Douluo Continent: The Purple Dragon's Roar, the End of the Dark Abyss

The moment Zhongliwu announced Ye Linyi as the final winner of the Holy Son selection, the vast Holy Spirit Church Square fell into a deathly silence, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Everyone froze in place, their faces filled with disbelief.

From the very beginning, they believed that the position of Holy Son would be decided between the two most popular candidates, Ming Ji and You Fu. No one expected that the one who would ultimately take the top spot would be this dark horse who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere – Ye Linyi.

After a brief silence, disgruntled voices erupted from the crowd, one sharp voice particularly jarring: "Impossible! How could the winner be decided so quickly? He must have cheated! Why him?"

Upon hearing this, Ye Linyi slowly raised his eyes to look at the source of the voice, a disdainful sneer curling at the corner of his lips, his tone filled with undisguised mockery: "Cheating?"

The moment he finished speaking, his soul power suddenly erupted, and three dazzling soul rings rose from his feet—two purple and one black. The combination of these heaven-defying soul rings intimidated the entire audience. The pitch-black Dark Abyss God-Slaying Halberd also appeared in his hand with a bang, its body shrouded in a cold and domineering fierce aura.

Upon witnessing such a terrifying combination of martial spirit and spirit rings, the previously noisy and questioning crowd instantly fell silent. Everyone's faces were filled with shock and awe, and no one dared to utter a word of provocation.

Someone in the crowd whispered, "Holy Son..."

The voice was like a raging fire, instantly igniting the crowd that had been suppressed to the extreme. In an instant, deafening shouts swept across the entire square.

"Holy Child!"

"Holy Child!"

"Ye Linyi! Ye Linyi!"

The thunderous cheers of support soared into the sky, and the previous doubts and disdain had long been replaced by complete awe.

Zhongli Wu, standing on the high platform, looked at the scene of submission before him, nodded in satisfaction, raised his hand to silence the shouts of the crowd, and said in a deep voice, "Alright, quiet!"

"My Holy Spirit Sect's newly ascended Holy Son has endured a bloody battle and is exhausted both physically and mentally. He needs to go down and rest," Zhong Liwu said slowly to the crowd.

As soon as he finished speaking, Long Xiaoyao, who was standing next to Ye Linyi, flicked his sleeve, and a gentle yet irresistible force enveloped him. The next second, space twisted and flickered, and the two disappeared from the square. When they reappeared, they were in the place where Ye Linyi and Long Xiaoyao usually cultivated.

Long Xiaoyao looked at Ye Linyi with a solemn gaze, his tone carrying the expectations and admonitions of an elder: "Xiaoyi, you are now a Holy Son of the Holy Spirit Sect, but it's just a title. You still need to cultivate diligently in the future and not slack off in the slightest."

Ye Linyi quickly nodded and replied, "Yes, Master."

But his heart had already flown back to his home, and he couldn't hear a single word of advice. His mind was filled with only one thing—to quickly claim the system's Holy Son mission reward.

Just then, Long Xiaoyao suddenly raised his eyes and stared straight at the void beside Ye Linyi, his gaze sharp as a knife.

In a short while, strange fluctuations rippled through that space, and a woman with a seductive figure and a cold and beautiful demeanor, her dark red hair, slowly walked out. She was none other than Ye Xishui, one of the true behind-the-scenes power holders of the Holy Spirit Sect.

Ye Xishui smiled gently at Ye Linyi, her tone affectionate: "Xiao Yi, congratulations on successfully becoming the Holy Son of my sect."

Ye Linyi composed himself and nodded politely in response.

After a brief moment of thought, he suddenly looked up at Ye Xishui and asked earnestly, "By the way, Sister Xishui, are you a Soul Master?"

Ye Xishui covered her mouth and chuckled, her tone tinged with a hint of smugness: "Well, I'm a very powerful Soul Master, you know. In the entire Holy Spirit Sect, and even the whole continent, few can match me."

"That's great!" Ye Linyi's eyes lit up. "Sister Xishui, could you teach me how to make soul tools?"

