Heaven Dou Empire, seventy li outside the city.
"Chenxiang, I miss you. I miss you so much..."
A tall young man stood before a grave, pouring crisp, clear wine into his mouth without pause.
His fiery red hair fell to his waist. He had swordlike brows and star-bright eyes, yet an indelible sorrow seemed to linger between his brows.
A closer look would reveal a faint golden-red light within his eyes.
That golden-red light formed an intricate divine array, faintly taking the shape of a golden-red Phoenix within his Sea of Consciousness.
The Phoenix God, Ma Hongjun.
"Ten years, the living and the dead lost to each other. Though I do not dwell on you, I cannot forget."
"A lonely grave a thousand miles away, nowhere to speak of my desolation..."
"Aah!!!"
Ma Hongjun gently stroked the cold gravestone before him.
The name "Bai Chenxiang" on the gravestone, along with the image of a Sharp-Tailed Swift spreading its wings to take flight, made the grief in his heart impossible to suppress any longer.
The wine flask in his hand was instantly vaporized by the vast surge of divine power as he threw back his head and howled.
Ma Hongjun's powerful divine consciousness condensed into a white figure before him.
The woman's pretty face held a measure of tenderness, but far more overwhelming was her deep reluctance to part.
For ten thousand years, Ma Hongjun had shut himself away in the Phoenix God Temple under the pretext of secluded cultivation.
Even when Tang San, a God King, summoned him, he invariably ignored it.
The gods of the Divine Realm all thought this Phoenix God had a tendency to withdraw into himself.
In truth, however, Ma Hongjun often secretly descended to the mortal world to tend the grave of his wife, Bai Chenxiang.
He had also given guidance to some of their descendants.
For instance, the former Sea God Pavilion master of Shrek Academy, whose Martial Soul possessed Ultimate Fire, was a descendant of his and Bai Chenxiang's.
But the Divine Realm's restrictions were too stringent. To avoid discovery, Ma Hongjun had descended only three times in ten thousand years.
And each time he descended, the grief in his heart became harder to contain.
"Chenxiang, I hate myself for not working harder back then!"
"Third Brother had prepared the Fire God's divine position for me, but I failed to inherit it."
"Because of that, I could only settle for second best and inherit the Phoenix God's divine position."
"Second-Level Gods cannot bring their loved ones into the Divine Realm. You remained forever on the Douluo Continent, while I alone ascended to the Divine Realm."
"I watched my wife grow old with my own eyes. I buried the person I loved most with my own hands!"
"The so-called Phoenix God is nothing but a pitiful shell. Everything inside departed long ago with you."
The golden-red tears in Ma Hongjun's eyes were as scorching as lava, raising wisps of white smoke when they struck the ground.
"If I had a choice, if I had known back then that I couldn't inherit the Fire God's divine position and couldn't bring you into the Divine Realm..."
"Then I would rather never have become a god. I would rather have grown old with you and returned to the yellow earth together!"
"But the reason I'm still clinging to this miserable life is that I'm waiting for hope-a hope that might bring you back!"
"If a Second-Level God cannot do it, then a First-Level God, a God King... even if I must reach the beyond-God-King level, I have to hold your hand again!"
"You are my only starlight, watching over my long road!"
"Since you left, only darkness remains ahead. Apart from hatred for myself, all my heart holds is longing for you."
"O phoenix, o phoenix, returning to your homeland, roaming the four seas in search of your mate!"
"But now you are gone, leaving me alone to linger..."
Ma Hongjun poured another mouthful of wine into his mouth. Suddenly, his gaze flickered, and he looked into the distance.
"How could there be fluctuations from a battle between divine-level experts in the Douluo Plane?"
"That direction seems to be... Shrek Academy?!"
"Your Martial Souls are hammers?"
Xu Yi stood before the Clear Sky Sect's Soul Masters, his face alight with delighted surprise.
A young man from the Clear Sky Sect nodded obediently, summoned his Clear Sky Hammer, and showed it to him.
