Douluo Continent: I can nurture soul beasts and even perform super evolution.

Chapter 249 The Blessing of the Sacrifice, The Death of Jing Hongchen (Combined Chapter)

The large green waves swaying behind her head gave her a unique mermaid-like beauty, while holding a harpoon made her look like a sea god descending to earth.

A beam of light enveloped her, as if a grand "promotion" ceremony had just taken place.

The Sea Princess's people were also stunned by this scene, and their gazes toward Su Wen became increasingly respectful, even... fanatical.

All they saw was Su Wen throw out a black ball with a whoosh, as if it were a blessing ceremony, and then Princess Liya underwent a tremendous change. This kind of bloodline advancement was far more tempting than an increase in strength.

In the world of soul beasts, bloodline is paramount. A strong person can suppress a low-level soul beast with just their bloodline. Of course, the most important thing is... the increase in the upper limit.

The Sea Princess Clan Chief, with 600,000 years of cultivation, has just broken through to the sixth Great Tribulation. This is already the limit for the Sea Princess Clan. Even the most talented clan chief in the clan cannot break through any further.

Coria is different.

As the bloodline advances, its upper limit will be limitless, and there is even a chance to touch the legendary million-year soul beast, or even... a god.

"Thank you."

The sea princess chieftain bowed again, and crystal tears fell down her cheeks, resembling pure crystals in the ocean.

These are tears of joy.

but……

Golden tears can only be shed when one is extremely sad? Su Wen sighed inwardly. The Sea Princess's tears were a good thing, but they could also easily bring disaster.

All the sea creatures knelt on the ground, expressing their reverence.

"Owner."

Liya swam softly to Su Wen's side, her slender waist as supple as a snake. She circled Su Wen a few times, and then a beam of light surged from her body, enveloping Su Wen.

"What is this?" Xue Di frowned slightly.

"This is... a mermaid's blessing? No, that's not right. It's more like a blessing from a sea god's priest. Liya has undergone bloodline advancement and is no longer an ordinary mermaid," the sea princess chieftain exclaimed in surprise.

Seeing that Xue Di was still confused, she explained, "The Sea Princess clan can only bless one person in their lifetime. It can be someone they love or their parents. The person who receives the blessing will carry the Sea Princess's good fortune."

"It's not quite as powerful as the destiny of auspicious beasts, but for most people, it's still quite precious..." Xue Di said thoughtfully, nodding slightly to show her understanding.

Su Wen now has a lot of skills, so it's always good to have more.

Moreover, he had already used the auspicious beast's fortune to evolve it into the Eye of Destiny.

"Why isn't there a shark's blessing?" Bai Xiuxiu swam over, blowing bubbles, and scratched her head with her fin. "Su Wen saved me twice, so I want to give him my blessing too."

"A blessing in my heart is enough." Xue Di patted Bai Xiuxiu's soft belly, looked up at Su Wen who was wrapped up above her, and a look of relief flashed in her eyes.

The sea princess smiled without saying a word.

……

"A blessing from a sacrifice?"

Su Wen felt the changes in his body and nodded slightly.

Fortune is a mysterious and elusive thing.

He never placed his hopes on it.

It's useful; it can help a person defy fate, bringing a flood of opportunities that lead directly to the divine. But it can't change the tragic ending of being trained like a dog.

Now, when I think about Huo Gua's Eye of Fate, I feel it's ironic. One by one, his beloved ones "passed away" (Wang Dong'er, Wang Qiu'er), and in the end, only the Frankenstein's monster Tang Wutong was left. Just thinking about it makes me feel utterly hopeless.

But it's okay.

This life is already a pile of ashes.

The eye of fate cannot see into the future; even if one possesses the power of fate, one cannot control one's own destiny.

Su Wen gently exhaled a breath of stale air.

The light screen around Liya slowly faded away.

The girl swam over and whispered, "Master, is something troubling you?"

"fine."

Su Wen smiled and shook his head.

"It's just... being sentimental about spring and autumn."

Liya reached out and gently brushed Su Wen's cheek, as if wiping away tears, then leaned forward and hugged Su Wen tightly.

"Thank you, Master, for giving Liya a chance to be reborn. I vow to follow you until the seas dry up, the rocks crumble, and the world ends..."

"it is good."

Su Wen was taken aback for a moment, then patted Liya on the back and smiled.

He has so many like-minded friends (to eliminate Tang San), and he has already changed a lot, taking over the destiny of this world from Huo Gua and befriending the Silver Dragon King to win over various soul beast forces.

It's already pretty good...

"Come on."

Liya gave Su Wen a quick kiss on the cheek, then swam away into the distance like lightning, creating ripples in the depths of the ocean. Only the vast sea princess clan, along with the Snow Emperor and Bai Xiuxiu, watched him.

