Douluo: Peerless Black Tortoise Moon God

Chapter 328 Shrek Academy's summons stirs up a storm; the newly appointed legion commander is enshrined in the Hall of Worship.

Thousands of years later, Shrek's summons reappeared on the mainland, causing a huge stir.

Many "Shrek people" from the Heavenly Soul Empire and the Star Luo Empire were moved by the news and set off alone or with their families to Shrek City.

This turn of events greatly angered the emperors of the two empires. Apart from the experts from hidden families and sects, the other titled Douluo were all powerful figures controlled by the two empires, either titled Douluo of the Hall of Worship or commanders of legions, all of whom held high positions and great power.

The Heavenly Soul Emperor simply announced that any high-ranking official who leaves the Heavenly Soul Empire with their family must first pay a demobilization fee, and then pay a fee to renounce their citizenship. Shrek Academy and the Heavenly Soul Empire are mutually exclusive choices; if they want to leave, they should never eat in the Heavenly Soul Empire again.

It's one thing for the titled Douluo of the Hall of Offerings to leave, but for you legion commanders to leave as well is practically telling the Emperor that all the tribute rice and grain the Empire has provided over the years is better spent feeding the dogs!
Dogs might bark a couple of times, but Shrek students are different. A single word from their alma mater is enough to make them abandon everything and leave.

Even so, the Heavenly Soul Empire lost about ten Title Douluos, including a Super Douluo who was being groomed by the military. He had received an honorary medal personally awarded by the Heavenly Soul Emperor, which nearly made the Emperor faint from anger.

Emperor Xu Jiawei of the Star Luo Empire, on the other hand, seemed much more carefree. He properly saw off all the titled Douluo who wanted to leave, smiling all day and greeting their relatives at night.

The next day, he joined forces with the Heavenly Soul Emperor to demand repatriation fees from Shrek Academy, extorting a large sum of gold soul coins and a large number of soul bones before finally settling down.

With Song Yunzhi captured alive, the new Sea God Pavilion Master naturally fell to Yan Shaozhe. Neither of the two emperors would cooperate sincerely with Yan Shaozhe, who was suspected to be a descendant of Ye Xishui, so they might as well take advantage of the moment to squeeze a lot of money out of him.

The Shrek people firmly refused to believe the rumors of Yan Shaozhe's unusual origins, considering it a slander by the Sun Moon Empire. This truly showed the two emperors what Shrek people's loyalty was like.

While both emperors were brooding over their own misfortunes, they both chose to devote all their efforts to strengthening the training of their respective royal academies and began to marginalize the soul masters from Shrek Academy.

The Douling Emperor didn't hold a grudge, nor did he try to extort money from Shrek Academy, because not a single Title Douluo from the Douling Empire made it to Shrek Academy alive.

Zhongli Wu took the Shrek Academy's summons as a sting operation, personally leading Feng Ling and other powerful individuals to guard the border. If any Shrek Academy member attempted to escape the country, he would immediately kill them on behalf of His Majesty the Emperor, and then the entire family would be executed and cremated in one fell swoop. Any geniuses in the family would be either sent to the army or transferred to the Holy Spirit Cult.

"Within the Douling Empire, there is only one person who can command the wind and rain and order the people to live, and that is His Majesty the Emperor; there is only one person who can shelter from the wind and rain and quell the thunder, and that is me, Zhongli Wu! Any element who is disloyal to the Empire will be sent to the gallows!"

—After executing the twelfth Shrek family at the execution ground, Grand Master Zhongli Wu of the Douling Kingdom said this to the civil and military officials, and everyone agreed.

Subsequently, Zhongliwu initiated a system of collective punishment within the country, arresting all the Soul Master geniuses who had graduated from Shrek Academy and erasing all traces of Shrek people.

With such a dedicated Grand Tutor in the Douling Empire, the Holy Spirit Cult unleashed its various evil spells, and the Shrek people quickly disappeared.

They are virtually extinct in a physical sense; even the myth of Tang San, the Sea God, is no longer mentioned.

The common people had no idea what was going on, but they found that there was a lot of fun going on lately. The nobles who used to collect all sorts of exorbitant taxes had mysteriously disappeared, and occasionally they could even see execution grounds in the distance.

The newly arrived men in black seemed to look down on these commoners who had no martial spirit or soul power. They erected new statues and told them that kneeling and praying would exempt them from taxes and give them the opportunity to awaken their martial spirit.

