The buildings in the distance were no longer cold heaps of steel and concrete. They were like living, breathing, colossal crystals, their surfaces flowing with soft halos. Their forms and structures completely subverted the principles of old-world architecture.
Huo Yuhao watched as a virtual waterfall cascaded down the outer wall of a building hundreds of meters high. Several lifelike holographic koi carp swam upstream against the current, finally leaping from the water to transform into specks of light that dissolved into the air.
Even though he was now one of the top Rank 10 Soul Engineers on the Douluo Continent—a being capable of personally crafting city-level weapons like Stationary Soul Guide Shells—walking through this city still made him feel like an apprentice from a barbaric age.
The soul guide technology contained here was too vast and too profound.
He could recognize the energy cores of the maglev trains and understand the basic principles of the ecological recycling systems. But he could not comprehend how the city, as a whole, resisted the gale-force winds and freezing temperatures of an altitude of ten thousand meters. Nor could he analyze how the energy laws behind the celestial dome, which were powerful enough to warp reality, functioned.
Beyond that, the anti-gravity core hidden beneath the foundation that kept the entire city afloat—rumored to be directly connected to the planet's core energy—utilized technology that was completely beyond his cognitive grasp.
Over these years, although he had spent most of his time in secluded cultivation, striking at the realm of godhood, he had never stopped observing the world. He had witnessed the end of the war, the birth of the Astral Alliance, and the dramatic transformations that had occurred across the entire world in just a few short years—changes that could truly be described as "the seas turning into mulberry fields."
He had to admit that the Astral Alliance, or rather Lu Jingming, had done a spectacular job. It was done so well that it reached a level of near-perfection that inspired awe.
Under the Alliance's nearly infinite resources and efficient administrative capabilities, the wounds of war had been completely healed in just a few years. Displaced refugees were settled into brand-new, fully-equipped Alliance communities. Cities destroyed by the fires of war were reborn from the ashes under more advanced planning.
As for those who refused to comply, the Alliance's methods were iron-fisted and efficient. Absolute power suppressed all dissent. Those hidden sects that had stood high above in the old era, treating imperial power as nothing and influencing national decisions at every turn—such as the Clear Sky Sect—were one by one "invited" out of their deep forests and old mountains by the Fatui law enforcement teams.
After witnessing the space-based kinetic weapons capable of easily erasing their entire sect along with the mountaintop from the map, these ancient sects with ten thousand years of heritage very wisely chose to register with the Alliance. They became "Non-Governmental Organizations protected and regulated by Alliance law."
The noble system of the old era was partially retained in name to appease the public, but it had long since become unrecognizable. All hereditary fiefs, private armies, and most importantly, legal privileges, were forcibly reclaimed by the Alliance with an unquestionable posture. Those nobles who could once decide the life and death of commoners with a single word now possessed nothing more than a pleasant-sounding title and a one-time compensation payment from the Alliance—enough for several generations to live without worry, but making them essentially no different from an ordinary wealthy citizen.
Did they dare to rebel? They did not.
The first Duke of the Sun Moon Empire who jumped out to try and coordinate the old nobility to launch an uprising found out the hard way. Only three hours after he had gathered a private guard of less than five thousand men, his castle was struck by a massive Skyfrost Nail falling from the heavens. He, his castle, and all his will to resist were smashed into the ground three hundred meters deep. In a physical sense, he had evaporated from the face of the earth.
Since then, no one dared to challenge the Alliance's authority.
Lu Jingming's methods were like a precision surgical scalpel, accurately excising all the rotten flesh and tumors of society, yet carefully preserving the tissues that were still vital, providing them with enough nutrient solution to allow them to transition smoothly into the new ecology.
For the common people, the Alliance's policies were unprecedentedly favorable. Every child, upon reaching the age of six, would be visited by a professional awakening master belonging to the Alliance's Ministry of Civil Affairs and Awakening to perform a Martial Soul Awakening. This service was completely free and covered every corner of the planet; not even the most remote village was overlooked.
