When Xu Yuan heard such rumors, he was momentarily at a loss for words.
How could it be said that the Spirit Pagoda had no god-level soul masters?
"Isn't my uncle from the Spirit Pagoda?"
Even Xu Yuan, as his nephew, almost doubted whether his uncle was truly the acting Pagoda Master of the Spirit Pagoda.
Surely they wouldn't disqualify someone as a true god-level soul master just because they broke through using divine-forged metal, would they?
Divine Forge City.
Xu Yuan sought out Xu Shengqun to find the answer.
"Uncle, with your strength, you could directly secure the Pagoda Master position. There's no need for all this maneuvering."
Xu Shengqun let out a bitter smile.
"If it were before, it would have been fine. My prestige was more than sufficient. But now, with the arrival of the god-level era, the three Limit Douluo of the Qiangu Family—Qiangu Dieting, Qiangu Dongfeng, and Qiangu Qingfeng—have regained significant support. Relying on their identities, years of accumulation, and numerical advantage, the likelihood of at least one of them breaking through is very high. Some people have started to waver."
Hearing this, Xu Yuan also revealed a look of disdain.
With such a system, combined with the prevailing attitude today, the Spirit Pagoda had indeed completely deteriorated.
"But Uncle, by stirring up such public opinion, you're only putting pressure on those three, which might actually promote their breakthroughs."
"Let them promote if they will. In any case, Qiangu Dongfeng doesn't have long to live, and the Qiangu Family will be cleaned up." A cold glint appeared in the corner of Xu Shengqun's eye.
He still didn't know about Xu Zhi's reincarnation, so he had always harbored resentment over Xu Zhi's matters.
Now that the crisis on Douluo Star had passed, it was time to start settling accounts.
Xu Yuan slowly nodded in agreement. "True, they've lived long enough."
"I've investigated all the deeds Qiangu Dongfeng has done in the past. The collaborations he had with evil soul masters made even me feel uneasy."
Xu Shengqun took out a document and handed it to Xu Yuan.
Looking at the list of collaborations, Xu Yuan couldn't help but gasp.
Indeed, once you start, it's hard to stop.
The fact that Qiangu Dongfeng collaborated with the Holy Spirit Sect definitely wasn't a one-time thing.
But Xu Yuan never expected that their collaborations would amount to thirty-eight instances!
And this was after consolidation. If it were just contacts with evil soul masters, there might have been hundreds of interactions.
"At sixteen, he had already colluded with the Holy Spirit Sect." Xu Yuan took a deep breath.
"The history of the Qiangu Family isn't clean either," Xu Shengqun said. "Because they possess the ability to break evil, the Qiangu Family's Coiling Dragon Staff martial soul naturally holds an advantage against evil soul masters, not inferior to the Sacred Angel martial soul with its holy fire. However, the Qiangu Family's efforts against evil soul masters pale in comparison to the Le family. I used to think it was because the Qiangu Family focused on power struggles and consolidating their forces within the Spirit Pagoda. But it turns out, the entire Qiangu Family has maintained ties with the Holy Spirit Sect."
Break evil?
This was the first time Xu Yuan noticed such an attribute of the Coiling Dragon Staff.
The dragon attached to the Coiling Dragon Staff wasn't a dragon inheriting the Dragon God's bloodline but a kind of anti-evil dragon, also known as the Heavenly Awakening Holy Golden Dragon. It was naturally born and nurtured by the righteous energy of heaven and earth, possessing the ability to dispel all forms of evil.
Xu Yuan knew about the origin of the Coiling Dragon Staff but hadn't considered that this anti-evil trait could suppress evil soul masters.
Primarily, the collaboration between Qiangu Dongfeng and the Holy Spirit Sect prevented Xu Yuan from thinking about any suppressing relationship between the two.
Looking back now, Qiangu Dongfeng's smooth collaboration with the Holy Spirit Sect might be a family tradition. And the reason the family had such a tradition was precisely because their martial soul suppressed evil soul masters.
Because they could suppress evil soul masters, they could use this knife with a clear conscience.
Similarly, because they were suppressed by the anti-evil dragon, the Holy Spirit Sect also used cooperation to block the Qiangu Family from launching large-scale manhunts.
"In the data from the last three hundred years, except for Qiangu Qingfeng, other members of the Qiangu Family, apart from official actions to purge evil soul masters, have not acted otherwise."
Xu Shengqun showed Xu Yuan many documents, all evidence accusing the Qiangu Family.
"Since you've come to ask today, it's time we reeled them in." Xu Shengqun looked at Xu Yuan and said, "Qiangu Dongfeng must be dealt with by you personally."
Xu Yuan nodded.