Ye Xishui nodded happily, but her gaze unconsciously glanced at Long Xiaoyao beside her, and she added with a smile, "Of course I'm willing, but I don't know if your master will agree to you being distracted by learning about soul tools."

Ye Linyi immediately turned his head and looked at Long Xiaoyao expectantly.

Long Xiaoyao pondered for a moment, then said calmly, "Learning about soul tools is not a bad thing. Having another means of protection, I have no objection."

"Great!" Ye Xishui's face lit up instantly. She grabbed Ye Linyi's hand. "Come on, Linyi, I'll take you to my soul tool research lab right now!"

As soon as Ye Linyi nodded, the scene before him suddenly distorted. The next second, the two of them found themselves in a spacious, bright laboratory filled with sophisticated instruments and materials.

All around were various unfinished soul tools, carving knives, metal plates, and core magic array blueprints. The air was filled with a faint metallic aura of soul power, exuding precision and mystery.

Ye Xishui opened her arms wide and proudly introduced, "How about it, Xiaoyi? This is the place where your sister Xishui specially researches and makes soul tools."

Ye Linyi glanced at it casually, then nodded and said, "Very good, very impressive."

Just then, Long Xiaoyao's voice came slowly from behind, with his usual composure: "Xiao Yi, let me make this clear from the start. I agree to let you learn about soul tools, but if you don't have the talent for it, forcing yourself to learn will be a waste of time. You will have to give up immediately and focus on cultivating your soul power."

"I understand, Master," Ye Linyi readily agreed. "If I'm truly not cut out for this, I absolutely won't force it."

Ye Xishui, standing beside him, immediately pouted in dissatisfaction and glared at Long Xiaoyao: "I think Xiaoyi has an extraordinary bone structure and his spiritual power far exceeds that of ordinary people. He must be an unparalleled genius of the Soul Master lineage. Stop pouring cold water on him."

Long Xiaoyao nodded slightly, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

Ye Xishui immediately pulled Ye Linyi over, her smile gentle: "Come on, Xiaoyi, today I'll explain the basic theories and core knowledge of soul tools to you, and tomorrow I'll formally teach you how to carve and make them."

"Okay, thank you for your help, Sister Xishui."

For the next few hours, Ye Linyi spent his time listening to Ye Xishui's detailed explanations, from the classification of soul tools to the principles of the core magic array, and then to the techniques of using the carving knife. The content was complicated and tedious, and even with his strong mental strength, he couldn't help but feel a little tired.

It wasn't until late at night that Ye Linyi finally returned to the Holy Son's private palace.

Upon seeing the soft, spacious bed, he could no longer restrain himself and leaped onto it, sinking into the soft bedding.

"I'm exhausted..."

Ye Linyi rolled over, lying on his back on the bed. His eyes instantly brightened as he silently chanted in his mind, "System, claim the Holy Son mission reward!"

[Ding—Congratulations, host, on completing the main quest: Become a Holy Son of the Holy Spirit Cult!]

[Mission rewards have been distributed: 2 million system points, and an exclusive domain—Eternal Night Domain!]

【Eternal Night Domain】: Creates an absolute dark domain centered on oneself, forcibly converting all elemental power within the domain into dark attribute, and increasing the enemy's soul power consumption speed by 300%.

Ye Linyi couldn't help but smile, overjoyed: Not bad, not bad, I've obtained a domain! This is an ability that every Soul Master dreams of. When I have time, I must find an opportunity to test the power of this domain!

Filled with excitement and anticipation, Ye Linyi quickly fell into a deep sleep.

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, it was the next day.

Ye Linyi got up early and went straight to Ye Xishui's soul tool laboratory.

As soon as he pushed open the door, he saw Ye Xishui buried in the experimental table, concentrating intently on studying a sophisticated soul tool. Her expression was so focused that she didn't even notice him entering the room.

Ye Linyi thought to himself: As expected of the super boss who personally created the terrifying soul tool such as the Tower of Death in the original work, his obsession with soul tools is indeed unmatched.

He even suspected that Ye Xishui hadn't rested at all after he left last night, and had spent the entire night immersed in her research.