Children who awakened soul power were collectively sent to primary soul master academies established by the Alliance to receive six years of equally free basic education. Here, they learned not only how to meditate and obtain soul rings, but also Alliance law and various basic scientific and cultural knowledge.
The Astral Alliance, having integrated the resources of the entire planet, possessed financial strength that was unfathomable. Supporting such a massive, global, free education system was not even considered a burden for it.
Huo Yuhao walked past a massive central park and saw a group of children playing on the lawn. Not far away, their parents sat on benches, smiling as they watched the scene and chatting relaxed.
"A fine Astral Alliance... a fine Lu Jingming... to govern a world of the weak being prey to the strong, a world of chaos and disorder, to such an extent—it is truly a miracle. This old man is impressed."
An old and wise voice echoed slowly within Huo Yuhao's spiritual sea. It was Electrolux. The former Scourge of the Undead and Holy Necromancer spoke with a tone full of heartfelt admiration and praise.
"Yeah, yeah! It's too incredible! I can actually see the day when humans and we soul beasts coexist in peace!" Another voice, full of wonder and vitality, shouted out—it was the Skydream Ice Worm.
A faint smile also touched the corner of Huo Yuhao's mouth.
Naturally, it was impossible to completely resolve the hundreds of thousands of years of deep-seated blood feuds and opposition between humans and soul beasts in just a few short years. Privately, frictions and conflicts arising from historical issues still occurred from time to time. There were still humans whose families had died tragically under the claws of soul beasts who harbored bone-deep hatred. Similarly, there were still soul beasts whose clans had been slaughtered to near-extinction by human soul masters who were full of distrust and vigilance.
However, no one dared to bring this hatred into the light of day. Because the laws of the Astral Alliance were the sharpest guillotine hanging over everyone's heads. And the person wielding that guillotine was the Chief Justice for Life of the Alliance's Supreme Court, a member of the Pantheon, and the inheritor of the God of Shura's seat—Cerydra.
This iron-blooded Caesar was truly impartial. In her eyes, there were no humans and no soul beasts, only law-abiding citizens and law-breakers. Her judgments never considered personal feelings. Under such unreasonable, non-racial, and harsh legal supervision, no matter how great the dissatisfaction or how deep the hatred, no one dared to cause trouble easily.
Furthermore, everyone knew that the co-ruler of the soul beast clan, the Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena, and the supreme ruler of the Alliance, the Emperor of the Starsea Empire, Lu Jingming, were world-renowned partners. In the entire continent today, who would dare to provoke the leader of the Alliance?
As for those truly wild and unruly troublemakers who refused to be managed? They were all bundled up by the Alliance under the charge of endangering public safety and tossed into the place they liked to go most—the Extraterrestrial Battlefield. There, they could play an unrestricted, life-and-death game of battle royale with the Antimatter Legion, which knew only destruction and slaughter.
Huo Yuhao raised his head and looked at the massive holographic projection screen above the city. The screen was playing a blood-pumping recruitment advertisement from the front lines.
"Warning, warning. The Antimatter Legion from the Abyss Plane is gathering, attempting to break through Defensive Line No. 7. Warriors of the Starsea, take up your weapons. To protect our home, for the glory of the Alliance, join us and crush those pieces of trash from the Abyss into dust."
On the screen was an Antimatter Legion that blotted out the sun, composed of various hideous and twisted monsters. Behind them were two colossal, god-and-demon-like figures radiating waves of world-ending destruction—the Ravagers Celenova and Phantylia. Meanwhile, the soldiers of the Alliance piloted handsome mechas and wielded powerful soul guide weapons, engaged in a life-and-death struggle with these monsters on a battlefield filled with artillery fire.
The entire advertisement, paired with rousing music and the announcer's inflammatory narration, made countless young soul masters passing by feel their blood boil, wishing they could immediately sign up and head to the Extraterrestrial Battlefield to shed their blood and achieve glory.
Huo Yuhao watched silently, but a flicker of meaning passed through his eyes that only he understood.
