The speed of an eight-ring Soul Douluo was very fast, and the distance between the imperial palace and the Heaven Dou Spirit Hall was not far either. In addition, after the massive commotion caused by the Third Army's advance into Heaven Dou City earlier, the Platinum Bishop and newly appointed Hall Master of the Heaven Dou Spirit Hall, Krat, had already issued a state of alert, assembling all Spirit Masters under the Hall to prepare for any emergencies.
Therefore, in less than half an hour, after seeing the Saintess Token in the hands of "Overlord Flower", Krat led over two thousand Spirit Masters from the Heaven Dou Spirit Hall to the imperial palace, joining the ranks of the rebels.
However, even with the addition of over two thousand Spirit Masters from the Heaven Dou Spirit Hall, the rebels still failed to reverse their disadvantage.
It wasn't because the elites of Spirit Hall were incompetent, nor because the original palace guards were particularly strong, but because more and more reinforcements were arriving on the battlefield to support the palace guards.
Qian Renxue not only miscalculated the involvement of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan but also underestimated the noble families within Heaven Dou City.
As the imperial capital of the Heaven Dou Empire, there was no shortage of noble families residing in Heaven Dou City.
Looking across the entire continent's Spirit Master world, the strength of these noble families wasn't impressive far inferior to top-tier clans like the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, and they didn't even have a single nine-ring Titled Douluo.
But as one of the foundational pillars of the Heaven Dou Empire, the strength of these noble families couldn't be underestimated, especially when they were united.
It didn't take much each duke's family could send one or two seven-ring Soul Sages and a few Soul Emperors, each marquis and earl's family could send one or two six-ring Soul Emperors and a few Soul Kings. All these added together formed a force strong enough to change the tide of battle!
Among these noble families, it was true that some had long been secretly won over by Spirit Hall, but the majority still supported the Heaven Dou Empire.
After all, even a broken ship has three nails, let alone the fact that the Heaven Dou Empire wasn't even sinking yet.
Following the Heaven Dou Empire, they were noble lords, high above the common people. But following Spirit Hall, which was full of powerhouses, these people of limited strength would be reduced to insignificant nobodies.
It could be said that as long as the Heaven Dou Empire hadn't collapsed, most of the noble families would not easily switch allegiances. This wasn't even about foresight, but simply about their own interests.
Especially as more and more reinforcements arrived at the imperial palace, and Emperor Xue Ye issued an imperial decree stating, "The Crown Prince has colluded with the enemy and committed treason, but those unaware of his actions will not be held accountable," many nobles who had previously been observing from the sidelines and belonged to the Crown Prince's faction began joining the palace guards with full effort.
Emperor Xue Ye's decree wasn't without reason.
Xue Qinghe was originally the heir to the empire and naturally had the support of many nobles. The Crown Prince's faction was not small.
If he had indiscriminately labeled all members of the Crown Prince's faction as rebels, not only would the Heaven Dou Empire immediately collapse, but the losses would also be devastating.
And right now, when manpower was urgently needed, adopting a lenient approach toward nobles from the Crown Prince's faction who hadn't participated in the rebellion and were unaware of the treason was undoubtedly the wisest choice.
With the addition of so many fresh forces, the rebels' defeat became apparent. There were even instances of large-scale surrenders among soldiers from the Third Army who had joined the rebellion. Barring any unexpected developments, it was only a matter of time before the rebellion was completely crushed.
"Mu Yang, what do you plan to do now? Looks like Xue Qinghe is definitely going to lose."
Wearing her Ice Phoenix Battle Armor and standing midair, Shui Bing'er looked down at the ongoing battle in the imperial palace and asked the equally armor-clad Mu Yang beside her.
Shrugging his shoulders, Mu Yang said, "What can I do? Nothing! But my Qinghe brother can't be allowed to die."
Originally, Mu Yang had planned to either "add flowers to a brocade" or "offer charcoal in the snow," but the situation had developed beyond expectations. As one of the only two empires on the continent, the Heaven Dou Empire still had some foundation. While they lacked high-end combat power like Titled Douluo, their mid-tier forces were plentiful.
With the current strength of him and Shui Bing'er, they couldn't possibly help Qian Renxue reverse the defeat.
All he could do now was wait for the right opportunity when Qian Renxue was forced to retreat, he would help her hold off the pursuing troops and sell her a favor.
"Sigh~ What a pity. I really don't know what kind of pill that Qinghe brother of yours took to suddenly think about rebelling."
Shui Bing'er shook her head with a sigh, unable to hold back her sarcasm.
Upon hearing this, a speechless look also appeared on Mu Yang's face.
In terms of political schemes alone, Qian Renxue wasn't bad. After all, Emperor Xue Ye and Ning Fengzhi were both quite satisfied with Xue Qinghe, and both regarded him as an outstanding heir of the Heaven Dou Empire.
But to say that Qian Renxue was truly smart—that wouldn't be accurate either. Aside from her most severe flaw of being ruled by love, arrogance and conceit were also very obvious shortcomings of hers.
Barring any unexpected events, tonight's coup in Heaven Dou Palace was doomed to fail for Qian Renxue.
And the reason why Qian Renxue would lose was because she underestimated the strength of her opponents. She failed to anticipate the enemies she would face and was overly arrogant, preventing her from displaying her full strength.
If he were Qian Renxue, let alone the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan and the noble families inside Heaven Dou City, he would've even accounted for the Clear Sky Sect hidden deep in the mountains hundreds of miles outside the city.
He would have considered every possible enemy and then had Qian Daoliu deploy enough manpower to deal with all of them. How could failure even be possible?
In any case, the Spirit Hall might lack in other things, but they certainly weren't short on experts. At worst, they could just bring out that mighty Buddha Qian Daoliu himself.
"By the way, with Xue Qinghe rebelling, the Heaven Dou Empire definitely won't let him off the hook. If we take action later, do you think the Heaven Dou Empire might recognize us?"
Suddenly, Shui Bing'er voiced her concern.
"What's there to be afraid of? Not to mention that we might not even be recognized, even if we are, the Heaven Dou Empire will pretend not to know.
Spirit Hall is plotting against Heaven Dou, and after tonight, the Heaven Dou Empire is bound to tear off all pretense with Spirit Hall. With such a powerful enemy, would Heaven Dou Empire want to provoke a new one? Just how many Titled Douluo do they even have?"
Mu Yang curled his lips and replied nonchalantly.
Ever since advancing to six rings and becoming a Soul Emperor, combined with his two-word battle armor and martial soul fusion technique, his upper limit had already surpassed that of a Level 95 Titled Douluo. Aside from Spirit Hall, Mu Yang feared no force.
Even if he pissed off someone nasty, it didn't matter. As long as he could escape, he could just find a remote place to hide and cultivate. When the day came that both his twin martial souls were perfected, who wouldn't bow before him then?
As for the saying, "the monk can run but the temple can't" Blazing Fire Academy and Sky Water Academy, these two great temples, weren't something some random nobodies could touch. Even someone as powerful as Spirit Hall had to weigh the consequences carefully. If a Titled Douluo slipped through the net, could they bear the revenge of a rogue powerhouse?
"That's true~"
Shui Bing'er nodded, her worries completely dissipated.
The only official Titled Douluo of the Heaven Dou Empire was none other than their ally, Dugu Bo!
Even if they got caught red-handed, it didn't matter. As long as they didn't fully expose themselves and gave the Heaven Dou Empire a way out, Heaven Dou would pretend nothing ever happened.
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