After the Great Purge was carried out, the entire world knew that although the Divine Order Alliance and Spirit Hall had not officially declared war, the war had in fact already begun.
Thus, the Divine Order Alliance concentrated its strength between Jialing Pass and Shuiyun Pass, intending to lock Spirit Hall within Spirit City.
However, Spirit Hall only tightened its forces, consolidating Spirit City's defenses, without immediately launching an assault on either fortress.
War broke out instead in a completely unexpected place.
Outside Tianlun City, dozens of conscripted laborers, bare-chested, were carrying huge stones to build a fortress. The main structure of the fortress had already been completed; the purpose of the newly transported stones was to construct an enormous statue of the "Divine Master" Yu Xiaogang.
To build this statue, the City Lord of Tianlun had mobilized hundreds of thousands of laborers.
After working hard all morning, the laborers were finally allowed to eat.
But when they saw what was being served, they nearly collapsed in despair—it was a pot of thin rice soup, with only a few floating grains of rice.
"Sir, how can you expect us to eat this and still have strength to work in the afternoon?" one laborer pleaded.
The officer's soldier immediately lashed him with a whip, shouting angrily: "You're being given food at all—that's charity! Where do you get the right to complain?"
Bloody welts were carved into the man's back. The soldier didn't stop at one lash but struck him dozens of times, until he was whipped to death on the spot.
The officer didn't even glance at the corpse. Instead, he addressed the laborers coldly:
"You fools, think for a moment—outside these walls there is famine everywhere, crops have failed, and people starve to death daily. To have work, to be given even this much food—that is already the Divine Master Yu Xiaogang's mercy upon you! Remember this is the Divine Master's grace—do not be ungrateful."
The rest of the impoverished conscripts had no choice but to swallow their dissatisfaction.
The entire labor camp was filled with misery and resentment. They hadn't eaten a proper meal in days, yet were forced to endure exhausting hard labor. Every day, dozens of men died of hunger or exhaustion just to build Yu Xiaogang's statue.
As for resistance? Forget it. Even a hint of complaint was enough to be whipped to death. The Heaven Dou Empire had no shortage of expendable "beasts of burden."
As the laborers choked down their pitiful food, suddenly, one man hurled his bowl angrily to the ground. Instantly, every eye turned toward him.
"The landlords and nobles of Tianlun City don't see us as human! In their eyes, we're just mules and horses—mere gray livestock. They conscript us for fortresses, force us into endless labor, and feed us this slop. Are our lives worth so little? Why are some people born noble, as kings and dukes, while we are condemned to be slaves, to be treated as animals?" The man's voice trembled with fury. "If we keep serving like this, we'll all die anyway. Better to fight than wait to die!"
The laborers exchanged hesitant looks. A few quietly tried to sneak out of the camp, but suddenly a powerful hand yanked them back—it was the angry man himself.
Unlike the gaunt, starved conscripts, these men were healthy and ruddy-faced. They clearly weren't ordinary laborers.
"These men are spies for the landlords, hiding among us to watch us! Don't be fooled—they eat the same thin rice soup here, but once they report back, they dine in luxury!" the man sneered. Producing a knife from nowhere, he held it against their throats. "Speak! What did your masters send you here for?"
"D-don't kill me! I'll tell you everything!" one stammered. He confessed they were tasked with monitoring the laborers and reporting back to their lords.
The laborers, upon hearing this, burned with rage.
The man slit the spy's throat, raised the severed head high, then strode to the edge of the camp. He kicked down the wooden palisade and shouted:
"My name is Zhao Hengning, leader of the Spark Resistance Front! Whoever is willing to follow me, I'll make sure you eat your fill. Whoever isn't—stay here and die as slaves!"
Silence hung heavy. Then one laborer drained his watery soup, smashed his bowl to the ground, and said:
"You swear we'll eat our fill? If it's true, then I'll follow you."
"Yeah! We'll follow you!"
