Douluo Continent More Terrifying Than the Original Work

"Your Highness, I have gathered a great deal of useful intelligence." Upon returning to the Tianyang, Gu Yuntong immediately began to report his findings in a respectful tone. As Xu Mochen listened quietly, he began comparing the information against the descriptions of the Douluo Continent from the original work, quickly gaining a firm grasp on the current state of the continent.

First was the landmass of the Douluo Continent. According to the information Gu Yuntong obtained, the continent's area and population were far more staggering than in the original work; it spanned approximately 26 million square kilometers, with a population exceeding 1.6 billion!

In terms of territory, it was roughly three times the size of the Sun Moon Empire, and its population was a staggering ten times that of the empire. One must realize that the entire Sun Moon Continent (Empire) only covered about 8.6 million square kilometers, and its population had only grown to 160 million by the present day.

There were nine countries on the Douluo Continent, the two most powerful being the Heaven Dou Empire in the north and the Star Luo Empire in the south.

The other seven nations were kingdoms and duchies that had split off from the two great empires, consisting of four kingdoms and three duchies, collectively known as the "Four Kingdoms and Three Duchies." Among these, four kingdoms and one duchy had split from the Heaven Dou Empire, while the other two duchies had split from the Star Luo Empire.

These Four Kingdoms and Three Duchies were primarily distributed in the central-west and central-east regions of the Douluo Continent. While their strength did not match the two great empires, they were not to be underestimated, and they were on an entirely different level from the fodder-like kingdoms and duchies mentioned in the original work.

The strength of the Heaven Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire was also far more terrifying than in the original novel. They were not the bizarre entities depicted in the book, where the two imperial families combined could barely scrape together a few Titled Douluo (excluding the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect), and the total number of soul masters directly under the imperial families didn't even reach ten thousand.

Located near the center of the Douluo Continent was indeed the Martial Soul Hall, an organization with terrifying strength and deep foundations. It was not only a holy land in the hearts of soul masters, but in terms of the number of soul masters under its command, it did indeed surpass either of the two great empires. However, if the two empires were to join forces, their combined total of soul masters would certainly overwhelm the Martial Soul Hall.

Not to mention the situation in the original work where the Martial Soul Hall controlled over half of the continent's soul masters—that simply did not exist! The reality of the Douluo Continent featured a far more terrifying number of soul masters than the original work; how could the Martial Soul Hall possibly possess such capability?

Beyond the two empires, the Four Kingdoms and Three Duchies, and the Martial Soul Hall, the Douluo Continent naturally featured the Seven Great Sects. The Upper Three Sects were the same as in the original: the Clear Sky Sect of the Tang Clan, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect of the Ning Clan, and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect of the Yu Clan. As for the Lower Four Sects, in addition to the Elephant Armor Sect of the Huyan Clan mentioned in the original, the other three were the Wind Sword Sect of the Feng Clan, the Black Tiger Sect of the Taishi Clan, and the Fire Leopard Sect of the Situ Clan.

Of course, this did not mean that these seven were necessarily the most powerful soul master factions on the continent outside of the Martial Soul Hall. In reality, the Douluo Continent was full of hidden talents, and many unknown factions had no interest in participating in such rankings, which allowed these seven visible sects to take the spotlight.

Furthermore, the technological level and status of the Douluo Continent were indeed similar to the original work. There were no technological products that created a strong sense of dissonance with the era, as seen in the comics or anime. Moreover, the manufacturing methods for past Soul Tools had basically vanished completely. The remaining Soul Tools were mostly storage-type, and other varieties were as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns—one could even say they were rarer than soul bones on the Douluo Continent.

Looking at the weapons and equipment of these city garrison soldiers, it was easy to deduce that the military weaponry of the Douluo Continent was still largely stuck in the cold weapon era. Its technological level was far behind even the Sun Moon Empire of six years ago, let alone the current one.

The technological level of the Douluo Continent at this time was roughly stuck in the early "Dark Era" of the Sun Moon Empire! The gap in technology between the two sides was quite staggering.

Of course, when comparing the quality of martial souls, the people of the Douluo Continent clearly surpassed those of the Sun Moon Continent! Super and top-tier martial souls were emerging one after another on the Douluo Continent.

While one could not say they were everywhere, they were certainly not few in number, and compared to the Sun Moon Continent, they were on a much higher level. It was only because the technology on the Douluo Continent was far behind the Sun Moon Empire, coupled with the fact that the various major powers were hostile and pitted against one another, that the Sun Moon Empire had an opportunity to exploit. Otherwise, if the Douluo Continent were truly a unified whole and had caught up to the Sun Moon Empire on the technology tree, the first problem the Sun Moon Empire would have to consider would not be how to profit, but how to ensure its own survival.

The city they were currently in was Linghai City, the second-largest city in the Fasino Province in the southwest of the Douluo Continent, second only to the provincial capital, Fasino City. Its scale was definitely that of a large town on the Douluo Continent. Because the southern part of the Fasino Province bordered the Balaque Kingdom, which possessed the strongest comprehensive national power among the "Four Kingdoms and Three Duchies."

