Chapter 208. Returning to the past, the cold winter will never return.
Shangguan Mingyue's second experience taught her a lesson: without strength, even the greatest wealth is useless.
So, when she started her third business, she recruited numerous civilian spirit masters and purchased many talented spirit masters from slave traders to train as the armed forces of her chamber of commerce.
With this armed force, Shangguan Mingyue's trade between the Tiandou and Xingluo empires was smooth, and she also made friends with powerful factions.
The Mingyue Chamber of Commerce gradually grew in strength, even beginning to threaten the Seven Treasures Chamber of Commerce, the traditional power of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect.
Then, tragedy struck.
Almost simultaneously, Tiandou and Xingluo attacked the Mingyue Chamber of Commerce, accusing it of secretly gathering armed forces and suspecting rebellion. Thus, the vast power was divided between the two nations.
This time, Shangguan Mingyue's luck was not so good. Among her recruits was a Tiandou Empire spy who betrayed her to the Tiandou Empire.
While fleeing, Shangguan Mingyue was captured by the Tiandou Empire and brought to Tiandou City, where he met with Emperor Xuepeng.
Xuepeng's eyes were puffy and his eyelids were black, making it difficult for Shangguan Mingyue to reconcile him with the wise and powerful Emperor Xuepeng that the Tiandou Empire promoted.
Next to Xuepeng sat a man with a crew cut, gently waving a feather fan, his face elegant and easygoing.
"President Shangguan Chamber of Commerce, do you acknowledge your guilt?" Xuepeng asked.
"What are my crimes?" Shangguan Mingyue asked.
"You have been raising slaves, recruiting civilian spirit masters, and amassing strength. I suspect you have rebellious intentions," Xuepeng said.
Shangguan Mingyue said, "I have no intention of rebellion. I'm merely trying to protect myself."
Emperor Xue Beng said, "Whether you've committed a rebellion or not is beyond my control. I only consider whether your actions demonstrate it."
"However, I am magnanimous. I can give you a chance to redeem yourself and earn meritorious service." Xue Beng glared at Shangguan Mingyue with a lecherous gaze. This woman is a wily one. She's slipped away several times when the local lords wanted to take action against her. Now, she's in my power. Hehe.
Although Xue Beng could only indulge in minor fantasies about goddesses like Xiao Wu, Bibi Dong, Hu Liena, Qian Renxue, and Zhu Zhuqing—like yesterday's dream, where he'd performed a bit of FQMF in front of his master—this one wasn't bad either. Crucially, he had her under his control. This was far superior to the vulgar women Xue Beng had played with before.
Sensing Xue Beng's gaze, Shangguan Mingyue knew what the emperor was up to.
Just as Xue Beng was gazing at Shangguan Mingyue with impunity, the crew-haired man with a feather fan and a silk scarf beside him coughed twice. Xue Beng finally reacted and looked at him with awe. Then he said to Shangguan Mingyue, "Become my official merchant and work for me, and I will spare your life."
Xue Beng didn't say it so directly, but Shangguan Mingyue had already grasped the underlying meaning.
"I refuse," Shangguan Mingyue said.
Xue Beng didn't seem angry at these words. Instead, he stood up and smiled, "Woman, no one can refuse my invitation. I'll give you three days to think about it. If you still give the same answer within these three days, you'll regret it."
"Take her away," the soldier said, escorting Shangguan Mingyue away.
After Shangguan Mingyue left, Xue Beng looked at the crew cutter beside him with a fawning look and said, "Master, I value this woman's ability to make money. She's a talent. I want to use her to bring wealth to the people of my Heaven Dou Empire. What do you think of this idea?"
The crew cutter shook his feather fan and said, "Xue Beng, I see you're becoming more and more like an emperor. I was right to choose you."
Xue Beng scratched the back of his head and said, "No, no, it's all because of my training, Master."
That night, in the prison cell, Shangguan Mingyue reviewed her life. She had built her own glory through repeated entrepreneurial ventures, but she had also repeatedly served as a wedding dress for others.
With no strength, only wealth, she was like a five-year-old child walking through a busy street with gold ingots.
