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The Mingdu was brightly lit under the night sky, the Council was holding an emergency meeting, and various factions were organizing their movements.
"Haha, isn't it just a Lieutenant General position? Give it, give it, give it! Such a great merit certainly deserves it."
In the Xu Family's underground villa, Xu Pojun looked at Luan Hongchen and Kong Yao, who had come for the meeting, and readily agreed.
"Your Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy has certainly gained a lot of exposure. You truly recruited an excellent student."
Xu Pojun, the Minister of the Military Department, praised Feng Zaixing profusely, saying cheerfully, "Shrek is as miserable as a stray dog. He slaughtered the Holy Spirit Cult like a stray dog, and even secured the support of the Blood God Legion."
"In just a few years, the Hawk Faction will be able to put war on the agenda. We can start preparing for war right now!"
Luan Hongchen squinted his small eyes: "That's good. As principals running the academies, we don't concern ourselves with major Federation affairs; we just want to fight for the proper treatment our students deserve."
Kong Yao yawned: "When the good-for-nothings from the Five Great Families get the Lieutenant General rank, it's due to Family protection, which insults the title. Again Prosper's promotion to Lieutenant General adds gold to the rank."
"Exactly, exactly—"
Xu Pojun laughed for a moment, then changed the subject, his face becoming serious: "However, there is a problem now. Who is going to blow up Shrek?"
Luan Hongchen's eyes twitched. He quickly got up and left, leaving only a retreating figure for Xu Pojun.
"Don't involve me in your affairs. I, the Head of the Academy, know nothing. Farewell, farewell."
Kong Yao watched Luan Hongchen leave, then looked at Xu Pojun, lowering his eyes as he asked, "Is the Ghost Emperor disobedient now?"
"They were almost completely wiped out last time, so they stopped trusting me long ago."
Xu Pojun sighed deeply: "Killing Evil Soul Masters is good, but Feng Zaixing killed too ruthlessly, and the Ghost Emperor doesn't dare to come back; now that I know they colluded with the Abyss Plane, I don't dare to give them those two items either. Who knows where they might blow up."
Kong Yao shook his head: "If they won't do it, so be it. I wasn't entirely in favor of giving the God-Slaying Grade Shells to the Holy Spirit Cult anyway; we had no choice before, but now we can slowly eliminate Shrek."
Xu Pojun sighed: "Yun Ming was the number one under heaven after all, and Cao Dezhi and Zang Xin possess Spirit Fusion Skills. They are all tough nuts to crack. I just hope Feng Zaixing and the others grow fast enough."
"Just give them full support. Start by adding a few billion in funding to the Investigation Bureau."
Kong Yao immediately talked about spending money, causing Xu Pojun's face to twitch.
Before Xu Pojun could speak, he changed the subject and asked, "After Shrek suffered a great defeat and Yun Ming fled back to Shrek with his remnants to heal, what movements have there been recently?"
"What movements could there be? Their boastful claims exploded in their faces, so now they are keeping a low profile."
Xu Pojun scoffed and said, "Ya Li's injuries were too severe, and she remains in a coma. Yun Ming is using the golden tree to forcefully maintain Ya Li's vitality, guarding her day and night until his hair has turned gray."
"Zang Xin left after recuperating at Shrek for a few months. Cao Dezhi has been overwhelmed recently; the Tang Sect uncovered a large number of bad debts and is busy filling the holes."
Kong Yao sneered: "Yu Xin's move to have eight banks, including the Central Bank, suspend loans to the Tang Sect was indeed a ruthless strategy."
"Hmph, where would the Tang Sect's business come from without the Federation? These scoundrels made their fortune by plagiarizing the technology of my Mingde Hall. They deserve this fate!"
Xu Pojun tossed his wine cup, which landed on the table with a clang, reflecting his fierce face.
"This time, we absolutely won't give the Tang Sect a chance to revive!"
Ten thousand miles away, in Star Luo City of the Star Luo Empire, the Imperial Palace was brightly lit.
In a side hall, Star Luo Emperor Dai Tianling sat upright. Holy Dragon Douluo En Ci stood guard beside him. Zang Xin sat across from them, his sallow face solemn.
"Our Tang Sect's plan is as follows: the Sun Moon Federation is using every means possible to suppress us. Perhaps in a few more years, there will no longer be any space for us to survive within the Federation."
"Therefore, we plan to shift more of our power to the Star Luo Continent, both for ourselves and for the security of the Star Luo Continent, ensuring the future peace of Douluo Star."
