With the latest advancements of the Spirit Hall, there was a new wave of the Titled Douluos appeared within the ranks of the Spirit Hall. Several of the Soul Douluos that were on the list of the Spirit Rank 89 danced to the Spirit Rank 90 and became Titled Douluos.
It was a really glorious age for the Spirit Hall because they had far more manpower compared to the past, and especially, they had more powerful manpower compared to that of the past.
This heightened number of the Titled Douluos allowed the Spirit Hall to act more freely and project their power across many places. Even in the areas where it previously wasn't possible and they could also suppress their enemies more thoroughly.
Even though the Spirit Hall was previously powerful, they were just one faction that needed to spread their power across the entire Douluo Continent, which was proving to be extremely hard as time went on.
Not many of the local factions decided to submit to the Spirit Hall despite its power.
It was often in rather a disadvantageous position against certain local overlords, mainly because the Titled Douluo of the Spirit Hall was always tied to the big players like the Heaven Dou Empire and Star Luo Empire.
They needed to deal with them and act as a deterrent there, not to send their precious Titled Douluos to keep suppressing some minor powers that were not really worth it. Now, the situation had completely turned around because, with the addition of the Alchemy Pills, many of the Spirit Masters managed to achieve a breakthrough and reach higher Realms.
This was something that strengthened the Spirit Hall tremendously because the faction was always rather disadvantaged when it came to the competition in terms of numbers. That wasn't their strongest side overall.
Since its establishment, the Spirit Hall has aimed at quality and not at quantity.
Which wasn't unusual, but if one had too many enemies, the situation would become rather problematic.
The Hun Clan and Hall of Souls perished exactly due to that.
Even though the Hun Clan was the strongest of the Eight Ancient Clans and, coupled with the power of the Hall of Souls, had great numbers, they were together the strongest faction in the Dou Qi Continent, yet they too fell.
In the end, the forces of the Skymansion Alliance, which was created by that flame brat, were too much for them to handle.
Hun Tiandi knew that the Spirit Hall must avoid the same fate as the Hall of Souls.
"Are you sure it would work, Young Master?"
Han Long asked rather uncertainly because his domain was primarily business, not military matters, and even though he was rather well acquainted with the economic strength of the Seven Treasure Tile Glazed Clan, he wasn't really that knowledgeable about their military might.
He knew that Hun Tiandi as the young master of the Spirit Hall he was far more aware of the military capabilities of their opponents and enemies.
"Seven Treasure Tile Glazed Clan is operating like the Seven Treasure Tile Glazed Chamber of Commerce, in which Seven Treasure Tile Glazed Clan has control. Yet you cannot run the Clan like the Chamber of Commerce, so I think that after a few initial losses, Ning Fenghzi will order his men to stop the raids. That man has too much mindset like a businessman, and aside from that, apparently, he is too kind to be sending his men to die."
The Spirit Hall had rather extensive dossiers on all the prominent people within the Douluo Continent, be they the Spirit Masters or not. And the most detailed information was obviously on the Titled Douluos, Clan Leader, Patriarch and other important figures.
Hun Tiandi understood that someone with the personality of Ning Fenghzi wouldn't be sending his men to death. Coupled with the business-like approach of the Seven Treasure Tile Glazed Clan to their own Clan management, he was sure that after a few initial losses, they would stop.
The Spirit Hall managed to find out that the military strength of the Seven Treasure Tile Glazed Clan wasn't really anything great. Aside from the two Titled Douluos at the Spirit Rank 95, which was actually something great, because not many could boast of having two Hyper Douluos, the rest was...
Meh, meh.
Seven Treasure Tile Glazed Clan had some kind of standing army that consisted of around three thousand Spirit Masters of various Spirit Ranks and Realms, though their overall average Spirit Rank wasn't really that good.
The true military power of the Seven Treasure Tile Glazed Clan lay in their extensive networking. Usage of the Mercenary Groups, Adventurers, Independent Spirit Masters, and Assassins.
That was their true power, which could be related only by having enormous riches.
If the riches were taken out of the equation, their power would drop tremendously.
So he wasn't really fearing the Seven Treasure Tile Glazed Clan because they were not really an actual threat. In Hun Tiandi's eyes, the real threat was the Clear Sky Clan, Blue Lighting Tyrant Dragon Clan, Dai Clan and perhaps some minor factions that were still hiding.
The others were not an actual military threat, either due to the lack of quantity, quality, or both.
"Now that we have finished the first matter, there is also the second matter that we need to talk about. Something that is directly involving the matters of the Spirit Hall that would happen in the near future."
Hun Tiandi said that he needed to talk with the General Manager, Han Long.
Mainly related to the incoming invasion of the rebellious states that were on the hit list created by the Spirit Hall, which would be, after the conquest, merged into the territory of the Spirit Hall.
