Douluo Continent: Long Live the Spirit Hall

"It's nothing serious, just an old ailment." Emperor Xueye sighed and shook his head, then continued, "That Holy Son of the Spirit Hall has entered the city. Xuexing, what did Dugu Bo say?"

“Dugu Bo, Your Majesty, Dugu Bo is a man who keeps his promises. After what happened several years ago, he promised the Holy Son of the Spirit Hall that he would no longer interfere in royal affairs. Although I have always been respectful to him in recent years, I have not received a response.” Prince Xue Xing frowned deeply and said in a deep voice, “However, Dugu Bo also assured me that he would not attack anyone from my Heavenly Dou royal family. In other words, he will not help either side.”

"In that case, well, there's nothing more to say." Emperor Xueye sighed, feeling the powerlessness of the royal family more and more at this moment.

Compared to the White Tiger Martial Soul of the Star Luo Royal Family, the Swan Martial Soul of the Heaven Dou Royal Family rarely produces individuals with outstanding innate soul power, and they cannot imitate the Star Luo's method of raising Gu-like creatures.

Prince Xuexing continued, "Your Majesty, perhaps I should arrange for someone to probe the thoughts and intentions of this Holy Son? Although he is young, he is an absolute cunning fox. His coming to my Heavenly Dou City is definitely not just for the mere Elite Tournament."

"If the enemy doesn't move, I won't move. The royal family still calls the shots in Heaven Dou City; there's no need for these underhanded tactics. However, this Holy Son of the Spirit Hall is indeed someone we must be wary of." Emperor Xue Ye glanced at Xue Qinghe as he spoke, then sighed after a moment of silence, "Qinghe, do you know why your father values ​​this Holy Son of the Spirit Hall so much? Do you know what the balance of power is?" Hearing his father's call, Xue Qinghe pondered for a long time before tentatively replying, "Father, are you referring to the court?"

"You're wrong." Emperor Xue Ye looked at Xue Qinghe with a hint of disappointment in his eyes, shook his head, and explained, "While the imperial court does need a balance, generally speaking, there aren't any major problems. To be honest, to some extent, my Heaven Dou Empire needs to thank the Spirit Hall. Do you know how the two great empires on the continent compare in strength?" Xue Qinghe hesitated slightly after hearing this, and after thinking for a long time, he tentatively said, "The Heaven Dou Empire has returned to its peak under my father's rule, and one day it will surely be able to march south and recover lost territory."

"Is this your true thought?" Upon hearing this, Emperor Xue Ye was not pleased, but rather extremely angry. He looked at Xue Qinghe with disappointment and coldly said, "You don't need to flatter me. I have some self-awareness. When the Heavenly Dou Empire was in my hands, its national strength and military power were far behind those of the Star Luo Empire. And the current Star Luo Emperor was known for his iron-fisted nature, having emerged from mountains of corpses and seas of blood. If it weren't for the Spirit Hall stopping us back then, my Heavenly Dou royal family might have been wiped out." Although he looked down on those guys' arrogance and brutality, he had to admit that the Gu King they cultivated like a Gu poison was definitely not bad.

Compared to Xingluo, the Heavenly Dou Empire has a more decentralized imperial power and a more decadent royal family, making it easier to gain the support of forces like the three sects mentioned above.

But in fact, all of this is not enough. If it weren't for the Spirit Hall standing between the two great empires, the Star Luo Empire would have started a war long ago.

After I ascended to the throne, I worked hard to govern the country, but it was only in recent years that the empire developed again and barely had the resources to compete with the Star Luo.

This balance of power between the two great empires is exactly what the Spirit Hall wants to see.

"Father, you mean that for the Spirit Hall, maintaining a balance between the two empires is most advantageous?" Xue Qinghe seemed to have figured something out and continued his analysis: "That's right, that should be it. Although the Spirit Hall controls and influences most of the Soul Masters on the continent, there are far more common people on the continent, and all the Soul Masters come from the two empires. Although the Spirit Hall can command them, it can never allow them to betray their country. Therefore, from any perspective, the Spirit Hall can only continuously expand its influence, but it can never become the ruler. But if the two empires were to merge into one, becoming a unified and powerful empire, the Spirit Hall would ultimately not be able to exist. So they have been maintaining this balance, and our Heaven Dou Empire can also take advantage of this balance to develop and rise again."