She had long understood the reason for her success. It wasn't because the nobles didn't want to punish her, but rather because, in the eyes of those high and mighty, she was like a piggy bank. They tolerated her growth until it was full, but once it was, they would smash it open and take the money out.
When the bank was full depended on their bottom line.
When she first met Lord Zhang He, his bottom line was that the Mingyue Chamber of Commerce's influence could not exceed his control. Once Shangguan Mingyue began to interact with the lords of other territories, she was no longer under Zhang He's control, and smashing the piggy bank became his choice.
Shangguan Mingyue fled to a provincial territory, where the provincial governor was more tolerant of her, but still wouldn't let her get out of his control. Finally, when the money was full, he smashed the piggy bank.
Her trade with the two nations was also a result of the tolerance of both Tiandou Xingluo and Tiandou Xingluo. When the Mingyue Chamber of Commerce's wealth reached a massive level, even beginning to influence the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, it was time for these traditional forces to take action against her.
Her last remaining fortune was divided up by the three factions of Tiandou, Xingluo, and the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, leaving her once again penniless.
Xue Beng sought to leverage his power to create even more wealth for his Tiandou Empire. Although the gods still existed, preventing war between the two empires, both Tiandou and Xingluo were actively preparing for it.
Money was war, and that was why Xue Beng had set his sights on her. Of course, this also had something to do with the emperor's lustful nature.
Understanding this, Shangguan Mingyue naturally refused to submit to Xue Beng, nor did she want to be his money-making tool.
She summoned her martial spirit, the gold ingot that attracted wealth and treasure, and sighed, saying, "Martial spirit, you can bring me wealth, but you can't give me the strength to protect it. My lifelong struggle is nothing but a joke in the eyes of those powerful figures. All my life, I've been nothing more than their piggy bank."
"My whole life has been a joke."
Heartbroken, Shangguan Mingyue stared at the base of the wall, struggled to stand, and threw herself against it, hoping to understand her own life.
However, in front of her, an impulse appeared on the wall, and Shangguan Mingyue plunged into the wormhole.
When Shangguan Liyue came out of the wormhole, she was already on the outskirts of Tiandou City.
She looked at everything around her in shock, and saw a burly man with silver hair standing in front of her. This man was Qianxunji who traveled to the future several decades later.
"Why did you choose to commit suicide?" Qianxunji asked.
"Faith is the motivation for people to live. If this collapses, I have nothing to live for." Shangguan Mingyue said.
"What if I can realize the ideal in your heart?" Qianxunji asked.
"Do you have a solution?" Shangguan Mingyue looked up at the dark cloud-filled sky and said, "The gods have descended, but unfortunately, they won't favor us. They only favor those high and mighty. No matter how hard I try, it's useless. So, you want me to help you create wealth, just like Xue Avalanche did?" "You're right. I do need your abilities," Qian Xunji didn't deny. "But in my hands, you can better realize your value."
"What gives you the confidence to say that?" Shangguan Mingyue asked.
"Because I'm neither the Emperor of the Tiandou Empire nor the Xingluo Empire. I'm Qian Xunji, the Pope of the Spirit Hall. I need your abilities, and I can put an end to this deformed and suffocating order in your eyes," Qian Xunji said.
Upon hearing this, Shangguan Mingyue's gaze on Qian Xunji shifted from shock to a look of incomprehension.
"Are you kidding me? I admit that if the Spirit Hall still existed, I would be willing to join it and support it in defeating the Shrek Seven Devils and all the noble forces they represent. However, the Spirit Hall has already failed, and all traces of them have been wiped out. Even if you are a remnant of the Spirit Hall, what can you do?" Shangguan Mingyue said disdainfully.
"I can take you back to the era of the Spirit Hall, change past history, and thus influence this era. As long as we destroy and disintegrate Shrek's rule in the past timeline, this cruel winter will never come. What do you think?" Qian Xunji said.
"How can you expect me to believe you?" Shangguan Mingyue said.
"Follow me." Qian Xunji opened the long river of time and space and walked in.