Dai Tianling sighed: "I never expected the Sun Moon Federation to act so perversely—tyrannical laws, chaotic governance, recklessly starting wars, the fall of renowned families, and the rise of small-minded individuals. It is truly a scene of chaos that chills the hearts of true pillars of the nation—"
He stood up, eagerly grasping Zang Xin's wrist, acting affectionately as if they were about to sleep side-by-side: "Vice Sect Leader Zang, rest assured, the Star Luo Empire will always be the home of the Tang Sect. We will certainly provide the Tang Sect with the greatest space for survival and development!"
"With those words from Your Majesty, we are relieved."
Zang Xin subtly withdrew his hand and left the Imperial Palace to supervise the construction of the new military factory.
Dai Tianling stood with his hands behind his back for a long time, then suddenly showed a look of worry and said to En Ci, "Teacher, it seems the Hawk Faction of the Sun Moon Federation can no longer restrain itself."
En Ci's narrowed eyes suddenly shone brightly, and his firm words gave Dai Tianling confidence: "Your Majesty, you need not worry too much. It is a good thing that the Federation is pushing the Tang Sect toward us. Although the Tang Sect's technology suffered heavy losses, the most crucial techniques have backups. This is an opportunity for Star Luo's technological advancement."
"I am not too worried about the technology aspect. The Tang Sect's strength has always been formidable."
Dai Tianling sat back on the throne, his brow furrowed with worry: "What I worry about is the top-tier combat power. The Sun Moon Federation's Hawk Faction suppressed the dove faction and forced the Holy Spirit Cult to flee, relying on absolute strength."
"I do not believe that youngsters like Feng Zaixing can stir up trouble across the continent. Behind them are numerous Hawk Faction powerhouses, and the Phoenix Family of the Spirit Transfer Pagoda has also sided with them."
"If that's the case, the Spirit Transfer Pagoda's stance—I truly don't understand why the Qiangu Family is supporting the war!"
The Spirit Transfer Pagoda is the number one Spirit Master organization, its influence surpassing even the Tang Sect, and it is also an entity the Star Luo Empire is desperately trying to win over.
But regrettably, the current Pagoda Master, Qiangu Dongfeng, is part of the Hawk Faction.
Zhang Geyang, the leader of the Star Luo Spirit Transfer Pagoda Branch, is quite powerful, a staunch supporter of Qiangu Dongfeng, and part of the Hawk Faction.
Leng Yaozhu was originally neutral, but now she has also become part of the Hawk Faction. The Spirit Transfer Pagoda's ideology is completely unified—everyone is Hawk, Hawk, Hawk!
Damn it, when you can do business, why the hell are you supporting war?! Why don't you learn from the Tang Sect? Spirit Ice Douluo is our distant ancestor, after all!
En Ci fell silent. He also couldn't understand what Qiangu Dongfeng was thinking.
"Your Majesty, we cannot give up on trying to win over the Spirit Transfer Pagoda, and we must fully acquire the Tang Sect's technology."
If he couldn't figure it out, he wouldn't dwell on it. En Ci immediately advised Dai Tianling on deployment: "I dare to ask for greater resource support for the Monster Academy, especially for that child Long Yue. Although his Spirit has some flaws, his potential is much stronger than mine was when I was young."
"Alright, we will proceed as Teacher instructs." Dai Tianling nodded, and his frown finally eased.
"Speaking of which, that girl Yun'er mentioned the people from the Federal Investigation Bureau to me, but I believe Long Yue and the Eight Heavenly Kings won't be weaker than them."
En Ci smiled and nodded: "They certainly won't be. In fact, I considered mentioning it to Zang Xin, asking to let Long Yue enter that peerless treasure land of the Tang Sect, but I anticipate Zang Xin won't agree."
He had watched the video of Feng Zaixing defeating Blood Six. Long Yue was slightly inferior, but the Tang Sect's immortal grade items could compensate for that.
Dai Tianling chuckled: "As long as the Sun Moon Federation continues to suppress the Tang Sect, they will agree. Better to give it to an ally than to a domestic servant, after all."
"That is true. Your Majesty is wise."
Shrek Inner City, Sea God's Pavilion.
Turbid World walked into a second-floor room, watching the gray-haired figure from afar, his face filled with grief and shock.
"Boss, Feng Zaixing has reappeared. He took down ten Evil Soul Master Titled Douluo, and the Blood God Legion also—"
"Didn't I ask to be left alone? You handle these matters."
The gray-haired figure turned his weathered face. His voice carried deep exhaustion, his beard was messy, and his Spirit was desolate.
It was hard to imagine that this person was Yun Ming, who was once invincible under heaven.
Turbid World said heartbrokenly, "Boss, please pull yourself together! The Sea God's Pavilion still relies on you."
