"Once these Soul Masters wreaked havoc in these small and mid-sized towns, slaughtering and looting before simply riding off, even if the Heaven Dou Empire hurried reinforcements there afterward, it would already be too late."
"Besides, with the enemy long gone, it would be impossible to determine their exact whereabouts. And because they were powerful Soul Masters, it would be extremely difficult for the Heaven Dou Empire to track down the culprits afterward. Send too few people, or Soul Masters who were too weak, and they would struggle to find the enemy. Even if they were lucky enough to track them down, it would be hard to win—and even if they somehow won, it would be hard to stop the enemy from escaping."
"If they sent out more people, with Soul Masters strong enough for the task, that would seriously weaken the Heaven Dou Empire's defenses elsewhere. The Heaven Dou Empire had no shortage of high-level Soul Masters, but most of them had to protect the border, the imperial capital, and other key military strongholds. If they rashly redeployed those Soul Masters, they would inevitably leave serious gaps in the Empire's other critical defensive positions!"
"If anything went wrong in those areas, the Heaven Dou Empire could suffer losses even harder to bear. I imagine both great empires, along with the other kingdoms and duchies, must find this situation a real headache."
"Especially since many Soul Masters with flying Martial Souls, though few in number, could wreak havoc and plunder before insisting on fleeing. I'm afraid most armies and Soul Masters would be utterly helpless against them!"
"After all, without a flying-type Martial Soul, even a Titled Douluo could only stay aloft for a short time by relying on their immense Soul Power. And since the nations of the Douluo Continent lacked effective anti-air capabilities, all anyone could do when faced with such a Soul Master was consider themselves out of luck!"
After hearing Xu Mochen's analysis, Xue Qinghe could only shake his head with a wry smile. "Xiao Chen, you really are exceptionally perceptive. You're right. The nations across the Douluo Continent have all been plagued by this sort of thing, and they've tried countless ways to solve the problem."
"Expanding the army on a large scale was out of the question; in the long run, no nation could afford the expense. And stationing powerful Soul Masters in every city was out of the question too, since that would greatly weaken the defenses of the nation's key positions. It would be a poor trade."
"So we could only resort to other methods to prevent such incidents. For example, we conducted large-scale censuses, doing our best to include everyone, even slaves and reclusive clans. Many reclusive clans were difficult to count, but it was still possible to estimate their populations roughly."
"Though this method consumed time, money, and manpower, and placed a tremendous burden on the nations for a time, at least they could call upon Soul Masters for help. With Spirit Hall's assistance as well, after generations of effort, they managed to complete most of the work."
"Though the nations of the Douluo Continent can't claim to know every reclusive clan within their borders, they know eight or nine out of ten. On top of that, the nations and Spirit Hall jointly established policies such as Martial Soul Awakening, Soul Master registration, and Soul Master subsidies. By offering incentives and enforcing the law, they could help young Soul Masters in financial hardship while also using the opportunity to register almost every newly awakened Soul Master. That made it easier to investigate their identities and related information if they ever committed a crime."
"Besides, the nations of the Douluo Continent knew that when the enemy was hidden and they were exposed, any large-scale action they took openly would surely be seen by the other side. That put them at a serious disadvantage when dealing with powerful Soul Masters whose whereabouts were hard to predict. So every nation had its own shadow agency dedicated to secretly investigating and handling such cases."
"Though these methods couldn't prevent many powerful Soul Masters from committing crimes, they were at least effective in keeping such incidents within certain bounds." Xue Qinghe explained it all helplessly. Of course, he deliberately concealed the identity of the Heaven Dou Empire's own shadow agency. It was easy enough to know that every nation had such an agency, but getting any useful information about it was another matter entirely.
But Xue Qinghe and Ning Fengzhi understood that such incidents could also carry a deeper meaning. For instance, powerful Soul Masters from a hostile nation or faction could secretly infiltrate small and mid-sized towns, slaughtering, destroying, and looting before simply riding off. There was little anyone could do to stop them immediately. After all, ordinary people and low-level Soul Masters were simply too weak against high-level Soul Masters.
In fact, this sort of thing already happened. Mutual deterrence was the reason: you could do it to me, and I could do it to you. If the damage grew too great and your identity was exposed, neither side would come out ahead. That was why no one dared take things too far.
Xu Mochen nodded when he heard this. "These methods might not be particularly clever, but they're still a sound strategy. The problem is, they treat the symptoms, not the root cause. They can't stop an incident while it's happening; they can only investigate and deal with it afterward."
"Our Sun Moon Empire used to face similar problems. We had fewer high-level Soul Masters, and the gap in individual strength wasn't as severe as it was on the Douluo Continent. Besides, even powerful Soul Masters with individual Soul Guidance Weapons were usually on the registry, so they couldn't conceal their identities. That meant things were a little better here. But the problem still existed, and it was only in recent years that the situation improved dramatically."
"Ultimately, the reason these problems exist is that ordinary people and low-level Soul Masters are too weak to fight back against high-level Soul Masters! Unless that changes, these incidents will never stop. In a world where the strong prey on the weak, only your fists can truly keep you safe!"
Xu Mochen's words struck straight to the heart of the matter. Xue Qinghe, Ning Fengzhi, and the others all nodded. They understood the logic, of course, but had no good way to curb the problem.
After all, an ordinary person—even an ordinary heavy cavalryman in the Heaven Dou Empire's Royal Knights, the pinnacle of ordinary combat prowess on the Douluo Continent—could only match an average Battle Soul Elder. That was after grueling training, with a Ten-Year Soul Beast Jiaolin Warhorse beneath him, a suit of plate armor for both rider and steed, and fine weapons in his hands. And in certain kinds of rough terrain, a knight fighting alone might not even be as strong as a Soul Elder.
