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**
"Uh, in other words, you may converse with them as equals out of courtesy, but if the other party doesn't truly possess the strength to contend against a Titled Douluo, they still need to display proper reverence toward a Titled Douluo."
"To put it more simply, I will be polite and give you some face, but don't actually let it go to your head. Don't truly believe that you stand on equal footing with a Titled Douluo; you must still show proper respect to me as a powerhouse."
Ling Xiao thought about it for a moment, a hint of a smile appearing on his face as he spoke.
"Haha, exactly, exactly! That is exactly how it is," Chrysanthemum Douluo laughed heartily.
"If I were to meet Emperor Xue Ye, I would address him as 'Your Majesty' to show respect for his status as the ruler of an empire, but he must likewise address me as 'Your Holiness' to show respect to a Titled Douluo powerhouse."
"Though he is an emperor and I call him Your Majesty, it does not mean I am truly a subject whose life and death are held in his hands."
Ling Xiao couldn't help but smile slightly and shake his head.
Chrysanthemum Douluo's words quite agreed with his own views.
In his opinion, if a high-level soul master spoke to a lower-ranked soul master in an equal tone, it was out of courtesy and a display of personal humility. However, that did not mean the other party could truly ignore the power gap; they should likewise express their own sense of respect.
Of course, if two people shared an exceptionally special and close relationship despite a massive gap in cultivation, that would be a different story entirely—just like Yu Xiaogang and the two Soul Saint powerhouses, Flender and Liu Erlong, who could simply call each other by their names.
However, from this perspective, one could also see the predicament and awkwardness faced by the rulers of the two great empires.
Although they were the emperors of the two largest empires in the human world, each commanding billions of citizens, this immense control was primarily reflected over ordinary people and low-level soul masters below the rank of Soul King.
Whether the other party was a commoner or a noble, as long as their cultivation and strength weren't high enough to transcend the limits of what a secular army could fight against, this rule applied to them all.
On the other hand, those independent soul masters, soul master clans, and sects who possessed immense individual strength did not harbor that much reverence toward the imperial families or the two great empires.
Although they would respect the high-level soul master forces controlled by the imperial families to a certain degree, they would never be as utterly terrified of imperial might and royal authority as ordinary people and low-level soul masters were.
Among them, the Star Luo Empire fared slightly better.
This was because the Star Luo Imperial Family's White Tiger Clan possessed extraordinary strength and was supported by several other highly powerful soul master clans and sects.
Most importantly, the White Tiger Clan itself held the dominant position throughout this entire process as the imperial family. Furthermore, the Star Luo Emperor's own cultivation was at the high-rank Soul Douluo.
Once he unleashed the Hell White Tiger Martial Soul Fusion Skill alongside his fusion partner, his strength could even reach the level of a Rank 95 Super Douluo.
Because of this, he still maintained a relatively strong deterrence and ruling authority over the mid-to-high-level soul masters and soul master factions within his empire's borders.
Heaven Dou, however, was in a much more miserable state.
The Xue Family, who served as the Heaven Dou Imperial Family, possessed a martial soul that was merely an ordinary Swan. Their innate soul power was usually not very high, making it extremely difficult for them to reach the level of a high-tier soul master.
As the Emperor of Heaven Dou, Xue Ye's cultivation seemingly only sat at the high-level Soul Ancestor rank, failing to even reach the Soul King level.
Granted, to ordinary people, let alone a Soul King, even a soul master at the Soul Elder realm was a powerhouse far beyond their ability to resist, and few would dare provoke them in a remote, small city.
The problem, however, lay in the fact that as the ruler of one of the continent's two great empires, a cultivation level of only Rank 40-something was far from enough.
Of course, although the Heaven Dou Imperial Family was relatively weak in terms of their own personal soul master strength, that did not mean they had no powerful soul master forces at their disposal.
Aside from the Lu Clan of the Wind Fire Phoenix who guarded the Heaven Dou Imperial Family, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect also put immense effort into supporting them.
Moreover, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was the only one among the Three Upper Sects to openly declare its support for a specific empire's imperial family. In addition, the Heaven Dou Empire possessed an abundant treasury and immense financial power.
Supported by sufficiently powerful soul master forces and controlling nearly half of the human territory on the continent, its sheer volume was gargantuan and its prestige could not be considered anything but grand.
Its power radiated across both the soul master and secular worlds over an extremely vast range; thus, its status within the soul master world was not much inferior to that of the Three Upper Sects.
Because of this, it similarly attracted many powerful soul masters to pledge their loyalty—such as the three Soul Douluo level experts of the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy, as well as the high-level soul masters of the Imperial Soul Master Legion.
The problem, however, lay in the fact that due to the weakness of the Xue Family's own soul master strength, the Heaven Dou Imperial Family coexisted with these soul master forces and high-level soul masters on what was more of an equal footing.
In terms of dominant control, they were visibly less authoritative than the Star Luo Empire's White Tiger Clan. Consequently, the overall result was that their deterrence over the high-level soul masters and soul master factions within their borders was inferior to that of the Star Luo Empire.
Though looking at it from another perspective, this point carried both pros and cons.
Because Heaven Dou could not compare to Star Luo in terms of its deterrence over high-level soul masters and the forces controlled by the royal family, the Heaven Dou Empire actually boasted a higher level of soul master activity.
The number of soul masters traveling and operating within the Heaven Dou Empire was noticeably greater than in the Star Luo Empire.
The continent's famous advanced soul master academies were also mostly concentrated within the borders of the Heaven Dou Empire, and the same was true for sects.
Among the Three Upper Sects, both the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan were located within Heaven Dou territory.
After all, the Star Luo Imperial Family maintained tight control over their empire, exerting a greater deterrence and suppression over the soul masters within their domain. For those soul masters, it simply wasn't as comfortable or free as being over here in Heaven Dou.
Of course, the factors causing this phenomenon weren't solely due to the differing physical strength and deterrence of the two royal families over their internal forces; there were other elements at play as well.
For instance, in terms of geographic location, the Star Luo Empire's environment was noticeably inferior to the Heaven Dou Empire located in the north of the continent.
Regarding financial resources, Star Luo was also slightly lacking; the overall prosperity of their empire was not as magnificent or opulent as Heaven Dou's.
Though as a side effect, this resulted in the Star Luo Empire having a more martial-oriented customs and a stronger imperial cohesion, and their nobles and officials did not lead lives as decadent or hyper-focused on comfort and wealth as those in Heaven Dou.
It could be said that each had its own advantages and disadvantages.
After pondering all of this, Ling Xiao asked quite curiously, "Elder Chrysanthemum, according to what you just said, you converse with Huyan Zhen as an equal not because of his status as the Elephant Armored Sect Master, but because he truly possesses the strength to stand on equal footing with you."
"But when it comes to cultivation, isn't there still a whole major realm of difference between the two of you? Even with the Elephant Armored Sect's inheritance, plus the physical cultivation from the Elephant Armor Skill and the Savage Elephant Vigorous Method, I'm afraid it still shouldn't be enough to bridge that gap."
Chrysanthemum Douluo smiled and reply, "Hehe, Ling Xiao, the foundations of the various major sects in the soul master world are not as simple as you imagine."
"The reason why the disciples of large-scale soul master sects or those great soul master clans can reign supreme in strength over independent soul masters who have no factions behind them doesn't just lie in the quality of their martial souls. The key point lies within their accumulated foundations."
**
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