Ideological Liberation and the War of the Divine Emperors

Initially, the leader of the Sun Moon Empire and the Sun Moon Cult were one and the same; the Emperor of the Sun Moon Empire served concurrently as the Pope of the Sun Moon Cult. However, following an event known in Sun Moon history as the "Blood Moon Coup," the ambitious Sun Moon Cult elder Kong Yao conspired with the Emperor's younger brother, Prince of Destiny Xu Ziying, to overthrow the reign of the Sun Moon Imperial family's Xu Yunhai. They subsequently installed themselves as the Pope of the Sun Moon Cult and the Emperor of the Sun Moon Empire, respectively.

But a series of conflicts of interest soon turned the two against each other, leading to a mutual confrontation. The ultimate result was the victory of the Sun Moon Cult Pope, Kong Yao. However, although Xu Ziying had failed, his vitality remained intact, and because he still commanded a vast number of supporters at the time, Kong Yao dared not take any overly radical measures.

Yet, as time progressed, much of the Sun Moon Empire Emperor's power began to be seized by successive Popes of the Sun Moon Cult. Although the Emperor still retained a significant portion of authority, this marked the moment when the Church's theocratic power officially surpassed imperial authority, and the Sun Moon Empire gradually entered the "Dark Era."

This was an age filled with bloodshed and terror. The Church joined forces with conservative old aristocrats to monopolize power. A vast number of people who opposed the Church, or were framed as doing so, were imprisoned and slaughtered. Countless ancient texts and books were burned under the label of being "anti-Church." Every day, countless individuals were judged, sentenced, tortured, and cruelly persecuted by clergy and religious fanatics.

Because the minds of the populace were shackled, there were few rebels, and they were too scattered to form a significant force. At the time, it seemed the Church's rule had been thoroughly solidified, and no power remained that dared to defy it.

The clergy of the time felt secure, believing that nothing could ever threaten their supreme power again. Little did they know that an emerging class would rise during a great revolutionary movement, one that would thoroughly overturn their supreme theocracy.

Beginning in the year 2695 of the Sun Moon Calendar, with the development of soul-guiding technology in the Sun Moon Empire and the popularization of knowledge across various industries, the empire's productivity began to grow steadily. The resulting economic development entered a golden age. During this process, a group of wealthy merchants and new aristocrats, who controlled advanced means of production and soul-guiding technology to generate profit, began to rise.

Because these individuals were more advanced in both knowledge and ideology than the average commoner, their thinking was more open. They had long secretly encouraged the protection of private property and intellectual property rights, opposed the Church's shackling of public thought and its arbitrary plunder of private property and knowledge, and advocated for intellectual development, advanced education, and exploration and innovation in culture, art, and technology.

As the era developed, the concepts they promoted were believed in and supported by more and more citizens of the Sun Moon Empire. This ideological enlightenment movement is known in Sun Moon history as the "Great Liberation of Thought." This class, which profited through commercial capital and means of production, had a name that everyone would soon become familiar with: the bourgeoisie.

Because the ideas and concepts they promoted were inconsistent with the conservative, traditional ideology that the Church had always propagated, these people naturally faced suppression and punishment from the upper echelons of the Church.

However, it was unfortunate for the Church that, due to corruption and stupidity at the lower levels, the vast majority of the clergy were easily hoodwinked by the wealthy merchants and new aristocrats. Tempted by money and other benefits, they turned a blind eye to these activities, letting them run wild and deceiving their superiors, leaving the Church's leadership in the dark for a long time.

By the time the Holy See finally realized the severity of the problem, these wealthy merchants and new aristocrats had already become a formidable force. Even more unacceptable to the Church was the discovery that the greatest leader behind these individuals was none other than the Emperor—who had been under their own noses the entire time—and members of the royal family who opposed the Sun Moon Cult's rule! Ironically, the royal family had even secretly developed the largest merchant group in the Sun Moon Empire and had been fighting against the Church's influence in the shadows all along!

The Church immediately began to take a series of actions, including confiscating merchant property, suppressing commercial activities, smashing merchant shops, and arresting and trying merchants who opposed the Church. The emerging bourgeoisie, composed of these wealthy merchants, new aristocrats, and anti-Church royal family members, did not sit idly by; they also began to take a series of measures to counter the Church's actions.

The conflict between the two sides intensified, and the struggle quickly reached a fever pitch. It only required one final spark to ignite a terrifying and bloody total war! And that spark arrived soon enough.

August 16, 3758 of the Sun Moon Calendar—a date destined to be recorded in history! On this very day, the Cult Army, led by Archbishop Dylan and the Black Moon Prince Kong Lafa, attacked and occupied the headquarters of the Nebula Chamber of Commerce located in Nebula City. They killed and arrested over five thousand members of the Nebula Chamber of Commerce, including the Vice President. History calls this event the "Nebula City Incident."

Fortunately, the President of the Nebula Chamber of Commerce, Ye Nantian, was not in Nebula City at the time, allowing him to escape the disaster. Upon receiving the news, Ye Nantian and other chambers of commerce were shocked and immediately issued a stern protest to the Sun Moon Cult! But the Sun Moon Cult turned a deaf ear to this, instead ordering all forces supporting the Church to immediately lead the Cult Army to crusade against the protesters and arrest all anti-Church personnel in the Sun Moon Empire, including the Emperor!

The Emperor of the Sun Moon Empire, along with other wealthy merchants and new aristocrats, understood that the relationship between the two sides had completely broken down. They immediately declared war on the Sun Moon Cult and quickly assembled the private armed guards of the chambers of commerce, recruited mercenaries, the regular troops held by the new aristocrats, and other armed forces loyal to the Emperor to form the "Royalist Army" to fight against the Church-led Cult Army! Thus, the "War of the Gods and Emperors," famous in the history of the Sun Moon Empire, officially broke out.

