As they crossed the border out of the Sun Moon Empire, autumn was in full swing across the Douluo Continent.
Gu Yuan and Qian Renxue walked side by side along a post road carpeted in maple leaves. Both had concealed their auras and suppressed their cultivation to the Soul Saint level, making them look like ordinary Soul Masters traveling together.
The man wore a dark brocade robe and had a gentle, composed air. His eyes held the profoundness of one who had seen through the ages. The golden-haired woman had tied up her hair and wore a neat white dress. A veil covered her face, revealing only a pair of cool, keen golden eyes. Her aloof bearing warned others to keep their distance.
This was already their third year since leaving the Dragon Graveyard.
Over the past three years, they had traveled to every corner of the Douluo Continent. From the northern snowfields of the Heavenly Soul Empire to the eastern shores of the Dou Ling Empire, from the southern forests of the Star Luo Empire to the Sun Moon Continent across the sea, they had crossed this land of ten thousand years in the future as observers, witnessing firsthand the upheavals of the era.
When they first set foot in the lands of the three great empires, Qian Renxue had mostly been struck by how much had changed.
The Heaven Dou Empire she had known ten thousand years ago had long since fallen apart, dividing into the Heavenly Soul and Dou Ling Empires. Their royal houses fought over power, factions jostled at court, and border skirmishes never ceased. They had none of the bearing of the old Heaven Dou Empire.
The Star Luo Empire still retained its unbroken royal lineage, and the Dai Clan's White Tiger Martial Soul remained one of the continent's finest Beast Martial Souls. Yet the empire was no longer strong enough to stand on equal footing with Heaven Dou. Its imperial authority had slipped away, leaving it constrained at every turn.
The state of the Soul Master World across the continent had weighed on her even more.
Shrek Academy was no longer the small school with only a few dozen students that it had been. It had become a sacred land in the hearts of Soul Masters everywhere.
It stood on the border between the Heavenly Soul Empire and the Star Luo Empire, beyond the rule of any empire. It had its own legislative authority and army, and each year it recruited the most talented young Soul Masters from across the continent. Its graduates filled the armies, sects, and courts of the three great empires, forming a web of influence as tight as a sealed net.
Even the emperors of the three great empires showed deference when meeting the Sea God Pavilion Master of Shrek.
The two had once slipped into Shrek City in secret and seen with their own eyes the statue of Tang San standing in the city center.
The statue wore the Sea God Divine Armor and held a trident, its gaze stern as it looked down over the land. Soul Masters from across the continent paid homage to it.
At that moment, Qian Renxue's fingers clamped hard around her sword hilt. Suppressed hatred from ten thousand years ago surged in her golden eyes. Had Gu Yuan not gently pressed a hand to her shoulder, she might have lost control of the Angel Divine Power within her.
"Not yet," Gu Yuan said softly, his voice steadying her roiling emotions.
"We've waited ten thousand years. We can wait a little longer. What we need to do now is understand this era, not give in to a moment's impulse."
Qian Renxue drew a deep breath, suppressed her murderous intent, and slowly nodded.
Three years of travel had worn away the last remnants of her arrogance and allowed her to see reality clearly.
The age when divine power alone could sweep across the continent was long gone. This was no longer the world she knew.
What truly shook them both, however, was the Sun Moon Empire across the sea.
Before entering the Sun Moon Empire, Qian Renxue's knowledge of Soul Tools had been limited to the crude Storage Soul Tools and amplification tools used by Spirit Hall ten thousand years ago.
She had thought of them as no more than aids for Soul Masters, things that could never replace a Soul Master's cultivation or strength.
But when she witnessed a Soul Tool test at Mingde Hall in the Sun Moon Empire, that deeply rooted belief was shattered.
The test took place at a secret testing ground belonging to Mingde Hall, in the outskirts of Ming Capital, the Sun Moon Empire's capital. The two concealed themselves and watched from a mountaintop several thousand meters away.
Three Soul Masters at only the Soul King level operated a metal construct ten meters tall. They called it a "Soul Guidance Mecha." Powered by the Soul Power of just the three of them, it withstood a full-power strike from a Soul Douluo-level expert. Then it fired back, blasting the Soul Douluo until he spat blood and staggered away in a miserable state.