"Soon enough, the Spirit Hall would be leading the conquest of several rebellious nations, mainly the Moonlight Principality and Stormland Dukedom, together with a few others. For that, the help of the Celestial Trade Chamber of Commerce would be of paramount importance."
Even though the Spirit Hall had far more than enough military power to take out the rebellious nations that were targeted by the Spirit Hall, Hun Tiandi wanted to lower the number of their casualties as low as possible.
"The Celestial Trade Chamber of Commerce is at your service, young master."
Han Long said as he was aware of the severity of the situation. As someone who was swimming in the treacherous waters of what was geopolitics of the Douluo Continent, he was aware of what this could mean for the entire Douluo Continent.
Heaven Dou Empire controlled around 30% of the continent with the help of its sects.
Star Luo Empire covers approximately 30% of the continent with the might of its military alone.
The rest was divided into various petty nations or consisted of various forbidden zones that were so dangerous that no nation dared to claim them as part of their territory.
Spirit Hall, despite being the publicly strongest faction in the world, controlled only the Spirit City, which was a city-state with the size of a small noble territory. The Spirit Hall never really focused on the quality of their members, so they would rather build branches and recruit talents across the Douluo Continent.
Han Long knew that the moment Spirit Hall directly absorbed territories that were enough to create a rather big kingdom, then it would be all other factions on guard against them, but Han Long knew that it was inevitable.
For the past ten years, the Spirit Hall has silently developed and gathered strength, cultivating more and more Titled Douluos and strengthening their foundation. As the General Manager of the Celestial Trade Chamber of Commerce, he knew that the real strength of the Spirit Hall was higher than anyone could imagine.
And he was also aware of the fact that the Spirit Hall had, right now, two Spirit Rank 99 Titled Douluos. Unbeknownst to them, the Spirit Rank 99 Limit Douluo was divided into the three Phases.
Quasi-Demigod, Demi-God and Quasi-God.
The true strength of the Limit Douluos of the Spirit Hall was known only to the Worship Elders of the Douluo Consecration Hall, Supreme Pontiff, and a few others, though amongst them, Hun Tiandi already had his spot.
Qian Daoliu managed to upgrade his strength from the Quasi-Demigod to the Demi-God, which was tremendous progress in just ten years, though most of it came from the Soul Cultivation that Hun Tiandi started introducing during the past ten years and pills.
Meanwhile, Jin Eyu, the Golden Crocodile Douluo, was at the Qausi-Demigod Phase of the Limit Douluo, which was also the Phase where approximately 99% of the Spirit Masters that ever reached the Spirit Rank 99 remained till their death.
It was extremely hard to move among the Phases after one reached the Limit Douluo because the Limit Douluo, as the title said, was a limit.
Limit of the mortality.
"You don't need to concern yourself with the wider implication, Manager... the Spirit Hall has waited for a long enough already, and at least, this will satiate some of the Warhawks for the time being. Right now, the Celestial Trade Chamber of Commerce has two tasks. One of them would subtly gather intelligence from the list of petty nations, while the second one would cooperate with the Burial Agency to smuggle their agents into certain locations. We are choosing this approach because our targets can't find out what is happening until our army is at their gates."
Hun Tiandi explained his orders for the Celestial Trade Chamber of Commerce because, in his plans, it would play a very important role during the territorial expansion that would happen in the near future.
Most probably in a few months.
Right now, Hun Tiandi felt that he was close to achieving a Spirit Rank 49 with the usage of a few Pills, and he already had ideas for the next Spirit Ring of his, which would be his 5th Spirit Ring for the Bloodviolet Seven Star Fiend Swor Martial Soul.
Han Long, meanwhile, looked at the young master of the Spirit Hall, who would be proclaimed Holy Son of the Spirit Hall in a few months or next year, with a rather uncertain expression because he was to work with the members of the Burial Agency.
He knew of this institution that was established some time ago, though the exact date was unknown even to him.
The only thing that he was aware of was that it was full of fanatical zealots and that it worked only at 50% because, apparently, they lacked the leadership, so the Burial Agency was, for the time being, under the joint control of the Supreme Pontiff and Grand Worship Elder.
"Forgive me for asking, young master, but why choose this approach?"
He was rather interested in the reason because, as much as he knew, then the agents from the Burial Agency could handle everything by themselves.
Even though the spy network and assassin network of the Spirit Hall were never the best ones, and only after the foundation of the Burial Agency did they start to get better, Han Long knew that the interference of the Celestial Trade Chamber of Commerce was most probably redundant on his end.
"It's quite simple... You know, due to the vast network of the Celestial Trade and the allure of money, it would provide a legitimate reason for bringing people into their cities, without them being thoroughly checked or being in there illegally, because well, in this... we cannot make any mistake. Even right now, as we are speaking, Moonlight Principality and Stormland Dukedom are highly suspicious of the stance of the Spirit Hall, and if they realize that something is amiss, they would beg for help from the Empires, and this small conflict would become a great war that nobody wants to start for the time being."
