Chapter 315: The Collapse of a Myth and the Rise of a God
Because the enemy was simply too weak, Xiao Lan's incident ended before Xiao Qiang even heard of it. There was no chaos, no panic—not even a ripple.
And afterward, the support of the new Xingluo Emperor progressed without incident. Or rather, with the Soul Palace's elite forces deployed in full, any "incident" that might have occurred was swiftly suppressed and reduced to a minor footnote in history.
But that didn't mean everything had gone perfectly smooth.
When Xiao Qiang successfully turned the monarchs of the former Three Great Kingdoms of Douluo into emperors officially canonized by the Pope of the Soul Palace, and required nobles and commoners alike to worship angel statues, opposition inevitably followed.
Initial Reactions…
Some scoffed outright.
"What angel statue? Just another dog of the Sun Moon Empire! Not worthy of our reverence! Bah!"
When Soul Palace branches were established in major cities—each guarded by Titled Douluo-level powerhouses—others reacted with sarcasm.
"Well… the statue is pretty, I'll give you that. But do you expect me to believe in the Angel God now? Don't be ridiculous."
Then came the game-changer: the arrival of soul spirits, and the beginning of true class ascension.
Ordinary spirit masters began to transform into Soul Masters, their spirit ring ratios evolving. Power surged. Comparisons were drawn.
"Angel Goddess! Please… guide your faithful!"
Low-level soul masters, especially those with pitiful first rings, suddenly found themselves standing shoulder-to-shoulder with elite cultivators. And when tens of thousands began defecting to the Soul Palace—turning their backs on Shrek—public sentiment shifted.
The grand illusion of Tang San's godhood cracked.
The Crumbling Legacy of Shrek and the Sea God
It began in taverns, in casual conversations between spirit masters.
"Impossible! Tang San's entire family are evil soul masters? The Spirit Hall was destroyed just so he could turn the continent into his playground?! That's slander!"
But someone always had facts to counter the fervor.
"Then explain this: how did his father defeat three Super Douluo ten thousand years ago? Where did that power come from?"
"How did Tang San and his team cultivate at impossible speeds back then? Before soul spirits, there was no way to increase soul ring age. Unless… they used methods exclusive to evil soul masters—like the Holy Spirit Church."
"Didn't Spirit Hall's agents once travel to every corner of the continent, awakening spirits and hunting evil soul masters? Why did that stop after it was destroyed? Why did evil soul masters become rampant afterward?"
"And where were the famed Angel Martial Soul users during those dark times? Shouldn't they have thrived on exterminating evil? Why were there no Titled Douluo, no Soul Saints, no one with that martial spirit?"
More voices joined.
"And what about the factions that helped Tang San back then? The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect? Down to a second-rate sect. The Poison Douluo's clan? Lost their entire lineage."
"Even Holy Soul Village, the so-called birthplace of the Sea God—gone. Shouldn't it be a holy pilgrimage site?"
"Now, tell me: why did all the factions associated with Tang San vanish, while the Holy Spirit Church, full of evil soul masters, rose instead?"
The most damning came last:
"The leader of the Holy Spirit Church was a close friend of Sea God Pavilion's former leader, Long Xiaoyao. The Vice Leader? A former Shrek student—and she just strolled back into the Church without resistance."
"Shrek claims they oversee everything… yet their own students and teachers become the strongest evil soul masters of the age?"
"Yan Shaozhe, Dean of the Outer Court—his lover was the Vice Leader of the Holy Spirit Church, and no one even suspected her?"
And if the character assassination wasn't enough, the so-called Master's theories began to unravel:
"The ten core martial spirit theories? Utter nonsense! Before that guy came around, did the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect knock over towers to gain soul rings? Did the Clear Sky Clan bash soul rings out of hammers?"
"And that line about there being no useless martial spirits, only useless soul masters… well, Master never got past level 29, did he? So was his martial spirit useless—or was he the real trash?"
The room would fall quiet after such questions. And slowly, eyes that once looked at Shrek with admiration turned cold with suspicion.
"He conned the world for ten thousand years… terrifying."
Shrek's reputation collapsed, and the veil over Tang San's myth was finally torn off.
But Xiao Qiang wasn't paying attention to the gossip anymore.
His focus had shifted to something far more important.
He stood before the Angel Statue, the source of the once-glorious Angel Martial Soul, and turned to a trusted subordinate beside him.
"How does it feel?"
"Can you restore the position of the Angel Martial Soul?"
The silence that followed was not hesitation—but anticipation.
What came next… would determine the fate of spiritual authority on the continent.