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"Teacher, still no news of Father?" Tang San couldn't help but ask.
Tang Hao was missing, neither alive nor dead, leaving his son deeply worried.
After gaining control of the Star Luo Empire, he had sent countless people to secretly search for Tang Hao.
But even now, there was no trace of him.
Yu Xiaogang consoled him, "Xiao San, don't worry yet. With Lord Hao Tian's strength, nothing could have happened to him. Could it be that he has other important matters to attend to, causing the delay?"
"Important matters?" Tang San fell into deep thought.
Come to think of it, Tang Hao indeed had important tasks to accomplish.
"Could it be that Father has already found a way to resurrect Mother?" Tang San muttered to himself.
Currently, without finding the ten-thousand-year Nine-Rank Ginseng King, reviving Xiao Wu was only possible after achieving godhood.
Could it be that Tang Hao had discovered the location of the ginseng and spent all this time searching for the herbs?
Aolian's original form was the Blue Silver Emperor—could consuming the ten-thousand-year Nine-Rank Ginseng restore her?
A question mark formed in Tang San's mind.
On further reflection, perhaps the herbs weren't limited to the Nine-Rank Ginseng; other treasures might work as well.
In any case, this guess seemed most plausible. Otherwise, Tang Hao wouldn't have remained absent for so long.
"By the way, Xiao San, the Dragon Halberd Sect sent someone yesterday to ask when we'll assign them the promised commercial market," Yu Xiaogang said dismissively.
The Dragon Halberd Sect had lost its value. Did Zhao Wuji and Zhang Erhe lack any sense of tact?
To pardon those "criminals" from the Dragon Halberd Sect was already a great favor—how dare they demand more benefits?
Tang San didn't bother with the Dragon Halberd Sect and casually dismissed the matter. "Teacher, if they come, we'll treat them well with food and drink, but we won't agree to anything else. Stall them as much as possible. In the end, delaying won't harm us."
With that, he gave instructions. "Teacher, send these laborers to the mines to dig ores for the empire first."
Mining was the highest level of physical labor. Among these laborers were elders, youths, and even women. The work in the mines would likely kill most of them.
But Tang San didn't care.
The Rakshasa Goddess required human sacrifices. He had specifically inquired, and corpses filled with resentment also counted toward the quota. If that was the case, what else was there to worry about?
Pushing these people to their deaths would only deepen the resentment of those who survived—they were prime sacrificial material.
Once the orders were issued, the conscripted laborers became highly dissatisfied.
An elderly man stepped forward to negotiate with the soldiers. "Master Official, we are villagers from near Beike City. Look, among us are elders, women, and children. Can we be assigned to other work?"
"If we go to the mines, not many of us will return alive."
The captain of this group of soldiers felt pity and, thinking he might have misunderstood the order, hurriedly went to inquire, "Imperial Preceptor, Great General, should we take only the young and strong to the mine, or..."
Yu Xiaogang snorted and kicked the captain to the ground. "Are you deaf? I said everyone, without exception! Do you hear me?"
The captain didn't dare object and hurried back to the group, dragging these people toward the mines outside Star Luo City.
During the journey, the elder among the laborers tried to communicate with the soldiers again.
But once the Imperial Preceptor made a decision, unless Yu Xiaogang himself changed his mind, who could easily alter it?
The captain, feeling remorseful, submitted his resignation after delivering the laborers to the mine.
Tang San was well aware of this man's thoughts and, as a result, deliberately arranged for some hardened criminals to guard these laborers.
These hardened criminals showed no mercy—the fate of these laborers was already sealed.
Transporting such a large group of people to the mine at once was impossible for the intelligence disciples of the Sky Sword Sect, who were lying low in Star Luo City, to miss.
Had the Star Luo Empire recruited so many laborers to build some grand project?
Without time to think further, the intelligence disciples split into two teams. One followed to investigate, while the other remained in Star Luo City to monitor the movements of the Tang Sect and the royal family.
…
At the mine, for the first few days, the laborers only cleared garbage and set up temporary shelters—no heavy labor.
Gradually, these laborers let their guard down, thinking they were just assistants.
But seven days later, after the foundational work was completed, the real mining began.
This mine was rich in precious metals and, though originally imperial property, under Tang San and Yu Xiaogang's manipulation, it had become private property of the Tang Sect.
Using hardened criminals as overseers and forcing these soon-to-be-sacrificed laborers to mine, Tang San never intended for these people to survive.
If news of misappropriating royal assets leaked, it would certainly cause unrest within the empire.
Especially since Dai Weisi's whereabouts were unknown. If he secretly gathered an army, there would surely be those within the court who would secretly support him.
Now, both the Tang Sect and the Star Luo Empire were preparing for war, waiting for the right moment to strike against the Spirit Hall.
