"Bright Light Phoenix."
An Zhen softly uttered the four words Dean Yan least wanted to hear at that moment.
"Dean Yan, a Spirit is inherited through bloodlines."
"However, Leaf Evening Water didn't cultivate the Bright Light Phoenix, but that Spirit still possesses the power of Illuminating Nirvana. If you two are to fight later, be careful."
But An Zhen felt it would be very difficult to determine a victor.
Although Dean Yan had the enhancement of the Earth Dragon Golden Melon, Leaf Evening Water possessed spirit tools. Moreover, Dean Yan had just broken through.
The gossip was over.
"Hiss, it's a bit complicated. I need to sort this out." Dean Yan felt his head spinning with so many sudden revelations. The most crucial part was that those individuals were Evil Soul Masters, and currently among the strongest Evil Soul Masters, with the lowest rank being the Holy Spirit Church's Vice-Patriarch.
"So messy," Wang Dong'er murmured.
Xiao Xiao nodded in agreement. The imagined filter of Titled Douluo powerhouses almost shattered. There were such stories among the three Limit Douluo.
Xiao Xiao pondered internally. According to bloodline, Dean Yan was Leaf Evening Water's grandson, Zhongli Wu was Leaf Evening Water's son, and Leaf Evening Water's grandson's ex-girlfriend was now her son's wife, meaning Dean Yan's ex-girlfriend had become his aunt.
"An Xiaozi, did the Death God Emissary senior tell you the specific scale of the Holy Spirit Church?" Dean Yan's attention temporarily shifted from the melodramatic stories of the older generation to inquire about another matter.
"My teacher mentioned it briefly." An Zhen nodded slightly, speaking in a very calm tone, "Their strength, from strongest to weakest, consists of two Grand Elders, a Patriarch and Vice-Patriarch, twelve Enshriners, and eight Elders. Every Elder is at least a Titled Douluo."
Dean Yan: ?
All the girls: ?
"That can't be real…" Wang Dong'er's voice, full of disbelief, rang out, her dreamy pink-blue eyes wide. The expressions of the others were similar to hers. Even Shrek Academy was barely comparable. No, before Dean Yan's breakthrough, Shrek Academy's high-end combat power was inferior to the Holy Spirit Church.
"After all, they are Evil Soul Masters," An Zhen said calmly, as if they weren't twenty-four Titled Douluo, but twenty-odd ordinary bandits. "It's so simple to improve their strength; they just need to be cruel enough and know how to kill."
"Those bastards!" Ma Xiaotao clenched her fists.
With so many Titled Douluo, who knew how many vibrant lives had perished at their hands.
The other girls also looked furious.
During the previous supervisory mission, that Death God Emissary, a mere Spirit King, caused so much slaughter. What about those Titled Douluo! More than twenty Titled Douluo, plus countless Spirit Douluo and Spirit Saint beneath them…
"Although that Dragon Xiaoyao fellow was an accomplice, he still had a slight bottom line. I thought he would tell my teacher, so I never mentioned it before." An Zhen gently pinched Huo Yutong's soft little face.
"What kind of bottom line can a guy who colludes with Evil Soul Masters have?" The Rank 99 Limit Douluo Dean Yan said with disdain.
"Brother An Zhen, with so many Evil Soul Masters, will there be a war?" Huo Yutong asked with some concern.
More than twenty Titled Douluo Evil Soul Masters.
This number was too shocking.
"At least not now." An Zhen lightly kissed the girl's cheek. "Once Evil Soul Masters are exposed, they will be attacked by everyone. Otherwise, with so many Evil Soul Masters, why would they hide like rats, with no sound of them on the Douluo Continent?"
"An Xiaozi is right." Dean Yan nodded slightly. Although Shrek Academy had the most Titled Douluo among these major powers, other powers also had a considerable number. Sects, hidden families—if the Holy Spirit Church dared to defy the World and unleash a catastrophe, they could be crushed immediately.
"But it's hard to say," An Zhen's voice sounded, and the hearts of the others, which had just settled, suddenly tightened again.
"I said before, the Holy Spirit Church has a deep collaboration with Crown Prince Xu Tianran of the Sun Moon Empire, and even with the Sun Moon Emperor himself. If they could gain the Sun Moon Empire's support…"
The crucial point had arrived.
"Does the Sun Moon Empire dare?" Dean Yan was shocked. To openly collaborate with an Evil Soul Master organization?
"The Sun Moon Empire is already challenging the entire Original Douluo Continent, so why wouldn't they dare?" An Zhen retorted. "After all, the enemy of my enemy is my friend."
Dean Yan fell silent.
After a long pause, Dean Yan's aged voice finally sounded, "If that is truly the case, an unprecedented catastrophe is about to descend."
"Mm." An Zhen nodded gently, once again shifting responsibility.
"It is precisely for this reason that my teacher, the Death God Emissary, told me all this. He does not wish to see the Douluo Continent's living beings suffer, but his mission and duty are only to cultivate his successor. He cannot interfere with other matters on the Douluo Continent. Asking him to heal Elder Mu earlier was already a bit of a violation."
"Oh, right, Dean Yan, has my teacher, the Death God Emissary, gone to the Academy?" An Zhen looked at Dean Yan.
"Thanks to that Death God Emissary senior, Elder Mu's health is now fine." Dean Yan's good mood from his recent breakthrough had vanished. The sudden news was too heavy.
"An Xiaozi." Dean Yan looked at the still somewhat childish boy. "Do you have a solution to break this situation?"
