Dragon Valley World, Dragon Clan Graveyard
"So, they targeted your granddaughter? And because her soul power was so strong, she forced them out and killed them instead?"
"Yes. It's strange, too. All the dragon and elf leaders have been examined with a secret soul-detection technique, and none of them have been tampered with. The only one who showed traces of contact was my granddaughter, but the soul-color scroll showed no change."
Rus Wang naturally couldn't tell the Light Dragon King that his granddaughter Toriya was a Seer Elf like him, or that her father, Barus, belonged to the new Dragon Race—the Seer True Dragons.
"That really is strange. Why would the gods of the Divine Realm place their hopes on controlling a king's bloodline? It's like one piece of feces spoiling an entire pot of food—enough to topple a country."
The Light Dragon King was certain that no matter how exceptional Toriya's talent was, if she had been controlled by the gods of the Divine Realm, Rus Wang would have killed her himself for the greater good.
He had seen the number of uses recorded on the soul-detection scroll before him: an astonishing 2,933,241. Nearly three-eighths of the Elf Kingdom's population had been examined. Toriya, who had been targeted by a god of the Divine Realm, had even been checked with a bloodline-detection scroll. But judging by the results, the girl had turned the other side's trick against them. She was completely unharmed.
"Then we can breathe a little easier about Zheer Continent, for now. The problem now is Star Dou Forest."
The Light Dragon King put away the secret scrolls. He knew how to make them, of course, but he was the only one who did. His apprentice Barus's spiritual power wasn't yet sufficient to make even the most basic ones. So they couldn't use them up and toss them aside for new ones; they had to be kept in a storage Soul Tool.
"I'm not worried about Di Tian. The Dragon King took him in and raised him, so naturally, he has measures in place to protect him. The Crown Prince told me as much before he died. It's the Silver Dragon King, Zi JI, and the remaining dragons there that truly worry me."
A Beast Race with a hundred thousand years of cultivation? If they could only be like the beasts of Dragon Valley Forest, whose descendants had held them down for tens of thousands of years before they finally learned that they didn't have to fight and kill, then perhaps there'd be no problem. Back then, the Dragon Race would have had to start another prolonged divine war with them, following the one against the Behemoths.
"I've figured out which soul secret technique the gods of the Divine Realm used on Rus's granddaughter. It's the same one they used on the Auspicious Beast in Star Dou Forest: soul-splitting. It lies dormant at first, waiting for the right moment, then takes effect on its target. If the target has strong soul power, using the technique is as good as doing nothing. But considering the Silver Dragon King was split off from the Dragon God... we need to prepare for the worst, Rus."
"Twenty-six years left?"
Zhang Cheng felt his strength growing weaker by the day. He was so weak that the Sun Moon Empire's troops on the border had begun taunting them, and Shrek had brazenly started annexing towns belonging to the Star Luo Empire that bordered Shrek City...
He knew Mu Huican wasn't giving orders from behind the scenes. On the contrary, he was old too, and could no longer keep the people under him from scheming in all kinds of ways. And what power did those officials from the towns that had defected have to stop the Shrek Academy elders, led by Titled Douluo and Soul Douluo, from doing as they pleased?
Zhang Cheng took a deep breath. Looking at the emperor who had come to see him, and who was beginning to look middle-aged himself, he smiled bitterly and sighed.
"You've grown old too, Your Majesty."
"At a time like this, you don't have to call me 'Your Majesty' when it's just the two of us, Uncle Zhang."
Seeing Zhang Cheng still address him formally as emperor, the emperor replied with a bitter smile.
"Your Majesty, this is a military camp. There's only an emperor and his aging general here."
"You're still... as stubborn as ever."
The emperor wasn't angry.
"Your sister Dai Ruoheng may yet reach level 99, but it's too late—far too late. In the future, send her to Star Luo Continent to expand the empire's borders in your name and swallow up the native kingdoms still left there. She'll have no problem facing off against the sixty-thousand-year-old dragon in Star Luo Forest."
At that moment, Zhang Cheng gave the emperor his final counsel, laying out the situation as he saw it and how he thought the empire should move forward.