Yun Ming shook his head, then smiled inexplicably: "With Ya Li's accident, my mind is already in chaos. Isn't it good that Feng Zaixing is suppressing and killing Evil Soul Masters? He has a knack for dealing with the Holy Spirit Cult—"
"This, this, this—" Turbid World stamped his feet in frustration, pointing and glaring at the first floor of the Sea Gods Pavilion: "But if you don't go, who will preside over the Sea Gods Pavilion? We can't let Long—let her preside, can we?"
"Whatever. My mind is already confused. At worst, we can let Lan Muzi, Wu Changkong, and the others start managing things early, or let Cao Dezhi come over—"
Yun Ming murmured, "Lan Muzi already has Eight Rings and is qualified to handle administrative matters. Wu Changkong's cultivation speed is also very fast after his hidden injuries healed. Both have Limit Potential."
"You—Oh dear!"
Turbid World stomped his foot and flew straight out of Shrek to seek help from the Tang Sect.
"Is Yun Ming so depressed that he won't even manage the Sea Gods Pavilion meeting?"
In the Tang Sect's Douluo Hall, documents piled up like mountains. Cao Dezhi was so busy handling internal Sect affairs that his feet barely touched the ground. Seeing Turbid World come to ask for help made him dizzy and his eyes go black.
The decision to send Zang Xin to the Star Luo Empire was correct. With Ya Li in a coma, Yun Ming, this love-struck fool, was also mostly useless.
"In short, Boss, if you don't go back, we're finished. You don't want Long Yeyue to become the Pavilion Master, do you?" Turbid World looked at the former Captain of the Seven Monsters with sincere earnestness.
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"I'll go with you right now!"
Cao Dezhi got a headache just thinking about Long Yeyue. He quickly pushed aside a pile of documents and followed Turbid World back to the Sea God's Pavilion to save the situation.
At the Sea God's Pavilion routine meeting, Cao Dezhi sat high in the presiding seat. Seeing Lan Muzi and Wu Changkong sitting in the two Pavilion Elder seats, his heart ached, yet he still had to chair the meeting.
"Let's speak frankly. Our situation is very bad. I believe we should activate the backup plan and shift our focus—"
Looking around, Cao Dezhi brought up the topic, his gaze focusing heavily on Long Yeyue.
In fact, everyone present was an old acquaintance. His prestige could suppress everyone else, but Long Yeyue alone was trouble.
Sure enough, Long Yeyue quickly grew impatient and said coldly, "From what you're saying, Shrek is going to flee the Douluo Continent and settle down on the Star Luo Continent?"
Cao Dezhi nodded frankly: "Not just Shrek, but the Tang Sect as well. This is a choice of last resort, but one that must be considered."
With a bang, Long Yeyue slammed the table and rose, hissing, "A joke! Shrek has been rooted in this continent for twenty thousand years, fully twenty thousand years! Just because of one sentence from you, we have to withdraw from Shrek City, where we've been rooted for twenty thousand years, and flee to a distant land?!"
"Do you know how massive the elite group our academy has across all industries in the Federation is? Even within the Federation government, one-third of the factions have deep ties with us! This is cowardly flight!"
Cao Dezhi calmly took a silk handkerchief and wiped the spittle from his face. He took out several densely packed data files and said calmly, "The Federation government being one-third Shrek faction is history. The dove faction has completely lost power, and the neutral faction has sided with the Hawk Faction."
"The council members who supported us were raided and their families exterminated, elite military officers were exiled and dismissed, and our businesses were shut down. In the past six months, four more Hidden Sects were destroyed by the Federal Investigation Bureau, including our twenty-thousand-year ally, the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile School!"
"Our influence in the military, political, and business sectors has completely withered, and we are powerless to fight back."
Shrek lost the distant expedition, and the top-tier combat power of both organizations rests solely on him, Cao Dezhi. He simply cannot cope with the multiple Quasi-Gods of the Sun Moon Federation.
When Yu Xin led the team to destroy the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile School, she mobilized a massive army to sweep the area. The continuous artillery fire made outsiders think a civil war was happening.
The Nine Treasure Glazed Tile School had a history spanning over twenty thousand years, making it incredibly easy to find records of illegal activities and crimes. By the time Cao Dezhi arrived, those involved with the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile School had already been escorted to the Mingdu execution ground.
With the rifles raised, tens of thousands of heads fell, marking the largest case in Federation history and completely breaking the backbone of the Hidden Sects. Cao Dezhi remembered it vividly: only a few Tang Sect Disciples from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda lineage survived.
Returning to reality, Cao Dezhi sighed deeply, his calm voice echoing in the Sea Gods Pavilion.
"Let's go. We will take all the Hidden Sects with us. We can still rise again."