The Astral Alliance had unified the Douluo Continent, but it was not without its worries. In the propaganda, the two culprits who had once enchanted the former Sun Moon Empire Emperor Xu Tianran and brought war to the world—the Ravagers Celenova and Phantylia—had not been completely eliminated. They had led the remnants of the Antimatter Legion to a vast plane called the Abyss Plane and forcibly connected its crystal wall to that of the Douluo Continent.
Since then, a buffer zone known as the Extraterrestrial Battlefield had appeared outside the Douluo Continent. Monsters from the Abyss were endless, constantly attempting to invade. The Alliance, in turn, had built countless interstellar fortresses in the buffer zone and stationed massive armies, firmly blocking the flames of war outside their doorstep.
Although, due to the suppression of the plane's will, members of the Antimatter Legion would have their strength drastically weakened once they descended upon the Douluo Continent proper and could not pose a true threat, as long as the Abyss Plane and the Antimatter Legion existed, the threat to the Alliance would exist forever. This was a fact that all citizens firmly believed. It was also the most important external pressure the Alliance used to maintain internal unity and ensure the entire society possessed a sufficient sense of crisis.
But Huo Yuhao knew that all of this was fake. The so-called Antimatter Legion invasion, the threat of the Abyss Plane, the revenge of the Ravagers... it was all a grand drama directed by Lu Jingming's own hand, vast enough to deceive the entire world.
Celenova and Phantylia did indeed exist, but they were in a state of tacit mutual exploitation with Lu Jingming. Lu Jingming deliberately left such a clear enemy for obvious reasons.
First, it facilitated internal integration. When there was a common, evil external enemy, all internal contradictions could be temporarily suppressed and set aside. The hatred between humans and soul beasts? The opposition between nobility and commoners? In the face of the great cause of protecting their home and resisting foreign enemies, everything else seemed insignificant.
Second, it ensured the Alliance always maintained a sense of crisis. Ease makes people fall into decadence; it makes civilizations stagnate. Only a threat forever hanging overhead could force the entire Alliance to continuously develop technology, cultivate experts, and maintain a spirited, fighting posture.
Third, it provided an outlet for uncontrollable power. Those soul masters who were naturally combative, those heinous criminals, those ambitious people dissatisfied with reality... rather than letting them cause destruction internally, it was better to throw them all into the massive meat grinder that was the Extraterrestrial Battlefield. If they survived, they were heroes of the Alliance; if they died, they were considered to have made a final contribution. After all, when they died, their power would return to heaven and earth, making Planet Douluo stronger. And killing the creations of the Abyss Plane allowed Planet Douluo to absorb more Abyss energy, further strengthening itself.
What a brilliant "open scheme"—using the world as a chessboard and all living beings as chess pieces.
In Huo Yuhao's heart, he once again felt a sincere admiration and a deep wariness for that man. And the reason he could know this truth, which was enough to subvert the entire world's perception, was because of his current identity.
He was the Eighth Throne of the "World Serpent," the most mysterious and powerful organization under Lu Jingming's command. Simultaneously, he was a member of the Pantheon, the true supreme authority of the Alliance.
The name "Pantheon" was still a mythical, ethereal place to the ordinary public. But for someone at Huo Yuhao's level, he knew very well that it was a real, physical God Realm unique to the Douluo Continent, opened by Lu Jingming's own hand. It was a special demi-plane located between the material world and higher-dimensional space.
This was the residence of all the gods of the Alliance and the true decision-making center that determined the future direction of the entire Alliance and the entire planet.
However, the threshold to enter the Pantheon was despairingly high. One had to be a Rank 100 True God.
Even though the current Douluo Continent had ten times the natural energy of the old era due to world fusion and planetary sublimation, and heavenly treasures were emerging in endless succession, breaking the limits of mortals, lighting the divine fire, condensing a divine seat, and becoming a True God remained incredibly difficult.
Most of the gods within the Pantheon were former members of Sea Abyss City.