Dou Ling Imperial Palace, the Worship Hall.
As the residence of the enshrined experts of the Dou Ling Empire, this place was not only solemn and respectful but so quiet that even a pin drop could be heard clearly. As a forbidden ground where the Dou Ling royal family's enshrined experts cultivated in seclusion, it was absolutely impossible for ordinary people to set foot here.
At this moment, Shui Xiye sat cross-legged with her eyes closed, surrounded by a faint halo, as if she had merged with the space itself.
Suddenly, her phoenix eyes snapped open. The sharp light flashing in her eyes was like a meteor streaking across the night sky, shooting straight toward the outside of the hall, perceiving the movements outside.
Creak—
At this moment, the hall doors were slowly pushed open, making a faint sound that echoed within the hall where Shui Xiye resided.
With a flash of his figure, "Zhongli Wu's" silhouette quietly appeared in front of Shui Xiye, and then he sat on the floor with a normal expression. His every move did not alert the other guys in the Worship Hall.
After all, with his demigod-level cultivation, if he were to be discovered by those enshrined experts who were merely Super Douluos, that would be a joke.
"How's the situation?"
Facing "Zhongli Wu's" arrival, Shui Xiye was not surprised. Because his and the Demon Empress's "disappearance" were her doing; after all, no one would investigate into the Dou Ling royal family's Worship Hall, right?
As for the other guys in the Dou Ling royal family's Worship Hall... they were all long-time residents of the deep palace. Unless the Dou Ling royal family faced a catastrophic disaster, or a drastic change occurred in the situation of the Dou Ling Empire and the continent, forcing these old fellows to take action, they were basically in a state of seclusion. This was in order to reach a higher level in their cultivation.
Hmm... Of course, it could also be because the Dou Ling royal family was "less reliable" compared to the Tianhun and Xingluo royal families, basically in a state of inaction, giving them no motivation to come out of seclusion.
Because of all the above, when major events occurred in the past, it was basically only the elderly Tianyang Douluo, who had no hope of breaking through further, who stepped forward to run errands for the inactive Dou Ling Empire.
But now, Tianyang Douluo didn't reside in the Worship Hall permanently, so "Zhongli Wu" and the Demon Empress's infiltration went completely unnoticed. Therefore, "Zhongli Wu" coming to find her so openly didn't cause Shui Xiye... no, to be precise, "Ye Xishui," the slightest worry.
After all, looking at all the enshrined experts of Dou Ling, they were basically incompetent! Thinking of this, a trace of disdain arose in "Ye Xishui's" heart.
"The situation is not good."
At this time, "Zhongli Wu" gave "Ye Xishui" the answer to the question from just now, instantly making "Ye Xishui" pull her thoughts back.
"Zhongli Wu" continued, "The current situation is becoming increasingly difficult for Evil Soul Masters. Now, the major powers across the entire Douluo Continent, including the Dou Ling royal family, have jointly formed an alliance that keeps a very close eye on Evil Soul Masters. At the slightest sign of trouble, they will face their thunderous, fierce strikes."
Because "Ye Xishui" had a heavy responsibility, plus the Demon Empress needed to seclude herself for a breakthrough, all these trivial matters were handed over to "Zhongli Wu." And the facts showed that the intelligence he gathered was very thorough; he had even probed the true strength of the alliance.
"Currently, the entire alliance has four existences with Limit Douluo combat power, and even two foreign aids with Limit Douluo combat power."
He paused slightly here, his brows furrowing tighter. "Among them, the most important are those two foreign aids. One is the Beast God Di Tian, and the other is the Sea God Douluo who injured the Demon Empress and forced her to flee. Once their strength erupts, they both possess near-god combat power; we simply cannot contend with them."
"Then hide."
Upon hearing this situation, "Ye Xishui" immediately made a conclusion. To expose themselves in this situation would be disastrous. Their deaths were a small matter, but the Lord's grand plan being destroyed would be a major disaster!
"I think the same way."
Naturally, "Zhongli Wu" agreed with "Ye Xishui's" statement. Actually, he hoped even more to get the Lord's help. For example, sending over a few more foreign aids.
Unfortunately... there was no suitable physical body to bear their souls and energy. Otherwise, there wouldn't be only the two of them now. But no matter what, this grand plan still had to be carried out.
Since no one could bear their souls, they had to find a way for the people of their plane to come over in their true bodies. Fortunately, their plan had progressed to this point, and the Lord already had a method.
However, the main problem still lay in one area—people! To be precise, children who had just turned six!
Because these children all had one thing in common: they had just awakened their martial souls and their minds were not yet mature.
