Word Count: 3,285 Words
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Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan, underground secret chamber.
The pitch-black doors stood wide open. Ling Bai and Ye Guyi entered one after the other, and Ye Guyi swept her gaze around the room. This place was nothing like the opulent splendor of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan above. The air was dim and damp, and a chill seemed to seep up from the stone underfoot. From some unseen corner, a thin, whimpering wind crept past like a ghost sobbing in the dark.
Click—
The crisp sound behind her made Ye Guyi whirl like a bird startled by a bowstring. Spirit power surged through her body in an instant, the Holy Angel primed to burst forth. Then, slowly, she let it settle. It was only Ling Bai, reaching up to flick on the Spirit Lamp that hung from the ceiling at the center of the room.
A secret chamber, as the name implied, was generally used for affairs one would rather keep out of sight. The upper echelons of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan would occasionally come down here to indulge in a side of themselves outsiders never glimpsed.
There was only a large black bed in the room. By Ling Bai's standards, this was already the most ordinary secret chamber he had ever seen, closer to a spartan bedroom than anything else. The other chambers, with their arrays of cruel torture devices and bizarre 'toys,' were suffocating to behold. He was afraid Ye Guyi wouldn't be able to handle those.
"Sit."
He gestured at the bed and condensed ice elements into a simple chair for himself.
Ye Guyi lowered herself onto the edge of the bed without a word. She was clearly tense, her hands gripping the sheets without thinking. Ling Bai could see the perfect lines of muscle drawn taut beneath her skin.
They sat facing each other in silence. Ye Guyi's heart was a tangle of emotions. Now that the moment had arrived, she suddenly hesitated over whether she should pierce that last thin layer of paper between them.
While Miss Holy Angel warred with herself, Ling Bai watched her quietly. Golden strands of hair fell across her nearly perfect cheeks. She wore a long purple silk dress, and a horizontal fold sweeping across her chest wrapped around her arms, leaving her lustrous, fair neck and smooth shoulders entirely bare. The deep, sweeping arc below her collarbones sent the imagination adrift.
A spark flashed through Ling Bai's mind. Secret chamber. Angel. Beautiful woman. Why does this plot feel so familiar...
Never mind. The student surpasses the master. Holy Evil Douluo would absolutely never repeat Secret Chamber Douluo's mistakes!
They lingered like that for a long time. When Ye Guyi still couldn't clear the hurdle in her heart, Ling Bai chose to speak first.
"Guyi."
"I'm here." She answered on reflex.
"Looking for me this late at night... are you not used to living at the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan?"
Ye Guyi shook her head quickly. "No, no, no. The Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan is wonderful. The Sect Master treats everyone gently and has given me the very best treatment.
I'm very grateful to the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan, and... and also very grateful to you. If not for you, I would have died under Wronged Soul Douluo's hands long ago. There would be no such thing as a 'future' for me."
"Then do you want to learn the Seraphim's abilities? I remember you mentioned it to me before."
"Ah?"
Ye Guyi's red lips parted slightly. She opened her mouth several times without speaking, then finally gave a small, slow nod.
"Mhm... yes. I want to learn. Please teach me."
"Come on, then. Let's start by laying a foundation."
Ling Bai walked to the center of the chamber. He knew perfectly well that Ye Guyi had something on her mind. Ning Tian and Wu Feng had thrown themselves so fully into their 'cultivation' that they couldn't spare any attention for the outside world, but Ling Bai had known from the very beginning that Ye Guyi was standing outside the door. He just hadn't expected her to listen all the way from start to finish. That alone showed how determined she had been to see him tonight.
Given the relationship between them, there weren't many things that could keep Ye Guyi tossing and turning all night. Taking her Holy Angel temperament into account, Ling Bai judged there could only be one: Death Abyss Douluo.
Death Abyss Douluo's notoriety was known across the continent. Zhongli Wu and Ye Xishui were names the public didn't recognize, so in recent years the Spirit Master world had simply labeled Death Abyss Douluo as the number one Evil Spirit Master on the continent. Ye Guyi had always regarded Death Abyss Douluo as her lifelong mortal enemy.
