"Nanalie, are you courting death?!" Watching Nanalie not only surrender but also try to curry favor with Leng Yaozhu and her sister by offering up the Ghost Emperor, the Dark Blood Demon was enraged. He struck at Nanalie with a powerful backhand.
The Dark Blood Demon was just over fifty years old, same as Nanalie. Back then, his ranking had been below Leng Yulai's. It wasn't until Leng Yulai's cultivation stagnated and his own surged ahead that he surpassed her and became the number one Heavenly King of the Holy Spirit Cult.
Of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Holy Spirit Cult, only Leng Yulai and the Dark Hummingbird were truly of the older generation. Nanalie and the Dark Blood Demon were rising stars.
Now that the Holy Spirit Cult was being utterly suppressed by the Leng sisters—even the cult leader's own daughter had joined them—anyone with a brain could see the Cult was done for.
The Underworld Emperor had no interest in management. With Leng Yulai's departure, Nanalie had become the de facto leader of the Worship Hall, wielding immense authority and commanding many loyal followers.
If the Dark Bell, Nanalie, surrendered at this moment, it was very likely that a large number of strong figures from the Worship Hall would follow her lead.
The Dark Hummingbird could never allow this to happen. Even if the Holy Spirit Cult was at a dead end and had no choice but to surrender, it had to be the Elder Hall giving the order first, only then could the Worship Hall follow.
After all, the Elder Hall was composed of true Evil Soul Masters—it was the true core of the Holy Spirit Cult.
Right now, Nanalie was at her weakest. The Dark Blood Demon was confident he could severely injure her with a single strike.
He wanted to make it clear: even in the face of disaster, it was still the Elder Hall that ruled the Holy Spirit Cult.
The Dark Blood Demon was an Ultimate Douluo. At such close range, he believed that not even Leng Yaozhu or Leng Yulai could save Nanalie in time.
Shhk!
A streak of black sword light flashed by. The Dark Blood Demon hadn't even had time to react before his right arm was severed at the shoulder.
"Argh!" he screamed, clutching his severed limb. He had once again underestimated Leng Yulai.
He hadn't expected her reaction to be so fast.
It was now clear that Leng Yulai's strength far surpassed his expectations.
Twirling the dark phoenix feather in her hand, Leng Yulai said indifferently, "Nanalie has surrendered. Only my sister has the right to deal with her. You can't touch her."
The high-level members of the Holy Spirit Cult were all stunned by the display of such dominance from Leng Yulai.
The Dark Blood Demon—he was the top Heavenly King, an Ultimate Douluo!
Yet his arm had been severed by a single sword strike.
"Leng Yulai!" The Ghost Emperor's eyes burned with fury. The Dark Blood Demon was his confidant. Even for an Ultimate Douluo, regenerating a severed limb wasn't easy.
Leng Yulai glanced at the Ghost Emperor, then ignored him. With a wave of her hand, she instantly dissolved the Four Realms Cycle's hold on Nanalie.
"Thank you, Phoenix Elder Sister, for saving my life," said Dark Bell Nanalie, clearly still shaken. She reacted quickly, knowing this was the perfect moment to show loyalty.
Turning to the Worship Hall behind her, she declared loudly, "Everyone, I believe the evil power in your bodies has almost been purged. We weren't born as Evil Soul Masters, and that's why we were always looked down on in the Holy Spirit Cult. Now that we're no longer Evil Soul Masters, staying here will only make things worse for us. Our only path forward is to surrender to the Heavenly Phoenix. If you don't want to spend the rest of your lives in hiding, follow me and surrender. Maybe we too can live honorably, just like the Three Heavenly Kings—free from fear and hiding."
"To those willing to surrender, come with me and let's thank the Three Heavenly Kings for purging the evil from our bodies." After speaking, Nanalie turned again to Leng Yulai and knelt on both knees. "Nanalie thanks the Three Heavenly Kings for purging the evil from my body."
Seeing her gesture, several of her most loyal followers from the Worship Hall also knelt.
The others looked toward the Underworld Emperor—after all, she was the Grand Worship of the Worship Hall.
But the Underworld Emperor had her back to them, firmly trapped by the nine drops of Heavenly Phoenix True Flame. They couldn't see her expression.
On the Holy Spirit Cult's throne, Leng Yaozhu raised her hand again. The nine drops of Heavenly Phoenix True Flame encircling the Ghost and Underworld Emperors flared once more, blazing as bright as the midday sun.