Faced with this legendary Quasi-God expert and the Divine Mecha Golden Crow beside him, radiating light as dazzling as the sun...
These Soul Masters of the Clear Sky Sect, including even the Titled Douluo elders, behaved as meekly as children.
"Isn't this a forging hammer?"
Xu Yi grew even more excited as he studied the shape of the Clear Sky Hammer Martial Soul.
"Do you know how to forge? I mean using hammers to forge rare metals."
An elder of the Clear Sky Sect stepped forward and answered.
"We haven't forged many rare metals, but most of our disciples can forge things like iron essence."
"Senior, our Clear Sky Sect had no part in this battle to begin with. The two sect masters acted against everyone's wishes and forced us to come."
"You and the soldiers under your command can take the heads of us old fellows as military merit!"
"But considering that we never attacked your Spirit Hall Empire, could you let the children of our sect leave?"
For the people of the Clear Sky Sect, although Xu Yi had killed quite a few of their disciples with a single Level-Twelve Fixed Soul Cannon Shell...
In truth, his attack had never been aimed at the Clear Sky Sect in the first place.
And the people of the Clear Sky Sect had never wanted to support Shrek Academy anyway.
After ten thousand years, Shrek Academy had become a holy land for Soul Masters, revered by Soul Masters across the entire continent.
The Clear Sky Sect, however, had sealed its mountain and shut its gates. They even had to farm and raise livestock themselves just to get by.
Both were powers Sea God Tang San had come from, so how could the gap between them be so huge?
Thus, the people of the Clear Sky Sect actually held no respect or admiration for Tang San whatsoever.
Better to have given birth to a slab of barbecued pork than such an ungrateful wretch!
Of course, there were bound to be some among these Clear Sky Sect members who resented the Spirit Hall Empire.
But as far as the Clear Sky Sect's elders were concerned, at worst, they could trade their old lives for those of the sect's young people.
They couldn't let the legacy of the Clear Sky Hammer Martial Soul end here, could they?
"Kill you? No, no, no, no, no!"
Xu Yi waved his hands repeatedly, his eyes gleaming behind his glasses.
"You're all talented people! Not only do you understand basic forging, but your Martial Souls are forging hammers!"
"In that case, all of you should follow our fleet to the Phoenix God Continent and build your future there!"
"Our Royal Academy of Sciences will personally teach you how to forge rare metals. We'll do everything we can to turn every one of you into an Advanced Blacksmith!"
Everyone from the Clear Sky Sect froze.
He wasn't going to kill us, and he was taking us to the Phoenix God Continent instead?
They had long since witnessed the Phoenix God Continent's power and prosperity through the Sky Screen.
Could the Clear Sky Sect truly flourish again on the Phoenix God Continent?
"Senior, is what you're saying true?"
The Clear Sky Sect elder asked in disbelief.
Xu Yi nodded.
"Of course it's true. You can also send someone to fetch those who remained at your sect as soon as possible."
"Anyone willing to leave the Douluo Continent can board our fleet!"
Not only had they escaped the threat of death, but they would even get to witness the Phoenix God Continent's prosperity. The people of the Clear Sky Sect immediately burst into cheers.
Meanwhile, Xu Yi beckoned a subordinate over.
"Send all these people to the Forging Workshop with the heaviest workload!"
"Since their Martial Souls are forging hammers and they won't tire while forging, set their working hours at twelve hours a day!"
"Don't mention any allowances, bonuses, or social security to them. No days off on holidays either!"
"These people will be our Royal Academy of Sciences' Gold-Medal Exploited Workers. From now on, give them all the most exhausting forging orders!"
Nearby, the Battle Saint Ape's ears twitched, and he couldn't help shuddering.
"Well, well. He looks so cultured and refined, but his heart is blacker than the sewage in a gutter!"
"These Clear Sky Sect fools would count the money for the very person who sold them!"
Then his Fiery Eyes of Truth turned toward the interior of Shrek City.
The battle within the city seemed about to reach its conclusion as well!
Before you continue