Du Busi might be the one saddled with that blame now, but Ye Guyi was no amateur. She knew Du Busi could not possibly be Death Abyss Douluo. The truth could only point one way. Ling Bai was the hand behind the curtain.
The Seraphim was Death Abyss Douluo. The light she had revered was, in truth, the source of every calamity. The blow struck Ye Guyi with extraordinary force. By rights, she ought to reveal the truth to the world, yet she had received so much kindness from Ling Bai. That endless confusion in her heart had driven her here in the dead of night.
Ye Guyi walked silently to his side, her gaze unfocused, lost somewhere far away. Ling Bai let out a quiet sigh. The more stubborn a person was, the easier it was for them to trap themselves in a dead end.
A carefree layabout like Ning Fengyu didn't have the word 'conflicted' anywhere in her dictionary. One second Ling Bai could be going on a rampage with the Death Abyss Spider Emperor, and the very next she'd just giggle, Xiao Bai is so strong! I can mooch off him my whole life and never have to cultivate!
"Run through a set of sword moves for me," Ling Bai said.
"Alright."
Ye Guyi lowered her lashes and smoothed away all expression, then activated her fifth spirit skill, Holy Sword. The Angel danced, sword light flashed, and the sound of splitting air echoed again and again within the chamber.
The sword dance ended. Ye Guyi fought to steady her breathing, and a pair of golden eyes fixed unwaveringly on Ling Bai.
"Your heart has wavered."
He cut straight to the point. Ye Guyi let out a quiet sigh. With the collapse of her Holy Angel mindset, that heart of justice was no longer pure. Even her attacks had lost the indomitable edge they once carried.
Clang—
The Holy Sword fell to the floor. Ye Guyi took two steps back, the rims of her eyes glistening red.
"Ling Bai, I once saw someone standing amidst endless glory, cutting down evil and eradicating wickedness, unattainably high above. He said, 'May the light grant you salvation.'
I felt as though I had been illuminated. The Holy Angel bloodline in my body boiled and wouldn't calm for the longest time. From that moment on, I swore in my heart that I would follow in his footsteps for the rest of my life. I wouldn't fear mountains of blades or seas of fire, seeking only to reach the far shore of the firmament by his side.
But later..."
"He disappointed you?" Ling Bai said quietly.
"A little." Ye Guyi's eyes were entirely red. "I hoped he would remain forever high above, like a god, guiding my path forward. But in the end, that was only my own fantasy. He has already reached the summit of the Douluo Continent, and the family and friends around him are happily celebrating for him.
The whole world seems to be congratulating him. Only I am trapped in a cage, unable to walk out..."
Her shoulders would not stop shaking. She tried to hold back her tears, but she could not suppress the ache rising in her chest.
The Seraphim was the Holy Angel's bloodline source, the deity she worshipped. That first meeting with Ling Bai had been too dazzling, and in secret she had woven a flawless, perfect image of him.
Yet everyone understood that the most beautiful things were often illusions, like the bright moon overhead, which in truth was nothing but a desolate, pitted rock that could not shine on its own. It was people who had given the moon its romance and reverie.
The moment the illusion shattered, Ye Guyi woke from her long dream. The Angel was also a devil.
"Then what do you think he should do?" A stillness settled between Ling Bai's brows.
"He is countless times stronger than me, and in the eyes of the world he is the holy representative. I've received too much of his kindness. I don't have the right to draw my sword against him." Ye Guyi's eyes held not a single impurity, clear as a bend of still water.
"I am alone in this world. I don't have a single family member beside me, and the few friends I do have lean more toward him.
He could kill me without a soul knowing... or, if he doesn't wish to stain his hands with the blood of his own kind, he could imprison me in this secret chamber for the rest of my life."
Once she had poured out everything pressing on her heart, Ye Guyi felt as though even her soul had grown clear. She fixed her burning gaze on the handsome young man before her. Death or imprisonment, she could accept either.
"Guyi, let me tell you a story. About him, and his second Martial Spirit."
Ling Bai's eyes were full of sincerity, and Ye Guyi listened intently. She, too, was curious how holy and evil could ever coexist in a single body.