"Qinghe, what you said makes some sense, but it's not entirely correct." Emperor Xueye shook his head after listening to Xue Qinghe's analysis and said in a deep voice, "Do you remember what I asked you at the beginning? I asked you why I valued that Spirit Hall's Holy Son so much. Because this kid is far more terrifying than the Pope of the Spirit Hall. Your analysis isn't actually wrong, but that was the situation ten years ago. The Spirit Hall now has enough influence on the common people, and all of this stems from that Spirit Hall's Holy Son. After the Light Ritual several years ago, the Spirit Hall rose again on the continent, and the two great empires and various kingdoms and duchies..." Inside, countless churches sprang up overnight, with Xun Yue alone gaining thousands of priests. The root of all this lay with the Holy Son of the Spirit Hall. He was a terrifying enemy, plotting against the world and undermining the hearts of the people. He had only visited Heaven Dou City twice, yet he first forced the royal family to mobilize a large army, and then caused us to lose a retainer. He was an incredibly formidable enemy, requiring utmost caution. "Do you understand what I'm saying?" Emperor Xue Ye spoke with extreme solemnity. Although Xue Qinghe still harbored some doubts, he wouldn't refute Emperor Xue Ye at this moment, but instead bowed his head to indicate that he understood his father's meaning.

"Alright, that's enough for tonight. Xuexing, go and arrange some things..." Emperor Xueye's last words put Prince Xuexing at ease a little. The main reason was that the father and son had just talked about a lot of things, and he was worried that he might be silenced.

……

"Hehe, the people of the Heaven Dou royal family are quite interesting." On a starry night, in the Martial Soul Temple of Heaven Dou City, Yan finally managed to sneak into Qian Renxue's room. It wasn't that he was audacious or anything, but rather that Qian Renxue had taken the initiative to find him, and it was for a serious matter.

The intelligence presented to him was a detailed account of the discussions among Emperor Xue Ye and others. Years ago, the Spirit Hall had devised a plan to replace Xue Qinghe, the eldest son of the Heaven Dou Empire's royal family, with Qian Renxue.

This plan was later halted with Yan's rise to power, but some of the hidden agents within the Heaven Dou Empire were not abandoned. Instead, they were taken over by Qian Renxue.

The capabilities of these undercover agents were even somewhat beyond Yan's expectations. The details of Emperor Xue Ye's physical condition, and the conversations between Crown Prince Xue Qinghe, Emperor Xue Ye, and Prince Xue Xing that night, are too numerous to mention.

And less than three hours after the three's secret meeting, the intelligence was delivered to Qian Renxue. After reading the intelligence, Qian Renxue's expression was far from pleasant.

"Junior brother, these members of the Heavenly Dou royal family don't seem to be very well-behaved. Should we send someone to teach them a lesson?" Yan shook his head.

"No need, it's just a desperate act. This game of chess called 'The World' is about to end for Emperor Xueye."

"Junior brother, what do you mean by that? When did you arrange this scheme against the Heaven Dou royal family?" Qian Renxue asked, quite puzzled. She was in charge of all the intelligence on the Spirit Hall in Heaven Dou City, so she should know Yan's plans. But why was she confused by what she heard?

Yan Yao gazed in the direction of the Heavenly Dou Imperial Palace and smiled coldly.

"This game started a long time ago, and Emperor Xueye is almost at his limit. Sometimes, when playing chess, you don't need to enter the game to counter the moves; you just need to find the opponent's weakness outside the chessboard. Emperor Xueye's health has never been good, and his cultivation level isn't high either. In recent years, he's had many troubles, and his health has been deteriorating. How much longer can he hold on..." As he said this, he suddenly turned his head, glancing at Qian Renxue, who was only wearing pajamas on the bed, his eyes darting around.

"Senior sister, your blankets feel a bit cold to me. How about I warm them up for you? It's free..."

"Junior brother, you... sob sob..." Just as Qian Renxue was about to shoo him away, someone slid in through the gap in the bedding, and her delicate body fell into a warm embrace.

...Three days later, in the morning, in Tiandou City, the capital of the Tiandou Empire. Soft sunlight streamed through the window cracks onto the brocade quilt. Yan awoke from the warm fragrance, rubbed his sleepy eyes, and then reached his mouth towards the covers, thinking of stealing a kiss.

