Half a Year Passes in the Blink of an Eye
Half a year passed in the blink of an eye. During this period, the entire continent gradually calmed down. It was like a pool of stagnant water with undercurrents surging beneath the surface. While shadows still hid dark currents, the surface maintained an appearance of tranquility, as if true peace had finally arrived.
The Heaven Dou Empire had completely fallen into the hands of the Spirit Hall. The original Heaven Dou imperial family line was almost entirely wiped out. Previously, Prince Xue Xing and the Fourth Prince Xue Beng, who had luckily escaped using special means, wandered for a period before fortunately finding the remnants of a Heaven Dou army. They then migrated south to the mountainous regions in the southern part of the Heaven Dou Empire to hide. However, not long ago, this army was also captured by Spirit Hall personnel. The Spirit Hall's Fourth Enshrinement, the Lion Douluo, personally took action to annihilate them. From then on, apart from Xue Ke, who remained in Elemental City, there was no longer any bloodline inheritance left from the Heaven Dou imperial family.
No one could stop such explosive news from spreading. Xue Ke had long learned the truth of what happened.
Her emotions were actually very complicated, grief and pain mixed with a trace of bewilderment. The imperial family was undoubtedly cold. Even though the Heaven Dou imperial family had a bit more warmth than the Star Luo imperial family, this warmth was built upon a fragile foundation.
But it could not be denied that Xue Ke had extremely deep feelings for the late Emperor Xue Ye. Her mother had passed away early, and Emperor Xue Ye was busy with state affairs in his early years, yet he had never stopped caring for her. A father's love is like a mountain. Even within the cold imperial family, Xue Ke could feel the silent love from Emperor Xue Ye.
Toward the Spirit Hall, she undoubtedly felt hatred. This hatred had once caused her mind to lose control. Xue Ke originally didn't have many friends, and she deliberately hid it. By the time You Mengchu, who had been busy cultivating, noticed, she had already been completely eroded by her inner demons. The light attribute in her originally Swan Martial Soul had thus transformed into a dark attribute, and her entire person gained a gloomy and frenzied aura.
Fortunately, You Mengchu could still suppress this transformation, preventing Xue Ke from completely turning into a madwoman.
You Mengchu felt extremely helpless about this. The world is unpredictable. Since it had already happened, there was no longer any retreat or possibility of change. Xue Ke's hatred could not possibly fade. No one could ignore such hatred. The mixture of national hatred and family vendetta was enough to drive a person to collapse and madness. You Mengchu didn't know how to comfort her young disciple and could only try her best to stay by her side, keeping everything within a controllable range.
After a period of depression, Xue Ke suddenly left Heavenly Water Academy. You Mengchu did not stop her departure. She knew that with Xue Ke's current state, she should go out for a walk. As for what would happen in the future...
Never mind. You Mengchu was too lazy to think about it and didn't really want to. It was probably best to just see how fate would arrange things...
...
The Spirit Hall had completely taken over the territory of the Heaven Dou Empire, but what was somewhat surprising was that the people of the original Heaven Dou Empire quickly accepted this fact and even felt somewhat pleased about it.
Of course, voices of dissatisfaction and resistance still appeared. Those old-school nobles of the Heaven Dou Empire did not want such a scene to occur. Riots and resistance remained active across the original Heaven Dou Empire's territory, but all of this was in vain. Under absolute power suppression, in less than two months, these heretical voices completely disappeared without a trace. The ruined cities began to recover, people who originally lived in villages or towns started migrating toward the cities, new cities slowly rose, the economy gradually recovered, and everything seemed to be getting better.
It was under these circumstances that Bibi Dong suddenly chose to declare herself emperor in the original Heaven Dou City. Some soul masters within the Spirit Hall who leaned toward her followed her, but unexpectedly, she did not choose to oppose the Spirit Hall. She rarely appeared in public view and handed over all governmental affairs to the two old acquaintances, Chrysanthemum and Ghost, to handle.
The Spirit Hall also ignored Bibi Dong's actions. At this moment, the grandfather-grandson pair of the Qian family had their attention completely elsewhere. Compared to the pursuit of secular power, the ethereal god level was what they truly craved.
During the gradual fusion with the power of the dark Qian Renxue, Qian Renxue's own strength became increasingly powerful. After breaking through to level 97, she already had the power to fight the veteran Limit Douluo Qian Daoliu in the sky. The fusion of light and dark powers on her body became increasingly obvious. The originally pure six-winged Angel Martial Soul also showed some mutations. Golden and black feathers slowly drifted down from the sky. Qian Daoliu could only secretly sigh and didn't say anything more.
