White Lotus and the Body Sect! (Please invest! Please send recommendation votes! Please send monthly votes!)

The Young Heaven Class classroom.

"After this practical combat lesson, I imagine you all have a rough understanding of your own fighting ability," Tian Zilai said. "From my perspective, it was terrible. You are all undisputed geniuses at cultivation, but when it comes to combat, you still have much to learn."

Both the Soul Master students who had participated in the fights and the Soul Scholar students who had not nodded in agreement with Tian Zilai.

"This isn't your fault," Tian Zilai said. "No one is born knowing how to fight, and combat geniuses are far too rare, so there's no need to feel discouraged. As teachers, our primary task is to teach you how to fight.

"Over the past two months or so, you have also met the five teachers for the power attack system, agility attack system, control system, defense system, and support system. They are all high-level Soul Masters proficient in the combat techniques of their respective specialties. Not only do they have a solid grounding in theory, their practical fighting abilities are outstanding as well.

"With their guidance, I believe every one of you can become a qualified Battle Soul Master."

After finishing, Tian Zilai dismissed the class.

"A Liang, Yiyi, do you still need to see your tutors?" Qin Xu asked, looking at Xue Zhao and Ye Guyi.

"No." Xue Zhao shook her head. "Teacher Tian said Yiyi and I are geniuses with innate full soul power and should receive preferential treatment. So we learn more than everyone else, and naturally finish earlier too."

"Mm-hmm, that's right!" Ye Guyi nodded.

"Then come back to my dorm with me after lunch. I have something for you," Qin Xu said.

"What is it?" Xue Zhao asked.

"Hehe, something good!" Vielvi came over with a giggle and took Qin Xu's hand. "Xu, there's a share for me too, right?"

"Of course." Qin Xu smiled and stroked Vielvi's lovely hair.

The good thing Qin Xu wanted to give the three girls was actually a second Mystic Water Pill each.

All three had shown marked improvement after taking their first Mystic Water Pills. Vielvi and Ye Guyi had both risen from rank fourteen to the peak of rank fifteen, gaining nearly two ranks of soul power just as Qin Xu had. Xue Zhao had gone straight from rank fifteen to rank seventeen, gaining exactly two ranks. Perhaps that had something to do with the Mystic Water Pill's attributes—ice and water were one family, after all.

More than half a month had passed since he took his first Mystic Water Pill. Qin Xu had completely absorbed its medicinal potency and could take a second one now. The three girls, who had taken theirs at the same time, should have been about ready too, which was why he planned to give them their second pills.

That afternoon, after seeing Vielvi, Xue Zhao, and Ye Guyi off, Qin Xu did not rush to cultivate. He went to the multipurpose room on the second floor.

He pushed open the door and walked inside, where three maps hung on the wall: one of the Black Dragon Duchy, one of the Douluo Continent, and one of the Sun Moon Empire. All three were covered with circles, scribbles, and numerous markings, especially the first and third.

Quite a few reference books lay on the floor. Many concerned the continent's mountains, rivers, and geography, while others dealt with military matters.

Zhang Lexuan stood before the map of the Sun Moon Empire, studying it intently. Only when she heard the door open did she turn around. "Little brother Xu."

"Big sister Xuan." Qin Xu walked over to Zhang Lexuan and joined her in looking at the map on the wall.

The three heavily marked maps were Qin Xu's handiwork. As he had told Zhang Lexuan, "Being the ruler of a mere duchy won't satisfy me! I want to be an emperor!"

Clearly, Qin Xu had set his sights on the Sun Moon Empire and wanted to annex it.

For a tiny duchy to dream of annexing what was effectively the continent's strongest nation was no different from a fool babbling about his dreams. Anyone else who heard it would have laughed their teeth out, but Qin Xu was precisely the sort of person who dared to dream—and would certainly dare to act.

Realistically speaking, the Black Dragon Duchy had only two directions in which it could expand: west toward the Sun Moon Empire, or east toward the Heaven Dou Empire.

The choice was obvious.

If they headed west against the Sun Moon Empire, the Black Dragon Duchy would not need to adjust its national policies, nor face any psychological obstacles or moral burdens. Fighting Sun Moon had always been the politically correct stance among the original Douluo Three Kingdoms. Not only could they gain support from the Star Luo Empire, Heaven Dou Empire, Dou Ling Empire, and Shrek Academy, they would not have to worry about a fire breaking out in their rear.

If they headed east against the Heaven Dou Empire, it would be a betrayal of their suzerain state, leaving them without a righteous cause. Not only would the original Douluo Three Kingdoms and Shrek Academy turn against them, the Sun Moon Empire could easily exploit the opening. They would face enemies from both front and rear and blow up on the spot.

Thus, going west meant one enemy and three allies, while going east meant four enemies. Clearly, heading west offered better odds of success.

"Little brother Xu, have Vielvi and the others left?" Zhang Lexuan asked.

"Yes." Qin Xu nodded. "I gave them their second Mystic Water Pills. Vielvi wanted to study soul tools, while A Liang and Yiyi wanted to cultivate, so I didn't keep them here."

"A Liang and Yiyi really do work hard," Zhang Lexuan remarked. Then she said, "Little brother Xu, why did you specifically circle the duchy and the Sun Moon Empire's Winter Sun Province and North Sea Province on that map of the Douluo Continent? Are you planning to target those two provinces first in the future?"

"That's right. North Sea Province shares its entire border on our side with the Black Dragon Duchy, and one commandery in Winter Sun Province borders us too. If the duchy wants to expand westward, those two provinces will be our primary targets."

"Hmm, that will be difficult!" Zhang Lexuan pondered it before offering her assessment. "The Sun Moon Empire keeps large armies stationed in those two provinces year-round. Even breaking into them would be difficult, let alone capturing them. The duchy's strength alone could never accomplish it."