"No..." Qian Renxue's symbolic resistance was of little use. After being taken advantage of once again, she pushed away the increasingly outrageous man, panting. If you looked closely, you could see that under the gossamer-thin brocade gauze, large areas of snow-white skin were covered with red spots, all of which were the man's 'masterpiece'.

"You little rascal, why aren't you leaving?" Qian Renxue was about to change her clothes when she saw the little rascal who had been teasing her squinting at her from the bedside. She felt a surge of anger and embarrassment and slapped him across the face, but subconsciously held back her strength as she did so, making it feel more like a tickle.

"Senior sister still cares about junior brother, that's so nice." Yan casually grabbed the snow-white wrist, tilted his head and gently kissed it. Qian Renxue's delicate body trembled, she glared at him, and could only close her beautiful eyes and helplessly lean down to offer a kiss.

"Junior brother, please let your senior sister go for now." Since the beautiful senior sister was so proactive and begging for mercy, what could Yan do? He could only say that he still needed to work harder. Although he had accompanied his senior sister to cultivate 'properly' in the room for three days, he still couldn't break through to the last step. He was a little upset. There wouldn't be such an opportunity next time.

Although he was itching to go, he knew what was important and what was urgent. Today was the opening of the preliminary rounds of the Elite Competition, and he needed to go there in person, so he couldn't delay.

After leaving the room, he changed into a majestic priest's robe and arranged for the large group from the Spirit Hall to depart.

The opening ceremony of the Third Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament, Tian Dou Empire Division, will naturally be held in Tian Dou City.

This day was naturally an extremely important one for Heaven Dou City. The opening ceremony of the Elite Tournament was held in the Heaven Dou Grand Arena within Heaven Dou City, and all the preliminary arrangements had been completed more than a month ago.

Inside the Heaven Dou City Great Soul Arena, when Yan led Salas, Qian Renxue, and other high-ranking members of the Spirit Hall to arrive, they were greeted by countless shouting and cheering spectators.

They followed the special passage to the front of the central venue, where there was a grand stage with a gold background. Behind the grand stage was the renovated VIP area.

In the center of the VIP area, Yan saw several familiar figures: Poison Douluo Dugu Bo, Ning Fengzhi, Sword Douluo Bone Douluo, Emperor Xue Ye and Prince Xue Xing, as well as several other retainers and nobles from the Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

Behind Emperor Xueye stood a young man, about the same age as Qian Renxue. Although not as young as Yan, he stood out among the group of old men. If there were no surprises, he was Emperor Xueye's eldest son, Xue Qinghe.

"Your Majesty, it's been a long time." Yan led a group of Martial Soul Hall experts forward to greet him. Today, Emperor Xueye was wearing a gold and red robe and a gold and diamond crown. His face was as white as the moon, and he looked even older than when they first met.

"The Holy Son has arrived. I was just talking about you with Sect Master Ning." Emperor Xueye smiled kindly at Yan, then gestured to the seat next to him, where Ning Fengzhi, the Sect Master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, stood.

Ning Fengzhi was wearing a white robe and a seven-treasure purple-gold crown symbolizing his status. He stood beside Emperor Xueye. Yan San stepped forward and came to the two of them. The three of them sat at the very front of the VIP table, like three giants surrounded by stars.

Although there were countless people of noble status present, these three were all of special status: the Emperor of Heaven Dou, the Holy Son of the Spirit Hall, and the Master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School of the Upper Three Sects. There were very few people on the entire continent who could be ranked alongside them.

Everyone, including the three Title Douluos, instinctively dropped a step behind. Chen Xin and Gu Rong came behind Ning Fengzhi, while Dugu Bo hesitated for a moment before joining the Spirit Hall's ranks, positioned behind Yan.

His action made Prince Xuexing's eyelids twitch slightly, but in the end he didn't say anything more.

"Your Majesty, it's time for you to preside over the opening ceremony." Yan, Emperor Xueye, and Ning Fengzhi sat at the very front of the VIP platform. Amidst the cheers and laughter, their faces remained smiling. As the last group entered, Yan couldn't help but remind Emperor Xueye.

At this moment, the master of ceremonies also suggested that Emperor Xueye give a speech to open the event. This Heavenly Dou Emperor rose to his feet amidst the cheers of countless subjects.

The emperor's speech was passionate and inspiring, drawing thunderous applause and cheers. Yan clapped along with the crowd, but he also noticed that the emperor's smile seemed forced; he was not genuinely excited about the competition.