All the iron ore mined here was transported to the Tang Sect. After refining the metal, it was used entirely to craft hidden weapons.
Tang San was confident that, with the power of these hidden weapons, the Spirit Hall's soul master legions would be no match.
With such a grand plan, he naturally didn't want any leaks—even the slightest hint of exposure was unacceptable.
Under the overseers' whips, these laborers worked day and night in the mines.
In just three days, over a hundred people died in the mines.
The bodies of these laborers were all packed up and sent to the empire's Heavenly Prison.
Tang San had chosen the Heavenly Prison as the site for the Rakshasa Secret Realm to absorb the resentment there.
Moreover, the Heavenly Prison was secure enough. After Dai Weisi's reinforcements, even average Soul Douluo-level experts would find it difficult to break through the weakest points on the roof.
As the initial form of the secret realm was completed, the first sacrifices to the Rakshasa Goddess were all the prisoners in the Heavenly Prison, including the jailers themselves.
With blood sacrifices, the Rakshasa Secret Realm could harness divine power.
Tang San revived a group of jailers to serve him, and the continuous flow of corpses afterward served as nourishment for the secret realm.
And all of this was completely unknown to Dai Mubai, who was indulging in pleasure in the harem.
The Zhu family, unaware of his preferences, had sent nearly all eligible women from their clan.
It should be noted that the beauty of the Zhu family women was unmatched by ordinary women. Since the royal family had money, Dai Mubai had built a hot spring in the harem palace, playing with different women every day.
For him, life seemed to have reached its peak.
During this time, some ministers also tried to submit memorials to him, including those exposing the actions of the Tang Sect.
However, Dai Mubai didn't pass these memorials to Yu Xiaogang but instead discarded them carelessly.
These ministers submitting memorials were testing the waters. Seeing that the memorials exposing the Tang Sect's actions weren't pursued afterward, ministers in the court began privately speculating.
For instance, Dai Mubai was controlled by the Tang Sect and was merely a puppet emperor.
Others believed Dai Mubai was simply incompetent, as his performance before ascending the throne was witnessed by all the ministers.
With an incapable emperor, wasn't it natural for imperial power to fall into the hands of outsiders?
…
Time passed, and a month later.
After conscripting nearly ten thousand laborers, the Rakshasa Secret Realm was finally completed.
Tang San had completed his eighth trial; the ninth trial required him to add all spirit rings to his second martial soul.
The number of divine spirit rings bestowed by the Rakshasa Goddess was limited. After giving instructions, Tang San went out to hunt for spirits.
At the same time, he wanted to use this opportunity to investigate the movements of the Spirit Hall and the upper three sects.
During this period, Ning Tianchen hadn't been idle either, constantly traveling between the Spirit Hall and the sects.
With the unification of the continent drawing closer, many details needed to be coordinated.
Both the Tian Dou Empire and the Spirit Hall had secretly amassed large armies. They were just waiting for the right moment to formally declare war on the Star Luo Empire.
In the sect's study, Dugu Bo handed the intelligence disciples' confidential letter to Ning Tianchen.
Even without opening the envelope, Ning Tianchen already knew its contents with a single thought. He countered, "Old man, what do you think?"
The content of the letter detailed the Star Luo Empire's conscription of laborers for mining and the subsequent deaths of nearly ten thousand laborers.
The bodies of these laborers were sent to the Heavenly Prison. Due to the heavy guard near the entrance, the intelligence disciples couldn't investigate further, nor did they know where these bodies were taken or what they were used for.
Dugu Bo angrily exclaimed, "They're treating human lives like grass! If they wanted to mine, they could have recruited young and strong laborers instead of conscripting the elderly, children, and women!"
"Moreover, all these ores were transported to the Tang Sect. Not only are they abusing their power, but they also dare to cover up the truth!"
In short, Tang San and the others' crimes were too numerous to record.
Ning Tianchen chuckled lightly. "Isn't this perfect? They've handed us a handle on a silver platter."
If Tang San and the others had governed the Star Luo Empire diligently, they really wouldn't have had a good reason to start a war in the short term.
Since this matter had been discovered, why not make a big deal out of it!
Few people on the Douluo Continent understood the terrifying power of public opinion. Once this matter was exposed and flyers were distributed throughout the Star Luo Empire, the common people would surely panic.
At that point, even without the Tian Dou Empire and the Spirit Hall sending troops, the Star Luo Empire would fall into internal chaos.
Ning Tianchen hadn't seen Tang San in a long time and didn't know if the latter had deeper intentions behind his actions.
In his view, the brutal treatment of these laborers and the collection of their bodies were likely aimed at gathering resentment—exactly what the Rakshasa Goddess needed.
