"Hoo—"
Inside the great hall, the Consecrators and Elders of the Holy Spirit Sect, including the Great Consecrator Eclipse Moon and Evil Phoenix Douluo Feng Ling, finally let out a long sigh, as though rescued from drowning. They scrambled up from the floor, looking at the Demon Empress with eyes full of reverence and residual fear.
In that moment, they had truly felt the proximity of death.
The Demon Empress ignored these "ants" and her gaze returned to Huo Yuhao, her tone flat:
"Speak. What do you mean by 'common enemy'? How do you propose to cooperate with me?"
Seeing this, Huo Yuhao also conveniently withdrew the surrounding Honkai Energy and spiritual power, deactivating [Herrscher Armor: Mind's Illusion] and reverting to his original appearance, though his scarlet eyes remained profound.
He said in a deep voice:
"My mother's soul was forcibly taken by Sea God Tang San and imprisoned above the God Realm. I intend to ascend to the God Realm and reclaim my mother's soul."
He paused, his gaze meeting the Demon Empress's hateful stare.
"And you, you seek vengeance against Sea God Tang San to avenge your husband's death. Both our targets point to the same lofty deity. Since our goals align, why can't we cooperate?"
Huo Yuhao offered a condition:
"If you agree, I can honor you as the Supreme Consecrator of the Holy Spirit Sect. Your status will be equal to mine, sharing all resources of the Holy Spirit Sect as we conspire together for the great task of regicide."
Hearing Huo Yuhao's words, especially the plight of his mother's soul being taken by Tang San, the Demon Empress was initially slightly stunned. Then, as if she had heard something utterly ridiculous, she threw her head back and burst into laughter:
"Hahahahaha... Good, good, good."
The laughter abruptly ceased. She sharply looked into Huo Yuhao's eyes, her gaze as piercing as a knife, as if trying to penetrate his soul and see through all his disguises and obsessions.
She stated in a low voice:
"Fine, I agree."
"Let me see just how far you, who bears such a destiny, can walk down this path against the gods."
In Huo Yuhao's eyes, she saw a tenacity similar to her own, bordering on fanaticism.
However, what sustained her was a bone-deep hatred for Tang San, while what sustained Huo Yuhao seemed to be a more complex emotion—was it the desire to save his mother? Or anger and resentment at having his fate manipulated by a god?
She developed a flicker of interest in this, eager to see the young man's outcome.
Moreover, reason told her that if she were to truly engage in battle with Huo Yuhao and Xiao Wu at the Holy Spirit Sect's headquarters now, even if she won, it would inevitably be a Pyrrhic victory. It would serve no benefit to her and might even incur the displeasure of Mobius, or even the entire World Serpent organization.
As the one who granted her the core power of the Herrscher of Thunder, the Demon Empress held a deep fear of Mobius and felt reverence for the power contained within the World Serpent, an organization lurking in the shadows.
No one was clearer than she about how incredibly powerful and unconventional the power of the Herrscher Core was—it was a power that allowed her to break the ancient curse on the Soul Beast bloodline.
As early as when her cultivation touched the human limit, she had realized a cruel truth by leveraging the authority of the Herrscher of Thunder.
Soul Beasts could not achieve godhood through their own power.
Because some supremely powerful entity had placed an invisible curse upon the entire Soul Beast lineage.
Until a certain unknown and demanding condition was met, Soul Beasts were forbidden from ascending to godhood.
This curse was secretive and potent, imperceptible to ordinary Soul Beasts, and even the Beast God Di Tian was unaware of it.
But she, using the authority of the Herrscher of Thunder to control electromagnetism, had glimpsed the shackles bound to the very root of all Soul Beasts' bloodlines.
To completely break the curse on the entire Soul Beast lineage seemed virtually impossible in her view.
The curse targeted the concept of the entire race, and the power of the caster was incomprehensibly strong. She even suspected its level surpassed that of the God Kings of the God Realm.
Although lifting the curse on the entire race was hopeless, removing the curse from a single individual was not entirely impossible.
She herself had forcibly torn the curse shackles binding her and stepped into the Divine realm by devouring the origins of the Deep Sea Devil Whale King and the Demon God Osial from parallel worlds, accumulating vast energy far exceeding the usual limit, and using the power of the Herrscher of Thunder Core as a guide.