"So there is still an extremely tricky problem before us, which is cultivating Evil Soul Masters starting from martial soul awakening." "Zhongli Wu's" brows remained tightly locked, not relaxing at all. "The problem now is that the methods adopted by the alliance are extreme. As long as an awakened martial soul has over a fifty percent chance of becoming an evil martial soul, it is eradicated without mercy. Even those soul masters whose mindsets show slight issues are directly imprisoned. They are completely using heavy penalties for a turbulent age; the space for Evil Soul Masters is being compressed smaller and smaller."
"If we want to find suitable children to inherit our plane's power in the form of a martial soul, it's simply unrealistic."
"Then don't look for those with suitable attributes."
"Ye Xishui" quietly listened to "Zhongli Wu's" statement, pondered for a moment, and said this to him.
Hearing this, "Zhongli Wu" stared at "Ye Xishui" with a somewhat questioning look. The implication was as if saying, "Do you know what you just said?"
"Have you actually researched this?"
After staring for who knows how many minutes, before "Ye Xishui" could feel uncomfortable, "Zhongli Wu" asked such a question. It seemed to come out of nowhere, but "Ye Xishui" understood.
"Of course I know."
She gently raised her hand, signaling "Zhongli Wu" not to be anxious. "I have a way to solve this matter."
"You have a way to solve it?"
A flash of doubt crossed "Zhongli Wu's" face. He then recalled the situation of the original owner of "Ye Xishui's" body and hurriedly said, "Don't treat 'your' special case as a universal situation. Besides, our plane's energy is not so easy to endure. If it goes wrong, premature death is the most likely outcome. If it weren't so, why would I be so persistent in finding that kind of child?"
"You can rest assured about this."
Hearing this, "Ye Xishui" said with a rather confident tone, "My method is not the same as what you're thinking."
Hearing this, "Zhongli Wu" pursued, "Oh? Then what is your method?"
"Don't look for children who have already awakened their martial souls."
As soon as these words came out, the thoughts in "Zhongli Wu's" mind instantly cleared up, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly, revealing a smile. "I see, that's a good idea."
If they modified children whose martial souls hadn't awakened yet, although the success rate wasn't high, the advantage lay in the large base size. Anyway, so many children were born in the four great empires every year. As long as they focused their gaze on rural villages and secretly supported the human trafficker business... In this way, there would be more than enough children for them.
Once a child was modified before their martial soul awakened and managed to survive smoothly, they would be the best tools. And once this was done, these children's talents would absolutely not be bad. This way, they just needed these children to smoothly become Title Douluos in the future.
And this was the Holy Emperor's plan after the Demon Empress took the initiative to seek cooperation. Clearly, He didn't truly trust the Demon Empress completely.
But even if so, it didn't matter, as long as His goal was achieved. Because as long as He did this, then these people's bodies could be transformed into planar rifts, allowing the people of their plane to smuggle themselves over in their physical bodies without being noticed by the plane's spirit.
After all, the method of possession was equivalent to being an illegal resident; once exposed, it was over. But granting children martial souls was different. This allowed them not to worry about exposing their identities. Even the method of using soul skills in the future to open their plane's rifts was essentially exploiting a bug in soul skills, leaving the Douluo plane helpless.
And the reason it was helpless was because martial souls were the "local specialty" of the Douluo plane. As long as they let their plane's energy enter by transforming into martial souls, it was equivalent to... who could stop their own family from entering and leaving their own home?
And this was the idea of the Holy Emperor, and also the task He entrusted to "Ye Xishui" to do.
However, one prerequisite for doing this well was having the support of an empire behind them, just like the Sun Moon Empire did for the Holy Spirit Cult back then. Unfortunately, the Holy Spirit Cult was universally despised. So now, they had to put on a disguise.
At this time, after knowing "Ye Xishui's" plan, "Zhongli Wu" also couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief. But when he recalled a piece of news, he still added a reminder. "By the way, I also probed a piece of news from Shrek Academy, which is that the Sea God's inheritor has already gone to the Sea God Family to participate in the Divine Trial. I asked the Demon Empress, and according to her, if that inheritor's talent is astonishing, it's highly likely she will become a god within ten years. In this way, we don't have much time left."
Speaking of this, "Zhongli Wu's" expression was solemn. After all, once the Sea God reappeared, their scheming would really have to be postponed. Even their previous layouts would all go down the drain.
"I know."
"Ye Xishui's" relaxed brows furrowed tightly as she spoke, "What we can do is speed up the cultivation process. Regarding this, I had already considered it. You don't need to worry about this. I have now persuaded the Dou Ling Emperor; he has already started setting up a secret training base, with Tianyang Douluo and me holding the main responsibilities, keeping each other in check. And this base specializes in searching for highly talented youths within the empire, carefully cultivating and brainwashing them, with a massive tilt of the empire's resources..."
