The Powers Gather, Undercurrents Surge

Xu Tianchen's group moved quickly. If this secret realm had not required all ten tokens to be gathered again before it could open, they would have gone straight in.

With no other choice, they could only set up camp on the spot. Fortunately, this secret realm lay at the border between the Sun Moon Empire and Heavenly Soul; otherwise, the Fire Phoenix Soul Engineer Legion and the border troops could not have stationed themselves there so openly.

Naturally, this immediately multiplied the pressure on Heavenly Soul's border commander, forcing him to adjust his strategic deployment at once.

When the various forces arriving afterward saw the aggressive Sun Moon border army, none of them dared do anything. Their former air of certainty about claiming the secret realm was snuffed out in an instant.

It was not as though there were no sects on the Sun Moon side. Upon arriving and seeing the border army's overwhelming deterrence, they all expressed their willingness to follow Xu Tianchen's orders. For this operation, they were willing to follow the Purple Radiance King's lead.

At first, the Holy Spirit Cult had also intended to send people to participate in this exploration. However, since Xu Tianchen was going, and Long Xiaoyao had gone to protect him as well, Ye Xishui abandoned the idea of sending another team from the Holy Spirit Cult.

Only after the teams from Shrek Academy and the Body Sect arrived—especially since both sides had a level-98 Super Douluo—did the many teams originally belonging to the Three Douluo Kingdoms seem to find their backbone. One after another, they moved closer to the two sides.

After all the various forces had arrived, Yan Shaozhe of Shrek began stirring up trouble. He demanded that representatives from every faction be gathered for a meeting to discuss matters concerning entry into the secret realm.

The Sun Moon side had not wanted to go, but the other side claimed it was for peaceful coexistence among all factions. They also said that if the Sun Moon side did not send anyone, they would simply remain there and drag things out.

Faced with such shameless behavior, Xu Tianchen felt helpless. He could only send Jing Hongchen, the strongest member of their group. With Jing Hongchen's strength, even if it was a trap, he could hold out until the border army came to support him.

Moreover, Shrek placed enormous importance on its reputation. It was unlikely to do something that would destroy its own credibility.

Xu Tianchen and the others waited in the tent for Jing Hongchen's return. Sure enough, he was back before long.

"Hall Master Hongchen, what happened? Why did they call everyone over?"

The moment Xu Tianchen saw Jing Hongchen return, he hurriedly asked. He was quite curious about what sort of excuse Shrek had come up with.

"Nothing much. They said each faction could send no more than seven members. In truth, he saw that some factions had brought more than ten, even dozens of young people who met the age requirement. He was afraid they had brought too many people and that it would put him at a disadvantage after entering. Since he happened to have exactly seven members himself, he made that the maximum number."

"No one objected?"

Li Zhengdian, standing beside Xu Tianchen, looked somewhat puzzled.

"They did. For example, Tianyang Douluo of the Dou Ling Empire openly expressed his dissatisfaction. But Shrek had an old Taotie who directly suppressed him with force, leaving him with nothing more to say. They did not even give the Dou Ling Empire any face. How would the remaining small factions dare show their dissatisfaction?"

Jing Hongchen shook his head. He had not expected Shrek to be so domineering, showing absolutely no regard for the Dou Ling Empire. This practically counted as offending the Dou Ling Empire.

"Anything else?"

Xu Tianchen was not surprised in the slightest. This was very Shrek. Otherwise, Shrek ten thousand years later would not have been blown into the sky. He wanted to know what else they had said.

"They also said that within the secret realm, the various factions must not slaughter one another, and they could not gather into alliances."

"Isn't that bullshit?"

After hearing this, Ao Hongchen slammed his palm onto the table and rose to his feet. He found the rule utterly ridiculous as well.

Inside the secret realm, they could not harm one another or actively take another person's life.

They could not gather into alliances. It was no different from saying nothing at all.

Inside the secret realm, if you did not seize opportunities for yourself, would they fall from the sky?

The opportunities of the world belonged to those fated to obtain them. As for where that fate came from, do not ask.

And he was certain that, given the nature of Shrek Academy's people, they would definitely fight over opportunities when the time came.

"Just let those words go in one ear and out the other. You do not even need to let them pass through your brain."

Xu Tianchen spoke calmly. Then he looked at Jing Hongchen and asked:

"When do we go in?"

"Tomorrow morning."

Xu Tianchen nodded after hearing that and said to Li Zhengdian and Ao Hongchen, "Rest well tonight. We need to be in good spirits tomorrow."

As the sun gradually set and night fell, the once-noisy camp slowly quieted down. But that was only the surface. Beneath it, countless undercurrents were silently gathering.

Dou Ling Empire Camp

"Shrek is going too far! They are completely disregarding the Dou Ling Empire! I am a level-97 Super Douluo, yet Xuan Zi and Yan Shaozhe dared humiliate me like this!"

Inside the main tent, Tianyang Douluo vented his dissatisfaction. Perhaps only the Heavenly Soul Emperor could understand his feelings now.

"Your Excellency, please calm your anger. Do not forget that Shrek's camp is not far from ours. If they retaliate against our team after entering the secret realm, this operation may end with us losing everything."

Standing nearby was a Soul Sage close to the Soul Douluo level whom Tianyang Douluo had subdued only the previous year. His martial soul was the Fire Blade, and he was also Tianyang Douluo's confidant.

"But I cannot swallow this insult!"

How could Tianyang Douluo not understand? It was simply that his pride as an expert would not allow him to lower his head.

"Perhaps we can contact the Sun Moon side and pay a price to have them teach Shrek's people a lesson. The two sides have been at odds for a long time anyway, so they would never suspect us."

After hearing the Fire Blade Soul Sage's suggestion, Tianyang Douluo pondered for a while. In the end, he still could not swallow his anger. He took out a Soul Bone of roughly five thousand years and tossed it to the Fire Blade Soul Sage.

"Fine. Go negotiate with the Sun Moon side and tell them to act. It would be best if a few Shrek students died. I can give them a thousand-year Soul Bone as payment."

"This subordinate obeys."

Thus, the Fire Blade Soul Sage left the main tent and furtively made his way into Sun Moon Empire territory. After evading numerous Soul Guidance detection devices, he finally entered a large tent.

"This subordinate, Fire Shadow, pays respects to Lord Shadow Ghost and Your Highness!"

The Fire Blade Soul Sage—no, Fire Shadow—immediately dropped to one knee upon seeing the two people inside the tent. He spoke respectfully as he presented the Soul Bone.

Fire Shadow was the chief person in charge of the intelligence network in the Dou Ling Empire for the Web. He was also the only one among the four chief officers who had not reached the Soul Douluo realm.

Even Xu Tianchen had not expected Fire Shadow to have infiltrated such a high position.

"Rise. What brings you here?"

Shadow Ghost spoke to Fire Shadow.

Fire Shadow recounted his conversation with Tianyang Douluo and the entire course of events to the two of them. Finally, he asked Xu Tianchen for his opinion and how they should respond.

After thinking it over, Xu Tianchen had Fire Shadow return and tell Tianyang Douluo that they agreed. It was practically a free thousand-year Soul Bone, and he could not be bothered to raise the price further. Even if he did not let his subordinates absorb it, it could still be incorporated into a Soul Guidance Device.