A Matter of Public Order, a Strategic Threat

"Once these soul masters wreak havoc in these small and medium-sized towns, engaging in slaughter and plunder before making a clean getaway, even if the Heaven Dou Empire's reinforcements arrive in a hurry, it will already be too late."

"Furthermore, because the enemy has long since vanished, it becomes impossible to track their specific movements. Coupled with the enemy's profound cultivation, it becomes incredibly difficult for the Heaven Dou Empire to investigate the culprits. If they send too few people or those with weak soul power, they will struggle to track the enemy, and even if they happen to find them, they will struggle to win—and even if they happen to win, they will struggle to prevent the enemy from escaping."

"If they send a large force with sufficiently strong soul masters, it will severely compromise the defensive strength of the Heaven Dou Empire in other directions. Although the number of high-level soul masters under the Heaven Dou Empire is not small, the vast majority must guard the borders, the imperial capital, and other key military strongholds. If these soul masters are mobilized rashly, it will inevitably create serious gaps in the key defensive areas of the Heaven Dou Empire!"

"If things go poorly and problems arise in these areas, it could even cause the Heaven Dou Empire to suffer losses that are even harder to bear. Presumably, both the two great empires and the other kingdoms and duchies must be suffering from headaches over this situation."

"Especially those soul masters who possess flight-type martial souls. Although their numbers are few, once they finish their wanton destruction and looting and are determined to flee, I fear that the vast majority of armies and soul masters would have no way to deal with them!"

"After all, without a flight-type martial soul, even a powerhouse at the Title Douluo level can only manage to hover in the air for a short time by relying on deep soul power. Since the nations of the Douluo Continent lack effective anti-air attack methods, encountering such soul masters means one can only consider themselves unlucky!"

Upon hearing this analysis from Xu Mochen, Xue Qinghe could only shake his head and smile bitterly: "Little Chen is truly exceptionally intelligent. It is true; in fact, all the nations on the Douluo Continent have been plagued by such matters and have thought of countless ways to solve these problems."

"Large-scale military expansion is definitely not feasible; in the long run, the national finances of the various countries cannot sustain it. Distributing strong soul masters to garrison every city is also not feasible, as this would significantly weaken the country's defensive capabilities in key areas, doing more harm than good."

"Therefore, we can only adopt other methods to prevent such things from happening. For example, conducting large-scale censuses, trying our best to include everyone, including slaves and hidden families. Although it is difficult to count the population of many hidden families, making a rough estimate is not a problem."

"Although this method is time-consuming, expensive, and labor-intensive, and once brought great burdens to the various countries, fortunately, the nations can mobilize the power of soul masters. Coupled with the help of the Martial Soul Hall and the efforts of countless generations, this work has finally been largely completed."

"Although the nations of the Douluo Continent cannot be said to know every hidden clan within their borders, knowing eighty or ninety percent is not a problem. Added to this are the policies jointly established by the Douluo nations and the Martial Soul Hall regarding martial soul awakening, soul master registration, and soul master subsidies. Through the temptation of benefits and national laws, they can both help young soul masters in financial difficulty and take the opportunity to register almost all newly born soul masters, making it easier to track their identities and other relevant information when they commit crimes."

"In addition, the Douluo nations also know that in a situation where the enemy is in the dark and we are in the light, their own large-scale movements are surely in the eyes of the other party, which puts them at a disadvantage when dealing with these elusive soul master powerhouses. Therefore, each country also has specialized shadow agencies responsible for secretly investigating and handling such incidents."

"Although these methods cannot completely eradicate crimes by many soul master powerhouses, they are at least effective in controlling such matters within a certain range." Xue Qinghe explained all this helplessly. Of course, Xue Qinghe also deliberately concealed what the shadow agencies of the Heaven Dou Empire were. Clearly, it is easy to know that various countries have such shadow agencies, but wanting to know more relevant and useful information is not so simple.

