Balance

After Xue Ye fled, the Heaven Dou Empire's morale gradually began to crumble. Even so, they stubbornly fought a bloody battle until dusk. Only when they truly could not hold on any longer did they choose to retreat.

The Star Luo Empire did not pursue them. Although the Heaven Dou army had fallen back, their formation remained orderly, with each legion taking turns covering the retreat.

Though they had won, the Star Luo Empire had also suffered heavy losses, especially among their Spirit Masters. In this battle alone, half of their Spirit Masters had died, including their only Soul Saint-level Spirit Master.

After fighting for an entire day, it appeared that Star Luo had won, but in truth, they had not truly won at all.

After pursuing Xue Ye for some distance, Dai Yutian stopped the chase. After all, Di Yang was still by Xue Ye's side. Though Di Yang's Soul Power Level was lower than Di Hong's, Dai Yutian was still no match for him.

At that moment, he could only hate that he was not strong enough. Otherwise, Xue Ye would have long since been his for the taking.

After the various units returned to camp, Xue Ye immediately convened a military council.

Seeing everyone's dejected expressions, Xue Ye could not help but sigh.

"This defeat was not your fault, gentlemen. The blame lies with me alone. If I had not underestimated the Star Luo Empire, perhaps we would not have lost."

"Fortunately, the Fourth Prince of the Silves Kingdom came to my rescue, and the heir apparent protected me. That was how I escaped disaster."

Xue Ye took all the blame upon himself, which made the generals breathe a sigh of relief and feel much better. This was especially true for the generals from the vassal kingdoms. If the blame had been shifted onto them, they would not even have had a place to weep.

If the empire held them accountable, their kingdoms would certainly execute them. After all, it was better to kill a single general to appease the empire's wrath than to offend the empire.

The generals also turned their gazes toward the brothers Di Hong and Di Yang. The two had saved Xue Ye today and spared him from danger. This was a tremendous merit. If Xue Ye became emperor in the future, the two would surely be entrusted with important positions.

Even if they were princes of a kingdom.

Everyone knew that the Silves Kingdom supported Xue Ye.

Of the three great kingdoms that had come here, all except the Hagendas Kingdom supported Xue Ye. During today's battle, the other two kingdoms had fought especially desperately. None of them wished to see Xue Ye fail.

Xue Ye then assigned everyone their respective duties. Barring any surprises, today's battle should have been the final one. There should not be any more large-scale clashes from now on; they only needed to wait for the Two Great Empires to negotiate.

In fact, when Xue Ye had led his army out on campaign, Spirit Hall had already invited the Two Great Empires to go to Spirit City and negotiate an end to the war.

Judging by the time, the envoys of the Two Great Empires were likely close to arriving by now.

If they continued fighting, it would only be disadvantageous to the Star Luo Empire. They were fighting within Heaven Dou territory, making logistics extremely difficult. The garrison of Yelin City and the Balak Kingdom had been constantly harassing their supply lines.

All they needed to do next was hold their ground. Once the negotiations were over, both sides could withdraw their troops.

Walking out of the main tent, Di Hong looked up at the sky. The sun was setting, staining the sky like blood. Rolling green mountains rose and fell in the distance like ocean waves. The wind swept across the Lima Plain, carrying a thick stench of blood. After a full day of slaughter, both sides had suffered grievous losses.

The casualty figures had not yet been counted, but they certainly would not be low.

"Fourth Brother, you earned no small merit in today's battle. You saved Crown Prince Xue Ye and even killed a Soul Saint of the Star Luo Empire."

"I reckon it won't be long before your name spreads far and wide."

Di Yang smiled at his younger brother beside him. In today's battle, he had likely been the most dazzling of all. With the strength of a Soul Emperor, he had forcibly slain a Soul Saint of the Star Luo Empire.

A difference of thirteen Soul Power Levels.

"Merit means nothing. So many soldiers fought desperately and shed their blood; their contributions are the greatest. Fame only burdens people. Haven't enough people already been burdened by fame?" Di Hong did not care. To him, such things were empty and useless.

Only after they returned to the Silves camp did Di Yang voice another question.

"Fourth Brother, why did you suddenly become so concerned about Crown Prince Xue Ye?"

"You even fought a Soul Saint to save him today."

"You wouldn't have acted like this before."

Di Hong glanced outside. After confirming that no one was there, he lowered his voice. "It's nothing. I was just afraid he'd die. If he dies, we're the ones who'll suffer."

"Besides, the battlefield is a place that tempers people. Opportunities to fight a Soul Saint on the battlefield are rare."

"You know as well as I do that I have very little combat experience."

Over the past seven years, he had spent nearly all his time cultivating. Aside from hunting spirit beasts, he had rarely fought people. He had only participated in a single spirit-fighting match. This war between the Two Great Empires had happened to give him such an opportunity.

When fighting Zong Yan, he had clearly felt his own shortcomings. If not for the advantage of his martial soul and his innate domain, he would certainly have had to spend much longer wearing Zong Yan down.

Today had also been his first time killing someone. Yet he did not feel the discomfort he had imagined. On the contrary, he felt indifferent, as if it meant nothing at all.

Di Yang nodded, then asked, "What do you think of Xue Ye and the Heaven Dou Empire?"

"Do you think Xue Ye will succeed?"

"He will," Di Hong answered with absolute certainty.

Then he walked to the entrance of the main tent, closed it, and returned to sit before Di Yang.

"Big Brother, what do you think of the Heaven Dou Empire?" His voice was so low that only the two of them could hear it.

"I don't have any opinion. What opinion could I possibly have?" Di Yang laughed. He did not understand why his younger brother would ask such an absurd question.

"Enough. If you have something to say, just say it. I'm your own elder brother. Do you think I'd harm you?"

"Fine." Di Hong stopped beating around the bush.

He revealed his true thoughts.

"Big Brother, I want to change the current state of the continent."

Di Yang looked at him in confusion, signaling for him to continue.

Di Hong went on, "Big Brother, you've seen it too. The continent is currently divided into three powers. Spirit Hall can still maintain the balance of the continent for now, but what about the future?"

"Qian Xunji was not Qian Daoliu."

"What kind of person do you think Qian Xunji was?"

"I don't know." Di Yang shook his head. He had never even met Qian Xunji, so naturally, he had no idea what kind of person he was.

If not for this war, when Spirit Hall changed Popes, the Two Great Empires would certainly have sent people to offer their congratulations. Yet this Pope's ascension had been remarkably subdued.

"I heard that Qian Xunji was someone unwilling to settle for the status quo."

"So I believe that, within the next few decades, the balance of the continent will inevitably be shattered."

"When that happens, Kingdoms like ours will certainly be caught up in it."

"So I want to change the current situation."

He could not directly tell Di Yang that Spirit Hall would launch a war of unification several decades from now, shattering the continent's balance. Of course, the one who started that war would not be Qian Xunji, but Bibi Dong. After all, Secret Chamber Douluo would be beaten badly by Tang Hao, then be killed by Bibi Dong after returning with severe injuries.

But all he could tell Di Yang was that the continent's balance would inevitably be broken.