After the Shrek Academy's opening ceremony, Zhu Ziyang stayed at the Academy for three months.
During these three months, besides occasionally guiding Zhu Ziguang in his cultivation, he spent more of his time on the Eternal Soul Tower and the Soul Spirit System.
The Eternal Soul Tower had been established for almost two years. In these two years, over five hundred Spirit Masters had obtained Soul Spirits from the Eternal Soul Tower, and over five hundred Soul Spirits had gained new life. The Soul Spirit System, accompanied by these Spirit Masters who possessed Soul Spirits, gradually spread across the Douluo Continent. Many powerful individuals and Sect forces keenly realized the development potential of Soul Spirits and sent cooperation requests to Shrek Academy, but all were put on hold by the Tian Yuan Pavilion.
Currently, the conditions for fully implementing the Soul Spirit System are not yet mature. Even if Shrek Academy is willing, the Star Dou Great Forest would object.
In the past two years, under Ditian's purposeful management, most Spirit Beast habitats on the Douluo Continent have been incorporated under the Star Dou Great Forest, becoming subjects under Ditian's rule. Ditian seems to be getting closer to the day when he truly lives up to the title of Beast God.
However, there are still a few Spirit Beast habitats on the Douluo Continent that have not submitted to Ditian, with the most prominent among them being the Extremely North Land and the Evil Demon Forest.
Due to its special geographical location and the Snow Empress, the former master of the Extremely North Land, becoming Zhu Ziyang's Soul Spirit, Ditian selectively abandoned it and did not send the Beast Kings of the Star Dou Great Forest to take over.
The reason for the Evil Demon Forest is simple: it is the territory of the Evil Eye Tyrant clan, and the Evil Emperor, the second fiercest beast on the Douluo Continent, resides there. Ditian currently has no confidence in killing the Evil Emperor, so naturally, he cannot conquer the Evil Demon Forest.
However, speaking of the Evil Demon Forest, Zhu Ziyang thought of the news Sister Qian Lingyi, who had recently returned to the Academy, told him. This girl, during her travels across the Douluo Continent and her efforts to eradicate Evil Soul Masters, unexpectedly discovered that the Holy Spirit Church's lair was located beneath the Evil Demon Forest. She originally wanted to directly wipe out this den of Evil Soul Masters, but due to the presence of Ye Xishui and Long Xiaoyao, she had to abandon this bold idea and returned to the Academy to inform Zhu Ziyang.
Sister Qian Lingyi's idea was simple: as long as the Holy Spirit Church was wiped out in one fell swoop, then no matter how much the Evil Soul Masters on the Douluo Continent struggled, they would not be able to form a significant force. She looked eager to try.
Zhu Ziyang naturally did not object to the young girl's idea, but he was not in a hurry to act and instead proposed his own thoughts.
Sister Qian Lingyi had traveled the Douluo Continent for nearly three years, eliminating countless Evil Soul Masters and saving countless lives. She had already accumulated a considerable amount of divine force of faith. These divine force of faith were heartfelt prayers from the beings she saved. Although Sister Qian Lingyi currently had no ability to absorb or use these divine force of faith, they objectively existed and would only increase over time. When Sister Qian Lingyi truly inherited the Angel God Position, these divine force of faith might have unexpected effects.
Therefore, Zhu Ziyang's idea was simple: he wanted Sister Qian Lingyi not to rush into attacking the Holy Spirit Church's main base. Instead, she should first spread her reputation as an Angel across the Douluo Continent. After she had eliminated all the Evil Soul Masters active on the Douluo Continent, it would not be too late to act against the Holy Spirit Church beneath the Evil Demon Forest.
Due to repeated failures against Zhu Ziyang and the Sun Moon Empire in recent years, the Holy Spirit Church had chosen to lie low, with its main members rarely appearing. As long as they didn't alert them, the Holy Spirit Church would likely not leave the Evil Demon Forest. This gave Sister Qian Lingyi time. She could fully raise her spirit power to rank 99 and then go to destroy the Holy Spirit Church. This way, after achieving complete success, she would naturally inherit the Angel God Position, maximizing her benefits.
After hearing Zhu Ziyang's suggestion, Sister Qian Lingyi immediately agreed. Her spirit power had already reached rank 97, and reaching rank 99 was only a matter of time. She had plenty of time, so after resting at the Academy for half a month, she set off again.
The night before Zhu Ziyang was about to leave for Mingdu in the Sun Moon Empire, as he was studying new god-locking pillars formation diagrams in the Tian Yuan Pavilion hall, he felt a scorching divine force coming from beneath the Golden Ancient Tree.
"This is..." Zhu Ziyang immediately understood what was happening, a flash of surprise in his eyes. With a flicker of his figure, he arrived in the underground World beneath the Golden Ancient Tree and saw the heroic and spirited Ma Xiaotao, clad in crimson-gold armor and wielding a pair of black and white swords.