However, Xue Qinghe and Ning Fengzhi understood that such matters could actually have another deeper meaning. For example, powerhouses from hostile countries or forces could also secretly infiltrate small and medium-sized towns to slaughter, destroy, and plunder before making a clean getaway, and there would be no way to stop it immediately. After all, ordinary people and low-level soul masters are still too weak when facing high-level soul masters.

In fact, such things exist objectively; it is only due to mutual deterrence—you can do this to me, and I can do the same to you—that once the commotion becomes too great and the identity is discovered, neither side will have an easy time. Therefore, no one dares to go too far.

After listening, Xu Mochen nodded and said: "While these methods cannot be considered very clever, they are still a viable strategy. It is just that these methods treat the symptoms but not the root cause; they cannot stop the incident from happening at the time, only investigate and handle it after the fact."

"In the past, we in the Sun Moon Empire also encountered similar problems. Although the situation was not as severe as on the Douluo Continent due to the scarcity of high-level soul masters and the smaller gap in individual strength, and most powerhouses with individual Soul Guidance Weapons were registered and could not hide their identities, the problem still existed. It was only in recent years that this situation has been greatly improved."

"Ultimately, the reason for this problem is that ordinary people and low-level soul masters are too weak to resist high-level soul masters! If this point cannot be improved, then such things will never stop in the future, because in a world where the strong prey on the weak, only one's fists are the foundation for ensuring one's own safety!"

Hearing Xu Mochen's incisive words, Xue Qinghe, Ning Fengzhi, and the others nodded one after another. They naturally understood these principles, but they had no good way to curb them.

After all, an ordinary person—even a heavy cavalryman from the Royal Knights of the Heaven Dou Empire, the ceiling of ordinary combat power on the Douluo Continent—after rigorous and brutal training, plus a Jiaolin Warhorse at the ten-year soul beast level, two sets of plate armor for man and horse, and some fine weapons in hand, has an individual combat power that is only about the same as a normal Battle Soul Elder. Moreover, if they were to duel in complex terrain, the knight might not even be as strong as a Soul Elder.

It was only then that Xu Mochen began to reveal his true intentions: "And in the Sun Moon Empire, the biggest reason why the number of such incidents has plummeted in recent years is that ordinary people and low-level soul masters can also use Soul Guidance Weapons!"

"Facing a sufficient number of these Soul Guidance Weapons, if it is a high-level soul master without such equipment, even a powerhouse at the 70th or 80th level would have to retreat! If things go poorly, being shot dead on the spot is entirely possible! This is why the powerful criminals in the Sun Moon Empire now dare not be so rampant."

Although Xu Mochen's tone was calm, it was filled with a certain dominance, immediately causing a huge uproar among the representatives of the Heaven Dou Empire!

"Soul Guidance Weapons that can be used by ordinary people! Combining a group of ordinary people and low-level soul masters can even kill powerhouses at the 70th or 80th level!" Even with the composure of Xue Qinghe and Ning Fengzhi, they were completely unsettled upon hearing this! It was as if they were listening to a fantasy tale!

They were well aware of how high the status of soul masters was on the Douluo Continent! Not to mention high-level soul masters! Their status could simply be described as transcendent! Why? It was precisely because they possessed combat power that ordinary people could not compare to by a wide margin! And this level of combat power could play a crucial and irreplaceable role in many situations! Even the royal family had to treat them with respect and dared not neglect them!

If such weapons were truly popularized, I fear the status of soul master powerhouses would drop significantly! Although they would not fall to the same status as ordinary people, they would certainly no longer be as transcendent as they once were!

At this moment, the hearts of Xue Qinghe and Ning Fengzhi were surging with waves. The difference was that, deep in Ning Fengzhi's heart, besides the worry for the future of soul master powerhouses, there was an even greater desire for the direct disciples of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect to possess combat power!

Since Xu Mochen had said that even ordinary people and low-level soul masters could use these Soul Guidance Weapons to threaten the lives of Soul Saints or even Spirit Douluos, this also meant that the direct disciples of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect could use these weapons to achieve such results! If everything Xu Mochen said was true and he was willing to sell these weapons to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, then the direct disciples of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect would surely possess the ability to protect themselves. It would be no exaggeration to say that the overall strength of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect would rise to a huge new level!

