Douluo: The Throne of Ice

Chapter 64: A Long-Awaited Leap Forward, Ten Thousand Years of Evolution, and the Predicament Faced by the Empire

It did take a long time for Xu Jiujiu to absorb the ten-thousand-year soul ring, lasting from yesterday afternoon until this evening before finally ending. However, the gains were truly surprising.

The residual soul power from absorbing a 70,000-year-old soul bone, combined with the amplification from the soul ring energy, directly propelled Xu Jiujiu's soul power to level 45.

This is truly astonishing. In less than a week, Xu Jiujiu's soul power has made a rapid leap from level 38 to level 45, which can be said to have saved him a year of hard training.

However, this situation will probably only happen once. In future cultivation, even if one absorbs a higher-level soul ring, the resulting boost will be far less than this time.

This is actually quite easy to understand. From the moment a Soul Master absorbs a Soul Ring beyond their level for the first time, it means that their physical qualities, the quality of their Soul Power, and even their body's ability to withstand the total amount of Soul Power are far superior to those of other Soul Masters of the same level.

In subsequent soul ring absorptions, the boost gained from absorbing soul rings of higher levels is essentially the same as that from an ordinary soul master absorbing a soul ring of the appropriate age.

After all, the quality of your soul power and the total amount of soul power you can withstand are what they are. What others see as absorbing beyond one's level is actually just absorbing a soul beast of a suitable age in front of you. Naturally, the resulting increase is not as terrifying and considerable as the first time you absorbed beyond your level.

Even so, Xu Jiujiu was still extremely happy. Just as she herself said, after completing this breakthrough, her Star Crown Martial Soul's speed of absorbing the power of the starry sky increased by nearly 30%. In addition, she could use the auxiliary soul tool to absorb and store the power of the starry sky in advance. Even during the day, she could cultivate moderately. Her cultivation speed was not much faster than before, but at least there would be some changes.

Of course, before deciding to leave Xingluo City to search for opportunities on the mainland, Shu Yan still had to give Xu Jiawei a pep talk.

After all, he was taking someone else's younger sister with him when he left Xingluo City. As an older brother, he always had a special concern and worry for his younger sister. Even though Xu Jiawei was the emperor, he was still no exception.

Shu Yan didn't say much about it, but he could only promise not to take too many risks, which finally put Xu Jiawei at ease.

As the departure date approached, Xu Jiujiu appeared quite happy. As a princess, she had been confined to Xingluo City since birth. She had many things to learn and experience every day and rarely had the opportunity to go out, let alone venture out to the mainland. Therefore, Xu Jiujiu attached great importance to this trip and could not hide her excitement.

After dealing with matters in Xingluo City, Shu Yan went to see Qian Gu Chaosheng again and obtained an ancient leather map from him. Xu Jiawei had wanted Xingyun Douluo to accompany him before leaving, but after looking at the Ice and Snow Emperors beside him, he reluctantly gave up the idea.

And so, with Xu Jiawei personally seeing them off, Shu Yan and the other three quickly left the palace grounds and headed towards the bustling city outside...

……

Just as they were about to leave the city gate, the four of them finally met Luo Qinghan, who was being pushed by Tianling and waiting at a beverage shop by the street.

After giving her a brief introduction to Hyotei, Shu Yan didn't say anything more. Luo Qinghan was a smart person. Even though Shu Yan didn't reveal any key information, she knew what she should and shouldn't ask. After greeting everyone in turn after getting on the bus, she sat alone in a corner and began to meditate and cultivate, without saying a single unnecessary word.

Shu Yan didn't disturb him. He held the ancient map he had obtained from Qian Gu Chaosheng and studied it carefully.

Due to the collision of continental plates thousands of years ago, the continents today are vastly different from those of ten thousand years ago.

Many iconic landmarks and even cities have disappeared into the annals of history. The original Tian Dou Empire has long since split into the two great empires of Tian Hun and Dou Ling.

On these ancient ruins, later generations built new cities, and people gradually migrated to those new lands. Therefore, the current map of the continent has many more cities, as well as new mountains, plains and other terrain features than the ancient map in Shu Yan's hands.

Furthermore, due to the past prosperity and domineering nature of the Tang Clan, many of their origin sites are not allowed to appear on the map. Legend has it that this is a divine decree passed down by the Sea God. Although there are occasional complaints on the continent, most people can only accept it helplessly.