Although his parents had reincarnated (his mother was also sent to the Holy Demon Continent), the wrongs committed by Qiangu Dongfeng could not be compensated.
The next day.
Xu Shengqun left the Underworld.
Returning to the public eye, reporters quickly got wind of the news and approached Xu Shengqun for an interview.
"Heaven Saint Venerable, there are rumors online saying that the Spirit Pagoda has no god-level venerables. But you, Heaven Saint Venerable, are from the Spirit Pagoda and have served as the acting Pagoda Master for several years. Do you have anything to say about these rumors?"
Xu Shengqun's expression was very dissatisfied, appearing extremely angry.
"I am Xu Shengqun. I broke through to godhood four months ago, and I still hold the position of acting Pagoda Master of the Spirit Pagoda, without question!"
His tone was resolute and powerful.
He scanned the surroundings, looking into the camera.
"The atmosphere in the Federation is getting worse. Such rumors can arise, indicating that some people's hands have infiltrated every level of the Federation. Who is manipulating public opinion, deceiving superiors and subordinates alike? I hope the Federation investigates thoroughly instead of questioning us, the victims of these rumors."
After speaking, Xu Shengqun snorted coldly. His divine soul force erupted, transforming into a beam of light as he flew toward Shrek City.
The surrounding people were awed by the momentum of the divine soul force and stood motionless for a long time.
"Was that just divine soul force? I felt like I was facing the heavens."
Someone muttered, incredulous.
"This is what a Venerable is!"
"It's said that Yuan Zun and Ming Zun are even stronger, reaching the Super God level, two major stages higher than the god-level where Venerables reside!"
"..."
The reporter surveyed the chaotic scene. After initial confusion, her gaze quickly caught sight of a military uniform.
Seeing that calm figure, she felt like she had found a lifeline and quickly approached, beginning to ask, "Hello."
For a moment, the journalist didn't know who this soldier was. While pausing to think how to address him, the calm figure looked at her and calmly said, "Hello, I'm Yu Guanzhi."
The journalist's mind raced, quickly associating the name Yu Guanzhi with the identity of the man before her.
"You... hello, Officer Yu," she stammered. "Just now, the Heaven Saint Venerable mentioned that the Federation has been infiltrated. Do you know anything about it?"
Upon hearing the question, Yu Guanzhi's demeanor instantly changed, silencing the scene.
He looked into the camera and solemnly said, "What the Heaven Saint Venerable said, the Federation is already aware of and has begun investigating. We have identified those controlling the Federation's public opinion."
"Really?" the journalist pressed. "Can you disclose their specific identities?"
"Too many people. I won't say here. The Federation is prepared and will soon take action to clean house."
With the Abyss threat gone, the Federation turned its sights inward.
"Not just internal issues within the Federation. During the war with the Abyss, our Federation suffered attacks from evil soul masters, resulting in heavy losses. At that time, the Federation's forces were concentrated in the Underworld, fighting the Abyss army, leaving us stretched thin. Now, with Ming Zun and Yuan Zun defeating the Abyss Holy Monarch and securing victory in this war, the Federation has begun mobilizing forces to launch a campaign to exterminate evil soul masters."
"This time, we will decisively eliminate the evil soul masters!"
Seizing this opportunity to speak out, Yu Guanzhi said a lot more.
These were all the Federation's upcoming moves.
Compared to what he said afterward, the two points he initially mentioned attracted the most attention.
One was about resolving the malicious event of manipulating public opinion against the Venerables—a pure spectacle for the masses.
The other was about the encirclement and suppression of evil soul masters, which directly concerned everyone's safety.
Meanwhile, far away in Shrek City, Qiangu Dongfeng received the news.
Qiangu Dieting was interrupted from his seclusion by Qiangu Dongfeng.
"What happened? Why are you so restless?" Qiangu Dieting was quite displeased.
They had already experienced battles across planes, yet he was still so fidgety.
Qiangu Dongfeng directly stated, "Father, trouble has arrived. Xu Shengqun is coming for us."
"What?" Qiangu Dieting jumped up in shock.
During the war across the two planes, the three Limits of the Qiangu Family naturally reached the frontlines and consistently occupied a Thousand Qiangu City, managing everything for the Qiangu Family.
After Xu Shengqun broke through to god-level, the three Qiangus returned to Douluo Star.
Among them, Qiangu Qingfeng went somewhere alone, while the remaining Qiangu Dieting and Qiangu Dongfeng quickly returned to Shrek City, finding the elder group of the Spirit Pagoda and visiting each one to persuade them to support Qiangu Dongfeng.
Many elders were skilled opportunists.