Thinking of this, even the usually elegant and calm Ning Fengzhi's eyes immediately became fiery! The voice in his heart told him firmly: Buy! Must buy! No matter the cost, he must buy such a batch of Soul Guidance Weapons!

Compared to Ning Fengzhi, whose excitement outweighed his worries, Xue Qinghe's heart was filled with anxiety! If she were truly the Crown Prince of the Heaven Dou Empire, she might indeed be excited after learning about these things, and might even report it to the imperial court, insisting on buying a large batch of weapons at any cost!

After all, the Heaven Dou Empire did not lack well-trained ordinary soldiers; what they lacked was a way to improve the combat power of these ordinary soldiers! If the Soul Guidance Weapons sold by the Sun Moon Empire could really fill this gap, then the national power of the Heaven Dou Empire would inevitably soar!

But the problem now was that her true identity was Qian Renxue, the young mistress of the Martial Soul Hall! By what right did the Martial Soul Hall stand on equal footing with the two great empires with only the territory of a city? Besides the powerful power of faith, wasn't it because they had more and stronger soul masters than the two great empires! Even if she were to lurk no matter how well, she was not the real prince, but the young mistress of the Martial Soul Hall; she had to consider the interests of the Martial Soul Hall more!

If such weapons really began to circulate in large quantities among the nations of the Douluo Continent, the status of soul masters would plummet, and the energy possessed by powerful soul masters would be greatly weakened. In the end, wouldn't the one whose status was most severely weakened be the Martial Soul Hall! By then, let alone the two great empires, I fear that even those seven kingdoms and duchies would no longer be as deeply influenced by the Martial Soul Hall as they are now, and might even turn around to threaten the Martial Soul Hall!

What to do? What to do? How should she stop all this from happening? Forcefully stop it in the capacity of the Crown Prince of the Heaven Dou Empire?

No! That would absolutely arouse the suspicion of the Heaven Dou imperial court! Many ministers could already guess that she was the one who caused the deaths of the second and third princes; even Xue Ye likely knew it was her handiwork long ago. They were not fools; even if they hadn't seen her kill anyone, they could guess it was her from the perspective of who benefited the most!

The reason they didn't punish her was entirely because they believed she did it to consolidate her position as Crown Prince, as part of palace intrigue. Coupled with her excellent performance in handling various imperial affairs over the years, they believed she could lead the Heaven Dou Empire to glory!

But if she, who was always shrewd, were to hesitate or deliberately sabotage something that could clearly enhance national strength and personal prestige once completed, then her "father" and that group of old foxes in the court would definitely start to thoroughly doubt her true intentions! They might even suspect her identity! By that time, she would not be far from being exposed!

Could it be that she should let the Martial Soul Hall sabotage it in secret, or even find an opportunity to assassinate or kidnap the members of this delegation? But the risks of doing so were immeasurable! Currently, the Martial Soul Hall only had a superficial understanding of the strength and foundation of this group. Once the action was discovered or failed, the Martial Soul Hall would absolutely enrage an empire far away overseas that appeared to have very strong power!

At that time, perhaps the Sun Moon Empire, due to various reasons, would not openly send troops to the Douluo Continent, but once they frantically shipped Soul Guidance Weapons to the two great empires and other potential enemies of the Martial Soul Hall, letting them deal with the Martial Soul Hall, those enemies would certainly be happy to oblige for the sake of more Soul Guidance Weapons!

Following that, the Sun Moon Empire could also use various other means to infiltrate large numbers of elite soul master powerhouses into the Douluo Continent, letting them spare no cost—just as Xu Mochen said—to lurk everywhere, destroy the branches and industries of the Martial Soul Hall, and assassinate or kidnap Martial Soul Hall personnel, while the Martial Soul Hall would have no way to deal with this powerful nation far across the ocean! If this continued, it wouldn't be long before the Martial Soul Hall, even if not destroyed by the enemy, would completely fall apart on its own!