Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan hurried forward and asked cautiously, "Your Holiness, what have you realized?"
Bibi Dong raised her head high, her tone certain:
"These two continents are still barren wildernesses, yet the Heavenly Dao has named them 'Heaven Dou' and 'Star Luo.'"
"What does that tell us? It tells us that along the future course of fate, our Spirit Hall will inevitably establish the 'Spirit Hall Empire' and sweep across the world!
We will rout the remnants of the Heaven Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire, leaving them fleeing without their helmets or armor.
We will force them to cross the vast ocean and escape to those two desolate islands, where they will eke out their last breaths and rebuild their nations under their old names!"
At these words, Ghost Douluo and Chrysanthemum Douluo first froze, then showed expressions of utter conviction!
"Your Holiness is truly wise!" Gui Mei hastily bowed.
"No wonder those two continents bear those names. The Heavenly Dao foresaw their fate as homeless curs!"
A bloodthirsty smile curved Bibi Dong's lips:
"However... now that the sky screen has revealed those two continents ahead of time, I will never give them the chance to flee and recover!"
"Pass down my command! Begin preparations for a shipbuilding fleet immediately!"
"The day my Spirit Hall Empire pacifies the Douluo Continent will be the day our fleet sets out on its expedition!
I will bring all three continents into the Spirit Hall Empire's domain and establish a supreme empire unlike any other in this world!"
The same idea was also taking root in the hearts of the rulers of the Two Great Empires!
In the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace, within the magnificent imperial court.
Xue Ye stared fixedly at the land brimming with boundless vitality on the sky screen. He slammed his dragon-carved desk, his voice charged with excitement:
"Pass down my decree! Starting today, offer lavish rewards to recruit the finest master shipwrights in the nation! Mobilize Heaven Dou's main forces and establish the 'Heaven Dou Royal Ocean Fleet'!"
"Seize the initiative before the Star Luo Empire and Spirit Hall can react! Wherever our Heaven Dou fleet sets foot shall be Heaven Dou territory!"
In the imperial palace hall of the Star Luo Empire.
The Star Luo Emperor, Dai Tianfeng, was even more decisive, immediately issuing an imperial decree:
"Notify all three armies! Place every major coastal port under martial law at once, and devote the entire nation's strength to building a mighty fleet of a thousand sails!"
"Since that 'Star Luo Continent' bears Star Luo's name, it is the birthright of our Star Luo Imperial Family! Whoever dares stand in our way—if a god blocks us, we slay the god; if a Buddha blocks us, we slay the Buddha!"
For a time, the successive revelations of fourth and fifth place, coupled with the stunning miracle of the Heavenly Dao's blessed rain nourishing the land, plunged the entire Douluo Continent into a frenzy over a "great ocean expedition"!
Every major sect, secluded clan, and subordinate kingdom was secretly plotting sea charts and preparing ships, ready to claim a slice of the spoils amid this upheaval!
In the eyes of Douluo's people, those two continents that had appeared out of nowhere might be vast and rich, but they were merely uninhabited, uncivilized islands of wilderness and beasts.
Once they crossed the ocean, they could claim those endless resources and the Heavenly Dao's blessings as their own, standing proud as conquerors!
Yet none of the reactions of these various powers could be seen in full above the Douluo Continent.
But everything above the Longcang Continent was displayed in its entirety on the sky screen!
Just as hidden currents surged among the Douluo Continent's major powers over those two desolate "primitive continents."
Deep within the boundless ocean, in the great hall of the imperial capital of the Longcang Empire.
"Pfft... cough! Cough, cough!"
On the left side of the hall, the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King stood with his arms folded and his cheeks twitching. Only with great difficulty did he force back the laughter rising in his throat.
Beside him, the Golden Crocodile King, as burly as an iron tower, was trembling even through his back. Clearly, holding in his laughter was an agonizing struggle.
"Your Majesty... this old crocodile really can't hold it in much longer... are the natives of the Douluo Continent missing a screw in their heads?!"
"All the sky screen did was announce two primitive landmasses nobody wanted and sprinkle a little rain on them.
How did they leap from that to a future where they 'cross the ocean and establish new empires'?
