After passing on the key insights and cautions about Emperor's Palm, Emperor's Sword, and Emperor's Frozen Sky to Huo Yuhao, Xue Di returned to his spiritual world under his guidance.
Now that her path of human cultivation had been forcibly interrupted, she had no choice but to revert to her soul beast form. Her condition wasn't ideal. Restoring her peak strength through borrowing Huo Yuhao's Life Origin Power wasn't something she could do repeatedly. Forcing such recovery would easily lead to backlash.
For the time being, it was best for Xue Di to stay inside Huo Yuhao's spiritual world, basking in the light of the Life Sun and gradually replenishing her vitality. Unlike Electrolux, who had no physical form and wasn't bound by the Douluo world's laws, Xue Di, with a real body, couldn't recover nearly as quickly.
"Let's go back."
The crisis had finally been resolved. But Mingde Hall had suffered devastating damage, and many soul tool research projects would have to be suspended.
Huo Yuhao let out a sigh.
Soon, the news that Mingde Hall had been attacked—and that except for Du Busi, all of the Body Sect members involved had perished—sent shockwaves through the imperial court and even the entire ruling class of the Sun Moon Empire.
When the aging emperor of the Sun Moon Empire received word of the attack and Mingde Hall's catastrophic losses, his health took a steep decline. Rumors began to circulate quietly that the old emperor's days were numbered. Within the royal court, political tensions were rising.
To mitigate the potential fallout, the empire tried to suppress news of the attack. Even so, the intelligence networks of the three Douluo kingdoms managed to uncover bits and pieces.
Before the people of the Douluo Three Kingdoms could celebrate the attack on Mingde Hall, they were floored by a follow-up revelation—every member of the Body Sect involved in the attack, except for their sect master, had been killed.
The Body Sect, as the guardian sect of the Heavenly Soul Empire, had taken a crippling blow. The emperor of the Heavenly Soul Empire nearly fainted when he received the news. Without delay, he rushed overnight to the Tiankeng region—where the Body Sect was headquartered—to 'comfort' Du Busi.
Very quickly, even more shocking news emerged: it wasn't the Sun Moon Empire that wiped out the Body Sect assault team, but none other than the head of the Extreme North's Three Great Kings—Xue Di.
Du Busi racked his brain in vain. Why had the imprisoned Xue Di shown such blatant hostility toward only the Body Sect? Her domain skill, Emperor's Frozen Sky, could've easily blanketed all of Mingde Hall and slaughtered everyone inside.
He couldn't understand it—and neither could the three Douluo kingdoms. Jing Hongchen, who had personally witnessed everything, was even more baffled.
—
At that moment, in the Heavenly Soul Empire, within the depths of the Tiankeng region.
"Sigh… Brother Du, you were too reckless. Was a single hundred-thousand-year soul beast embryo really worth dragging so many Body Sect disciples—our empire's core soul masters—into a hole-digging raid on Mingde Hall?"
The emperor of the Heavenly Soul Empire, Xue Tianji, dressed in plain clothes, sat beside the downcast Du Busi, sighing heavily.
Du Busi downed a mouthful of liquor, red-eyed.
"I've wronged the disciples of my Body Sect..."
Xue Tianji could only shake his head in helplessness. As a soul master himself, how could he not understand the allure of a hundred-thousand-year soul beast? This could only be attributed to fate. Who could've known that the being imprisoned within that God-bestowal Platform was Xue Di—a powerhouse surpassing rank 98 and unmatched in the Extreme North?
"Let it go, Brother Du. Thankfully, the Body Sect's core wasn't too badly damaged. Including you, ten Titled Douluo elders remain intact."
Du Busi nodded in silence. He had only brought one Titled Douluo elder with him on the raid.
"...How's your body holding up, Brother Du?"
"After taking Xue Di's Emperor's Palm, how good do you think I feel? Luckily, I didn't end up like my older brother and suffer lasting injuries. I just need time to recover."
Xue Tianji let out a breath of relief. The Heavenly Soul Empire couldn't afford to lose this peak-level rank 98 Super Douluo.
Still teary-eyed, Du Busi suddenly snorted coldly.
"Xue brother, don't worry about the Body Sect's losses fattening up the Sun Moon Empire. The damage Mingde Hall suffered was unprecedented. After this, that old emperor will probably waste away even faster. The royal court of the Sun Moon Empire is bound to grow unstable."
Xue Tianji nodded in agreement.
"That's good news. Come, Brother Du, drink with me. Let's forget the unpleasant things for now. Your return alone is a blessing for our empire."
The two clinked their cups and drank together.
Yet Du Busi hadn't noticed the critical role played by Mingde Hall's automated soul tool defenses—the ones with no human operators that had torn through his sect members.
But that's just how the Body Sect viewed soul tools… with utter disdain. So a key detail about the Sun Moon Empire's cutting-edge tech slipped right past him.
—
Meanwhile, in the Star Luo Empire, Xu Jiuheng and Xu Jiawei were breaking out in cold sweats upon receiving the news that the Body Sect had been decimated during the raid on Mingde Hall.
Back at the Starlight Auction House, they had sold that dangerous 'hot potato' of a soul beast embryo to Mingde Hall, hoping to divert disaster. They never expected the aftermath would destroy Mingde Hall and implicate their ally's guardian sect in the process.
Xu Jiawei put down a file in his study and sighed deeply. He'd been feeling lately that bad luck was haunting the Star Luo Empire. 'Has our national fortune really declined this far?'
"...My sister, don't bring up the soul beast embryo again. Bury that secret—deep. As if it never happened."
Right now, he was especially afraid that Xue Di might come knocking on their imperial gates for revenge.
Xu Jiuheng nodded stiffly. She figured she'd be having nightmares for days—about being frozen into an ice sculpture by Xue Di.
"What's the situation with the Dai and Zhu families?"
Xu Jiuheng sighed.
"The Zhu family is furious. Zhu Lu was their generation's only direct-line heir. Fortunately, they haven't turned against the royal family. Instead, they've been investing heavily in the military."
"As for the Dai family, the duchess is still gravely ill. The White Tiger Duke has been focused on caring for his wife and hasn't returned to the frontlines."
Xu Jiawei clenched his fist.
'How come Dai Hao never showed this kind of concern for any of his other romantic escapades?' He had let a highly gifted youth slip right into the enemy's hands, and there was nothing Xu Jiawei could do about it.
If it weren't for the Sun Moon Empire's own internal instability making it difficult for them to launch a war, who knew how long the battered Star Luo Empire could even last?
Lately, Xu Jiawei had been working hard to build alliances with the other kingdoms. Fortunately, things had gone relatively smoothly. Anyone with eyes could see that the Sun Moon Empire's momentum couldn't be underestimated.
But that Shrek Academy… they still insisted on playing the righteous neutral party of the continent. They refused to form official alliances with any of the three Douluo kingdoms.
"Anyway, keep your intelligence department working overtime. We need more information. I'm going to rest."
Xu Jiawei's stomachaches had become more frequent lately. 'He's hailed as a wise monarch, and yet—why did he have to rule during such an unlucky era?'
(End of Chapter)
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