Xu Tianran fell silent again, clearly also considering the possibility of letting the Holy Spirit Cult seize the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast Embryo. From any perspective, this would be a way to divert trouble and sow discord between the Holy Spirit Cult and the Star Luo Empire.
"Alright, that's a good idea. Even I'm a little tempted by this Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast Embryo. Judging from the strength of the Holy Spirit Cult, competing for the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast Embryo shouldn't be a problem. However, if the Holy Spirit Cult fails to absorb it, will it cause an antagonism with our royal family?"
Xu Zhengyang quickly spoke up, "Your Highness, back in Star Luo City, I asked Teacher Ma Rufeng to post a Star Luo Empire treasure hunt mission on the Dark Web, with a reward of 100 million Gold Soul Coin. Even if we don't cooperate with the Holy Spirit Cult, given the Holy Spirit Cult's methods, they would probably still be determined to obtain it."
"Besides, we weren't involved in this matter from beginning to end. We only need to leak a little information. Whether it's for 100 million Gold Soul Coin or for Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast Embryo, the Holy Spirit Cult will probably take action. As for the outcome, the only one to blame in the end will be the Star Luo Imperial Family."
After the two talked for a while, Xu Tianran seemed very satisfied with Xu Zhengyang's suggestion, and a knowing smile appeared on his face.
But soon, Xu Tianran encountered other problems.
"By the way, Xu Zhengyang, now that you're the next team captain of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, how confident are you about winning the championship in the next Soul Master Tournament?"
Xu Zhengyang didn't hesitate at all. "Judging from the Shrek Team's situation, the main force of the Shrek Team next time will be those substitutes from this Soul Master Tournament. Right now, they are at least Grand Soul Master and at most Soul Ancestor. In five years, our team will definitely have all Soul King, plus several Soul Emperor. Defeating the Shrek Team won't be too difficult."
Xu Tianran shook his head. "I plan to reform the Soul Master Tournament. In the next Soul Master Tournament, in addition to advanced Soul Master Academy, all sects will also be able to participate. You should know that in terms of sect power, our Sun Moon Continent is somewhat behind the Douluo Continent. Powerful sects are the true foundation of the Douluo Continent."
Upon hearing this, Xu Zhengyang's heart changed drastically. He hadn't expected Xu Tianran to want to use the Soul Master Tournament to deal with the Douluo Continent so quickly. He wanted to use the Soul Master Tournament as a pretext to wipe out all the prodigies of the Douluo Continent and thus restrain the various forces on the Douluo Continent.
In the original story, Xu Tianran did succeed. After capturing the genius of the Soul Master Tournament, he made all forces hesitant to act against him. However, this plan was ruined by Huo Yuhao and his group, which led to an early war and even made them enemies of the world.
"Your Highness, if all the sects can participate in the competition, the outcome will be hard to predict. These sects all have carefully cultivated geniuses, especially the Body Sect and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. No one knows just how strong their foundation is."
Xu Tianran smiled and said, "I want to use the Soul Master Tournament to test just how deep the waters are in the sects of the Douluo Continent. The reason why our Sun Moon Empire was defeated was because countless sects and forces rushed forward one after another, even at the cost of their lives, to crush our Sun Moon Empire's army of Soul Engineer."
"Moreover, these sects have devoted countless efforts and resources to cultivating their own prodigies. If these prodigies could be put to my use, the situation in the Sun Moon Empire would undergo a dramatic change."
Upon hearing this, Xu Zhengyang fell silent. The foundations of these sects were definitely deeper than he had imagined, and probably far exceeded Xu Tianran's estimate. You must know that in the original work, the Sun Moon Team did not even make it into the top eight, especially since the Sun Moon Empire was the home team, which was a disgrace to the Sun Moon Empire.
"Your Highness, even sects can participate. While I'm not confident of winning the championship, I can at least reach the top four."
Xu Tianran nodded. "One top four finisher is far from enough. This Soul Master Tournament is hosted by ourselves. If we fail to win the championship, it will likely attract criticism from various forces and even affect the morale of our Sun Moon Empire. At that time, it won't just be your fault alone."
Upon hearing this, Xu Zhengyang couldn't help but swallow hard. Xu Tianran was far too presumptuous and underestimated these sects. In the original story, the Soul Master Tournament produced a total of five Soul Sage. Even if Xu Zhengyang was confident in himself, he wasn't certain that he could reach the Soul Sage realm within five years. In the entire Sun Moon Team, only Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen had a chance of reaching the Soul Sage realm. The others were probably only top-tier Soul King, with at most one or two Soul Emperor.
Xu Tianran seemed to sense Xu Zhengyang's worries. " Xu Zhengyang, don't worry, the resources of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy will be fully allocated to your Sun Moon Team. Even the geniuses you've chosen will be given priority to enter the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, so don't let me down."
Xu Zhengyang gritted his teeth. "Thank you for your high regard, Your Highness. I will do my best to make the team stronger."
Xu Tianran nodded in satisfaction. "I'll leave the Sun Moon Team to you. But don't put too much pressure on yourself. I've also prepared a genius for you in advance. This person is exceptionally talented and should be a force to be reckoned with in five years."
Xu Zhengyang cursed upon hearing this. What kind of geniuses did the Sun Moon Empire have? All the outstanding students had entered the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy. Although the students from other Soul Engineer Academies were good, they were not particularly outstanding. Moreover, rashly adding them to the team would probably disrupt the existing rhythm.