"The seawater is so blue..." Su Wen scratched his head to cover his embarrassment.

But Xue Di rolled her eyes at her.

……

Su Wen emerged from the deep sea.

Looking at the vast, boundless sky, I felt good. I had reached an agreement with the Sea Princess's clan for the "acquisition" of the sea mines. Actually, "acquisition" isn't quite accurate; it was more of a one-sided gift from them.

However, at Su Wen's insistence, he agreed to exchange a certain amount of land resources for marine minerals and some seabed resources.

The abundance of resources on the seabed was something Su Wen had never imagined.

The abundance of minerals and metals scarce on land is a godsend for Shrek Academy, which is about to enter a period of rapid development in its forging department.

"Then what comes next is..."

"The Rescue of Mirror Red Dust Plan!"

“Low-level battle armor is too limiting. Let’s see if that person can break the spell. After all, he’s a top-notch soul tool researcher who has participated in the development of humanoid soul tools…” Su Wen pondered.

Compared to Xuan Ziwen, whose imagination runs wild and whose talent was only revealed after joining Shrek Academy, Jing Hongchen is a veteran powerhouse with the strength of a level 94 Title Douluo, making him seem more 'stable'. It's like one takes an unconventional approach, while the other has honed his basic skills to perfection.

With him involved, the Battle Armor Project will definitely go much more smoothly.

"..."

……

"Master of the Red Dust Hall, it's been a long time."

Mingdu, a prison.

An elderly man slowly pushed open the door and walked in, his tone filled with emotion.

"It's only been a few months, how can you say it's been a long time?" Jing Hongchen slowly opened her eyes, smiling as she looked at Xu Jiangliu, but her eyes were unusually calm, without the slightest ripple.

"..."

Xu Jiangliu quietly observed Jing Hongchen, trying to find a trace of fear, but found none.

He sighed softly and got straight to the point.

"You know the purpose of my visit."

"Ah."

“Since that’s the case, I’m just here to let you die knowing the truth. This matter was ordered by His Majesty himself, with a three-month deadline, for me to…” Xu Jiangliu put his hands behind his back and said calmly, “Don’t come looking for me after you die. No one dares to disobey His Majesty’s orders.”

“Xu Jiangliu, you’ve got some nerve, daring to criticize His Majesty in your heart, telling me to go find His Majesty as a ghost. Aren’t you afraid they’ll overhear you and then hand you over to… cough cough…” Jing Hongchen said mockingly. “These are all my men,” Xu Jiangliu said calmly.

"Hehe, it seems you're quite shrewd, knowing that without me to restrain you in the future, His Majesty of the Sun Moon Empire will have to be wary of you..." Jing Hongchen said with a smile.

"I'm quite envious. In the future, within Mingdu, you, Xu Jiangliu, will be the one to command the wind and rain."

"Sowing discord won't work on me," Xu Jiangliu said calmly. "There is only one person in the entire empire who can command the wind and rain, and that is His Majesty. There is only one person who can shelter you from the wind and rain, and that is Elder Kong."

"Go in peace..."

"Tsk tsk tsk, I never thought that after fighting for half a lifetime, I would end up in such a state." Jing Hongchen sighed. "Since you can't take over Mingde Hall anyway, why bother running around like a pawn? Wouldn't it be better to just hand over the responsibility to the next generation?"

Mingde Hall, the Royal Soul Guidance Corps of the Sun Moon Empire.

They basically represent the two largest factions within the military and scientific research capital.

As the leaders of the two factions, they naturally had their share of open and covert struggles over the years. It wasn't that they wanted to, but that they both knew that those above wanted to see this.

Only a life-or-death struggle can put the higher-ups at ease.

Even though Xu Jiangliu represents the royal family and shares the same bloodline, that person still harbors suspicions, after all, he was someone who seized the throne through ruthless means...

Therefore, even if Jing Hongchen is no longer in power, Mingde Hall will not be handed over to Xu Jiangliu to allow him to dominate. Although it will be brought under the control of the royal family, it will most likely be managed by a highly respected elder.

"..."

Xu Jiangliu frowned slightly.

"When serving His Majesty, there is no reason for me to hesitate or look back."

"Bullshit, do you believe that?" Jing Hongchen scoffed.

"They are much more comfortable as enemies than you are," Xu Jiangliu finally uttered after a long silence.

"Ha ha ha ha……"

Jing Hongchen laughed loudly, "I never expected that, as a fellow citizen of the Empire, you would always regard me as an enemy. This is the royal family, this is the Xu family. Cold-bloodedness flows in their veins, it's ingrained in their bones and cannot be changed. His Majesty is, the Crown Prince is, and you are too..."

"I have no regrets in dying, I only have one last request."

"speak."

