"Let's go."
Lu Jingming withdrew his thoughts and said to the group.
"I have been to this world once before and left behind some arrangements. I haven't paid attention to it for a while, so it's a good time to see what it has developed into."
He was certain that the spatial passage Sparkle had blasted open connected precisely to the parallel world that the Star Rail Station had accurately anchored using the Cosmic Juggernaut the same world where he had first experimented with the World Tree.
It was that initial experiment that laid the foundation for the later cooperation with the Douluo plane's will and the initiation of the Holy Grail War, ultimately achieving mutual benefit.
He had also planted a World Tree sapling in this world. Though far less complete and powerful than the one in the main world, it was quietly drawing negative energy from this planet and converting it into nutrients to promote its healthy evolution.
The elemental energy and vibrant life force in the Star Dou Great Forest, which was far beyond normal levels, was clear evidence that the World Tree was taking effect.
"The environment has improved so significantly. It seems that some of the proliferating negative energy entities must have been cleared out," Lu Jingming mused inwardly.
He recalled several particularly powerful negative energy aggregates he had previously detected.
The negative energy entities of himself and Firefly outside Heaven Dou City, as well as the negative energy entities representing Kevin, Fu Hua, Osial, and others.
"If even those most troublesome ones have been resolved, it indicates that either Bibi Dong or Qian Renxue in this world has successfully stepped into the God-level realm." Lu Jingming analyzed.
As for the Tang San of this world? In his opinion, the original path to obtaining the Seagod and Asura God inheritances had been completely disrupted.
Seagod Island was occupied by Osial's negative energy entity, and the Slaughter City was guarded by Kevin's negative energy entity. There were too many variables.
Unless this world's laws of destiny and causality were unusually active and stubborn, forcefully dragging history back to its original track, it would be extremely difficult for Tang San to repeat that path to godhood.
And according to Lu Jingming's perception, the destiny and causal forces of this parallel world seemed to be in a relatively inert state.
He had previously turned the history of this world upside down, yet he had not witnessed any powerful causal backlash or fate correction force descending to punish him.
This suggested that in this world, the general trend was not immutable. With sufficient power and means, anyone could become the writer of history.
"After all, parallel worlds are infinite, each with its own origins and developmental trajectories. Variation is the norm," Lu Jingming took one last look at the simultaneously familiar and strange forest, a meaningful smile playing on his lips.
"Well then, let's see what sort of appearance this world, where I sowed the seeds of change, has grown into."
Time quietly flowed after the earth-shattering Holy Grail War in Mingdu ended, and a month passed in the blink of an eye.
During this month, through various channels, both open and covert, the great empires and top powers of the Douluo Continent gradually learned of the astonishing upheaval that had occurred in Mingdu of the Sun Moon Empire.
Although details varied and rumors were rampant, several core pieces of information quickly spread across every corner of the continent, accompanied by panic and disbelief.
The pride and symbol of the Sun Moon Empire, the magnificent Mingdu—which gathered the continent's most advanced Soul Tool technology and was renowned as the Unsinkable City—had been reduced to scorched earth in a series of shocking battles, completely wiped off the map, leaving only a deeply unsettling spatial passage and a bottomless abyss.
It was confirmed that the Sea God Pavilion elders of Shrek Academy, top experts of the Clear Sky School, and core figures of the Holy Spirit Church had all appeared in Mingdu and been involved in the fierce fighting that surpassed human comprehension. Casualties were heavy, with multiple pinnacle Limit Douluo, who stood at the top of the continent, confirmed to have perished. This news, like an earthquake, spread throughout the entire continent.
Even more unsettling was the fact that a bizarre passage leading to an unknown world had been opened in Mingdu, swallowing many powerful individuals, including the remnants of Shrek Academy and some members of the Holy Spirit Church. Their whereabouts were unknown, their fates uncertain, casting a deeper veil of mystery and terror over the incident.
The sudden death of the Sun Moon Empire's Emperor and Crown Prince Xu Tianran's swift, iron-fisted control of the domestic situation, supported by a mysterious and powerful force, further filled the continental situation with volatility.
Just as the various continental forces were struggling to digest this shocking news, embroiled in internal debates and suspicion, a proclamation that stunned the world was issued from the new center of power in the Sun Moon Empire—a large military fortress named Yangcheng, temporarily selected southeast of the former Mingdu.
The new Emperor, Xu Tianran, formally ascended the throne in the Imperial Palace of Yangcheng, renamed New Mingdu, declaring the rebirth of the Sun Moon Empire and igniting the fuse of war.
