At this moment, the situation in the Sun-Moon Empire was rather delicate.
Although the imperial throne had not yet officially changed hands and Xu Tiannan was still only the Crown Prince in name, due to the current emperor's illness and inability to govern, Xu Tiannan had already seized power as the Regent.
With the full backing of the military, Xu Tiannan held absolute authority. The five great Defender Hands of the Sun-Moon Empire were essentially all under his control. The situation had developed to a point where no one could stop Xu Tiannan from ascending the throne.
Even if the current emperor were to miraculously recover, it would be hard to change the status quo. Given Xu Tiannan's personality, there was no way he would allow his father the chance to reclaim power.
Now, even Kong Deming—undoubtedly the empire's number one soul engineer—felt overwhelmed by Xu Tiannan's ruthless expansion and tough measures. He had no choice but to temporarily avoid confrontation and secretly collaborate with Lu Jingming.
In fact, because of Ju Zi, Lu Jingming had already learned the true identity of the servant she had summoned.
That was Celenova, one of the seven Lord Ravager: the Emanator, favorite vanguard general of the The Destruction Nanook, and the core figure leading the Voidranger—also considered the most attractive among the Lord Ravager.
After all, Celenova was originally the Infinite Captain under the Harmony Aeon Xipe, the Harmony, before being poached by Nanook.
Just by looking at Robin, one could tell that Xipe only picked extraordinarily good-looking people to serve. Celenova was no exception.
After all, Xipe's strict selection could be trusted.
If this were the world of Star Rail, facing someone as terrifying as Celenova, Lu Jingming would have chosen to run away long ago.
However, in this universe, Celenova was only summoned because of Lu Jingming's memories and a massive amount of negative energy.
Despite still being dangerous, with Herta as backup, Lu Jingming wasn't too worried.
Of course, at first, Lu Jingming hadn't expected someone like Celenova to be summoned. After all, Douluo Star never had such a vast amount of negative energy.
But after getting in touch with Herta recently, Lu Jingming finally understood everything, and his doubts disappeared.
A single planet's negative energy was indeed insufficient to summon a being as powerful as Celenova.
But what if it was a black hole that had devoured countless God Realms?
That so-called Tomb of the Gods held the resentment and negative energy from the fall of deities—a darkness of the universe.
This time, it was only because Herta blasted open the black hole that some negative energy was attracted.
If a direct connection was established with the Tomb of the Gods, the strength of summoned servants would skyrocket—after all, the true forms of the Lord Ravager were unimaginably powerful.
With enough negative energy, their peak power could return, and igniting a star system would no longer be impossible.
However, for now, Celenova was far from invincible.
At least Lu Jingming knew he could handle it.
Otherwise, he wouldn't be so relaxed—he'd have used the Holy Grail to activate God's Perspective and wouldn't be playing around at all.
What Lu Jingming hadn't expected was Xu Tiannan's madness.
He not only threw countless civilians into the antimatter furnace to be turned into Voidranger, but also ruthlessly wiped out the soul beasts of the Jingyang Mountains.
Keep in mind, the number of soul beasts on the Douluo Continent had always been in decline. Soul masters tried to limit their hunting.
Xu Tiannan's reckless actions showed total disregard for the future, all for his ambitions.
Of course, Xu Tiannan's actions might also be because he realized the soul master profession had its limits compared to otherworldly powers, and he hoped to completely change the continent's professional system.
Lu Jingming didn't know Xu Tiannan's true intentions.
But he clearly realized that the Sun-Moon Empire's power was now overwhelming. Whether it was the fearsome Voidranger, the ambitious Holy Spirit Church, or the newly formed Mecha Legion, they all had a crushing advantage over the original three empires.
Still, Lu Jingming knew things wouldn't be that simple.
After all, luck wasn't exclusive to Ju Zi, and Lord Ravager weren't truly invincible.
While choosing a Master was based on fate, the summoning of servants depended purely on luck.
Douluo Star's fate couldn't affect Lu Jingming's World Tree at all.
Masters were chosen by the will of the planet according to fate, but servants came from the World Tree's memories, unaffected by fate—it was all up to luck.
Lu Jingming's own luck with summoning wasn't great.
If he could summon Prime Mei, that would be perfect—she was top-tier under the Emanator.
But now, the summoned Mei had lost most of her power and could only cook.
Lu Jingming didn't really mind.
If he truly needed Prime Mei's strength, he could use his real power to summon her, and having the servant Mei as an anchor would greatly reduce the energy cost.
His original intention wasn't just to gain powerful combatants—servants, no matter how strong, were still limited.
But if he used real power, as long as he was willing to pay the price, he could summon beings in their full glory.
If things ever got out of control, Lu Jingming had a last resort: using all his accumulated real power to summon Archeron.
With Archeron's strength, a single slash could erase all unstable factors.
So, even though Lu Jingming seemed to be acting recklessly lately, looking for fun, he was actually as steady as ever.
No matter how strong Celenova was, she was just a memory, not the real thing—Archeron could cut her down.