"That's why we can't use brute force. We need to win through strategy." Qin Xu smiled. "What if the senior officials of those two provinces voluntarily defected to us?"

He remembered that the Sun Moon Empire seemed to undergo a coup at some point.

"Uh..." Zhang Lexuan's eyes first lit up, but then she said helplessly, "All right, that would indeed greatly improve our chances of success. But isn't the chance of something like that happening even lower than the chance of us fighting our way in directly?"

"Hahaha, what if it happens? The world is ever-changing, after all. Who can say what the future holds?"

"Little brother Xu, this isn't funny at all." Zhang Lexuan rolled her eyes at Qin Xu. "Let's look at this map of the Sun Moon Empire instead. Why did you mark out the Sun Moon Mountains separately? They're west of the Sun Moon Empire's capital, even farther from us."

"I heard there's a strange place there, so I marked it to keep us from accidentally wandering in someday and being unable to get out."

"Little brother Xu, are you really so sure we can fight our way to the Sun Moon Empire's capital?" Zhang Lexuan asked. "You should know that ever since the Sun Moon Empire collided with the Douluo Continent, the Douluo Three Kingdoms have spent most of their time on the defensive. They've rarely fought their way into the Sun Moon Empire's own territory, and even when they did, they were soon driven back out."

"Haha, that's because I wasn't here. If I'd been here, I would have stormed Mingdu and united the Douluo Continent long ago." Qin Xu chuckled, his voice brimming with confidence.

Zhang Lexuan's eyes practically shone as she looked at Qin Xu. What she loved most was this confidence of his. It was utterly intoxicating.

"Yes, yes, yes! Little brother Xu, I believe in you!" she said.

Qin Xu smiled, his gaze settling on the map of the Douluo Continent. The smile remained on his face, but his thoughts grew weightier.

In truth, the Douluo Continent was certainly stronger than the Sun Moon Continent in overall strength. Unfortunately, the Douluo Continent was not one nation, but three. Their strength was scattered, they bore grudges against one another, and each harbored its own secret schemes. Getting them to unite their strength was as difficult as climbing to heaven.

The Heaven Dou Empire was the most typical example. Not only was it as incompatible with the Dou Ling Empire as fire and water, it also clashed with the Star Luo Empire from time to time. If Shrek Academy had not constantly mediated between them, the Heaven Dou Empire would have gone to war with the other two nations long ago.

Even more absurdly, the Heaven Dou Empire also had conflicts with Shrek Academy...

The conflict between the Heaven Dou Empire and the Dou Ling Empire concerned dynastic legitimacy. Back then, the Heaven Dou Empire had split into eastern and western halves. Eastern Heaven Dou became the present-day Dou Ling Empire, while Western Heaven Dou was replaced by the Heaven Dou Empire. Both nations wanted to destroy the other and reunify Heaven Dou.

The conflict between the Heaven Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire was a legacy of history. After all, Heaven Dou and Star Luo had always been bitter foes.

As for its conflict with Shrek Academy, the credit for that went to the Body Sect.

Thus, without the Sun Moon Empire, the Heaven Dou Empire would have been more likely to become the continent's common enemy. The reasons behind all this could be traced back to the founding of the Heaven Dou Empire.

Everyone said that the founding emperor of the Heaven Dou Empire, Divine Lotus Douluo Wei Wu, had risen from humble beginnings and conquered the Western Heaven Dou Empire as a commoner, establishing the Heaven Dou Empire with just three things.

First, powerful personal charisma; second, a good brother who could both fight and provide money—the founding grand marshal, Black Dragon Douluo Qin Fei; third, an obedient younger brother who could also fight—the Body Sect's second sect master, Divine Brain Douluo Wei Wen.

The relationship between the Qin Family and the Heavenly Soul Royal Family needed little explanation. They had been steadfast allies for four thousand years. Although friction had become frequent over the past thousand years, no one could deny that they had once been as close as glue and lacquer.

As for the Body Sect, its second sect master and the Heaven Dou Empire's founding emperor were brothers born of the same mother, while its third sect master was the empress of the empire's second emperor. Thus, the Body Sect had been deeply bound to the Heavenly Soul Royal Family ever since the Heaven Dou Empire was founded. The Heavenly Soul Royal Family deserved considerable credit for the Body Sect's growth from an obscure little sect into one of the continent's universally acknowledged top sects.

Successive sect masters of the Body Sect had almost all served as imperial preceptors of the Heaven Dou Empire, and its Titled Douluos generally served as royal retainers as well. Every royal family member with a brain martial soul was also a disciple of the Body Sect, without exception. After thousands of years of such interwoven ties, it was no exaggeration to say that each was part of the other.

It was only because the inheritance of body martial souls was so random that the Body Sect had not long since changed its surname to Wei.

The relationship between the Qin Family and the Body Sect was actually rather ordinary. They had been fairly close when the empire was first established, but gradually drifted apart over time. For one thing, they wanted to avoid arousing suspicion. For another, the Body Sect's conduct was far too domineering, and the Qin Family worried that its own reputation would suffer.

This was not the Qin Family being overly fussy. Even the Heavenly Soul Royal Family deliberately concealed its relationship with the Body Sect, to the point that the vast majority of Soul Masters on the continent now knew nothing of the ties between them.

Relations between the Qin Family and the Body Sect had only begun to warm again in the past century or two. First came the friendship between Qin Tianji and Zhao Yong. Then, while attending Di'ao Academy, Qin Xu's father, Qin Zichu, had brought his mother, Zhao Linglang, home with him. Only then did the two sides begin to grow close again.