During the grand but somber coronation ceremony, he wore a black dragon robe embroidered with the Sun Moon Totem, his expression sorrowful. He mercilessly placed the blame for the catastrophic destruction of Mingdu and the tragic loss of millions of citizens squarely upon Shrek Academy, the Star Luo Empire, the Heaven Soul Empire, and the Dou Spirit Empire—the three original Douluo Continent nations and their affiliated powers.
In the narrative carefully crafted by the Sun Moon Empire's official side, this was a vile sneak attack and terrorist act targeting the heart of the Sun Moon Empire, meticulously planned by Shrek Academy in collusion with the three great empires.
Xu Tianran emotionally accused Xuan Zi and others from Shrek Academy of infiltrating Mingdu with the intent to destroy the Empire's core Soul Tool research facilities and trigger a massive explosion. He further claimed that the three great empires provided external support and even used unknown, inhumane forbidden techniques, ultimately leading to the destruction of Mingdu and heavy civilian casualties.
As for the extraordinary phenomena like the Holy Grail War, Servants, and the parallel world passage, the official propaganda machine deliberately blurred, downplayed, or distorted them, explaining them away as terrifying anomalies caused by evil Soul Skills used by the three great empires to cover up their crimes.
The Sun Moon Empire's propaganda machine ran at full throttle, continuously showcasing the Empire's tragedy and fury through Soul Tool screens, leaflets, official announcements, and impassioned street speeches spread throughout the Empire. Shrek Academy and the three great empires were cast as unforgivable warmongers and butchers of civilians.
In the name of vengeance, wiping away the shame, and defending the Empire's dignity and survival, Xu Tianran declared a state of national wartime readiness, calling upon all citizens to unite against the common enemy and prepare to exact blood debts from the wicked invaders.
This tactic of manipulating public opinion was highly effective and lethal.
The destruction of Mingdu was an undeniable fact. The loss and displacement of millions of Sun Moon Empire citizens was a deeply painful and unforgettable national tragedy. The enormous grief and sense of national humiliation urgently required a clear outlet for expression.
Under the conscious and systematic guidance of the authorities, public sentiment was fully ignited. Hatred for Shrek Academy and the three great empires spread like wildfire across the Sun Moon Empire, providing a surging wave of popular support for the war hawks.
The shadow of war descended upon the entire Douluo Continent with unprecedented intensity and oppression.
Faced with the Sun Moon Empire's aggressive accusations and clearly irreconcilable hostility, the Star Luo, Heaven Soul, and Dou Spirit Empires immediately raised their highest level of alert after the initial shock of receiving the proclamation.
They naturally denied all of Xu Tianran's accusations and vehemently condemned them as a clumsy pretext for the Sun Moon Empire to launch its long-planned war of aggression, attempting to shift war guilt onto others.
Almost simultaneously with receiving the Sun Moon Empire's proclamation, the three great empires acted swiftly, demonstrating rare coordination.
Border garrisons in each country immediately entered the highest state of readiness. Countless elite legions began to mobilize on a massive scale and with high efficiency along the long border shared with the Sun Moon Empire.
The western border of the Star Luo Empire and the southern border of the Heaven Soul Empire saw banners covering the sky, military camps linked end-to-end, and the unique energy glow of activated Soul Tool arrays burning day and night. The atmosphere of impending conflict was so tense it was suffocating.
Even the Dou Spirit Empire, which did not directly border the Sun Moon Empire, knew the principle of "if the lips are gone, the teeth are cold." They quickly mobilized their elite domestic forces and sought passage to reinforce the border defenses of the Star Luo and Heaven Soul Empires.
Facing the unprecedentedly powerful and explicitly hostile Sun Moon Empire, the three great empires displayed rare solidarity, quickly forging a firm offensive and defensive alliance and swearing to jointly confront the Sun Moon Empire's threat.
The ruling class of all nations understood that a full-scale continental war of an unprecedented scale, concerning the very survival of their empires, seemed unavoidable.
High-level officials in all countries began emergency mobilization of national resources, frantically stockpiling strategic supplies, and massively conscripting registered Soul Masters, shifting the entire state apparatus onto a wartime footing to prepare fully for the lightning strike the Sun Moon Empire might launch.
Under the immense pressure of this looming war, the previous incident—where the three great empires massed troops at the entrance of the Star Dou Great Forest, intending to pressure or retaliate against the Soul Beasts following the destruction of Shrek City by the Beast Tide—was temporarily shelved.
