After Huo Yuhao completed his Borisin transformation, the cultists also finished their conversions.
A pack of werewolves now filled the dungeon, gray fur and dark blue markings on their bodies, terrifying auras radiating from each.
They all threw back their heads and howled, the sound echoing through the dungeon as if to shatter the darkness.
"Merciful Medicus, the sacred tree grows, we are of one heart, together reaching bliss."
"Merciful Medicus, the sacred tree grows, we are of one heart, together reaching bliss."
"Merciful Medicus, the sacred tree grows, we are of one heart, together reaching bliss."
A frenzy of cheers erupted, waves of sound shaking the underground.
Zhongli Wu laughed aloud, overjoyed.
With this Borisin army, the Holy Spirit Cult no longer needed to fear even the Sun Moon Empire—they finally had enough strength to walk openly in the sun.
And this was only the beginning. As long as Hoolay remained, the blessing would flow endlessly, and their numbers would only grow.
Even the high-level members could hope to become Borisin themselves.
From Huo Yuhao's transformation, it was clear that after becoming Borisin, martial soul powers would merge and strength would soar.
And as long as one was not completely destroyed, near-infinite life was possible—a divine privilege that made the soul master path seem worthless.
Yet, in contrast to the cultists' frenzy, Long Xiao Yao frowned, worry in his eyes, and sighed helplessly.
Ye Xishui, though happy, also felt a twinge of uncertainty, wondering if her earlier decision was right.
The cult had once been hated as evil soul masters, but they were still human—not like the clear line between soul beasts and humans.
But now, abandoning their humanity, where would this lead? It was hard to predict.
But it was too late for regrets.
Hoolay was terrifyingly strong and utterly ruthless, a typical dictator.
He had the support of most cultists, and neither Ye Xishui nor Long Xiao Yao could oppose him—they simply weren't strong enough.
And even without Hoolay, the cult would soon have been eliminated anyway.
The Sun Moon Empire's changes had not escaped their notice.
A terrifying force lurked in the shadows, so frightening that even someone as cunning as Zhongli Wu was afraid.
Ye Xishui and Long Xiao Yao had sensed this threat and thus acquiesced to Hoolay's leadership.
Against such a force, siding with Hoolay seemed the only choice.
Hoolay watched his celebrating new Borisin with a grim smile.
But then, thinking of the mysterious power in the Sun Moon Empire, his eyes grew wary.
The Borisin and the Antimatter Legion were natural enemies—indeed, the latter would actively hunt the Borisin.
Neither side was good, and they were not allies.
Hoolay had found traces of destruction in the Sun Moon Empire. He wasn't sure if the summoned Servant was the Executioner, but anyone able to produce void soldiers would be at least Vanguard of Calamity level.
If the Executioner really had descended, Hoolay thought, this planet—maybe even the whole system—would face extinction.
Fortunately, anyone summoned here was just a memory-form, not their true self. Even at best, they would be at a local god's level, just as he himself was far from his peak.
But even so, the Executioner was a universal calamity—destroying a planet would be easy.
Moreover, the Sun Moon Empire seemed to have formed an alliance with this entity, ensuring a steady supply of material for destruction.
Who knew how many void soldiers would pour from the antimatter forges, or even Doomsday Beasts capable of devouring worlds.
In terms of mass production, the Antimatter Legion was only rivaled by the Brood.
As one of the universe's three great disasters, the Antimatter Legion was infamous.
Besides the suspected Executioner, another terrifying figure—Jingliu—also made Hoolay uneasy.
Just thinking of all the intelligence he'd gathered on her made him shiver.
Even facing the Executioner, he'd never felt such fear.
Jingliu wasn't as strong as the Executioner, but the psychological shadow she'd left was much deeper.
During his centuries of imprisonment, he'd tried everything to counter her—but failed.
So, at the mere mention of her name, he'd have a strong reaction. That was also why he was so eager to build an army of Borisin.
And then there was the Messenger of Wisdom.
A tiny planet like Douluo had attracted a crowd of universe-famous figures:
The Messenger of Wisdom, Luofu Swordmaster, Borisin Warhead, Lord Executioner—any one of them was a legend, now all gathered here.
Even Hoolay felt some pity for this world.
The only consolation was that none of them were here in their true bodies—otherwise, the world would be doomed.
In a shadowy corner, a fox-eared girl with cherry blossom hair leaned against the wall, watching the chaos with a hint of helplessness in her eyes.
Her Master was now just a mindless puppet, so she was forced to remain in this den of monsters.
She despised the evil soul masters' actions, and more than once had almost drawn her sword to cut them all down.
But thinking of her controlled Master, she suppressed her anger and endured.
Perhaps because she made no effort to hide her disgust, and the cultists needed her power, they behaved themselves around her.
Otherwise, she doubted she could have kept from acting.
