Douluo: Yu Hao Pan Tang San

Chapter 173, Section 191: The Network
This magnificent peak is the territory of the Body Sect. Huo Qiqiang, Ning Fengzhi, and Sword Bone Douluo walked on the ridge.

Ning Fengzhi had no interest in appreciating the beautiful scenery around him; he looked preoccupied.

After learning about the Spirit Hall's reforms, he traveled anxiously to various factions, with the Body Sect being his first stop.

"Sect Master Ning, what brings you to visit my Body Sect today?" Huo Qiqiang asked.

Ning Fengzhi said with a wry smile, "The changes at the Spirit Hall are known throughout the world. I have come here to ask Sect Master Huo for your opinion."

"Are you asking for my opinion?" Huo Qiqiang raised his head and looked at the sunlight piercing through the dense forest.

He casually plucked a leaf and handed it to Ning Fengzhi, saying, "Sect Leader Ning, point this leaf towards the sun."

Ning Fengzhi picked up a leaf and held it up to the sunlight.

"So, you understand now?" Huo Qiqiang asked.

Ning Fengzhi was stunned for a moment, then he suddenly realized and said, "Sect Master Huo, you are indeed insightful. I am no match for you."

After leaving the Body Sect, Gu Rong couldn't help but ask, "Sect Master, what kind of riddle are you and that person from the Body Sect playing? It's so incomprehensible."

Ning Fengzhi handed the leaf to Gu Rong and said, "Uncle Gu, please hold this leaf up to the sunlight and take a look."

The ancient banyan tree holds its leaves up to the sunlight.

"What do you see?"

“I can clearly see the veins in the leaves,” the ancient banyan tree said. “But what’s wrong with that?”

“The Spirit Hall is based on this network,” Ning Fengzhi said solemnly. “They have established one Spirit Hall after another throughout the Douluo Continent, even penetrating into the countryside. As a result, every inch of land and every piece of intelligence on the continent is under the control of the Spirit Hall. The Spirit Hall can calculate the total population of the two great empires and measure their resource output. In the past, they only used this network to recruit Soul Masters to join them, but now, they have shown their fangs.”

"The Spirit Hall established a storage and transportation system, allowing them to sell the products of the Heaven Dou Empire to the Star Luo Empire, thereby accumulating wealth in their hands. They could store grain in bountiful areas and transport it to disaster-stricken regions, attracting local people to join them. Each Spirit Hall transmitted the information they wanted to transmit to the Douluo Continent, and they could decide what the vast majority of people on the Douluo Continent should know and could know!"

"If this continues, the Spirit Hall will become more than an empire, and the two great empires will slowly become puppets of the Spirit Hall. Bibi Dong won't even need to go to war with the two great empires; the Spirit Hall can directly seize the world." As Ning Fengzhi finished speaking, a bead of cold sweat slid down his forehead.

"That's terrifying!" Gu Rong asked in shock. "What should we do, Sect Master?"

Ning Fengzhi said, "This is obvious. What we can understand, others can also understand. The ones who are truly threatened are not us, but the two empires. For them, it's either a war with the Spirit Hall or a slow death."

"The Spirit Hall's reform is less of a reform and more of a declaration of war. The most urgent task now is to unite all the forces that can be united on the continent to form an anti-Spirit Hall alliance, cut off its reach to the continent, curb its ambitions, and restore order to tradition."

The Spirit Hall's reforms were indeed like a declaration of war delivered to various forces on the continent. If it succeeded in this reform, it would be tantamount to handing over the lifelines of the two great empires, their people, and their nobles to the Spirit Hall.

This was something neither of the two great empires could accept, so it was foreseeable that they would retaliate.

However, the Spirit Hall possessed the largest army of spirit masters on the entire Douluo Continent, and a large portion of the titled Douluo were under its control. They wouldn't fight a battle unprepared, and a declaration of war was inevitable. The Spirit Hall's reforms exacerbated the conflicts among the continent's top powers, and in a corner of the Heaven Dou Empire, an academy was established.

Xinghuo Academy is a school built with the full investment of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School and maintained by a series of powerful figures such as Xie Jun, Xue Nu, and Xiao Bai.

Xinghuo Academy does not open enrollment to schools, but instead adopts a proactive approach to recruiting students.

They primarily recruited slaves, commoners, and Soul Masters who emerged from the commoner class; they did not recruit nobles.

After the academy was established, Xie Jun used his power as a Title Douluo to obtain the qualification to participate in the Continental Soul Master Competition and set up the Starfire Team.

Currently, the members of the Spark team are:

Luo Xingqi's Martial Soul: Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, Level 26 Support-type Soul Master.

Mu Yuanfang's Martial Soul: Gengjin Haotian Hammer, Level 28 Power Attack Type Battle Soul Master

Lin Chen's Martial Soul: Blue Lightning Tyrannosaurus Rex, Holy Breath Spirit Grass, specializing in the Blue Lightning Tyrannosaurus Rex Clan Martial Soul, Level 24 Power Attack Type Battle Soul Master

Ye Qingmei's Martial Soul: Netherworld Cat, White Tiger, Level 24 Agility-Attack Type Battle Soul Master

Su Qingqian's Martial Soul: Emerald Swan, Level 22 Support-type Soul Master
Zhao Hengning's Martial Soul: Bone Dragon, Level 21 Defense-type Soul Master
Lu Kai: Holy Light Guardian Angel, Level 22 Control-type Battle Soul Master

In Huo Yuhao's plan, the Spark team is not required to be the same age as the Shrek Seven Devils, but their backgrounds are limited to those below the nobility, and they have awakened useless martial souls, but they are determined and bear a certain destiny. Some seek revenge, and some want to subvert this traditional order.
They were all ambitious, but they were constrained by their own limitations.

Their martial spirits were undoubtedly obtained through the technology and ruthless skills controlled by Starfire Academy.

Principal Evil Lord stood before the seven members of the Starfire Team and formally announced:

"Kids, I hereby officially announce the formation of the Spark Team. Do you know why this academy is called Spark, and why your team is called the Spark Team?"

After a moment of contemplation, Zhao Hengning stepped forward and said, "Dean, do you hope that we will shine like the stars in the sky, illuminating this era?"

The Evil Lord shook his head: "Here's a hint for you: turn the Starfire upside down."

“A spark,” Mu Yuanfang said. “I understand what you mean. The place where I live is an arid region. Every dry season, the mountains are barren. Just a tiny spark can ignite a wildfire.”

The Evil Lord laughed and said, "You are very clever. Yes, you are just tiny sparks. In the future, you are destined to ignite a fire on this continent full of dry tinder and raging flames, a fire that will burn away all traditions!"

At this moment, when all the forces on the continent were focused on the Spirit Hall, no one could have imagined that this newly registered academy would become the Lindenwan Training Center of the continent decades later.

(End of this chapter)