“After I die, let Lin Jiayi and the others go. The empire needs these cornerstones to develop soul tools. If the consequences are too great, it will cause serious problems for Mingde Hall…” Jing Hongchen said sincerely.

“Of course, death absolves all debts.” Xu Jiangliu nodded slightly. “I won’t make things difficult for them, and there’s no point in doing so.”

"That's good."

Jing Hongchen slowly closed his eyes and stopped speaking.

Xu Jiangliu glanced at him with a complicated expression, then turned and left...

at the same time.

If you were to look down on the entire prison from God's perspective.

Soldiers, fully armed, patrolled back and forth. There were even some humanoid soul-guided mech units. Hundreds of soul-guided rays were hung on the towering prison walls, and unmanned soul-guided detectors, shaped like water droplets, emitted beeps as they patrolled the vast prison under the control of soul masters.

It resembles an iron fortress.

And the next moment.

"Boom!!!"

"Enemy attack!"

The piercing alarm blared throughout the prison.

A huge gap was dug out of the ground, and dozens of massive earth-drilling soul tools poured out from it. Then, fierce fighting broke out, with roars and screams filling the air.

The riot gradually subsided only after a mushroom cloud rose, seemingly burning everything to ashes.

"Reporting to my lord, it appears that the Body Sect launched a surprise attack. Their target was Jing Hongchen. After inflicting some damage on him, we launched a counterattack... but the enemy suddenly produced a level nine soul-guided cannonball and perished together with him. The enemy was completely wiped out, and our side suffered heavy casualties. Jing Hongchen was imprisoned by the soul-guided lock and could not exert his strength. He will most likely also perish in the sea of ​​fire."

Black fog billowed.

A middle-aged man dressed in the Sun and Moon military uniform knelt before Xu Jiangliu, sweating profusely.

This is because he failed to handle things properly.

How did they manage to sneak up on us, knowing exactly how the prison's firepower was deployed and pinpointing Jing Hongchen's cell? There's a spy!

"Go and accept your punishment yourself." Xu Jiangliu waved his hand dismissively, his face expressionless.

Coincidentally, this also provides an opportunity to crack down on corruption within the military...

The Sun Moon Empire has a history of having soul guide devices flow out of its borders, and many confidential and cutting-edge soul guide technologies have even appeared in the Star Luo Empire's auction houses. However, the military is deeply corrupt and difficult to eradicate, so the authorities took the opportunity to hold people accountable... Where did that level nine fixed-position soul guide shell come from?

This can be considered as giving His Majesty a reason.

Kill two birds with one stone.

As for the soldiers who were "buried with"

They were merely necessary sacrifices.

The empire always needs all young soldiers to give their hearts.

Otherwise, how can we talk about iron-fisted rule?

He looked at the chaotic prison, billowing black smoke, shook his head, and said his mission was complete. It was time to leave…

Having said that, he and several close followers vanished.

……

Behind the clouds.

Su Wen and Jing Hongchen quietly looked down at the scene below.

At this moment, Jing Hongchen was in high spirits. With Qingluan's healing, the minor injury was naturally no problem, but he shook his head helplessly, "Why bother? For my sake, so many people have lost their lives."

"If you were the Emperor of the Sun and Moon, would you do this?"

After a long while, Jing Hongchen finally turned his gaze to Su Wen on the side.

"I?"

Su Wen pondered for a moment.

"If it were me, I would enforce military discipline, but I would not use the lives of these innocent soldiers as an excuse. This is not ruthlessness; it is just using the guise of an iron-blooded empire to reveal the heartlessness and injustice in one's heart."

"Empires also need warmth, not the coldness of frost."

“Yes, all the emperors were too extreme. Even the next emperor, Xu Tianran, inherited the exact same personality as his father. He had the demeanor of a tyrant, but no kindness…” Jing Hongchen sighed softly.

"You won't get far this way."

"Each has its drawbacks."

Su Wen shook his head.

"If it were the Star Luo, Heavenly Soul, and Dou Ling kingdoms, the noble forces would be deeply entrenched, forcing even the royal family to yield to their interests. Nowadays, it's more like a noble alliance than a nation..."

"Hahaha, it has to be the young people who see things so clearly." Jing Hongchen laughed heartily, glancing at Su Wen with a gratified look, as if he were looking at his grandson-in-law.

When do you plan to bring the Shrek Academy students back?

"Let's do it today," Su Wen said thoughtfully.

"It was just in time to take advantage of the chaos caused by the prison bombing."

"Alright, I'd like to see for myself what it means to combine soul guidance technology with forging. It sounds so mystical, and they even forge battle armor..." Jing Hongchen put his hands behind his back, his expression slowly relaxing, with a hint of contentment, like a retired old cadre.

However, today, he officially retired from Mingdetang...

(End of this chapter)