He didn't disturb Ye Xishui, who was immersed in her world. Instead, he strolled around the laboratory quietly, looking with great interest at the various finished soul tools that Ye Xishui had made in her early years, which were displayed on the table.

He casually picked up a small, level-one soul tool from the lab table next to him, gently playing with it between his fingertips, his interest in soul tools growing stronger.

After an unknown amount of time, a soft click came from the other end of the lab bench.

"Ugh, this is so annoying."

Ye Xishui looked at the completely ruined soul tool parts in her hand, now reduced to scrap metal, sighed in annoyance, casually put them aside, and stood up to stretch.

Just then, she slapped her forehead, suddenly remembering something: Oh no! Xiao Yi is still here replicating the core magic array, where is he?

On the other side, Ye Linyi, who had just finished eating and drinking, suddenly sneezed loudly, touched his nose, and muttered, "Huh, who's talking about me?"

"Never mind, food is essential for life. You'll get hungry if you skip a meal, and you need to be well-fed to have the energy to do research!"

Ye Xishui strode to the experimental table where Ye Linyi had previously inscribed the magic array. The sight before her made her freeze in place, her pupils contracting sharply.

On the tidy table, four level-one soul guidance core arrays were neatly arranged, one of which was the original template she had given to Ye Linyi that morning.

Ye Xishui picked up her original core in disbelief, then picked up the other three in turn, her fingertips trembling slightly.

"Did Xiaoyi make all of these?"

She held her breath and meticulously compared her core with the three pieces made by Ye Linyi.

The next second, extreme shock flooded her face—of the three pieces made by Ye Linyi, two reached the level of perfect replication, with patterns, soul power fluctuations, and precision exactly the same as those she made herself. The remaining piece was only slightly inferior, but still far surpassed the level of a novice of the same level.

Ye Xishui slowly put down the core magic array in her hand, her heart pounding wildly.

One morning... just one morning!

Ye Linyi, who had only just learned about the theory of soul tools yesterday, was able to perfectly replicate the level one core magic array she had made herself today. Such talent was simply unheard of and unseen! This was not just a genius, but a monster that the soul tool lineage had only seen once in ten thousand years!

Just as she was in shock, a light footstep came from the laboratory door, accompanied by a boy's energetic voice.

"Food is as essential as iron; you'll get hungry if you skip a meal!"

Ye Linyi, having eaten and drunk his fill and looking completely satisfied, slowly walked in.

Ye Xishui immediately strode forward, her eyes sparkling as she stared at him, and asked, "Xiao Yi, where did you run off to?"

Ye Linyi scratched his head and answered matter-of-factly, "It's already noon, my stomach is growling, of course I'm going to eat."

Ye Xishui then belatedly looked up at the soul-guided clock on the wall, realizing that it was already noon without her noticing.

Suppressing her excitement, she pulled Ye Linyi towards the lab table: "By the way, come here quickly, did you make these core magic arrays on the table?"

Ye Linyi followed and walked closer, glanced at it casually, and nodded, saying, "Yes, what's wrong? It only took me a little while this morning, and I finished it very easily."

As soon as she finished speaking, Ye Xishui could no longer contain her joy and excitement. She stepped forward and gave Ye Linyi a big, warm hug.

This sudden hug stunned Ye Linyi, leaving him frozen in place, his mind blank.

"Xi, Sister Xishui? What's wrong?"

Ye Xishui released him, reached out her fingers, and gently pinched his smooth cheek. Her eyes were full of admiration and doting, and she exclaimed excitedly, "Xiao Yi, you are truly a peerless genius!"

Ye Linyi felt a little embarrassed by her praise, feeling that something was off about it, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Ye Xishui was so excited that her speech quickened: "Do you know? You only spent one morning perfectly replicating the level one core magic array I made. This kind of talent is simply the most terrifying I have ever seen in my life! You are the chosen one of the Soul Master lineage! If those old guys in the Sun Moon Empire knew that you existed, they would probably fight tooth and nail to bring you back."

Ye Linyi quickly waved his hand, feigning modesty, and said with a smile, "Keep it down, it's just basic stuff, no need to be surprised."