"Also, Your Majesty, losing our homeland wasn't your fault. The situation was beyond changing long ago. If Lingbing Douluo had been treated by the late emperor as a duke's son from childhood, how could the Star Luo Empire have been driven into such a desperate position by the Sun Moon Empire?"
"The sea lies between us, and the voyage takes months. No matter how terrifying the Sun Moon Empire's armies are on land, they can't easily launch an invasion across the sea. There are no islands to use as footholds, and their sea transport and supply lines would be fragile. As long as Your Majesty develops the navy after my departure, the Sun Moon Empire's attempts to cross the sea can be crushed with ease."
Just then, his adjutant barged into the tent without waiting for the guards outside to stop him, bringing Zhang Cheng the news he least wanted to hear.
"Your Majesty! General! The Sun Moon Empire's troops have come to the border again! This time, they're heading straight for us!"
"There must be spies among the military leadership and inside the palace. They knew the emperor was coming! Count Libai!"
Zhang Cheng glared furiously. The Sun Moon Continent had collided with the old Douluo Continent nearly five thousand years ago. The two sides had been locked in blood feuds ever since, with spies and betrayals on every side. But after the Heaven Dou Empire fell, the military alliance between the three nations collapsed, and the last link in the chain, Lingbing Douluo Dai Yuhao, ascended to godhood and left. The rats in the Star Luo Empire had finally turned completely to the Sun Moon Empire!
And they had even sold out the emperor's movements.
"Here!"
Count Libai, who had been stuck at level 97 with no further progress, was Zhang Cheng's second disciple. Thanks to his cultivation and military experience, he had rejoined the army and now served at Zhang Cheng's side as a lieutenant colonel and staff officer. He carried out his duties faithfully, and Zhang Cheng had noticed. Anyone might be capable of getting the emperor killed, but Count Libai never would!
"Get the emperor and the others out of here!"
"Yes!"
Late that night, the border rang with the roar of fixed Soul Tools, the howls of Martial Soul Avatars, and the tremendous tremors of Zhang Cheng's level-99 power. A phantom greatsword materialized in the sky and slashed down at the earth in a single blow.
By morning, Count Libai had escorted the emperor back to the palace. After receiving the emperor's permission, he used the perception of a Super Douluo to immediately kill every suspicious person moving near the palace's entrances and exits.
When it was all over, the emperor tried to make him stay.
"No. You're safely back in the palace, and Senior Sister Dai Ruoheng has already arrived to guard it. I have to return to the military camp and hold the border with my master, buying more time for you and the people of the empire to board the ocean-going ships. I won't hesitate even if it costs me my life. It's the last way I can atone to the imperial family for Prince Jinhu's death."
The emperor couldn't persuade his sister Dai Ruoheng either, so he didn't insist on making him stay. He could only wish him a safe journey back. (General Kallen was guarding Star Luo Continent.)
"Uncle!"
As Count Libai was leaving the palace, a voice called out to him. He looked toward the speaker: Dai Xiuyuan, once the Imperial Grandson, now fifty-six years old and at level 91 after taking pills.
"Stay safe!"
Dai Xiuyuan clasped his hands in a gesture of respect, looking at his uncle, who had already made peace with death.
"Mm."
Count Libai turned resolutely and flew back the way he had come, without looking back.
In the 378th year after Huo Yuhao's ascension, the 298th year of Levant, the Sun Moon Empire's troops launched a probing attack on the camp where Zhang Cheng, the Nation-Protecting Douluo of the Star Luo Empire, was stationed. The prelude to the war of unification had officially begun.
That year, the towns of the Star Luo Empire and Dou Ling Empire on the Douluo Continent's mainland were in turmoil.
That year, Shrek Academy produced its second Limit Douluo.
And that same year...
"Aha! All the experimental trials succeeded. I really am a genius!"
Barus looked at the badge-like thing he had made in his spare time over more than fifty years of tinkering. It was made from ordinary forged metal and water-element stones from the Nanshan Rainforest, and could be placed in the Mental World: the Two-Horned Imprint.
"With this, elves, dragons, and Soul Beasts can use Soul Power to launch elemental attacks! They can use external objects to perform elemental Soul Power attacks, no longer limited by their own race!"
"It's not an ultimate elemental attribute, but this proves the technology is viable. Now I can start expanding the research."
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