Douluo Continent: Starting with a Heavenly Fire Judgment

Chapter 423 Test? Showdown

Haotian Sect, inside Haotian Fortress.

"Brother, do you think something happened up there? Why has there been no movement for so many years? What exactly is his plan? He hasn't shown any concern for Dong'er all these years? Has he really just ignored her?"

A loud, deep voice rang out from inside the castle.

Two tall figures stood at the window inside the castle, looking up at the sky.

The speaker was a very strong middle-aged man with a head of short, fine hair like steel needles. He had a dignified appearance and a resolute face that looked as if it had been carved by a knife and axe. His eyes were brownish-yellow with a faint golden light. His gray robe could not completely hide his strong, muscular muscles.

The other was also a middle-aged man with long, dark blue hair that cascaded over his broad, imposing shoulders. His eyes were also dark blue, and though seemingly simple, they possessed an indescribable, unique quality. There was a sense that he couldn't suppress the powerful aura emanating from within him.

Dressed in a white, fitted outfit, he was listening to the rambling of the burly man beside him.

The middle-aged man in white was Niu Tian, ​​the Grand Master of the Haotian Sect, while the talkative, burly man in gray was Titan, the Second Master.

Niu Tian sighed and said, "His thoughts are beyond our comprehension. He must have his reasons for doing this. Xiao Dong has already graduated from Shrek Academy and joined a sect called Zizaimen. The things he left behind have never been put to use."

Niu Tian took out a brocade pouch from his storage ring and said helplessly, "The test inside this pouch was left by him, but Xiao Dong hasn't brought any outsiders back. Who is this test for?"

Titan asked doubtfully, "Brother, you said he left behind a test, but you didn't say who it was. Are we just going to wait here forever?"

Niu Tian sighed softly and said, "Forget it, this isn't something we should worry about. As long as Xiao Dong is alright, that's all that matters. We'll leave the rest to fate."

"Fate?" Titan gazed at the sky through the window, his eyes filled with confusion.

……

Time passed slowly, and half a month had passed since Ji Lin and the others returned to Xingluo City. During these two weeks, news came from all sides: the Sun Moon Empire and the Xingluo Empire and the Heavenly Soul Empire were arguing, and some sects that originally belonged to the Douluo Three Kingdoms and went to the Sun Moon Empire to participate in the competition were unable to return to their sects and were instead deeply involved in the Sun Moon Empire.

The three empires had a lot of wrangling over this. The Sun Moon Empire accused the two other empires of causing a massive explosion in Mingdu, resulting in the deaths and injuries of millions of innocent civilians and leaving countless people homeless. The Star Luo and Heavenly Soul Empires, of course, refused to admit it, since they really didn't do it.

Meanwhile, the three original Douluo Empires condemned the Sun Moon Empire for unilaterally detaining the sect teams that went to participate in the competition, saying that its intentions were despicable. Both sides were fighting tooth and nail in diplomacy.

Only a few sects were able to escape Mingdu unscathed. Most of the small and medium-sized sects were detained by the Sun Moon Empire. The Sun Moon Empire also made it clear and arrogant that the people from the participating academies and sects were in their hands and were still alive.

This caused the original Douluo Three Kingdoms a great headache. Many elite disciples from sects and academies were in the hands of the Sun Moon Empire, making them hesitant to act. They knew that the Sun Moon Empire would launch a war, but they dared not take the initiative to attack. Firstly, they lacked the strength, and secondly, the sects and academies where their disciples were imprisoned opposed them.

Those who can represent various academies and sects in the Continental Elite Youth Soul Master Tournament are all the cream of the crop among the younger generation. They are almost all the future pillars of these academies and sects. In addition, with the teachers leading the teams, or sects led by their own sect leaders, this means that the major sects and academies will not dare to easily take action against the Sun Moon Empire, at least not before their own people are rescued.

If these academies and sects risk going to rescue them, they will fall into the same trap as the Sun Moon Empire and be defeated one by one. If the original Douluo Three Kingdoms want to take any action against the Sun Moon Empire, they will have to consider the opinions of these sects and academies with high-end combat power.

The Sun Moon Empire can take this opportunity to recuperate and recover the strength lost due to the Mingdu explosion. It can be described as a three-birds-with-one-stone strategy: first, it can make the three kingdoms hesitant to act; second, it can strike at the high-end combat power of the three kingdoms; and third, it can take the opportunity to recover its strength.

In the past two weeks, Jing Hongchen secretly sent some high-level Soul Masters to Xingluo City. These high-level Soul Masters were Jing Hongchen's confidants, and their families and relatives were all under Jing Hongchen's control. With the constraints of the Contract Book, it could be said that everything was foolproof.

With the addition of these advanced Soul Masters, Ji Lin's progress is encouraging, and he should be able to achieve results soon.

However, Jing Hongchen dared not make any big moves. Recently, the Sun Moon Empire was the center of a storm, and it was already the limit for him to secretly send a batch of Soul Masters.

With the final piece of the puzzle nearing completion, Ji Lin is ready to confront Xu Jiawei.