Theoretically, there were two other methods:
First, sacrificing a massive amount of life energy to cause a qualitative change through sheer quantity, forcibly smashing the individual curse seal.
Second, if a deity was willing to help, they could use their divine power to remove the curse from a single Soul Beast.
Regardless, the difficulty of removing the curse from the entire Soul Beast lineage was comparable to reshaping the laws of heaven and earth, something even a God King would find nearly impossible.
The Demon Empress had no interest in deeply investigating the source of the curse on the Soul Beast bloodline. Her only concern was that the curse obstructed her path to revenge.
But precisely because of this, she was clearer than anyone about the preciousness and power of the Herrscher Core—it was a supreme blessing that could shatter the shackles of the gods and grant her the power to defy fate.
Therefore, she was absolutely unwilling to fall out with the unfathomable World Serpent organization before achieving her goal of revenge.
Huo Yuhao's invitation for cooperation perfectly aligned with her interests, offering her a stable base and an "ally" with special power and a common goal.
Seeing that the Demon Empress and Huo Yuhao finally reached an agreement, the last glimmer of hope on the face of the First Elder, Devil Sound Douluo, who had held a sliver of luck, faded away, replaced entirely by dejection.
His final trump card had been played, only to become someone else's aid. He could no longer conjure any extraneous thoughts. Like a spine being pulled out, he dutifully chose to submit, bowing his head deeply toward Huo Yuhao and the Demon Empress.
Thus, Huo Yuhao finally took firm control of the entire Holy Spirit Sect and, unexpectedly, gained the powerful Divine-level assistance of the Demon Empress.
The goal of rescuing his mother's soul no longer seemed so distant, and the confidence in his heart soared to unprecedented heights.
However, before marching upon the God Realm, he still had an age-old debt that needed to be settled first in the mortal world.
The Duke of White Tiger.
The man who had failed his mother, the man who didn't even know he existed.
Counting the time, the situation on the continent was also about to undergo dramatic changes.
According to reports from the moles the Holy Spirit Sect had planted in the Sun Moon Empire, with the "help" of the Doom Monarch, the Sun Moon Empire's soul tool technology was developing at an astonishing speed, their military power evolving daily. The massive war machine was fully mobilized, and the cold metal flood was poised for action.
The shadow of war already loomed over the Star Luo, Heaven Soul, and Dou Spirit Empires.
Time flew by; a year passed in the tension of preparation, covert scheming, and the accumulation of personal power.
For ordinary people, a year might just be another rotation of the four seasons.
But for the Holy Spirit Sect lurking in the Evil Demon Forest, for the ambitious Sun Moon Empire, and for the three empires that sensed impending disaster, this year was the last calm before the storm—a period of accumulation that would determine the future continental landscape.
The warm afternoon sun filtered through the crystal dome of Sea Abyss City, casting dappled light.
In the garden, silvery laughter floated on the breeze.
Little Lu Mingyin had grown taller, her small face flushed as she chased a butterfly.
March 7th held a recording device, constantly snapping memorable moments, shouting, "Little Yin Yin, look here, smile for me!"
Elysia sat on a swing nearby, gently swaying and humming an unknown tune, her eyes curved into smiles as she watched the lively scene, as if all the world's beauty was gathered here.
Lu Jingming stood under a nearby corridor, watching his daughter with gentle eyes.
This tranquility and joy were the treasures he was willing to devote everything to protect.
A familiar delicate fragrance approached. Chang Li lightly came to his side, naturally linking her arm through his, her soft body leaning close.
She also looked in Lu Mingyin's direction, a smile on her lips, but the words that left them shattered the warmth of the moment:
"The Sun Moon Empire is about to move."
The smile on Lu Jingming's face did not diminish. Instead, it carried a sense of composure, as if everything was under control:
"Expected. It must have been hard for Xu Tianran to endure and accumulate until now."
Regarding the movements of the Sun Moon Empire, apart from themselves, perhaps no one was clearer than Sea Abyss City, which controlled the "Plane Will."
"The real show is finally about to begin. The day we step onto the center stage isn't far off."
His tone was flat, as if speaking of a matter unrelated to himself.
Given Sea Abyss City's unfathomable strength now, sweeping across the four directions and forcibly unifying the Douluo Continent would not be difficult.
But doing so, under military conquest, would breed endless hidden dangers: popular dissent, covert resistance, and countless subsequent governance troubles.
