The King of Slaughter commanded the Hell Knights of the City of Slaughter to resist the invasion of the Slave Legion.
However, the undead dark legion, once defeated, could rise again from within the Rakshasa Domain. After the Hell Knights of the City of Slaughter fell, once tainted by the aura of the Rakshasa Domain, they would crawl back from hell itself, becoming true Hell Knights, and join the Slave Legion.
Before long, the Hell Legion collapsed. The mighty Slave of the Clear Sky Sect tore through the defenses of the City of Slaughter and stormed inside.
Wherever they passed, the Rakshasa Domain spread. They slaughtered everyone they saw and transformed them into Slave.
The former King of Slaughter saw this and knew the war had no suspense left. He offered to surrender to the Slave Legion.
"Respected leader of the Slave Legion, I am willing to lead the City of Slaughter in surrender and pledge loyalty to you." The King of Slaughter bowed deeply.
"You want to surrender?" Tang Xiao stepped out of the Slave Legion. He stood before the King of Slaughter. Suddenly, the Rakshasa Scythe flashed, and the King of Slaughter's head and body were separated.
"Compared to your loyalty, I trust the Slaves, who are completely under my control and obey my will. So… become my Slave."
The King of Slaughter's corpse fell. After being tainted by the Rakshasa Domain, the body twitched. The head and body reconnected.
The King of Slaughter stood again, his skin pitch black. His eyes toward Tang Xiao brimmed with utmost reverence.
"Slave King of Slaughter greets his master."
"King of Slaughter? No—you should now call yourself the Slave of Slaughter!" Tang Xiao declared.
"Yes, master. The Slave of Slaughter understands."
Tang Xiao looked at the towering City of Slaughter before him, then at the vast Slave Legion behind him, and gave the order:
"Storm the City of Slaughter! For three days, the blades shall not rest! After three days, I want not a single living soul left in this city except my Slave!"
The Slave roared wildly. The Slave of the Clear Sky Sect charged at the front, rushing into the city and killing on sight.
The City of Slaughter was already a place steeped in death. Many restless souls unable to reincarnate wandered here. Once tainted by Rakshasa's aura, they no longer needed reincarnation—they resurrected on the spot, becoming Slave under Tang Xiao's will, and joined the slaughter.
The villains of the City of Slaughter were hunted by the Slave.
Some, cornered with no escape, fought desperately before being overwhelmed.
Some, seeing the Slave had intelligence, begged servility to join the Legion, pledging loyalty to the Slave King. Yet their surrender did not save them. The legion, following Tang Xiao's cold orders, killed them and turned them into Slave anyway.
Three days later, Tang Xiao had completely seized the City of Slaughter. Apart from the Slave, not a single living soul remained.
The City of Slaughter's once blood-red aura turned into black mist. The statue of the God of Slaughter was toppled, replaced by a statue of Tang Xiao.
On it, his skin was dark, his limbs short, his hands holding the Rakshasa Scythe, pointing the way for the Slave.
Tang Xiao himself sat on the throne of the King of Slaughter, feeling the overwhelming concentration of evil within the city.
As the inheritor of the Evil Thought God, he could absorb this malice to increase his strength. Such density of evil was enough to cultivate Tang Xiao straight into the peak of Ultimate Douluo—at the quasi-god realm.
Before him, countless Slaves prostrated in worship.
"From now on, this is no longer the City of Slaughter. It shall be renamed the City of Slave! Our force is the Slave Legion! And I am your master, your great Chieftain Tang Xiao! Raise the banner of the Slave Legion over this city!" Tang Xiao proclaimed.
Two Slaves carried the legion's banner to the flagpole and raised it above the city.
On the banner was embroidered a dark-skinned, short-limbed, hair-covered black ape—no, Tang Xiao—holding the Rakshasa Scythe. One hand raised high, the other pointing down, commanding the kneeling Slave below.
"Sing the song of the Slave Legion!"
At once, countless Slaves raised their heads, palms pressed to their chests, singing loudly:
"We are the Hei~ Nu~ of Great Chieftain Tang Xiao!
