Douluo Continent: My Martial Soul is the Black Dragon, I am the Lord of the Gods

……

Bibi Dong stepped out of the Shura Abyss Secret Realm and returned to Wuhun City.

She wore a dark red robe with black trim, her posture was upright, her face was beautiful but cold as frost, and she exuded a faint but murderous aura, as if even the surrounding air was frozen.

Years have passed, and Wuhun City remains magnificent, with bustling streets and the light of soul tools flowing between buildings, presenting a prosperous scene.

However, Bibi Dong's eyes, which contained the power of Asura and Rakshasa, easily pierced through this appearance and saw the undercurrents surging beneath.

She only needed to sense it briefly, her divine sense sweeping across the entire empire, and her brows furrowed deeply.

She "heard" it.

I overheard the whispers circulating quietly in the streets and alleys, in aristocratic salons, and in the sects of Soul Masters.

"The Angel God is benevolent and kind; this is the kind of demeanor our Martial Soul Empire should possess!"

"Hmph, Her Majesty Bibi Dong's methods are too cruel, and Lord Xuanming is even more... Alas, that massacre back then was truly against the natural order."

"Yes, now that the Angel God is in charge, our lives as Soul Masters have finally become a little easier. Those lowly commoners have started to cause trouble again recently."

"I've heard that the old nobles of Tiandou and Xingluo have been quite active lately? Do they think that with the Angel God around, they can regain their former glory?"

"Shh! Be careful what you say! But... speaking of which, whose empire is this Martial Soul Empire? Is it Her Majesty Bibi Dong's? Or Lord Angel God's? Or perhaps... Lord Xuanming's?"

"With three deities coexisting, the power... it might not be so easy to distinguish, right? If only..."

Rumors, like poisonous insects in the gutter, breed and spread beneath the seemingly calm surface of the empire.

Bibi Dong's expression grew increasingly cold.

She instantly understood the root of the problem.

Qian Renxue!
During the years she was in seclusion, Qian Renxue took charge of the empire's political affairs.

As an angel goddess, Qian Renxue's divinity inherently represents "order," "protection," and to some extent, "tradition."

Her descent into the mortal realm and her taking charge of the empire inadvertently sent a wrong signal to the old forces that had been brutally suppressed by Xuanming and crushed by Bibi Dong's iron-fisted policies, whether they were the remaining nobles of the two great empires or the Soul Master class within the Martial Soul Empire who longed to regain their privileges!

They seemed to see hope! They saw the hope that by leveraging the prestige of the "Angel God," they could confront or even overthrow the new order established by Bibi Dong and Xuan Ming, which aimed to break down class barriers!

They began to stir, to test the waters, to spread rumors, and to try to sow discord between the three deities, fantasizing that if the two sides fought, the third party would benefit!
What infuriated Bibi Dong even more was that Qian Renxue seemed to have... taken a tacit or even indulgent attitude towards this?!
In the name of "stability" and "long-term" interests, she seems to have compromised with the backlash from the old forces, offering some appeasement and attempting to maintain the situation through conciliatory means!
"Foolish! Naive!" Bibi Dong sneered inwardly.

With a flash, she appeared in the council hall of the Papal Palace, the highest power center of the Martial Soul Empire.

Qian Renxue was sitting behind her desk, dealing with a mountain of government documents. She was dressed in an elegant white and gold dress, her face still stunningly beautiful, radiating a sacred and gentle aura, but there was a hint of weariness between her brows.

Upon seeing Bibi Dong's sudden appearance, Qian Renxue was first startled, then a complex emotion flashed in her eyes as she stood up: "Mother...you've emerged from seclusion?"

Bibi Dong did not respond to her greeting, her gaze icy: "Is this how you've managed the empire these past few years?"