He preferred to wait—wait for the three empires to reveal fatigue or even collapse under the Sun Moon Empire's military might. Then, he would step in as a savior, defeat the strongest Sun Moon Empire and the Doom Monarch behind it, and rightfully take over everything to integrate the continent.
The former was Hegemony, simple and direct but with endless complications. The latter was the Kingly Way, requiring patient maneuvering but resulting in a stable foundation.
Lu Jingming disliked trouble and was even more unwilling to have those devoted to him fall into ceaseless turmoil in the future.
Therefore, his choice was clear from the start.
"Let our legions prepare too."
He took one last look at the corner filled with laughter, a fleeting warmth in his eyes, which was immediately replaced by coldness.
"The gears of fate have begun to turn."
He turned and departed, his steps steady.
The sanctuary behind him, like an ideal land, would be isolated from the coming continental storm using the most forceful means.
No matter how the outside world changed, the peace and beauty here would not be disturbed by anyone.
With a flash, Lu Jingming vanished from Sea Abyss City, stepping into a strange space—the Sea of Stars.
The scene here was vastly different from before.
Innumerable profound light bands flowed and intertwined in the void, forming a vast and precise network. At the center was a massive sphere of light composed of pure energy and information flow.
Herta and Ruan Mei stood before the sphere, conversing in low voices.
Ruan Mei's arrival had brought about a revolutionary change in this world.
Using the Plane Will of Douluo Star as the core, supplemented by her and Herta's transcendent intelligence, she had painstakingly transformed the entire planet into the preliminary prototype of an unprecedented Celestial Computer.
Even geniuses like them required sufficient computational power to handle complex information and deductions.
Now, the planet's Plane Will, "enlightened" by Ruan Mei, had fully evolved into a true Star Soul, possessing an independent life and form, becoming the core processor of this planetary-level computer.
Perhaps due to some unspeakable mischievousness of Lu Jingming, the Star Soul that materialized took the form of a vibrant, beautiful girl, particularly noticeable for her bright green twin tails.
Lu Jingming named her—Hatsune Miku.
With the birth of Hatsune Miku, the mountains, rivers, life force, energy flow, and even the subtle movements of all major factions on the entire Douluo Continent were clearly presented to Lu Jingming's will, as if reading the lines on his palm.
Supported by the terrifying computational power of this "Planet Consciousness," Sea Abyss City's soul tool technology underwent silent and rapid iteration and upgrading.
Without any external awareness, even Tier 12 soul tools, which only existed in theory, had been successfully developed.
And this was merely the result of Hatsune Miku's independent deduction and optimization based on the existing technological system of the Douluo Continent, without requiring Herta's personal intervention.
Not only that, during this year, Lu Jingming had also revisited the parallel world where Qian Renxue was located, as promised.
There, he fulfilled his agreement with the Goddess of Angels, not only making her completely his woman but also bringing the assistance of Ruan Mei and Herta.
The intertwining of the Angel God's sanctity and the worldly passion was indeed an unforgettable experience.
But the more significant achievement was that the Douluo Star of that world was also transformed into a Celestial Computer.
After its Star Soul materialized, it was a beautiful girl with a cold temperament, white hair, and red eyes, whose figure was far more impressive than Hatsune Miku's. Lu Jingming named her Yowane Haku.
In a sense, Hatsune Miku and Yowane Haku, the existences materialized from the will of Douluo Stars from different timelines, could be considered a pair of peculiar sisters.
With Yowane Haku's full assistance, the development of the Spirit Soul Empire's soul tool technology was incredibly rapid. The achievements made in just one year surpassed the accumulation of several centuries of normal development.
Lu Jingming stayed in that world for quite a long time, only leaving after confirming that Qian Renxue was pregnant with their bloodline.
This was Qian Renxue's persistent request. She wanted to continue the purest Angel God bloodline, and Lu Jingming, as her chosen partner, naturally had the responsibility to fulfill her wish.
However, the gestation of a Divine-level life was exceedingly difficult. For this, he indeed spent extra time and "energy."
At this moment, Lu Jingming's gaze pierced through the dazzling light streams of the Sea of Stars, as if he could already see the imminent war on the continent.
The layout was complete, the pieces were in position, awaiting the signal that would usher in the new era.
He murmured softly, a hint of anticipation and coldness in his voice:
"The stage is set. It's time for the actors to appear."
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