Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy Crosses into the First Douluo

"Starting today, the Sun Moon Empire will return every territory it has occupied and rename itself the Heaven Dou Empire!"

At the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy in the Sun Moon Empire,

above the massed Soul Engineer Corps,

a figure spoke coldly.

He had long blue hair, golden eyes, and a trident mark on his forehead.

It was Tang San, the Sea God.

Tang San swept a cold gaze over the Sun Moon Empire's troops below. His eyes stopped on a young man wearing glasses.

In the crowd, Li Chen adjusted his glasses and looked up to meet Tang San's gaze without a trace of fear.

Well, look at you.

Soul Tool Magazines, Soul Tool Aircraft Carriers, Soul Tool Satellites, Soul Tool Intercontinental Missiles, Soul Tool Biochemical Weapons, Soul Tool Robots...

Tang San looked at the Soul Tools filling the ground and sky, anger simmering in his heart.

By his calculations, the Sun Moon Empire was not supposed to attack Star Luo and Heaven Dou until Wutong and Huo Yuhao had grown up and become Titled Douluo.

But instead,

Li Chen had appeared and single-handedly developed an array of powerful Soul Tools.

Huo Yuhao had only recently emerged from Great Love Valley after Tang San had brought him to heel, yet the Sun Moon Empire had already launched its continental offensive!

It had crushed everything in its path, smashed Heaven Dou in a lightning campaign,

and pushed all the way to the gates of the Star Luo Empire's capital!

Tang San was shaken. If he had not been keeping a close watch, the Sun Moon Empire might have conquered all of Douluo Continent before he intervened!

"Is that... Tang San, the Sea God...?"

Beside Li Chen, the Empress War God Ju Zi stared in horror.

So did Silver Moon Douluo Kong Mingde, a Level Ten Soul Engineer.

The figure's power surpassed anything Kong Mingde had ever seen. Even as a mere Divine Sense Projection, he was several times stronger than Shrek's Dragon God Douluo Mu En.

The Sun Moon Empire's troops, poised to attack, all stared up at the sky in terror.

On the other side,

the nobles and royals of the Star Luo Empire erupted in cheers, shouting that they had been saved.

"On what grounds?!"

From the silent ranks of the Sun Moon Empire's army,

Li Chen looked up and demanded an answer.

"Our soldiers fought and died for these lands!"

"Star Luo and Heaven Dou clung to the past. The Sun Moon Empire brought advanced, powerful Soul Tool Technology that improved life even for commoners. The war is nearly over, and the continent is about to be united!"

"And now, just because you say so, we're supposed to give it all back? On what grounds?!"

Ju Zi stared at Li Chen in shock. Kong Mingde stared at him in shock. Every soldier in the Sun Moon army stared at him in shock.

Beneath that oppressive divine might,

none of them had expected the bespectacled young man who had always planned from the rear to step forward and speak.

"On what grounds?"

Tang San gave a derisive chuckle.

"Because I am Tang San, the Sea God! My word is a god's decree! Either withdraw your troops, or I'll make you withdraw them!"

"Well said!"

Atop the walls of the Star Luo Empire's capital,

the nobles and royals celebrated, cheering with delight.

"The Sea God protects us! We're safe!"

"Hahahaha! So what if the Sun Moon Empire won? You have no god to protect you. You deserve to be trampled underfoot, just like you were four thousand years ago!"

"We should make them hand over their Soul Tool Technology too! They can't be trusted with it!"

The soldiers of the Sun Moon Empire darkened at those words.

The Empress War God Ju Zi stood dazed, then let out a long sigh.

With Li Chen's help, the Sun Moon Empire had become unstoppable. None of them had expected an enemy from beyond their world.

"Li Chen, let's withdraw."

Ju Zi patted Li Chen on the shoulder.

But Li Chen drew a deep breath and took out a small Soul Tool Controller.

"A god's decree?"

"Tang San, gods aren't allowed to interfere with the mortal world. Yet you sent your daughter down here without permission, used Great Love Valley to manipulate Huo Yuhao, the child of the plane, and even drove the Emperor Auspicious Beast Wang Qiu'er to sacrifice herself."

Beside Li Chen, Huo Yuhao looked up in shock.

Li Chen had won him over and brought him into the Sun Moon Empire.

Now Huo Yuhao was reeling.

What?

Dong'er's slumber and Qiu'er's sacrifice—Tang San deliberately made all of that happen to control me?

The one who killed me and brought me back again and again in Great Love Valley was Tang San, the Sea God?!

"You don't even follow the rules yourself. What right do you have to call yourself a god?!"

Tang San's expression changed. He was stunned.

How does this brat know any of that?

Did another God King tell him? Is there another God King behind him?

"Today, I'm going to find out whether a god can be killed!"

