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...Yu Xiaogang was already prepared. He bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I have a plan. We can dispatch an envoy under the guise of 'Peace Talks' to the Spirit Empire! Ostensibly, we will discuss peaceful coexistence, but secretly, we can seize the opportunity to contact Sun Moon Empire personnel in Spirit City and attempt to establish a connection!"
"Peace talks? Dispatching an envoy?" Xue Ye frowned deeply. This was tantamount to playing with fire, an extremely risky venture.
"Yes, Your Majesty. This is currently the only way we might break the stalemate," Yu Xiaogang affirmed. "The envoy must be absolutely trustworthy, exceptionally clever, and capable of adapting to circumstances."
Xue Ye's gaze swept over those below. Crown Prince Xue Beng was the sole heir and absolutely could not be put at risk. As for the imperial clan descendants... he didn't trust them, fearing someone might use this opportunity to collude with the Spirit Empire or even usurp power.
His gaze finally landed on Yu Xiaogang. "Imperial Advisor... this matter concerns the survival of the Empire, and cannot be entrusted to anyone without great talent. It is my will that you personally serve as the Chief Envoy, representing the Heaven Dou Empire, to travel to the Spirit Empire!"
"Absolutely not!" Before Yu Xiaogang could reply, Tang San immediately stepped forward, his tone urgent. "Your Majesty! Teacher is advanced in years. The Spirit Empire is a den of dragons and a lair of tigers, fraught with danger. How can we allow Teacher to risk himself? I am willing to go in Teacher's stead!"
Xue Ye looked at Tang San. This young King Lan Hao possessed extraordinary talent and great strength, making him an excellent candidate, but he was ultimately a member of the Clear Sky Sect, not a direct descendant of the Imperial Family... Seeing Xue Ye's hesitation, Tang San immediately added, "Your Majesty, not only am I proficient in combat, but I am also skilled in Hidden Weapons and the Art of Mechanisms! Regarding new things like spirit tool, I am confident I can quickly grasp their principles! Even if I cannot acquire them openly, I... also have ways to 'borrow' a few ideas. I will certainly bring back crucial technology to the Empire and help Heaven Dou contend against the Spirit Empire!"
Hearing the word "borrow," Xue Ye, as an emperor, instinctively frowned, feeling that this method lacked the Empire's dignity and was unsuitable for public display.
Yu Xiaogang spoke up at this moment: "Your Majesty! In extraordinary times, one must employ extraordinary measures! The Empire is now at a critical juncture of Life and death. If we cling to minor details, we risk missing a crucial opportunity! Tang San's methods are unconventional, but his intention is pure—it is all for the survival of the Empire! Your old subject believes this plan is feasible!"
He looked at Tang San, his eyes filled with trust and resolve: "Little San, you are meticulous and strong enough. You are indeed the most suitable candidate. This journey is extremely perilous; you must be careful!"
Tang San clasped his hands solemnly: "Teacher, don't worry! For the sake of the Empire and the Sect, Tang San will not shrink from any danger, even death!"
Xue Ye looked at the master and disciple before him, then glanced down at the silent but resolute Sect Master Tang Xiao of the Clear Sky Sect. Finally, he took a deep breath and made his decision: "Good! Since that is the case... King Lan Hao Tang San, heed my decree!"
"Your subject is present!"
"I command you to be the Special Envoy of the Heaven Dou Empire, fully responsible for the Peace Talks with the Spirit Empire! Furthermore... you must act according to the situation and ensure you find a way to establish contact with the Sun Moon Empire, securing a glimmer of hope for our Heaven Dou!"
"Your subject accepts the decree! I shall not fail my mission!"
...Spirit City, the core area of the spirit tool Research Institute.
After a year of intense, round-the-clock research, guided by the key insights provided by Xuan Ming regarding the energy structure and stability of spirit rings, the top spirit tool Masters from the Sun Moon Empire finally achieved a Breakthrough.
A half-man-tall spirit tool device stood quietly in the center of the laboratory. It was entirely constructed of rare metals, its surface engraved with extremely complex energy circuits, emitting gentle and stable spirit power fluctuations.
As a researcher guided a white spirit ring—freshly stripped from a Ten-Year Wind Baboon and not yet dissipated—above the device, the core crystal at the top of the device lit up faintly, generating a gentle suction that slowly drew the white spirit ring into it.
Inside the crystal, a faint white light shone steadily, indicating successful storage.
"Success! The Ten-Year spirit ring is stored stably!"
