Sun Moon Empire

Biodata

Power Progression

The empire’s progression concerns national soul-engineering capabilities rather than a single cultivation realm.

History

Continental Collision and Defeat

The Sun Moon Empire had unified its original continent before its collision with the Douluo Continent. Its soul-tool development predated that collision by thousands of years, but accelerated sharply after the landmasses merged 73 219.

During the resulting conflict, soul tools initially gave the empire an overwhelming advantage. Shrek Academy rallied the original Douluo nations and led them to victory; the merged land retained the name Douluo Continent. The Sun Moon Empire signed a treaty, ceded territory, and withdrew to a reduced position 77 130.

The empire never abandoned its unification ambitions. According to Xuan Zi, it used the Soul Fighting Tournament held every five years to assess Shrek Academy, which remained the greatest obstacle to its supremacy 130.

Xu Tianran’s Rise

As the old emperor weakened, Crown Prince Xu Tianran accumulated almost all imperial power. By the Mingdu tournament, he appeared publicly as regent, accompanied by Ju Zi and Holy Spirit Cult Master Zhongli Wu 368 377.

The old emperor died during the aftermath of Mingdu’s turmoil. Over three days of mourning, Xu Tianran gained public support through disaster relief while the Holy Spirit Cult purged factions unwilling to submit to him. This consolidated the transfer of power, though his formal coronation was still pending when the tournament finals resumed 451 452.

Xu Tianran’s determination to unify the continent also drove him to suppress internal corruption and decay. The immediate result was a strengthening of the empire rather than a decline during the succession 451.

War Against the Three Great Empires

After three years of preparation, the Sun Moon Empire launched its invasion. Six soul engineer legions carrying Level 9 fixed-load soul tools broke through Star Luo’s Ming Dou Mountain Range defenses and forced the Northwest Group Army to retreat 546.

The main target was the Heaven Dou Empire. Capturing the Ming Dou defensive line diverted Star Luo’s attention and protected the Sun Moon Empire’s rear, transportation hubs, and civilian infrastructure. Ju Zi devised almost the entire campaign and held military power largely in her own hands 546.

Abyss War

Jiang Hai persuaded Xu Tianran to suspend the continental war in preparation for an Abyss invasion. His offer included two soul engineer legions, three battle aura legions, and an opportunity to pursue unification afterward. Xu Tianran accepted after weighing those benefits against the danger of facing the Abyss with an exhausted continent 555 556.

The empire fortified the Ming Dou Mountain Range and received support from the Civilization Research Institute and Far North soul beasts. Jiang Hai proposed separate western and eastern commands, with the Sun Moon Empire defending the west and Shrek Academy leading the eastern coalition 564 577 584.

Imperial soul-tool warfare inflicted heavy losses while initially sustaining almost negligible troop casualties. Later, Ju Zi used concealed batteries and ten soul engineer legions to isolate and destroy an Abyss vanguard, with Dai Hao and Xu Jiawei joining the counterattack 597 615.

Xu Tianran eventually came to the front with nearly all available imperial powerhouses. By the aftermath described in Chapter 634, the Three Great Empires had suffered far greater losses, leaving the Sun Moon Empire in a position to pursue annexation 625 634.

Territory and Settlements

The empire is larger than any individual Douluo nation, but smaller than the Three Great Empires combined. Its territory contains abundant mineral deposits, including metals unavailable in the original Douluo lands 138 219.

• The empire retains customs distinct from those of the original Douluo Continent and has plants and soul beasts unique to its territory 358.
• A railway connects Mingdu and Dongyang City, allowing ordinary passengers to complete the journey in a day and a night. Additional lines gradually link the empire’s principal cities 484.
• Mingdu’s merchant and passenger vessels use soul tools, giving its shipping industry a substantial advantage over coastal Star Luo cities 220.

Government and Society

The Sun Moon Empire is ruled by the Xu imperial family, but its population includes people who advocate abolishing monarchy and returning power to the public. Zhang Lexuan identifies this movement as one reason Jiang Hai might find the country appealing 7 411.

Soul engineering provides an important route to advancement. Jiang Hai finds basic instruction available in almost every city and village, with soul engineer associations and academies in every city. Talented engineers from the Three Great Empires also migrate there for opportunities unavailable at home 219 451.

That openness does not eliminate class inequality. Jiang Hai observes that the upper nobility monopolizes power, wealth disparities are widening, and most routes upward outside soul engineering have been blocked. Huo Yuhao later reports rigid class divisions and recurring rebellions 222 354.

• Professional standing: Advanced soul engineers possess enough influence that even the emperor cannot openly kill them without justification; treason is identified as an exception 435 484.
• Association influence: The Sun Moon branch of the Soul Engineer Association commands immense wealth and influence, unlike its less-developed counterparts in the Three Great Empires 231.
• Shared teaching ranks: Instructor titles apply across imperial academies, allowing teachers to retain their professional rank when transferring institutions 224.
• Acceptance of innovation: Civilian soul tools enter widespread use more readily than in the Three Great Empires, where comparable devices often remain restricted to nobles 219 354 358.

