Douluo Continent: Copying Ya Li, the Carefree King of the Sun and Moon

The early winter in Mingdu was bitterly cold; your breath could freeze into frost. Yet, he wore only a moon-white brocade robe with a matching cloak over it, and felt no chill at all.

"Your Highness." Yue Zhengling walked quickly from the courtyard, cupped her hands in a salute, "The troops going to the new city are all ready, and the teaching materials and supplies are all loaded onto the vehicles. We can set off at any time."

Xu Yanli nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over the dozen or so soul-guided vehicles in the courtyard.

The vehicle was fully loaded with items needed for the compulsory education pilot program: textbooks, pens, ink, desks and chairs, as well as cotton-padded clothes and ingredients for lunch for the children—nothing was missing.

Where is Teacher Kong?

“Master Kong is already waiting at the city gate,” Yue Zhengling replied hastily. “He said that he must personally oversee the construction of the school when he goes to the new city, for fear that the people below will cut corners and do a shoddy job.”

Xu Yanli's lips curled up slightly.

Kong Deming usually seems to be focused entirely on soul tools, but once he takes on a task, no one can match his dedication.

"Let's go."

He stepped down the steps and was about to get into the car when he suddenly heard hurried footsteps behind him.

"teacher!"

Huo Yuhao ran all the way out of the manor, still wearing his training clothes, his forehead covered with fine beads of sweat, clearly having just rushed over from the martial arts arena.

Xu Yanli turned to look at him: "What's wrong?"

Huo Yuhao ran up to him, took several breaths, and then said, "Teacher, I want to go to the new city with you."

Xu Yanli raised an eyebrow.

"I...I want to see those children." Huo Yuhao lowered his head, his voice a little tight. "I want to see with my own eyes what that place you described, where all children can go to school, is really like."

Xu Yanli stared at him for a moment, then nodded slightly after a few seconds of silence.

"boarding."

Huo Yuhao's eyes lit up instantly, and he immediately followed him into the soul-guided vehicle.

The convoy slowly drove out of the long street in front of the Prince's Mansion, passed through the gradually bustling market, and headed towards the south gate of Mingdu.

When the people on the street saw the procession of the Prince of Xiaoyao's mansion, they all stopped and paid their respects. Some even knelt down by the roadside and kowtowed respectfully.

Xu Yanli sat in the car, looking at the kneeling people through the car window, his brows furrowing slightly.

"Your Highness," Yue Zhengling said in a low voice beside Xu Yanli, "After you removed your mask in Xingluo City, the public's opinion of you is very different from before."

"How are they different?"

After considering her words carefully, Yue Zhengling slowly said, "In the past, the people respected you because you were the carefree prince, the imperial prince. Now... they respect you because they see you as that 'angel'."

Xu Yanli was silent for a moment, then sighed softly.

He understood Yue Zhengling's meaning. In Xingluo City, in front of 100,000 people, he revealed his twelve-winged angel martial soul. The holy light and the sky-covering wings were a true miracle in the eyes of ordinary people.

It is the power of faith.

In addition, there are legends from ten thousand years ago.

He closed his eyes and could clearly feel the subtle yet continuous power of faith surging in from all directions, gradually merging into his Angelic Martial Soul, into his spiritual sea, and into his limbs and bones.

It felt strange; it was neither soul power nor spiritual power, but a purer, warmer force.

Under Xu Yanli's control, it wouldn't directly boost his cultivation level, but it would make his understanding of the laws of life increasingly clear.

"Tell them to stop kneeling." Xu Yanli said, his voice not loud, but with an undeniable force. "Pass down the order: according to the rules of the Xiaoyao Prince's Mansion, commoners are not allowed to kneel before me."

Yue Zhengling was taken aback for a moment, then replied, "Yes!"

He got out of the car and loudly relayed the order.

The people kneeling by the roadside looked at each other, then slowly stood up, but their gazes toward the convoy were still full of awe and gratitude.

Huo Yuhao sat opposite Xu Yanli, watching the scene before him, and suddenly asked, "Teacher, don't you like them kneeling before you?"

Xu Yanli didn't answer directly, but instead asked, "Why do you think people should kneel before others?"

Huo Yuhao thought for a moment and replied, "Because of reverence."

"What should we revere?"

"Reverence... for power? And strength?"

Chapter 145 Encountering an Evil Soul Master Who Massacred the Village

Xu Yanli shook his head: "When one person kneels before another, it is never out of respect, but out of fear. Fear of his power, fear of his strength, fear that a single word from him can decide one's life or death."

He paused, his gaze falling on the people standing up outside the window, and continued, "I don't want people to fear me; I want them to trust me. The two are worlds apart."

Huo Yuhao nodded as if he understood, and kept those words firmly in mind.

After the convoy exited the south gate of Mingdu, it met up with Kong Deming, who was waiting at the city gate, and then headed south.

Upon seeing that it was the Prince of Xiaoyao's convoy, none of the soldiers dared to stop it.

The new city isn't far from Mingdu; you can get there in a day by fast horse.

However, the convoy was fully loaded with supplies and moved slowly. By evening, it had only covered less than half the distance.

Xu Yanli was not in a hurry. He instructed the group to rest at a roadside post station for the night and continue their journey early the next morning.

