The Short-Sightedness of the Original Douluo Three Kingdoms

[The plan to capture the teams participating in the tournament from the major factions proceeded very smoothly. Before long, the vast majority had been captured and imprisoned in Rising Sun City. This was something that had not been anticipated before.]

[It had to be said that even for our Holy Spirit Cult, the Sun Moon Empire was truly a terrifying and formidable ally.]

[Unlike the martial soul cultivation of the original Douluo Three Kingdoms, the Sun Moon Empire underwent an entirely new reform several centuries ago. As long as one possessed accompanying soul power upon awakening their martial soul, no matter how low their Innate Soul Power was, the empire would still provide them with free medicine. With the aid of massive quantities of medicine, they fostered a large number of two- and three-ring soul masters.]

[Although the medicine did indeed have side effects, if one could become a soul master—one of those 'people above people'—who would not want to take a chance?]

[Even if these people became soul masters, their martial souls were mostly useless, leaving them pitifully weak in combat and of little use. However, the existence of Soul Tools made up for those shortcomings. As long as they had soul power to activate a Soul Tool, they could unleash formidable combat power. These people were precisely the foundation of the Sun Moon Empire, and the confidence that gave them the nerve to attack the original Douluo Three Kingdoms.]

[Furthermore, beyond these basic soul tool masters, the Sun Moon Empire also spent enormous sums and vast resources to build one powerful soul tool master legion after another.]

[Among them, the strongest was the soul tool master legion known as the 'Sun Moon Royal Soul Tool Master.' It maintained a standing force of three hundred; the admission threshold was a Soul Power Level of at least fifty; and its three commanders and deputy commanders were all powerful Level Nine Soul Tool Masters who answered only to the imperial family.]

[What a terrifying force. Together with the Sun Moon Empire's imperial Worship Hall, it was known as one of the Sun Moon Empire's two great pillars. When these forces joined together, even our Holy Spirit Cult had to fear them.]

[Fortunately, the Sun Moon Empire and our Holy Spirit Cult were allies. In the future war to invade the original Douluo Three Kingdoms, they could not do without the high-level combat power of our Holy Church. Before the continent was fully unified, our Holy Church would be the Sun Moon Empire's finest ally—the divine church protecting the nation, the hereditary Imperial Advisor...]

"Mom!"

Seeing the scene displayed in the Heavenly Curtain Monologue, Nan Qiuqiu cried out instinctively. She had clearly seen the moment her mother was captured by Evil Soul Masters.

Nan Shuishui, the sect master of the Earth Dragon Gate, comforted her daughter. "Qiuqiu, it's alright. That's something that happens in the future. Mom is still fine right now."

Though she said that, Nan Shuishui's ugly expression made it easy to see that she was in no good mood either.

Have things in the future really become this severe? Nan Shuishui could not help but worry.

Although the Earth Dragon Gate was not a great sect famous across the continent, it was certainly no insignificant faction.

Their inherited martial soul, the Rouge Dragon, possessed an annihilation attribute and was exceedingly powerful. Though she was only a Soul Douluo, she could unleash the strength of a Titled Douluo.

That was precisely why she had been able to claim half of Dragon City and coexist peacefully with the Heavenly Dragon Gate.

Yet in the future, after leading the sect's competitors to Mingdu for the tournament, they were captured outright, never to return.

It was simply too terrifying. The Sun Moon Empire was preparing to tear all pretense apart!

At this moment, the situation faced by Nan Shuishui and her daughter was actually a reflection of many people among the forces of the original Douluo Three Kingdoms.

After all, following the great explosion in Mingdu, the Sun Moon Empire joined forces with the Holy Spirit Cult and captured as many as three to four hundred people.

These people were either outstanding talents and elites of the younger generation, pillars of their respective factions; or academy teachers and sect stewards responsible for leading the teams, even sect masters.

With so many captured at once, the chain reaction it caused was undoubtedly enormous.

Even knowing it was a future that had yet to occur, it was difficult for those involved not to feel unsettled after seeing it.

Of course, beyond worrying about relatives, friends, and those around them, even more people feared the Sun Moon Empire's formidable military strength.

The Sun Moon Empire's method of cultivating soul tool masters was simply ruthless!

First, it freely provided medicinal pills to every soul master with soul power, helping them become soul masters.

Being weak and lacking strength did not matter either. They could simply use Soul Tools and become soul tool masters, solving every problem.

Calling the Sun Moon Empire under such circumstances a nation where every citizen was a soldier would not be an exaggeration in the slightest.

They had begun reforms centuries ago, accumulated such immense strength, and yet continued to endure patiently, keeping the continent at peace.

Had the new emperor, Xu Tianran, not formed an alliance with the Holy Spirit Cult and made up for their lack of high-level combat power, they would likely have continued developing like this.

As the Sun Moon Empire's strength was laid bare so vividly, quite a few people from the original Douluo Three Kingdoms felt ashamed—such as those soul masters who had always looked down on Soul Tools.

Even Du Busi, who upheld the supremacy of soul masters and looked down somewhat on Soul Tools, could not help having doubts after seeing the display in the Heavenly Curtain Monologue.

The Sun Moon Empire's military force is truly terrifying!

On battlefields not dominated by powerful individuals, such a number of soul tool masters could absolutely bring about a qualitative change through sheer quantity.

Though that was what he thought, when the topic came up as he spoke with the emperor of the Heaven Dou Empire, he remained stubbornly defiant. "Soul Tools can indeed arm weak soul masters, but on the battlefield, it is ultimately powerful individuals like us who play the decisive role."

"Xu Tianran in the Heavenly Curtain Monologue only completely revealed his ambition to swallow the entire continent after receiving support from those powerful figures of the Holy Spirit Cult and making up for his shortage of high-level combat power."

"What does that prove? It proves that even the Sun Moon Empire itself understands where the limits of Soul Tools lie."

Put that way, even the emperor of the Heaven Dou Empire felt that Du Busi made a great deal of sense.

This was one of the major flaws of the original Douluo Three Kingdoms: they looked down too much on the power of Soul Tools and were so stubbornly set in their ways.

Ordinary soul masters, after obtaining Soul Tools, could unleash strength several times greater than their own;

so for powerful soul masters, would mastering powerful Soul Tools not make them even stronger?

Why not develop them?

It could only be said that many people in the original Douluo Three Kingdoms remained immersed in the old days, believing that soul masters were everything.

They looked down on Soul Tools from the very root, turning a blind eye to the rapid development of Soul Tool technology and thus overlooking the changes of the times.

Therefore, even if this war of unification was stopped by Huo Yuhao and the others in the original work, the ultimate outcome of the future would remain unchanged.

As long as their way of thinking did not change and they did not keep pace with the changing times, it was only a matter of time before this continent was unified by the Sun Moon Empire.