After calming herself, Bibi Dong still cursed under her breath. "Those things are worse than beasts. If I could still summon my Martial Soul, I'd definitely torture every last one of them to death, bit by bit."
"Now you understand why I said there were no innocent souls beneath the mushroom bombs, don't you?"
"Hm? You mean it was those beasts' country that got hit by the mushroom bombs!"
"That's right!"
"Good! Those beasts deserved to have their country flattened by mushroom bombs."
"Yes, but the descendants of those little beasts still portray themselves as victims of the mushroom bombs today, without saying a word about why they were bombed."
"What! There are people that shameless? Pah! They're beasts, not people."
Bibi Dong was not the only one cursing. Most people on the Douluo Continent were cursing too. Anyone with a conscience could share those feelings.
The commoners of the Douluo Continent in particular could truly empathize.
After all, there were plenty of things worse than beasts among the nobles of the Douluo Continent as well.
The nobles of the Douluo Continent, on the other hand, thought nothing of it.
At first, they had indeed been frightened by the horrors of the battlefield.
But now that they had come to their senses, their beastly nature showed itself again. They even openly discussed whether they could try out those beasts' methods for fun.
But if they truly dared put those ideas into action, the judgment Qian Daoliu had been holding back might finally fall.
Tang Fan continued telling Bibi Dong what had happened next.
"That beastly country was ultimately defeated and surrendered unconditionally, under the tenacious resistance of our predecessors and the attacks of the whole world."
"That's wonderful! If a country of beasts like that had won, there would be no justice under heaven."
"I don't want to attribute our victory to some heavenly justice or divine will. Our victory was won with the blood and lives of our predecessors. It had nothing to do with heaven or the gods."
Tang Fan spoke solemnly, his words ringing with conviction.
Back on the Douluo Continent, however, Bo Saixi said coldly, "Those who do not honor the gods cannot receive their protection, and their victories will never last."
Bo Saixi had previously disdained to speak, but now she had spoken up in rebuttal. That only proved her faith had been shaken and she needed words to shore it up, making her something of a clown.
Bibi Dong pressed on. "What happened afterward? Once you defeated that beastly country, everything should have gotten better, right?"
Tang Fan shook his head. "The desire of nobles to oppress commoners will never disappear.
"To resist a foreign enemy, nobles and commoners chose to cooperate. Once the foreign enemy was defeated, the basis for that cooperation no longer existed, so naturally the war had to continue."
"Ah! They'd already fought for so long, and so many people had died. They still had to fight?"
"It was thirty million! That was our country's sacrifice, and that beastly country still hasn't repaid this blood debt. Nearly seventy million people died across the world because of that war.
"As for war, we had to fight for freedom, for survival, and to be free from oppression.
"Although this war was just as difficult, in the end, under the leader's command, the commoners defeated the nobles and won the final victory. The commoners of the entire country were liberated."
"That's wonderful! There were finally no more wars to fight!"
Bibi Dong was nearly numb. There had been one war after another, and she could hardly bear just listening to it. She could not imagine how the people who had lived through that history must have felt.
The nobles of the Douluo Continent refused to believe an outcome in which commoners defeated nobles.
"Fake! It's all fake! What right do lowly commoners have to defeat us nobles? I don't believe it. This sky screen is a Spirit Hall conspiracy!"
Such claims came from the mouths of nobles in different places, all pointing the spearhead at Spirit Hall.
Of course, those nobles only dared to run their mouths. They would not dare openly cause trouble for Spirit Hall.
At most, they would pressure their emperors, making Xue Ye and the Star Luo Emperor pressure Spirit Hall.
Xue Ye and the Star Luo Emperor both wanted to curse. Going to provoke Spirit Hall at a time like this was just asking for a beating. Did those nobles have any brains at all?
Tang Fan looked at Bibi Dong and shook his head again. "No, the wars weren't over yet."
"Huh? They still weren't over?"
"Yes. During the wars, many people took to the hills as bandits and terrorized the local people. So that everyone could live and work in peace, a campaign to wipe out the bandits began."
"Ah! You even had to deal with mountain bandits and outlaws?"
"Of course. Many heroes whose deeds were worthy of song and tears also emerged during that time. Students can still learn about their heroic deeds in textbooks today.
"The side representing the common people had won, so naturally it had to do practical things for them.
"The two things your Spirit Hall did are why we readers are willing to feel sympathy for Spirit Hall and not regard it as a pure villain."
"Which two things?"
"First, it awakened the Martial Souls of children of the right age for free across the land. No matter how remote the village, a Soul Master from Spirit Hall would go there to awaken the children's Martial Souls for free.
"Second, it hunted down the fallen. Sacrifices were inevitable, and those who died deserve to be remembered.
"But Spirit Hall didn't do well on this point. They should have glory of their own."
Bibi Dong nodded firmly. "I understand. When I get back, I'll make sure Teacher takes care of it."
There was no need to wait for Bibi Dong to return. Qian Daoliu and Qian Xunji had already heard.
"Ji'er, you heard him. Are the records of those people still there?"
"Yes, they've always been there. Spirit Hall has also been looking after their families all this time."
"Good, but that isn't enough. Just as he said, they shouldn't be a group of unknown people. They should have glory of their own.
"Compile their deeds into a book for the students of Spirit Hall Academy to study.
"Then erect a monument in the plaza and inscribe their names on it.
"As long as Spirit Hall stands, their names must not be erased."
"Yes, I'll see to it personally."
At the Clear Sky Sect, the elders all scoffed when they heard Tang Fan praise Spirit Hall for those two things.
"Isn't it just to win over the geniuses among the commoners? As for those fallen, that's nothing but sticking their noses where they don't belong.
"Only Spirit Hall would care whether commoners live or die. If you ask me, it doesn't matter how many of them die."
The people of the Clear Sky Sect did not just look down on commoners; they held nobles in contempt too. They were a bunch of conceited fools with their eyes on top of their heads.
Even after being beaten into closing their mountain gates and hiding away to survive, their arrogance had not changed.
Tang Fan returned to the subject of war.
"Besides wiping out the bandits, there was another war in that period, one that established the nation."
"A war that established the nation?"
"Yes. Other countries wanted to join forces to crush us. Seventeen countries formed a coalition army and eyed us like tigers watching their prey.
"But we decisively drew our swords, one against seventeen, and sent them fleeing with their hands over their heads. We won that war and raised our nation's prestige."
"One against seventeen! Amazing! That's incredible!"
"Yes. We also call the soldiers who took part in that war the most lovable people. We will forever remember and honor them."
At that, Tang Fan looked at Bibi Dong again. "Only then was the foundation laid for everyone to go to school."