And that Bibi Dong... she actually believes she was the one who drove everyone else away?!"
The Longcang Empire's Grand Sage also shook his head with a chuckle. "A frog in a well cannot be told of the sea, for it is confined by its narrow home."
"Those two continents haven't even nurtured the most primitive civilization. They merely possess some land left over from the world's first awakening.
A little blessed rain from the Heavenly Dao will, at most, let a few more ten-thousand-year-old medicinal herbs grow."
"By contrast, our Longcang Empire, blessed by Your Majesty's boundless divine grace, possesses a Divine-Level Dragon Vein and a highly developed soul guidance civilization. Demigods stand throughout the continent, and ferocious beasts form armies..."
The Grand Sage gently stroked his beard and murmured, "If these natives knew what mighty power the next three places represented... they might not even find a grave to weep over."
High upon the dragon throne.
Ye Canghai sat upon his supreme throne, watching through a water mirror as the sky screen showed Bibi Dong brimming with confidence, as though she already held an eternal dominion in her grasp. Even he could not hold back a laugh.
"That imagination of hers really is the finest in the entire plane..."
To be honest, back when he had drifted aimlessly across the vast ocean, he had passed those two desolate continents as well.
At the time, a sweep of his divine sense had revealed that neither had even a decent spirit beast worth roasting. So unimpressed that he had no interest in going ashore, he had simply drifted away.
Who would have thought that, in the eyes of these Douluo Continent natives, those desolate islands he had not even bothered with back then would become treasured lands worth scrambling over?
Ye Canghai took the Divine Spring Ancient Tea offered by a maid beside him and leisurely sipped it, a glimmer of amusement flashing in his eyes:
"Still... the sooner they laugh, the harder they fall."
"I am rather looking forward to seeing just what splendid expressions these self-important people of Douluo will wear when third place, second place... and even first place are officially revealed."
Rumble—!
Just as the entire plane's emotions reached their peak—
The sky screen high above the heavens suddenly erupted with a thunderous voice of the Great Dao that overwhelmed every sound before it!
Billowing radiant clouds raged like a vast ocean, collapsing inward and gathering together!
Before that supreme pressure, the very void of the Douluo Plane faintly creaked, as though unable to bear the burden!
The billions of living beings across the entire plane held their breath once more!
[Continental Comprehensive Strength Ranking of the Douluo Plane's Continents—3rd Place!] [To Be Revealed Shortly!]
Above, golden radiance surged across the sky screen, and heaven and earth changed color!
The revelations of fourth-place "Star Luo Continent" and fifth-place "Heaven Dou Continent" had pushed the confidence of every power on the Douluo Continent to its absolute peak.
To the Two Great Empires and the major sects, those two places were merely savage lands in distant oceans, nourished by the Heavenly Dao's blessed rain through sheer luck.
Their Douluo Continent, however, possessed a glorious civilization with ten thousand years of heritage, dozens of Titled Douluo, three first-rate great sects, and the lofty Spirit Hall!
They were even utterly convinced that, given the Douluo Continent's foundations, the supreme first place in these rankings had to belong to it!
In Spirit City, atop the high platform outside the Pope's Hall.
Bibi Dong stood alone in the wind, her magnificent papal robes snapping in the gales.
"Fourth place... fifth place..."
Bibi Dong calculated inwardly, the excitement in her eyes almost spilling over:
"If two wretched wilderness islands can make the rankings, who else could claim the supreme glory of first place in this plane but the Douluo Continent beneath our feet?!"
"If the sky screen judges the Douluo Continent to be first, the Heavenly Dao's rewards and supreme divine power will surely cover this entire land!"
"When that happens, I will tear Heaven Dou and Star Luo apart with thunderous force, establish the 'Spirit Hall Empire,' and swallow the entire Douluo Continent whole..."
At that thought, Bibi Dong's chest heaved.
"Then I will naturally inherit every Heavenly Dao reward bestowed upon this continent!"
"Divine Realm God Trials? The Rakshasa God? The Angel God? With the Heavenly Dao's rewards for this entire continent empowering me, I will use supreme might to ascend directly to godhood and even surpass ordinary gods!"
