Douluo: Emerald Poison King

Chapter 499: The Soul Master's Devotion and Faith (Part Two)

The most distinctive characteristic of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School is its ability to be pragmatic, which is the core of its survival strategy. Whether it's serving as a subordinate or forming alliances to oppose a certain power, these are decisions made by the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School based on their assessment of the facts at the time.

Gaining the loyalty of these people is extremely difficult. However, utilizing them without being betrayed is not so difficult. As long as there is a shared interest, that's enough. Unless someone can offer several times the price, there's no need to worry about betrayal.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School's greatest strength lies in its wealth and extensive network, which is exactly what Chen Ming needs.

After some discussion, Chen Ming received a lot of support from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School.

This includes, but is not limited to, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School distributing porridge once or twice a month at its strongholds in various cities to help spread its faith among the common people and the poor, and providing financial assistance to the church through its own funds. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School can also lend out its clansmen with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Martial Soul to provide various forms of assistance.

As for what Chen Ming wants to provide?

It's very simple. You can swear an oath regarding your martial soul: either solve the martial soul problem of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School within a hundred years or help the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School cultivate a peerless Douluo. You can choose either one.

This is extremely difficult for the average person, but even now, Chen Ming has more than one way to fulfill both of these requirements.

When both parties feel they've gained something, it's not an exaggeration to call this a win-win situation.

After Ning Fengzhi left, Chen Ming met with many representatives from various sects. These included not only forces from the Heaven Dou Empire, but also many sects and families from the Star Luo Empire.

The imperial power of the Star Luo Empire is far more stable than that of the Heaven Dou Empire, which is more like a noble aristocracy. The Star Luo Empire also possesses an extremely strong desire and ability to control, resulting in significant suppression of sects and families within its borders. This is why the three upper sects of the seven major sects of the Douluo Continent are all located within the Heaven Dou Empire, and more than half of the four lower sects also reside there.

These sects joined Tiandou not because Tiandou was so great, but simply because Xingluo was unsuitable.

In the Star Luo Empire, these families and sects did not fare particularly well. Apart from a few families closely aligned with the royal family, most of the rest were subject to the Star Luo Empire's surveillance and vigilance.

Once they found a new way out, these people naturally couldn't stay idle. Instead, they secretly began to contact Chen Ming, trying to see if their families and sects could grow further in another aspect.

Although these families and sects are generally weaker in strength and spirit quality compared to the spirit masters of the Heaven Dou Empire, there are still many outstanding individuals among them.

For example, the family behind the Bilin Seven Absolute Flower Martial Soul Master in the Plant Academy, whom Chen Ming originally wanted to win over later, also quietly approached him, preparing to have their disciples join Chen Ming's forces and study under Chen Ming and Dugu Bo.

However, the Star Luo Empire naturally couldn't just stand by and watch. Even if Chen Ming shone brightly in the competition, the Star Luo Empire would absolutely not allow its domestic forces to have other ideas.

Currently, among the two great empires of Douluo Continent, the Heaven Dou Empire is the closest to the Spirit Hall. The Star Luo Empire, on the other hand, maintains a wary and even hostile attitude towards the Spirit Hall.

Without the interference of the Spirit Hall, the Star Luo Empire, with its national strength, would have already been capable of conquering the fragmented Heaven Dou Empire and unifying the continent. Therefore, for hundreds of years, the Star Luo Empire has maintained a lukewarm attitude towards the Spirit Hall, outwardly showing respect but secretly suppressing its prestige within the Star Luo Empire.

The Spirit Hall alone was already intolerable to them, and now another force has emerged that is close to the Spirit Hall and may become another Spirit Hall in the future, colluding with the forces within their empire. The Star Luo Empire's decision not to send troops to directly crush it was a decision made after considering many factors.

Because there were no titled Douluo in the royal family, the emperor of the Star Luo Empire personally invited the sect leader of the national-level sect, Star Crown Sect.

He was a tall, magnificent old man, dressed in a jewel-encrusted robe, with silver hair and beard, and over 120 years old.

In terms of seniority, this person is only one generation younger than Qian Daoliu and Tang Chen, and has personally witnessed their rise to power. In his youth, he was a renowned genius across the continent, possessing not only innate full soul power but also an external soul bone during his growth. He was once considered on par with Qian Daoliu and Tang Chen.

He roamed the continent for more than 20 years before going into seclusion to cultivate after the age of 50. At the age of 60, he was crowned in the Spirit Hall and became the youngest Star Crown Douluo in the history of the Star Crown Sect. He then challenged the strong on the continent and even tried to challenge Qian Daoliu.