We serve the will of Great Chieftain Tang Xiao!
If Tang Xiao wills us to live, we live.
If Tang Xiao wills us to die, we die.
Tang Xiao's will is above all, above our lives!
We are the ~Slaves~ of Great Chieftain Tang Xiao!"
Tang Xiao nodded in satisfaction, then said to the Rakshasa God:
"Rakshasa, I present my accomplishment. What do you think of my Slave Legion?"
"Acceptable, acceptable," replied the Rakshasa God.
Ding! Completion of Rakshasa God's Third Trial: Establish a force of your own—the Slave Legion.
Reward based on force size: +15 Rakshasa God Affinity, +10,000 years to all spirit rings.
Dark Rakshasa affinity poured into Tang Xiao's body. Already black as coal, he now became darker still—like a black hole, devouring even surrounding light.
At last, having absorbed the Rakshasa affinity, his Clear Sky Hammer summoned itself. Floating high, it emitted tendrils of pitch-black aura.
The nine original spirit rings of yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, red instantly transformed under the Rakshasa trial reward into eight black and one red—an exceptionally powerful configuration.
Tang Xiao spread his arms and shouted with delight:
"Paowa! Mighty Paowa Ah Yin, what a marvelous feeling!"
Closing his eyes, with longing he whispered:
"Ah Yin, do you see? I will become the strongest God of Evil Thought, then ascend to the God Realm to reunite with you. In this world, no one can stop us! Not Tang Hao, not that brat he forced you to bear! I will turn them all into Slave, to grovel at our feet—kehahaha!"
Then, with burning ambition, he declared:
"I will make the entire Douluo Continent my territory! Everyone here will become my Slave! This land will be ours, Ah Yin—our exclusive Tang Family Continent!"
At that moment, the Rakshasa God's next trial interrupted his thoughts:
Rakshasa God's Fourth Trial: Defile every trace of the Shura God within the City of Slaughter, erasing it completely, replacing it with the Rakshasa God's mark.
Reward: +10 Rakshasa God Affinity, +10,000 years to all spirit rings.
Tang Xiao accepted the trial. Opening his eyes, he glared fiercely at the Slaves and commanded:
"Go work!"
After the conclusion of the Soul Master Tournament, Spark Academy became famous across the world. The Martial Soul Gene Technology it had mastered was sought after by every major power.
Countless people tried to enter Spark Academy, whether to awaken their martial souls or to seek instruction, but all failed.
That was because Spark Academy did not recruit openly. It only accepted students it had deliberately gathered from across the continent.
These students shared a common trait: they were of humble origin, resentful of the current order, and bore grudges against the soul master aristocracy of the continent. For that reason alone, no soul master clan on the continent could tolerate Spark Academy's existence. After all, imagine this: a man who resents you, who is of lowly birth, suddenly masters a powerful martial soul and grows into a strong man—what do you think he will do?
Thus, every aristocratic soul master clan regarded Spark Academy as a thorn in the flesh. But because Spark had Ultimate Duoluo standing guard, they could not touch such a colossal force.
Since hard methods failed, they tried soft ones. The Star Luo Empire, the Heaven Dou Empire, even the fabulously wealthy Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect all attempted to buy out Spark Academy with money, power, and privileges. But Spark's students had all been carefully chosen. Each of them despised the order of the Douluo Continent to the core, and treated the academy's reformist ideology as everything—more precious even than their lives. How could wealth or profit sway them?
They even tried infiltrating spies. But Spark Academy possessed the two strongest mental entities on the continent: Tianmeng and Evil Monarch. With Evil Monarch watching over the academy with his slanted eye, no infiltration or spy could ever penetrate its walls.
Thus, Spark became a fortress—impenetrable to needles, impervious to water.
All forces across the continent regarded it as a nail in the eye, a thorn in the flesh—wishing to destroy it, but powerless to act.
Inside Spark Academy
In the beginning, the framework of Spark Academy had been supported by Huo Yuhao's soul spirit avatars in the Douluo Continent—Xue Nu, Tianmeng, and Evil Monarch.