The post station wasn't large, but it was kept very clean. The postmaster was an old man in his fifties with gray hair, but he stood ramrod straight, clearly a former soldier.

"Your Highness, why have you come in person!" The postmaster was so excited that his hands were trembling. "It is my great fortune that you have condescended to stay here!"

Xu Yanli smiled and patted his shoulder: "Father-in-law, don't be nervous, just prepare some hot food for us."

The postmaster readily agreed and personally went to the kitchen to oversee the work.

After dinner, Xu Yanli didn't rush to rest. Instead, he walked out of the post station alone and strolled slowly along the ridges of the fields beside the official road.

The moonlight, like water, spilled onto the harvested rice fields, covering them with a layer of silvery white.

The lights of the distant villages twinkled, and the occasional bark of a dog could be heard, making the surroundings exceptionally quiet.

Huo Yuhao followed at a distance, without going forward to disturb them.

Xu Yanli walked for a while and then stopped under an old locust tree.

He sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and his consciousness sank directly into the sea of ​​his mind.

The divine test of the goddess of life leads to an understanding of the essence of life.

The God of Destruction's divine trial will lead to an understanding of the essence of destruction.

During this time, he had been pondering these two seemingly simple yet incredibly profound questions: What is life? And what is destruction?

He had seen plants grow, babies be born, wounded people heal under his care, and enemies die by his sword, but these were all just appearances.

What is the true essence of things?

As he was deep in thought, a shrill scream suddenly came from afar.

That wasn't a human scream. Immediately following was the explosive sound of soul power colliding, mixed with desperate roars, and an evil aura that made him feel uncomfortable all over rushed towards him.

Xu Yanli suddenly opened his eyes, his figure flashed, and he rushed straight towards the direction from which the sound came. Huo Yuhao also sensed that something was wrong and immediately followed.

Not far away was a small village. Half of the archway at the village entrance had collapsed, and flames were raging inside the village, turning half the sky red.

That's no ordinary fire, it's evil fire!

Blackish-red flames licked at the house, emitting a pungent, acrid smell mixed with a nauseating, sweet, putrid odor.

Xu Yanli rushed into the village entrance, and the scene before him made his pupils shrink suddenly.

A figure enveloped in black and red evil flames stood in the center of the village, holding a withered corpse in his hand.

The corpse seemed to have been drained of all life force, leaving only a layer of skin covering the bones, its face twisted beyond recognition.

The surrounding villagers scattered and fled, but the figure casually waved his hand, and several black and red fire lines shot out instantly, accurately entangled several elderly people and children who could not run fast.

"Jie Jie Jie..."

The figure laughed wildly, its voice hoarse and grating, like fingernails scraping against glass, sending chills down one's spine.

"Why are you running away? It's your good fortune to become nourishment for me!"

He casually tossed the mummified corpse aside and then reached out to grab a woman who was slumped on the ground.

The woman was holding a three- or four-year-old child tightly in her arms. The child was so frightened that he couldn't even cry and was trembling like a leaf.

Xu Yanli did not hesitate for a moment.

The seventh spirit ring suddenly lit up, revealing the Martial Soul True Form: Sun and Moon Holy Prayer Angel of Revelation!

The phantom of a twelve-winged angel suddenly unfolded in the night sky, its holy light instantly dispelling the surrounding evil fire.

He didn't use any soul skills, but simply pushed the purification power of the Angelic Martial Soul to its limit and slammed a palm hard into the back of the evil soul master.

Sensing danger, the evil spirit master turned around abruptly, conjuring a black and red flame shield with both hands.

Useless!

The purifying power of angels is naturally able to subdue all evil spirits.

The golden holy light was like a red-hot iron rod piercing through ice and snow, directly penetrating the flame shield and imprinting itself solidly on the evil soul master's chest.

"what!!!"

The evil spirit master let out a shrill scream, the black and red evil fire on his chest churning wildly as he desperately resisted the erosion of the holy light.

But the holy light was like a maggot clinging to his bone; once it touched him, he couldn't shake it off. It peeled away his evil fire layer by layer, directly attacking the very source of his martial spirit.

"Who...who are you?!" The evil spirit master stared wide-eyed in terror at the blond-haired, white-clad youth before him, his voice trembling as he looked at the twelve holy wings behind him that blotted out the sky. "An angel...you have an angelic martial spirit?!"

Xu Yanli ignored him, raised his hand and condensed a ball of golden-white flame in his palm, which was the Purification Flame.

With a gentle push, the flames landed on the evil spirit master, spreading instantly like a drop of oil in water.

The black and red evil fire struggled wildly under the scorching golden and white flames, but it was powerless to fight back and was burned away bit by bit.

The evil spirit master's screams grew weaker and weaker, until they finally fell completely silent.

The golden-white flames burned away every trace of evil energy on his body, leaving only an empty black robe. It floated down from mid-air, landed on the ground, and shattered into ashes.

The surrounding fires were extinguished, and the village returned to peace, with only the burned-out houses still emitting wisps of smoke and the suppressed cries of the surviving villagers.

Xu Yanli retracted his martial spirit and landed on the ground. Looking at the pile of ashes, the devastated village, and the villagers embracing each other and weeping, he remained silent for a long time.