Major Incident
With the status of a state religion, the protection of the Imperial Family, and a massive high-level combat force, the Holy Spirit Cult served as the vanguard and main force in the Sun Moon Empire's conquest war against the Former Three Douluo Kingdoms.
Their tactics were far more terrifying than those of ordinary armies; they deployed evil formations on the battlefield, covering the entire war zone, and absorbed the souls of all fallen soldiers.
After a major battle, not only enemy soldiers died, but also a large number of civilians affected and friendly forces who were accidentally wounded.
But in the eyes of the Holy Spirit Cult, none of this matters. Every war is their training ground, and every killing is a collective improvement.
The longer and larger the war lasts, the stronger the Holy Spirit Cult becomes.
They relied on war to sustain their war effort, while the Sun Moon Empire's ambitions precisely required war to expand its territory; their interests completely overlapped on this point.
Ju Zi sat in front of the dressing table in her bedroom, holding a cup of tea that had gone cold.
As she read Lin Ye's detailed account of the cooperation between the Holy Spirit Cult and Xu Tianran, her expression grew increasingly cold.
Poisoning the late emperor, eliminating the princes, declaring the Holy Spirit Cult as the state religion, and planting Evil Soul Master in the core of the Imperial Family —these are things Lin Ye wrote about in the future, but in Ju Zi's eyes, these futures are not far from her.
"State religion?"
Ju Zi put down her teacup and muttered to herself in the unusually quiet room, "Xu Tianran, you really dare to do this. You're practically asking a tiger for its skin."
In her memory, although the emperors of the Sun Moon Empire had used various underhanded methods, none of them dared to elevate Evil Soul Master to the throne of the state religion.
This is not just a matter of political decision-making, but also a matter of bottom line.
Once Evil Soul Master have official status, they can legally establish strongholds, recruit followers, and collect souls throughout the country.
Every inch of the empire's land will become their hunting ground, and every civilian will become a potential prey.
Lin Ye wrote very clearly in his diary that the Holy Spirit Cult used war to absorb souls, growing stronger with each battle, until even Xu Tianran could not control them in the end.
This is the consequence of letting a wolf into the house.
Ju Zi stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the dark night sky outside.
She was silently pondering something: which names of the court forces supporting the Holy Spirit Cult mentioned in Lin Ye's diary could she identify right now?
She needs to compile this list and prepare in advance.
When Xu Tianran finally makes contact with the Holy Spirit Cult someday, she needs to have enough intelligence so that she won't be caught off guard like those fools in history.
There's another very famous incident, which is the Zhongli Wu vs. Di Tian Incident.
The protagonist of this story is Zhongli Wu, the leader of the Holy Spirit Cult, Level 98 Super Douluo.
The other protagonist is Beast God Di Tian of the Star Dou Forest, the leader of the Ten Ferocious Beast, and Demigod- level being.
The fact that Zhongli Wu dared to pursue and kill Di Tian sounds outrageous just from that description.
Level 98 being chasing Demigod? That's either drunk or insane.
But it really happened. And the whole thing was even more absurd than it sounds.
Let me first provide some background information.
Who is Di Tian? He is the absolute king of the Star Dou Forest, the leader of the Ten Ferocious Beast, with a cultivation Divine-level. He wields the Dragon God's Claw bestowed by the Dragon God and is undoubtedly the ceiling of combat power in the Soul Beast Realm.
In the human world, there are very few people who can fight him. Even if Long Xiaoyao and Ye Xishui joined forces, they might not be his match. Even if the two of them attacked together, they wouldn't be able to defeat him.
This was all under the condition that Di Tian was in perfect condition.
Therefore, under normal circumstances, let alone Zhongli Wu at Level 98, even if all the experts of the Holy Spirit Cult were combined, they wouldn't be enough for Di Tian to defeat with one hand.
But Zhongli Wu still made his move.
Why? Because he didn't make his move in front of Di Tian when he was at his peak.
Before the incident, Di Tian had fought several rounds of fierce battles with Xuan Zi and Huo Yuhao in an attempt to stop Huo Yuhao from breaking through.
The intensity of these battles goes without saying.
Xuan Zi the pillar of Shrek, Huo Yuhao is a monster with cheat codes, and Di Tian had a hard time in a one-on-one fight. After several consecutive battles, his Soul Power and Spirit Power were both overdrawn, and his condition plummeted to its lowest point.
A normal Demigod's combat power is completely unleashed; it's like a top-tier Soul Guidance Cannon that's almost out of fuel—it looks like it's still there, but in reality, it can't even unleash 30% of its power.
This situation was accurately captured by one person.
Ju Zi is the Empress, the one who holds power in the imperial palace of the Sun Moon Empire.
She keenly sensed Di Tian's weakened state, and then took the initiative to approach Zhongli Wu, urging him to hunt down Di Tian.
One point needs to be clarified here: Ju Zi's motives are complex. She may not truly believe that Zhongli Wu can succeed; she simply needs someone to weaken Di Tian, or at least create chaos in the Star Dou Forest.
In her eyes, Zhongli Wu was nothing more than a knife that could be used to stab Di Tian; she didn't care whether the knife would break or not.
This was the trigger for the whole farce.
After being Zhongli Wu by Ju Zi, Zhongli Wu was completely consumed by greed.
Why did he dare to attack Di Tian? Besides the opportune moment of Di Tian's weakened state, there was a more fundamental reason: he coveted Di Tian's complete dragon body.
The Holy Spirit Cult has a set of evil secret techniques. If one can obtain Di Tian's physical body and combine it with Level Nine Soul Guidance Device, one can refine a Black Dragon King Puppet.
Di Tian is a Demigod- level Dragon Clan, and his flesh and bones are treasures of heaven and earth. If he can be made into a puppet, it would be equivalent to the Holy Spirit Cult possessing a Demigod- level war machine.
With this puppet, Zhongli Wu no longer needs the protection of the Sun Moon Empire. He can crush all the strongmen on the continent and completely dominate the Douluo Continent.
The temptation was too great, so great that he completely lost his judgment.
Actually, Zhongli Wu didn't go completely empty-handed; he brought a trump card.
First, he held twelve Titled Evil Soul Master under his Holy Spirit Cult.
Twelve Titled Douluo would be a force to be reckoned with in any faction.
Secondly, he possesses a level nine Soul Guidance Cannon, the most advanced soul-guided weapon in the Sun Moon Empire. A single shot from it is comparable to the full-force attack of Titled Douluo.
Furthermore, he can burn countless vengeful spirits and condense them into Blood Sea Wraith Spear.
This thing is one of the Holy Spirit Cult Cult's trump card, an evil technique built on the sacrifice of countless lives, and its power is immense.
A rough calculation shows that although Zhongli Wu himself is Level 98, with the addition of twelve Titled Evil Soul Master, a level 9 Soul Guidance Cannon, and the Blood Sea Wraith Spear, his strength on paper is indeed very intimidating.
But don't forget, he was facing Demigod.
The gap between paper strength and actual combat capability is sometimes wider than an insurmountable chasm.
Zhongli Wu succeeded in his first sneak attack.
The combined power of twelve Titled Douluo, the Soul Guidance Cannon, and the direct thrust of the Blood Sea Wraith Spear successfully pierced through the weakened Di Tian's defenses.