After Emperor Xueye, Ning Fengzhi, as a special guest, gave a speech, followed by a lottery ceremony hosted by someone arranged by the Spirit Hall.

Yan had no interest in this task and assigned it to Platinum Bishop Salas. As teams were drawn one by one, the Pan-Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament officially began.

When the two teams for the first match appeared, everyone was quite surprised.

Chapter 187 Beyond the Chessboard

"In the first round of the qualifiers, Blue Tyrant Academy will face Thunder Academy."

Inside the Heaven Dou City Grand Arena, although the expressions of the people on the VIP platform had changed, the emcee's voice remained loud and clear: "All participating academies, please leave the arena. The two academies competing should prepare. The competition will officially begin in half an hour."

"Blue Giants vs. Thunder, this is really interesting."

Yan, who had been drowsy, suddenly became wide awake and stared at the arena with great interest. He hadn't expected the first match of the Heaven Dou Empire preliminary rounds to be so interesting: Blue Tyrant Academy versus Thunder Academy, an internal struggle between vassals of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Sect.

On the VIP platform of the Great Soul Arena, Yan Yao looked down at the competition area. With the master of ceremonies' voice, the teams from the two academies had already stepped onto the arena.

Thunder Academy and Blue Tyrant Academy are both supported by the Blue Lightning Tyrant Clan, but they present two different academy styles.

Blue Tyrant Academy's academy vision can only be described as decent. Although they don't have a single Soul Master, all the members of their official teams are above level 35, making them a fairly good team. However, when they face Thunder Academy, things look rather bad.

Thunder Academy's strength is absolutely formidable. In the academy world of the Heaven Dou Empire, there has always been a saying that the Five Elemental Academies dominate, referring to the five most powerful academies in the Heaven Dou academy world before the rise of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

The Five Elemental Academies are Divine Wind, Thunder, Blazing Fire, Heavenly Water, and Elephant Armor. Each of these academies has its own unique characteristics and specializes in a particular attribute.

In the previous two Soul Master Competitions, the Heaven Dou Empire's team was able to reach the top three in the finals, and each of these five academies was one of them.

Thunder Academy's teams have consistently ranked very high among the Five Elements Academy teams, always aiming for second place and striving for first. The attack power of all Thunder-attribute Soul Masters is beyond doubt, especially their explosive power, which is full of a violent aura.

Compared to the weak and defeated Blue Tyrant Academy, Thunder Academy displayed a powerful lineup, with all its main forces consisting of experts above level 35, and also three Soul Masters.

Although it's unclear what other trump cards Thunder Academy might have up its sleeve, this lineup alone should be enough to secure victory in this battle.

"A clash between a half-baked balanced style and a headstrong extreme style, it's a pity that Blue Tyrant Academy's eyesight is a bit weak, otherwise this match would be more entertaining. But then again, it's not like they didn't have a chance."

On the VIP stage, Yan casually commented on the two groups of students in the arena. Judging from his words, he didn't think much of Blue Tyrant Academy, which was basically the consensus of everyone.

Blue Tyrant Academy's main lineup would be considered mid-tier among all the teams in this qualifier, but they would have virtually no chance of winning against the top-tier Thunder Academy.

On the VIP stage, the other two people in the first row did not show any reaction. However, Prince Xuexing, who was slightly behind, suddenly spoke up: "Your Highness, do you think Blue Tyrant Academy has a chance to win? Could you please elaborate?"

"Prince Xuexing, you flatter me. Compared to you, who have fought on the battlefield for so many years, I am just a junior."

Yan smiled nonchalantly and continued, "The biggest characteristic of the Thunder Academy's lightning-attribute martial souls is their terrifying attack power and incredibly strong explosive force. However, in the early stages, the energy consumption for launching an attack with a lightning-attribute martial soul is also quite high."

Although the students of Blue Tyrant Academy don't possess particularly strong martial souls, they generally have optimal spirit ring configurations and follow a balanced approach, resulting in a high margin for error. If they can hold on in the early stages and consistently defend, it's not impossible for them to exhaust the Thunder Team's stamina.

Yan's words made the people on the VIP platform thoughtful; his words seemed to make some sense. In the world of Soul Masters, there has always been a debate between the balanced style and the extreme style.

