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Xiao Xiao sat opposite Wang Dong'er, her plate piled high with two steamed buns, an egg, and a bowl of soy milk, which she devoured with lightning speed.

Seeing Lin Ye and the others arrive, he waved to them with his mouth full of steamed buns.

Lin Ye went to the window and got breakfast: a bowl of porridge, two steamed buns, a plate of pickled vegetables, and a boiled egg.

He carried his tray back and sat down, but Wu Feng had already taken the seat he wanted. So he had to go around to the opposite side and sit down next to Xiao Xiao.

Ning Tian sat down next to Wang Dong'er. His plate contained only a bowl of congee and half a steamed bun, so simple that Wu Feng couldn't help but glance at it a few more times.

"You only eat this little? Aren't you afraid of going hungry?"

Wu Feng placed the extra meat bun from his plate onto Ning Tian's plate.

Ning Tian glanced at her, didn't refuse, picked up the bun and took a small bite, which was considered as accepting her kindness.

Wu Feng nodded in satisfaction and began to deal with the mountain of food in front of him.

Five people sat at a table to eat; the atmosphere wasn't exactly lively, but it wasn't quiet either.

After finishing their meal, the five of them walked together toward the teaching building.

The morning classes ended quickly.

It was called a class, but it was really just a basic theory class where the teacher stood on the podium and talked about the principles of soul power circulation for a whole morning.

Lin Ye sat by the window and listened for a few minutes at first, but then his mind started to wander.

Sunlight streamed through the leaves outside the window, casting dappled shadows on the desks, creating a warm and drowsy atmosphere.

He used his consciousness to browse through the system interface in his mind, sorted out the soul tool materials he had obtained last night, and pondered what these materials could be used to make.

Wu Feng was next to him. At first, he pretended to draw a few strokes in the notebook, but later he simply closed the notebook and lay down on the table to catch up on sleep.

I don't know what she did last night, her dark circles are practically hanging down to her chin.

Chapter 302 New Theme

Ning Tian sat next to Wu Feng, listening to the lecture and taking notes. Occasionally, he would glance at Wu Feng, who was sleeping soundly with drool almost dripping from her mouth, and expressionlessly pushed her pen away from the edge of the table to prevent it from falling.

Wang Dong'er stood up straight, seemingly listening attentively to the lesson, but Lin Ye noticed that her gaze would occasionally drift towards the window, as if she were lost in thought.

Xiao Xiao sat next to Wang Dong'er, twirling a pen in her hand with incredible skill. The pen flew around and around between her fingers without ever falling once.

This is a staple of her classes, and she has practiced it to an unparalleled level.

The afternoon classes ended quickly.

The practical training sessions were more interesting than the theoretical sessions, even though there wasn't much real combat involved.

When the bell rang, Wu Feng stretched out a big yawn, his bones cracking a series of sounds.

Ning Tian turned to the group and said, "Aren't we going to the city for a stroll? We had a lot of fun yesterday, and even though we don't have much time today, we'll have nothing else to do."

Xiao Xiao was the first to raise her hand in agreement, Wang Dong'er said "whatever," and Wu Feng also nodded.

Lin Ye didn't have any objections. Since he had nothing to do today, he figured it would be good to go out for a walk.

The five of them left the school gate and strolled westward along the main street of Shrek City.

Shrek City is always bustling with shops lining the streets, selling soul tools, medicinal herbs, snacks and treats, each with a signboard bigger than the last, and shouts rising and falling in waves.

The pedestrians on the street were of all kinds, including Shrek Academy students wearing various school uniforms and merchants who had traveled from afar to make a deal.

There were also some professionals dressed in Soul Master robes with rank badges pinned to their chests, hurrying through the crowd.

The group wandered around for a while, first queuing for half a day in front of a very popular barbecue restaurant, each grabbing a bunch of skewers and eating them as they walked.

The skewers were indeed delicious, with tender and juicy meat, and the seasoning was flavorful enough. Wu Feng finished off one bunch by himself and then went back to buy another.

Then they visited several soul tool material shops. Ning Tian picked out a few soul tools of good quality in one shop, and Lin Ye also bought some commonly used consumable materials.

Xiao Xiao bought a pair of silver earrings with two small feather pendants that swayed when she wore them, making her look much more lively.

As dusk settled, the group grew tired, their hands laden with their purchases.

Most of it was food, and there were also a few materials for cultivation.

Xiao Xiao still had a candied hawthorn skewer in her mouth, which she bought from a stall at the city gate on her way back to school. It was so sour that she frowned, but she still insisted on finishing it.

It was quite late when we returned to Shrek Academy. The streetlights were coming on one by one, casting long shadows of several people on the stone pavement.

Upon arriving at the dormitory entrance, the group parted ways.

Lin Ye and Wang Dong'er walked back to their dormitory. They pushed open the door, put the things they were carrying on the table, flopped onto the bed, and let out a long sigh.