The Balaque Kingdom further south bordered the Aodelan Duchy, the second strongest among the "Four Kingdoms and Three Duchies," and the southern and eastern parts of the Aodelan Duchy bordered the Star Luo Empire. Additionally, as Linghai City was the largest coastal city in the southwest of the Heaven Dou Empire, its maritime trade was extremely developed, with countless merchant ships from the four nations passing through every day.

Thus, this developed commerce brought great prosperity to Linghai City. In terms of economic scale and status, even the provincial capital, Fasino City, could not compare to it.

Gu Yuntong shared all other information with Xu Mochen without reservation. After learning so much useful intelligence, Xu Mochen began to meticulously formulate his plans.

Although the strength of the enemy exceeded Xu Mochen's expectations, this did not mean he was helpless against the various factions of the Douluo Continent. Thus, through the joint planning of Xu Mochen and his team, a rough course of action gradually surfaced.

Ten days passed in the blink of an eye. During these ten days, aside from formulating plans and receiving food and water shipments from outside, Xu Mochen spent his time cultivating in solitude. This time, he had decided that if everything went smoothly, once he was settled on the Douluo Continent, he would dedicate more time to his cultivation!

In fact, during his days on the Sun Moon Continent, the time Xu Mochen could devote to cultivation was minimal. Every day, besides focusing his energy on military and political affairs, he had to devote even more to various aspects of scientific research! Therefore, even though he possessed a god-level martial soul and had already passed his first trial, his own cultivation was only at level 23!

Compared to the Shrek Seven Devils at the same age in the original work, this cultivation progress was far behind! Fortunately, Tang San should be six years younger than him; otherwise, if Tang San were to become a god before him, he would have nowhere to cry!

In any case, the assistance he could provide in other areas of the Sun Moon Empire was mostly complete, and these current affairs could be handed over to the people he had arranged to handle them. In other words, his top priority moving forward would be cultivation!

Just as Xu Mochen finished his cultivation, a huge commotion suddenly erupted from the distant harbor, and then the door to his room was knocked upon.

Opening the door, he saw Gu Yuntong looking at him with a serious expression. "Your Highness, just as we expected, people from the Heaven Dou Imperial family have arrived. And judging by the posture, it seems they are not ordinary members of the royal family. This time, they have brought a large number of Royal Guards and experts. Shall we proceed according to the plan?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Mochen stood up, nodded with a solemn expression, and began to act according to the plan.

As the dust kicked up in the distance drew closer, what appeared in everyone's field of vision was a large detachment of Royal Knights clad in heavy plate armor with golden patterns, riding sturdy warhorses with sharp horns on their heads, their aura murderous. These heavy cavalry arrived first and quickly replaced the city garrison to blockade and control the scene.

Following closely behind were a large number of Royal heavy infantry dressed in plate armor with golden patterns, holding all-steel spears and shields, marching in unison. They were accompanied by a group of soul masters wearing golden robes and special soft armor, their faces covered by golden masks, with soul rings pulsing around them. They quickly arranged themselves into neat rows, clearing a wide path that led directly to the harbor.

"By the order of His Majesty the Emperor of the Heaven Dou Empire! To welcome the guests who have traveled from the distant West! We are ordered to come and receive you! Please dispatch your diplomatic and accompanying personnel to negotiate. His Highness the Crown Prince of our Heaven Dou Empire has already prepared a welcome banquet at the nearby City Lord's Mansion and cordially invites the distinguished guests to attend! As for the soldiers on the other ships, please disembark afterward; we have prepared a place for you to rest and be entertained at the pier."

The leader, an old man in ornate robes with a fierce, rugged face and eyes brimming with killing intent, shouted in a deep, resonant voice toward the Sun Moon Empire fleet. He had clearly utilized his soul power, so his voice could be heard clearly even by those on the Tianyang.

Soon after, several small boats from the distance carried the guests from the Sun Moon Empire to the shore. Eighteen figures in black robes disembarked one after another, the three leaders being a twelve-year-old boy, a middle-aged man, and an old man.

Once they landed, a long red carpet suddenly unrolled to their feet, and the soldiers holding long horns all around immediately began to play! The majestic sound instantly echoed throughout the entire pier!

So this is the so-called welcome ceremony? Truly interesting. The twelve-year-old boy in the center couldn't help but smile inwardly.

At this moment, the old man representing the Heaven Dou Empire clearly noticed that there was a boy among the diplomatic delegation. Although surprised, he didn't say anything, instead stepping forward quickly to bow respectfully. "Respected guests from overseas, welcome to the Heaven Dou Empire of the Douluo Continent. I am the official responsible for receiving you. Before we proceed, I hope you can inform me of your respective cultivation levels."

Xu Mochen understood that this was for the sake of safety. After all, they were about to meet the Crown Prince of the opposing nation. If there were individuals with overly high cultivation levels in this group, it could potentially pose an immeasurable threat to the safety of the Crown Prince.