In her eyes, how could this sky screen possibly be a crisis?
The Heavenly Dao was clearly paving the way for her, Bibi Dong, to sweep across the world and become a supreme divine empress!
On Sea God Island, beside the azure shore.
Tang San stared fixedly at the sky, driving his Purple Demon Eye to its limit once again as towering waves surged through his heart.
"Little San." Dai Mubai swallowed and whispered, "Fourth and fifth place are both barren wildernesses. Does that mean our Douluo Continent... will be first?"
Tang San pondered for a moment before answering gravely, with a trace of certainty:
"Throughout the ancient records, our Douluo Continent has been the center of the entire Douluo Plane. The major sects, Spirit Hall, and Sea God Island have produced powerful figures generation after generation, and we possess a complete soul master cultivation system and divine legacies."
"In terms of overall strength, no other landmass can compare with the Douluo Continent."
"If our Douluo Continent truly claims first place... the miracle bestowed upon us might completely change the current situation. No matter how strong Spirit Hall is, we will have the means to strike back from the brink of defeat!"
For a time, hundreds of millions of living beings throughout the Douluo Continent held their breath, waiting for the sky screen to reveal the supreme top three!
Everyone was steeling their resolve in secret, and everyone awaited the arrival of the unparalleled glory that belonged to the Douluo Continent!
Rumble—!!!!
At the very moment the anticipation of billions of living beings across the plane reached its highest peak!
The sky exploded. Endless runes poured down like a waterfall, forming a grand line of golden words! The thunderous voice of the Great Dao pierced the heavens:
[Continental Comprehensive Strength Ranking of the Douluo Plane's Continents—3rd Place!] [Ranked Entry: Douluo Continent!] [Continent Overview: Located in the central waters of Douluo Star, it is one of the plane's native ancient continents. Possesses a complete soul master cultivation system and an ancient civilization, with the three great sects and Spirit Hall standing throughout... deep foundations and countless top-tier combatants!] [Point Deductions: Soul guidance technology is extremely backward, still in the primitive stage of excavating relics; The martial soul system is rigid, with no new cultivation methods developed; severe internal strife within its civilization and dispersed Plane Fortune...] [Overall Assessment: Decent foundations, but trapped in its old ways, with extremely slow development!]
Alongside this, the sky screen displayed a complete view of the Douluo Continent, including the sects scattered across it—the Upper Three Sects and the Lower Four Sects.
It also showed Spirit Hall, looking down upon the world from its lofty seat in Spirit City, and the soul beasts' habitat, the Star Dou Great Forest.
Even the complete martial soul cultivation system was projected onto the sky screen.
It truly allowed the people of the Longcang Empire to fully understand Douluo's backward cultivation methods!
Deathly silence.
Absolute, deathly silence.
The instant the words "Douluo Continent" hung high above the heavens, the entire Douluo Continent sank into a silence as terrifying as a tomb!
Even the sound of the wind seemed unbearably piercing at that moment.
Hundreds of millions of soul masters, ordinary people, old monsters from the major sects, and the emperors of the Two Great Empires...
All of them felt as though lightning had struck them, their minds going utterly blank!
"Th-third... only third place?!"
Inside the great hall of the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace.
Xue Ye, who had still been immersed in his ambitions of overseas conquest, nearly had his eyes pop from their sockets. He pointed at the sky, his voice trembling:
"How is this possible?! Our Douluo Continent is blessed with nature's treasures, possesses ten thousand years of civilization, and even has Titled Douluo standing guard... yet... yet we're only third?!"
Prince Xue Xing was so frightened that he collapsed onto the floor and cried out:
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! Aside from those two primitive, desolate islands.
Could there really be continents in this world stronger than ours? And two whole ones at that?!"
(A brief aside: it is worth mentioning that the world of Douluo I was not without soul tools.
However, only a small number of special items from ancient times remained, recovered from ruins.
Items such as Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges, the Wish-Fulfilling Hundred Treasures Pouch, the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud, and the Dragon Abyss Boat mainly served storage and defensive functions. They were scarce, and the techniques for making them had long been lost.)
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