World Upheaval

Dragon Valley World, Dragon Clan Graveyard

"So, they made a move on your granddaughter? And then, because her soul power was so strong, she ended up squeezing them out and counter-killing them?"

"Yes. It's strange to say, but all the high-ranking officials of the dragon and elf clans have been checked with soul-detection secret techniques, and none of them had been tampered with. Only my granddaughter showed traces of contact, but the soul color scroll showed no changes."

Rus Wang naturally couldn't tell the Light Dragon King that his granddaughter Toriya and he were Seer Elves, and that her father Barus belonged to a new dragon race—the Seer True Dragon.

"That really is a strange matter. How could the gods of the God Realm pin their hopes on controlling the bloodline of a king, like a single piece of dung ruining an entire pot of food, just to overthrow a nation?"

The Light Dragon King was very certain that even if Toriya's talent was heaven-defying, if she had been controlled by a god from the God Realm, Rus Wang would absolutely have killed his own kin for the sake of righteousness.

Because he saw the number of times the soul-detection secret technique scroll had been used: a terrifying 2,933,241 times. Almost three-eighths of the Elf Kingdom's population had been checked. For Toriya, who had been targeted by a god from the God Realm, they had even specifically used the bloodline-detection secret technique scroll. But judging by the results, Toriya had counter-killed the opponent's little tricks, and she was perfectly fine.

"Then we can breathe a sigh of relief regarding the Zheer Continent for now. The problem now is the Star Dou Forest."

The Light Dragon King put away these secret technique scrolls. He certainly knew how to make these things, but he was the only one who could. His disciple Barus's spiritual power wasn't enough to reach the foundation for crafting them, so he couldn't just use them up and throw them away; he had to keep them in a storage Soul Guidance Device.

"I'm not worried about that guy Di Tian. The Dragon King took him by his side to nurture him, so there are naturally protective measures in place. The Crown Prince told me this clearly before he passed away. The Silver Dragon King, Zi Ji, and the remaining dragons there are what I am truly worried about."

Beast clans with a hundred-thousand-year lifespan? If they could be like the beasts in the Dragon Valley Forest, who had been suppressed by his descendants for tens of thousands of years before they grew a brain and realized they didn't have to fight and kill, it would be fine. If the dragon clan had started a war with them back then, it would have been another protracted divine war following the Behemoth.

"I have figured out which soul secret technique the gods of the God Realm used on Rus's granddaughter. It is the same type as the one used on the Auspicious Beast of the Star Dou Forest: tearing the soul. At first, it hides and waits for an opportunity, and once the time is right, it acts upon the victim. If the victim's soul power is strong, the secret technique is as good as useless. But considering the Silver Dragon King was split from the Dragon God... we must prepare for the worst, Rus."

"Are there only 26 years left?"

Zhang Cheng felt that his power was beginning to grow weaker and weaker, so weak that the Sun Moon Empire's army on the border had begun to provoke them, and so weak that Shrek Academy had begun to blatantly annex the towns bordering Shrek City on the Star Luo Empire side...

He knew this wasn't Mu Huican's instruction from behind the scenes; on the contrary, he was also old and couldn't control the people below from pulling various little tricks. And those officials in the towns who had defected—what power did they have to stop the Shrek Academy elders, led by Title Douluos and Spirit Douluos, from doing this?

Zhang Cheng took a deep breath and looked at the Emperor, who had come to see him and was also beginning to show the appearance of middle and old age, and sighed with a bitter smile.

"You have grown old too, Your Majesty."

"At a time like this, please don't call me Your Majesty in front of me, Uncle Zhang."

Seeing that Zhang Cheng still used honorifics to address him, the Emperor said bitterly.

"Your Majesty, this is a military camp. There is only the Emperor and his aging general here."

"You are still... as stubborn as ever."

The Emperor was not angry.

"Your younger sister, Dai Ruoheng, has hope of reaching level 99, but it is too late, far too late. In the future, let her go to the Star Luo Continent to expand territory for Your Majesty and swallow up the remaining indigenous kingdoms there. Forming a confrontation with that 600,000-year-old dragon in the Star Luo Great Forest will not be a problem."

At this moment, Zhang Cheng gave his final advice to the Emperor, speaking out everything about the current situation and how he believed the empire should proceed in the future.