Qian Renxue paused slightly, then understood what Bibi Dong meant. She took a deep breath and tried to explain, “Mother, the empire is newly established, and everything needs to be rebuilt. Internal conflicts are complex and intertwined. Xuanming’s methods back then… were too cruel. Although they temporarily suppressed the resistance, they also sowed the seeds of a huge hidden danger. My policy of appeasement is to ease the conflicts, give all parties time to adapt, and avoid escalating the conflict and destabilizing the empire’s foundation. After all, we cannot rule with iron-fisted methods forever, and the gods cannot forever sit in the mortal realm. Ultimately, we must establish a lasting system…”

"A long-term system?" Bibi Dong interrupted her, her voice filled with undisguised sarcasm. "By compromising? By yielding to those stubborn old forces? By relying on your 'merciful' halo as an angel god?" She approached Qian Renxue step by step, her powerful divine might making the air in the entire study heavy: "You think you're maintaining stability? You're raising a tiger to cause future trouble! You're personally destroying the foundation of the new order that Xuanming and I barely managed to establish with blood and fire!"

Qian Renxue's face paled slightly, but she still insisted, "I have no principles of compromise! The fundamental laws of the Empire have not changed! I have only made some adjustments at the implementation level, giving the Soul Master class the necessary respect and a certain amount of room for their interests. This will help reduce resistance and ensure a smooth transition..."

“Necessary respect? Room for maneuver?” Bibi Dong’s eyes flashed with cold light. “Qian Renxue! You’ve been impersonating Xue Qinghe in the Heaven Dou Empire for over a decade. Have you learned even a fraction of Ning Fengzhi’s methods?! He knows when to be gentle and when to be ruthless! But you’ve only learned womanly compassion!”

"Do you know why Xuanming was willing to bear the sins of millions of dead to launch that bloodbath? Why I was willing to cripple the empire to implement those fundamental reforms?"

"It's not about maintaining the facade of this empire! It's about breaking down the deep-rooted old ideas that have been ingrained for thousands of years! It's about making hundreds of millions of ordinary people understand that Soul Masters are not the heavens, and nobles are not the law! All people are born equal, and dignity and rights are not differentiated by martial soul or birth!"

"Only by using the most brutal violence to carve the word 'equality' into the depths of everyone's soul with blood and fire, making them fear from the bottom of their hearts and then accept this new rule, can a true new era possibly arrive!"

Bibi Dong's voice was like ice striking, carrying an undeniable resolve: "What you are doing now, this so-called 'appeasement,' this so-called 'necessary compromise,' is telling those remnants of the old era: the old rules may still return! It is telling those commoners who are just beginning to awaken: the will of the gods can also be shaken!"

"You're not maintaining stability; you're sowing the seeds of a future total collapse!"

Qian Renxue turned pale from Bibi Dong's barrage of questions and rebukes. She opened her mouth, wanting to retort, but found herself speechless. She had always believed that she was considering the issue from a longer-term, more stable perspective, but she had never considered that her actions might be fundamentally shaking the foundations of the new order.

"As for your claim that the empire will descend into chaos after our ascension?" Bibi Dong sneered, a cruel glint flashing in her eyes. "Then let it descend into chaos!"

"How can a new order be truly established if old ideas don't die out? If the blood of one generation can bring true equality and freedom to millions of generations, then that blood... was shed in vain!"

"What kind of ruler is one who dares not shed blood, dares not kill? Soft-hearted? That's a sign of national ruin!"

Bibi Dong glanced one last time at the pale-faced Qian Renxue, then turned and walked out of the hall, her icy voice echoing in the study:

"It seems you've been living too comfortably these past few years."

"I'll take care of this empire."

"Some abscesses won't heal unless they are completely removed."

As soon as she finished speaking, Bibi Dong's figure disappeared outside the door.

Qian Renxue stood alone, staring at the empty doorway, speechless for a long time. Her mother's words, so cold yet so incisive, struck her heart like a heavy hammer.

Was she really wrong?

If they continue with that kind of extreme violence, once they ascend to the God Realm, who will be able to stabilize the situation of the Martial Soul Empire?
How can the greed in people's hearts be completely eradicated?

At this moment, Bibi Dong, who had just stepped out of the Papal Palace, looked up at the gloomy sky, her eyes showing no hesitation.

Troubled times call for severe punishments.

A serious illness requires strong medicine.

Since some people have forgotten the pain, she doesn't mind letting them remember it all again.

The iron and blood of the Martial Soul Empire... seem to need to be tempered once more! (End of Chapter)