"Such harsh terms were difficult for the emperors of the Two Great Empires to accept, but the Holy Emperor left no room for compromise. Refusal meant the destruction of their nations, so they could only cooperate with Spirit Hall's reforms."
"Spirit Hall had already investigated all experts above rank ninety-five, leaving them no chance to escape. In the end, under the watchful eyes of Spirit Hall's elders, they took their own lives to spare their families or sects from annihilation."
"Spirit Hall also began forming teams according to its members' hometowns and sending them back to establish branch halls. Wherever they went, the people welcomed them wholeheartedly and treated them as heroes. In some cities where hardliners refused to welcome them, outright mutinies broke out: the locals killed the officials commanding the garrisons, then opened the gates to welcome Spirit Hall's members."
"Once Spirit Hall's radiance had spread across the entire continent, the Holy Emperor suddenly disappeared. Apart from leaving the Angel God's inheritance to her descendants, she left nothing behind. Some said she had ascended to godhood. Others said that even as a demigod, she could hardly have avoided fatal wounds while fighting several Peerless Douluos, and had merely been holding on all that time. Even today, those at the top have offered no explanation. Perhaps only the current Adjudicating Elder knows the truth."
"Whatever the case, after the Holy Emperor left, the Two Great Empires and numerous sects began stirring once more. Fortunately, the two elders had also advanced to Peerless Douluo by then, so suppressing those severely weakened powers was no problem."
"The Holy Emperor's sudden disappearance undoubtedly sounded a warning bell. If those two elders also died unexpectedly, no one would remain with the authority to lead everyone. Thus, building upon Spirit Hall, they established the Elder Hall, selecting Spirit Hall's Peak Douluos as a reserve of powerful experts and creating the Ten Great Enshrined. The two named themselves Adjudicating Elders and traveled far and wide, responsible for slaying any Peak Douluos who violated the treaty by advancing beyond its limits."
"The Holy Emperor's descendants served as the leaders of the Elder Hall, striving to complete the inheritance she had left behind. As for the position of Supreme Pontiff, they strictly followed her final wishes: regardless of background, the most outstanding successor in Spirit Hall would be chosen. Later, this gave rise to the Saintess system, which trained heirs from childhood to ensure that unexpected events would not break the line of succession."
"Usually, the Holy Emperor's descendants possessed the greatest talent among their generation in Spirit Hall. Over time, each Supreme Pontiff and Adjudicating Elder tended to be drawn from two generations of her descendants. Their strength and talent were plain for all to see, enough to earn everyone's trust. The occasional genius who emerged was not excluded by her bloodline, either, and could be smoothly elected Supreme Pontiff. Indeed, marriages between the two sides were common because of their close relationships. As a result, power at the top remained highly unified, and the regime was naturally extremely stable."
"Faced with the threat of Spirit Hall, the Two Great Empires naturally stopped waging meaningless wars. Ordinary people, who had been tormented for thousands of years, could finally live in peace. Everything was moving in a better direction."
At this point, Wang Yan seemed to have finished recounting everything he had learned from history books. Yet his expression grew deeply wistful. He let out a long sigh before continuing:
"But no power can remain forever as it was at its founding. Though most people still hold to their original ideals, some have forgotten the fundamental purpose behind the Holy Emperor's establishment of Spirit Hall. Behind the scenes, they weave webs of influence for personal gain. Some have even forgotten the darkness before the Holy War and begun making deals with the imperial powers. Nearly a thousand years of keeping them suppressed has made most of our people arrogant, convinced that the empires are merely little lambs they can knead and squeeze as they please."
"Little do they know that those lambs were once terrifying floods and savage beasts. Even now, they may be harboring things we know nothing about. If we let our guard down even slightly, or give them an opening, those little lambs will turn into fierce tigers and destroy everything we have built."
"A thousand years is enough to wear away many rules, both spoken and unspoken. Many provisions of the original treaty have lost their force as well. Take the handling of Evil Soul Masters, for example. Nowadays, the Two Great Empires practically leave them alone, and even send people to support them in secret just to trip us up. Over the past few centuries, to preserve Spirit Hall's image in people's hearts, we have not only been unable to kill powerful experts openly as we once did, but have instead had to find ways to win them over."
"And then there are their armies, which keep expanding under the pretext of defending against Soul Beasts and the other empire. Sooner or later, those at the top will realize what a mistake it was to retreat step by step just to maintain a veneer of peace."
Wang Yan's words struck straight at the heart of the matter. Spirit Hall might still be incomparably powerful now, but hadn't it been destroyed twenty years later by a wild card like Tang San?
As she listened to his vivid, heartfelt account, Leng Xiyue's attitude quietly began to change. Originally, she had wanted to join Spirit Hall not because she thought it was particularly good, but simply because she considered it less rotten than the Two Great Empires.
To put her purpose more plainly, she wanted to rake in money and use her talent to score some free resources. She had not even decided whether she wanted to confront Tang San directly.
Now, however, she genuinely wanted to do something for Spirit Hall from the bottom of her heart. It was practically a charitable organization. If it could not unify the continent, that would be far too much of a pity.
At that thought, Leng Xiyue could not help feeling deeply ashamed of her earlier belief that Spirit Hall was scarcely better than the Two Great Empires. Comparing an organization that made saving all living people its mission to those two worthless empires, which would not even seriously crack down on the slave trade-nothing could have insulted Spirit Hall more.
Sure enough, she could not afford to look at things so one-sidedly. This was a lesson for her, too: even with both her lives added together, she had yet to reach adulthood.
"All right, I'm willing to go back with you. Do we need to rest for a while first?"
Having learned everything she needed to know and heard the whole story, Leng Xiyue asked no further questions. Instead, she cast a slightly worried glance at Wang Yan's arm, which was still covered in red.
Whatever the circumstances, he had suffered such a serious injury because of her. Now that she had decided to join Spirit Hall, she had essentially screwed over one of her own just moments ago, and she felt rather embarrassed.
To her surprise, Wang Yan sprang to his feet excitedly, waved his arm, and said with a cheerful laugh, "A trifling wound isn't worth mentioning. Just follow me."
Thinking of the reward awaiting him, he felt as though his arm no longer hurt. All he wanted was to hurry back to Spirit City with her.
Even with ambitions lofty enough to touch the clouds, once he returned to reality, he still cared more about the generous benefits he could receive. Compared with worrying about Spirit Hall's future on behalf of the Supreme Pontiff or those elders, getting a promotion, a raise, and marrying the woman he loved clearly deserved more attention.
Thinking of the girlfriend he had known for years, Wang Yan's heart filled with eager anticipation. He led Leng Xiyue onward at a sprint, and with the two of them traveling at full speed, they soon reached Spirit City.
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