"Hiss, Xiao Wu seemed to have a point!"
Ma Hongjun did not dare ask Dai Mubai, so he could only turn to Zhu Zhuqing.
"Zhu Zhuqing, you weren't really forced to flee, were you?"
Before she could respond, Xiao Wu's eyes rolled again as she said,
"Dai Mubai must have taken the lead. He had already been here for a long time. And Zhuqing doesn't seem like the kind of person who would run away. Most likely, after Dai Mubai fled, she lost her support and came here too!"
Zhu Zhuqing said nothing, which was as good as admitting it.
Seeing this, Ma Hongjun and Tang San looked at Dai Mubai with contempt.
Abandoning his fiancée to save his own life—what kind of man was that? A coward!
"Xiao Wu, shut the hell up!"
Dai Mubai had been repeatedly exposed in public by her and finally lost his temper.
"If you keep spouting nonsense, believe it or not, I'll kill you!"
Xiao Wu was unconcerned and stuck out her little tongue.
"So people aren't allowed to tell the truth anymore? Come on, I'm soooo scared~"
Tang San immediately stepped in front of her as well, glaring fixedly at Dai Mubai.
If Dai Mubai dared hurt Xiao Wu, he would have chosen death!
"You're courting death!!"
Dai Mubai roared and was about to strike.
But Flender stopped him and barked,
"Stop it, all of you! This is an academy, not your home. What do you think you look like, making such a racket?!"
Yu Xiaogang quickly approached Dai Mubai, patted his shoulder, and consoled him in a low voice.
"Mubai, I understand you. When you can barely save your own life, how can you worry about a fiancée? Women are merely toys for men like us to enjoy. They can be discarded at any time!"
Seeing that someone still understood him, Dai Mubai finally let it go, though his anger remained.
He raised his head and glared viciously at the Sky Screen. All the humiliation he had suffered today was thanks to it!
He silently swore that he would find the Sky Screen's errors, expose its falsehoods, and vent his anger!
No one spoke further. They turned back to the Sky Screen and waited for the new rankings to be announced.
After becoming completely disappointed in Dai Mubai, Zhu Zhuqing no longer felt any attachment to this place and only wanted to leave as soon as possible.
She looked up at the Sky Screen, hoping that a suitable force she could join would appear and allow her to break free and change her fate.
Heaven Dou Empire, Heaven Dou Imperial Palace.
When they saw the Star Luo Empire make the list, the civil and military officials in the hall were utterly stunned.
An unprecedentedly fierce debate erupted, and the entire hall descended into chaos.
"How could the Star Luo Empire not even make the top ten? This is insane!"
"Heaven Dou's national strength is clearly inferior to Star Luo's, yet they appeared before us!"
"Does Heaven Dou still have a chance to make the list? We can't possibly be inferior even to the Upper Three Sects, can we?"
Even Qian Renxue frowned tightly, her heart filled with disbelief.
All the known top forces on the continent had failed to enter the top ten. Then what about Spirit Hall?
There were still so many ranks above. Could there really be forces in this world that surpassed Spirit Hall?
Xue Ye could no longer sit still. His voice trembled with barely concealed panic as he spoke.
"My... my dear ministers, what do you make of this? Does Heaven Dou still have a chance?!"
Marshal Ge Long, who had remained calm throughout, stepped forward with a firm tone.
"Your Majesty, rest assured! Though Heaven Dou is inferior to Star Luo, we absolutely surpass any single sect among the Upper Three Sects!"
"Perhaps Heaven Dou possesses hidden foundations that even we do not know about, giving the Sky Screen reason to judge us worthy of contending for a higher rank!"
The heart Xue Ye had just raised sank completely.
He did not believe Heaven Dou had any hidden foundation capable of making up for the gap in national strength between it and Star Luo.
Yet upon hearing the word "hidden," Qian Renxue's heart abruptly skipped a beat.
She and the two elders had infiltrated Heaven Dou for years. Could they also be considered part of Heaven Dou's hidden foundation?
Otherwise, what else could possibly make up for the gap with Star Luo?
Would years of effort be ruined today?!
Under her terrified and helpless gaze,
"Rumble—!"