The evil spirit masters of the Holy Spirit Cult have some spiritual pursuits. The Holy Emperor statues quickly rose in every corner of the Douling Empire. However, the statues that were previously faceless are now made to look somewhat like Zhongli Wu. It is unknown whether Zhongli Wu has some other thoughts.

Xu Tianxi was unaware of these exciting developments at the time.

After setting the tone of targeting all nobles, he went to the Hall of Worship to seek Kong Deming's support and to study his natal soul guide device.

Strength is always the foundation of everything. Xu Tianxi dared to make bold moves against the royal family in the country because he had the support of the Soul Master system, the strongest armed force in the country, or rather, the support of Kong Deming.

Although his own strength was already considerable, he was still some distance from Kong Deming and had to catch up. His natal soul tool was something he had longed for, and after witnessing Kong Deming easily suppress many experts from the Body Sect, his pursuit became even more intense.

"The concept behind my natal soul tool, the Silver Moon Divine Light Shield, is to use one's own martial soul to draw upon the power of heaven and earth and merge it with the most powerful soul tool. At that time, the martial soul is the soul tool, and the soul tool is the martial soul, forming a seamless whole with no distinction between them."

"In my opinion, this Silver Moon Divine Light Shield is a level 10 soul tool. Therefore, only after one's cultivation reaches the level of Super Douluo can one fully integrate one's martial soul into it. Only those with the cultivation level of Super Douluo can use a level 10 soul tool."

A ball of silver light floated in front of Kong Deming, sometimes large and sometimes small, as if it contained endless changes.

Xu Tianxi examined the ball of silver light thoughtfully and asked, "Elder Kong, what material is your Silver Moon Divine Light Shield made of? I think my first martial soul is quite similar to yours, so perhaps I can learn from it."

Kong Deming said, "There's nothing strange about that. The main materials are rare metals such as Moon-patterned Magic Silver, Mithril, and Void Stone. The core objective is to harmonize and integrate the power of space."

"The essence of my Silver Moon Divine Light Shield lies in the power of space. With the power of space, even if a Limit Douluo comes without his presence, he or she will be nothing but chickens and dogs in front of me, and will die in vain."

"Even once this soul tool is fully completed, I can use this shield to trap a weaker Limit Douluo. With some powerful level nine soul tools, or in conjunction with the linked soul tool array that I'm about to research, I could try to kill a Limit Douluo."

Xu Tianxi clapped repeatedly, saying that you are truly a genius among geniuses, a grandmaster of soul tools who carries on the legacy of the past and opens up the future.

Kong Deming waved his hand, his eyes burning with intensity: "Hehe, actually this is nothing. The trump card I'm still researching is based on the principle of linked soul guidance arrays and is the strongest method that is unleashed through the Silver Moon Divine Light Shield. This is the strongest field of soul guidance devices that I have been carefully exploring."

"In my opinion, as long as this method is successfully researched, its power could very well reach the unprecedented level of an eleventh-grade soul tool, making it easy to kill a Limit Douluo!"

Xu Tianxi raised an eyebrow and asked, "So, how's your research going?"

Kong Deming's expression relaxed, and he replied, "Due to material issues, it's still in the planning stage. Once I've developed the linked soul guidance array, things will be much easier."

"According to my estimation, that kind of power is enormous, but it also puts a tremendous strain on the soul tool itself. Ordinary materials simply cannot withstand it, which is a very big problem. Perhaps even if I manage to develop it, it will only be able to deliver a single blow for now." Xu Tianxi's lips twitched. He thought to himself, "You sound so impressive. I thought you had already thoroughly researched and understood it. Turns out, you're still only in the model demonstration stage."

However, it must be said that Kong Deming has already taken many steps beyond ordinary people to achieve this. Not only did he pioneer the level 10 Soul Master, but he is also going to pave the way for level 11 Soul Tools.

Even if placed ten thousand years later in the original timeline, only that fanatic Ling Zichen might be able to surpass him in ability on the Douluo Continent; all other soul guide researchers are like clay chickens and earthenware dogs.

Linked Soul Guidance Array, High-Energy Soul Guidance Device, Natal Soul Guidance Device Silver Moon Divine Light Shield, Level 11 Soul Guidance Device... Each one is an epoch-making invention. With so many great things researched, it's no wonder that Kong Deming is a staunch advocate of war.

Why would we let good stuff gather dust in a warehouse if we didn't use it on the battlefield? Absolutely not!
Without Huo Qubing's deadly C-rank, it would have been impossible for anyone in the original Three Kingdoms period to rival Kong Deming in terms of research capabilities.

Xu Tianxi admitted that he could not yet reach Kong Deming's level, but he had plenty of ideas and practical skills, and his future was promising.

