Chapter 240: The Collapse of the Three Kingdoms' Ambitions
"For Xingluo! Victory! Victory!"
In the capital of the Xingluo Empire, Emperor Xu Jiawei stood proudly before the vast square filled with soul masters equipped with royal soul tools. His eyes gleamed with satisfaction.
The soul tools in these soldiers' hands weren't yet top-tier—rather, it was the users' strong cultivation that made them seem formidable. Still, Emperor Xu Jiawei was confident that it wouldn't be long before these soul tools experienced a qualitative leap. With Xuan Zi and Du Bu Si—both Level 98 Super Douluo—and the support of the Level 99 Dragon God Douluo Mu En, he believed Jing Hongchen would surely be captured alive.
Once that happened, not only could they replicate the soul tools in his possession, but they could also extract precious soul tool knowledge through negotiation. This would allow the three kingdoms of the Douluo Continent to significantly upgrade their soul tool technology.
The emperor envisioned their soul engineer legions eventually rivaling, if not surpassing, elite Sun Moon Empire units like the Evil Lord Soul Engineer Group or the Fire Phoenix Legion.
"Have we received any news yet about the encirclement of Jing Hongchen?" he asked after reviewing the assembled troops.
"Not yet, Your Majesty," replied the Nation Protector Douluo by his side. "But it should come soon. With Senior Dragon God Douluo Mu En in command, Jing Hongchen cannot last long. I believe we'll receive good news from Shrek soon."
"Very well. Have the historians record all of this. Once Jing Hongchen is captured, I'll issue a general pardon across the empire and raise our national prestige."
"Your Majesty is wise," the Douluo responded with respectful flattery.
At that moment, a eunuch rushed over breathlessly, carrying a tray with a long-distance soul communicator imported from the Sun Moon Empire.
"Your Majesty! A message from Princess Jiujiu in Shrek City!"
"Excellent! The heavens favor Xingluo today. Bring it here."
The communicator was quickly placed before Emperor Xu Jiawei.
"Sister, how did the battle go? Did we suffer any casualties?"
"No," came Xu Jiujiu's voice.
The emperor's eyes lit up in delight—but her next words dragged him from the skies to the abyss.
"They're all gone. Soul Douluo, Titled Douluo, Super Douluo… everyone we sent was annihilated."
For a moment, Emperor Xu Jiawei stood frozen. He finally stammered:
"You… what did you say? Did I hear you wrong? You said—"
"Brother, I'll say it again. They're all gone. Every one of them. Our Soul Douluo, Titled Douluo, Super Douluo—none returned."
His knees gave out.
"Your Majesty!"
"Catch His Majesty!"
"Summon the imperial physician—now!"
Supported by his guards, the emperor forced himself upright and asked hoarsely:
"Royal sister, what happened? Weren't Du Bu Si and Xuan Zi both Level 98 Super Douluo? Wasn't Dragon God Douluo Mu En there too, a Level 99 legend who's been famous for two centuries? How were they wiped out? Was Jing Hongchen truly that powerful? What about the soul masters from the Tianhun and Douling Empires?"
"They're all dead," Xu Jiujiu said grimly. "We underestimated our enemy. All three kingdoms' forces suffered devastating losses. Only Du Bu Si and Xuan Zi survived."
"Impossible… absolutely impossible! Even ordinary Soul Saints wouldn't be wiped out like this in two days, let alone Soul Douluo legions!"
With those final words, Emperor Xu Jiawei collapsed unconscious.
"Your Majesty!"
"Call the Imperial Physician!"
"No—go get the Medical Immortal Douluo, hurry!"
The palace descended into chaos as the empire's officials scrambled to stabilize their ruler's condition.
At the same time, similar scenes played out in the Tianhun and Douling Empires. The Douling Empire, which had suffered the highest number of casualties, was especially devastated. Following the policy that "a country cannot go a day without a ruler," the Douling Empire replaced their emperor the very next day.
Elsewhere…
"Shrek really is rich. They handed over eight 100,000-year soul bones and sixteen 50,000-year soul bones in such a short time."
Jing Hongchen looked at the mountain of soul bones with mixed emotions. "What a shame we couldn't eliminate them all. I never thought I'd be the one dragging everyone down."
He sighed bitterly. He had thought himself strong, but when faced with a suicidal counterattack from Du Bu Si and Xuan Zi, he realized that not only was rescuing Xiao Qiang uncertain, he couldn't even ensure his own survival. In a direct three-on-three battle, unless one of the enemy chose to flee, both he and Xiao Qiang could have been wiped out.
"Teacher, don't belittle yourself. Didn't we win in the end? We even got all these soul bones. By any standard, that's a massive gain."
"You don't need to comfort me," Jing Hongchen said with a wan smile. "But once Xiao's 100,000-year soul is fully refined, it'll be time for me to challenge the tenth level of soul engineering. Next time I face Xuan Zi or Du Bu Si, I'll show them just how powerful a tenth-level soul engineer truly is. They won't even have a chance to die together with me."
"But Teacher," Xiao Qiang said, "if you go into closed-door cultivation now, what if the Sun Moon Empire launches a war? Without you, I might not have the authority to take command."
"War? You're overthinking it," Jing Hongchen said calmly. "The Sun Moon Empire won't start a war anytime soon. Though we now hold the advantage, war would mean a reshuffling of the entire power structure. Do you think the high-ranking officials want that?"
"The peace faction controls the empire's leadership. The hawks—those who want to cross social classes through war—are mostly mid-to-low-level spirit masters. If we're stronger than the Three Kingdoms, why haven't we declared war already?"
"Unless we completely crush their strength and the families of those peace-loving officials are massacred… they won't push for war. It would only harm their own interests."
"And even then… to trigger war, both conditions would have to be met. Especially the latter—do you really think we can massacre their families on a large scale?"
Xiao Qiang: "…"