
"Cult leader." The Masquerade Douluo's expression turned somewhat sinister. "The Holy Maiden is nothing more than a title. She has no authority to meddle in the affairs of the church, so why—"
Before the Masquerade Douluo could finish his sentence, he saw Zhongli Wu suddenly turn and glare at him, causing the rest of his words to die in his throat.
"This matter concerns the Holy Emperor; it is a major affair of the church. Do not bring it up again in the future."
"Yes, Cult leader." The Masquerade Douluo lowered his head upon hearing this.
"Are you still not leaving? Do you plan to stay here and embarrass yourself?"
The Masquerade Douluo clenched his teeth and turned to leave.
Lin Xiao had remained silent the entire time. Only after the hall had quieted down again did he cautiously speak.
"Cult leader, between the Seventh Elder and the Holy Maiden…"
"Hmph, you should also know the disciple by the Holy Maiden's side. You're well aware of Old Seven's personality."
"Before…" At this point, Zhongli Wu hesitated for a moment. "It was probably because they both came from Shrek Academy that the Holy Maiden took special care of that disciple. Old Seven suffered a loss at the Holy Maiden's hands, which led to what happened just now."
Lin Xiao nodded slightly. Although Zhongli Wu hadn't explained exactly what had happened, Lin Xiao could already guess the general picture.
Back when he encountered the Masquerade Douluo in the north, even after being beaten into the state of a single demonic maggot, the man still wanted to inquire about Tang Ya's background upon seeing her. Someone like that would naturally harbor other intentions toward Tang Ya.
However, judging from the current situation, Ma Xiaotao seemed to still retain some consciousness and had brought Tang Ya, a fellow Shrek Academy student, to her side. This had apparently led to some kind of conflict with the Masquerade Douluo.
But compared to these matters, what concerned him more were the words the Masquerade Douluo had just spoken.
In the memories of his previous life, Lin Xiao had harbored the same doubt: what was the point of the Holy Spirit Cult giving Ma Xiaotao the title of Holy Maiden?
At that time, Ma Xiaotao's mind was unclear, and it didn't look like they were grooming her to be the next Teach Leader.
Moreover, although the other elders would verbally address her as Holy Maiden, there was no sign that they truly respected the "Holy Maiden."
Now, the Masquerade Douluo had said that the Holy Maiden held no real power, and Zhongli Wu had inadvertently mentioned that the Holy Maiden was related to the Holy Emperor. There must be some inside story here that even he, with his memories of his past life, did not know.
The things hidden behind this Holy Spirit Cult were probably far more than just the Evil Emperor, Ye Xishui, and the others he knew about.
For some reason, he suddenly recalled the curse the Great Elder had uttered before dying.
Although those words carried no real power of a curse, had the Great Elder known something that made him so certain of Lin Xiao's eventual fate?
Lin Xiao had no way of knowing any of this. He merely lowered his head to look at the list in his hand, his fingertip lightly tracing over the name "Tang Ya."
"Cult leader, there are quite a lot of ordinary spectators at the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament. It would not be appropriate for our people to use overly bloody methods. How about I meet the disciples whose age and cultivation are suitable first before deciding on the candidates?"
"Very well." Zhongli Wu didn't think too much about it and nodded. "The tournament is still three years away. You already have the list of the church's disciples. Just inform me of your decision before then."
Lin Xiao let out a slight breath of relief in his heart. It seemed that within the Holy Spirit Cult, the status of an elder was indeed different from that of ordinary disciples. He had never before found Zhongli Wu this agreeable.
The elders' meeting concluded quickly, much faster than Lin Xiao had expected. After staying behind to meet a few of the disciples on the list, he had nothing else to do and returned early to the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy.
Inside the dormitory building, the lights of a lighting soul tool illuminated one of the rooms. Lin Xiao sat at the desk, quietly contemplating while looking at the list recording most of the Holy Spirit Cult's core disciples.
In another dormitory room, Huo Yuhao similarly picked up the paper on his desk. He stared at the soul tool blueprint on it, slightly lost in thought.
Knock knock knock—
"Little junior brother, it's me."
Hearing the knock, Huo Yuhao was about to put away the blueprint, but upon recognizing the familiar voice outside the door, he relaxed slightly.
"Senior Brother He."
"Little junior brother, I noticed your room was still lit when I passed by. It's so late, haven't you rested yet?" He Caitou looked at Huo Yuhao's somewhat weary face.
"It's fine, Senior Brother He." Huo Yuhao shook his head.
"In terms of soul tools, the Sun Moon Empire is far ahead of us. These past few days, I've only been looking at the most basic soul tools here, yet they already contain all kinds of mechanisms we never even imagined before."
"If I can memorize more blueprints, the academy will be able to catch up to the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy faster."
"Little junior brother, the development of soul tools isn't something one person can accomplish alone." As someone from the Sun Moon Empire, He Caitou understood better than Huo Yuhao just how large the gap was between the Sun Moon Empire and the three original empires.
"I know the gap between us is still huge, but as long as I can memorize a few more blueprints, that gap will shrink a little." Huo Yuhao said as he picked up the blueprint he had just been studying.
"Senior Brother He, look at this, it's a soul tool meant to assist other soul masters in movement."
He Caitou sighed softly and stopped trying to persuade him. Following Huo Yuhao's gaze to the blueprint, his brows soon furrowed.
"This soul tool doesn't seem to be only for assisting other soul masters in movement…" He Caitou hesitated before continuing, "It should also be able to help soul masters compensate for physical disabilities."
Huo Yuhao nodded at those words.
Although his talent in soul master cultivation far surpassed He Caitou's, when it came to soul tools, He Caitou's talent was in no way inferior to his own. He Caitou had seen the other function of this soul tool with a single glance.
"Senior Brother He, look back when we encountered the Hand of Death, several senior brothers from the inner courtyard were injured by the corpse explosion technique. This soul tool should be able to help them."
He Caitou nodded lightly while examining the blueprint. "Indeed, these soul tools are much more sophisticated than the ones at our academy. Although they can't restore the senior brothers to their peak condition, they would at least regain some fighting strength."
"And…" He Caitou paused for a moment. "Little junior brother, where did you see this soul tool? Even for normal soul masters, it can assist soul masters or soul engineers in combat."
"When I passed by the soul engineering laboratory, I happened to catch a glimpse of a student inside making this soul tool through the door."
Huo Yuhao didn't hide it from He Caitou. "It looked like he was still a little short of finishing it. I only memorized part of it at the time. If there's a chance tomorrow, I'll try to memorize the complete blueprint."
"Sigh, don't push yourself too hard." He Caitou, gently patted Huo Yuhao's shoulder upon hearing this.
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