Word Count: 3,653 Words
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A new ruler's first measures were always the fiercest. Now that the Angel Empress had ascended, she naturally had to set right what had fallen into disorder and begin anew alongside her people.
The coronation had scarcely ended before Ye Guyi summoned the empire's sole prince, Holy Evil Monarch Ling Bai, to discuss the future of the Angel Empire with her.
First, they would sever the Heavenly Soul imperial bloodline and replace a portion of the civil and military court. With a new sovereign on the throne, elevating trusted confidants and suppressing certain old ministers was only to be expected.
Second, they would throw the empire's full weight behind the development of Spirit Guidance Devices and establish the Angel Spirit Guidance Legion.
In another timeline, the core reason the former three great empires had been beaten senseless by the Sun Moon Empire was their hopelessly outdated Spirit Guidance Technology. The Angel Empire had to take that lesson to heart and remember well that technological progress was what drove productivity.
Inside the imperial palace, Ye Guyi had not yet shed her gilded dragon robe, and already she carried the budding majesty of an empress destined to define an age. She studied the handsome young man beside her, considered for a moment, then spoke slowly:
"Ling Bai, I've spent these past few days going through the ancient records. I came across the policies Spirit Hall established ten thousand years ago. Perhaps the Angel Empire could use them as a reference."
Ten days earlier, when Ling Bai had first told Ye Guyi that she would ascend as Angel Empress, her initial reaction had been flat refusal. Ning Tian, Wu Feng, Ling Qiuxi, Dugu Lin... they were Ling Bai's intimate companions, the women closest to his heart, and surely more deserving of his trust than she was.
Only after Ling Bai's persuasion did Ye Guyi agree to shoulder the burden of rulership. The moment she did, a new fear took hold of her, that she might prove a foolish monarch. From that day on she buried herself in history books morning and night, cramming desperately to learn what it meant to be a wise and enlightened sovereign.
History was a mirror. She took what was of value and discarded what was rotten. With sincere conviction, Ye Guyi sought to lead the Angel Empire toward glory, and the records had already yielded several measures she believed would genuinely benefit the country and its people. She spoke with complete earnestness:
"The Angelic Sanctuary can dispatch deacons across the whole of the Douluo Continent to awaken the Martial Spirits of all commoners free of charge. Before a Spirit Master breaks through to the four-ringed Spirit Ancestor rank, the empire can provide a monthly subsidy to ensure they maintain a basic standard of living.
The Angel Empire has only just replaced the Heavenly Soul Empire. Now is precisely the time to soothe the hearts of the people. And since you require an enormous amount of faith to ascend to godhood, we can announce to the world that these policies were proposed by you."
Ye Guyi had thought it all through with great care. Ling Bai's gaze grew steadily warmer as he listened, and he gave a gentle nod of approval.
Back in Spirit Hall's era, Holy Soul Village had been such a remote little hamlet that Tang Hao managed to hide there for six years without being found, and yet Spirit Hall deacons still persisted in visiting every single year to awaken the Martial Spirits of the village children free of charge. When the Spirit Empire fought its final decisive war, its grip over seventy percent of the continent's Spirit Masters owed its first and greatest debt to the reputation Spirit Hall had built across countless generations.
As for Spirit Master subsidies...
Although Ling Bai felt nothing in particular for Huo Yuhao, he had no wish to see another genius forced down Huo Yuhao's road within the Angel Empire. A child whose years should have been devoted to study ought not be compelled to spend every day grilling fish at a roadside stall just to scrape together one meal. That was putting the cart before the horse, and it was a failure on the part of an empire's rulers.
Even if it gained him no faith at all, Ling Bai would still have supported Ye Guyi's intention to adopt Spirit Hall's better institutions. He added:
"It isn't enough to simply learn from Spirit Hall. We must also make full use of the advantages unique to the Angel Empire.
In the future, every city will house an Angelic Sanctuary. On one hand, it will serve as the empire's foundational governing organ, safeguarding lasting order and stability. On the other, it will distribute Spirit Master subsidies and bestow Heaven Bestowed Spirit Rings upon Spirit Masters whose cultivation has stalled at a bottleneck.
From this day forward, the first spirit ring will be entirely free, easing the burden on novice Spirit Masters and the families behind them.
At the same time, the Angelic Sanctuary will establish Angel law-enforcement teams. Spirit Masters will not be permitted to bully commoners as they please. Once such an act is discovered, every benefit and privilege they enjoy will be revoked."
"Mm!"
Ye Guyi's eyes shone like stars. She believed wholeheartedly that under so generous a welfare system, paired with so clear a system of punishment, the Angel Empire would flourish. Its people would live and work in peace, and they would embrace the Angel lineage from the bottom of their hearts.
