World-Crossing Sacred Lotus

"Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach him to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime!"

"Remember, you are the future rulers of the empire. You may be compassionate, but you cannot be blindly compassionate."

"You may care for the people, but you cannot favor them."

"The world has its own balance. What we must do is make this unfair world as fair as possible."

Da Niu raised his own question. "Boss, but if we do this, won't we lose the people's support?"

"Heh heh, every heart has its own scales. If they feel we have not treated them well enough, they can choose to leave. Our empire has no need for such parasites."

"No one is stupid. They know perfectly well who treats them well."

"From today onward, everyone will devote themselves fully to building the empire. We must put our Republic Empire on the right track and set it upon a proper path."

The group understood Bai Fan's meaning and left one after another, preparing to build the Republic Empire.

Just as Da Niu was about to leave, Bai Fan called out to him. "Da Niu, I'll take you to obtain a Soul Ring today."

The last time Bai Fan had taught Da Niu a Self-Created Soul Skill, his Soul Power had already broken through to level ten. He had simply been putting it off these past few days.

The two arrived at the Star Dou Great Forest together.

Bai Fan held a thousand-year-old Strength Demon Ape in one hand.

"Da Niu, do you dare absorb a thousand-year Soul Beast? With your current physical condition, absorbing one will be more than manageable. The process will definitely be somewhat painful."

Da Niu answered without the slightest hesitation. "Boss, I, Da Niu, am not afraid."

Just as Bai Fan had expected, Da Niu, whose body had been altered by the Golden Lotus, faced no danger to his life during the absorption process. The sweat on his brow and the pained expression on his face showed just how far from simple this Soul Ring absorption was.

Second by second, time passed, and Da Niu successfully absorbed the Soul Ring.

A purple Soul Ring circled his body. He threw a punch at a nearby tree, blasting a fist-sized hole through its thick trunk.

The tremendous commotion instantly attracted a five-thousand-year-old white ape.

"Da Niu, use the Self-Created Soul Skill I taught you."

Da Niu's body instinctively followed Bai Fan's instructions. As he mobilized his Soul Power, a vivid red lotus gathered in his left hand, while a Golden Lotus appeared in his other.

It was Da Niu's first time coming into contact with Soul Power, and he did not understand its principles. He subconsciously brought his hands together, and a red-and-gold lotus pulsed before him.

Under Da Niu's control, the lotus shot rapidly toward the white ape.

When it was still several dozen meters from the white ape, the lotus exploded with a bang. Bai Fan shielded Da Niu behind him, his eyes fixed intently on the scene of the explosion.

The massive shockwave swept across a hundred-meter radius, violently shaking the trees and sending the surrounding Soul Beasts fleeing in all directions.

The white ape took the lotus's attack head-on. Its mouth hung wide open, its white fur had been scorched black, and it collapsed weakly onto the ground, severely injured.

White ape: There was really no need to hit me with such a vicious move.

Bai Fan turned around and smacked Da Niu hard on the head. "Do you know how dangerous that was? If you couldn't control it, why did you try it? One careless mistake and you would have died!"

Bai Fan was extremely furious at that moment. He was angry at Da Niu's recklessness, at how little he cared about his own life.

Da Niu scratched his head and spoke sheepishly. "Boss, I didn't expect it to be so hard to control. I thought I could handle it."

"How did you even think of fusing the two lotuses together?"

"I just felt that using them separately was a little too scattered. After all, both lotuses came from inside my body, so I thought they could fuse together well."

Bai Fan gave Da Niu another heavy smack on the head. "Reckless! Couldn't you have discussed it with me first? What if something had happened? Your life isn't just yours anymore. It belongs to countless common people."

"Got it, Boss." Da Niu was not angry that Bai Fan had hit him. Instead, he was rather happy.

Bai Fan dragged over the fallen white ape and examined it closely. "Not bad. It's actually a Mind-Seizing Spirit Ape. It can be your second Soul Ring."

After absorbing his first Soul Ring, Da Niu's Soul Power Level had reached twenty. It was not an effect of just absorbing the Soul Ring; his Soul Power had already exceeded level ten, but it could not be displayed because he had not obtained a Soul Ring.

Da Niu smashed the Mind-Seizing Spirit Ape's head apart with a punch, and a purple Soul Ring flew out.

He absorbed it successfully without any surprises. Two purple Soul Rings circled his body, while the phantom image of a red-and-gold lotus uncontrollably appeared behind his back.

Unexpectedly, another tall phantom identical to Da Niu appeared behind him.

The red-and-gold lotus phantom was held in the palm of Da Niu's phantom.

Bai Fan watched it all and nodded in satisfaction. "A fool has a fool's luck. Who would have thought that a Spirit Ape would raise Da Niu's spiritual power by so much?"

Da Niu slowly opened his eyes, then rose to his feet. The phantom behind him moved along with him.

"Boss, my mind feels so clear right now. If I did it again, I could definitely control that lotus properly."

This time, Bai Fan merely patted Da Niu's head lightly. "You brat, you're actually getting addicted to this. You came up with this move, so shouldn't you give it a name?"

"Boss, I'm uneducated. You should do it!"

Bai Fan grabbed Da Niu by the ear and said sternly, "If I tell you to name it, then hurry up and name it. Even if you call it Da Niu's Fart, I won't object."

Da Niu begged for mercy while thinking. At last, he came up with a name. "Boss, let's call it the World-Crossing Sacred Lotus!"

"Not bad. Looks like people really need to be pushed."

"Isn't that a pretty good name?"

The two walked shoulder to shoulder, preparing to leave the Star Dou Great Forest.

It was worth mentioning that after this trip, Da Niu's Soul Power had already reached level twenty-eight, and his strength was now comparable to that of a High-Grade Soul Ancestor.

Over the following month.

Bai Fan resumed his research, while the Republic Empire flourished more and more under Da Niu and the others' management. The empire's warriors also steadily increased in number.

Meanwhile, the Silves Kingdom was about to descend into complete chaos.

Commerce thrived there, and wealthy merchants and nobles were numerous.

On the very first day Yuwen Huai'an arrived, he began carrying out sweeping reforms.

With the imperial pardon token bestowed by Xue Ye, he began acting without restraint.

Yuwen Huai'an stood atop the city gate and delivered a speech.

"People of the Silves Kingdom, I have some very bad news to announce."

"A brutal band of rebels has appeared within the empire. They burn, kill, plunder, and act with utter impunity."

"The Skyfrost Duchy, not far from us, has already been captured by them. It has become a city of the dead."

"We suspect that their next target will be this place. I hope everyone can unite and resist these foreign invaders together, swearing to defend our homeland to the death!"

Yuwen Huai'an's impassioned speech stirred the emotions of many, yet none of them knew that it was all part of his scheme.