"Elder Kong, if it's a problem with materials, I think we can start with the metal itself. First, we can smelt and forge rare metals to improve their quality, and then make them into more powerful soul tools. What do you think of this?"

Xu Tianxi offered suggestions on metal forging, presenting a piece of rare metal that had been forged ten times by Gu Zhaoqiu, which he believed was one of the keys to the leap forward in soul tool technology.

The soul guidance technology ten thousand years from now may not be much better than it is now. The strongest level 12 soul guidance device is just three fixed soul guidance shells that were created by spending resources. Xu Tianxi believes that this leapfrog development is inseparable from the progress of metal forging technology.

"It does seem to have some use. Do you have any further ideas?" Kong Deming immediately noticed the benefits that the improved metal quality would bring to the power of the soul tool, and his interest was piqued.

"By pooling our wisdom and efforts, and gathering outstanding blacksmiths and mentors from across the country to work together on related research, we can progress from the tenth forging stage to the hundredth, the thousandth, and even higher levels..."

“I have an older sister who is qualified for this position,” Xu Tianxi replied.

"Very well, then I will wait and see. Your new policies for the nobles will be implemented soon. Let Xiao Ye and the others handle the usual troubles."

"Does Master Kong mean... that I have to solve this big problem myself?" Xu Tianxi asked.

Kong Deming stroked his beard and smiled, "The biggest trouble is nothing more than some nobles resorting to desperate measures. Those people are no match for you. You have many experts under your command. Are you afraid that you can't suppress the noble rebellion? I grant you permission to mobilize the Soul Guidance Legion to fight."

"Understood, thank you, Elder Kong." Xu Tianxi bowed slightly, understanding the other party's intention. This was to give him the opportunity to command troops and earn military merits.

Seeing that Xu Tianxi understood immediately, Kong Deming was quite pleased and continued:

"You've seen most of the experts in my Hall of Worship. Most of them are obsessed with the research of soul tools, and few are good at military affairs. Those commanders of the Guardian Legion are all generals in their own region, and they are somewhat lacking in the ability to command the overall situation."

Do you understand what I expect of you?

Xu Tianxi's gaze sharpened slightly. He raised his eyes to meet Kong Deming's gaze and said with a smile, "Elder Kong, you wouldn't be suggesting that I lead the army to fight against the former Three Kingdoms, would you?"

Kong Deming nodded and said with a faint smile, "Among us, you are the one who knows the original Three Kingdoms best. Your great-grandfather once commanded the Imperial Dragon Soul Guidance Legion, the head of the four great beast king legions."

"Now that Xu Tianyuan has been dismissed, the position of head of the Imperial Dragon Soul Master Corps is vacant, and a level nine Soul Master is needed to take over. You are the best choice I can think of."

As he spoke, he chuckled and said, "Perhaps it's the only option. After all, once you wiped out those royal parasites, some of the more capable members of the royal family became cowards, afraid of being caught and killed by you."

Xu Tianxi pointed to himself and asked, "I'm young and inexperienced, wouldn't that be inappropriate?"

"I've already decided that you will be the commander of the Soul Master Corps. There's not much skill involved in fighting. Just set up the formation and start bombarding," Kong Deming said dismissively.

"You've killed so many important figures from Shrek Academy, your merits are enough, and your combat strength is sufficient. It's just a simple matter of being promoted out of turn. I've already found your great-grandfather's old subordinates. You can take over when you have time in the future."

As they were talking, Kong Deming took out a letter of appointment and handed it to Xu Tianxi.

Seeing that it clearly stated "Xu Tianxi is hereby appointed as the new head of the Imperial Dragon Soul Instructor Corps," Xu Tianxi knew he had been appointed and asked with a smile:

"Master Kong, what is my surname...?"

"Your surname is Xu, now you should prepare to change it back."

Kong Deming raised his hand slightly and said, "When you come of age, go to the ancestral temple and rejoin the family genealogy. Your title can also be promoted along the way."

Xu Tianxi's eyes shifted slightly, turning into a sigh: "I still prefer to cultivate now. I have entrusted those troublesome matters to trustworthy people. In the next few years, I would like to learn about soul tools from you and improve my cultivation."

"Hahaha, that's perfect, talent shouldn't be wasted..."

Kong Deming was very pleased. He didn't care that Xu Tianxi's cultivation was still shallow, and began to explain the principles of some level nine soul tools.

Xu Tianxi studied everything one by one, his eyes sometimes bright, sometimes deep.

(End of this chapter)