Ling Bai's own eyes brimmed with quiet delight. The fulfillment that came from changing the lives of countless people across the continent was difficult to put into words. It felt as though his long years of bitter cultivation had at last found their proper purpose, letting him do all in his power to make the Douluo Continent a kinder place.
"Guyi, this is for you."
A black-gold spirit bone shaped like a human spine materialized in his hand. A formidable aura interwoven with light and darkness surged forth, powerful enough to make even Ye Guyi, an eight-ringed Spirit Douluo, draw a sharp breath.
"The Chaos Wolf Emperor Torso Bone," Ling Bai explained. "It came from the rulers of the Luminous Mystic Forest, the Luminous Wolf Emperor and the Mystic Shadow Wolf Emperor. The two Wolf Emperors merged into one, their light and darkness bloodlines reverting to those of their ancestors and evolving into the ancient spirit beast known as the Chaos Wolf Emperor. Its cultivation broke through to four hundred thousand years.
Consider it my gift to celebrate your coronation."
"This... this is far too precious!"
Ye Guyi hurried to refuse. A spirit bone from a 400,000-year Great Beast, and a torso bone at that. She could never possibly accept something so extravagant.
"It isn't that precious," Ling Bai said lightly. "The Angel Empress is worthy of all things in this world."
Ye Guyi froze for a moment. Then she accepted the Chaos Wolf Emperor Torso Bone with both hands and spoke solemnly. "I understand. I will be a good empress. I won't disappoint you."
She was clever. The meaning beneath his words struck her at once.
"Ling Bai, there's one more thing..."
Ye Guyi bit gently at her crimson lips, as though waging a fierce battle within herself. Only after a long hesitation did she lift her head to meet Ling Bai's brilliant golden eyes, those pupils that shimmered like a starlit sky. Even then, her own gaze wavered and slid away as she spoke:
"The Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan and the imperial house of the Angel Empire shall remain allied for all generations to come. Aunt Ya hopes that the imperial descendants and the direct bloodline of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan might establish a hereditary marriage pact, much like the Dai and Zhu clans of Star Luo ten thousand years ago.
The Angel Empire truly does need a child to inherit the throne...
The moonlight tonight hangs like a veil. Why don't we go to the imperial garden to admire it together, and share a little deer blood wine to warm ourselves..."
Deer blood wine… wait, is that really the sort of drink one serves just to warm up?
Ling Bai's heart gave a small jolt. The Angel Empress's exquisite face had flushed so deeply it seemed blood might drip from her cheeks. The Seraphim stood as the higher evolution of the Holy Angel, and Ling Bai exerted a strange, almost irresistible pull upon every Angel descendant. From the moment they had first met, her heart had been bound to him without respite.
Borrowing Ning Fengya's wish as a vessel for her own feelings, Ye Guyi looked forward to the union of two Angels, hoping to bring the most perfect Angel bloodline into the world to inherit the throne of the Angel Empire.
"Holy Evil Monarch, are you willing to help Us?"
Summoning every last drop of her courage, the breathtaking Angel Empress stepped forward and wrapped her arms around the Holy Evil Monarch from the front. Her warm, damp breath spilled scorching against the side of his neck. Once one has glimpsed the boundless sea, no lesser water can ever satisfy, and with the finest possible man already at her side, she refused to leave any regret behind in this life.
Their eyes met, and their breathing slowly grew hot. Strands of golden hair tangled and twined together as the Angel Empress's rich fragrance flowed into the Holy Evil Monarch's senses like countless slender fingers coaxing him deeper into surrender.
The Angel Empress was countless times more alluring than the Heavenly Soul Princess had ever been. The feeling accumulated between them had reached its tipping point, and most crucially of all, she was not pretending. Ye Guyi offered up her blushing lips, Ling Bai seized hold of that splendid gilded dragon robe, and without any need for deer blood wine to set the mood, the two of them surrendered themselves to a beautifully unrestrained night.
The contrast between the dignified, sovereign weight of the dragon robe and the eager, yielding flesh beneath it was maddeningly exquisite. He took her with the heavy gilded silk still draped across her shoulders, the embroidered mountains and rivers of the realm shifting and creasing wildly with their every motion.
The jade bed. The carved writing desk. The bright window. The soaring pavilion...
No corner of the great hall escaped the evidence of their frenzy. Shimmering angelic nectar streaked the jade bed, dripped in glistening trails down the legs of the writing desk, smeared across the window ledge, and at last pooled upon the polished floor beneath the throne. The solemn hush of the imperial chamber gave way to the wet meeting of flesh against flesh and Ye Guyi's broken, gasping cries.
In the end, the Holy Evil Monarch sat upon the throne with the Angel Empress curled limply across his lap. Her collarbones gleamed pale and fine, her gaze hung hazy and unfocused, and her body swayed weakly with each ragged breath. The once-magnificent dragon robe hung in rumpled disarray, soaked through in places and clinging to her sweat-slicked skin.