One by one, the laborers emptied their bowls, smashing them in defiance.
With a makeshift army gathered, Zhao Hengning led them outside the camp. He dug into the earth with a shovel, revealing buried crates filled with weapons—crossbows and more.
Distributing the weapons, Zhao Hengning quickly taught them how to use the simple crossbows. Then he pointed back at the camp.
"The grain is in there. In the city. In the landlords' warehouses. Follow me—let's kill and seize it!"
With that, Zhao Hengning charged forward.
The army responded quickly, sending troops to capture the "escaped" laborers. But in the first clash, the crossbows unleashed a deadly volley, cutting down scores of soldiers.
This first victory electrified the rebels. They stormed the camp, slaughtered the guards, and seized the granaries and armory. The warehouses were broken open, grain distributed freely, and the starving rebels feasted.
As they ate, Zhao Hengning ordered each man to pour himself a cup of wine. Holding his own cup solemnly, he declared:
"From this moment, we are rebels. The Heaven Dou Empire—and the Divine Order Alliance—will never forgive us. Only by fighting to the death can we secure our future!
Think! In these years, the Empire and the Alliance have only raised taxes, expanded armies, conscripted labor—all to prepare for war. And what war? A war to protect their own power and wealth! We shed blood and die, only to secure their profits. Even if they win, to them we will always be livestock!
Are their lives truly nobler than ours? Death is equal for all. If war will consume us anyway, then why not fight for our own future? The so-called eternal order of Douluo Continent, unchanged for tens of thousands of years—now is the time for change!
March on Tianlun City! Take the nobles' family registers and slaughter them name by name. Let's see if their blood is truly noble!"
Thus, the first wave of rebellion erupted outside Tianlun City. Under Zhao Hengning's command, the rebels struck while the city was unprepared, stormed inside, massacred the noble families, opened the granaries, redistributed food, measured land anew, and divided wealth among the people.
After that, the Spark Resistance Front merged with the Spirit Hall soul masters and the peasant uprising armies. Starting from Tianlun City, dozens of surrounding cities quickly responded, toppling like dominoes one after another.
The uprising spread like a prairie fire.
News of this soon reached the headquarters of the Divine Order Alliance.
Yu Xiaogang, gnawing on a millennium ginseng while farting foully, roared in fury when he heard the report:
"Outrageous! These damned lowborns! We are fighting on the front lines against the Spirit Hall to protect their homes, and instead of understanding our hardships, they stab us in the back!"
Ning Fengzhi stepped forward and said:
"Alliance Leader Xiaogang, the rabble are rallying under the banner of the Spark Resistance Front. I fear the Sparks Academy is behind this."
Yu Xiaogang nodded grimly.
"The rabble has already risen, so we cannot sit idle. These are no longer ordinary lowborns—this must be dealt with harshly. Every city that joined the resistance, every single peasant involved, must be slaughtered. Their blood shall fertilize the soil of the Lilun Plains, their skulls piled into a pyramid of terror. Only then will the rabble learn fear and never dare to follow the Spark Front again."
Xue Qinghe stepped forward and said:
"Alliance Leader, we could order Marshal Gehu to lead the army to suppress them in the Lilun Plains."
Yu Xiaogang shook his head.
"No. This battle is too important. I will command it personally."
Yu Xiaogang valued this war greatly, because this would be his war of prestige. Through this campaign, he would carve out his name, solidify his position in the Alliance, and ensure that posterity remembered not only Theorist Yu Xiaogang, Divine Master Yu Xiaogang, Divine Emperor Yu Xiaogang—but also God of War Yu Xiaogang.
Dai Tianfeng tried to advise him gently:
"But, Alliance Leader… you risk too much by going yourself."
What he wanted to say was: Ganzi, do you even have the ability to command an army? Don't you know your own limits? But knowing Yu Xiaogang's personality, he could only speak cautiously.
"No. My decision is made. No need to persuade me further," Yu Xiaogang declared stubbornly.