The Sky Screen finally changed once more, and a new ranking slowly emerged.
[Power Ranking, Eleventh Place: Heaven Dou Imperial Family] [Ruler Representative: Xue Ye] [Strongest Combat Representative: Ge Long] [Evaluation: The Heaven Dou Imperial Family is dominated solely by the Xue Family. To ensure the purity of their bloodline, rulers throughout the generations do not intermarry with outsiders. They inherit the mid-tier support-type martial soul "Swan." Its offensive and defensive power are weak, but it possesses considerable speed and healing abilities. It exudes an aura of nobility and symbolizes the imperial family's orthodox bloodline. The imperial family practices the "Merit-Based Succession System." Any prince of the orthodox bloodline may enter the line of candidates for crown prince, and the most capable and virtuous candidate is ultimately chosen to inherit the throne. The Heaven Dou Imperial Family excels at negotiation and founded its nation through political strategy. It established and has long ruled the Heaven Dou Empire, one of the Two Great Empires of the Douluo Continent. Its national strength is considerable. It occupies nearly half the territory of the Douluo Continent, commands over ten million subjects, an army of over a million soldiers, thousands of soul masters corps, and a Soul Douluo commander known as the God of War and the Nine-Life Divine Dragon. It also possesses a private academy under its jurisdiction, Heaven Dou Royal Academy, which contains many high-level battle soul masters and is overseen by three Soul Douluo education committee members. It also maintains close cooperation with countless sects and academies of all sizes within the empire. Most importantly, the Heaven Dou Imperial Family possesses a peerless treasure, the "Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud." Its true identity is the core of a Sea God divine artifact. It contains the Sea God's vast divine power and is the key to unleashing the Sea God divine artifact's true might. Its official name is the "Quasi-Divine Artifact: Heart of the Sea God"!] [Low-Tier Reward: The Soul Power Level of both representatives will increase by one level. The age of all soul rings will increase by three thousand years. If a representative's potential has been exhausted, the reward will be replaced with a Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone perfectly suited to their martial soul!]
Silence!
Dead silence!
The entire continent seemed to freeze, sinking into an eerie stillness.
Yet in less than the time it took to snap one's fingers, that silence was torn apart by an uproar like crashing thunder!
This time, they were no longer shocked by the ranking itself as they had been during the previous four announcements, but rather...
"Quasi-Divine Artifact: Heart of the Sea God! The core of the Sea God divine artifact, containing the Sea God's divine power!"
"According to legends from ten thousand years ago, the Sea God was an existence who ruled the ocean through his own strength!"
"But how did something belonging to a god fall into the hands of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family? Could there be some connection between them?!"
"No wonder the Heaven Dou Empire ranked above the Star Luo Empire. So it possessed such a divine object!"
Sea God Island.
An immortal island standing in the distant ocean west of the Douluo Continent.
Before Sea God Hall, High Priest Bo Saixi and the Seven Sacred Pillar Guardian Douluo had gathered together.
When the Sky Screen first descended, they had already assembled and watched until now.
They did not involve themselves in the conflicts of the outside world, so the external rankings naturally stirred no reaction from them.
But the instant they saw the "Heart of the Sea God," their expressions changed drastically!
Even Bo Saixi, who had long seen through the rise and fall of the world, was struck by towering waves of shock.
The Heart of the Sea God was the core of the Sea God Trident. After Lord Sea God became a god, he had deliberately left it behind in the outside world.
It served as a token for finding an inheritor. Once it encountered a suitable successor, it would guide that person here to inherit the divine position.
Unexpectedly, it had been claimed by the Heaven Dou Empire's imperial family!
Sea God Island's fruitless ten-thousand-year wait was likely because the path of guidance for the Sea God inheritance had been blocked by this!
The Seven Sacred Pillar Guardian Douluo had reached the same conclusion.
Sea Dragon Douluo, the leader of the Seven Sacred Pillars, stepped forward with a solemn expression.
"High Priest, the Heart of the Sea God is Lord Sea God's token for seeking an inheritor. How can we allow a mortal imperial family to hide it away?"
"This subordinate believes we should retrieve it!"
Before you continue