"He was born in Jialing City, an orphan abandoned by his parents. A sect master who had come to pay respects to the ancestors of his sect happened to find him.
He spent a happy, carefree childhood. At his Martial Spirit Awakening ceremony at the age of six, he awakened a God-level Martial Spirit that had vanished from the world for ten thousand years. Rank 20 innately, and born already possessing a domain. The whole sect agreed he was their hope for revival.
That excitement lasted until he hunted his first spirit ring. He drew a sword across the throat of a Starlight Unicorn... and went mad at the taste of blood.
It turned out he possessed Twin Martial Spirits, and the second was an evil Martial Spirit. It carried the malice of everyone who had died at Jialing Pass, enticing him every hour of every day to devour lives and become an out-and-out Evil Spirit Master.
The second Martial Spirit brought him nothing but pain and trouble. Anything without positive benefit had to be removed. He sought out the highly respected Sect Guardian Douluo and begged him to cripple the second Martial Spirit.
The Sect Guardian Douluo couldn't do it, and didn't want the boy to do it either, so he took him on as his direct disciple. He combed through countless ancient texts and refined a pill using a 100,000-year light-attribute spirit beast as its core.
By relying on that pill to suppress the evil thoughts, he endured until he was eleven. When he enrolled at the continent's foremost Spirit Master academy, he was fortunate enough to meet an old man who told him the true way to root out the evil: advance his first Martial Spirit and use the holy to overcome the evil.
Later, he did exactly that. He annihilated the evil thoughts, seized true control of the second Martial Spirit, and even absorbed its ninth spirit ring ahead of the first."
"But he disguised himself as an Evil Spirit Master and joined an evil cult." Ye Guyi pressed her lips together.
"Yes. Not only did he join, he rose on his own strength all the way to Vice Cult Leader. He was very young. Simply by outliving the Cult Leader and the Limit Douluo, the entire cult would become his dog, attacking wherever he pointed, biting whoever he named.
In the end, that evil cult was wiped from existence. All that remained were a Supreme Leader whose evil Martial Spirit had been shattered and a Supreme Worship who had never been an Evil Spirit Master.
What three generations at the continent's number one academy had failed to achieve, he accomplished in five years.
Guyi, you said he disappointed you.
Is your disappointment truly only because of his evil attribute?
He had no say over what attributes his awakened Martial Spirit carried. And the evil attribute itself is innocent. It is no different from darkness, poison, or any other cold and grim attribute. The ones who deserve death are the Evil Spirit Masters who cultivate by devouring lives."
A distant look crept into Ye Guyi's eyes. Anyone born with an evil-attribute Martial Spirit had every excuse to fall into depravity and become an Evil Spirit Master. Had Ling Bai walked that path and simply gone on killing without end, he would long ago have become an Ultimate Evil Douluo whose dark might overawed the world. He would have had no need to rack his brains piecing together the spirit power for a second spirit core.
A gentleman is judged by his deeds, not by his thoughts. As the Seraphim, Ling Bai had not fallen. Almost single-handedly, he had brought down the Holy Spirit Cult, an evil sect that had boasted more than twenty Titled Douluo. That alone meant he had saved countless innocent lives from falling prey to Evil Spirit Masters. A single feat like that was worthy of bold ink in the histories.
"Guyi, since you and I have had the fortune to appear in this world, then heaven surely didn't send us here to destroy it. Whether or not we inherited the Angel bloodline, we should do whatever lies within our power to make this world a little better.
I am Holy Evil Douluo, and I am also Death Abyss Douluo.
I don't regret a single thing I've done over these years. If heaven gave me the chance to do it all over again, I would still disguise myself as Death Abyss Douluo and infiltrate the Holy Spirit Cult.
Evil Spirit Masters must die."
Ling Bai's voice was cold and hard. Ye Guyi did not doubt his resolve for an instant. Light rekindled in her eyes. Then, in a voice tight with embarrassment, she asked:
"Martial Spirits are given by our parents. You and I had no say in what we received. I can understand you going undercover to topple the Holy Spirit Cult.
But... but...
The Star Luo Princess's chastity, ruined. The Heavenly Soul Empire's old lady, sobbing her heart out. The Dou Spirit Empire's sows, shrieking bloody murder in the dead of night...
