As dusk gradually fell, within the Holy Spirit Cult's stronghold, Feng Ling walked out of a room with a cold expression on her face. Outside the door, Dark Lightning Douluo and Lin Xiao were standing there.
"Vice Leader, how is the Saintess?" Dark Lightning Douluo asked tentatively, looking at Feng Ling's expression.
"Hmph, fortunately, the Saintess herself is not seriously injured." Feng Ling's expression grew even colder upon hearing this. "Has Nangong Wan returned yet?"
"No." Dark Lightning Douluo shook his head, unusually refraining from adding fuel to the fire at this moment.
He knew how to read people's moods. Normally, he might have taken the opportunity to badmouth Nangong Wan.
But now, Feng Ling had just returned with her team from the Jingyang Mountain Range. Not only had they failed to capture Yan Shaozhe because other experts from Shrek Academy had come to reinforce him, but upon returning, she found Ma Xiaotao in a state of mental confusion.
No one knew exactly what she had encountered, but the fact that Nangong Wan, who was responsible for protecting her, was absent had already filled Feng Ling with rage. If Dark Lightning Douluo spoke up now, he feared he might get burned as well.
"How is the reconstruction of the stronghold going?"
"The rooms are easy enough, but setting up some of the soul tools will take the Eighth Elder and me several days, even if we work together. To officially reopen, it will take at least half a month."
Dark Lightning Douluo reported truthfully, but to Feng Ling's ears, it only made her angrier. She was about to speak when her expression suddenly changed as she looked toward the end of the corridor. There, a figure turned the corner and walked toward them.
"Vice Leader—"
"Hmph."
As soon as Nangong Wan opened his mouth, he heard Feng Ling's cold snort. An intimidating aura pressed down on him, rendering him unable to move.
"I told you to protect the Saintess well. Where did you go?"
"I—"
Nangong Wan paused upon hearing this.
When he had awakened from that state where his soul power was burning, there were no longer any other figures around him, not only the two people suspected to be from Shrek Academy, but even Ma Xiaotao had vanished without a trace.
He had searched the surroundings but found no sign of Ma Xiaotao, so he had no choice but to return first.
On the way back, Nangong Wan had also figured something out: that attack earlier hadn't been as powerful as he had imagined. His extreme reaction was purely because he had scared himself.
But he couldn't possibly tell the truth, admit that a grand Titled Douluo like himself had been frightened to that extent.
He glanced slightly up at Feng Ling's expression, recalling what she had just said, and suddenly realized that the Saintess must have already returned to Mingdu.
Otherwise, Feng Ling would have asked where the Saintess had gone, not where he had gone.
Seeing Feng Ling's expression grow even darker, Nangong Wan's eyes shifted. Without caring much else, he hurriedly spoke, "Vice Leader, I encountered a person who is very likely the Holy Son that our cult has long been missing."
As soon as these words came out, Nangong Wan immediately felt the pressure on his body lighten, knowing that Feng Ling was clearly interested in the matter of the Holy Son.
Although he himself wasn't certain, at this moment, he could only try his best to describe it in the direction of the Holy Son.
"Vice Leader, last night when I entered the city with the Saintess, I saw two people behaving very strangely."
Nangong Wan recounted the events of last night while carefully watching Feng Ling's expression. Seeing her look toward him, he immediately lowered his head slightly, but his mouth continued without stopping.
"As soon as that person made a move, I sensed something off; it was very similar to the long-missing Holy Son of our cult. At that time, seeing that everyone in Mingdu had come out, and there was no danger around the Saintess, I secretly followed them."
"You're saying that Shrek Academy not only cultivated a Saintess for us but might have also cultivated a Holy Son?"
Nangong Wan's expression changed upon hearing this, but he still gritted his teeth and nodded. "Exactly. The Saintess had that reaction precisely because she saw acquaintances from Shrek Academy, and from my observations, that person is definitely qualified to become our cult's Holy Son."
As Nangong Wan spoke, "very similar" had already turned into "definitely."
Lin Xiao had been standing to the side without speaking, only watching Nangong Wan talk eloquently. The expression under his mask was somewhat strange.
He had been knocked to the ground with a single strike, to the point that even the others in Mingdu hadn't expected a Titled Douluo to be so pathetic, and no one had searched for his traces on the ground.
Now, he had become someone who had secretly observed.
But naturally, Lin Xiao wouldn't expose Nangong Wan's lie. As someone who had returned to the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy after leaving the stronghold, how could he know what happened outside the city last night?
However... what exactly were the standards for selecting the Holy Son and Saintess in the Holy Spirit Cult? No one had ever told him. It seemed that anyone with decent talent could be selected into the cult, yet there also appeared to be other criteria.
Lin Xiao pondered in his heart, his eyes slightly narrowing. For some reason, he thought again of the so-called "Holy Emperor" in the cult.
"Teacher, do you still remember the Holy Emperor in the Holy Spirit Cult?"
Lin Xiao no longer wanted to listen to Nangong Wan continue his nonsense and gently called out to Electrolux in his mind.
"There's no need to be overly afraid of that Holy Emperor's power." Electrolux pondered for a moment before slowly speaking.
"I don't know what that Holy Emperor truly is, but no matter what kind of power he possesses, the fact that he doesn't dare to descend in his true form and only influences this world through a statue allows us to judge that either he doesn't have the kind of power you imagine, or he has some concerns and cannot easily act."
Lin Xiao shook his head slightly in secret. "It's not entirely because I'm wary of his power."
"Teacher, I also want to try finding a way to break through this world for him."
It wasn't that Lin Xiao was arrogant, but with his talent, his memories, and Electrolux's methods, breaking through to Titled Douluo, or even Super Douluo, was only a matter of time for him.
When he was young in the Holy Spirit Cult, he had been cautious everywhere. He didn't dare think too far ahead, only aiming to be able to defeat the Holy Spirit Cult as sufficient.
But now, perhaps because he had gained some ability to protect himself, or because he had promised his teacher to help find the remaining divine consciousness fragments, or perhaps because he himself yearned for a broader world.
Unknowingly, his gaze was no longer willing to remain only in places where he could see the end with one glance.
He knew there were broader places beyond this world. With Electrolux as his teacher, he also wanted to try seeing if he could reach that realm, surpassing soul masters.
Unfortunately, from the start of his cultivation until now, he had never experienced the feeling from his memories of "being summoned by the God Realm."
Thinking of this, Lin Xiao's eyes narrowed slightly.
Since you won't come find me, then I'll come find you proactively.
In this world, the places most closely related to that "God Realm," besides Shrek Academy, were probably the mysterious Holy Emperor.
Although he was wary, he also wanted to know what exactly was behind that Holy Emperor. Even if he ultimately discovered it was unrelated, it would at least resolve an unknown threat.
Electrolux remained silent for a long time. Perhaps this was the first time he had heard Lin Xiao talk about his own... ambition.
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