"Your Majesty, please don't pay attention to what that clown said just now."
"That guy is Yu Xiaogang. Everyone calls him a master, but he's just someone who got lucky."
"His theories are basically summaries of what his predecessors have already summarized.
He just synthesized them and then published them."
"Back then, no one pursued the matter because of the Holy Maiden, but this guy has become even more demanding."
"I don't know how Yu Xiaogang is regarded in the world now, and I don't care.
I just hope Your Majesty won't be influenced by that guy."
Golden Crocodile Douluo explained, while the blonde woman beside him remained silent.
Xia Die was just a little dull, not stupid. Her grades were among the best in Shrek Academy.
Even if she wasn't as talented as the two geniuses, Madmos and Bai E, she had consistently ranked in the top ten of her grade.
She was actually very opinionated, but she just didn't show it much when she was with Huo Yuhao.
She couldn't possibly change her mind about the future direction of the Underworld.
It would always be that warm final resting place, a perpetually blooming sea of flowers for weathered souls.
Noble souls could be redeemed, and base souls could receive appropriate punishment—this was in accordance with the justice of death.
The Underworld system left by Huo Yuhao actually contained a punishment mechanism for the dead.
Treating the noble and the base the same wasn't fair; it was an injustice to the noble.
No reward for good deeds, no punishment for evil—this didn't align with Huo Yuhao's values.
After reading Huo Yuhao's draft, Xia Die also found it very reasonable.
However, establishing a complete version of Hell at present was too idealistic and unrealistic.
Don't think about running before you can walk.
The main task now was to quickly build the Underworld system and get it running successfully.
The Hell punishment mechanism involved many things; it wasn't a small project decided on a whim.
It involved values and ethics, and even values and ethics from different eras.
We shouldn't impose our current values onto the world of the dead; that would be an irresponsible, one-size-fits-all approach.
"Thank you, I know him."
"Master Yu Xiaogang, I've read his lessons."
At that time, Teacher Xia said his articles were full of fallacies, many theories had been refuted, and his academic research was full of utopianism; she didn't recommend studying them."
Huo Yuhao handed the Book of the End back to Xia Die. Many names were marked on it; these spirits were the first batch of employees of the future Underworld, including both humans and soul beasts.
"Because of Tang San, the Sea God, Yu Xiaogang is now condemned by everyone in the present world.
Many of his statements and theories have been dug up and tortured; he's almost nailed to the pillar of shame."
In fact, it wasn't just Yu Xiaogang; the original Shrek Seven Devils had also been dug up by netizens on the Magic Network, all because of their good relationship with Tang San.
The Magic Network netizens fully utilized the essence of journalism—taking things out of context—and fabricated countless rumors and conspiracy theories about them.
Even the fabricated history of Dai Mubai selling hooks was concocted:
"Why did Dai Mubai retain the history of his hasty escape from the Star Luo Empire?"
"An unfavored prince, and the Star Luo Empire's royal family at that time still adopted an elimination and execution system, Dai Mubai theoretically shouldn't have had much money."
"So how exactly did a mere Great Soul Master cross half of the Star Luo Empire and half of the Heaven Dou Empire to reach Soto City?
The answer is selling hooks! My ancestor was a member of a Soul Master mercenary group, and he even mentioned Dai Mubai!
At that time, our beloved God of War had no money, but because of his handsome appearance and royal blood, he could pay for his travel expenses by selling hooks.
You should know that long-distance travel at that time was charged per hundred li, so for every hundred li he traveled, he would sell hooks to one of his group members..."
It's safe to say that the story is so wildly exaggerated that only history remains, especially since the poster produced a large amount of "evidence," much of which can be traced back to history and withstand verification.
This makes the story seem both absurd and real, and it's been accepted as gospel by countless uninformed netizens.
This story has dealt a huge blow to the reputation of the White Tiger Duke's Mansion.
This forced Duke Dai Hao of the White Tiger Clan to personally deny the rumors, but the more he denied them, the more netizens believed the story.