Listening to "Ye Xishui's" continued narration, one could clearly tell that this base was not at all in an academy model, and was even more cruel than the military, just like raising venomous insects in a jar.
"It looks like they're cultivating killing machines."
"Zhongli Wu" narrowed his eyes slightly, seeing through everything.
"Ye Xishui" nodded and continued, "That's right. I am perfectly clear about what abacus the emperor of the Dou Ling Empire is playing in his heart. He just wants these soul masters to grow up in the future and become his most elite force, helping him realize his ambition of conquering the world."
"Similarly, letting Tianyang Douluo and me hold the main responsibilities, but because my cultivation is too strong, Tianyang Douluo basically manages the affairs. Yet, the brainwashing work is handed over to the eunuchs and Ge Hong, which is to make it a sharp sword that belongs exclusively to the emperor."
"However..."
A trace of disdain flashed in "Ye Xishui's" eyes. "Hmph—but how could he know that my real plan is just to have these youths thoroughly become Title Douluos relying on their original martial souls. This way, using the methods of those we call 'Evil Soul Masters,' their cultivation will break through to level ninety, and their first martial soul will appear normal, while their second martial soul will be the so-called 'evil martial soul,' bearing our plane's energy, completely sealed before they break through to Title Douluo. As long as they break through, they will acquire nine soul rings as fast as possible, even ten-year ones are fine. This way, our goal will be achieved, so you just need to prepare ample resources."
Upon hearing this, "Zhongli Wu" immediately nodded and said, "No problem. Fortunately, during the previous war, we collected quite a few precious resources. Otherwise, with the current situation, wanting to use Evil Soul Master methods to cultivate these soul masters would indeed be fraught with difficulties."
"Then that's good."
A trace of ruthlessness flashed in "Ye Xishui's" eyes. "These resources must be utilized rationally, and these youths must be made to grow as quickly as possible. To prepare for the Holy Emperor's grand cause in the future."
Speaking of this, she suddenly changed the subject. "Also, I won't interfere with how to obtain the children. But there is one thing: within a month, you must find ten for me. After that, every three months, you must give me ten."
Ten every three months?
Hearing that so many were needed, "Zhongli Wu" frowned slightly. "Aren't you afraid that the people in the base will notice clues?"
"Don't worry about this."
It didn't seem difficult, and "Ye Xishui" guaranteed it. "I will 'distribute' these children out, smoothly sending them to others, letting them find suitable opportunities to 'recommend them in'."
"As long as you know what you're doing."
Since he saw "Ye Xishui" was confident, "Zhongli Wu" naturally didn't say more, so he got up and prepared to leave. "I'll go get the remaining guys to set up a suitable line, and within a month, I'll deliver those children to you."
After saying that, he was about to leave.
But at the end, "Wait."
"Ye Xishui" suddenly called out to stop "Zhongli Wu." "If we add the Demon Empress's breakthrough, I worry that those resources won't be enough. So after you set up that line, you go take a trip to the ocean domain."
The ocean?
In just a moment, "Zhongli Wu" reacted. He violently spun around, his expression clearly mixed with quite a bit of anger. "Are you f*cking trying to send me to my death?!"
"Don't yell."
As if disgusted, she waved her hand, and "Ye Xishui" said, "The two of us are brothers; would I still scam you?"
"Yes!"
"Zhongli Wu" didn't hesitate, nodding directly. In their own plane, the two of them had been together for so many years; how could he not understand "Ye Xishui's" thoughts? She clearly wanted him to go interfere with the Sea God inheritor's trial. After all, no matter what, ten years was too short.
But if he went, him being beaten to death by the Sea God Douluo was a small matter, but if he was discovered by the Sea God... then it would truly be over!
And at this moment, "Ye Xishui," who was nearly choked by the word "Yes," also had her eyes turn hostile. "Anyway, just figure it out as you see fit. But no matter what, ten years is too short."
"Zhongli Wu's" face constantly changed. He naturally knew her words were true, but the risk involved was truly a bit too great. If something really went wrong, having his body and soul extinguished would be a light punishment.
So after falling silent for a long while, he walked straight to the hall doors. Before pushing them open, "Ye Xishui" asked this question again. Only this time, she said it outright.
And so... "I will go."
Receiving "Zhongli Wu's" response, "Ye Xishui" nodded, but added another sentence, "Think of a way to obtain some powerful 100,000-year sea soul beasts. After all, the Demon Empress's breakthrough and our cultivation of those children both require quite a lot of resources. With no war right now, human resources are not so easy to obtain in large quantities."
After she finished speaking, what responded to her was...
"Scram!"
Always assigning work to others! I'm not your subordinate!
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