Only then did Xu Mochen begin to reveal his real intention. "The biggest reason these incidents have plummeted in the Sun Moon Empire in recent years is that ordinary people and low-level Soul Masters can use Soul Guidance Weapons too!"
"Faced with a sufficient number of these Soul Guidance Weapons, even high-level Soul Masters without weapons of their own would have to give ground. Even experts of level seventy or eighty could be shot dead on the spot if they weren't careful! That's why the powerful criminals in the Sun Moon Empire no longer dare to act so brazenly."
Though Xu Mochen's tone was calm, his words carried a certain authority. They immediately sent a storm of shock through the Heaven Dou Empire's delegation!
"Ordinary people can use Soul Guidance Weapons! A group of ordinary people and low-level Soul Masters can even kill experts of level seventy or eighty!" Even Xue Qinghe and Ning Fengzhi, both masters of composure, were utterly shaken. It sounded like something from a fairy tale!
They knew all too well how high the status of Soul Masters was on the Douluo Continent, to say nothing of high-level Soul Masters! Their status was practically above the rest. Why? Because their combat prowess was far beyond that of ordinary people, and in many situations, it played a crucial, irreplaceable role! Even the imperial family treated them with great courtesy and dared not slight them!
If this kind of weapon really became widespread, the status of powerful Soul Masters would surely plummet! They wouldn't sink to the same level as ordinary people, but they would certainly lose much of their lofty position!
At that moment, Xue Qinghe and Ning Fengzhi were both riding waves of emotion. The difference was that Ning Fengzhi's heart held more than concern for the future of powerful Soul Masters. He longed even more for the direct disciples of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect to gain the power to fight.
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 Spirit Saints and even Soul Douluos, that meant the direct disciples of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect could use them to achieve the same results! If everything Xu Mochen said was true, and he was willing to sell these weapons to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, then its direct disciples would finally be able to defend themselves. It was no exaggeration to say that the sect's overall strength would rise by a tremendous degree!
At the thought, even Ning Fengzhi, usually so refined and composed, felt his gaze turn feverishly intent! A voice in his heart told him, with absolute conviction: Buy them! He had to buy them! Whatever the cost, he had to get his hands on a batch of Soul Guidance Weapons!
Unlike Ning Fengzhi, whose excitement far outweighed his worries, Xue Qinghe was consumed by anxiety! If she really were the Crown Prince of the Heaven Dou Empire, then perhaps she would be excited to learn all this. She might even report it straight to the imperial court and insist that they buy a large batch of weapons, regardless of the cost!
After all, the Heaven Dou Empire had no shortage of well-trained ordinary soldiers. What it lacked was a way to improve their combat strength! If the Soul Guidance Weapons sold by the Sun Moon Empire could fill that gap, the Heaven Dou Empire's national strength would surely soar!
But the problem was that her true identity was the Spirit Hall's young master, Qian Renxue! Why could Spirit Hall stand as an equal to the two great empires with only a single city under its control? Beyond the strength of its faith, wasn't it because it had more Soul Masters—and stronger ones—than the two empires? No matter how deeply she had gone undercover, she wasn't the real Crown Prince. She was the young master of Spirit Hall, and she had to put Spirit Hall's interests first!
If these weapons really began circulating widely across the nations of the Douluo Continent, the status of Soul Masters would plummet, and even the power of the strongest Soul Masters would be greatly diminished. Wouldn't Spirit Hall be the one to suffer the greatest loss of prestige? By then, it wouldn't just be the two great empires; even the seven kingdoms and duchies might no longer be as deeply influenced by Spirit Hall as they were now. They might even turn around and use it as leverage against Spirit Hall!
What should she do? What should she do? How could she stop this from happening? Use her position as Crown Prince of the Heaven Dou Empire to block the deal outright?
No! That would undoubtedly make the Heaven Dou court suspicious. Many officials could already guess that she was the one who had killed the second and third princes. Even Xue Ye must have known she was behind it. They weren't fools. They might not have seen her kill them, but they could tell from who stood to benefit most.
They hadn't punished her because they believed she had done it to secure her position as Crown Prince—that it was simply part of the struggle within the palace. Besides, she had performed exceptionally well in managing the Empire's affairs over the years, so they believed she could lead the Heaven Dou Empire to greatness!
But if she, usually so astute, suddenly hesitated—or even deliberately sabotaged—a move that could clearly strengthen the nation and enhance her own reputation, her so-called father and those old foxes in the court would certainly begin to suspect her true intentions. They might even suspect her identity! At that point, her exposure would be just around the corner!
Could Spirit Hall sabotage the deal in secret, or even look for an opportunity to assassinate or kidnap members of the delegation? But the risks would be impossible to gauge! Spirit Hall still knew next to nothing about the strength and resources of these people. If the plan were discovered or failed, Spirit Hall would thoroughly anger a powerful empire far across the sea!
The Sun Moon Empire might not send troops openly to the Douluo Continent for various reasons, but it could recklessly ship Soul Guidance Weapons to the two great empires and to other enemies of Spirit Hall, both known and potential. For the sake of getting more weapons, those enemies would surely be happy to do the job!
The Sun Moon Empire could then use all sorts of other methods to infiltrate the Douluo Continent with large numbers of elite, powerful Soul Masters. They could stop at nothing, just as Xu Mochen had said, secretly striking everywhere, destroying Spirit Hall's branch halls and businesses, and assassinating or kidnapping its people. Yet Spirit Hall would be powerless against a powerful nation across the ocean! Keep this up for long, and Spirit Hall might completely fall apart on its own without ever being destroyed by its enemies!
Before you continue