"Also, Your Majesty, losing the homeland is not your fault as the ruler; the situation had long been irreversible. If the Lingbing Douluo had been treated by the late Emperor as a Duke's son since childhood, how could our Star Luo Empire have been forced to such a point by the Sun Moon Empire?"

"Separated by the ocean, with a sea journey of several months, no matter how terrifying the Sun Moon Empire's land cavalry is, if they want to cross the sea for an amphibious landing, there are no islands in the ocean to stand on. Their maritime logistics are as thin as wings. As long as Your Majesty develops the navy vigorously after this, the Sun Moon Empire's cross-sea offensive can be easily snapped."

But just then, his adjutant, without waiting for the guards outside to stop him, broke into the main camp and delivered the news Zhang Cheng least wanted to face.

"Your Majesty! General! The Sun Moon Empire's army is knocking at the border again! This time, the direction of their advance is heading straight for here."

"There must be a mole within the high-level military and the palace who knows the Emperor has arrived! Count Libai!"

Zhang Cheng's eyes blazed with fury. Ever since the Sun Moon Continent collided with the old Douluo Continent, it had been at least 5,000 years. The two sides had a blood feud, and there were all kinds of moles and betrayals. But following the destruction of the Heaven Dou Empire, the collapse of the three-nation military alliance, and the final chain, Lingbing Douluo Huo Yuhao, ascending to godhood, the rats of the Star Luo Empire had completely turned to the Sun Moon Empire!

And they had to go and betray the Emperor's itinerary.

"Present!"

Count Libai, who was stuck at level 97 and had made no progress, was Zhang Cheng's second disciple. Because of his cultivation and his experience in the military, he had re-enlisted and was following Zhang Cheng as a Colonel Staff Officer, performing his duties conscientiously. Zhang Cheng saw it all. Anyone might harm the Emperor, but Count Libai absolutely would not!

"Escort His Majesty and the others, go!"

"Yes!"

In the dead of night, the roar of fixed-position Soul Guidance Devices rang out across the border, along with the roars of various Martial Soul Avatars and the massive tremors caused by Zhang Cheng unleashing his level 99 power, a giant blade phantom appearing in the sky and slashing down onto the earth in one strike.

In the span of a single night, Count Libai brought the Emperor back to the palace. After obtaining the Emperor's permission, he used his Super Douluo perception to immediately kill any suspicious personnel moving around the palace entrances at such a time.

And when all this was done, the Emperor intended to persuade him to stay.

"No. Now that you have returned to the palace safely, and Senior Sister Dai Ruoheng has entered the palace to stand guard, I must return to the camp to defend the border to the death with my master. For you and the people of the empire, I will fight for more time to board the ocean-going ships, even if it means death. This is also the final form of atonement I can offer to the royal family for the death of Prince Jinhu."

Seeing that even his sister Dai Ruoheng could not persuade him, the Emperor did not force him to stay and could only tell him to take care on his return journey. (General Kallen was guarding the Star Luo Continent.)

"Uncle-Master!"

Just as he was leaving the palace, Count Libai was called by a voice. He looked toward the source of the sound; it was the former Imperial Grandson, the level 91 Dai Xiuyuan (who had reached that level at age 56 by taking pills).

"Take care!"

Dai Xiuyuan looked at his Uncle-Master, who was determined to die, and cupped his hands in a gesture of farewell.

"Hmm."

Count Libai turned resolutely and flew back the way he came, never looking back.

The 378th year after Huo Yuhao's ascension, the 298th year of Levant, with the Sun Moon Empire's army launching a probing attack on the camp where the Star Luo Empire's Guardian Douluo Zhang Cheng was stationed, the prelude to the war of unification officially began.

That year, the towns of the Star Luo Empire and the Douling Empire located on the Douluo Continent mainland were in turmoil.

This year, Shrek Academy saw the emergence of its second Rank 99 Limit Douluo.

It was also in this year...

"Aha, the experimental control group was a complete success; I truly am a genius!"

Barus looked at the medal-like object (Two-Horned Imprint) he had spent over 50 years tinkering with in his spare time, crafted by combining ordinary forged metal with water-attribute elemental stones from the Nanshan Rainforest, designed to be placed within the spiritual world.

"With this, Elves, Dragons, and Soul Beasts can use Soul Power to trigger elemental attacks, achieving elemental-type Soul Power attacks through external objects! They will no longer be restricted by their own species!"

"Although it isn't an ultimate elemental attribute, the technical route has been proven feasible, so I can begin expanding the research and development next."