"Sister Xiaotao, congratulations!" Zhu Ziyang said with a smile in his eyes.
"Ziyang!" Ma Xiaotao, seeing Zhu Ziyang, immediately rushed forward and hugged him, eager to share her joy. She said in a soft voice, "I succeeded! I am now the new God of Fire!"
"Mhm, mhm, I know, I know!" Zhu Ziyang hugged Ma Xiaotao, nodding repeatedly, indulging in her joy and happiness.
After a long while, once Ma Xiaotao had calmed down, the two left the underground World and returned to the Sea God Pavilion hall. Before they could catch up, they heard a knock on the door from outside, followed by Cai Meier's voice, "Ziyang, are you there?"
"Senior Sister, what's wrong?" Zhu Ziyang asked with a puzzled expression, exchanging glances with Ma Xiaotao.
"Something happened." Cai Meier pushed the door open, followed by Xian Lin'er. Both of them looked somewhat anxious, with a hint of strangeness mixed in their anxiety. However, when they saw Ma Xiaotao, they were clearly stunned. "Xiaotao? You've come out of seclusion?"
"Madam, Senior Aunt, I've come out of seclusion." Ma Xiaotao said with a smile to the two deans.
"Then you..." Both of them knew the purpose of Ma Xiaotao's seclusion. Now that she was out, did this mean she had succeeded? Had Shrek Academy given birth to another God?
"Uh huh!" Ma Xiaotao nodded with a touch of smugness.
"That's wonderful, truly wonderful!" Xian Lin'er and Cai Meier, as expected, cried out in joy and cheers, completely forgetting what they had intended to say.
"Two Senior Sisters, let's talk about the matter first. There's plenty of time for celebration." Zhu Ziyang reminded them helplessly.
"Oh, oh, I almost forgot the main business!" The two then remembered that they had come with a task. So, Xian Lin'er quickly organized her words and told Zhu Ziyang what had happened. She said, "Just last night, the Sun Moon Empire suddenly launched a decapitation strike against the Douling Empire. All five major noble families of the Douling Empire were wiped out, and the Douling Emperor and other members of the imperial family were all captured. The Douling Empire immediately fell into a state of leaderlessness.
Therefore, this morning, the Sun Moon Empire's army entered the Douling Empire's territory without any hindrance and smoothly occupied several border strongholds. At this rate, if the Douling Empire cannot mount effective resistance, then the Sun Moon Empire will be able to occupy the entire Douling Empire within half a month!"
As Xian Lin'er spoke, she couldn't help but smile. Clearly, this news was good news for Shrek Academy, meaning that the unification of the Douluo Continent was only one step away.
"This is truly good news!" Zhu Ziyang's eyes also lit up, and then he said, "Sister Lexuan and the others are really fast. According to their previous arrangements and deployments, the time needed to digest the Douling Empire will even be shorter than the time needed to digest the Tianhun Empire. This means that in at least a year, the Douluo Continent might usher in unification!"
"This, this, I've only been in seclusion for two or three years, how is the Douluo Continent about to be unified?" Ma Xiaotao was a bit confused at this moment, completely not understanding what had happened.
"Sister Xiaotao, I'll tell you the details later. Senior Grandmaster, there should be something else, right?" Zhu Ziyang first comforted Ma Xiaotao, and then said to Xian Lin'er.
"Indeed." Xian Lin'er's expression became strange. She said, "Just now, Princess Xue Lingxun of the Douling Empire, escorted by two imperial offerings of the Douling Empire, arrived in Shrek City. She found the Academy, hoping that the Academy could support her son to become the Douling Emperor."
"Ah?" Zhu Ziyang was momentarily stunned.
"This Princess Xue Lingxun of the Douling Empire has another identity: the wife of the Sect Master of the Dark Tortoise Sect." Cai Meier said, trying to suppress a smile.
"In other words, she is Xu Sanshi's mother? And Xu Sanshi is her son?" Zhu Ziyang immediately understood, somewhat exasperated, and said, "Does Xu Sanshi know?"
"That silly boy is quite interesting. After seeing his mother, he simply disappeared, and we can't find him anywhere." Xian Lin'er covered her mouth, laughing as she spoke.
"Understood." Zhu Ziyang nodded with a smile. He understood Xu Sanshi's choice, but his behavior was a bit hard to deal with. However, no matter what, his method was quite effective. As long as they couldn't find him, his mother's plans would fall through.
Of course, if Xue Lingxun knew that her actions had actually touched Shrek Academy's bottom line, she would immediately give up and go home to be the Sect Master's wife, no longer thinking about such frivolous matters.
"Two Senior Sisters, just be frank with this Mrs. Xu. As long as she's not muddle-headed, she'll definitely make the right choice." Zhu Ziyang said.
"Okay!" Xian Lin'er and Cai Meier nodded, then left together.