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The Sun Moon Divine Cult.
After making landfall, Su Wen spent some time in a coastal city to further investigate the continent's lore, quickly uncovering the basic landscape of this "Sun Moon Divine Cult."
Back then, the Chrysanthemum Douluo hadn't gone into great detail regarding the Cult, focusing instead on the structure of Soul Tools and the hierarchy of Soul Engineers. Now, the picture was becoming clearer.
"No wonder Spirit Hall is so secretive about this place," Su Wen mused. "Aside from the occasional secret shipment of goods, they never breathe a word of this continent's existence to the outside world."
The reason was simple: the core doctrine of the Sun Moon Divine Cult explicitly advocated for the worship of specific deities.
Unlike Spirit Hall, which operated more as a governing body for Soul Masters, the Sun Moon Divine Cult was a full-fledged state religion. Every Soul Master within the Cult was a devout believer. Furthermore, the Cult performed the same duties as Spirit Hall on the Douluo Continent—overseeing the Awakening ceremonies for the commoners across the entire land.
This illustrated the terrifying reach of the Cult's influence. In fact, the very name of the "Sun Moon Continent" was derived from the religion itself.
Why was the empire named the Sun Moon Empire? It was because the founding emperor of the Xu Clan had established the nation with the backing of the Sun Moon Divine Cult, eventually conquering the entire land. To this day, the Cult remained the official state religion.
However, it was clear that imperial authority and divine right were now at odds. In this era, the friction between the Cult and the Imperial Family had become increasingly visible—a powder keg waiting for a spark.
"The Sun Moon Divine Cult is split into two major factions. Their inherited Martial Souls are the Blazing Sun and the Frost Moon, representing the two great deities of the Cult."
Su Wen muttered the information he had gathered in Ninghai City, his eyes flashing with calculation. He was considering whether it was possible to "pluck some wool" from these gods.
The answer, likely, was no.
A religious organization of this scale provided a constant, massive stream of the Power of Faith to its two gods. This energy served as the primary fuel for a god's advancement.
In Su Wen's estimation, such deities usually fell into one of two categories:
First, they could be in the "growth phase" of their divine careers, treating their influence on the Douluo Star purely as a harvest field for faith to power their own ascent. Second, they might be searching for successors—but such successors would almost certainly be limited to those who possessed the god's specific inherited Martial Soul. In other words, bloodline descendants.
This was similar to the Angelic God of the Douluo Continent, who would only select a successor from the Qian lineage. The birth of Qian Renxue signaled that the Angelic God had already hand-picked its heir.
Su Wen suspected the two gods behind the Sun Moon Divine Cult were operating on a similar script: once they had gathered enough faith, they would pass their mantles down to the most gifted practitioners of the Sun and Moon souls.
"Actually, they've likely already begun... no, they've almost certainly started cultivating their successors by now."
As Su Wen dug deeper, he obtained more concrete news. The continent currently spoke of "Three Peerless Geniuses." Two were the Holy Sons of the Divine Cult—the most talented youths from the Sun and Moon factions respectively. Born in the same year, they had reached the rank of Soul Saint by the age of thirty and were simultaneously high-level Soul Engineers.
The third genius was the Crown Prince of the Empire, Xu Tianyou.
Unlike the Holy Sons, rumors suggested Xu Tianyou was not a Soul Engineer himself. However, he had a team of royal engineers crafting bespoke Soul Tools specifically for his use. His talent for utilizing these tools was uncanny; he could wield them as easily as his own limbs. At the same rank, his combat effectiveness with these "tailor-made" tools reportedly surpassed even the Holy Sons who designed their own gear.
This was why no one questioned the Crown Prince's status despite his lack of engineering credentials. He might not have been a creator, but he was the ultimate practitioner—a living symbol of the Soul Tool's power. On this continent, respect for Soul Engineers stemmed from their raw might, after all.
"Thirty years old, Soul Saint..."
"That's a record for this continent. Even on the Douluo Continent, before my arrival, that would have been an unprecedented achievement."
"And yet... it doesn't quite fit the standard for a Divine Successor."
Qian Renxue was essentially using a "backdoor" to inherit her godhead despite neglecting her personal cultivation for years. Surely the two Holy Sons of the Sun Moon Divine Cult weren't both planning on riding coattails?
According to Su Wen's findings, the cultivation speed of these two Holy Sons before the Soul King level was anything but conservative. They were Soul Elders at ten, Soul Ancestors at thirteen, and Soul Kings by sixteen!
And yet, in the fourteen years since then, they had only progressed to Soul Saint?
Su Wen felt a flicker of doubt. Was it truly because of the common belief on this continent—that cultivation speed drops off a cliff after Rank 50? Or were the Holy Sons simply hiding their true Soul Power? Much like Qian Renxue, whose true level remained a secret to everyone except the highest echelons of Spirit Hall.
Su Wen shook his head, pushing the thought aside. Regardless of their records, none of them compared to him.
Ninghai City: The Sun Moon Pavilion
The Sun Moon Pavilion was a massive trading hub established by the Divine Cult, with branches spanning the continent. Their primary trade was Soul Tools and anything related to their creation. From standard gear to rare carving knives, blueprints, and technical manuscripts—it was all for sale.
As Su Wen stepped into the Pavilion, he immediately caught the attention of the receptionist.
"Honored guest, how may I assist you today?"
Su Wen wasn't surprised by the prompt greeting. Before entering, he had felt a wave of detection sweep over him. It wasn't a focused mental intent but rather a generalized scan, likely the effect of a stationary Soul Tool.
This only deepened his interest. He had a bold theory forming: was it possible that the "Golden Age" of Soul Tool technology on this continent wasn't ten or twenty thousand years in the future, but right now—this era of high-speed development before the inevitable clash between divine and imperial power?
Perhaps a great war in the future would cause this technology to regress, and by the time the two continents eventually collided, the Sun Moon Empire would have lost much of this sophisticated functional research due to centuries of focusing purely on weaponry...
"I need foundational introductory materials on Soul Engineering," Su Wen said with a casual wave of his hand, projecting an air of infinite wealth. "And as for blueprints for Junior Soul Tools—I'll take as many as you have."
The receptionist didn't blink. A Soul Emperor-level powerhouse, even if they weren't an engineer, could certainly afford the basics. The only thing that gave the clerk pause was the "as many as you have" comment.
"Sir, while our Ninghai branch is only a local office, our inventory of blueprints is quite extensive. Are you certain you wouldn't like to browse and select specific ones?"
"Show me what categories you have first," Su Wen replied. "I'll take a look."
(End of Chapter)