In the early stages of the war, because the Church and the old aristocrats controlled the vast majority of the Sun Moon Empire's territory, and the "Cult Army" commanded more active-duty troops than the "Royalist Army," these active-duty soldiers possessed a level of training and military literacy that the chamber of commerce militias and mercenaries could not compare to.

Consequently, in the early stages of the war, the "Cult Army" won victory after victory, leaving the "Royalist Army" in shambles. After the "First Battle of Ming Capital," they even occupied the entire Ming Capital and captured the Imperial Palace. The Emperor and a group of high-ranking Royalists had to flee Ming Capital under the cover of the "Royalist Army" and retreat to Corona City to continue their resistance.

On other battlefields, the "Royalist Army" also suffered constant defeats. Many towns controlled by the "Royalist Army" fell one after another into the hands of the "Cult Army," and the situation deteriorated rapidly.

Although the situation became increasingly unfavorable for the "Royalist Army," the Emperor and the group of new aristocrats and wealthy merchants did not sit still. They immediately began to incite slaves and commoners to take up arms and fight against the Cult Army.

To stimulate the enthusiasm of the slaves and commoners to help the "Royalist Army," the Emperor of the Sun Moon Empire, with the compromise and support of the wealthy merchants and new aristocrats, officially promulgated the Slave Emancipation Act and the Civil Rights Declaration Act to the entire nation, thoroughly shocking the entire Sun Moon Continent!

The Slave Emancipation Act stipulated that from then on, the Sun Moon Empire would officially abolish slavery; all slaves would become commoners of the Sun Moon Empire, entitled to the protection of national law and the right to own private property.

The Civil Rights Declaration Act further stipulated that all classes of Sun Moon Empire citizens were equal in personality, protected private property and intellectual property rights, and also allowed the citizens of the Sun Moon Empire to spontaneously form militia forces and resistance groups. It granted them the right to seize the land of the Church and the old aristocrats; the seized land would not only belong to the resisting citizens, but they might even be awarded official positions or noble titles as a result!

Because of the past suppression of wealthy merchants and new aristocrats by the Church and old aristocrats, as well as the heavy taxes and levies imposed on the people, the vast majority of the Sun Moon Empire's slave and commoner labor force had been held by the Church and the old aristocrats, while the wealthy merchants and new aristocrats often worried about the lack of industrial labor.

Previously, due to the impetus of the "Great Liberation of Thought" movement, the public's thinking had already begun to awaken. Now that the acts were issued, they immediately gained the support of a large number of slaves and commoners! Militia forces and slave rebels appeared continuously, launching attacks and riots behind the lines of the Church and old aristocrats. More and more commoners and slaves began to flee the control of the Church and old aristocrats to join the ranks of the "Royalist Army."

As mentioned earlier, because over ninety-nine percent of the soul masters in the Sun Moon Empire possessed low-to-mid-grade martial souls, their cultivation levels remained low due to the limitations of their martial souls. This resulted in the strength gap between soul masters and ordinary people on the Sun Moon Continent being far less obvious than on the Douluo Continent.

Even though many soul masters in the Sun Moon Empire were equipped with soul-guiding weapons, the empire's soul-guiding technology had not yet seen significant development at that time, so their power was limited. Furthermore, the vast majority of advanced soul-guiding weapons were in the hands of the "Royalist Army."

More importantly, although ordinary people could not use soul-guiding weapons, they could use the swords, shields, armor, bows, and crossbows provided by the "Royalist Army," which were crafted with advanced technology and fine materials, and even some high-damage weapons of a primitive soul-gunpowder type!

These weapons were generally of higher quality and produced in more terrifying quantities than those issued to the "Cult Army," whose means of production were backward! Therefore, as the war continued and its scale expanded, the "Cult Army" increasingly appeared to lack stamina and struggled to cope. Conversely, the "Royalist Army" grew in strength and numbers with every battle, and many cities that had been lost were liberated one after another.

Finally, on September 20, 3768 of the Sun Moon Calendar, the "Royalist Army" completely annihilated the last resistance forces of the "Cult Army" in the "Second Battle of Ming Capital." The contemporary Pope of the Sun Moon Cult, Kong Yu, committed suicide, and the remaining high-ranking members of the "Cult Army" disintegrated. Thus, this ten-year-long "War of the Gods and Emperors" ended with the victory of the "Royalist Army!"

Beyond the flames of war, death, and disaster, this war brought enlightenment, reform, and pioneering to the entire Sun Moon Continent!

After the war, in accordance with the mutual promises made before the war between the Emperor of the Sun Moon Empire and the new aristocrats and wealthy merchants, the Sun Moon Empire established an Imperial Parliament consisting of an Upper House and a Lower House, as well as a Supreme Court. They limited the Emperor's power, promulgated a new constitution, ennobled aristocrats, and vigorously promoted the development of industry and commerce, the establishment of education, and the liberation of labor.

At the same time, the new aristocrats of the Sun Moon Empire no longer held hereditary rights to local and central official positions, significantly reduced the number of private armed forces and the level of weaponry, paid taxes according to the law, and submitted to the management and arrangements of the central government. Thus, through mutual compromise, the Sun Moon Empire returned to stability and gradually transformed from an agricultural feudal state toward an industrialized capitalist nation.

To this day, the most powerful merchant chambers and their affiliated families from the "Royalist Army" of that time have gradually developed into the Ten Great Families of the Sun Moon Empire today!