The rumors on the street all say those were Death Abyss Douluo's doing..."
Rock hard, rock hard... his fists, rock hard!
"That one, I really didn't do!"
Ling Bai gnashed his teeth. Which sonofabitch had been spreading those rumors?!
If I ever get my hands on you, you're in for a world of pain!
Ye Guyi burst into a soft giggle at his twisted, indignant face. She picked the Holy Sword up off the floor, her voice light and melodious as she spoke:
"Teach me a few more moves."
"Alright."
Light coalesced into the Angel Sword. The knot in Ye Guyi's heart had finally come undone, and Ling Bai let out a quiet breath of relief along with her. He had been on the verge of taking her to meet Bibi Dong, but Miss Holy Angel's sense of justice was still a touch too rigid. He'd genuinely feared she would take one look at Bibi Dong and announce on the spot, I refuse to eat the food of Evil Spirit Masters!
Now, at least, her outlook had shifted a little. A blade too rigid snaps easily. Justice must never arrive late, but the path it takes can afford to be flexible.
...
The next morning, Ling Bai and Ye Guyi emerged from the underground secret chamber after drilling through the entire night. Both looked bright-eyed and refreshed. For Ling Bai, it was simply a matter of his high cultivation. For Ye Guyi, it was because her gains had been immense.
She had been taught hand in hand by a superior Martial Spirit. No one in the world was more qualified than Ling Bai to serve as her mentor.
He had guided her with everything he had, holding back almost nothing. By the time they finished, Ye Guyi's long dress was soaked through, her exquisite curves faintly visible beneath the clinging fabric. Her pretty face flushed scarlet in an instant, and she bolted upstairs to change.
Ling Bai headed to the dining hall for breakfast and happened to run into Ning Fengya. The Sect Master of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan kept an extremely regular schedule, doing exactly what needed to be done at every hour of the day.
Jianmu Douluo was there as well. Beyond the bright windows of the dining hall, a graceful silhouette was training outside with a look of bitter misery.
"Aunt Yu is cultivating first thing in the morning? Did the sun rise from the west?"
Ling Bai rubbed his eyes and checked three times to make sure.
"She should have started long ago," Ning Fengya said lightly. "She's been squandering that talent of hers for nothing."
Jianmu Douluo chuckled. "I stayed up all night drawing up a cultivation plan for Fengyu. I'm going to help her make up for every bit of work she's skipped. We've set a modest target: break through to Rank 95 within three months!
Fengyu, next assignment!"
"...Sigh, alright..."
Ning Fengyu's lifeless groan drifted in from beyond the window.
"Teacher, Aunt Ya, I'm taking Guyi out tomorrow. To Jialing City."
"Mhm."
Neither voiced any objection. Ling Bai had already achieved the title of Holy Evil Douluo. His personal strength made him one of the strongest contenders for the number one position on the continent, and with the Bone Dragon King at his side, safety was the least of anyone's concerns.
Ling Bai's palm brushed across his Storage Spirit Guidance Device.
"Teacher, I have several immortal herbs here, along with quite a few high-grade 10,000-year medicinal herbs, sea spirit beast essences, and treasures from the ocean floor. A continental war could break out at any time. We can use them to refine pills and help the clan rapidly boost its strength in a short period."
The Yin Yang Fortune Pill had been the key to the Shrek Seven Monsters' explosive rise in power during their later years. Jianmu Douluo was the foremost figure on the alchemy path in this era. Things like the Spirit Ascension Pill were trifling toys he could refine with a wave of his hand. Having him handle the pill refinement couldn't be more fitting.
Jianmu Douluo pondered for a moment, then said slowly, "Pill refinement, hm... not a bad idea at all.
Heaven's Treasury still has a few rare herbs tucked away. We can bring those out and add them to the furnace.
I'll talk it over with Little Lin later. My current pill furnace can't withstand materials of this caliber. We'll need a Class 9 Pill Furnace.
Throwing so many supreme treasures into a single pot would be a waste. Let's draft up a list first. I'll refine different pills tailored to each person's abilities..."