Bang—
The great doors facing the throne flew open without warning. Her mind still drowning in bliss, Ye Guyi let out a startled cry on instinct. When she saw that the newcomer was a voluptuous red-haired woman, she shot Ling Bai an aggrieved glare.
The sight before Wu Feng was certainly a striking one, yet she froze for only two and a half seconds before carrying on as though nothing had happened. After all, the things she and Ling Bai got up to in private were considerably more outrageous. She let out a cold laugh:
"I'll have to trouble you two to call a truce. Aunt Ya wants us all for a strategy meeting. The Sun Moon Empire is on the verge of beating the Star Luo Empire and the Dou Spirit Empire to pieces!"
The two of them duly withdrew their banners and silenced their drums. Cheeks still glowing scarlet, Ye Guyi tried in vain to smooth the creases from her dragon robe. Ling Bai, that insufferable man, had insisted the gilded silk lent her a particular charm and had refused to let her take it off all night. Realizing the garment was beyond salvaging, she hurried to change into a fresh, intact outfit.
Ling Bai, looking thoroughly refreshed, tore open a spatial rift and brought the two women back to the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan.
The entire upper echelon of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan had gathered in the clan's council hall, waiting only on Ling Bai and Ye Guyi.
Ning Tian's gaze happened to catch the fresh kiss mark behind Ling Bai's ear and the lingering flush on Ye Guyi's cheeks. The truth dawned on her in an instant, and she let out a soft huff.
Ning Fengya's beautiful eyes swept across the assembly, her voice grave. "The situation is dire, so I'll keep this brief.
The new Imperial Dragon Spirit Guidance Legion and three ordinary Spirit Guidance Legions circled around by sea to strike the rear of the Dou Spirit Empire. The Dou Spirit Empire never sensed a thing. The four legions infiltrated all the way to the imperial capital, Dou Spirit City, where Chief Worship Heavenly Sun Douluo took a Class 9 Stationary Spirit Cannon Shell head-on and died on the spot.
Dou Spirit City has fallen. The Dou Spirit imperial bloodline has been extinguished to the last. The Sun Moon Empire is sweeping forward in a single unbroken advance, on the verge of leveling the entire Dou Spirit Empire.
Meanwhile, War Empress Ju Zi led the Sun Moon army in blasting open the Ming Dou Mountain Range and launching a surprise assault on the Star Luo Empire's western military district.
The Sun Moon Imperial Spirit Guidance Legion, the Fire Phoenix Spirit Guidance Legion, Silver Moon Douluo Kong Deming, Illustrious Virtue Hall Master Jing Hongchen, and more than ten other Class 9 Spirit Guidance Masters all march with the army.
White Tiger Duke Dai Hao took a direct strike from the Silver Moon Divine Light Barrier and is grievously wounded, lingering on the brink of death. Ju Zi led the Sun Moon army in pursuit all the way to the walls of Star Luo City. The city teeters on the edge of ruin.
Shrek Academy received word and moved to reinforce Star Luo City, only to be ambushed halfway by Kong Deming and the Sun Moon Imperial Spirit Guidance Legion. Vice Dean Cai Mei'er of the Martial Spirit Department came within a hair's breadth of perishing.
Phoenix Douluo Ma Xiaotao, Golden Fairy Douluo Han Ruoruo, and Moon Douluo Zhang Lexuan had to combine their full strength just to break out alive. The Shrek Spirit Guidance Legion has suffered seventy percent casualties and no longer has the strength to save the Star Luo Empire."
The war report struck like a thunderbolt from a cloudless sky, leaving everyone reeling and seeing stars. In the span of a single month, two great empires stood on the verge of annihilation at the Sun Moon Empire's hands?!
Shadow Dragon Douluo Xie Qin frowned. "This appears to be nearly the entire military strength of the Sun Moon Empire. If Ge Peng leads the Angel Empire's army across the border and drives straight into their heartland, we might even have a chance to strike directly at Mingdu.
Has the War Empress lost her mind, daring to deploy her forces so recklessly? Or has she set an ambush within her own borders, waiting for our Angel Empire to take the bait?"
Ling Bai shook his head. "No. The Hand That Protects the Nation has marched out in full force, and eight or nine-tenths of the ordinary Spirit Guidance Legions have been mobilized as well. The interior of the Sun Moon Empire must be all but empty. If Ge Peng drives in now, he will reap substantial gains."
"Then she truly has gone mad..." Xie Qin muttered, unable to make sense of it.
The others were equally baffled, but Ling Bai could more or less see the truth of it. From the standpoint of pure military logic, Ju Zi's decision to split her forces three ways and wage simultaneous war against three great empires was nothing short of foolish. Viewed through the lens of her own life, however, the haze lifted in an instant.
