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*****
The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan has been exterminated!
This was a catastrophic event that shook the entire continent.
Particularly with the founding of the Scholastic Realm, information across the continent had become interconnected, even allowing for real-time communication. Consequently, this news was nothing short of an earthquake rippling through the land.
Unlike the original trajectory that Su Wen knew of, Yu Xiaogang was actually within the clan this time.
Because of Su Wen, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan had confined Yu Xiaogang for offending him. They kept him under strict watch, showing absolutely no mercy.
Yet, in this extermination event, there was no news of him whatsoever.
That's right--his corpse was missing.
Aside from Yu Tianheng, who had accompanied Dugu Yan to visit Dugu Bo, and Yu Tianxin, who was far away at the Thunder Academy, every other direct descendant of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan was killed. None of the other clan members present at the estate managed to escape.
While there were technically still survivors of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, aside from Yu Tianheng and Yu Tianxin, the rest belonged to distant side branches. The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon bloodline they inherited was incredibly thin.
It could be said that this great clan was completely ruined.
"Sigh, fortunately, Yan'er was on the verge of a martial soul evolution at the time. To be safe, I kept her by my side," Dugu Bo said, still feeling a lingering sense of dread.
He didn't dare to imagine how horrifying it would have been if Dugu Yan had also been with the clan at that time.
If Dugu Yan had died, Dugu Bo suspected that even without concrete evidence, he would have rushed to Spirit City and blown himself up in retaliation.
Without a doubt, the faction that wiped out the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan was the Spirit Hall.
However, Spirit Hall stubbornly refused to admit it. Utilizing the convenient information channels of the Scholastic Realm, they immediately issued a statement condemning the forces that attacked the clan. They even claimed that if any traces of the perpetrators were found, Spirit Hall would mobilize its Spirit Masters to surround and annihilate them.
Of course, gossip and rumors could not be suppressed. Far too many people suspected that Spirit Hall was the culprit.
After all, the only power on the continent capable of achieving such a feat was Spirit Hall, one of the two great sacred lands. The other sacred land, the Academy, lacked this kind of power. It had only been established for a few years, and though it boasted many Titled Douluos, they were cobbled together from various factions. They were effective as a deterrent, but the likelihood of them executing a unified operation to wipe out one of the upper three sects was very low.
Meanwhile, certain members of Spirit Hall, operating under the guise of 'not exposing their identities,' bickered with others, arguing why the Academy couldn't possess such power.
The Academy had recruited plenty of direct members over the years. Though they were all children under the age of ten, behind every child was an entire family. Who was to say they couldn't amass an army capable of wiping out the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan?
Furthermore, these people weren't framing the Academy particularly harshly; they were merely throwing wild accusations around.
Because of the existence of the Scholastic Realm, the people of the Douluo Continent now knew about the existence of the Sun Moon Continent, as well as some basic information about it.
The primary target of Spirit Hall's smear campaign was actually the Sun Moon Continent.
The two major factions of the Sun Moon Continent, whether it was the Sun Moon Imperial Family or the Sun Moon Divine Cult, both possessed the power to eradicate the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
This narrative quickly became mainstream. The official Spirit Hall authorities subtly steered public opinion, aligning it with the narrative pushed by the instigators they had deployed.
Following the downfall of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, tensions between the two continents began to escalate.
The people of the Douluo Continent, who had previously maintained a curious and friendly attitude, became filled with hostility toward the Sun Moon Continent. Though the two wrongfully accused factions of the Sun Moon Continent were displeased, they chose not to retaliate.
Compared to the mud thrown at them by Spirit Hall, they were currently far more concerned with their own internal rivalries.
The two major factions had reached their most critical juncture. A massive war could break out at any moment to decisively determine the ultimate ruler of the Sun Moon Continent.
Putting the Sun Moon Continent aside, Su Wen learned from Xiao Zhan and others that after successfully shifting public opinion, Spirit Hall had proposed an alliance to the two great empires. They urged them to form a swift coalition to launch a punitive expedition against the Sun Moon Continent, claiming it was the only way to appease the public's fury.
The two empires did not respond.
Spirit Hall simply chose to go all the way. While everyone was caught off guard, they directly established their own empire.
Strangely enough, everything appeared entirely justified and legitimate.
Su Wen silently marveled at Bibi Dong's planning this time around.
Without Tang San's interference, Bibi Dong's plot to establish an empire had proceeded incredibly smoothly.
The only difference from the original plan was likely the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Spirit Hall had not made a single move against them.
This seemed to be a gesture directed at Su Wen, indicating that Spirit Hall was giving face to the Academy and hoped the Academy would not interfere with their grand designs.
Because they had not received a clear stance from Su Wen, the Grand Scholar, the Academy had maintained total silence from beginning to end. They showed no favoritism and continued to preserve basic communication with all three sides.
"Xiao Wen, Spirit Hall's motives are pure malice. Their designs are obvious to everyone."
Indeed, Spirit Hall's series of maneuvers could be seen through by the upper echelons of any major power, yet none dared to speak out.
Establish an empire, then unify the continent.
Spirit Hall was using the fictitious threat of the Sun Moon Continent as a pretext for their unification of the land.
"If the Spirit Empire truly unifies the entire continent, the Academy will likely be affected as well. After all, one mountain cannot hold two tigers. When the two empires were at a standoff, the existence of the two sacred lands didn't present such obvious conflicts. But once the Spirit Empire unifies the land and Spirit Hall takes absolute control, the Academy will stick out like a sore thumb. Of course, our Academy still has branches on the Sun Moon Continent, so we might survive by leveraging the standoff between the two continents, but life definitely won't be easy," Ning Fengzhi analyzed.
By now, he spoke of the Academy using terms like "our" and "us." Clearly, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had long considered themselves a part of the Academy.
"Uncle Ning, do you mean we should stop the Spirit Empire from unifying the continent?" Su Wen asked in return.
Ning Fengzhi nodded, his gaze firm.
"Spirit Hall's ambition is laid bare. We absolutely cannot let them succeed!"
Su Wen shook his head.
When it came to unification, Su Wen held no objections whatsoever.
Throughout history, what is long divided must unite, and what is long united must divide.
Only through unification could all resources be concentrated for development.
And only through division could the corrupt conflicts of the upper echelons be fully brought to light, purging the tumors through years of warfare, before entering a new wave of development upon reunification.
The cycle repeats endlessly.
In his past life, Su Wen bore no ill will toward Spirit Hall.
One could say that in this life, his only grievances with Spirit Hall lay with Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo, perhaps adding an unpredictable Bibi Dong to the mix.
But this did not alter Su Wen's view toward Spirit Hall as an institution.
Their unification of the continent was perfectly fine.
As long as the ones in power weren't Bibi Dong, Chrysanthemum Douluo, and Ghost Douluo.
"The Douluo Planet has been divided for too long. Unification might not be a bad thing," Su Wen voiced his perspective.
Ning Fengzhi looked at Su Wen with a face full of disbelief, utterly unable to comprehend why Su Wen would say such a thing.