Later, as human students steadily grew stronger, they became the true backbone of the academy. Some even advanced to the level of Titled Douluo, joining the Spark Academy's Council.
This was the 35th Spark Academy Council meeting.
Xue Nu served as chairwoman. Before her, the councilors waited for her words.
Xue Nu spoke:
"Yu Xiaogang has established the Divine Order Alliance in the name of the gods. The alliance's meaning is this: they recognize that the current order was established by the gods, and thus they defend it. To them, both we and the Spirit Hall are their greatest enemies. It can be foreseen that before long, their coalition will attack our academy. This is the issue we must discuss today."
Councilor Mu Yuanfang said:
"Chairwoman, if war truly comes, we must prepare early to withstand the invasion of the Divine Order Alliance."
But Xue Nu shook her head:
"No. We will not prepare. We will abandon everything here."
The human councilors were stunned.
Zhao Hengning asked:
"Chairwoman, I don't understand. Our academy is thriving—why give it all up? We do not fear death, nor do we fear hardship. Soldiers come, we block them; floods come, we dam them. But I cannot accept letting everything we have built be destroyed by them."
Other human councilors echoed his sentiment.
Xue Nu smiled faintly:
"Perhaps you misunderstood me. Do you still remember Spark's creed?"
"Gathered, we are a flame; scattered, we are a sky full of stars!" everyone recited in unison.
"We gathered together to build Spark Academy. This flame has burned brightly. But it is only a flame." Xue Nu continued, "Now the fire has burned hot enough—it is time to scatter it."
The intelligence chief, Evil Monarch, added:
"Yu Xiaogang has raised taxes across all powers, expanded armies, conscripted labor to build fortresses and bastions. This has turned the entire Douluo Continent into a land piled high with dry tinder. All it needs is a single spark to ignite a raging fire."
Xue Nu nodded:
"Which is why we have no need to clash head-on with the Divine Order Alliance. What we seek is not just this place—but the foundation of the entire Douluo Continent itself!"
The human councilors suddenly understood.
Then Xue Nu opened a soul tool projection screen. A map of the Douluo Continent appeared, divided into multiple regions.
"Next, each of you will lead a portion of our students to infiltrate one region. There, you will spread the Spark ideology. When the time is right, you will rise together. We will use soul tools to stay in contact and build a firm, united front."
Assignments were handed out one by one.
At the end, Evil Monarch suddenly placed two Martial Soul Gene Injectors on the table.
"Evil Monarch, what is this?" Xue Di asked.
Evil Monarch grinned wickedly:
"Since we're leaving this place to the Divine Order Alliance, why not leave them a little… local specialty?"
Each injector bore the golden emblem of a Holy Dragon.
Xue Nu immediately understood his intent. She said nothing, only nodded.
The meeting concluded, and the council members dispersed to prepare for their missions.
Meanwhile, in the Divine Order Alliance
After helping Tang San's son awaken his martial soul, Tang San left. Yu Xiaogang's heart began to stir restlessly.
No matter how many resources he consumed, no matter how many times Gu Rong performed heavenly energy transfers for him, the 30th rank was like an insurmountable wall, forever barring him from stepping into the exalted realm of Soul Elder.
He was doomed to remain a 29th rank Grand Soul Master.
There were only two ways out of his predicament:
Wait for Tang San to become a god, and have him solve Yu Xiaogang's problem with a flick of the finger.
Attack Spark Academy, seize its technology, and use it to alter his martial soul, changing his talent, and thus breaking free from the fate that bound him to rank 29.
Yu Xiaogang could wait—but the humiliation of being stuck at rank 29 with a swine-like martial soul was unbearable. He could not endure it another moment. Waiting for Tang San to become a god would take years; Yu Xiaogang hungered for results now.
Thus, Yu Xiaogang convened a grand council of the alliance. Sitting on the throne of the Alliance Leader, gazing down at the assembled leaders of many powers, he spoke bluntly:
"Gentlemen, I have gathered your forces into an army of a million. Let us march upon Spark Academy and wipe it from the face of the earth. What do you say?"