The Rapid Progress of the Era

As they crossed the border 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 retracted their auras, suppressing their cultivation to the Soul Saint realm, appearing as nothing more than a pair of ordinary soul masters traveling together.

The man in the dark brocade robe was gentle and composed, his eyes holding a depth that seemed to have witnessed the passage of eons. The woman, her golden hair tied back, wore a crisp white dress and a light veil, revealing only a pair of cold, sharp golden eyes, her entire being radiating a distance that forbade strangers from approaching.

This was already the third year since they had left the Dragon Graveyard.

In these three years, the two had traversed every corner of the Douluo Continent. From the northern snowfields of the Heaven Dou Empire to the eastern coast of the Dou Spirit Empire, from the southern jungles of the Star Luo Empire to the Sun Moon Continent across the sea, they had walked this land of ten thousand years later as observers, witnessing with their own eyes the earth-shaking changes of this era.

When they first set foot on the lands of the three great empires, Qian Renxue felt more than anything the melancholy of how things had changed.

The Heaven Dou Empire she had known ten thousand years ago had long since disintegrated, split into the Heaven Dou Empire and the Dou Spirit Empire. With the imperial families vying for power, factions clashing in the courts, and constant border friction, the empires possessed not even a fraction of the grandeur the Heaven Dou Empire once held.

Although the Star Luo Empire still maintained its complete imperial lineage and the Dai Clan's White Tiger Martial Soul remained one of the continent's top beast martial souls, it had long since lost the strength to stand on equal footing with Heaven Dou, its imperial power slipping away and constrained at every turn.

The landscape of the continent's soul master world, however, caused her to grow grave time and again.

Shrek Academy was no longer the small school with only a few dozen students from her time; it had become a holy land in the hearts of all soul masters on the continent.

Situated at the junction of the Heaven Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire, it was subject to no empire, possessing its own independent legislative power and military. Every year, it absorbed the most elite genius soul masters from across the continent, and its graduates filled the military, sects, and courts of the three great empires, forming an airtight web of influence.

Even the monarchs of the three great empires had to show a degree of deference when meeting the Pavilion Master of the Sea God Pavilion at Shrek.

The two had once secretly infiltrated Shrek City and seen the statue of Tang San that stood in the center of the city with their own eyes.

The statue was clad in the Sea God's divine armor, holding a trident, its gaze looking down upon the entire land with majesty, receiving the worship of all the continent's soul masters.

At that moment, the fingers of Qian Renxue's hand on her sword hilt tightened sharply. Within her golden eyes surged a hatred suppressed for ten thousand years. Had Gu Yuan not gently pressed down on her shoulder, she would have been unable to control the Angel God power within her.

"Do not be impatient." Gu Yuan's voice was soft, yet it firmly steadied her surging emotions.

"We have waited ten thousand years; this moment is no different. What we must do now is see this era clearly, not act on a moment's impulse."

Qian Renxue took a deep breath, suppressing the killing intent in her heart, and nodded slowly.

Three years of travel had smoothed away the last remnants of arrogance in her heart and forced her to see the reality clearly.

The era from ten thousand years ago, when one could sweep across the continent with the power of a god alone, had long since passed. This era was not the one she knew.

What truly shocked them both, however, was the Sun Moon Empire across the sea.

Before stepping onto the soil of the Sun Moon Empire, Qian Renxue's understanding of Soul Tools had remained stuck on the crude storage and amplification devices of Martial Soul Hall from ten thousand years ago.

In her view, these were merely auxiliary tools for soul masters, never capable of replacing the cultivation and strength of the soul masters themselves.

But when she witnessed a Soul Tool test at Mingde Hall in the Sun Moon Empire, this deep-seated perception was completely shattered.

It was on the outskirts of Ming Capital, the capital of the Sun Moon Empire, at a secret testing ground of Mingde Hall. The two had hidden their figures, standing on a mountain peak thousands of meters away to witness the test.

Three soul masters with only Soul King cultivation were operating a metal construct standing ten meters tall. They called it a "Soul Guidance Mecha." With only the soul power of the three of them, it managed to withstand the full-force strike of a Soul Douluo-level powerhouse, and even fired back a shot that left the Soul Douluo vomiting blood and in a sorry state.