Although he ultimately and predictably lost to the more talented and older Qian Daoliu, it was not a disgrace. He used his own strength to leave the mark of his Star Crown Martial Soul on the Spirit Hall's papal decree. This allowed the Star Crown Sect, even when it remained aloof from worldly affairs, to still be regarded as a powerful sect comparable to the three upper sects.

After decades of secluded cultivation, although his name no longer exists on the continent and many people even doubt whether he has died, his strength has reached an extremely high level through decades of accumulation.

When he appeared before Chen Ming, this old man, who was not even mentioned in the original work, displayed the aura of a level 97 Super Douluo. The Star Crown Martial Soul on his head shone brightly, and his nine soul rings transformed into nine phantom stars containing the power of stars, surrounding his body. His external soul bone, which had grown to 100,000 years, transformed into a crystal mask.

The aura he exuded was even greater than that of Tang Xiao and Yu Luomian. Although he did not have a 100,000-year soul ring, his strength was still stronger than that of Qingluan Douluo when they were both at level 97, thanks to the Star Crown Martial Soul and the 100,000-year external soul bone.

Even without a 100,000-year soul ring, the Star Crown Martial Soul possesses the ability to gather the power of the stars in the sky and unleash it to strengthen itself when necessary. Therefore, even against the Golden Crocodile Douluo at level 98, the outcome would be evenly matched.

To put it more extremely, if he were in a special celestial alignment such as the alignment of nine stars, he could unleash power comparable to that of an ordinary peerless Douluo in a short period of time.

However, perhaps because they had been living in seclusion in the deep mountains for too long, the sect leader of the Star Crown Sect, who had not personally experienced Chen Ming's combat power and martial spirit, appeared somewhat arrogant in front of Chen Ming and did not quite believe that Chen Ming was someone who had undergone the divine test.

Unlike the others who came to test the waters, make friends, or seek refuge, this person's tone suggested a stronger desire to subdue Chen Ming and Dugu Bo, bringing them to the Star Luo Empire to be governed or directly joining the Star Crown Sect.

Although he praised Chen Ming's talent, he didn't seem to regard Chen Ming or Dugu Bo, who was supposedly on the same level as him, seriously. He acted like a senior looking at a junior, saying that Chen Ming would definitely receive excellent treatment after joining the Star Luo Empire.

We welcome friends with fine wine, but we also prepare hunting rifles for wolves. It would be utterly unjust not to punish such aggressive individuals.

The sect leader of the Star Crown Sect was taken away by Dugu Bo and had a "heart-to-heart talk" for several hours outside Wuhun City, near the Star Dou Great Forest. The huge shockwaves and tremors generated during this time could even be felt within Wuhun City. Even ordinary people without soul power could see several stars rising on the distant horizon, only to be swallowed or shattered by an indescribable giant serpent.

When the Star Crown Sect Master returned to Spirit City, he was dragged back by Dugu Bo, who grabbed him by the collar like a dead dog. His magnificent robes, adorned with jewels, were torn to shreds, and his silver hair, which had once reached his neck, was completely corroded. His face, with its 100,000-year-old facial soul bone, received extra attention.

Not only was his mask-like external spirit bone shattered, but his eyes were also smashed into one large and one small panda eye. He was no longer haughty; his innocent gaze was just like that of the pearl Chen Ming had seen back at the Heaven Dou Academy.

Even after being beaten into a pulp, there wasn't a trace of resentment or malice in his eyes. In fact, his attitude was even more friendly than before.

Upon his return, his words lacked their former arrogance. He didn't discuss cooperation or reliance, but silently took out his storage soul tool, contributing several ten-thousand-year soul bones, a large amount of cultivation materials, and a mountain of gold soul coins.

Before leaving, he patted his chest and told Chen Ming that if he had any problems in the Star Luo Empire in the future, he could come to him.

After quickly packing up and taking away all the members of the Star Luo Empire's royal family in Wuhun City, the old sect master of the Star Crown Sect immediately returned to the Star Crown Sect to begin his secluded cultivation without hesitation, not even bothering to give a perfunctory reply to Emperor Dai Tianfeng of the Star Luo Empire.

Yes, the Star Crown Sect has a close relationship with the Dai family, but that doesn't mean they are actually one family.

The Star Crown Sect is currently just a guardian sect of the Star Luo Empire, not the emperor. They've already done more than enough by helping to probe the situation and getting beaten up; don't even think about them serving them like a loyal servant.

He was brutally beaten by Dugu Bo, who shattered the mask formed by his external soul bone, depleted most of the star power he had accumulated over decades, caused extensive damage to his flesh and internal organs, and left his body with a deadly poison.
This loss is not as simple as almost vomiting blood; it means that a single battle has cost him nearly ten years of his lifespan and greatly reduced his chances of further improving his cultivation.

