A Backward Town, the Heavenly Soul Empire's Backwardness

Before long, Xiao Changge rode into a small town near the Sun Moon Empire.

"We'll reach the Sun Moon Empire soon. According to the map, it should take another day or two.

When we get there, we need to be careful. After all, we'll be on someone else's land, and we're here to grow stronger and take revenge. We can't let the Sun Moon Empire become hostile toward us. I'm only a remnant soul right now, so I can't fully display my strength. There are many things I won't be able to help with. Sometimes, you'll have to rely on yourself."

Although Electrolux was merely a remnant soul, he was indeed powerful and wasn't afraid of the Sun Moon Empire's Soul Engineers. The problem was that he was still only a remnant soul, and his strength was far from complete.

So there were many times when he couldn't help.

"I understand." Xiao Changge could understand that Electrolux wanted to help, but the other party was only a remnant soul and couldn't do much.

Then, looking at the small town, he couldn't help criticizing the Heavenly Soul Empire for having too many towns. It felt far too medieval.

In the original context of The Unrivaled Tang Clan, the Heavenly Soul Empire's "disregard" for Soul Tools wasn't just a casual complaint. It was the most extreme among the Douluo Three Kingdoms—more resistant than even Star Luo and Dou Ling—and was the stronghold of "Martial Soul fundamentalism." Specifically, it could be broken down into four levels:

(1) Top-level perception: Soul Tools were "unorthodox paths."

The Heavenly Soul Empire's protector sect was the Body Sect. Views like Du Busi's—that only Body Martial Souls represented the pinnacle of Soul Masters—were the empire's mainstream values. The royal family, Super Douluos, and sect leaders generally believed:

Relying on one's Martial Soul and Soul Power was the proper path;

Soul Tools were external aids, opportunistic tricks, and an embarrassment to Soul Masters;

Even if they acknowledged that storage Soul Tools were "convenient," they still believed that "servants or Soul Engineers could handle them," and that experts shouldn't be distracted by such things.

Princess Vina held this position early on as well, treating Soul Tools as little tricks, only to be cursed by the protagonist to her face: "It's only a matter of time before your country is destroyed."

(2) Educational resources: There was a Soul Guidance Department, but it was neglected:

Di'ao Academy, one of the Heavenly Soul Empire's top academies, clearly had a Soul Guidance Department, but...

Chen Yi, the academy's most accomplished Soul Engineer, was only an eighth-ranked Soul Engineer, and the number of eighth-ranked Soul Tools he had personally crafted was extremely small;

The academy "hardly ever concerned itself" with the Soul Guidance Department, and the dean had to pay for rare metals out of his own pocket;

If a prince showed even a little interest, the dean's eyes would light up—because normally, no one cared about this area at all.

In contrast, the Sun Moon Empire trained Soul Engineers from childhood, with its academy system and military-industrial system fully integrated.

(3) National strategy: It was crushed in rare metals and production capacity.

When Huo Yuhao confronted the Heavenly Soul Emperor in Heaven Dou City, he said something very blunt:

The Heavenly Soul Empire's development, whether in Soul Masters or Soul Tools, couldn't even compare to Star Luo's taillights;

The entire Heavenly Soul Empire's annual production of rare metals was less than what a Sun Moon Empire Soul Tool academy used in a month;

Even the emperor himself complained that "Soul Tools simply can't be developed."

In other words, it wasn't that they invested absolutely nothing. They simply couldn't afford to pour in enough money, and even if they did, it wouldn't make a difference. So they continued piling resources into the Body Sect and the Martial Soul path instead.

(4) Battlefield consequences: It was steamrolled by the Sun Moon Empire as an experience pack:

When the Sun Moon Empire attacked, the Heavenly Soul Empire's response was:

High-level Soul Masters, such as Du Busi, held the line head-on;

They were completely unaccustomed to linked Soul Tools, detection Soul Tools, and ground-to-air fire coverage;

Even core city defenses on the level of Heaven Dou City were swiftly breached by Orange through the coordination of a Soul Engineer legion and the Holy Spirit Cult;

In the end, it became the first of the three kingdoms to be truly destroyed as a nation, though it was later restored.

Many readers who had seen the Heavenly Soul Empire's downfall used a single sentence to summarize it: "It's not that Heavenly Soul had no Soul Engineers. It's that the state machine never treated Soul Tools as its main combat power, only as auxiliary toys. By the time it realized they were core technology, the city had already fallen."

Thus, the Heavenly Soul Empire was even more resistant to Soul Tools than the Dou Ling Empire and the Star Luo Empire. Only the Star Luo Empire paid some attention to Soul Tools, understood their uses, and knew how to develop them.

That was why the Star Luo Empire managed to hold out in the end and wasn't completely destroyed.

Before long, Xiao Changge entered a tavern. The tavern had plenty of alcohol.

"Are you here to drink?" Electrolux asked.

"Actually, I want to see whether they have any beverages. Mainly because I don't like drinking. In my view, alcohol might numb people and give them brief happiness, but it's still just numbing yourself. I don't like drinking.

"And I really don't like the taste of alcohol either. I prefer drinks, milk tea, that sort of thing."

In his previous life, Xiao Changge had been someone who didn't like drinking. He hated alcohol. When he had tried it once as a child, he immediately threw up. From then on, he had been extremely resistant to and disgusted by alcohol. That was actually a good trait. Drinking could easily delay important matters, so not drinking was a good quality.

It was also considered a plus in his previous world. After all, many women in Xiao Changge's former world didn't like their husbands drinking and such.

"Young man, what would you like to drink? We have plenty of alcohol here, and of course some milk and other things too. You look like you're... quite young. Did you come to try alcohol?"

The tavern owner looked at Xiao Changge, seeing that he seemed to have just come of age and had come to try drinking. After all, in the Heavenly Soul Empire, many young men and women who had just reached adulthood would secretly come to drink, wanting to know what alcohol felt like.

After all, minors were forbidden from drinking. Once they became adults, they wanted to try what it felt like to drink like grown-ups, so they would sneak a taste.

However, many women immediately became averse to alcohol after drinking it. Only a small number continued drinking.

"I'm not here to drink. I don't drink. I'd like to ask whether you have any beverages. I'm a traveler, and while traveling here, I wanted to see what drinks you had. They could replenish my strength later."

"I see. We don't have many beverages here, but we do have things like orange juice, all freshly squeezed. Would you like some fruit juice?"

(Restaurant owners had all sorts of beverages brought in from the Sun Moon Empire. It seemed the Heavenly Soul Empire was highly hostile toward the Sun Moon Empire and didn't import things like beverages.)

"Then give me a serving of orange juice. I want it freshly squeezed." Xiao Changge took out a silver coin, and the tavern owner gave him some copper coins in change.

"I'll squeeze you a fresh cup right away. But let me remind you to be careful. Recently, people nearby have often had things stolen, and some have even disappeared for no apparent reason. It's better to be careful, young man."

The tavern owner said this out of kindness. He saw Xiao Changge as a young fellow and was simply reminding a junior to stay safe.

"Thank you."