Following that, they tested a Fixed Soul Guidance Shell. After a shell only the length of an arm was loaded into the Soul Guidance cannon, a soldier with only Soul Grand Master level cultivation operated it to blast apart a small mountain a hundred meters in radius. The shockwave from the explosion was clearly felt even by them, thousands of meters away.

What shocked Qian Renxue even more was the prototype of a Level 9 Soul Tool developed by Mingde Hall. It was a pitch-black shell; the researchers at Mingde Hall claimed that once detonated, its power would be enough to severely wound a Titled Douluo, and even a Limit Douluo would not dare to take it head-on.

"How is this possible..." Qian Renxue stood on the mountain peak, looking at the soul tools flickering with metallic luster in the testing ground below, her voice filled with incredulous shock.

"Mere Soul Kings and Soul Grand Masters, yet they can use these things to contend with Soul Douluos, or even Titled Douluos?"

She had spent her life pursuing the ultimate soul power and godhood, firmly believing that individual strength was absolute. But the scene before her had completely overturned her understanding of the last ten thousand years.

An ordinary person with mediocre talent could possess combat power spanning several major realms simply by operating a soul tool. This was something completely unimaginable ten thousand years ago.

Gu Yuan's gaze also fell upon those soul tools, a flash of scrutiny in his deep eyes as he spoke slowly: "The essence of soul tools is another way of utilizing soul power. You soul masters refine soul power into your own bodies and release it through your martial souls and soul rings, following the path of individual extremity. They, however, seal soul power within a core and amplify it through metal patterns and formations."

"This path may seem to abandon individual talent, but in reality, it gives every ordinary person a chance to touch power."

"The reason Martial Soul Hall could control the continent ten thousand years ago was because you gave civilian soul masters the chance to awaken their martial souls and grow stronger. And now, the Sun Moon Empire's soul tools are doing the same thing you did back then."

Qian Renxue suddenly came to her senses, a flash of realization crossing her golden eyes.

Indeed. Ten thousand years ago, the soul master resources of the two great empires were monopolized by nobles and sects; civilian soul masters had no path to success.

It was Martial Soul Hall that established the martial soul awakening ceremony across the continent, awakening martial souls for all civilians for free and giving civilian soul masters a way out, which became the foundation for Martial Soul Hall to sweep across the continent.

And now, the Sun Moon Empire's soul tools were breaking the barriers of talent, allowing even ordinary people with inferior martial souls to possess powerful strength.

"These soul tools will be our greatest help in the future, but they could also be our greatest threat." Qian Renxue quickly calmed down, her tone grave.

"The three great empires are also researching soul tools, but their technology is more than a grade behind the Sun Moon Empire. If we can cooperate with the Sun Moon Empire to obtain the core technology of soul tools and use it on the soul masters of Martial Soul Hall, our strength will see a qualitative leap."

Gu Yuan nodded slightly, a flash of approval in his eyes. Three years of travel had allowed Qian Renxue to completely shed her former stubbornness and shortsightedness, learning to view the situation with a more long-term perspective—this was exactly what he wanted to see.

"Not only that," Gu Yuan added.

"The Sun Moon Empire and the three great empires are already at odds, having harbored hatred for each other for over a thousand years due to the collision of the continents. And Shrek is the strongest backing for the three great empires. The enemy of an enemy is a friend. The Sun Moon Empire may be our best ally."

That day, the two stood on the mountain peak in Ming Capital for a long time, watching the brightly lit Mingde Hall below, both having formed new plans in their minds.

In three years of travel, they had not only seen the landscape of the continent clearly, figured out the foundation of Shrek, and found a potential ally in the Sun Moon Empire, but they had also followed their original plan and recovered three Rakshasa God Fragment pieces scattered across the continent.

Qian Renxue carefully sealed the fragments deep within her own divine soul, moving one step closer to the goal of resurrecting Bibi Dong.

Now that their travels were over, their next destination was the south of the Douluo Continent, the largest gathering place for soul beasts on this continent—the Star Dou Forest.