He didn't go looking for trouble with Dai Tianfeng because he was quite considerate of their past relationship. If he stood up for the Star Luo Empire again, he would be a dog!
With the Spirit Hall not intervening and the royal families of the two great empires tacitly approving (having been beaten into submission), Chen Ming met with many people within half a month, and his subordinates nominally joined many forces of varying sizes. The first wave of basic support among the spirit masters was almost complete.

Forces like the Lower Four Sects, while not directly submitting, secretly sent many young Soul Masters to study under Chen Ming.

Although the Douluo Continent in this era only has two major empires and various subordinate duchies, making it seem as if the entire Douluo Continent is ruled by humans, the reality is not so simple.

Roughly half of the land within both empires was underdeveloped or even undeveloped. Human settlements were formed around small cities, connected by Soul Masters and caravans. The existence of these two empires was somewhat similar to that of European countries.

An emperor, along with numerous nobles, and nobles, along with numerous vassals, formed a hierarchical structure that created a nation. Except for a few specific regions, the emperor's control over most areas was extremely limited.

In reality, each region is controlled by noble families of varying sizes, soul master families, and sects.

The Star Luo Empire fared somewhat better, gradually centralizing power under the military might of its royal family, allowing the central government to forcefully intervene in local affairs. The Heaven Dou Empire, on the other hand, was a fragmented empire composed of nobles.

A large portion of the Douluo Continent is designated as part of the two great empires, but in reality, it remains undeveloped and uncontrolled. These undeveloped regions possess their own resources and unique customs. Some even contain "small kingdoms" that neither of the two great empires recognizes.

Like the land in the West that was once waiting to be developed, these places have extremely high value.

Chen Ming obtained a land reclamation certificate from Qian Renxue, which allowed him to legally explore undeveloped areas within the Heaven Dou Empire. All areas he developed would belong to his territory and be exempt from any taxes for a hundred years.

They then found a sect that had defected from the Star Luo Empire and asked them to send a letter to the Star Crown Sect.

Not long after, Chen Ming also received a certificate of establishment from the Star Luo Empire, which also exempted him from any taxes for a hundred years.

Obtaining a warrant isn't difficult; with a little communication with the royal family, becoming a pioneer in this era is quite simple. However, throughout history, only Chen Ming has ever obtained warrants from both the rival empires of Tian Dou and Xing Luo simultaneously. These two warrants also allow Chen Ming to freely and legally conduct his own pioneering and missionary activities within both empires.

Although it may seem insignificant, it does provide a legitimate claim. It allows for a justifiable pretext when necessary.

In less than two months, Chen Ming used his own methods to violently carve out a thousand-mile-long settlement in the undeveloped area where soul beasts lived. Then, by leveraging the connections of the two great empires, he brought in countless refugees, slaves, and some criminals who were not so serious criminals from the government, and began to establish the first faith on this newly developed land.

The laws of Douluo Continent are very problematic, not only in their formulation and enforcement, but also because each region has its own unique laws created by local nobles, which are often indescribably bizarre.

For example, in some places, you have to pay a fish tax to eat fish. And the price of the fish tax is sometimes higher than the price of a fish. In some places, you have to pay a firewood tax to start a fire, but in reality, the local nobles will not provide the common people with even a single piece of firewood.

Many commoners were unjustly framed and extorted, forced to pay money, perform hard labor, or be sold into slavery. In some small towns, people could be criminals simply for not paying taxes due to ignorance of the lord's newly enacted tax laws.

This kind of thing can be a big deal or a small deal; it might be worth a few ounces if you don't weigh it, but if you do, even a thousand pounds wouldn't be enough. Many commoners on the Douluo Continent were turned into criminals in this way, and eventually transferred to the nobility as slaves.

Chen Ming was looking for exactly that kind of person—someone forced to leave their hometown and seeking a stable life. Such people often become even more proactive once they have the opportunity to settle down.

Chen Ming doesn't need any criminals in the true sense, because even if he were the god of evil, he wouldn't need criminals as his followers.

Having lived in this world for so many years, Chen Ming had long been prepared and had plans for how to do things. When it was time to actually carry them out, he could quickly draw up a plan based on the current situation of Douluo Continent and push it step by step towards his ideal.

Even if he didn't have the power to single-handedly overturn the entire world, he wouldn't create any rules for prostitutes. Instead, he would strive to make things as legal and egalitarian as possible. He took rules very seriously.

(End of this chapter)