Li Chen raised the Soul Tool Controller in his hand.

"I placed a Level Nine Space Soul Tool in the core of Douluo Star. The moment I press this button, the entire planet will collapse into a Black Hole!"

"You have three seconds. Either crawl back to the Divine Realm, or watch Douluo Star turn into a Black Hole and drag the Divine Realm down with it!"

Tang San was stunned.

But his arrogance as a god kept him from believing it. "Brat, do you think I, Tang San, can be fright—"

Before he could finish,

"Time's up!"

Li Chen pressed the button without hesitation.

Hum!

The entire Douluo Star suddenly shuddered.

Deep within the planet's core,

a Level Nine Soul Tool made of Void Mithril activated. The planet's core and an immense quantity of Soul Power compressed toward a single point, rapidly reaching a singularity.

Then,

a black, spherical event horizon appeared.

The surrounding space twisted violently. Even light could not escape.

Douluo Star began collapsing from within, matter rushing into the Black Hole at a terrifying speed.

Boom!

On the planet's surface, the earth shook, the continent split, volcanoes erupted, and the sky turned strange.

Panic swept the crowds. The soldiers and the nobles and royals atop Star Luo's capital walls were all stunned.

"What is this...?!"

Tang San's pupils contracted. He immediately swept his spiritual power across all of Douluo Star and discovered, to his horror, that the planet was rapidly collapsing!

"You lunatic!"

Tang San raged. "How dare you?!"

Li Chen grinned savagely. "Tang San, be grateful I didn't arrive ten thousand years earlier. I'd have scattered your ashes!"

"We'll go on ahead and wait for you in Hell!"

Then,

amid the quaking of the world's end,

Li Chen looked around at Ju Zi and the others, then at the soldiers nearby, his eyes full of apology.

"I'm sorry, everyone. After everything we've endured to get here, we deserved a better ending."

"I could never accept the empire becoming a god's slave. I'll repay you all in another life!"

Li Chen bowed deeply to the soldiers around him.

"Please don't bow to us, State Preceptor!"

Ju Zi hurriedly pulled Li Chen upright.

"The State Preceptor is right. Better to take them down with us than rename ourselves Heaven Dou and become a puppet!"

Ju Zi grabbed the champagne they had saved on the table and popped it open. They had meant to drink it in celebration after unifying the continent.

She tipped her head back, took a long swig, and passed it to Li Chen.

"To taking them down with us!"

Li Chen smiled, took a drink, and passed it to Kong Mingde.

Kong Mingde froze for a moment, then grabbed the bottle and drank deeply, wine spilling into his graying beard.

"Hahahaha! That hits the spot!"

After draining it, Kong Deming threw back his head and laughed.

"To think I can take the Divine Realm down with me before I die, and share one last reckless moment with a young man like you! I have no regrets! None at all!"

Tang San was furious. His composure shattered, his eyes bloodshot as he breathed like a bull.

The terrified nobles and royals atop Star Luo's walls were furious too. They could not understand it, even as panic gripped them.

They were all about to die. How could those people still laugh?

"The Sun Moon Empire's lands shall endure! Its soldiers' spirit shall live forever!"

Li Chen stepped forward and struck his chest with his right fist in salute.

"For the empire!"

At the sight of his salute, the massed soldiers snapped to attention and struck their chests as one!

Inspired by Li Chen, they had set out to build a world where everyone was equal and no one faced discrimination for their Martial Soul!

That dream was now beyond reach. Rather than become a god's puppets, they would drag him down with them!

"For the empire!"

On the brink of Douluo Star's destruction, the Sun Moon army faced death without fear!

Boom!

The planet exploded,

and the Black Hole swallowed everything!

On Douluo Star,

in a valley,

Li Chen's eyes flew open, and he sat up on the grass.

He adjusted his glasses. "Where am I? I'm not dead?!"

Li Chen got to his feet and looked around.

Ju Zi, Kong Deming, Jing Hongchen and his two grandchildren, Huo Yuhao, two Soul Engineer Corps, and some regular troops were all sprawled across the ground nearby.

Li Chen stood there in surprise.

A voice sounded in his mind.

[I am the Plane Spirit. Through the Black Hole, I have sent you back ten thousand years, to when Tang San was fourteen.]

[The Black Hole twisted time. I saw a future ten thousand years from now, when Tang San would use me as a pawn to lure in the Abyss and have his father, Tang Hao, seize my body.]

[I cannot accept that future. I hope you can change it all. I wish you every success.]

The voice slowly faded.

Li Chen stared in astonishment. "So this is the first Douluo era?!"

"Plane Spirit, thank you."

Li Chen looked up at the sky and clenched his fist. "Just you wait, Little Scumbag!"