Shangguan Mingyue followed Qianxunji inside. She saw the vast river of time and space, scenes from the past, the rise of Tang San, the fall of the Spirit Hall. At the end, Shangguan Mingyue sighed, "When the Spirit Hall was about to be destroyed, our hearts were numb. Only at the moment of loss did we feel cherishment, but once lost, it can never be regained. No one will stand against the nobles and speak for us commoners."
The journey of several decades seemed short. Besides browsing the past, the two quickly emerged from the corridor of time and space and arrived at the Spirit Hall.
Qianxunji led Shangguan Mingyue out. Before Qianxunji, a woman had been waiting.
"Your Holiness, you have abducted another victim from the future," Lin Mengtong said playfully.
"What do you mean by 'kidnapping'? This is 'saving a persecuted girl,'" Qian Xunji said righteously. Lin Mengtong teased, "Yes, yes, Your Holiness, we thank you for your salvation. Could you please introduce her?"
Qian Xunji replied, "She is Shangguan Mingyue, from the future several decades from now. Shangguan Mingyue, this is Lin Mengtong, Evil Emperor Douluo, from the future twenty thousand years from now."
Shangguan Mingyue was shocked by Lin Mengtong's origins. Twenty thousand years later, she felt Qian Xunji was deceiving her.
However, after Qian Xunji took Shangguan Mingyue on a tour of the Spirit Hall and the history of Douluo Continent, she realized she had indeed traveled to the past.
As both came from the future, Lin Mengtong and Shangguan Mingyue quickly reached a consensus: to destroy the Shrek tyranny and crush Tang San, the Tang Family Continent, and the Tang Family Divine Realm in its very cradle.
Their friendship was defined not by age, but by age, and Shangguan Mingyue quickly began to refer to Lin Mengtong as her sister.
After explaining the current state of the Spirit Hall, Qian Xunji said to Shangguan Mingyue, "Can I see your spirit?"
Shangguan Mingyue hesitated for a moment.
Then, she summoned her own spirit, a bright-orange gold ingot, its spirit rings arranged in white, yellow, purple, and black.
"No, sister, if you can cultivate to the Soul Sage level, your spirit, even if it's not a combat-type spirit, won't be bad. Why are your spirit rings chosen so haphazardly?" Lin Mengtong asked, puzzled.
Shangguan Mingyue said, "Alas, my spirit lacks combat or support abilities. Does it matter which spirit ring I choose?"
"It does. Think about Oscar. His food-type spirit may be slow to cultivate, but he's still a support-type spirit that's reached Titled Douluo, and therefore, he also received the God of Food's Divine Test. What if you don't waste your talent and trigger the God of Wealth's Divine Test when you reach Titled Douluo?" Lin Mengtong smiled.
"How could it be that easy? The Spirit Hall was destroyed just when I needed a spirit ring. With nowhere to find one, I could only find a random white one. My foundation was flawed, my talent was wasted, and it was too late to make up for it later." Shangguan Mingyue shook her head.
"That's not a problem. I can change your spirit ring configuration," Qianxunji said.
"But even if you can modify my spirit rings, my spirit has no combat power or auxiliary power. How can I really help you?" Shangguan Mingyue asked.
Qianxunji smiled and said, "Some people's significance cannot be reflected in strength. Don't you want to realize your ideals? Use the platform of the Spirit Hall to unleash your abilities."
Qianxunji had observed Shangguan Mingyue's life and knew she was indeed a skilled moneymaker. She was a money-maker for the nobles of that era, and she had some talent. What Shangguan Mingyue lacked was a large platform, an opportunity to showcase her skills.
Qianxunji, on the other hand, needed a financial resource to help him finance his future war with Shrek. Shangguan Mingyue perfectly met Qianxunji's needs.
Shangguan Mingyue nodded and said, "Your Holiness, please allow me a few days to learn about the Spirit Hall's situation. I will definitely put together a plan that you will be satisfied with."
Qianxun laughed and said, "Don't worry, I await your good news. Lin Mengtong, you know more about the Spirit Hall, so take her to learn about its current situation."
"Yes, Your Holiness," Lin Mengtong said, and then said to Shangguan Mingyue, "Sister, please follow me."
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