War God Hall!
Guan Yue, who had received the news, immediately found Chen Xinjie and reported with a solemn expression, "Hall Master, the army we have been monitoring moved swiftly southward this morning, abandoning their original station."
Chen Xinjie pondered with his chin raised and said, "Hmm? What does this mean? Are they planning to formally enter the public eye of Soul Masters?"
After a pause, he continued, "But it's true, this army's power is not inferior to top-tier forces. Naturally, they cannot always remain on the fringes of the Continent!"
He had foreseen this a long time ago, so he wasn't so surprised!
Guan Yue's eyes flickered, "Hall Master, do we need to take any action? If this army floods in, it might affect our War God Hall's status!"
After all, the War God Hall is essentially a military force, though governed by the federation!
Chen Xinjie shook his head, his expression unchanged, "There's no need. The status of our War God Hall on the Continent cannot be affected by any single army!"
"Besides, once this army arrives, send someone to make contact immediately and assist as much as possible!"
Since this army is unwilling to join the War God Hall, at the very least, they should become our strongest ally!
Guan Yue nodded, not dwelling further on the matter, "Understood, Hall Master!"
Instead, he changed the topic, "Additionally, a new War God has been selected. Would you like to personally inspect them?"
Last time, during the comprehensive eradication of the evil Soul Masters' nest, the War God Hall lost several War Gods, so new selections are needed!
Chen Xinjie did not refuse, giving a slight nod, "Alright, let's go have a look."
Now that he is getting older, the future of the War God Hall relies on these young War Gods!
...
The next morning!
Yue Zhengyu found Yuanen Yehui, full of fighting spirit, "Yehui, let's go practice in the arena. Yesterday's battle with Teacher Wu didn't give us a proper fight!"
Both he and Yuanen Yehui are Soul Douluos and want to see how much they've progressed compared to each other!
Yuanen Yehui's beautiful eyes lit up, seemingly tempted, while Xie Xie on the side sneered, "Come on, did you forget how you were swamped by the juniors yesterday?"
Yue Zhengyu waved his hand, his eyes glowing, "Ah, what's that matter? Don't you want those juniors looking at you with envy and admiration, that feeling..."
Completely unaware that Xu Xiaoyan was already fuming behind him…
Xie Xie coughed to cover up his laugh, "Ahem… ahem…"
Yue Zhengyu raised an eyebrow, "Xie Xie, why are you coughing? Caught a cold yesterday?"
Xie Xie whispered, "Behind… behind…"
Yue Zhengyu paused, "Behind?"
As he turned around, he saw Xu Xiaoyan sneer, "Zheng Yu, it seems you really like those junior girls. Why not spend your life with them?"
Cold sweat instantly began to trickle from Yue Zhengyu's forehead, "Lit... Little Yan, listen to me... I was just trying to set an example for them, I..."
With a cold "Hmph," Xu Xiaoyan walked towards Ye Xinglan, grabbing her arm, and glowered, "Xinglan, let's go for a walk and ignore these smelly men!"
Realizing what happened, Ye Xinglan nodded, "Oh... okay!"
Xie Lizhi pitifully lamented, "Ah?? Sister Xinglan..."
Ye Xinglan gave him a glance, her expression complicated, "Lizhi, you stay here with Xie Xie and the others, Xiao Yan and I are going for a walk!"
After speaking, the two left the Shrek inner court…
Xie Lizhi's face instantly turned ashen…
...
Even though they understood the general situation, the Daijin did not openly state it...
They all shifted the topic, "But this is not a solution either. The Spirit Pagoda has yet to agree to resume Soul Spirit supply to our Dou Spirit Empire!"
"Indeed, our Dou Spirit Empire's Soul Masters have zero tolerance for having no Soul Spirits to absorb; we must find other solutions!"
"If soft methods don't work, we'll resort to forceful ones. At worst, we'll just destroy the Spirit Pagoda!!"
"Impossible! Although the Spirit Pagoda is just a faction, if we really go to war with them, our Dou Spirit Empire will undoubtedly suffer tremendous losses!"
Xue Yuntian heard this, clenching his fists tightly...
If only he had known it would be so difficult now, he wouldn't have sent Soul Masters to attack the Spirit Pagoda's Soul Spirit transport teams back then!
At this moment, one of the Daijin took a deep breath and earnestly said, "Your Majesty, this humble servant has a method, though it's not foolproof!"
Xue Yuntian's eyes lit up, "A method? Let's hear it. If it can alleviate the empire's current situation, I will reward you handsomely!"
The former explained, "Your Majesty, since negotiations with the Spirit Pagoda fail with our Dou Spirit Empire, we can enlist a third-party faction to intervene!"
Xue Yuntian squinted, "You mean..."
This Daijin nodded, "Yes, Shrek Academy. As a neutral force, it's always prioritized peace on the Continent!"
"If we use the outbreak of war and struggle for Soul Spirits as an excuse, Shrek Academy will surely not stand by!"
Xue Yuntian contemplated briefly and then turned to the other Daijin, "What do you think of this proposal?"
Relying on third-party intervention, I never considered this before!
Noticing Xue Yuntian's softened expression, the other Daijin exchanged looks, seemingly reaching a consensus!
"Your Majesty, I find this method excellent. Using Shrek Academy's influence to pressurize the Spirit Pagoda!"
"I concur. Although it will incur more costs, as long as we can stabilize our empire's Soul Masters' emotions, everything can return to normal!"
"Your Majesty, let's do this. We can't think of another way now. Of course, if the Spirit Pagoda remains unyielding even after this, then... we'll have no choice but to go to war!"
Xue Yuntian decisively commanded, "Fine, immediately send a Messenger to Shrek Academy in secret and strive to secure the Elders of the Sea God Pavilion's aid!!"
This is my final concession towards the Spirit Pagoda!
...
Spirit Pagoda, Research Department!
A researcher awoke from the Spirit Ascension Platform...
Excitedly proclaimed, "Successful! Our Spirit Pagoda's Spirit Ascension Platform, after numerous improvements and upgrades, can now rival the federation's Star Dou Battle Network!"
At this, the other researchers also smiled...
"We really made it, all our hard work was worth it!"
"Indeed, maybe we can even design an AI, potentially uniting all Soul Masters on the Continent and perhaps even replacing the Star Dou Battle Network!"
"Though that's still far off, I believe that time will come!"
"Yes, with expert-level Brain Domain specialist Qiangu Qingfeng, it's just a matter of time before our Spirit Ascension Platform's AI surpasses the federation's!"
"That's right, most of the credit for this upgrade of the Spirit Ascension Platform goes to the predecessor!"
....