'Is Qian Renxue planning to let the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan to overstep… and then crush them publicly? To completely discredit one of the Three Great Clan?'
Eve shook her head faintly.
'No… I still can't see the full picture.'
Her gaze shifted back to Qian Xunji, then drifted toward the window overlooking Heaven Dou City.
'Whatever she's planning', Eve thought calmly,' it's not my concern.'
She exhaled softly.
'For now' she murmured inwardly, 'let's focus on Heaven Dou City.'
"How about the minor nobles within the city?" Eve asked calmly.
Qian Xunji answered without hesitation, "They have accepted all our terms."
Eve leaned back against the sofa, her posture relaxing slightly. A satisfied glint flickered through her eyes.
"That is good news," she said. "Now almost all the low-level clans have taken shelter under us."
Her fingers lightly tapped the armrest as calculations ran through her mind.
'Among the Seven Great Clans, only the three upper clans remain difficult to crack,' she thought.
'The remaining four have already bowed to Spirit Hall's influence'.
Eve raised her head again.
"How is the coordination regarding the awakening of talented children with new martial souls progressing?" she asked.
Spirit Hall was the only organization on the Douluo Continent whose deacons regularly ventured into remote mountain villages and impoverished regions to awaken the martial souls of children. Because of this, Spirit Hall possessed the most comprehensive and detailed records of martial souls in the entire era—records that even the great sects secretly coveted.
Qian Xunji nodded.
"All relevant information has been passed on," he said.
He did not know exactly where the information ultimately went. He only knew that there existed an organization operating in close cooperation with his daughter—one that showed an unusual interest in peculiar, mutated, or seemingly 'useless' martial souls.
Even children born into clans that had once produced Titled Douluo a century ago—yet had since fallen into obscurity—were not overlooked.
Eve's lips curved into a natural, gentle smile, though her thoughts were anything but simple.
'All such children are potential stock's, she mused.
'Raw, undeveloped… yet holding immense potential.
'Those with sharp minds and sufficient willpower are absorbed into the Twilight Hermit Order', she continued inwardly. 'Given time, they will mature into hidden pillars.'
'As for the rest…'.
'They will be assigned to the Shadow Hall, under Ghost Douluo's command—silent blades that never step into the light, yet shape the world all the same.'
Outwardly, Eve remained composed,.
Seeing Qian Xunji fall into thought, Eve spoke again, her tone gentle yet probing.
"You may speak freely," she said. "What is on your mind?"
Qian Xunji looked at her—as Eve was currently impersonating Qian Renxue . Qian Xunji still believed her to be his daughter. For a moment, he hesitated, as though weighing whether he still possessed the right to ask such a question.
Finally, he spoke.
"So… when will Spirit Hall overtake the Empire?"
The question slipped out quietly, yet it carried decades of ambition and unfulfilled authority.
Eve smiled naturally, neither mocking nor approving.
"As the former Pope," she replied, "it is only natural that you think of strengthening Spirit Hall." She paused, then tilted her head slightly. "But have you ever thought further?"
Qian Xunji frowned faintly.
"Why do you think the Empires are even necessary?" Eve continued calmly. "Even the monthly stipends given to soul masters are distributed through Spirit Hall."
Before he could respond, she raised a finger lightly.
"…Yet the money for those stipends ultimately comes from the Empire."
Her smile widened just a little.
"Now imagine this," Eve said softly. "If one day Spirit Hall were to withdraw—even partially—who do you think would awaken the martial souls of children in remote villages?"
She let out a soft laugh.
"These nobles?" Eve laughed openly now. "Ha… ha… ha…"
Her laughter was clear, unrestrained, and terrifyingly confident.
"I give it three years at most," she said. "Three years, and the civilians will finally understand something they have forgotten—without Spirit Hall, they are nothing more than livestock in the eyes of the nobles."
Her voice cold
"And the nobles?" Eve continued. "Once they realize the Empire is no longer able to control everything, they will begin raising private armies. They will stop obeying royal authority in all but name."
She spread her hands slightly.
"With just a little push, it will no longer be a question of rebellion. It will become skirmishes—clan against clan, noble against noble—while the Empire hollows out from the inside."
Eve's smile faded "The Angel Goddess bore a responsibility upon herself," she continued slowly, "so that every civilian on this continent could have a chance—however small—to fight for equality."
"That is why Spirit Hall's deacons travel to the most remote villages to awaken martial souls," she continued. "That was the original faith."
Her gaze sharpened.
"And now?" Eve said quietly. "Even the civilians take it for granted."
She did not elaborate further.
In the future of original story Douluo Dalu 2 itself proved her point.
In an era without Spirit Hall, civilians were nothing before nobles. Evil soul masters ran rampant and unrestrained.
And in the so-called 'original future'… The Shrek Seven Monsters, after ascending to godhood, had chosen to preserve the existing hierarchy. Nobles remained nobles. Civilians remained powerless.
The chance to rise was not removed outright—it was simply buried so deep that almost no one could reach it again.
Eve closed her eyes briefly.
----
(Author notes : Brace yourself, your beloved angel is returning in the next chapter)