Dean Yan felt he was probably a bit muddled by the sudden events, discussing such a huge matter with a child who was only a Spirit Ancestor. A child his age should be studying under the protection of his Elders, but he vaguely felt this child could do it.
"I do have some ideas," the young man said in a relaxed tone. The handsome young man, holding the cute girl, spoke eloquently about the grim international situation, exuding a confidence as if everything was under his control. "However, my knowledge of international affairs comes only from books. If anything is inappropriate, please point it out, Dean Yan."
"Speak your mind."
"The Holy Spirit Church is a double-edged sword for the Crown Prince and even the Sun Moon Emperor of the Sun Moon Empire. Unless there's a need, no one wants to associate with these madmen. This applies to those who need them, and even more so to others in the Sun Moon Empire."
"From an international perspective, before anything happens, as the Shrek Supervisory Group, we cannot stand idly by. A full collaboration between the Holy Spirit Church and the Sun Moon Empire absolutely cannot occur. But if we help them eliminate this cancerous tumor, wouldn't that just allow them to develop more smoothly? It might even lead to a continental war."
An Zhen's fingers gently stroked Huo Yutong's small face. "The ideal state is to both eliminate the Holy Spirit Church and cause chaos within the Sun Moon Empire, hindering their development."
"That is the most ideal state." Dean Yan nodded gently.
"We need allies, or more precisely, local forces within the Sun Moon Empire—" An Zhen began.
"That's impossible!" Dean Yan interrupted An Zhen. He would not cooperate with anyone from the Sun Moon Empire.
"Dean Yan, this is reality. You've just broken through, and my teacher has just recovered. Even without considering the other twenty-plus Titled Douluo, that's more than twenty Titled Douluo, two veteran Limit Douluo, and one of them has twin spirits," An Zhen persuaded.
Dean Yan fell silent.
"There are two benefits to doing this. First, with assistance, we won't have to invest too much power in this operation. Let the people of the Sun Moon Empire deal with the mess their Emperor created, and we won't suffer much sacrifice. Second, Xu Tianran and the Sun Moon Emperor, these two who collaborated with Evil Soul Masters, must be eliminated, which will leave the Emperor's position vacant. Anyone who can cooperate with us must have sufficient strength. Don't you think he would be interested in the Emperor's position?"
"Even if there's a one-in-ten-thousand chance he's not interested in the Emperor's position, would other forces in the Sun Moon Empire not reject this force that cooperates with Shrek Academy?"
"We can eliminate the Holy Spirit Church with hardly any cost, and at the same time, cause chaos in the Sun Moon Empire. Finally, we can also demand compensation for this matter. The intervention of two Limit Douluo is not cheap. For example, knowledge of spirit tools, using the Sun Moon Empire to cultivate our Ninth-Level Soul Engineers."
An Zhen finished speaking.
A win-win-win!
An Zhen believed no one would refuse such an outcome.
The black-haired young man, holding his soft and sweet girlfriend, smiled as he looked at the thoughtful Elder.
After a long while, Dean Yan nodded gently.
"This is feasible." Although he had prejudices against the Sun Moon Empire, Dean Yan had to admit that if things truly proceeded as An Zhen described, they would achieve exactly the results they desired.
"Once Elder Mu returns, I will convene a Sea God Pavilion meeting to discuss this," Dean Yan looked up at An Zhen. "Now the key question is, where do we find such an ally?"
"My teacher, the Death God Emissary, once introduced me to continental powers. I think one family is very suitable: the Hongchen Family, Mingde Hall!" An Zhen said softly.
However, Mingde Hall's current strength was a bit insufficient. He would have to wait for him to "develop" his own forces, for example, by "winning over" a few Ninth-Level Soul Engineers.
…
Meanwhile, as An Zhen conversed with Dean Yan, in the virtual space, An Zhen was sitting face to face with a white-haired middle-aged man. An Zhen had noticed Dean Yan at the start of the competition, and with a try-it-out mentality, he had also called his grandfather back.
"Dean Yan has already agreed."
"Regicide, we will install a puppet."
"Drive out the Holy Spirit Church, pluck out this cancerous tumor."
"As for what is given to Shrek, it will eventually end up in my hands."
The World had always been greedy.
It was unbelievable that such words, such grand ambition, would come from the mouth of a child who was only a Spirit Ancestor.
"There's one problem." Mirror Hongchen looked at his grandson. This child's ambition made even him feel inferior, but he was very tempted. "We don't have enough strength."
He indeed had some prestige in the Sun Moon Empire, but trying to command other Ninth-Level Soul Engineers to do such a thing based on that prestige was simply unfeasible. Even if the Emperor and Xu Tianran were eliminated, it would most likely truly become the fragmented Sun Moon Empire An Zhen spoke of.
"So this matter isn't starting immediately. For now, it's about getting this matter agreed upon, even paying a deposit is fine. Then, we'll leave a period of time for us to develop, for example, by using some special methods to win over other Ninth-Level Soul Engineers." An Zhen slightly emphasized the word "special."
"Special?" Mirror Hongchen was puzzled. Coercion and inducement?
"Master-servant contract," An Zhen slowly uttered four words.
"Grandpa, allow me to formally introduce you." As An Zhen's voice fell, a grey figure appeared beside him.
"This is my teacher, the impersonator of the Death God Emissary, a super powerhouse from another World, the Necromancer Saint Magus, Electrolux."