Divine Realm, within the Sea God's Temple.
After being informed of the current situation on the Douluo Continent by the Asura God, Sea God Poseidon's expression grew grim.
If Spirit Hall truly unified the Douluo Continent, they would inevitably expand toward the Endless Sea, directly threatening his worship and faith.
This was something Poseidon would never allow.
And since the Asura God—the Enforcement God and one of the Five Great God Kings of the Divine Realm—taking the lead, Poseidon quickly reached a cooperative agreement.
Together, the two would act to prevent the Spirit Hall from unifying the continent.
For now, the key step was for Poseidon to bestow upon Tang Hao and Tang San the Sea God's Eight Trials and Sea God's Nine Trials, so they could raise their strength through God Trials.
Although the Asura God, as the Enforcement God, could have directly elevated their power, the presence of the other four God Kings in the God Realm constrained him.
Even resurrecting Tang Hao and Tang San had already been a major risk.
As long as he wasn't caught red-handed, he could deny it.
But if he were to directly raise their Spirit Power to Rank 99, with every Spirit Ring elevated to 999,999 years…
That would be undeniable proof.
No room for excuses.
The rules had to be followed cleverly.
Thus, it was best for Poseidon to use the God Trials to strengthen them in a way that appeared legitimate.
...
On Sea God Island.
After hearing Tang Hao recount the Asura God's divine decree, Bo Saixi meditated and prayed to confirm it with Poseidon.
Once she received his affirmation, she led Tang Hao and Tang San to one of the Sea God's Pillars.
There, the two began their trials.
As arranged beforehand between Poseidon and the Asura God, Tang Hao was granted the Sea God's Eight Trials, while Tang San received the Sea God's Nine Trials.
And so, their trials upon Sea God Island commenced.
Meanwhile, back on the Douluo Continent—Heaven Dou Empire.
With Qian Renxue ascending the throne under the identity of Crown Prince Xue Qinghe, the plan to usurp the empire was a complete success.
The next stage was clear:
Qian Renxue needed only to represent the Heaven Dou Empire in forming an alliance with Spirit Hall.
With the Heaven Dou army united with Spirit Hall's Spirit Master Legions, sweeping across the continent and achieving unification was only a matter of time.
But the question was—how could she openly cooperate with Spirit Hall without arousing suspicion?
How could the path toward unification be made seamless?
Here, Ye Yu's assistance proved invaluable.
Originally, Spirit Hall and Qian Renxue's poisoning of Emperor Xue Ye had been sloppy.
Everyone within the palace, both inside and out, knew that the emperor had succumbed to a strange poison, wasting away to death.
And across the entire continent, who else but Spirit Hall possessed the ability to create such a poison and secretly infiltrate it into the imperial palace?
Suspicion would inevitably fall on them.
Even if Qian Renxue succeeded in ascending the throne, that suspicion couldn't be erased.
Furthermore, her Crown Prince persona, Xue Qinghe, had always been known as gentle, refined, respectful, talented, and filial.
For such a person to suddenly ally with the very organization suspected of assassinating his father—Spirit Hall—risked the collapse of her carefully cultivated persona.
But thanks to Ye Yu's maneuvering, the blame for Emperor Xue Ye's death was shifted entirely onto the Clear Sky Clan.
And with the sect utterly destroyed, no evidence could contradict the claim.
Now, the Clear Sky Clan had no choice but to shoulder the blame to their graves.
Even so, when Qian Renxue sought Ye Yu's advice on how to proceed with Spirit Hall's alliance, he did not recommend openly announcing a joint unification effort under the Heaven Dou Empire's name.
Even if the banner of "uniting the continent to bring true peace and prosperity" was raised, Ye Yu felt it was far from perfect.
The truth was, the continent remained in relative peace.
No matter how loudly Heaven Dou and Spirit Hall shouted their slogans, if they themselves instigated war, countless people would oppose it.
Wars meant rivers of blood.
Even ordinary civilians, Spirit Hall's main base of support, who lacked the strength to protect themselves, would suffer grievously.
Such tragedies would inevitably foster resentment against Spirit Hall and damage its prestige among the common folk.
The solution, however, was simple.
On one hand, have others raise the banner of unification, begging Spirit Hall and the Heaven Dou Empire to join forces for the sake of peace.
On the other hand, let the people themselves appear to support such an alliance.
"How do you make the people support the Heaven Dou–Spirit Hall alliance?" Ye Yu had asked with a faint smile.
"It's simple. Just make them believe they already do."
If the masses were led to believe they themselves endorsed the unification, then once war erupted, they could hardly turn around and resent Spirit Hall, the Heaven Dou Empire… or the Creation Temple.
"Ye Yu, thank goodness for you!"
In the Heaven Dou palace, after listening to his reasoning, Qian Renxue patted her chest, relief written across her face.
She hadn't realized just how many flaws and hidden dangers lurked in Spirit Hall's plans.
"What should we do next?" she asked quickly.
Ye Yu's handsome features softened as his eyes glimmered. He smiled.
"Very simple. The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan has already been destroyed. Now the Clear Sky Clan has been annihilated as well. Of the Upper Three Sects, two are gone.
As the leader of the Spirit Master world, shouldn't Spirit Hall convene a Re-Selection Conference for the Upper Three and Lower Four Sects?"
Qian Renxue's eyes lit with sudden understanding.
"You mean… hold the re-selection conference to draw the attention of the entire continent. Then have the newly chosen Upper Three and Lower Four Sects request that Spirit Hall and the Heaven Dou Empire unite to bring peace?"
Ye Yu glanced at her with an approving smile, as though looking at a promising student.
"Not exactly in the details. But in general, yes."
"First, have Spirit Hall spread word of the upcoming re-selection conference. Then send people to search the border regions—villages damaged by wars with the Star Luo Empire, for example. We'll choose one of those as the stage for our setup.
That will serve as the prelude.
Only with such a prelude can we stand on the moral high ground after the re-selection conference ends, rallying voices across the continent to support us."
As instructed, that very night, Qian Renxue sent a secret letter back to Spirit City.
The next day, Spirit Hall made its public announcement:
Following the fall of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and the extermination of the Clear Sky Clan—accused of conspiring with the Fourth Prince Xue Beng and Prince Xue Xing of Heaven Dou to rebel against the throne—the Upper Three Sects were reduced to one.
For the stability and order of the Spirit Master world, Spirit Hall would convene a new Selection Conference for the Upper Three and Lower Four Sects!