Border Situation

"The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well? There's actually such a treasured place on this continent, and it's so close to us."

Di Yuan was somewhat stunned. He had lived for decades and could be considered widely knowledgeable, yet he had never heard of such a treasure land. Especially after learning about the Immortal Grade Herbs there, he was utterly shocked.

"Did your strength improve so quickly because of those Immortal Grade Herbs?"

Di Hong shook his head. "Not entirely. The fire element within the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well is incredibly dense—far denser than the volcano where I used to cultivate. My cultivation speed there is more than nearly ten times faster than it is outside."

As he spoke, he took a fiery red herb from his Soul Tool.

"This is a Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower. Father King, please take it. After consuming it, it may help you advance further. It may even make breaking through to become a Titled Douluo possible in the future."

Taking the Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower Di Hong offered him, Di Yuan made no effort to hide the longing in his eyes. He could naturally tell that it was a good thing, but after thinking it over, he still chose to refuse.

"Forget it. Your Father King is old. I no longer pursue increases in Soul Power as fervently as I once did."

As he spoke, he handed the Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower to Di Yang.

"Eldest Brother, you take it."

Though it was a fine treasure, he knew that even if he consumed the herb, his strength would not improve by much. Even if he could break through to become a Titled Douluo, it would not mean much.

Such a good thing was better saved for an outstanding younger generation member.

Di Yang refused as well.

"It would be wasted on me too. I say we save it for Fourth Brother's descendants in the future."

Di Hong possessed Innate Level 20 Spirit Power. There was no reason his descendants would have poor talent, and the herb would be more useful if given to them.

He handed the herb back to Di Hong. With no other choice, Di Hong settled for taking out two more identical fire-attributed herbs, Blazing Flame Flowers. Though their effects were far inferior to the Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower's, they were useful nonetheless.

Di Yuan and Di Yang did not refuse these two herbs, instead accepting them.

Di Hong naturally had not forgotten his mother, Shen Ning. He had also prepared an herb for Shen Ning, and he had not forgotten Di Ming either. Though Di Ming's talent was ordinary, that did not mean Di Hong would not prepare one for him. Even if it was wasteful, it was being wasted on his own family.

Besides, if it was prepared for family, then it did not count as wasteful.

Though the herbs were precious, they had not reached the level of Immortal Grade Herbs.

"You've just returned, so go rest first. Tomorrow, Father King will accompany you to obtain your Sixth Soul Ring."

"Yes." Di Hong rose and cupped his hands in salute, then turned and left.

Upon returning to his room, he collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep. He had spent the past seven days cultivating and had not properly rested even once. Di Yuan and the others headed to the cultivation chamber to consume the herbs and enter seclusion for cultivation.

He slept straight through until the next day.

At noon the next day, Di Yuan brought him out to hunt a Spirit Beast. His Soul Power Level had now reached Level 84. Over the past six years, he had broken through one more level, and after consuming the herb yesterday, his body's meridians had been refined once more, raising his Soul Power Level by another level.

"What age Spirit Beast do you want for your Sixth Soul Ring? Fifty thousand years?"

In his view, fifty thousand years was already excellent for a Sixth Soul Ring. His own Sixth Soul Ring was only a little over twenty thousand years, while his Seventh Soul Ring was only forty thousand years. But Di Hong was different—his talent was exceptional, and his Fourth Soul Ring had already been a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring.

His Fifth Soul Ring was even a thirty-thousand-year Soul Ring, so his Sixth Soul Ring naturally had to be forty or fifty thousand years.

Di Hong thought for a moment before saying, "Father King, I hope my Sixth Soul Ring will come from a sixty-thousand-year Spirit Beast."

After consuming the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and the Infernal Delicate Apricot, he could absorb a sixty-thousand-year Spirit Beast without any pressure. There was no need to consider a forty-thousand-year or fifty-thousand-year Spirit Beast.

"A sixty-thousand-year Spirit Beast won't be easy to find." Di Yuan considered where there might be a suitable Spirit Beast, all the fire-attributed Spirit Beasts within the Kingdom passing through his mind.

"How about the sixty-thousand-year Fire Feather Bird King?"

It was the highest-aged fire-attributed Spirit Beast within the Kingdom. If even this one would not do, they could only head to the Star Dou Great Forest.

"That one, then."

Di Hong's eyes lit up. His first and second Soul Rings had both come from Fire Feather Birds, so using a Fire Feather Bird for his Sixth Soul Ring was naturally fine—especially a sixty-thousand-year Fire Feather Bird King.

The only drawback was that once they killed that Fire Feather Bird King, there would no longer be any Ten Thousand Year Fire Feather Birds within the Kingdom.

There had once been several Ten Thousand Year Fire Feather Birds, but they had all been hunted. In order to hunt Ten Thousand Year Fire Feather Birds, Di Yuan had fought the Fire Feather Bird King many times, though their battles had generally ended in draws. When he had hunted Di Hong's first and second Soul Rings six years ago, he had grabbed the birds and run, terrified of alerting the Fire Feather Bird King.

He was not afraid of it himself, but it would have been bad if Di Hong got hurt.

This time was different, however. With him as a Level 84 Soul Douluo and Di Hong as a Level 60 Soul Emperor, they had more than enough strength to deal with it.

Along the way, Di Hong noticed something was off.

"Father King, why are there so many people on this road?" He would not have asked in the past, since this was a main road and it was normal for it to be crowded. But today was different—there were far more people than usual, and many were plainly dressed, traveling with their families.

Most of them carried luggage. They had clearly come from elsewhere.

With his eyes closed, Di Yuan spoke unhurriedly. "They are all refugees fleeing from the Empire's border."

"You don't know this, but something happened over the past few days."

"What happened?" Di Hong asked.

Di Yuan said, "The struggle for the Star Luo Empire's Imperial Crown Prince has ended. Prince Dai Yutian crippled his own brother and became the new Imperial Crown Prince. After taking power, the Star Luo Empire's forces at the border began repeatedly crossing the border to attack towns and villages."

"Moreover, there have been large-scale military movements within the Star Luo Empire. Vast numbers of troops have begun assembling at the border, as though they intend to launch a full-scale invasion."

"Many civilians in the border regions have already started fleeing. What you're seeing is only a portion of them."

"More will come afterward."

Di Hong had not expected that the border situation would become tense again so soon—and this time, it seemed even more serious. The conflict between the Two Great Empires had not begun just a day or two ago. They fought virtually every year, but large-scale wars were not that common.

The last time a large-scale war broke out, he had not even been born yet—or rather, he had not transmigrated yet.

In that war, the Two Great Empires lost nearly two hundred thousand soldiers between them, while countless border residents were killed or wounded. In the end, Spirit Hall stepped in to mediate. Though the war ended without a clear victor, everyone knew that the Heaven Dou Empire had actually lost.

The Heaven Dou Empire had suffered greater losses, while the Star Luo Empire got what it wanted.

If not for Spirit Hall's existence, the Star Luo Empire's banners would likely have been planted atop the walls of Heaven Dou City long ago. In terms of overall national strength, the Star Luo Empire was stronger than the Heaven Dou Empire. Thanks to Star Luo's succession system, although cruel, every ruler it produced was exceptionally forceful.

Both of the Two Great Empires were now declining, but the Heaven Dou Empire was declining faster, and it faced greater constraints than Star Luo.

The Star Luo Empire had wanted to destroy the Heaven Dou Empire and unify the continent for far more than a day or two. Generation after generation, they had dreamed of doing so. Even the Heaven Dou Empire wanted the same thing—it simply lacked the strength.