By now, his flat-top haircut was fully "charged up," and he was in no mood to heed advice.
Having decided, Yu Xiaogang immediately mobilized his 100,000-strong Gang Army, plus 500,000 troops from the Heaven Dou Empire—a total of 600,000 soldiers—marching mightily toward the Lilun Plains.
Ning Fengzhi could only continue sending Gu Rong to remain at Yu Xiaogang's side to ensure his safety.
Yu Xiaogang took great care of his personal army. The Gang Family soldiers were all equipped with battle armor, wielded sharp weapons, and carried the divine-grade repeating Zhuge Crossbows. They marched under two banners—the Alliance's black gorilla flag and the "Gang" character banner—stretching for dozens of kilometers in grandeur.
The Heaven Dou army, drawn from elite troops across the empire, bolstered Yu Xiaogang's confidence.
The army advanced in four divisions into the Lilun Plains.
Near Tianlun City, they encountered the Resistance forces.
Both sides arrayed themselves across the plain, staring each other down.
But when Yu Xiaogang's forces saw the Resistance army, their faces changed—
The enemy also wielded Zhuge Crossbows, weapons meant to be exclusive to the Alliance.
"Damn it! Some rat must have leaked our core secrets!" Yu Xiaogang cursed. But then he changed tone:
"No matter. We still have the advantage in numbers."
Indeed, Yu Xiaogang commanded 200,000 troops, while the Resistance had only 50,000.
The war drums thundered. Both sides raised their crossbows and fired.
A storm of bolts filled the air. Alliance soldiers fell like harvested wheat. But the Resistance was different—a transparent blue barrier appeared over their ranks, blocking the bolts.
Yu Xiaogang and Gu Rong stood beneath a silk canopy on a hilltop, overseeing the battlefield.
"Could that be… a soul tool?" Gu Rong's eyes locked on the Resistance rear lines. Behind them, tall, intricate towers rose, projecting the shields. He turned to Yu Xiaogang:
"Alliance Leader, allow me to seize one for examination."
"Go," Yu Xiaogang permitted.
Gu Rong used his spatial corrosion ability to cross the field, riding his bone dragon, aiming to capture a defensive tower. But as soon as he emerged, instinct screamed—death was near.
He spun and saw a woman behind a mounted cannon, locking onto him. She was Su Qingqian, Martial Soul: Jade Swan—a healer?
Impossible. How could an auxiliary-type Title Douluo give him such a sense of imminent death? Gu Rong was in disbelief.
But the moment her cannon fired, the shell streaked toward him. At the brink of life and death, Gu Rong trusted his instincts and fled into space.
Yet the blast caught him just before he vanished, exploding around him and wounding him grievously.
He returned to the hilltop bleeding, gasping:
"That was… an offensive soul tool."
The generals of the Heaven Dou Empire and Gang Family stared in shock.
That single shell was a declaration. Curtains fell away at the Resistance rear lines, revealing row after row of fixed-mounted soul cannons, glinting coldly in the sun. The Resistance soul masters fired, unleashing a storm of artillery upon the Alliance ranks.
Explosions rained down like a torrential storm.
Marshal Gehu urgently cried out to Yu Xiaogang:
"Alliance Leader Xiaogang, please order retreat! The enemy has mastered technologies we have never even seen. If we don't withdraw now, it will be too late!"
"Retreat? No! Absolutely not!" Yu Xiaogang's eyes burned red as he stared at the battlefield. He knew the situation was dire, but—
This was his very first battle as God of War Yu Xiaogang. He wanted a glorious victory. If it ended in crushing defeat, how could he ever establish his authority in the Alliance, let alone leave his name for posterity?
Breathing heavily, Yu Xiaogang declared:
"So what if they have offensive soul tools? They only have fifty thousand men. We have two hundred thousand! Not only that—we also have our gray livestock reserves! Throw in every soldier, every beast, flood them with numbers! Once their ammunition runs dry, victory will be ours!"