What they were pursuing, whether it was the path of light salvation left by the Angel God or the long-craved god level, none of it mattered anymore.
Qian Daoliu still went to Sea God Island once. As old friends, the three of them briefly gathered for a moment. No one knew what topics they discussed, only that this might have been the most unexpected reunion of their lives. Perhaps from now on, the fates of the three would no longer intertwine and would head in completely different directions.
...
You Mengchu's breakthrough to Limit Douluo happened far earlier than Shen Hanyu had expected, surprisingly early, in fact.
Less than a full year after breaking through to level 98, her soul power had already stepped into level 99, officially becoming the third human Limit Douluo in the current world.
Her good fortune had not stopped there. The moment she broke through to level 99, a sudden change occurred in the sky. A clear breeze came slowly from above, carrying a refreshing and carefree aura that seemed to nourish everyone. Anyone with discerning eyes knew that another deity had chosen an inheritor and bestowed a divine test. This deity who came and went with such ease and grace was the Wind God, a first-level god who had always remained obscure in the God Realm.
Unlike other first-level gods in the God Realm who had clear positions, the Wind God was not interested in the power struggle. Instead, this first-level god, who had never displayed her strength before others, had a strange fondness for planting flowers and growing vegetables. Her presence in the God Realm had always been extremely low, to the point where many people had almost forgotten about her.
What was even more surprising was that this Wind God was actually an unparalleled beauty. Even though she only revealed her figure for a brief moment when bestowing the divine test, the entire Elemental City fell into complete silence.
Having received a divine test from such a "peculiar" god, You Mengchu's mood was also very good. However, when she looked at the Wind God's First Test, she couldn't help but fall into deep contemplation and self-doubt.
Wind God First Test: Within one year, find the seeds of ten rare flowers and herbs from the Douluo Continent and bring them to the Wind God's inheritance ground. The reward upon completion is a comprehension and 5% Wind God affinity.
This test couldn't be called difficult; it could only be described as so simple that it was almost insulting to a Limit Douluo's heaven-destroying and earth-shattering strength.
You Mengchu felt inexplicably frustrated. She had originally thought she would encounter some enormous difficulties in the divine test, but it turned out to be so easy. One could only say that it truly depended on the person. At the same time, she had a strange feeling that the subsequent tests would continue walking further down this bizarre and abstract path.
She also had reason to suspect that the Wind God had grown tired of planting those rare flowers and herbs in the God Realm and wanted to find some new ones, which was why she bestowed the divine test. Although this sounded somewhat unbelievable, thinking from an unconventional angle, it actually made sense.
That being said, You Mengchu's heart relaxed a little. Her desire to become a god was also quite strong. In some aspects, she was an absolute strength supremacist. Although she still retained pure kindness in her heart, this did not conflict with her own concepts and decisive killing nature.
...
Elemental City was expanded once again. Over the years, both the Spirit Hall and Elemental City had introduced many little-known ideas and brand-new concepts to the continent. These had also been popularized in various soul master academies. The new generation of soul masters and even commoners on the continent gradually accepted them. The continent was currently in a period of rapid development. If everything went well in the end, this might become the foundation stone of a new era, preparing for everything that was about to come.
In fact, Shui Ningbing wanted to change the name of Elemental City, but she had been unable to think of a suitable name, so it was put on hold.
But now that Elemental City was being expanded again, more residents and soul masters would enter and settle down in the future. Shui Ningbing always felt that the name "Elemental City" was somewhat outdated, yet even now, she still hadn't thought of a replacement name.
Shui Ningbing once again stood at the forefront, commanding and supervising the expansion of Elemental City. This time, however, the city walls were not demolished. Instead, a new outer city was added around the original city's periphery. The former outer city naturally became the middle city. Under this layered model, the organization of various affairs became simpler and more conducive to unified management and inspection.
In Shui Ningbing's words, Elemental City could have more than just Heavenly Water Academy as a force, but there could only be one true dominant force—and that was Heavenly Water Academy. Heavenly Water Academy needed to control all the vital lifelines of Elemental City. Of course, other forces could have objections, but they only needed to demonstrate sufficient strength to obtain what they wanted. At present, however, it seemed no force dared to raise such an objection.
Inside a hotel in Elemental City, several somewhat familiar figures were gathered in one room.
After a moment of silence, a visibly more mature Dai Mubai spoke first:
"From the information gathered outside, it seems Elemental City is going to expand again. Recently, several forces affiliated with Heavenly Water Academy have begun orderly migration and resettlement of personnel within the city. We..."
As he spoke, Dai Mubai couldn't help but sigh softly.
Beside him, Zhu Zhuqing also sighed softly and stepped forward to gently hold Dai Mubai's hand.