In the past, the Rakshasa Goddess had hidden in Slaughter City, accumulating resentment over time. When Bibi Dong constructed the Rakshasa Secret Realm, the cost was minimal.
After the Rakshasa Goddess's trials were stripped away, her previous arrangements were all invalidated. Bibi Dong certainly wouldn't harbor goodwill toward her, and the Rakshasa Secret Realm in the Spirit Hall had long been dismantled.
Rebuilding it required accumulating resentment anew.
However, in the cultivation methods of evil soul masters, there were techniques to absorb human corpses to enhance one's cultivation.
In any case, Tang San's strength would undoubtedly break through continuously in a short period. It was likely that inheriting the position of the Rakshasa Goddess was not far off.
A battle between gods—it sounded interesting.
If Tang San didn't achieve godhood, he probably wouldn't even qualify to be killed by others.
Later that evening, Ning Tianchen called Dai Weisi, Ning Fengzhi, and Tian Ruyang for a meeting.
Upon learning of the Tang Sect's actions, Dai Weisi was furious. "They're undermining the empire's foundation! Dai Mubai, that fool!"
Water could carry a boat, but it could also overturn it.
This was a warning every Star Luo emperor had to remember, yet this fool, Dai Mubai, dared to let the Tang Sect run rampant!
Dai Weisi was extremely angry, blaming himself. If he had acted more cautiously back then, the empire wouldn't have ended up in this state under Dai Mubai.
"Disregarding human lives will eventually become a thing of the past. Alright, it's time we had a proper discussion."
…
Later that evening, an unexpected visitor arrived in Tian Dou City.
Tang San, in search of suitable spirit rings, deliberately came to the Sunset Forest.
Before hunting spirits, he decided to enter the city to investigate the upper three sects' intelligence.
The Star Luo Empire was secretly preparing for war. To avenge the Spirit Hall in the future, they needed allies.
The upper three sects and the Tian Dou Empire were targets they had to win over. Even if they couldn't wait for military assistance, at least they shouldn't allow the other side to assist the Spirit Hall!
After eliminating the Spirit Hall, there would be plenty of opportunities to settle scores with the upper three sects!
Thinking of his upcoming ascension to godhood, ambition gradually grew in Tang San's heart.
Eliminating the Spirit Hall and the upper three sects meant no force on the continent would pose a threat to them anymore.
In the past, the Star Luo Empire's military strength far surpassed that of the Tian Dou Empire, yet they couldn't annex the latter. Wasn't it precisely because of interference from the Spirit Hall and the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect?
Without these forces, the unification of the entire continent by the Star Luo Empire was just around the corner!
The more Tang San thought about it, the more excited he became.
The task that generations of Star Luo emperors had failed to complete was about to be achieved in their hands. Didn't that prove that the Tang Sect was far stronger than the Star Luo royal family?
When the Tang Sect became the ruler of the continent, who would approve, and who would oppose?
A moment later, he put aside his thoughts and quietly approached the Sky Sword Sect.
Tang San observed the situation at the entrance of the Sky Sword Sect from afar.
He saw many ordinary citizens entering freely, and the gatekeepers chatting casually with them.
"Madam Wang, out for a post-dinner stroll again?"
"Old Man Li, your legs are better today—out for a walk?"
Tang San was astonished.
The Sky Sword Sect was one of the upper three sects—how could they mingle so freely with these commoners?
Moreover, their gatekeepers seemed utterly unconcerned—weren't they afraid someone might sneak in and cause trouble?
This time, Tang San's purpose was only to investigate, with no intention of causing trouble, so Ning Tianchen's installed soul-guided devices gave no warnings.
Out of curiosity, Tang San easily entered the Sky Sword Sect.
Meanwhile, inside the Sky Sword Sect's compound.
Ning Rongrong, who was meditating in seclusion, suddenly opened her eyes, her expression filled with disgust.
Since ancient times, light and darkness couldn't coexist, especially since Tang San was the Rakshasa Goddess, filled with deep malice.
This aura immediately raised Ning Rongrong's alertness.
"Rongrong, don't worry—he has no ulterior motives," Ning Tianchen's voice calmly drifted into her ears.
From the moment Tang San entered Tian Dou City, he had been under Ning Tianchen's perception.
Currently, Tang San's strength has broken through to level ninety-eight.
Within the sect, aside from Ning Rongrong, who was abnormally sensitive to evil auras, no one could detect his presence.
Under Ning Tianchen's tacit approval, Tang San wandered freely within the Sky Sword Sect while gathering intelligence.
His actions sent shivers down the spine of the Rakshasa Goddess.
But under Ning Tianchen's watchful perception, the Rakshasa Goddess didn't dare communicate with Tang San lightly, praying that Tang San's foolish luck would hold.
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