Wang Dong'er glanced at Lin Ye lying down, said nothing, and turned to go to the bathroom.

Lin Ye lay down for a while, then turned over and sat up, walking to the window to look at the twinkling lights outside.

Suddenly feeling a bit sentimental, Lin Ye realized that life here seemed pretty good. He finalized the contents of his diary.

Lin Ye washed his face and lay back down on the bed.

Before closing his eyes, he prepared to write in his diary. Just a few minutes ago, he hadn't decided what to write, but just now he had a sudden inspiration and thought of what to write today.

[We're not talking about Huo Yuhao today; let's talk about something even more drastic.]

Throughout the ten thousand years of history of Douluo Continent, there has always been a group despised by everyone: the Evil Soul Masters.

When these three words are mentioned, most people think of evil, depravity, killing, and the idea that everyone should kill them.

The Holy Spirit Cult has been nailed to the pillar of historical shame and has become synonymous with evil spirit masters.

But today I want to ask a question that might make many people uncomfortable: How exactly do evil spirit masters grow so powerful?

On the surface, it seems that the Holy Spirit Cult itself created this mess.

But dig deeper, and you'll find an extremely ironic chain of cause and effect.

The reason why evil spirit masters could proliferate so rampantly on the continent can be traced back to none other than the lofty Sea God, Tang San.

[I'm not joking when I say Tang San is the true ancestor of evil spirit masters; there are three reasons, each of which stands up to scrutiny.]

[The first one is Tang San's own external soul bone, the Eight Spider Lances.]

On the other bed, Wang Dong'er was sitting cross-legged with her eyes closed, regulating her breathing.

The diary in her consciousness had been updated, and she habitually sank into her mind to check it.

When she saw the name "Tang San," her eyes snapped open, a cold glint flashing in her pinkish-blue pupils.

She feels disgusted whenever she hears the name "Tang San".

That lofty sea god, that father who treated her as a pawn and a tool, never had anything nice to say in his diary.

But today, Lin Ye's title piqued her interest: "Tang San is the ancestor of evil soul masters?" This claim is quite novel.

She didn't rush to flip through the pages, but instead pondered the proposition in her mind.

What is an evil soul master? An evil soul master who improves himself by devouring the soul power and flesh of others is the enemy of the continent.

Who is Tang San? He is the Sea God, the Savior, and a deity revered by all.

Lin Ye is incredibly bold to link these two completely unrelated things together.

But Wang Dong'er knew Lin Ye; this guy never spoke without a reason.

He must have his reasons for saying that. She adjusted her posture, placed a pillow behind her back, and continued reading.

The Eight Spider Lances were the first external soul bones Tang San obtained, originating from a human-faced demon spider.

From the moment it possessed Tang San, the evolutionary logic of this soul bone was destined to be: devouring.

It doesn't involve absorbing the primordial energy of heaven and earth to cultivate slowly, nor does it rely on meditation and sudden enlightenment to break through. Instead, it involves directly devouring the opponent's soul power and flesh, and converting it for one's own use.

From the earliest battles against soul beasts, to the later battles against the Human-Faced Demon Spider King and the three brothers of the Thousand-Pound Ant, and then to the trials on Seagod Island, every advancement of the Eight Spider Lances has been based on devouring.

The stronger the opponent, the more abundant the rewards after being devoured.

Tang San relied on this set of soul bones to turn defeat into victory countless times, and the Eight Spider Spears also evolved from the initial piece of a hideous spider leg.

It evolved step by step into the dazzling eight wings of the sea god, and finally transformed into a super artifact-level existence.

How does this process differ from the cultivation methods of evil spirit masters?

Evil Soul Masters enhance themselves by devouring the soul power and flesh of others, and the Eight Spider Lances also evolve by devouring opponents.

Evil Soul Masters devour living people to increase their power, while Tang San's Eight Spider Lances devour soul beasts and enemies to complete their transformation.

The methods are exactly the same, and the underlying logic is identical.

Chapter 303 God's Creation

Perhaps the only difference is that evil spirit masters devour their own kind of humans, while Tang San mostly devours spirit beasts.

From the perspective of life, isn't the life of a soul beast also a life? Isn't the soul power of a soul beast also soul power?

The devouring ability of the Eight Spider Lances and the methods of the Evil Soul Master are essentially the same thing: plundering the power of others and turning it into their own nourishment.

However, Tang San stood on the side of justice; he was the protagonist, so his devouring was called "evolution," while the devouring of evil soul masters was called "fall."

From another perspective, if Tang San didn't have the protagonist's halo, would his Eight Spider Lances training method really be that different from that of an evil soul master?

Later, in order to seek revenge, Tang Ya deliberately fell into the trap of becoming an evil soul master, and many people said that she had let down the ancestors of the Tang Clan.