Douluo Continent: When Huo Yuhao Becomes the Lord of the End

Chapter 153 Ye Xishui: Don't Forget the Rules of Our Religion
“Never heard of it!”

Although Zhongli Wu was also puzzled, such a guess was still unlikely.

If the Holy Church had that kind of power, there would be no need to set up its headquarters here; it would be better to establish one directly below Shrek City.

Compared to the naturally advantageous location of Shrek City, what is the Demon Forest? Having to outwit and outfight the ferocious beast in the forest is clearly not worth it.

However, the chief retainer, the one whom he both feared and had to respect, Long Xiaoyao, might know something, since he seemed to have a good relationship with the Shrek Academy's leader.

However, his feelings towards this person were very complicated. On one hand, he was jealous of her position in his mother Ye Xishui's heart, and on the other hand, he had to act as a junior and use Long Xiaoyao's intimidation to consolidate the authority of the Holy Spirit Cult.

Zhongliwu left, but Fengling was still staring blankly at Ma Xiaotao's body.

"Grow up quickly, little guy, let's give Yan Shaozhe a surprise, okay?"

Feng Ling's face was flushed with a sickly redness. No wonder she and Ye Xishui were mother-in-law and daughter-in-law; they were both utterly insane.

The difference lies in the fact that Ye Xishui's methods are more sophisticated, while she clearly doesn't resort to such despicable schemes.

A combination of yandere and madman, a love-struck but simple-minded person. It must be said that the Holy Spirit Cult is full of talented people, and both he and Shrek have a bright future.

On the other side, where Ye Xishui was in seclusion.

Zhongli Wu made sure he was mentally prepared before stepping inside.

"The Supreme Master, the Holy Master Zhongli Wu requests an audience."

Although they are mother and son, they don't actually have much affection for each other.

Because of her unwavering affection for Long Xiaoyao, Ye Xishui concealed her relationship with Zhong Liwu for a long time, or rather, ignored it in a subjective sense. She maintained their fragile relationship only within the Holy Spirit Sect, in the name of "Supreme Leader" and "Sect Leader".

Ye Xishui controls the core power of the Holy Spirit Sect. Relying on her own strength and the Death God Tower, she manages the top evil soul masters, including Chief Elder Long Xiaoyao, the Twelve Elders, and the Eight Elders.

Although Zhongli Wu is nominally the leader, in major decisions he actually depends on the will of his "mother," Ye Xishui. It is under these circumstances that the Holy Spirit Cult has strangely developed a power structure where the mother is strong and the son is weak.
However, although Zhongli Wu, the leader of the Holy Spirit Sect, outwardly obeyed, he secretly did not give up cultivating his own faction. For example, he made important positions among the eight elders and bribed some of the worshippers, indirectly challenging Ye Xishui's authority in order to increase his own power.

Ye Xishui's obsession with Long Xiaoyao, and the fact that she had no feelings for, or rather, no resentment towards, the former leader of the Holy Spirit Cult, all stemmed from her attachment to Long Xiaoyao.

This resulted in Zhongliwu lacking maternal love, leading to a morbid and unhealthy relationship, which Ye Xishui viewed only as a tool for inheriting the Holy Spirit Church.

Her training of Zhongli Wu focused more on practical value, namely the inheritance of martial soul and the control of evil soul masters, with almost no emotional connection.

Zhongli Wu's feelings toward Ye Xishui, his mother, were very complex. He felt awe for the powerful, resentment from being neglected for a long time, and even jealousy of Long Xiaoyao's position in Ye Xishui's heart.

Therefore, under these circumstances, it is easy to understand why Zhong Liwu referred to Ye Xishui as the Supreme Master instead of his mother.

Does this relationship seem familiar?

That's right, it's the same pope and angel from ten thousand years ago. They were practically cut from the same mold, both having given birth to illegitimate children and both having a distant relationship.

However, Long Xiaoyao wasn't as useless as that master, of course, only in terms of strength.

Therefore, it is not surprising that Zhongli Wu and Ye Xishui, mother and son, prioritize interests and have little emotional connection.

"what's up?"

Although Ye Xishui was from the same era as Long Xiaoyao and Mu En, she did not look old; instead, she appeared to be a beautiful woman in her early thirties.

The Radiant Phoenix Martial Soul endows him with a sacred aura, but his identity as an evil soul master casts a sinister shadow over his appearance.

Her brows and eyes were cold and sharp, her pupils deep and unfathomable. Combined with her pale skin, a result of years of manipulating bloody power, this created a strong, eerie beauty, a contradictory attraction.

Ye Xishui disliked the disturbance caused by this filthy bloodline she had given birth to, because seeing him would remind her of unpleasant things.

"Supreme Leader, regarding that Shrek Academy's little phoenix, I suggest that the news be kept secret only among the higher-ups, and that we refrain from holding a grand ceremony to commemorate her ascension to the Holy Maiden."

To reiterate, the rise of new forces, especially those favored by Ye Xishui, is not beneficial to him as the sect leader.

Once Ma Xiaotao becomes a saintess, his own power will definitely be weakened, which is not what he wants to see.

