In the Sun Moon Empire, Lin Yi needed top-ranking figures who could sway the course of the war.
So he invested in people who had already grown strong but had no hope of advancing further.
In the Star Luo Empire, however, Lin Yi had no need to sway the course of the war.
He wanted to weaken the Star Luo Empire's resistance.
And to weaken that resistance, he needed to influence the beliefs of the younger generation.
Only by recognizing the Star Luo Empire's decay would they give up resisting.
Of course, they might also resist more fiercely, but Lin Yi didn't mind.
Because only he knew that the Sun Moon Empire would not win the war in the end.
Nor would Shrek's side, represented by Tang San, or the Douluo Three Kingdoms.
And it wouldn't be the Sun Moon Empire, either.
The final victor was the Sun Moon Federation.
The federation that emerged in the end would not belong exclusively to the Sun Moon Empire's powerful and privileged, and the major factions of the Douluo Three Kingdoms would have a place in it as well.
In this world of extraordinary power, the bigger fist made the rules. More often than not, the strong would not be the losers.
As long as they could accept the new order, adapt to the new era at once, and claim a share of its rewards, they would not be left behind.
After the Star Luo Empire came the Dou Ling Empire.
Once he set foot on Dou Ling Empire soil, he naturally continued searching for targets.
Unlike the tense atmosphere in the Star Luo Empire, the Dou Ling Empire was relatively at ease. It lay behind the other Douluo Three Kingdoms and had no direct contact with the Sun Moon Empire.
In name, the Douluo Three Kingdoms were united, but in reality, the Dou Ling Empire had never sent out troops.
Even the Heaven Dou Empire, which had no shared border like the Ming Dou Mountain Range, still maintained a large number of troops to deal with the Sun Moon Empire's occasional raids across the strait between them.
This place was different from the Star Luo Empire, too.
Lin Yi gave it a try and turned a few nobles.
Last came the Heaven Dou Empire.
When he set foot on its soil, it felt different yet again.
The Sun Moon Empire went without saying. Although the Star Luo Empire and the Dou Ling Empire lagged far behind it in Soul Tool Technology, they were actively trying to catch up, studying and developing Soul Tools.
But within the Heaven Dou Empire, Soul Tools were almost universally scorned.
The Soul Masters of this empire were nearly all from the Martial Soul path, and they were fiercely opposed to Soul Tools.
Within the Heaven Dou Empire, no sect or Soul Master Academy with any measure of renown trained Soul Engineers, except Shrek Academy.
Yes, Shrek Academy was located within the Heaven Dou Empire. But although it had a Soul Tool Department, it placed little importance on it.
"I don't know where the Heaven Dou Empire gets its backbone," Lin Yi said, a little puzzled himself.
He genuinely couldn't understand why they rejected Soul Tools.
It wasn't as though he had never been here before. It was simply that, whenever Lin Yi came here, he couldn't understand the atmosphere he found.
Soul Tools were external aids. No one denied that.
What was so unacceptable about using tools?
If he remembered correctly, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was in the Heaven Dou Empire. Given the circumstances of its many support-type Soul Masters, didn't they use Soul Tools?
"All right, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect might train Soul Engineers. It might be the only fertile ground for Soul Engineers in the Heaven Dou Empire."
"They've appeared!"
Qian Daoliu stared fixedly at the images on the Heavenly Screen.
Lin Yi had passed through the Dou Ling Empire and the Heaven Dou Empire. Together, the two empires covered the territory of the Heaven Dou Empire.
So in the future, the Heaven Dou Empire had split into the Heavenly Soul Empire and the Dou Ling Empire.
But the royal family of the Dou Ling Empire didn't seem to be the Qian Family.
What about the Heaven Dou Empire?
As Lin Yi went about his business in the Heaven Dou Empire, using Spiritual Detection over a vast area, Qian Daoliu held his breath.
He stared fixedly at the images on the Heavenly Screen.
When Lin Yi's spiritual power covered the royal family and information about them came to light, Qian Daoliu was utterly stunned.
"Not them either!"
Not only were they not the Qian Family, they had nothing to do with any faction of Spirit Hall.
This meant that Spirit Hall had suffered a complete and utter defeat. The Heaven Dou Empire's division had nothing to do with the Spirit Hall Empire; it was entirely the result of infighting among the Heaven Dou Empire's own factions.
Having confirmed this, Qian Daoliu felt as though he had plunged into an ice cellar.
"The Spirit Hall Empire suffered a crushing defeat."
Nuoding City.
"Your letter."
Tang Hao had not left.
He would not feel at ease until the Golden Iron Triangle had reunited.
Yu Xiaogang in particular struck Tang Hao as extremely unreliable.
Tang San, on the other hand, remained inexplicably confident, convinced he had made the right choice in taking Yu Xiaogang as his teacher.
That was because he had seen Yu Xiaogang's extensive collection of books.
When Yu Xiaogang received his letter, he found that it had already been opened. He glanced at Tang Hao, then silently read through its contents.
It was a letter Flender had written to him.
"Chess Martial Soul Soul Masters all across the continent are full of hostility toward you now," Tang Hao warned.
That was also why he had decided to escort the Golden Iron Triangle until they reunited.
After seeing Flender's letter and learning that there was also a seven-Martial-Soul Soul Master with Flender, Tang Hao became even more determined to do so.
"I understand."
Yu Xiaogang paid it no mind.
He had merely spoken the truth.
Even if Chess Martial Soul Soul Masters did possess abilities such as assault, defense, or control, they normally weren't particularly good.
Unless they possessed derived abilities.
Star Luo Chess, for example, had stellar attributes and could use the power of starlight for control.
Lin Yi's Martial Soul was a pure Chess Martial Soul, composed of a board and black and white pieces.
It had no stellar attribute.
Back when he couldn't tell that it possessed a spatial attribute, there had been nothing wrong with his judgment.
If the Chess Martial Soul Soul Masters on this continent couldn't understand his judgment, then they really were trash.
As for retaliation from those Chess Martial Soul Soul Masters, Yu Xiaogang wasn't afraid.
A bunch of trash was nothing to fear.
Seeing how unafraid Yu Xiaogang was, Tang Hao said nothing more.
He raised his head to look at the images on the Heavenly Screen.
He liked this Heavenly Screen.
Because Spirit Hall was nowhere to be found in its images.
Spirit Hall really was destroyed by me.
Tang Hao thought to himself, convinced that he must have succeeded in taking revenge on Spirit Hall.
At the thought, his mood lifted considerably.
At the same time, it only strengthened his resolve to take revenge on Spirit Hall.
Once he had made arrangements for Tang San's cultivation, he could go and take his revenge!
Tang Hao was already quite eager.
Because he wasn't the only one who had seen the images on the Heavenly Screen. People from Spirit Hall had seen them too.
He was now certain that his revenge could destroy Spirit Hall, but Spirit Hall had also realized this and would be more vigilant.
Time had become something they had to fight for.
At this thought, Tang Hao urged Yu Xiaogang once again to hurry up and sort out all his books and materials.
Yu Xiaogang was dragging his feet over packing his luggage.
Meanwhile, in the images on the Heavenly Screen, Lin Yi neither entered the Heavenly Soul Royal Family's residence nor lingered in Heaven Dou City.
A close observer would have noticed that, as his spiritual power spread out, he deliberately avoided certain areas.
Leaving Heaven Dou City, Lin Yi headed straight for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.