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...Spirit City, deep within the Supreme Pontiff Palace.
Xuan Ming stood quietly before a massive floor-to-ceiling window, his ice-blue eyes seemingly piercing through space to gaze toward Heaven Dou City and Star Luo City. His vast, boundless Divine Thought, like an invisible canopy, had already enveloped the entire Douluo Continent.
The seemingly secret war mobilizations of the Heaven Dou Empire and Star Luo Empire might be top-secret to ordinary people, but under his Divine Thought perception, they were as clear as a bonfire in the dark night.
The movement of troops, the gathering of supplies, the connections between Spirit Master families, and that increasingly intense killing intent of war... everything was within his perception.
He was usually just too lazy to pay attention to the clamor of these ants.
But now, those two rapidly expanding flames of war, on the verge of erupting, had caught his attention.
Bibi Dong's figure quietly appeared behind him. She had just finished handling heavy government affairs, and there was still a hint of fatigue between her brows, but her purple-gold eyes remained as sharp as ever. She, too, had detected the movements of the Two Great Empires through her own intelligence network.
"Heaven Dou and Star Luo seem ready to make a move." Bibi Dong's voice was calm, showing no joy or anger. "It's a bit faster than we anticipated. It seems that the efforts of Rongrong and the others this past year have had a significant effect."
She walked to Xuan Ming's side and looked out the window with him. "What do you think? Should we wait for them to move first, or should we take the initiative to attack?"
She knew that it was never those legions that decided the course of a war, but the man beside her.
Xuan Ming did not turn his head, his gaze still fixed on the distance, his tone flat: "It doesn't matter."
"If they want to fight, then let them fight. At worst, it will just be a slaughter."
Bibi Dong's purple-gold eyes flickered slightly as she looked at Xuan Ming's face, which was calm to the point of indifference, and asked softly: "Once war begins, it will be a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. The Two Great Empires have vast territories and a population of hundreds of millions. If they resist to the end, the casualties will likely be beyond count. Moreover, excessive killing might harm the harmony of heaven and sow seeds of hatred in the hearts of the people. Do you... not care?"
She wasn't being merciful; she needed to confirm Xuan Ming's will.
After all, large-scale slaughter was different from destroying city walls to intimidate.
Xuan Ming finally turned his head, his ice-blue eyes staring directly at Bibi Dong. That gaze was as deep as ten-thousand-year-old ice, devoid of any human emotional fluctuation.
"Harmony of heaven? Hatred?"
The corner of his mouth seemed to hook into a faint, almost non-existent arc, like mockery, yet also like indifference. "Those are merely excuses the living use to comfort themselves or to bind others."
"For those being killed, is there a difference between one person dying and a million people dying? They are all dead. So-called cruelty and so-called numbers are but the hypocritical compassion of bystanders. The dead are gone; what do the mourning and hatred of the living have to do with them?"
Bibi Dong fell silent; she understood Xuan Ming's meaning.
In the face of absolute death, numbers truly lose their meaning.
Every Life's passing is a unique end.
"In my eyes," Xuan Ming's gaze turned toward the distance again, as if staring at the masses of living beings, "one person and a million people are equally important. I will not sacrifice one innocent person to save a million."
"Similarly, I can also wipe out those million people to save one person."
"The value of Life should not be measured by quantity. The so-called 'big picture' and 'sacrificing the small self for the greater good' are merely high-sounding reasons for the strong to trample the weak."
"So, whether to fight or not, whether to kill or not, and how many to kill, makes no difference to me. It only depends on... whether it is necessary."
Bibi Dong was silent. She understood Xuan Ming's meaning.
He didn't care at all how many people would die in the war, nor did he care if the continent's Origin Qi would be severely damaged because of it.
Since the supporters of the old order chose to take up arms in resistance, in his eyes, they were no longer the people who needed to be won over, but "obstacles" hindering the establishment of the new World.
Clearing obstacles requires a reason, but it does not require hesitation.
He possessed the power to destroy everything and the absolute determination to carry out his own will.
Morality, public opinion, the evaluation of future generations... these things that bind ordinary people were meaningless to him.
What he followed was a set of cold and pure rules derived from the Origin. Protect what he wanted to protect, clear what hindered him—simple, direct, and unquestionable.
The so-called war, slaughter, and casualty figures, in his eyes, might truly just be the scale of a "trouble" that needed to be resolved.