As time went by, the Tang Clan gradually weakened, and some of its original traditions disappeared into history. To this day, many people have even forgotten those secret places that disappeared from the map for no reason. Even if someone remembers them, they are too lazy to spend time searching for them.

After all, in this day and age, the hidden weapons inherited by the Tang Sect and the parts of their legacy that still exist are far too backward compared to the brand-new soul tool system and the ever-developing technology and economy. The Tang Sect's reputation has long since vanished due to their corruption and conservatism, which is an unchangeable fact.

Of course, even if someone wanted to make changes, Shu Yan would never agree.

Outdated products that have already been submerged in the tides of history should just stay obediently in the garbage dump; it would be impolite for them to come out again...

Along the way, Shu Yan was studying the map and thinking about things. He sat next to her for a long time, gazing at the scenery outside, somewhat lost in thought. Xue Di, sitting opposite, was resting her chin on her hand, while Bing Di was eating a bunch of snacks while watching the outside world to pass the time. For a moment, the carriage was strangely quiet.

Shu Yan sighed softly with a hint of helplessness, then closed his eyes and entered a meditative state.

Judging from the direction they left the city, if they continued north along this road, they would arrive at the so-called Xuan Yu City around dusk today. Around the imperial capital Xing Luo City, there are four small cities of not very large size, arranged in the order of heaven, earth, black, and yellow. The purpose of these four cities is to protect the imperial capital from invasion during wartime. Therefore, each of these four cities has a powerful team of soul masters and some armored cavalry, making their combat strength quite formidable.

As they moved further and further away from Xingluo City, small villages and towns gradually appeared in the surrounding area.

These villages and towns are relatively clean and tidy because they are closer to Xingluo City than other villages and towns. There are no buildings that are too backward or dilapidated. However, the problem is still very obvious. Each village and town has at least several hundred people, but the number of people who have soul power is less than a handful. The ratio is frighteningly disproportionate.

After gazing at everything outside for a long time, he couldn't help but sigh softly.

Shu Yan also woke up from his light meditation. He looked at Xu Jiujiu's slightly furrowed brows and then at the scene outside, and he could roughly guess the reason for Xu Jiujiu's change in expression.

After thinking for a moment, he spoke softly:

"Jiujiu, don't think about it too much. This has nothing to do with you."

After a long while, she raised her eyes, her expression somewhat downcast, and then said:

"Actually, the problem of ordinary people within the empire being unable to awaken their martial souls has existed for a long time. My elder brother had many ideas in the past, such as recruiting low-level soul masters to carry out martial soul awakening work, just like the Spirit Hall did back then. But the reason for the failure was quite ridiculous. Ayan, do you know why?"

Shu Yan rubbed his head for a long time, then slowly said:

"If I'm not mistaken, the problem lies with the imperial high command and the nobility..."

Xu Jiujiu nodded and said in a deep voice:

"Yes, when my brother proposed this plan, nearly 70% of the older generation of nobles in the empire stood up to oppose it. This was because if the measure were implemented, it would mean that the lower classes who had been oppressed by them for generations would have a chance to turn their lives around, which would undoubtedly have a great impact on their interests."

"On the other hand, there is the issue of finance. In recent years, the situation on the mainland has become increasingly chaotic and dangerous. The Sun Moon Empire in the west is stirring up trouble. The empire is on the front line of resisting the Sun Moon Empire, so it naturally needs a strong enough army to resist foreign enemies."

"Therefore, the amount of gold soul coins the Empire spends on the military each year is an unimaginably huge figure. Such terrifying military and political expenditures mean that the Empire simply cannot come up with enough extra funds to support this plan. In addition, the vigorous development of soul tools domestically also requires a large amount of funds. Don't be fooled by the fact that the Empire's annual tax revenue is even comparable to the integration of the other two great empires. In reality, there are quite a few corrupt officials in the shadows... The Empire is going through a turbulent period and is truly powerless to deal with these matters. Sometimes, it is really difficult to take care of the overall situation..."

At this point, Xu Jiujiu leaned on Shu Yan's shoulder and gave a somewhat sarcastic smile before continuing:

"You could say that many times it's not that the Empire is unwilling to do things, but that the Empire simply cannot do them, or to put it more bluntly, the Empire dares not do them. But with you, Ayan, I think all of this can be changed in the future..."

Upon hearing this, Shu Yan could only smile helplessly, unsure how to respond for a long time…

……

(End of this chapter)