Douluo Continent: The Ruler of Time, Reigning Supreme

Chapter 199 Evil Martial Soul

"Proof? Heh..."

Fei Yan, who had been standing quietly beside Xia Die like an exquisite doll, finally let out a disdainful chuckle when she heard the word "proof".

The laughter was crisp and melodious, yet full of sarcasm and arrogance.

"A bunch of craftsmen who only know how to hide behind iron shells, do they even deserve to test the saintess of my Holy Church?"

A dangerous yet gleeful light flickered in the Scarlet Nightmare's crimson eyes.

"Do they think they can contend with real power with those jingling toys? How ridiculously foolish."

She took a step forward, leaned close to Xia Die's ear, and chuckled softly in a voice only the two of them could hear:
"Don't even mention you, Xiaoxiadie. Even that kid Yanfeng probably has the ability to suppress all his peers at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy. Let those narrow-minded soul masters see what true despair is. That would be quite an interesting thing."

"Perfect, let them see the strength of my Holy Spirit Cult."

"I'm entrusting it to you, my Holy Maiden."

Xiaodie's fingertips stopped on the table.

She nodded and said, "That's fine."

"We need to earn it through our strength. It's already quite good that Hall Master Jing Hongchen is willing to give us a spot at this time."

Upon hearing this, Elder Lin felt a great weight lifted from his heart.

What he feared most was that the Holy Maiden would feel offended and lash out on the spot.

But Xia Die's heart remained completely unmoved.

She understood better than anyone the deeper meaning and risks behind Jing Hongchen's actions.

The cooperation between the Sun Moon Empire and the Holy Spirit Cult is an undercurrent hidden beneath the surface, and must not be easily exposed.

Sending a demonic soul master, especially a noble Death Saintess, to represent the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy in the highly anticipated Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Battle Tournament is tantamount to dancing on a tightrope.

One careless move could lead to the release of a tiny clue that could trigger a massive upheaval, plunging the empire into an extremely passive vortex of public opinion.

As the head of Mingde Hall, Jing Hongchen couldn't possibly be unaware of this.

He agreed under pressure from the royal family, but his condition of proving his strength was a clever move.

If Xia Die's strength is insufficient, he will have sufficient reason to eliminate her, and he will also be able to give an explanation to the royal family.

If Xia Die is exceptionally strong and can bring honor to the academy, then he can suppress all doubts.

After all, in the Douluo Continent, the definition of an evil soul master is very vague.

The most direct way to identify it is to look at the type of martial spirit, the way it is cultivated, and whether the soul master will lose control.

The most typical example is Zhang Peng, the Scorpion Tiger Douluo, one of the six worshippers of the Holy Spirit Cult.

His martial soul cultivation requires the supplementation of animal blood, a method that is undoubtedly considered heretical by the mainstream soul master community.

Therefore, he was branded as an evil spirit master.

But he was lucky; he encountered the Dragon God Douluo Mu En, who was reasonable enough to spare his life.

But if it were someone else, they would probably have been considered to have done a good deed of ridding the people of a scourge and beheaded.

Xia Die questioned whether her "Death Ruler" martial soul was an evil martial soul.

She doesn't need any unorthodox or unorthodox cultivation methods.

She has never lost control.

From this perspective, she has absolutely nothing to do with the word "evil".

But... that terrifying characteristic of instant death, that power of death that controls the end of all things, will also cause panic.

Without a powerful backer to back her up, the mere fact that she possesses the attribute of death would be enough for countless self-proclaimed righteous soul masters to label her an evil soul master. Therefore, she needs an identity, an identity that allows her to stand in the sunlight.

Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy is the best choice at this stage.

Ma Xiaotao from Shrek Academy has an Evil Fire Phoenix Martial Soul that is extremely prone to going out of control, driving her into madness. Isn't that "evil"?

But because of the prestigious Shrek Academy and the protection of Dean Yan Shaozhe, who would dare to openly call her an evil soul master?

Ultimately, this is just how realistic the world is.

Power determines the right to speak, and background defines black and white.

If Zhang Peng, the Scorpion Tiger Douluo, had had a titled Douluo-level teacher behind him, or had come from a powerful sect, his cultivation method might have been called a "secret technique" rather than an "evil path".

Because he was a rogue cultivator, without any support, he was easily defined, driven to a dead end, and ultimately had no choice but to join the Holy Spirit Cult.

Xia Die looked at Fei Yan, whose powerful protector still wore an undisguised contempt for the Soul Master.

"However, Senior Feiyan, you underestimate Soul Masters and Soul Guidance Devices."

Xia Die's voice wasn't loud, but it made Fei Yan's playful expression freeze slightly.

"Don't forget, our teacher is also a Soul Master."

Upon hearing this, Fei Yan's crimson eyes flickered, and she retorted:
"Can that be compared? The Supreme Master is a Soul Master, but he is also a Limit Douluo."

In her view, Ye Xishui's strength was based on her terrifying cultivation level of ninety-nine.

Soul tools were merely toys she researched in her spare time, toys with greater power; they were embellishments for the strong, not the essence of their existence.

Xia Die shook her head slightly in her heart.

She did not argue further.

Because she knew that this arrogance and prejudice, rooted in the bones of traditional Soul Masters, could not be changed by words.

Before the Sun Moon Empire's invincible Soul Guidance Legion swept across the continent, most Soul Masters of the original Douluo Three Kingdoms could not truly imagine the revolutionary power that would be unleashed when Soul Guidance technology reached its peak.

Individual bravery will ultimately appear insignificant in the face of the true torrent of war.

But Xiaodie knew.

She doesn't need to personally study those complex soul tool core arrays; her path is to wield death and reach the ultimate in individual power.

But this did not prevent her from making plans and cultivating her own Soul Master power.

Just like the group of soul masters she secretly supported and cultivated through the same-time change of destiny.

She possesses an advantage that no one else in the world can match.

She possesses the power to change her destiny.

Within the Holy Spirit Cult, there are too many high-ranking evil spirit masters who have committed numerous atrocities. Their fortunes are murky and immense due to their killing and plundering.

In Xia Die's eyes, these were all fruits that could be harvested.

She can transfer the fortune of these evil spirit masters to a single person she has chosen through a simultaneous life-changing process.

This almost "divine" method is enough to forcibly create a miracle in a short period of time that an ordinary person could not achieve even in a lifetime.

A level nine Soul Master was her way of repaying the Star Luo Royal Family.

This is a good beginning.

Soul tools are, in the final analysis, just tools.

All she needs to do is keep getting stronger, strong enough to become the supreme master who controls all the tools, and then take the sharpest tools into her own hands one by one and use them for her own purposes.

(End of this chapter)