Douluo Dalu II—Chapter 181: The Holy Spirit Church Takes the Blame
Er Ming also calmed down a little; after all, he knew Tang San's character. Tang San had a trait: as his strength increased, his attitude towards others would change.
Dai Mubai used to be Dai Boss in Tang San's eyes, but as Tang San's strength grew, he simply called him Mubai. Er Ming felt that if Tang San completely controlled the God Realm, Dai Mubai would have to "voluntarily" call Tang San "Brother San" when he saw him in the future.
If Yu Xiaogang were still alive, perhaps Yu Xiaogang, Tang San's adoptive father, would also have a day when he'd be reduced to Xiaogang. Of course, this process might be very long, as Tang San currently hasn't made the God Realm his personal domain, which means Tang San still needs to maintain a pure and untainted image externally.
"Are we just going to let this go? If I couldn't beat him, I would have gone to the God Realm for Xiaodong and asked Tang San for an explanation. I regret sacrificing for him. If it weren't for Sister Xiao Wu, I wouldn't have sacrificed for Tang San," Er Ming said with some dissatisfaction.
Da Ming frowned slightly: "There's no need to dwell on the past. For us, we should look forward. No matter what, after we sacrificed for Tang San, he also resurrected us, which is fair."
"Of course, Tang San did such a wrong thing, and we absolutely cannot let it go. Doesn't he wholeheartedly want Xiao Dong to go to Qiankun Wenqing Valley? Then we'll drag it out! We absolutely cannot let him get his way!"
Er Ming also nodded and said, "Brother, you are right. In my opinion, no plan or scheme is more important than Xiao Dong. She is still a child!"
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Sun Moon Empire
In a palace.
Xu Tianran looked at Zhong Liwu with anger on his face: "Sect Master Zhong, what exactly are you Holy Spirit Church thinking? To send Evil Soul Masters to assassinate the Duchess?
I don't quite understand, what's the point of assassinating the Duchess at this time? Doing so will only provoke the Star Luo Empire, harming the Sun Moon Empire without any benefit.
The Sun Moon Empire will indeed have a war with the Star Luo Empire in the future, but the initiative of this war should be in our hands. Only when the Sun Moon Empire's strength has accumulated sufficiently should we fight the Star Luo Empire. If Xu Jiawei loses his mind and starts a war directly, the Sun Moon Empire will face trouble."
Today, he learned that a group of evil soul masters attacked the White Tiger Duke's Mansion and killed the Duchess.
To be honest, when he heard the news, he was a little confused.
He didn't understand what benefit the Holy Spirit Church could gain from doing this. If it was to refine a vengeful spirit, it seemed unreasonable, since the Duchess's strength was too weak—she was merely a Soul Emperor.
Zhong Liwu sat on his chair, feeling a little depressed.
The Duchess's identity was extremely special, so the Star Luo Empire quickly announced her assassination, which immediately drew widespread attention, causing many people in the Douluo Three Kingdoms to learn of it.
Zhong Liwu said, "Your Highness if I say that this was not done by our Holy Spirit Church, will you believe me? I have asked the people inside the Holy Spirit Church, and I am sure that this was not our doing."
Xu Tianran said coldly: "Sect Master Zhong, please explain why this happened. I admit there are some wild evil soul masters out there, but they can be easily eliminated by the Shrek Supervisory Group before they become too powerful."
"And the group that attacked the Duke's Mansion had at least evil soul masters at the Soul Douluo level. If they are not from your Holy Spirit Church, where else could they come from?"
Zhong Liwu's face was gloomy: "Your Highness, we will never admit to something our Holy Spirit Church has not done. Whether you believe me or not, I assure you this matter has nothing to do with us."
He also felt a little wronged; the Holy Spirit Church had never committed such acts.
Xu Tianran, hearing this, suppressed his emotions and softened his tone: "Okay, I believe you. But I want you to investigate where these evil soul masters came from. There should only be one evil soul master organization in this world—your Holy Spirit Church."
Zhong Liwu stood up and nodded: "Your Highness, don't worry. I will find those who threw dirt on the Holy Spirit Church to prevent them from sabotaging the Sun-Moon Empire's plans. I will leave now."
Zhong Liwu was eager for the Sun-Moon Empire and the Three Kingdoms of Douluo to go to war. On one hand, this would highlight the importance of the Holy Spirit Church; on the other, it would cause many casualties, which could be beneficial for the practice of evil soul masters.
Watching Zhong Liwu's figure disappear, Xu Tianran took a deep breath and called out to the back of the curtain: "Ju Zi!"
"Your Highness." Ju Zi stepped out from behind the curtain, respectfully.
"Do you think Zhong Liwu is lying?"
"I dare not assert that."
"Speak, say whatever you think. You are the person I trust most. I want to hear your thoughts." Xu Tianran's face was as cold as frost.
Ju Zi said: "I think Zhongli Wu lied. Perhaps because Elder Kong prevented the Holy Spirit Church from becoming the Protector of the Nation last time, and demanded obstruction to Zhongli Wu's process of becoming the national teacher, Zhongli Wu became dissatisfied and arranged for people to do such a thing."
Ju Zi knew there were loopholes in her statement, but in such situations, responding with gaps was to guide Xu Tianran's thinking. Only then could the Holy Spirit Church and Xu Tianran become more alienated, creating opportunities for the future rise of the Spirit Pagoda.
"That's a good idea, but the relevance is not strong enough," Xu Tianran said thoughtfully. "What benefit does killing the Duchess bring to the Holy Spirit Church? They don't lack vengeful spirits at the level of a Soul Emperor. Even if it was to avenge Elder Kong, they shouldn't do this."
After a moment of thought, Xu Tianran suddenly had an idea: "By the way, I remember that Huo Yuhao and the Duchess had a very bad relationship. Could it be that these guys did this to please Huo Yuhao?"
"Huo Yuhao is a disciple that Elder Kong values greatly. If Huo Yuhao is pleased, then the Holy Spirit Church would become the guardian sect of the country. The Holy Spirit Church, and the matter of Zhong Liwu becoming the national teacher, could be involved."
Ju Zi was a little surprised: "Your Highness, this... Does the Holy Spirit Church not trust us enough to help them solve the problem with Elder Kong? So they took such radical action?"
Xu Tianran snorted coldly: "Distrust is normal. Zhong Liwu has a good relationship with me on the surface, but he is particularly cunning."
"It's not wise to have too intense a conflict with the Holy Spirit Church now. When I ascend the throne and the Holy Spirit Church becomes more and more useless, I will expel them!"
---
Near the Mingdou Mountains
Sun Moon Garrison Area
Huo Yuhao stood outside Jing Hongchen's tent, preparing to persuade him to let him go to the Extreme North.
He wasn't going to the Extreme North to obtain a Spirit Soul. In fact, with the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass as a substitute, his new Spirit Soul for level fifty was already settled.
He was going to the Extreme North mainly to subdue a group of Soul Beasts and to prepare for future Spirit Souls in advance. Of course, the mining of minerals in the Extreme North could also be put on the agenda.
The Sun Moon people currently found it difficult to mine those minerals and it was easy to attract attacks from the Heavenly Soul Empire, but if the Snow Empress shouted, the Soul Beasts would take action.
(End of this chapter)