"I only did it to ensure Your Highness's plan could be implemented safely. After all, while the Earth Escape Talisman is useful, without a spiritual barrier, it's nothing more than a little burrowing mouse in the eyes of soul masters with powerful mental strength. As for the hatred..."
At this point, Feng Piaoling's expression suddenly turned solemn. "Your Highness has said that the Sun Moon Empire's unification of the Douluo Continent cannot be achieved without the help of the Holy Spirit Cult. Once the continent is unified, the empire will naturally use its full strength to help me wipe out the cult. Before that unification, a necessary amount of forbearance is required. Otherwise, wouldn't all these years spent learning at Your Highness's side have been in vain?"
Xu Tianran laughed. "Haha, well said! This is why you are the confidant I rely on most, Feng Piaoling."
Feng Piaoling continued, "Your Highness overpraises me. At the time, to obtain the spiritual barrier, I promised Zhongli Wu a condition: that I would scout a Holy Daughter for the Holy Spirit Cult within a year. Otherwise, I would have to join the cult myself."
"As luck would have it, I happened to scout two candidates at Shrek Academy. One possesses the Dark Blue Silver Grass bloodline, and the other possesses the Black Phoenix bloodline. Their martial souls could mutate into the Dark Blue Silver Grass and Black Phoenix at any moment; I imagine Zhongli Wu will be quite satisfied with them."
"When the time comes, we can let the Holy Spirit Cult take them in. Then, we let them use their status as Holy Daughters to travel the Douluo Continent and specifically target the exceptionally talented scions of the great families—the eldest son of the Duke of White Tiger's manor, the young master of the Xuanwu Sect, or even the heirs to the thrones of the three original Douluo nations. Ideally, they could outright destroy the sects close to Shrek, such as the White Tiger Duke's manor and the Xuanwu Sect."
"Then, we add fuel to the fire, framing Shrek Academy as a nest for evil soul masters until they become the target of public criticism, despised by the three Douluo nations. This will incite a collective uprising against them."
"In this way, we can simultaneously weaken the power of the three nations, destroy Shrek Academy, and ensure that the evil soul masters are completely set against the entire Douluo Continent."
"Once Shrek is destroyed, we can turn around and eliminate the evil soul masters. By that time, when Your Highness moves to unify the continent, who could possibly stand in your way?"
After listening to Feng Piaoling's words, Xu Tianran admitted that he was indeed moved.
Specifically, Feng Piaoling's proposal to eventually eliminate the evil soul masters cleared the final lingering shred of suspicion in Xu Tianran's heart.
For a long time, he had maintained an outward appearance of absolute trust in this "tool" he had acquired through special means, while secretly remaining on guard.
There was no other reason than the first time he saw the boy five years ago, after rescuing him from a grain vat in the midst of a fire.
Xu Tianran had seen then that this youth was extraordinary.
Any other child at that age, having suffered such a disaster, would have been lost and terrified beyond measure.
But this boy wasn't.
In fact, he hadn't shed a single tear from start to finish, his face eerily calm.
That look in his eyes wasn't the indifference or coldness of someone who had lost their kin, but rather a look of absolute certainty that he would be able to exact his revenge.
He had only asked one question—"Who are you, and can you make me stronger?"—before following him.
Since then, the youth had demonstrated cultivation talent that far surpassed any of his peers.
In terms of cultivation speed, he was even faster than Shrek Academy's Ultimate Douluo, Mu En.
In the field of soul tools, his learning ability was even more beyond imagination.
Others exhausted most of their energy becoming soul tool creators, often neglecting their soul power cultivation as a result.
Feng Piaoling, however, was already a Class 2 Soul Tool Engineer when he was a one-ring Soul Master.
By the time he was a two-ring Grand Soul Master, he had become a Class 4 Soul Tool Engineer.
According to the Imperial Enshrined who taught him, Feng Piaoling's soul tool techniques weren't stalling because of a lack of skill, but because his own cultivation level limited his ability to produce higher-level soul tools.
This made Xu Tianran delighted to have such a tool, but it also made him wary.
Such a genius was truly terrifying—so terrifying that even the Crown Prince felt a flicker of fear in the depths of his heart that he was unwilling to admit.
Now, hearing Feng Piaoling reveal his entire plan—with the ultimate goal of destroying the evil soul masters—Xu Tianran finally felt at ease for the moment.
He offered his praise without concealment:
"Your plan has great strategic value. It can certainly serve as a guideline for the Empire's future unification of the continent. Tell me, what help do you need from me?"
Feng Piaoling said, "For every Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament, Shrek Academy sends the current Shrek Seven Devils as well as seven students selected from the outer courtyard as reserves."
"According to my observations, there are only a few people qualified for the reserve team, and by chance, that includes Xu He."
"To flaunt their so-called justice, those hypocrites at Shrek always invite these seven reserve students to join the 'Shrek Inspection Squad' to act alongside the current Shrek Seven Devils to eliminate evil soul masters."
"Aren't there evil soul masters active in the Mingdou Mountain Range? We can make our move there and have the evil soul masters ambush Xu He. We can eliminate Xu He for Your Highness."
"Coincidentally, the person with the Black Phoenix bloodline is among the current Shrek Seven Devils. I imagine they would be very happy to share Your Highness's burdens."
"Additionally, the geniuses I've recruited have grown to loathe Shrek after being hunted by those hypocrites when they left the academy."
"I have already recruited them into my sect and plan to unite them with their respective families to deal with Shrek in the future. It's just that regarding cultivation resources..."
Xu Tianran replied, "In a few days, I will go and speak with Jing Hongchen. When the time comes, you can take my Crown Prince's Seal and bring them directly into the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy."
"As for cultivation resources, you want Whale Glue, right? I will have people procure it for you. As for the Mystic Water Pills, I cannot help there; no more Mystic Water Pills will flow out of the Xuanwu Sect this year."
Feng Piaoling was stunned, and then heard Xu Tianran continue: "Previously, didn't you have a soul duel at Shrek Academy with a kid named Xu Sanshi? That kid was caught red-handed cheating by you, and Shrek used that to blackmail the Xuanwu Sect for twenty Mystic Water Pills."
"Uh..." To be fair, that really did sound like Shrek Academy's style.
Taking the compensation from the Xuanwu Sect to give him a reward, and even after deducting those eight Spirit Ascension Pill, they still pocketed four Mystic Water Pills as a kickback.
And after all that, they still expected him to be grateful to Shrek.
Seeing that Feng Piaoling truly seemed unaware of this matter, Xu Tianran felt a sense of satisfaction, believing he had sufficiently humbled the youth.
He asked in a deep voice, "What is the name of this sect you established?"
"The Hall of Souls. A sect whose sole purpose is to eliminate evil soul masters," Feng Piaoling said excitedly.
"Mm. Go then. Someone will make the arrangements for you when the time comes."
Xu Tianran issued the order to leave.
"Piaoling takes his leave." Feng Piaoling turned to depart. The moment his back was to Xu Tianran, the fanaticism in his eyes vanished instantly, replaced by an endless, freezing coldness.
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