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It had been nearly three years since Yang Xiong and his group left the Douluo Continent. During this time, the continent's landscape underwent tremendous changes.
As in the original storyline, even though the Hao Tian Sect had reemerged, the Spirit Hall still convened the grand gathering of sects.
However, both the Hao Tian Sect and the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect dismissed this gathering with disdain, showing no intention of participating. At the same time, they avoided direct confrontation with the Spirit Hall.
The Spirit Hall paid no heed to whether these two major sects took any action, proceeding with the gathering as if the two sects were irrelevant.
As for the Body Sect, it was already fortified by multiple Title Douluos. After years of construction, the sect's internal structure was fully developed, with numerous facilities emerging one after another.
Even the Thunder Valley had begun to be utilized, primarily leveraging the lightning from its periphery for disciples' body refinement.
The Spirit Hall repeatedly sent Elder Title Douluos to recruit the Body Sect, even promising the top position among the upper three sects.
Unfortunately, Yang Wudi's people rejected the offer, citing that their sect leader was absent and no one could make decisions on his behalf.
Even though the visiting elders expressed dissatisfaction, the Body Sect's overall strength was formidable, with a significant number of Title Douluos. Moreover, the sect was like an impenetrable fortress, impossible to breach from the outside.
Additionally, the Body Sect maintained excellent relations with the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect. Sword Douluo frequently visited the Body Sect to spar with Yang Wudi, which deterred the Spirit Hall from making any rash moves.
Over the past few years, Yang Wudi and Bai He had successively broken through to become Title Douluos, and all five of the Body Sect's elder council members had reached the Title Douluo level.
Surprisingly, Zhao Wuji, once wanted by the Spirit Hall as the Immovable Bright King, had diligently cultivated over the years and also advanced to the Title Douluo level.
Zhao Wuji held the title of external elder for both the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect and the Body Sect. When he had free time, he would reside at the Body Sect for a while, expressing admiration for its internal workings, especially the body refinement methods used in the Thunder Valley.
However, Zhao Wuji spent most of his time at the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect. He remained unmanaged by anyone, living freely and occasionally teaching Yang Lin and Sun Yu combat techniques when he felt the urge.
The Spirit Hall's grand gathering of sects proceeded as scheduled, but the so-called upper three sects and lower four sects only included one Title Douluo—Tuoba Xi, the Sacred Dragon Douluo and an elder of the Spirit Hall.
The upper three sects were the Sacred Dragon Sect, Wind Sword Sect, and Black Tiger Sect, while the lower four sects consisted of the Steenbok Sect, Fire Leopard Sect, Hornet Sect, and Elephant Armor Sect.
These sects were characterized by their obvious strengths. Each sect boasted at least a thousand soul masters combined, and four of them were originally part of the lower four sects.
However, the Elephant Armor Sect, formerly one of the lower four sects, suffered heavy losses among its upper echelons. Relying solely on its loyalty to the Spirit Hall and the foundation of its thousand-plus disciples, it barely ranked at the bottom of the lower four sects. This was only due to Bibi Dong's favoritism toward the Elephant Armor Sect's surviving soul masters.
It should be noted that all members of the Elephant Armor Sect possessed the Diamond Elephant Armor as their martial soul, excelling in defense. They formed the strongest and most resilient army of soul masters.
Regarding the establishment of the seven sects, neither the Tian Dou Empire nor the Star Luo Empire acknowledged or opposed it. They remained entirely silent, pretending to be unaware of the matter.
Meanwhile, the two empires had been preparing for war, seemingly ready to erupt into conflict at any moment.
As for the Body Sect, after Yang Xiong's arrangements and explanations, everyone adopted an unusually low profile. They focused on rigorous cultivation within the sect and maximized its defenses. Newly promoted Title Douluo Bai He personally took charge of patrolling the sect.
Though the sect members found the Spirit Hall's self-deceptive methods somewhat laughable, they had no recourse. After all, they couldn't personally go to Spirit City to contest for the status of the upper three sects.
After the establishment of the seven sects, the seven sects jointly petitioned the Spirit Hall, respectfully inviting Bibi Dong to ascend the throne and establish the Spirit Empire.
Bibi Dong did not hesitate. She consolidated all personnel from the Spirit Hall and rallied all the kingdoms and principalities surrounding the Spirit Hall to form the Spirit Empire, with herself as its first emperor.
All Spirit Halls within the two empires were closed, and all soul masters were recalled to form an extremely large and terrifying army of soul masters.
In terms of soul master strength, the Spirit Hall controlled approximately sixty thousand soul masters, accounting for about sixty percent of the total strength in the soul master world, including many high-level experts.
Moreover, whether the newly appointed upper three sects or the lower four sects, all sects relocated within the Spirit Empire, forming a symbiotic relationship where they relied on each other for survival.
At the same time, the Spirit Empire gained the support of all the kingdoms and principalities of the two empires, including the Barak Kingdom, where Shrek Academy was originally located.