Although Xu Shengqun had cultivated numerous connections over the years, he couldn't compete with Qiangu Dongfeng's promises.
After all, even now, Xu Yuan had only openly forged a piece of divine metal for Xu Shengqun and hadn't forged for anyone else.
Though Xu Yuan had said that divine metal couldn't suit all soul masters, many people didn't believe it.
To be precise, it wasn't that some people didn't believe; the majority didn't.
Unless you were a divine craftsman, you wouldn't genuinely believe Xu Yuan's words. Even if you were a sacred craftsman, unless you revered Xu Yuan, approaching his words with skepticism would make you increasingly disbelieving.
The same applied to lower-level smiths. Beyond admiration, if they seriously questioned Xu Yuan's words, they wouldn't believe them.
That was the reality.
After all, the profession of a smith was originally created to serve the vast soul master world.
Never had a level of forged metal been unable to suit everyone.
People would only think that Xu Yuan was unwilling to change the formula and tailor divine metal for others.
If Xu Yuan had forged for others, he could naturally assist Xu Shengqun. But the issue was that over the years, more than one Limit Douluo had requested divine metal, and Xu Yuan hadn't given a single piece to anyone.
Thus, who would support Xu Shengqun out of respect for Xu Yuan's divine metal?
Human nature was greedy and foolish.
The realm of divine forging had emerged, yet it didn't serve the soul masters. How could that be?
High-level smiths enjoyed the offerings of the soul master world not because their forging skills were commendable but because they brought benefits to soul masters.
But when smiths couldn't serve soul masters anymore, the soul masters had to resort to measures.
Threatening with power naturally wouldn't work.
They could only create opportunities, subtly influencing the broad mass of soul masters to force Xu Yuan back to his original role as a smith.
It was precisely because of this that some elders were swayed, leading to the emergence of news within the Spirit Pagoda about the latest Pagoda Master election. Qiangu Dongfeng, Qiangu Dieting, and even Qiangu Qingfeng were all listed as candidates.
Of course, Gu Yue, Leng Yao, and Xu Shengqun were included too.
"What does the Federation mean by this?"
Qiangu Dieting took a deep breath, his face turning extremely grim.
"We bled for the soul master world, risked our lives for it, and fought in the Underworld. What do our achievements count for?"
Beside him, Qiangu Dongfeng wore an indignant expression, deeply pained by the Federation's betrayal.
Although Yu Guanzhi didn't explicitly state who manipulated public opinion during the interview, he followed up on Xu Shengqun's statements.
Who controlled the public opinion was crystal clear to both Qiangu Dongfeng and his father.
They even secretly joined forces with various elders to try and stop this trend. After all, the Spirit Pagoda now had a god-level Xu Shengqun. To lose him due to public opinion would be a loss for the Spirit Pagoda.
The Qiangu family had three Limits, and the probability of breaking through to god-level wasn't small, but they hadn't broken through yet.
If none of the three managed to break through, the Spirit Pagoda would still rely on Xu Shengqun to carry the banner.
Therefore, the elders tried to reverse the public opinion.
But precisely because they had tried, they realized how immense the force behind this public opinion was.
Despite their high positions and resembling top powers of a world, behind this public opinion lurked a mighty heavenly authority.
How could they stop it?
So, although the Federation was behind the control of public opinion, Yu Guanzhi, as the Federation's representative, claimed they had identified those manipulating public opinion and were preparing to deal with them.
What to do when the thief cries out to catch the thief?
The 'thief' in the thief's mouth was undoubtedly them.
"How could it come to this?"
Qiangu Dongfeng was heartbroken.
He couldn't believe that the Federation would make such a decision.
Shouldn't they have muddied the waters?
Clearly, they had entered a new prosperous era, free of external threats. Shouldn't they start devising ways to fragment internally? As the biggest troublemaker, shouldn't the Spirit Pagoda thrive in chaos?
"First, find Qingfeng. The three of us should lay low for a while. As long as one of us breaks through, we'll have bargaining power." Qiangu Dieting believed it was because they lacked a god-level Venerable on their side.
Qiangu Dongfeng came to his senses.
Right, it was already the god-level era. All interest distribution was based on Venerables.
Thus, the Federation leaned towards Xu Shengqun.
"Damn it! If it weren't for Xu Yuan providing divine metal, how could Xu Shengqun have broken through before us!" Qiangu Dongfeng gritted his teeth.
While cursing, he didn't hesitate and quickly evacuated with Qiangu Dieting.
However, they were ultimately too late.
"Qiangu Dongfeng, old and new debts will be settled together today."
In front of them, a vortex appeared out of nowhere, and from within, a figure seemed to step forth from nothingness.
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