Inside the Star Luo Imperial Palace, Xu Jiawei, Ji Lin, and Xu Jiujiu sat on a sofa. Xu Jiawei had already dismissed all the guards and maids because Ji Lin said there was something very important to discuss that only the three of them could know.

Although Xu Jiawei is the ruler of a country, he does not have the lonely and isolated feeling that Ji Lin had as the emperor in his previous life. He still has people he can completely trust, such as Xu Jiujiu. Ji Lin is also someone he trusts. Firstly, he watched Ji Lin grow up since he was a child, and secondly, he himself is a titled Douluo, skilled and daring.

She sat down next to Ji Lin for a long time, her expression somewhat conflicted. She had already guessed what Ji Lin was going to say. What she was worried about now was that her brother would disagree. If the two of them had different ideas, she would be caught in the middle and would be in a very difficult position.

Xu Jiawei had a smile on his face. Perhaps he had guessed something, but he was waiting for Ji Lin to come to him.

After all, Ji Lin's actions were quite evident, and he had some understanding of Chi Yuan's strength. From Ji Lin establishing the Zizai Gate to promoting the establishment of the Liyue Merchant Guild, and the recent secret arrival of the high-level Soul Master from the Sun Moon Empire, all of these indicated that Ji Lin had his own ideas.

He had been waiting for Ji Lin to confront him.

Ji Lin held Xu Jiujiu's jade hand, comforted the princess, and reassured her. Then he looked at Xu Jiawei and said in a deep voice, "Brother, I think you can see that I have my own ideas. I want to unify the Douluo Continent."

Xu Jiawei paused for a moment, then laughed and said, "You little brat, you want to be emperor?"

"Anyway, our Xu family has no male heirs. After you and Jiu Jiu get married, I can give you the Star Luo throne directly. With your talent, you might even become the strongest emperor in the history of the Star Luo Empire."

Ji Lin remained calm and said again, "Brother, I want to unify the Douluo Continent."

Ji Lin was well aware of the Xu family's situation. This generation of the Xu family was sparsely populated, with not even a single male heir to inherit the Star Crown Martial Soul. The only direct bloodline members were Xu Jiawei, Xu Jiujiu, Xu Yun, and a few elders. Once Xu Jiawei abdicated, they wouldn't even be able to find a successor. They couldn't very well let a woman ascend the throne and become an empress! Although a Martial Soul Empire had set a precedent ten thousand years ago, their Star Luo Empire had no precedent for an empress ascending the throne. If Xu Jiujiu or Xu Yun were to ascend the throne, the opposition within the empire would be extremely strong. Moreover, the Xu family's control over the Star Luo Empire wasn't that strong; they couldn't be considered a one-man show at all.

Given the current strength of the Star Crown Sect, after Xu Jiawei, they are very likely to lose their throne, just like the White Tiger Duke's lineage back then.

Therefore, Xu Jiawei had considered passing the throne to Ji Lin, and then to Ji Lin and Xu Jiujiu's child, provided that the two of them had a son.

This is better than returning the throne to the lineage of Duke Baihu; at least the throne still carries the blood of the Xu family.

Moreover, strictly speaking, Ji Lin also possesses the bloodline of the Xu family, but he is quite far removed from Xu Jiawei's direct lineage.

But he didn't expect Ji Lin's ambition to be so great, that he was not satisfied with just a Star Luo Empire.

Xu Jiawei smiled bitterly and said, "Actually, I once thought about unifying the Douluo Continent, but reality crushed me. Now, all I want to do is protect the Star Luo Empire and the Star Crown Sect. I don't want to become a ruler of a fallen country and disgrace my ancestors."

"To be honest, apart from me, I think most of the emperors of the Heavenly Soul Empire and the Douling Empire also had the idea of ​​unifying the Douluo Continent. An emperor without ambition is not a qualified emperor, but the fact is that neither of our empires has the strength to unify the Douluo Continent."

"Jiu-mei, tell me, is our Xingguan Clan strong?"

Xu Jiujiu replied without hesitation, "Of course, we are extremely powerful. Back then, we were able to lead the imperial army and people to drive out the invading Sun Moon Empire and ultimately force the White Tiger Duke's lineage to give way to us. It was all thanks to the power of our family. Now, there are very few large families on the continent with such a long history as our Xu family. Even when the Spirit Hall was rampaging back then, they couldn't do anything to us."

Xu Jiawei nodded and said, "You're right. Our Xu family is very strong, but even such a powerful family couldn't defeat other empires and unify the Douluo Continent. In the end, by our generation, the population was sparse, and no more than five people possessed the Star Crown Martial Soul. What truly prevented us from unifying the Douluo Continent was not the other empires, but those hidden sects and families."

Ji Lin knew what Xu Jiawei meant; he was advising him not to be overly ambitious, as unifying the Douluo Continent would be too difficult. Besides other empires, there were also hidden sects and families, and even the God Realm in the heavens might get involved.

Xu Jiawei's concerns were not without merit. Even though the Spirit Hall attempted to unify the Douluo Continent ten thousand years ago, it ultimately failed and was defeated by the Sea God Tang San, shattering its ambitions.

It's important to know that the Spirit Hall produced two deities at that time, and these were not ordinary deities, yet they still ultimately lost.

(End of this chapter)