"I understand." Bibi Dong nodded slowly. The Asura Demon Sword in her hand seemed to sense its master's mood, emitting a low hum as a blood-colored killing intent faintly circulated. "Then... let it be as they wish."
The horn of war would be sounded by them, but the method of its end would be decided by Xuan Ming.
Surrender, or destruction.
There was no third path... Inside the Angel God Temple, Qian Renxue was surrounded by flowing pure golden divine light. She had just finished a meditation session, consolidating her further familiarity and control over the Angel divine force.
However, a strong sense of unease and a murderous aura came from a distant direction, interrupting her inner peace.
She opened her eyes, a hint of doubt flashing in her bright golden pupils.
With a slight shift of her Divine Thought, she instantly perceived the war aura surging like boiling water within the territories of the Heaven Dou and Star Luo Empires. Countless armies were assembling, the light of spirit tools flickered in the dark night, and a resolute and tragic will soared into the sky.
"Are they... insane?" An expression of disbelief appeared on Qian Renxue's exquisite face. "Knowing the existence of Xuan Ming and Bibi Dong, they still dare to actively start a war? Striking a rock with an egg?"
But soon, a flash of realization crossed her eyes. She remembered the strong resistance Ning Rongrong and the others encountered when promoting the new policies, and she remembered Xu Hong's penetrating analysis of human nature.
No, they weren't crazy.
It was the system of the Spirit Empire that had touched their most fundamental interests.
This transformation was not just about overthrowing the imperial power of the two empires; it was about smashing the entire old system of privilege centered around Spirit Masters.
She realized that this war, on the surface, was the Two Great Empires resisting the Spirit Empire's aggression, but in essence, it was a desperate counterattack by the remaining forces of the old order.
This war was not just an external conquest, but a thorough internal liquidation.
The Spirit Empire needed to use an indisputable, overwhelming victory, and violence sufficient to make everyone's blood run cold, to completely crush all fluke mentalities and brand the rules of the new order into everyone's Soul with iron and blood.
This was a war to establish authority.
Thinking of this, Qian Renxue stood up, her sacred wings slightly spreading behind her.
The Angel God needed to display her majesty and power in this war!
Her figure flashed, turning into a streak of golden light, and in the next moment, she appeared in the depths of the Supreme Pontiff Palace, beside Xuan Ming.
"The Two Great Empires are going to war." Qian Renxue spoke directly. "This war concerns the final establishment of the new order and the stability of faith. I intend to personally command the Angel Legion to participate and end this farce in the name of the God of Angels."
This was an excellent opportunity to re-establish her prestige as the Angel God and gain more of a voice within the Spirit Empire.
However, Xuan Ming didn't even look back at her, only faintly uttering two words:
"Not needed."
Qian Renxue was startled and frowned. "Why? I can..."
"You can't handle it," Xuan Ming interrupted her.
Qian Renxue instantly understood his meaning. Her golden pupils suddenly contracted, and a chill rose from her heart.
"You... you plan to take action personally? You want to... slaughter those millions of troops?"
Although she craved victory and understood the cruelty of war, the thought of Xuan Ming's attitude of disregarding Life and the methods he might employ still made her feel a pang of palpitations.
"Xuan Ming, there's no need to go that far!" Qian Renxue tried to dissuade him. "We can defeat them, capture them, and use victory to intimidate. We don't need to use such extreme measures..."
"It is necessary." Xuan Ming finally turned his head and looked at her calmly.
"Deterrence needs to be cast in blood."
"Without the fear of death, they will never truly let go of their fluke mentality."
"They will think that the law does not punish the masses. They will think that by uniting, they have the capital to bargain."
"I want them to understand that rules are rules. They will not change because of numbers, nor will there be compromise because of alliances. Violating the rules means paying a price. This price can be of any scale, including... death."
"Only in this way can we root out the fluke mentality in their hearts and establish the majesty of the new order upon absolute fear."
Qian Renxue opened her mouth, wanting to say more, but meeting Xuan Ming's emotionless eyes, all her words got stuck in her throat.
She understood that in Xuan Ming's eyes, this war was no longer a simple matter of conquest and resistance.
It was a purge, a sacrifice to set the iron laws for the new era in the cruelest and most direct way.
And he would be the sole executioner.
The golden divine light around Qian Renxue dimmed slightly. Looking at Xuan Ming's back as he turned away again, she felt for the first time so clearly that what lay between them was not just love, hate, and resentment, but an insurmountable chasm in their perception of the nature of the World.
What he wanted was not surrender, but... complete subjugation!