The battle at Jialing Pass saw the fall of the Twin Gods of the Spirit Hall. Bibi Dong perished, and Qian Renxue fell from her divine position, her cultivation permanently halted at level eighty-nine.
The once proud and towering Spirit Hall met a bitter end. Its former glory was now nothing more than spoils divided among the victors.
The millennia-old foundation of the Spirit Hall was completely carved up by the two great empires, Xingluo and Tiandou. The remnants of the Spirit Hall's forces faced further purges. Tens of thousands of soul masters were either absorbed into the two empires or eliminated.
As for the victors — the Seven Devils of Shrek Academy, the Sea God Tang San, the Haotian Sect, and the two great empires — they all emerged from the war immensely enriched!
Haotian Sect, fueled by its blood feud with the Spirit Hall and its connection to Tang San, claimed the vast majority of the Spirit Hall's accumulated treasures: soul bones, spirit herbs, and more. These resources promised a brilliant future for Haotian Sect!
The two great empires, as winners, reestablished their unshakable dominance within their countries. The duchies and kingdoms that once belonged to the Spirit Hall were further divided between them, solidifying their royal power and prolonging the lifespan of these already waning empires.
Tang Sect became the largest and most powerful sect in the world. The secrets of hidden weapons were monopolized under Tang San's authority. As the foundation of Tang Sect, hidden weapons vanished from all other powers on the continent and were held exclusively by Tang Sect.
The sacred land of soul masters remained, but the heart of soul masters across the world shifted from Spirit City to Shrek. After the war, the once glorious Spirit City was handed over to Shrek Academy as spoils of war. Shrek Academy built Shrek City on the old site of Spirit City!
The former Angel statue was destroyed, replaced by the towering statue of the Sea God. Tang San and the Seven Devils' heroic figures were sculpted by master craftsmen of the continent, standing proudly in the center of Shrek City, overlooking all four directions!
In war, the truth has always been: "To the victor go the spoils." Only the winners have the right to speak. Through propaganda from the two great empires, Tang Sect, Shrek, Haotian Sect, and others, the Spirit Hall was demonized, branded as an evil and disgraceful organization, buried deep in the dust of history.
And historically, the victors have always been glorified and righteous!
However, no matter how much they vilify the Spirit Hall, it marked an era. Its destruction symbolized the end of that era.
The old era had its own characteristics, and the new era would have its own. The fall of the Spirit Hall signified that everything from the old era was now history.
On Douluo Continent, it had become commonplace that every year on the annual Soul Awakening Day, village elders would casually lead the children to the local Spirit Hall to awaken their soul powers. But—
The Spirit Hall was already destroyed. Naturally, the noble soul masters who controlled the resources for soul awakening had no obligation to awaken the soul powers of the "lowly" commoners in their eyes.
Commoners, unable to awaken their soul powers, no longer posed a threat as rising soul masters. The situation was grim even for those commoner soul masters who had already awakened.
In the past, the two great empires and the Spirit Hall jointly funded monthly stipends for soul masters, providing a basic income for low-level soul masters. This was a tactic by the Spirit Hall to win over commoner soul masters. The empires contributed because they didn't want all commoners to side with the Spirit Hall, so the three parties shared the cost.
But this policy was a burden for the empires. With the Spirit Hall's fall, the emperors Xuefeng and Daitianfeng ruthlessly abolished it.
Without these subsidies, soul masters were forced either to join the empires or, like how Titan forced Tang San, be coerced by noble families into lifelong servitude without betrayal.
If the Spirit Hall era was like a harsh winter, the new era was spring—but a spring exclusive to the nobility.
No soul awakenings, no monthly stipends for soul masters—but what increased? The trade in slaves. The cat-girl slaves once auctioned by Prince Xuexing in Tiandou's market became far more common.
Looking at the coalition that Tang San swore to oppose the Spirit Hall, you can see what faction he represented.
Haotian Sect was Tang San's father's sect. Tang Sect was composed of noble families. The two great empires were traditional feudal powers. Ning Rongrong came from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, and Yu Xiaogang and Liu Erlong were remnants of the Blue Electric Tyrannosaurus.
They were an elite group of nobles who overthrew the Spirit Hall—yet one could hardly expect such aristocrats to bring spring to the commoners below. All a commoner could do was pray that the nobles might show a sliver of mercy, like Ning Fengzhi generously buying a poor soul master and granting them freedom.
Yes, they ended your hopes and rewarded you only with their pity—then expected your gratitude.
Are there commoner soul masters in Tang San's faction? Yes, Ma Hongjun and Oscar.
But can they still be considered part of the commoner side? Their journey was filled with friendship, bonds, and love—the things they desired—but they lost touch with their roots.
Tang San forgot the Saint Soul Village that sheltered him for six years when he was weakest. Ma Hongjun forgot the Grass Chicken Village that gave him a chance. Even the cold-hearted Oscar could honestly admit that he only thought of the Spirit Hall's goodness when receiving their monthly stipends—how much less could he remember his long-forgotten homeland? All the villagers could do was continue to regard them as their pride.
The Seven Devils of Shrek stood high above all!
Shrek Academy inherited the Spirit Hall's glory and status but not its responsibilities. They continued Shrek's longstanding tradition: only monsters, no weaklings. But on Douluo Continent, bloodline inheritance means monsters almost always come from nobles, and weaklings equate to commoner soul masters. How are commoner soul masters treated at Shrek Academy? Look at how Zhou Qi treated them in Douluo Second Academy—that's exactly how Shrek treats them: an old, entrenched tradition.
Commoner soul masters lost their free soul awakening, but that didn't mean their souls couldn't awaken. Age six is the optimal time for awakening; the sooner, the better. Otherwise, the best years of cultivation are lost. Without free awakening, soul powers might awaken naturally at twenty, thirty, or even forty—but by then, most time is wasted.
(End of chapter)
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