After leaving Dragon City, You Jie and the others didn't hurry straight south. Instead, they changed course along the way and visited a few other cities.
Mu En had finally regained a healthy body, so naturally he could take up some of the hobbies he'd once been forced to give up, like his love of barbecue, which he shared with Long Xiaoyao.
And compared with sneaking into the Ming Capital of the Sun Moon Empire to observe it in secret, going on a trip with his great-grandson and granddaughter-in-law brought Mu En a different kind of joy.
As for Bei Bei?
Bei Bei was still devoting his life to the great revival of the Peerless Tang Sect.
After visiting several cities along the way, the three of them arrived at Heaven Dou City, the capital of the Heaven Dou Empire.
As the former capital of the Heaven Dou Empire, Heaven Dou City naturally had a heritage all its own. It looked imposing and grand, and its crowds were beyond anything even Dragon City could match nowadays.
Still, to You Jie, the city felt almost excessively old-fashioned.
Although Soul Tools were being used in more and more places around Heaven Dou City, there was something strange about them. It was as if they'd been crudely slapped onto buildings just to serve some simple purpose, without the slightest thought for design.
By comparison, although the architecture in Shrek City wasn't as modern as that in the Ming Capital, the Soul Tools in public spaces fit much more harmoniously with the buildings. Clearly, Soul Tools had been factored in from the start when the buildings were designed, with plenty of space set aside for them.
Clearly, this had everything to do with the Heaven Dou Empire being the most hostile to Soul Tools of the three nations on Douluo Continent.
The Star Luo Empire was already ahead of the other two nations on Douluo Continent in this respect. Its current emperor, Xu Jiawei, in particular, had vigorously promoted Soul Tool research.
As for the Dou Ling Empire, having once been beaten by the Heaven Dou Empire and stripped of the title of Heaven Dou Empire, it was doing whatever it took to grow stronger (except asking Evil Soul Masters for help). It had bought a great many Soul Tools from the Sun Moon Empire.
But although it had bought plenty, its research left it a perfect match for the Heaven Dou Empire. One couldn't help admiring Douluo Continent's excellent matchmaking system.
So although it had purchased many Soul Tools and come up with some inventive ways to use them, it still couldn't beat the Heaven Dou Empire, let alone restore the glory of Heaven Dou.
After entering Heaven Dou City, Mu En first took You Jie and Zhang Lexuan to an ordinary inn and rented several rooms. Then they went out to wander around the city.
But whether Mu En did it on purpose or by accident, their route just happened to take them past a sect.
The Iron Blood Sect.
"So this is the Iron Blood Sect that destroyed the Tang Sect a few years ago? Here?"
"What role did Heaven Dou City—no, the Heaven Dou Empire—play in all this? And what role did Shrek Academy play?"
The Iron Blood Sect's location wasn't particularly prosperous, but it certainly wasn't remote, either.
And according to what You Jie had heard from Bei Bei about the Tang Sect's destruction, the clash between the Iron Blood Sect and the Tang Sect had been quite a commotion.
Unless the Heaven Dou City guards had all turned into the little crayfish from Romance of the Three Kingdoms, there was no way the Iron Blood Sect could have killed every member of the Tang Sect before the city's guards arrived.
Yet the Tang Sect had nearly been wiped out. Only Tang Ya had perhaps escaped thanks to the mighty hand of the Heaven-appointed one.
And the protection Shrek Academy had offered Tang Ya was rather strange, too. Bei Bei seemed more like someone Mu En had personally sent to help the Tang Sect than a representative of Shrek Academy's official position.
Clearly, back then, more people at Shrek Academy had been inclined to let the Iron Blood Sect wipe out the Tang Sect...
That left You Jie feeling deeply unsettled.
"Mystic Ancestor..."
You Jie was just about to ask something when Mu En raised a hand and cut him off. Mu En's expression had also turned considerably grim.
You Jie immediately understood that the matter was probably extremely complicated, and might even involve factional disputes within the Sea God Pavilion.
But Mu En had recovered his health, and his strength had soared. If he disregarded everything from the past, it wasn't impossible for him to knock Long Xiaoyao and Ye Xishui to their knees, drag them back to the basement beneath the Golden Ancient Tree, and recreate what had happened in the depths of the Amazon Rainforest. So what could possibly make Mu En so wary?
Could it be the mighty hand of the Heaven-appointed one—crossed out—Tang San?
Mu En immediately took You Jie and Zhang Lexuan back to the inn, then asked You Jie to stay behind alone.
After Zhang Lexuan returned to her room, Mu En used Soul Power to seal off the room he shared with You Jie completely.
"You Jie, I know you have a lot of questions and suspicions about the Tang Sect and the Iron Blood Sect.
"But the truth is far too complicated, and it involves a great deal of darkness.
"Even now, there isn't much more I can do. Having Bei Bei make contact with Tang Ya back then was already the limit."
"...Could it be the Clear Sky Sect?
"With your strength now, Mystic Ancestor, I can only imagine the Clear Sky Sect being powerful enough to make you wary."
As soon as You Jie finished speaking, Mu En looked utterly astonished.
He hadn't expected You Jie to reach the truth on his own before Mu En had even had the chance to reveal it.
"...That's right.
"The Clear Sky Sect's master, Niu Tian, is even stronger than I am, and his Martial Soul suppresses mine.
"When he came to see me back then, he allowed me to provide Tang Ya with only the smallest measure of help. He forbade every other kind of assistance.
"After that, the Iron Blood Sect wiped out the Tang Sect, and only Tang Ya escaped.
"And afterward, the Clear Sky Sect wouldn't let us retaliate against the Iron Blood Sect, unless Tang Ya herself took revenge on them.
"The Clear Sky Sect has withdrawn completely from the world. I don't even know where its current headquarters are. But they're still far too powerful..."
Recalling the pressure the Clear Sky Sect had put on him, Mu En even changed the way he referred to himself as he spoke.
After hearing all this, You Jie only let a disdainful smile curl at the corner of his mouth.
"So, if the Iron Blood Sect were destroyed outright by an attack of unknown origin, wouldn't that settle everything?
"I have no interest in reviving the Tang Sect, but perhaps the Iron Blood Sect shouldn't continue to exist in this world, either. Who knows what mangy dogs and donkeys might start calling them 'loyal servants of the Sun Moon Empire.'
"Although the Clear Sky Sect used them as pawns, I imagine their own hands aren't clean, either. They may even be stained with blood.
"If we send that pack of beasts to hell, you wouldn't object, would you, Mystic Ancestor?"
As he spoke, the phantom shape of a white dragon appeared behind You Jie.
It wasn't a dragon from the Star Dust line. It was one of the three giant dragons that had appeared in that tale, inside the Divine Temple in the Far North associated with the Ice Barrier.
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