Huo Yuhao was also secretly driving traffic to the post; whoever was targeting Duke Dai Hao, Huo Yuhao had to step in.
As for the poster, Huo Yuhao, using his GM privileges, casually glanced at the profile and was surprised to find it was the Star Luo Royal Family.
But then again, only they could produce so much "real" evidence.
Nine out of ten of that evidence were true, successfully whitewashing the one falsehood with nine out of ten truths.
It just goes to show the unvarnished political struggles of Douluo Continent.
"What happened to Tang San, the Sea God?"
"The victor is king, the loser is villain.
The history of Douluo Continent should have a very positive evaluation of him."
Golden Crocodile Douluo was a little puzzled. In his opinion, after the Spirit Hall's defeat, they should have been nailed to the pillar of historical shame and despised by future generations.
History is like a little girl who can be dressed up however one pleases; even a prostitute in a brothel is more chaste than her.
If the Spirit Hall had won that war, he believed that Tang San and his group's reputation would have been demonized, made as disgusting as possible.
Huo Yuhao chuckled and casually said,
"It's a disaster. There's no such thing as a pure white lotus in this world.
The Sea God Tang San chose to break the rules himself, wanting both substance and face.
How could he possibly have it all?"
"As for what exactly happened, it's roughly that the Sea God Tang San sent ocean forces to invade the land, trying to win over the continent's faith.
In the end, he tried to steal a chicken but lost his rice instead, and was repelled by the land's humans and spirit beasts, almost breaking out into a divine war.
Just as you said, it's all about the victor and the loser.
The Sea God lost this round, so his reputation naturally won't be good, and those associated with him will be implicated."
Golden Crocodile Douluo smiled. No matter what, he was happy as long as he heard Tang San suffer a setback, since the two sides were inherently irreconcilable.
"...What is the continent's current opinion of the Spirit Hall?"
"Can you tell me?"
"Please."
The golden-haired woman beside Golden Crocodile Douluo suddenly spoke up, her golden eyes filled with determination, bathed in the glow of the dark blue moonlight.
Huo Yuhao paused for a moment, then, without embellishing the information, simply copied the evaluation of the Spirit Hall from the Xilu City history textbook.
This was currently the most common and objective assessment of the Spirit Hall on the continent, a view even Shrek Academy agreed with.
"The Spirit Hall was progressive in its approach to lower-level Soul Masters; its free Spirit Awakening and subsidies once ushered in a golden age for ancient Soul Masters."
"Its crackdown on evil Soul Masters was unprecedented; it was the first force in continental history to include the fight against evil Soul Masters in its members' code of conduct.
It was the first force to distinguish between normal and fallen Soul Masters.
It was also the first hegemonic force in continental history to achieve top-down destruction."
"Believe me, this is the most common and objective assessment of the Spirit Hall on the continent, Miss Qian Renxue."
"Top-down destruction..."
Qian Renxue silently pondered this assessment, a look of relief appearing on her beautiful face. She softly said,
"Truly an undeniable assessment."
"Precise and rational, perfectly pointing out the reason for our demise."
"Can you tell me who said this? He must be someone very knowledgeable about history."
Huo Yuhao said with a smile,
"The first sentence on the title page of the *Chronicle of the Spirit Hall*, compiled by Professor Anaxagoras of Shrek Academy and his assistant Feng Jin."
"Certified by countless forces as the most accurate chronicle of the situation."
"If you're interested, I can give you a copy. As the person involved, please point out any errors in the book."
"I can help convey this to the author so they can make corrections."
Qian Renxue paused, then bowed slightly to Huo Yuhao. It was hard to imagine that she was once the most proud and noble angel goddess on the continent.
It seems that spending most of her life as a mortal after her divine position was shattered wasn't entirely without progress.
At least she learned humility, or perhaps the world had smoothed out her rough edges.
"Thank you, please give me a copy."
(End of Chapter)
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