Compared to the imminent, existential war between human empires, the threat from the Star Dou Great Forest's Beast Tide seemed to take a back seat.
The three great empires unanimously made a rational, albeit regretful, choice.
They withdrew their main forces from the perimeter of the Star Dou Great Forest, leaving only a few experienced elite reconnaissance personnel to monitor the Soul Beast's movements and prevent them from taking advantage of the situation.
The main military strength, Soul Master resources, and strategic focus were all unreservedly shifted toward countering the Sun Moon Empire.
The conflict with the Soul Beasts could be postponed—after all, the Soul Beasts also seemed to have ceased their activities after the Shrek City incident, and the truth of the event remained dubious—but the Sun Moon Empire's long-honed military edge was now pointed directly at the throats of the three great empires.
And a month ago, the pinnacle duel over the ruins of Mingdu, which had been abruptly halted by the appearance of the spatial passage, also had a final conclusion.
After confirming through special channels that Princess Wei Na had safely returned to the Heaven Soul Empire, Fei Xiao unhesitatingly chose to retreat rather than fight Celenova to the death.
For her, the Holy Grail War had ended with the unexpected appearance of the spatial passage. Continuing the entanglement would not only be meaningless but might also lead to complications.
More importantly, her almost bestial intuition, honed through countless battles, issued a strong warning: if she continued to engage with Celenova, she might be doomed to remain on that ruin forever.
The facts proved the accuracy of her intuition.
Had Fei Xiao hesitated for just a moment longer, Phantylia, lurking in the shadows, would have launched a sneak attack. Given Phantylia's recovered strength and methods, the Fei Xiao of that time would have had no chance of survival.
Fei Xiao's timely return undoubtedly injected a powerful dose of calm into the Heaven Soul Empire, which had been somewhat volatile and lacking confidence due to the severe injury of Undying Poison and the loss of elite members of the Body School.
The presence of a top-tier expert in excellent condition greatly stabilized the morale and public sentiment of the Heaven Soul Empire.
By this point, the political landscape of the Douluo Continent one month later was clear.
The Sun Moon Empire, led by the new Emperor Xu Tianran, was united against the common enemy, its war machine fully activated, resembling a powerfully drawn bow.
The three original Douluo Continent empires were forced into a tight alliance, constructing solid defense lines along the long border, nervously awaiting the coming storm.
The Soul Beast faction in the Star Dou Great Forest unexpectedly gained a respite, temporarily becoming observers outside this imminent human civil war.
The future of the continent was completely enveloped in the smoke of war and uncertainty.
Haiyuan City, this miracle city combining unique technology and Soul Tool techniques, was now the undisputed number one fortress on the continent, especially with Mingdu reduced to ruins and New Mingdu still under construction.
Its distinctive architectural style and flowing energy light displayed a unique atmosphere.
Inside a simple yet cozy guest room in the city, Xiao Xiao and Jiang Nannan were sitting together, listening to Qingque excitedly recounting various interesting board and card games and local anecdotes from her home, the Xianzhou Luofu.
Qingque was attempting to use this lighthearted method to dissipate the heavy anxiety and confusion that had weighed on the two girls for days.
Over the past month, they had received too much unbearable news through various channels.
The disappearance of the Shrek Academy group into the spatial passage, the extreme tension between the Sun Moon Empire and the three great empires... and the most heartbreaking news was undoubtedly the destruction of Shrek City.
When they first heard the rumor, Jiang Nannan and Xiao Xiao's immediate reaction was to flatly disbelieve it—how could Shrek City, a legacy of ten thousand years and the holy land in the hearts of the continent's Soul Masters, vanish overnight?
But when Jiang Nannan met her mother, who was protected by Ningguang and safely brought to Haiyuan City, and confirmed the catastrophic Beast Tide from her mother's mouth, she had no choice but to accept the cruel reality.
The moment the devastating news was confirmed, both Jiang Nannan and Xiao Xiao fell into deep confusion and helplessness.
Jiang Nannan was relatively stronger. After her initial grief, she felt more grateful—at least her mother was safe and under Ningguang's protection.
While she had affection for Shrek Academy, it wasn't enough to cause her complete breakdown.
However, Xiao Xiao was different. Her feelings for Shrek Academy were much deeper. It was the place where she grew up and where her dreams began. At this moment, she felt a profound, heartbreaking sense of being homeless.
She was completely lost for a time, unsure of where to go or what to do, filled with deep confusion and helplessness.
-----------------------------------------------
I handpick only the finest and most captivating novels for you. Don't forget to check out my other novels!
p@treon HongMengZi