However, he couldn't ignore his mother's authority, so he could only do his best to stop it.
He mentioned the Dark Blue Silver Grass, also known as Tang Ya, to Feng Ling earlier in order to interfere. If you support a saintess, then I will support one too, so that I can firmly grasp power in my own hands.

"Fool! Without a ceremony to elevate you, how will the followers know that our Holy Church is thriving and growing stronger? Have you lost your mind?!" This was not the first time such a scolding had been given. Although Zhongli Wu resented it, he could only endure the insults.

It's not that there's a particularly loving mother and filial son relationship, but rather because of power. I wanted to have a conversation from the perspective of power, but power doesn't allow it!

He couldn't understand why a mother would treat her own son so badly. Was he really that unworthy of her attention?

(Qian Renxue: I feel the same way!)
Zhongli Wu did not want to argue about this, and he could only compromise. However, compared to a little phoenix that might threaten his position, it was not worth making him come here in person.

Ma Xiaotao's matter was just a pretext; the reason he patiently came here was clearly for another purpose.

"Supreme Master, Shrek Academy has recently joined forces with the three kingdoms to carry out a major purge of evil soul masters at the bottom of the Holy Church. We must do something."

Ye Xishui frowned; she could tell what her son was thinking at a glance.

"Tell me."

Zhongli Wu remained expressionless and tentatively suggested, "I recommend expanding the Holy Church's operational scope, dispersing its original strongholds, and recruiting a large number of new followers to counter Shrek Academy and the Three Kingdoms' retaliation."

"at the same time."

Before he could finish speaking, Ye Xishui interrupted and reprimanded him.

"Enough! Such thinking is not only foolish but also short-sighted. I warn you, do not forget the rules of our religion."

What are the doctrines of the Holy Spirit Church?
Let holy light shine on the earth, let the Holy Spirit descend upon mankind, and proclaim that killing is for the purification of the world—this is both a doctrine and a guiding principle.

From top to bottom, they advocate using war, massacres and other means to reshape the world order. Almost all evil spirit masters believe that they or their holy sect are the spokespeople of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit Cult emphasizes absolute loyalty to the Holy Spirit, which in fact means absolute loyalty from lower-level evil spirit masters to higher-level evil spirit masters, requiring believers to unconditionally dedicate their souls and power to the Holy Spirit Cult.

Those bloody rituals, such as sacrificing living flesh and souls, collective sacrifices, martial soul fusion experiments, and later Ye Xishui activating the Death God Tower, all promote the same distorted concept: death is rebirth.

In this situation, the ordinary believers at the bottom level are actually a kind of expendable fighting force. Even if they all die, it will not affect the operation of the Holy Spirit Cult.

Evil spirit masters can never be eradicated!
The combined efforts of Shrek Academy and the Three Kingdoms to eliminate them will actually help the lower-level evil spirit masters of the Holy Spirit Cult improve, allowing the truly talented evil spirit masters to grow.

In this situation, violence will be sanctified, and those low-level evil spirit masters will only become more loyal to the Holy Church and absolutely obedient.

Because they had no other way to go but to attach themselves to the Holy Church and offer their absolute loyalty, shedding their last drop of blood for the Holy Church.

Zhongli Wu lowered his head and remained silent, only uttering a single word in response.

Ye Xishui knew that she had gone too far and would provoke Zhong Liwu's resistance, but she couldn't be gentle. Even though she had already noticed, she could only remind him with a cold laugh.

"Master, I know exactly what you're thinking, but don't forget that everything should be for the greater good."

Zhongli Wu roared with anger in his heart, "The big picture is important, huh? What a great sense of prioritizing the big picture!"

"Prioritizing the overall situation" means using power and the status of the Supreme Master to suppress me, his son; "prioritizing the overall situation" means having an ambiguous relationship with the Chief Elder Long Xiaoyao; "prioritizing the overall situation" means secretly infiltrating under these circumstances, talking about long-term planning.

I am the leader!

After leaving Ye Xishui, Zhongli Wu's expression was twisted with resentment.

He wouldn't wait any longer; he needed to accelerate his control of the Holy Spirit Church and win over the elders and devotees. He couldn't just sit and wait for his doom.

This woman only had eyes for the chief retainer, Long Xiaoyao.

Deep down, he knew very well that he was forced to be born by his father, Zhongli Laogui, and that his father had used a secret method to destroy Ye Xishui's original Bloodstained Battle Armor Martial Soul, causing it to mutate into the Blood Soul Demon Puppet.

They also learned that Ye Xishui's mother was kidnapped by her father, Zhongli Laogui, and forced to join the Holy Spirit Cult. In her youth, she had romantic entanglements with Long Xiaoyao and Mu En.

Although he didn't know the details, he could at least make out some of the connections. But that didn't matter. It didn't matter at all. Once a demonic soul master, always a demonic soul master. No one could change that.

He only realized today that Ye Xishui, his mother, was not entirely loyal to the Holy Spirit Cult, and that her obsession with Long Xiaoyao far exceeded her need for power.

He was more like a necessary requirement for the succession of power, a deformed product, a shield pushed out by Ye Xishui indirectly through the Holy Spirit Cult.

He wouldn't accept, and he absolutely wouldn't allow, that she would treat him like that; he was the leader!
(End of this chapter)