"Big Brother, we—"
The one who left with Long Zungui was his brother, Long Shouguy. Not long after leaving Wang Nan's home, Long Shouguy couldn't help but speak.
"Don't speak, keep walking forward." Long Zungui whispered, moving forward relentlessly.
It wasn't until they had gone far and blended into the crowd that he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"We dare not presume to guess the strength of a Titled Douluo; what we just said might have been heard by him."
"Big Brother, do we really have to do this?" Long Shouguy glanced briefly in the direction of Wang Nan's home before retracting his gaze.
"Our Long Family has been able to move around various places and, despite our lack of strength, still gain some standing in Heaven Dou City, all by being adaptable."
"But you know the news from the Pan Family. If this continues, I'm afraid your cultivation will not advance an inch in this lifetime."
"I know." Long Zungui sighed. "It is precisely because the Pan Family told us the secret of the Coiling Dragon Staff that I made that decision."
"You saw it just now: to be able to actively awaken the Dragon Soul after so many years without guidance and even gain the recognition of our ancestors—such a person, whether in talent or character, will not be bad. Now that Heaven Dou City has fallen, our Long Family will not suffer by relying on such a person."
"Furthermore, our Coiling Dragon Staff Spirit originally came from the same source." Long Zungui stood still for a moment. Seeing that no one around was paying attention to them, he walked toward a residential area. "As for cultivation—to awaken the Dragon Soul, all children in the Family will not be allowed to participate in Family affairs from now on."
"A pure heart has a greater chance of awakening the Dragon Soul. As for these Family matters, let us adults, who no longer have a future, bear the burden. When they grow up, they will understand our painstaking efforts."
When the Long Family members were first captured, Long Zungui had indeed thought of finding someone to rescue them and had even inquired about Wang Nan. However, Wang Nan was not at home at the time. Several months passed, and everyone knew that the children's chances of survival were slim. Long Zungui's goal was no longer as simple as it initially was.
Heaven Dou City, which had existed for a long time, had fallen, and he had to find support for his Family.
Long Shouguy looked at his hunched elder brother walking in front of him, sighed, but ultimately said nothing more, silently following.
As dusk approached, Wang Nan had already arrived within the Tianhun Empire. With his current cultivation, distance was no longer an obstacle for him. If he wished, even traversing the entire Douluo Continent would not take too long.
He had always known about the Holy Spirit Cult, and precisely because he knew too much, he had not actively intervened until now. But now, since there was news of Evil Soul Masters, whether he could save those children or not, he didn't mind making a trip here.
Wang Nan had never changed. It was precisely because he came from another world and because of his ordinary past life that his eyes always held those ordinary people who were not Spirit Masters. He would feel sadness and anger because of the tragic encounters of ordinary people.
Since Heaven Dou City was breached, the Tianhun Empire's defense line had moved steadily southward. Even the capital, Heaven Dou City, could not be held, and other cities were even less able to resist. More than half of its territory fell into the hands of the Sun Moon Empire.
Therefore, not long after Wang Nan entered the Tianhun Empire, he passed through the Lima Plain and quickly saw several Soul Master legions stationed by the Sun Moon Empire on the front line.
Even at night, the area where the Sun Moon Empire's army was stationed remained brightly lit. With his powerful mental force and the perception of a Titled Douluo, Wang Nan could detect invisible fluctuations constantly sweeping back and forth over the camp.
Without approaching, Wang Nan flew along the Sun Moon Empire's defense line for more than half a circle and saw a city in the distance.
Tianling City. The Tianhun Empire's army was deployed there, using the city for defense, with camps stretching as far as the eye could see.
On the other side was also an endless expanse of military camps, with a wide plain in between. However, at this time, the plain no longer had its original vegetation; it was full of potholes, and shattered corpses could be seen from time to time.
The battlefield is never beautiful. The Sun Moon Empire seemed to have just finished its attack; the craters left on the plain still retained some residual heat from the Soul Guidance Device attacks, and blood-soaked soil was scattered everywhere.
Trees were uprooted, vegetation had disappeared, and everywhere one looked was scorched black. The distant river had long become turbid.
Under the attack of the Sun Moon Empire, the Tianhun Empire's army could only barely resist by relying on the Formations set up within Tianling City. As night fell, seeing the Sun Moon Empire retreat, they finally breathed a sigh of relief, secretly celebrating that they had held on for another day.
However, not long after the Sun Moon Empire's army returned to their camps, small teams, few in number, emerged from the Sun Moon Empire's military camps.
They wore dark clothes and, taking advantage of the lull in battle, carried back the scattered corpses from the battlefield.
Collecting corpses and cleaning up the battlefield after a battle is not wrong, but if the ones cleaning up the battlefield are Evil Soul Masters, then there's a big problem.
When Wang Nan arrived at the battlefield, the Sun Moon Empire had already paused its siege, and he happened to see those small teams cleaning up the battlefield emerge from the military camps. As soon as they appeared, the Evil Breaking Dragon in his Sea of Consciousness had already begun to subtly stir.
These people were not all Evil Soul Masters, but there were undoubtedly Evil Soul Masters among them.
Wang Nan moved a little closer. Although it was night, with his current eyesight, he could still see that the corpse collection teams sent by the Sun Moon Empire were not simple. The leader held a square-shaped Soul Guidance Device in his hand.
Its outer shell was made of a translucent material, with grey light flickering inside.
It was like a grey lamp lit, or like a portal connecting to another world.
As the team moved across the battlefield, the grey light in the Soul Guidance Device grew brighter.
Even if Wang Nan didn't recognize the Soul Guidance Device in their hands, he could roughly guess what it was used for. The methods of Evil Soul Masters were nothing more than those related to the Soul.
Once war began, casualties were immeasurable. This battlefield was probably just a microcosm. During this time, the Holy Spirit Cult had collected an unknown number of Souls. Some Evil Soul Masters, even after a lifetime of evil deeds, probably couldn't compare to a single harvest by the Holy Spirit Cult on the battlefield.
Not only the armies of the Three Great Empires, but even the Sun Moon Empire, and even their own Disciples, would ultimately become their sustenance.
The teams that came out to clean up the battlefield were all composed of Spirit Masters. While Wang Nan was pondering, they had already swept the entire battlefield, not sparing scattered equipment, damaged Soul Guidance Devices, shattered corpses, or even Souls.
Wang Nan looked at the two great Empires confronting each other dozens of miles apart and understood that it was no longer possible to enter the original Tianhun Empire from this direction.