The Limitless Flow believes that a Soul Master's abilities should follow a pure path, developing their abilities in only one direction and maximizing that single-direction ability.

The balance faction, on the other hand, believes that a Soul Master's abilities should be developed in a balanced way, with a good balance between offense and defense. Among them, the Soul Masters of the Heaven Dou Empire are mostly supporters of the extreme style, while the Soul Masters of the Star Luo Empire mostly follow the balanced approach.

The Extreme Style boasts powerful burst damage, taking an extreme approach and sacrificing some aspects to gain others, but it is also easily countered. The Balanced Style may have slightly less burst damage, but it has far fewer weaknesses and superior follow-up abilities.

The Spirit Hall had not explicitly supported any particular school of thought before, but Yan himself was a supporter of the Limitless Style because of one word: purity.

In fact, by simply comparing the number and upper limit of Soul Masters within the two empires, it is easy to determine which school of thought is more suitable for the development of Soul Masters.

Among the three major sects, let's set aside the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, which is a support sect. The Blue Lightning Tyrant Sect specializes in hunting dragon-blooded soul beasts, while the Clear Sky Sect represents the pinnacle of weapon spirit power.

Furthermore, looking at the various Title Douluos, they all possess specialized skills that they have perfected, and they would never choose to sacrifice their spirit ring ratios to maintain a so-called balanced approach. This can be seen from the fact that the Star Luo Empire has very few Title Douluos.

However, Yan also admitted that the idea of ​​a balanced approach was actually correct; the Spirit Hall team was a fusion of individual extreme style and team balanced style. This approach was definitely stronger than the absolute extreme style of the Five Elements Academy, and they had won the championship in the last two Elite Tournaments.

Therefore, a balanced approach is worth considering, but it shouldn't come at the expense of the right Soul Ring ratio.

The Clear Sky Sect has already provided the answer to how a true balanced approach should be taken: choose a single attribute for your rings, maximize your strengths in one area while improving the quality and aptitude of your martial soul, making it easier for you to advance to higher realms.

On the other hand, it is to make up for one's own shortcomings by creating one's own soul skills, so as to make oneself more balanced. This is the truly healthy path to development.

Unfortunately, very few people in the Soul Master world realize this. Perhaps the various magical Soul Skills have diminished the ambition and creativity of many people; in any case, to this day, self-created Soul Skills remain extremely rare in the Soul Master world.

Yan's words raised the audience's expectations for the battle on stage. However, reality was harsh. This year's Blue Tyrant team had poor positioning and a reckless style, and they were all defeated before they could even withstand a single attack from Blue Tyrant Academy.

Blue Tyrant Academy was easily defeated by Thunder Academy, and Prince Snow Star laughed with great joy, "Hahaha... It seems that the Holy Son misjudged this time."

"This is not surprising. After all, Thunder Academy has a solid foundation, and Blue Tyrant Academy's chances of winning are less than 10%. It's just a possibility."

Yan was neither angry nor annoyed. This situation was not unexpected. He didn't care about Prince Xuexing's little schemes. He turned his head and casually asked, "Your Majesty, after watching the battle just now, do you have any thoughts?"

"What does His Highness the Holy Son want to say?"

A hint of doubt flashed in Emperor Xueye's eyes; he was somewhat unsure of Yan's intentions. However, after a moment's thought, he spoke, "Thunder Academy performed very well, and Blue Tyrant Academy also had its share of highlights. They are all Soul Masters of the Empire, the pride of the Empire..."

"Your Majesty, do you know what I have seen in these matches?"

Yan turned to look towards the arena, where two more academies were setting up their formations, ready for a major battle.

Emperor Xueye couldn't figure out Yan's thoughts and didn't respond immediately. After a moment of silence, he spoke to himself, "What I see is the future of the Soul Master world, a chess game called 'The World,' in which you and I are both playing different roles."

Emperor Xueye remained calm, then subtly probed, "Oh. Then I wonder what kind of strategy you have in mind, Holy Son, for coming to my Heavenly Dou City this time? You are a man of few words, yet once you speak, you amaze everyone. After three years of lying low, your emergence will surely be earth-shattering."

"My move was already made a long time ago, didn't Your Majesty notice?"

Yan smiled slightly, showing absolute confidence, "I know that for the past three years, His Majesty has been waiting for me to make another move, trying to find a good way to trap me in a deadly situation."