In Ju Zi's heart, the priorities ran in a brutally simple order:
Killing White Tiger Duke Dai Hao > Huo Yuhao > Xu Tianran > unifying the Douluo Continent.
If the Sun Moon Empire had attacked the Star Luo Empire alone, aid would almost certainly have poured in from every corner of the continent. Ling Bai, Jianmu Douluo, the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan, Shrek Academy, Heavenly Soul, and Dou Spirit would never have stood idle. Under those circumstances, killing Dai Hao would have been harder than ascending to heaven.
Long Xiaoyao and Ye Xishui's army existed to pin down the Heavenly Soul Empire. The surprise strike on Dou Spirit City existed to tie down Dou Spirit. Ju Zi cared nothing for the results on either front. So long as those two armies could delay or cripple the two empires enough to keep them from supporting Star Luo, that was enough.
That way, she would have all the time she needed to destroy Star Luo and slay White Tiger Duke Dai Hao, avenging her parents with her own hands.
"Everyone, I have an idea!"
A flash of inspiration struck Wu Feng. She thrust out her ample chest and declared proudly, "The Angel Empire should set the two empires aside for now. Let's storm Mingdu first and clean up the Sun Moon army afterward!"
A fair number of those present quietly agreed. Wu Feng was not wrong. In truth, Ju Zi herself was likely counting on exactly that line of thinking: I've laid bare the Sun Moon Empire's deadliest weakness, so go ahead and strike, Angel Empire. By the time you raze Sun Moon to the ground, my vengeance will already be complete. Who ends up unifying the continent means nothing to me.
Ning Fengya nodded. "Xiao Feng's suggestion has merit. The glory of a single general is built upon ten thousand bones, and what we pursue now is the unification of four empires that have stood opposed for thousands of years. Some sacrifice is unavoidable. Once peace settles over the continent, Xiao Bai will also be able to gather faith and ascend to his God Position more swiftly..."
"Aunt Ya, I don't think that's the right course."
The dissenting voice rang out without warning. Ye Guyi's eyes burned with quiet fire. "The whole of the Angel Empire places such deep faith in the Seraphim now precisely because Ling Bai crossed the continent to rescue the hostages, defended Shrek City through the beast tide, stepped forward in the empire's hour of greatest peril, and led our soldiers to victory at Jialing Pass.
We should place the soldiers and civilians of those two empires first, so that Star Luo and Dou Spirit come to place their genuine faith in the Angels as well.
Beyond that, the forces invading those empires represent the entirety of the Sun Moon Empire's effective strength. Wipe them out here, and the Angel Empire's later advance into Sun Moon will face only marginal resistance."
"Guyi is right."
Ling Bai felt more strongly than ever that choosing Ye Guyi as Angel Empress had been an unequivocally wise decision. "Aunt Ya, there is no need to rush the unification of the continent. The Angel Empire cannot stand by and watch two great empires be trampled at the Sun Moon Empire's whim."
Once Ling Bai had spoken and set the broader course, Ning Fengya adjusted her plans without missing a beat. "Ge Peng will lead the imperial army to relieve the Dou Spirit Empire. Elder Zhou, Fengyu, Xie Qin, Wei Lun, the Spirit Guidance Legions assigned to Dou Spirit will be entrusted to the four of you.
Guyi, Li Jing, Li Ya, the Golden Tortoise, the Bone Dragon King, and I will remain behind to guard the Angel Empire.
Everyone else will join the Nine Treasure Spirit Guidance Legion and accompany Xiao Bai to support Star Luo City."
"Understood!"
The situation brooked no delay. The gathered figures sprang into motion at once, and Ling Bai tore open two spatial passages, one leading to the imperial border, the other descending directly into Star Luo City. Both were places he had visited in person and for which he held precise spatial coordinates.
…
Inside Star Luo City, the sudden appearance of a spatial passage threw the Star Luo army into a panic. The soldiers flinched like startled birds at the twang of a bowstring. Princess Xu Jiujiu, clad in full military armor, ordered her troops to surround the passage at once. Every man stood on full alert, terrified that some monstrous Spirit Guidance Device of Sun Moon make had descended upon them.
A radiant golden figure stepped out from the passage, followed by a host of others whose auras surged like a cresting tide.
"This Seat is the Holy Evil Douluo. I have come at the head of the Angel Empire to aid the Star Luo Empire!"
"Greetings, Your Eminence Holy Evil!"
The instant that title left his lips, ecstasy swept through the Star Luo ranks like wildfire. On the continent today, who did not know the name Holy Evil Douluo?!
Xu Jiujiu stared at Ling Bai. That face slowly overlaid itself in her mind with another, one framed by black hair and lit by dark eyes whose wicked charm she had never forgotten. For an instant, it felt as though a lifetime had passed between then and now.
"The Star Luo Empire... is finally saved..."