"Bastard! I am the Emperor!"
Xu Tiannan's Dao heart completely shattered. He roared at the assembled ministers, and in the next instant, his two yellow, two purple, and five black soul rings—nine in total—flared into view. Though he wasn't a Rank Nine Soul Engineer, he was still a Titled Douluo.
As Xu Tiannan prepared to fight to the death, the Snow Empress merely glanced his way. In that instant, he was frozen solid by endless frost and snow—no warning, no chance to resist. His body turned into an ice sculpture. A heartbeat later, the sculpture cracked apart and shattered into glittering shards. Not a single drop of blood was left behind. Just like that, Xu Tiannan was erased from existence by the Snow Empress.
Watching this, Jiang Shengyu turned back and gave the Snow Empress a thumbs-up.
Xu Tianyuan fainted dead away. The members of the Royal Dragon Soul Engineer Legion, suddenly leaderless, quickly fell to their knees when they saw what had happened, joining the ministers in shouting their acclamations to Jiang Shengyu.
Thus began an enthronement ceremony unlike any seen in ten thousand years—built on the bodies of tens of thousands who had perished under barrages of ninth-rank stationary soul-guided shells, and culminating with a man not even born of the royal line ascending to the throne.
Below the platform, those from the former three kingdoms of the Douluo Continent stood dumbstruck. None of them had expected to witness the Sun Moon Empire's internal power struggle unfold before their very eyes!
At any other time, they might have taken pleasure in such a spectacle, even hoping that this kind of chaos would continue indefinitely within the Sun Moon Empire.
But now, with Jiang Shengyu's dominance firmly established—with the Empire's Rank Nine Soul Engineers at his back, one of the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts, the Snow Empress, standing beside him, and his own terrifying natural talent blazing for all to see—his invincible presence was simply overwhelming.
Jiang Shengyu's gaze swept toward the people of the three former Douluo kingdoms. His tone was calm but commanding as he asked, "Now, can you give me your answer? Will you choose to cooperate with the Spirit Hall, or will you refuse?"
The moment he spoke, Yan Shaozhe began shouting frantically, urging them not to listen to Jiang Shengyu's words—to hold fast to their own beliefs and remain enemies of the evil Sun Moon Empire to the very end!
Spurred by his cries, most of the representatives from the three former Douluo kingdoms declared they would never stoop so low as to imitate sects like the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect or the Body Sect—sects who had cast aside their ancestors' honor and willingly become the Empire's dogs.
"Dogs…"
Jiang Shengyu chuckled, a mocking light in his eyes. His voice was quiet, but cutting. "Why is it that some of you always think of yourselves as dogs? To degrade yourselves so readily… it could only be the people of the three Douluo kingdoms."
Jiang Qingtong turned her gaze toward Du Bushi, Ning Haoyu, and Tang Ya—the three sect masters—and said, "Honored guests, the promises made by the Sun and Moon Empire and the Spirit Hall to your three sects still stand. Furthermore, starting today, the Spirit Hall will establish the Supreme Council of Soul Masters. There will be five seats—Hall Master, Deputy Hall Master, and the three of you. Together, you will oversee all matters pertaining to soul masters."
That meant if the three of them united, they would even have the power to overturn decisions made by Jiang Shengyu and Jiang Qingtong themselves.
It was an unprecedented delegation of authority.
Jiang Shengyu's generosity left the three sect masters momentarily stunned.
After addressing them, Jiang Qingtong moved to the edge of the platform, surveying the assembled members from the three Douluo kingdoms. She didn't recognize everyone from the various academies and sects, so she relied on the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's people to identify them.
But as she counted, her brow furrowed. Even just the numbers from Shrek Academy's team didn't add up.
Seven had entered the tournament. She, Jiang Shengyu, Ning Tian, Jiang Feixin, and Xiao Xiao had all left the team. That should have left Beibei, Xu Sanshi, Wang Dong'er, Yan Shaozhe, and two accompanying teachers—six people in total.
But now there were only five.
Wang Dong'er was missing!
Realizing this, Jiang Shengyu and Jiang Qingtong immediately reached out to Fate, asking for Wang Dong'er's whereabouts. But the answer they received was chilling—Fate itself did not know.
Could someone simply vanish from the world without a trace?
Impossible!
Kong Deming and Jing Hongchen were in the middle of organizing the aftermath when they noticed the two's grim expressions. Approaching, Kong Deming asked, "What's wrong, Shengyu? Did we overlook something?"
"One person's missing—Wang Dong'er," Jiang Shengyu replied. "She's from the Clear Sky Sect."
"You mean that Clear Sky Sect? The one famed for the number-one Tool Martial Soul under Heaven?" Kong Deming's eyes narrowed. He scanned the area and immediately sent people to investigate.
But before they could act, a crimson beam of light shot into the sky from the direction of the Spirit Hall's headquarters—it was the signal from the warning soul devices set around Elder Song's prison cell!
Someone was breaking him out.
Moments later, the red light vanished, and the warning signals went dead. The soul devices had all been destroyed.
"Damn it!"
Jiang Shengyu cursed. He immediately activated his flight-type soul tool, taking off with Jiang Qingtong toward the Spirit Hall headquarters. But by the time they arrived, the dungeon was already a ruin—Elder Song was gone without a trace.
Jiang Shengyu's brows knitted tightly. "Who could have done this? Wang Dong'er? Impossible—she's only at the Soul King level. There's no way she could've managed this!"
"If not her, then who?"
The two of them landed among the shattered remains of the dungeon. Just as their feet touched the ground, Fate's voice exploded in their minds—panicked, disbelieving.
"How could this be?! How is this possible?!"
"Calm down! What happened?" Jiang Shengyu and Jiang Qingtong demanded, pressing their fingers to their temples.
Fate shouted, "The power of the Sea God—it's the aura of the Sea God! That girl, the Sea God's daughter, has been here! The Sea God's power within her was forcibly awakened—how could that be?!"
Half of the Sea God's daughter's soul was still in slumber. To awaken it by force—only Tang San himself could have done that!
Which meant that Tang San had noticed what was happening here and had personally intervened—using Wang Dong'er as his vessel, awakening half of her Sea God power to rescue Elder Song.
But why? Why go to such lengths to save a single Shrek Academy Super Douluo?
What could one Super Douluo possibly change?
Unless Tang San hadn't done it to save Elder Song at all—but to draw their attention.
As Jiang Shengyu and Jiang Qingtong furrowed their brows, piecing through the implications, the sky above Mingdu suddenly grew even darker and more oppressive. Thunderclouds rolled across the heavens, heavy with impending storm.
Lightning flashed—
And within its light appeared four figures: Niu Tian, Tai Tan, Elder Song, and Wang Dong'er.
Wang Dong'er's expression was utterly calm—so calm it was almost lifeless. Her eyes held no emotion, no light—only the surging, divine power of the Sea God flowing around her.
The half of the Sea God's power sealed within Jiang Feixin's body couldn't be reclaimed, not while Fate resided within her—unless she died. So to support Tang San's intervention, the power within Wang Dong'er's body had been forced to its utmost limit.
High above, Niu Tian and Tai Tan looked down upon Jiang Shengyu and Jiang Qingtong. With a sigh of helpless regret, Niu Tian said quietly, "I didn't think it would come to this. I truly did admire you once, you know."
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