"The Hundred-Year spirit ring test has also begun... the energy fluctuation is within a controllable range, storage successful!"
A round of suppressed cheers erupted in the laboratory.
Although the current "spirit ring Storage Device" can only stably store Ten-Year and Hundred-Year spirit rings, with a success rate of less than 30% for the more volatile Thousand-Year spirit rings, and completely unable to accommodate Ten-Thousand-Year spirit rings, this was undoubtedly a huge leap from zero to one!
It proved the feasibility of spirit ring storage!
The next task was to continuously optimize the Materials, improve the circuits, and increase the storage limit and stability.
Meanwhile, deep within the Supreme Pontiff Palace, Xuan Ming was immersed in another research project.
Suspended before him was a mass of energy flow that was invisible to the naked eye, only perceptible through Divine Sense, and emitted a faint glow.
This was precisely the Power Of Faith generated in the hearts of some beneficiaries and peace-seeking citizens over the past period, due to the spirit tool he introduced improving certain aspects of civilian Life, and his use of absolute force to deter the Two Great Empires, objectively preventing the spread of large-scale war.
Based on Poseidon's guidance, he learned that the Power Of Faith is an extremely unique form of spiritual energy originating from the beliefs of sentient beings.
In the Mortal Realm, its uses are endless: it can help Peak experts Break through the limit barrier of Rank Ninety-Nine, it can share some pressure during the Divine Tribulation, and it can even, like Poseidon, accumulate in vast quantities to condense a corresponding God Position!
Poseidon relied on a thousand years of accumulated oceanic faith to ultimately achieve the Sea God Position and Ascend to the God Realm.
However, the effect of the Power Of Faith is greatly reduced for existing Divinities. Advancement after the Divine Rank relies more on the comprehension and mastery of one's own Law.
Poseidon admitted that when he Ascended, he had just stepped across the threshold of a First Rank God. After countless years of arduous Cultivation, he reached the Peak of a First Rank God, yet he was still unable to cross into the realm of a God King.
The God Position is a powerful aid in the Early Stage, but once a God forges their own path, it can instead become a restriction.
Moreover, in order to maintain its own stability and fighting strength, Main God Rank Divinities in the God Realm are usually not allowed to leave freely, unless they cause chaos like the Angel God and the Rakshasa God did back then, disturbing the peace of the God Realm, only then are they permitted to go to the Lower Realm.
The nature of the Power Of Faith is also diverse. There is positive faith, such as prayers for peace and salvation, like the Sea God and the Angel God, and there is also negative faith, such as the worship of malice and slaughter, like the Rakshasa God.
But fundamentally, it is a "cure-all" type of spiritual energy that can be guided and utilized to enhance Cultivation, condense a God Position, prolong lifespan, and even... condense spirit rings!
Combined with the Breakthrough in the spirit ring Storage Device, an even grander and more radical concept gradually became clear and took shape in Xuan Ming's mind.
spirit rings should not be consumables.
Since spirit tool created by Mortals currently cannot perfectly store high-rank spirit rings, why not utilize the Power Of Faith, a higher level of energy, to construct a System?
He could try to create a special "container" centered around pure Power Of Faith, or directly build an invisible "spirit ring Repository" based on a network of faith.
When a Spirit Master requires a spirit ring, they could, through a certain ritual or prayer, have Divine Thought call forth a suitable, stored spirit ring from the "spirit ring Repository" based on the supplicant's actual circumstances, and remotely bestow it.
And when this Spirit Master reaches the end of their Life, or voluntarily gives up the spirit ring, the bestowed spirit ring would not dissipate. Instead, it could be recycled by this faith System and re-integrated into the "spirit ring Repository," awaiting the next time it is needed.
In this way, spirit rings would no longer be single-use consumables that require hunting Spirit Beasts to obtain, but would transform into a "public resource" that can be recycled!
Spirit Beasts would no longer need to be hunted for their spirit rings. They could coexist with humans, and perhaps in the future, a new cooperative relationship could be established—for instance, voluntarily contributing their spirit rings at the end of their lifespan?
And human Spirit Masters would also break free from the destiny of having to risk hunting Spirit Beasts to advance; the path of Cultivation would become safer and more controllable.
This concept is extremely grand, involving deep intervention and restructuring of the existing World's rules, and its difficulty far exceeds that of creating the spirit ring Storage Device.
It requires massive amounts of the Power Of Faith as fundamental energy, extremely high mastery of Law to maintain the operation and fairness of the System, and, most importantly, a complete and universally accepted set of rules.