The two looked at each other, then both lowered their heads, unsure of what to say.
Originally, the two of them had intended to leave the Heaven Dou Empire and return to the Star Luo Empire. However, the war between the two countries had come too suddenly, and many riots had broken out everywhere. They had tried several times to enter the Star Luo Empire territory, but each time, before they could even speak, they were attacked indiscriminately by the terrifyingly large number of troops at the border.
It made sense. He had been away from the Star Luo Empire for so many years and had almost no foundation there. Meanwhile, his elder brother Dai Weisi had been painstakingly operating for many years. Although he didn't have the crown prince title, he had already attained the status of one. The Soul Master Tournament had been forcibly interrupted, so he naturally lost the opportunity to compete with the other side. Now, the entire Star Luo Empire probably recognized Dai Weisi as the Eldest Prince. If this wandering prince who had been away for so long returned now, he likely wouldn't be able to stir up any waves. He might even be killed before he could step into the imperial palace.
After weighing the pros and cons, Dai Mubai helplessly took Zhu Zhuqing and began a wandering life. Both were fairly strong soul masters. Traveling in this chaotic world came with dangers, but it was still manageable. Later, the two followed refugees all the way north and only truly settled down after entering the northern border.
After observing the situation for a while, they came to Elemental City.
At that time, Elemental City was at the center of the storm across the entire continent. Every day, tens of thousands of soul masters or commoners entered and exited the city, including even powerful Soul Sages and Soul Douluos. No one paid much attention to the two young soul masters, simply treating them as some young master or young miss from a family.
After living in Elemental City for some time, the two had completely seen through everything. With wars raging outside, they no longer wanted to go out and train. They simply settled down inside Elemental City. After daily cultivation, they would go on dates to deepen their relationship. Their small life was actually quite comfortable.
But this tranquility was soon broken. The destruction of the two great sects and the exposed ambitions of the Spirit Hall, after spending so much time together, the two naturally worried about their previous companions. Not long after, among the refugees entering the city, they were somewhat shocked to spot two familiar figures.
These two figures were precisely Ning Rongrong and Oscar, who had escaped with their lives under the desperate protection of the former Seven Treasures Glazed Tile School's Sect Master and the Sword and Bone Douluos.
As for Ma Hongjun... the four of them had not received any news about him to this day. No one knew whether he was alive or dead, or where he had run off to hide...
Sensing the somewhat heavy atmosphere in the room, Oscar forced a smile. The stubble on his face had not been shaved for several days, making him look no different from a man in his thirties or forties, but his handsomeness remained undiminished.
"Alright, stop thinking about it so much. At least Elemental City is safe for us. That's good news..."
The others remained silent. Ning Rongrong, sitting in the middle, raised her head, looked somewhat blankly at the bright sunshine outside, then slowly lowered her head again.
Her appearance was as beautiful as ever, but the liveliness that once belonged to the little witch had long disappeared. In its place was a shadow of gloom and introversion. The luxurious long dress she wore had not changed, but the heart inside had already been riddled with holes. It only needed a little stimulation to completely turn into rotten flesh, and she would truly become a walking corpse.
"Little Ao..."
Ning Rongrong suddenly threw herself into Oscar's arms. Muffled sobs reached everyone's ears. Ever since that incident happened, Ning Rongrong's emotions would lose control from time to time. Everyone had already grown used to such scenes and could only sigh silently.
Oscar gently patted Ning Rongrong's back, a flash of pain passing through his eyes. Seeing his beloved become like this, probably no man could feel good about it.
Just as the atmosphere grew even heavier, a light knock on the door suddenly sounded, causing everyone's hearts to skip a beat.
Dai Mubai made a shushing gesture, then stepped forward and slowly opened the door.
The door opened slowly, and the face of the person outside was fully exposed to the four of them.
It was a middle-aged woman with golden hair. Her entire aura felt incredibly warm and gentle, while her noble temperament also carried a trace of dignity, like someone who had long been in a position of power.
The middle-aged woman had a proper smile on her face. Her gentle gaze swept across the four people in the room one by one, then she spoke softly:
"Sorry to disturb the four of you. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Xu Xueyu, Vice Dean of Heavenly Water Academy, a ninety-second-level Title Douluo with the title Star Crown. I have come this time to invite several guests who have been staying in Elemental City for a long time to come to the academy for a chat..."
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Here are the chapters for today (づ￣3￣)づ╭～
"Don't forget there are chapters available on Patreon."
"Douluo: Sword of Judgment and Eternal Ice 30 Advance chapters"
"From Douluo to Godhood by Defying the Heavens 30 Advance chapters."
"Douluo: Far North Invincible. The novel is already finished on Patreon."
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