Even if the strongest Lord Ravager, Zephyro, appeared, as long as it wasn't the true body, Archeron could still handle it.
As things stood, there wasn't even a need to summon Archeron—Herta alone was enough to deal with the current situation.
After all, Herta was a true Emanator, equal to the Lord Ravager.
Even Jingliu, the strongest under the Emanator, could influence the situation; no need to worry.
Lu Jingming's foundation was deep—no accident could shake it.
That's why he freely opened his memory bank, unafraid of troublesome characters being summoned.
In his view, no matter how difficult the characters that appeared, they would ultimately become nutrients for the world's progress.
The arrival of various servants would bring unprecedented changes and diversity to this world.
Both its power systems and racial makeup would undergo earth-shattering changes.
Lu Jingming longed to create a vibrant world, not a monotonous planet ruled solely by him.
To him, a colorful world full of change and challenge was what he truly yearned for.
Of course, all these changes needed to be within his tolerance.
Meng Hongchen and Xiao Hongchen left one after another, and Miyabi and Childe also departed.
But before they left, Lu Jingming noticed that Miyabi's gaze was a bit evasive, and for the first time, she didn't invite him to train together.
This subtle change made Lu Jingming feel a bit weary—he realized that, sure enough, Miyabi had been outside that night.
Given her unique personality, she might have really waited all night and treated it as a kind of strange cultivation method.
As the lord of Haiyuan City, Lu Jingming was, in some ways, rather unqualified.
He spent most of his time either cultivating, chasing girls, enjoying life, or stirring up trouble.
Yet Haiyuan City was developing in an orderly, thriving manner—all thanks to Changli.
Although Keqing and Jinhsi also contributed, and Yae Miko helped out, there was no doubt Changli was the main contributor.
At the top of Haiyuan City's skyscraper, Changli, as always, wore her phoenix-like elegant attire.
She wore black silk high heels, radiating a mature, fiery, and irresistible charm.
She stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, softly gazing at the bustling crowds below.
Haiyuan City had become the continent's most advanced, modern metropolis, with a rapidly growing population.
Not only did it have citizens from the Star Luo Empire, but also tourists from other empires, and even people from the Sun-Moon Empire were welcomed—nobody was discriminated against.
This inclusiveness was a long-term strategy for future development.
Suddenly, Changli frowned slightly, a red light flashed from her, and she vanished instantly, deftly dodging a hand that shot out of black mist.
That black mist seemed to have the power to decompose everything, even splitting space apart as it expanded.
Then, Lu Jingming's figure strolled out of the black mist.
"Damn, failed!" Lu Jingming clicked his tongue, annoyed.
He had just developed a new skill—using the decomposing power of the Abyss to analyze and break down spatial structures, thus achieving teleportation.
Surrounded by powerful mentors like Jingliu and Herta, and with Gu Yue's expertise in spatial powers, he quickly mastered Douluo's spatial nature and could now teleport at will.
He'd just wanted to try the skill and ambush Changli—she'd once promised that if he could surpass her, he could do whatever he wanted.
"I don't object to ambushes—it's a strategy, after all—but I won't easily accept defeat that way," Changli said, smiling with her beautiful phoenix eyes.
She was willing to lose to Lu Jingming and be claimed by the boy she'd watched grow up—no, man now.
But if she lost because of an ambush, she'd feel a bit indignant.
"Just kidding, I was only testing a new skill. Changli, you're as sharp as ever." Lu Jingming put his hands up in surrender, knowing he couldn't really rely on sneak attacks to beat Changli and make her fulfill her promise.
He'd have to win fair and square.
"With your current strength, I'm actually in danger now! Maybe I should find a place to hide?" Changli teased, her smile enchanting, her gesture captivating Lu Jingming.
She was a mature big sister—every motion was full of charm, easily stirring his heart.
But Lu Jingming had matured, and his self-control had grown.
He shook his head to calm himself.
Changli was surprised, then smiled approvingly.
Watching Lu Jingming grow up, she felt a special affection for him.
"Changli, the Sun-Moon Empire is really going all out this time! Mecha legions, antimatter legions, and their powerful soul engineer corps—we'd better prepare." Lu Jingming plopped down on the sofa behind Changli's desk.
It was a genuine leather sofa made from rare soul beast hide—soft, warm, and fragrant, clearly infused with Changli's aura.
"I've been ready. These years, we've seen many fusion warriors born. Your little girlfriend provided plenty of soul beast genes!" Changli looked at Lu Jingming sitting in her seat, not annoyed, but indulgent.
To her, Lu Jingming was still the little brat she'd always loved.
To his surprise, Changli suddenly sat on his lap, her scent intoxicating.
But Changli remained calm. She reached out, and a projection screen appeared before them.
It showed Haiyuan City's eastern military base, divided into sections for different legions.
She zoomed in: the black-armored, fully armed Gold Guards.
Now over ten thousand strong, each Gold Guard was a fusion warrior with soul beast genes, equipped with soul armor and soul devices for great power.