Artificial Soul Rings.
Just hearing the name alone was enough to stir a storm of emotions in everyone present.
Judging by the name alone, it was abstract and hard to comprehend. For ordinary civilians, or even most Soul Masters, it would seem profoundly obscure and difficult to grasp.
But coincidentally, gathered now in Mingdu were the most powerful individuals on the continent. Those who had reached the level of Titled Douluo—or even higher to the rank of Super Douluo—possessed a thorough understanding of their own martial souls, soul beasts, soul rings, and the laws by which this world operated.
Thus, they could more or less guess that this was a product of soul tools developed by the Sun Moon Empire. And judging by Di Tian's attitude, it wasn't a bluff—this was a real, tangible creation…
Precisely because this seemingly absurd concept had now been proven real, they found it all the more terrifying.
As powerhouses and leaders of mighty factions, they understood better than anyone how far-reaching the impact of this invention would be on the continent. No—if what was said was true, history itself would be rewritten starting today!
With this divine tool in their possession, the Sun Moon Empire gained countless strategic possibilities.
Allying with the Great Star Dou Forest? That was merely the simplest and most brute-force option.
But what about more advanced tactics?
The two could jointly coerce the original continent's factions into signing an agreement to ban the hunting of soul beasts.
Previously, even if the Great Star Dou Forest was dissatisfied, they would never make such a demand, because human power stems from soul rings. Demanding they cease hunting soul beasts was tantamount to forcing all of humanity to unite and declare war on the soul beasts.
But now?
The Great Star Dou Forest was entirely within its rights to demand that humans stop hunting soul beasts—and instead absorb artificial soul rings.
And those artificial soul rings... were entirely under the control of the Sun Moon Empire.
The entire balance of power across the continent would be overturned. The iron curtain between the original continent and the Sun Moon Empire would be completely lifted...
Once the original factions were forced to accept this agreement, the Sun Moon Empire would have its hands tightly around their throats—and that was something they could never accept.
As leaders of top-tier forces, with power and political insight, they could instantly see the terrifying implications.
More importantly, the quality of these artificial soul rings versus traditional ones remained unknown. If they were inferior, that would be manageable. But if they were superior... then the relatively weaker Sun Moon Empire would undergo an epic power surge, and the entire tradition of Soul Masters would have to be scrapped and rebuilt from the ground up.
A new model built upon entirely new foundations.
And without a doubt, the Sun Moon Empire was already at the forefront of this revolution. But could Shrek Academy still keep up?
If not, it meant elimination, falling behind, and slowly withering away with the changing times.
A trace of worry flickered in Mu En's eyes.
He looked at Xu Cheng, his heart full of wistfulness.
If only... he were a student of Shrek.
"Di Tian, Shrek Academy, and the Great Star Dou Forest have coexisted peacefully for hundreds of years. If you withdraw now, I promise—" Elder Song still wasn't willing to give up and tried to persuade Di Tian.
But the next moment, he suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood, his body blasted backward with a series of sonic booms before crashing heavily into the ground, dust flying everywhere.
"Peaceful coexistence?" Di Tian spoke indifferently, hands behind his back. "Why has your Shrek Academy remained strong for thousands of years? Isn't it because you've plundered countless resources from my Great Star Dou Forest? Look at the soul rings on you—which one wasn't obtained from killing soul beasts in my forest?"
And with just this one strike, only a few Limit Douluo among those present could see what had happened. Even the Super Douluo were horrified—they hadn't even seen when the blow landed.
"So this is Di Tian..." muttered Poison Undying, deeply shaken.
That so-called beast tide all those years ago... the legendary Beast God hadn't even made an appearance back then. If he had, they probably wouldn't have been able to stop him at all.
As shock swept through the crowd, Di Tian turned his gaze toward Mu En again.
"A mere ninety-seventh-ranked Super Douluo dares bark in front of me? Mu En, is your Shrek Academy planning to go to war with the Great Star Dou Forest? They call you the Dragon God in the human world—don't tell me you've started to believe it yourself?"
"I wouldn't dare..." Mu En took a deep breath.
It seemed that today's matter could not end peacefully.
And by this point, he fully understood—the opposing side had long been fully prepared, just waiting for them to fall into the trap.
"Your Highness, might we both take a step back?" Mu En looked sincerely at Xu Cheng. "Allow us to withdraw. We're willing to offer generous reparations—soul bones, spirit materials, and even sign a ceasefire agreement, accepting the role of the defeated."
His gaze was razor-sharp—he had instantly recognized that the only true core of all the forces present was Xu Cheng.
Whether it was the Great Star Dou Forest, Tianlong Sect, Dilong Sect, or even the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, they all connected back to Xu Cheng. Which meant... these factions had all been gathered by this youth.
What a monstrous talent.
Seeing it with his own eyes today, he finally realized the extraordinary depth of the boy.
Even the Beast God Di Tian subtly stood by his side, maintaining a delicate distance, ready to protect him at any moment.
In this battlefield—
All eyes were now on Xu Cheng.
Everyone was waiting for his decision.
The original continent's factions were reluctant but helpless.
Xu Jiawei looked disheartened. If a surrender agreement were signed, the Star Luo Empire would lose the most territory and resources—this meant Starfall Imperial City would be in extreme danger...
Xuanming Sect was also uncomfortable, but at least their young lord had been found. He was now with Shrek Academy, and the sect itself was located deep within Douling territory, far from the Sun Moon Empire. At least they weren't afraid of immediate retaliation.
As for Shrek, they had lost heavily. Dissatisfied—but powerless.
Elder Song, a 97th-level Super Douluo and one of the academy's top experts, had been slapped into the earth, life or death unknown.
With Di Tian's appearance, the balance had completely reversed.
And surely... the Great Star Dou Forest didn't just send one Di Tian.
Even the nearly ten thousand faculty and students of the Royal Academy of the Sun Moon Empire had looked up, curious about Xu Cheng's response.
By now, through every carefully calculated move, Xu Cheng had taken what was once a crisis that could have destroyed Mingdu and turned it into a grand opportunity—mobilizing every faction, calling forth the strongest, and perfectly orchestrating this scenario.
Once just a crown prince who had led the Sun Moon Empire to a historic victory against Shrek Academy—
Now, he shone like the sun in everyone's hearts.
He had truly propped up the Sun Moon Empire.
In the eyes of countless female students, what gleamed wasn't hearts, but suns. A kind of... faith.
"Mu En, what you mean is... we just brush all this aside?"
Xu Cheng's voice rang out, calm and confident.
"Then in this battle, can you revive the countless soldiers of our soul tool corps who died protecting their homeland?"
At these words—
The people of the original continent fell silent.
Mu En slowly closed his eyes.
"You can't?"
Seeing the silence, Xu Cheng looked around and gave a cold, sharp smile.
"Then we fight to the death! Even if it costs us the last soldier of the Sun Moon Empire, I will make you intruders pay for your blood debt with blood!"
(End of chapter)