Geographically, the Spirit Empire's position was unfavorable, squeezed between the Tian Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire. However, with its powerful army of soul masters, it was enough to intimidate the two empires and gradually begin expanding into their territories.
Although the Star Luo Empire had a sufficient number of troops, many soul master sects had migrated to the Spirit Empire, significantly weakening its domestic soul master forces. As a result, it dared not launch a war recklessly.
As for the Tian Dou Empire, after the Tian Dou Palace incident, the imperial family's strength was severely damaged, and its treasury had been secretly plundered empty by Yang Xiong. This meant that its financial, material, and human resources had suffered immense losses.
Nevertheless, the Tian Dou imperial family still retained some influence. By rallying supportive nobles and receiving backing from the Hao Tian Sect and the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, it managed to survive the most critical period.
However, with the Spirit Empire severing communication between the two empires, they could not form an alliance to jointly resist the Spirit Empire. Furthermore, the two empires had been at odds for nearly a century, accumulating deep grievances, making it impossible to form a united front.
In the end, the two empires could only watch helplessly as the Spirit Empire annexed two provinces from each of their nations.
Thus, the three empires formed a tripartite balance of power. In terms of territory and size, the Spirit Empire was now on par with the Star Luo Empire and the Tian Dou Empire.
During these years, due to the overwhelming strength of the Spirit Empire's soul masters, coupled with the influence of the seven sects, the Spirit Empire summoned all soul masters to join. Those who refused were labeled as heretics.
At this point, the Spirit Hall boasted a multitude of powerful individuals. Although the number of Title Douluos had not increased, the number of Soul Douluos and Soul Sages had grown significantly. Some neutral families and independent soul masters joined the Spirit Empire.
Under the intimidation of the powerful soul master forces, the Tian Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire could only watch as the Spirit Empire annexed two provinces from each of them, secretly amassing strength to prepare for resistance.
During these two years, the Tian Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire accumulated armies numbering in the millions. The Star Luo Empire, in particular, had a larger number of troops, with strong military discipline, deploying over two million soldiers along the border with the Spirit Empire.
The Tian Dou Empire was slightly weaker but still amassed over a million troops.
In comparison, the Spirit Empire stationed twenty thousand soul masters and hundreds of thousands of soldiers along the borders of the two empires. Among the soul masters were elder-level Title Douluos, exerting immense pressure on the two empires.
As for the Title Douluos of the two empires, their numbers were comparable to those of the Spirit Hall. However, these individuals belonged to various sects and could not unite to confront the Spirit Hall.
The Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect and the Hao Tian Sect supported the Tian Dou imperial family, but their levels of support varied.
The Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect now had a large number of soul masters, estimated at around four thousand. However, after the Spirit Hall's "Soul Hunting" operation, the sect publicly claimed heavy losses and did not reveal its true strength. Its support for the Tian Dou imperial family was limited to providing a small number of soul masters and financial aid.
Furthermore, the two newly promoted Title Douluos hidden within the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect had never revealed themselves to the public, and no one could uncover information about them.
As for the Hao Tian Sect, its number of soul masters was even smaller. Even after recruiting scattered practitioners and former affiliates upon reemerging, the total number of soul masters did not exceed a thousand.
The Hao Tian Sect had seven Title Douluos. One was dispatched to the frontlines to oversee operations, but aside from that, there was no substantial support from soul masters.
No matter how much the Tian Dou imperial family invited them or offered generous rewards, the Hao Tian Sect and the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect verbally pledged full support but took no further action.
As for the Body Sect, it similarly expressed verbal support and sent dozens of soul masters to the frontlines. However, these were unofficial personnel, mainly tasked with gathering intelligence and completely independent of the Tian Dou imperial family's command. Leading them was an elder from the Agile Tribe.
Both the Hao Tian Sect and the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect were well aware that with a major war approaching, all sects were trying to preserve their strength while focusing on cultivation and improvement within their ranks.
Once the real war broke out, it would be earth-shattering, a matter of life and death.
Moreover, with the experience of the Hao Tian Sect abandoning its affiliated families in the past, no sect was willing to stake its entire foundation.
Of course, whether it was the Hao Tian Sect, the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, or the Body Sect, they were all biding their time. The Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect and the Body Sect were waiting for Yang Xiong, Ning Rongrong, and the others to return, while the Hao Tian Sect awaited Tang San and his group.
Given the talents of Yang Xiong and Tang San, if they were given ten or twenty years, they would undoubtedly become an extremely powerful force, potentially shaking the very foundations of the Spirit Hall.
Another factor was the deterrent presence of Qian Daoliu in the soul master world. As the only ninety-nine-level Limit Douluo on the continent, the extent of his strength was unimaginable to anyone.
Tang Hao and Tang Xiao repeatedly tested and confirmed that the Slaughter King was none other than Tang Chen, the ancestor of the Hao Tian Sect. However, they were powerless against the current Slaughter King. Whether in terms of strength or geographical location, the Slaughter King was an unbeatable existence. Even Tang Hao, exerting his full strength, could do nothing.
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