Thinking of this, Xu Zhengyang suddenly remembered someone. In the original work, there was indeed someone from the Sun Moon Empire who performed exceptionally well in the Soul Master Tournament Competition. That person was none other than Xu Tianran's younger sister, Xu Tianzhen. During the Soul Master Tournament, Xu Tianzhen also reached the astonishing Soul Emperor realm and was one of the most outstanding performers from the Sun Moon Empire.
Xu Zhengyang's lips twitched slightly. Although Xu Tianzhen was quite skilled, with her personality, she would probably throw the entire team into chaos, which would be a real problem.
Xu Tianran continued, " Xu Zhengyang, I've heard you have a lot of experience in Martial Soul cultivation and battle strategy. After I arrange for this person to join the Sun Moon Team, you should also keep an eye on her and try your best to train her."
Although Xu Zhengyang felt extremely helpless, he still spoke up.
"Thank you for your trust, Your Highness. I will certainly not let you down."
Xu Tianran nodded in satisfaction. "Very Tianzhen. Although Tianzhen is a bit unruly, her talent is truly top-notch. I hope you won't disappoint me."
At that moment, Xu Zhengyang seemed to have thought of something and quickly spoke to Xu Tianran.
"Your Highness, if I want to win the championship, I need one more person. With this person, I'll have at least a 70% chance of winning."
Xu Tianran looked puzzled. "Oh, tell me, does our Sun Moon Empire even have such a genius?"
Xu Zhengyang's face was unusually serious. " Tang Sect, Tang Ya!"
Xu Tianran's expression changed drastically upon hearing this, and his face turned somewhat dark.
" Xu Zhengyang, do you know what you're saying? Do you know Tang Ya's current situation? She's a Holy Maiden of the Holy Spirit Cult; there's no way she could join the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy. And how did you get this information?"
Xu Zhengyang shook his head. "Your Highness, I only have some guesses, but Tang Ya is of great importance. If I can meet with Tang Ya and get what I want from her, such as helping our Sun Moon Team win the championship, then it's not impossible for the team to truly rise."
Xu Tianran stared intently at Xu Zhengyang, a strange light flickering in his eyes, but he quickly calmed down.
"Although the Tang Sect was glorious in its heyday, it has long since declined. In particular, its so-called Tang Sect Hidden Weapons were completely crushed by our Soul Tool. It is precisely because of this that the Tang Sect has become what it is today, and only Tang Ya, the last sect leader, remains."
Xu Zhengyang quickly spoke up, "Your Highness, have you heard of the true heritage and foundation of the Tang Sect? The creator of the Tang Sect was no ordinary person, but Sea God Tang San of the Douluo Continent ten thousand years ago. Tang San was able to reach level 100 and become a true god, so the Tang Sect he founded must be extraordinary."
"As for the decline of the Tang Sect, it's not because Hidden Weapon were replaced by Soul Tool, but because the Tang Sect never produced any true masters. The root of all this is that they placed too much emphasis on the inheritance of Blue Silver Grass. Every sect leader's Martial Soul had to be Blue Silver Grass, which is why they declined generation after generation."
"Actually, if the Tang Sect had top-tier experts, they wouldn't have fallen to this state. Ultimately, it's because the entire sect is too conservative."
Xu Tianran fell into deep thought upon hearing this. The Tang Sect was renowned throughout the entire Douluo Continent and was one of the most glorious sects in the history of the Douluo Continent, even comparable to the current Shrek Academy. It would be impossible for them to lack any foundation.
Unfortunately, Tang Ya's identity is very delicate. She is not only the leader of the Tang Sect, but also the Holy Maiden of the Holy Spirit Cult Sect. The Holy Spirit Cult values her highly and even sends Titled Douluo to protect her. If anyone wants to get anything from Tang Ya, the Holy Spirit Cult will probably be the first to object.
Xu Tianran stared intently at Xu Zhengyang, seemingly trying to discern Xu Zhengyang 'Xu Zhengyang thoughts and the fear within him.
At this moment, Xu Zhengyang faced Xu Tianran's intimidating gaze directly. He knew very well that although the Tang Sect had declined, the things on Tang Ya were absolutely priceless. Just the touch control system of the Hidden Weapon alone had a revolutionary effect on the development of Soul Tool. It was also because of this that Huo Yuhao was able to truly win over Xuan Ziwen.
More importantly, Tang Ya possesses the crucial Mysterious Heaven Technique. Huo Yuhao's later achievements were truly made possible by the Mysterious Heaven Technique; otherwise, his subsequent development would not have been so rapid.
This is also what Xu Zhengyang has always wanted to obtain. The Mysterious Heaven Technique is not only the world's top cultivation technique, but also the only legendary cultivation method that can improve Innate Soul Power. If he could obtain the Mysterious Heaven Technique, he could perfectly make up for his shortcomings and even change the entire cultivation system of the Sun Moon Continent.
Seeing the resolute look on Xu Zhengyang's face, Xu Tianran finally spoke thoughtfully, "I can contact the Holy Spirit Cult, but you must understand that the price to pay for anything from Holy Spirit Cult will be enormous, even devastating. You will have to bear the consequences yourself."
"Not to mention your attitude towards the Holy Spirit Cult. Once you fall into Holy Spirit Cult sights, even the royal family might not be able to protect you."
Xu Zhengyang quickly replied, "Your Highness, rest assured. I was born a member of the Xu Clan, and I will die a member of the Xu Clan. Everything I've done is for the Xu Clan and for the development of the Sun Radiance Lineage."
Xu Tianran nodded, "Alright, I can communicate with the Holy Spirit Cult, but Tang Ya probably won't come to the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy. You'll need to go to the Holy Spirit Cult's location yourself then, and that's when you'll be in real danger. I hope you won't let me down."