"Heavenly Phoenix, what more do you want?" Seeing that Leng Yaozhu was about to pull them into her small world again, the Underworld Emperor finally spoke.
"Kneel or die!" Leng Yaozhu replied crisply. She had absolutely no goodwill toward anyone from the Holy Spirit Cult.
If soul beasts weren't so powerful that she had to tread carefully and cultivate human experts, the Holy Spirit Mountains would've already been razed.
"We're willing to surrender and follow your commands, but we're quasi-gods too. Isn't your treatment of us a bit excessive?" the Underworld Emperor said coldly. She admitted she wasn't a match for Leng Yaozhu—these sisters were far beyond the likes of Yun Ming.
But kneeling? That was still too much to bear.
"Your pride and dignity mean nothing to me." Leng Yaozhu scoffed disdainfully.
"Fine, we'll kneel. But previously, Dark Phoenix said you could help us become gods. Does that still hold?" the Ghost Emperor asked calmly.
At those words, the hall fell silent. All the high-ranking members of the Holy Spirit Cult stared wide-eyed at Leng Yaozhu and Leng Yulai.
Become gods!
Who wouldn't be tempted by that?
"You're not qualified to negotiate with me." Lounging on the throne, leaning her head on one hand, Leng Yaozhu replied lazily, "The opportunity to become gods is my grace. If I give it, it's a favor. If I don't, you don't get to ask."
She wouldn't mind giving her word to someone else, but not to the Holy Spirit Cult. For them, it would depend entirely on their future performance.
Seeing her attitude, the Ghost and Underworld Emperors clenched their jaws. They were peak quasi-gods, and yet Leng Yaozhu looked down on them like ants.
"One last time: kneel or die." Her tone remained casual, but her eyes were so sharp that even the Ghost and Underworld Emperors couldn't meet them—they lowered their heads slightly.
And in that moment, sweat poured down their backs.
Though their heads were bowed, they could feel an overwhelming, commanding presence looming over them.
Even they couldn't help but want to bow down.
If Guan Yue were here, she would've warned them to suppress their hostility.
But she wasn't, and the more hostility they harbored, the stronger Leng Yaozhu's pressure became.
Finally—thud!
The Ghost and Underworld Emperors knelt simultaneously. "Ghost Emperor and Underworld Emperor of the Holy Spirit Cult, greet the Heavenly Phoenix!"
"See? Wouldn't it have been easier to just do this from the start?" Leng Yaozhu sneered. In truth, making them kneel with pressure alone was no easy task.
She had deliberately drained most of their soul and spiritual power first, and now unleashed divine-level spiritual pressure to overwhelm them.
From the moment she stepped into the Extreme North, everything had been meticulously calculated.
"What about the rest of you?" Leng Yaozhu looked up at the other high-level members.
"We greet the Heavenly Phoenix!" With the Ghost and Underworld Emperors kneeling, the rest dared not resist any longer.
"Good!" Leng Yaozhu nodded. Her eyes suddenly turned cold as she looked at Nanalie, who had surrendered first. "Take my sister and Xia Yi to release Divine Craftsman Zhen Hua. And while you're at it, bring that shameless bastard Cun Ying to me. Is that a problem?"
Her true hatred wasn't for Zhen Hua—but for Cun Ying.
For years, whenever she thought of the Holy Spirit Cult, she thought of Cun Ying's novels: Lone Hero, Chaos in the God Realm, Tang Sect Legends, and the one that truly broke her: Carefree Tales of the Celestial Fox.
You could say half the Cult's fame came from Cun Ying.
Carefree Tales of the Celestial Fox hadn't stopped updating—it even had a God Realm arc and a Douluo arc 2.
Even though it didn't get an anime or manhua like Lone Hero and the others, every update of Celestial Fox still made Leng Yaozhu lose her cool.
Her Xia Yi—was he that kind of man?
Hmph! Slandering her man like that—unforgivable.
"No problem!" Nanalie accepted the task eagerly. She respectfully turned to Leng Yulai and Xia Yi. "Dark Phoenix, Master Xia Yi, please come with me."
Seeing the killing intent in Leng Yaozhu's eyes, both Xia Yi and Lan Fozi instinctively shrank back.
Xia Yi because he was partially responsible.
Lan Fozi because the entire affair had been orchestrated by the Demon Empress.
(End of Chapter)