Next, they tested Fixed Soul Guidance Shells. A shell barely as long as a forearm was loaded into a Soul Cannon. With only a Soul Grandmaster-level soldier operating it, the weapon blasted apart a small mountain a hundred meters across. Even the shock wave from the explosion was clearly felt by the two of them thousands of meters away.
Even more alarming to Qian Renxue was the prototype of a Level 9 Soul Tool developed by Mingde Hall. It was a shell that was black all over. A Mingde Hall researcher said that once detonated, it would be powerful enough to badly wound a Titled Douluo. Even a Limit Douluo would not dare take its full force head-on.
"How can this be..." Qian Renxue stood atop the mountain, staring at the Soul Tools gleaming with metallic light on the testing ground below. Her voice shook with disbelief.
"Soul Kings and Soul Grandmasters can actually use these things to fight Soul Douluos, even Titled Douluos?"
She had spent her whole life pursuing the pinnacle of Soul Power and godhood, convinced that personal strength was absolute. But the scene before her had overturned everything she had believed for ten thousand years.
Any ordinary person of mediocre talent could wield the strength to cross several major cultivation realms, as long as they knew how to operate a Soul Tool. Ten thousand years ago, such a thing would have been utterly unimaginable.
Gu Yuan's gaze also rested on the Soul Tools. A thoughtful glint passed through his deep eyes as he spoke. "At its core, a Soul Tool is simply another way of using Soul Power. Soul Masters refine Soul Power within themselves and release it through their Martial Souls and Soul Rings, pursuing the utmost in individual strength. These people, on the other hand, seal Soul Power inside a core and amplify it through metal patterns and formations."
"On the surface, this path seems to cast aside individual talent. In truth, it gives ordinary people a chance to wield power."
"Ten thousand years ago, Spirit Hall controlled the continent because it gave common-born Soul Masters the chance to awaken their Martial Souls, cultivate, and grow stronger. The Soul Tools of the Sun Moon Empire are doing the same thing now."
Qian Renxue snapped back to her senses. Understanding dawned in her golden eyes.
That was right. Ten thousand years ago, the Soul Master resources of the two great empires had been monopolized by nobles and sects. Common-born Soul Masters had no way to rise.
Spirit Hall had established Martial Soul Awakening ceremonies across the continent, awakening Martial Souls for commoners free of charge and giving them a path to survive. That had laid the foundation for Spirit Hall's sweep across the continent.
Now the Soul Tools of the Sun Moon Empire were breaking through the barriers of talent, allowing even ordinary people with inferior Martial Souls to wield great power.
"These Soul Tools could become our greatest asset in the future—or our greatest threat." Qian Renxue quickly regained her composure, her tone grave.
"The three great empires are researching Soul Tools too, but their technology is nowhere near the Sun Moon Empire's. If we can work with the Sun Moon Empire to obtain the core technology and use it for Spirit Hall's Soul Masters, our strength will take a qualitative leap."
Gu Yuan gave a slight nod, a hint of approval in his eyes. Three years of travel had stripped away Qian Renxue's old prejudice and shortsightedness, teaching her to view the situation with a longer perspective. That was exactly what he had hoped to see.
"That's not all," Gu Yuan added.
"The Sun Moon Empire and the three great empires have always been like fire and water. Because of the grievances born from the collision of the continents, they've hated each other for over a thousand years. Shrek is the strongest support the three great empires have. The enemy of our enemy is our friend. The Sun Moon Empire may be our best ally."
That day, the two of them lingered for a long time on a mountaintop in Ming Capital, watching Mingde Hall blaze with lights below. Both began to make new plans.
In three years of travel, they had not only understood the continent's power structure and gauged Shrek's strength, but also found a potential ally in the Sun Moon Empire. And, as they had planned, they had recovered three scattered Rakshasa God Fragments from various places across the continent.
Qian Renxue carefully sealed the fragments deep within her divine soul, bringing her one step closer to her goal of resurrecting Bibi Dong.
Their travels were now over. Their next destination was the southern part of the Douluo Continent, home to the continent's largest gathering place for Soul Beasts: the Star Dou Forest.
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