Soul Engineering and Economy

Education and Research Institutions

• Systematic training: Imperial education is more structured and efficient than Shrek Academy’s early approach, with stronger foundations in soul-tool theory 73.
• Strict certification: Engineers of the same rank have a higher average standard than those certified under the original Douluo nations’ looser criteria 211.
• Advanced talent: The empire has hundreds of Level 8 Soul Engineers. At the time of Jiang Hai’s assessment, publicly known Level 9 engineers number no more than ten, excluding secret imperial specialists 227.
• Research inheritance: Notes and journals left by earlier Level 9 engineers allow later generations to build on established discoveries 245.
• Blueprint restrictions: High-level blueprints are prohibited from leaking to the Three Great Empires. Access to Level 9 designs is tightly controlled, with copying forbidden 293 411.

Resources and Production

• Rare metals: The empire’s deposits underpin its technological lead. Shrek Academy spends substantial sums importing rare materials for research 219 550.
• State subsidies: Generous annual support encourages soul-engineer development; strong demand for their products generates enormous tax revenues 228.
• Export limitations: Difficulty selling to the Three Great Empires makes some top imperial academy departments less profitable than Shrek’s, despite their superior technology. The imperial academy requires yearly state support 109.
• Agricultural development: Civilization Research Institute high-yield seeds help build war reserves, while railways move supplies and troops efficiently 546.
• Wartime industry: Large-scale ammunition consumption makes production capacity essential. Illustrious Virtue Hall continuously manufactures soul tools and fixed soul cannon shells for the front 597.
• Warehouse reform: Following Mingdu’s earlier disaster, storage sites are dispersed, and high-grade fixed soul cannon shells are isolated from other warehouses 597.

Military

Organization

Weapons and Tactics

• Linked Soul Tools: Combine multiple weapons’ output. A linked attack from over one hundred Level 4 engineers is difficult even for a Titled Douluo to withstand 591.
• Artillery formations: Soul engineers can sacrifice mobility to form interconnected defensive emplacements, a tactic responsible for many ordinary soldiers’ deaths 152.
• Level 9 fixed-load weapons: Strategic bombardment weapons used to breach the Ming Dou defenses 546.
• Reconnaissance and communications: The opening offensive demonstrates overwhelming advantages in detection, communications, firepower, and mobility 546.
• Mecha-equipped elites: During Ju Zi’s Abyss ambush, two Hand of National Protection legions field humanoid mecha that give each wearer combat power comparable to a seven-ring Soul Saint 615.
• Training doctrine: Small-scale clashes, research, and simulations give imperial legions an advantage in organization and soul-tool warfare over the Three Great Empires 558.

Limitations

• Individual combat: A Level 9 Soul Engineer is generally disadvantaged against a Titled Douluo in a direct duel; the engineer’s strengths lie in preparation, productivity, and battlefield destruction 427 540.
• Martial-soul research: The empire remains behind the original Douluo nations in this field 291.
• Cultivation ceiling: Native engineers’ physiology favors medicine-assisted development but makes cultivation beyond Titled Douluo especially difficult. Rank 94 historically acts as a ceiling for many Level 9 engineers 486.
• Industrial expenditure: Low battlefield losses depend on consuming vast quantities of ammunition and other soul tools 597.

Relationships

• Xu Tianran — Regent and later emperor; seeks continental unification and greater control over the Civilization Research Institute 368 451 546.
• Ju Zi — Empress and grand marshal; earns command through military ability and directs both the continental campaign and major Abyss-war operations 546 555 615.
• Kong Deming — Imperial trump card, called the Father of Soul Tools; possesses the strength to fight a Limit Douluo and develops the Silver Moon Divine Light Shield 453 572.
• Jing Hongchen — Former Illustrious Virtue Hall master. Repeated setbacks diminish his standing with Xu Tianran before he joins the Civilization Research Institute 487 556.
• Ye Yulin — Patriotic soul engineer and Xu Tianran supporter; later leads the empire’s assembled top-tier combatants 439 625.
• Holy Spirit Cult — Military and political ally that helps consolidate Xu Tianran’s rule. Its concealed objective is to infiltrate the armies and eventually replace Xu-family control 411 451.
• Shrek Academy — Historic opponent and principal obstacle to unification. Its nominal neutrality does not prevent it from siding with the original Douluo nations 130 344 563.
• Three Great Empires — Long-standing rivals, later invasion targets and fellow defenders against the Abyss 546 564 615.
• Jiang Hai — Favors the empire as a home for soul engineers and establishes his institute there, but refuses to make it a participant in the continental war. He later negotiates cooperation against the Abyss 219 430 555.
• Civilization Research Institute — Independent technological partner whose research greatly strengthens the empire. Its neutrality allows individual members to join wars without committing the institution itself 546 549.
• Far North soul beasts — March south under Jiang Hai to support the empire against the Abyss, despite Xue Linglong’s earlier concern that imperial industrial expansion threatens soul-beast habitats 219 577.