"Big Sis, these people are so scary!"
A chibi pink-haired, fox-eared loli popped up, clinging to Yae Sakura's shoulder, looking at Hoolay with obvious fear.
The "Big Sis" address made Yae Sakura flinch—she disliked it, but Higokumaru never changed, to her helplessness.
"Big Sis, why don't we take Xiao Ya and run? I feel like that big guy wants to eat me!"
Higokumaru kept whispering. Yae Sakura's brow twitched.
She too wanted to escape with Tang Ya, but besides Hoolay, Ye Xishui and Long Xiao Yao were also strong enough to stop her.
Plus, Tang Ya had taken the cult's secret drug and was riddled with poison—leaving would be suicide.
And a controlled Tang Ya wouldn't follow her anyway.
Yae Sakura knew her strength wasn't top tier among Servants; Hoolay was much stronger.
She could barely match Long Xiao Yao or Ye Xishui in a fight—not enough to force the cult to release Tang Ya.
"We can't. We can't take her away now."
Yae Sakura shook her head, giving one last look at the werewolves before fading into the darkness.
"Okay…"
Higokumaru drooped, ears flopping, clearly unhappy.
She'd long hated the oppressive cult HQ and longed to see the outside world's beauty, but for now, she could only endure.
Hoolay glanced at the dark corner with disdain.
To him, Yae Sakura was just a naïve woman—strong, but nothing more.
Her fox ears reminded him of the weak fox people once enslaved by the Borisin.
If not for her Master being a puppet, and her potential usefulness, he'd have devoured her already.
After all, all Servants were formed from negative energy, and devouring others would make him stronger.
…
Haiyuan City.
Lu Jingming had just sent off the reluctant Meng Hongchen.
Meng Hongchen's escort, Jing Hongchen, took the chance to share important news.
Recently, with the support of a mysterious force, Illustrious Virtue Hall had achieved a breakthrough—giant humanoid mechas.
With the Sun Moon Empire's backing, these mechas were being mass-produced, and a sizable army was being formed.
Notably, the power source wasn't their own soul tools, but energy furnaces provided by the unknown force.
According to Jing Hongchen, these furnaces had terrifyingly destructive power.
While they powered the mechas, their pollution was extreme—enough to horrify.
If a pilot was exposed too long, they could suffer horrific mutations.
During this period, Illustrious Virtue Hall recruited many researchers, focusing on the destructive furnaces to create powerful new soul tools.
Jing Hongchen had even witnessed a tragedy: a soul engineer, obsessed with the furnace's power, failed to take precautions and was consumed by its destructive energy—transformed into a pure killing machine.
This corrupted soul engineer obeyed only the unknown force's commands, losing all self-awareness and becoming a perfect weapon.
Though only a level 7 engineer, the transformed man was so powerful it took a level 9 to barely subdue him.
Surprisingly, the engineer wasn't destroyed but was quickly recovered by the imperial family, who seemingly had a way to control such weapons.
The news Jing Hongchen brought was no accident—Kong Deming had sent him specifically to Lu Jingming.
Kong Deming's goal was obvious: to force Jing Hongchen to pick a side.
Jing Hongchen, a cunning fox, had never explicitly declared his allegiance, always watching and waiting.
But with Kong Deming now stepping in, he had to choose.
In the end, Jing Hongchen brought the information to Lu Jingming, making his choice clear.
Compared with Kong Deming and the promising Lu Jingming, the increasingly fanatical Xu Tiannan frightened Jing Hongchen.
Cooperation with the cult was barely tolerable before, but now, the actions of the force behind Xu Tiannan had made Jing Hongchen sense a huge, lurking threat.
As head of Illustrious Virtue Hall and the Hongchen family, he had his own intelligence sources.
He knew that while Mingdu seemed peaceful, a strange tension was spreading, as if an invisible pressure had settled over the city.
But outside Mingdu, things were far from calm.
Huge numbers of people had vanished mysteriously, as if evaporated, sending chills down the spine.
The situation in the Jingyang Mountains was even more dire. The mountains, second only to the Evil Demon Forest, had seen their soul beast population plummet.
Where soul masters once always found soul rings, now even thousand-year-old beasts were rare.
Few knew this shocking news, but Jing Hongchen was among them.
The Sun Moon Empire had tightly locked down the news, and the soul beasts of Jingyang Mountain were nearly extinct.
As for where they'd gone?
Recalling the engineer corrupted by the destructive furnace, Jing Hongchen formed a terrifying guess.
The missing people and beasts were likely all connected to the mysterious force behind Xu Tiannan.
How could Jing Hongchen remain calm in such a situation?
In truth, he'd known about these issues for a long time—the disappearances and the mountain's decline had been happening for a while, clearly showing Xu Tiannan had been hiding things from the old families while conducting unspeakable acts in secret.