Hun Tiandi wanted for the forces of Spirit Hall to finish the conquest within one week, maximally two weeks. Far before, the enemy will realize what is actually happening and have time to ask for help.
He knew that some of the players on the board, especially the biggest one, would have a really hard time asking for help from the Star Luo Empire and Heaven Dou Empire, but that was playing into his cards.
And after the conquest is done?
Then it's done, and there won't be anything that the other factions could do about it, as the Star Luo Empire and Heaven Dou Empire would be forced to watch from the sidelines and accept the results.
"How many people?"
Han Long saw the logic behind those words because while the Spirit Hall was powerful and grew even more powerful, nobody knew the exact depths of their power, and that was their greatest strength.
Something that Hun Tiandi planned to keep secret for as long as possible, because then the enemy wouldn't be cautious and wouldn't be making active countermeasures against them.
And if someone asked him who is the enemy?
He would tell them that everyone who is not us is the enemy.
As simple as that.
"Around a hundred or two, depending on the final plans, that I am in no charge of. For that one, Cardinal Chrysanthemum will remind you soon enough. Till then, I bid you a good day, General Manager Han."
Hun Tiandi stood up from his chair as Qian Renxue happily ran to him, as she was becoming a little too bored in this place while her elder brother was having a talk with General Manager Long.
Meanwhile, Han Long knew that he didn't really have much choice on this matter because while things like this didn't really fall into the typical activities of the merchants, he knew that since he joined the Spirit Hall, he needed to obey their commands.
***
Leaving the headquarters of the Celestial Trade Chamber of Commerce, Hun Tiandi took little Qian Renxue to the marketplace where she wanted to go originally. She was a small, sheltered child, but in a situation like this, she was very lively and looked at everything with her big, curious eyes.
'She is really like Ying'er... would our daughter look the same? I guess... maybe...'
Several flashes of very uncomfortable memories went through his mind as he remembered some things from his youth. Soon after, the rage started overcoming him until he had forcibly calmed down.
During the past ten years, his Spiritual Power got unsealed even more, and now he could usually exert strength comparable to that of the peak Average Titled Douluo at the Spirit Rank 94.
For a certain amount of time, he could also unleash the full power of his Soul at the peak Spirit Domain Realm, which was even stronger than that of Qian Daoliu's full power, but that was his deepest secret.
However, he still couldn't use such power without consequences because even if he could use the Spiritual Power at the Spirit Abyss Realm as he wished, his body would still take a serious toll from using it freely and for a prolonged amount of time.
'Hun Ying'er...'
As the memory of a woman with golden hair and red eyes flashed through his mind, a certain nostalgic feeling of sadness overcame him when he remembered his youth in the Hun Clan...
The place in which one could obtain everything or lose all in one mere moment and a place where only the strong and powerful thrived.
"Elder Brother, I smell something tasty! That way!"
He was soon enough disturbed from his thoughts as he gave Qian Renxue a small smile while she led him to one of the stalls with food. At least this way, he didn't get time to think about the unpleasant memories of his past life.
Thus, soon enough, they arrived at the food stall, where an elderly man was making some kinds of local sweets. Hun Tiandi wasn't really enjoying the sweets altogether, aside from a few desserts, but that was all.
"So, what would it be, lad?"
The elderly man turned his head to them when he noticed that there were two people standing in front of the stand, while Qian Renxue was already impatiently bouncing at her place because she really liked the sweets.
Especially the one that she had brought him to.
So she couldn't really wait.
"Triple portion, please. And normal one for me."
Hun Tiandi ordered the triple portion for Qian Renxue, who was showing him a happy smile, because she was very satisfied with the fact that she got the triple portion of the pudding from the stall.
He passed the elderly man several coins as they waited for the serving to be done, while Qian Renxua observed every move of the stall owner because he was preparing her favorite dessert.
"And here it is, children."
Hun Tiandi found it rather amusing because nobody really knew who he was because he wasn't really famous. Nor was Qian Renxue, as they barely left the safe confines of the Supreme Pontiff Palace and Douluo Consecration Palace.
His own formal introduction to the society of the Spirit Master would happen only when he reached the Spirit King Rank, which was not that far. The only thing that was usually holding him back was finding a compatible Spirit Ring for his needs.
He decided to configure the Spirit Rings around the Bloodviolet Seven Star Fiend Sword Martial Soul in the most particular fashion, where it would all support the very first Spirit Skill that he obtained.
Fel.
Due to that, it was very hard to find compatible Spirit Rings.
Much less was said about the Spirit Rings that were not only compatible but also needed to be old enough to be usable by him, and he had very high requirements for the age of the Spirit Beasts.
When he became Spirit King and was proclaimed as the Holy Son of the Spirit Hall, then, his name and face would be known by almost everyone in the Douluo Continent. The position of the Supreme Pontiff of the Spirit Hall wielded even more power than the Emperors of the two great Empires.