"Congratulations to the host for obtaining 1 Donghua Lucky Draw opportunity. Would you like to start the draw immediately?" the System's voice rang out.
Yin Zhang did not hesitate. While galloping atop his horse, he replied inwardly:
"Start the draw immediately!"
[Starting Donghua Lucky Draw… Drawing…]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining Douluo Continent III: Legend of the Dragon King · Spirit Soul Manufacturing Sphere (Fragmented Version). It has been stored in the warehouse. Please check the personal attribute panel for details.]
Spirit Soul Manufacturing Sphere?
Yin Zhang was momentarily stunned. The name was straightforward—did this mean he could manufacture spirit souls himself?
That would be incredible.
The appearance of spirit souls would undoubtedly boost the overall strength of Spirit Hall by another large margin. More importantly, it would drastically reduce the consumption of rare Spirit Beast resources. One Spirit Beast could potentially support multiple spirit rings.
No longer would Spirit Masters need to venture repeatedly into perilous Spirit Beast forests every time they reached a major Realm, desperately searching for a suitable Spirit Beast whose attributes matched their Spirit.
However, the words Fragmented Version gave Yin Zhang pause.
He immediately clicked to view the item's description.
[Douluo Continent III: Legend of the Dragon King · Spirit Soul Manufacturing Sphere (Fragmented Version)]:
Created by an unknown scientist from Douluo Continent III. Originally rendered useless after a single use. Modified by the System to capture the spirit rings and residual Souls of deceased Spirit Beasts, condensing them into spirit souls.
Spirit Masters can command spirit souls to fight independently. However, spirit souls consume Soul power continuously; once their Soul power is exhausted, they will completely dissipate.
After reading the description, Yin Zhang couldn't help but exclaim inwardly.
So this item could absorb and condense the spirit rings and Souls of slain Spirit Beasts into spirit souls. Compared to the mature spirit soul technology of Douluo Continent III, it had an obvious drawback: these spirit souls existed entirely on the basis of stored Soul power.
Over time, Soul power would naturally be consumed.
If sent into battle, that consumption would accelerate even further.
Once the Soul power ran dry, the spirit soul would vanish entirely.
In other words, every spirit soul was temporary.
Generally speaking, the lower the spirit soul's age, the faster it would disappear.
So this is what "Fragmented Version" means…
But Yin Zhang didn't mind at all.
Compared to the fully developed spirit soul system of Douluo Continent III, this was indeed incomplete—but compared to the current Douluo Continent, it was nothing short of revolutionary.
Far ahead.
Ridiculously far ahead.
Yin Zhang was in an excellent mood. Even if Spirit Hall's overall combat strength wouldn't skyrocket immediately, this item was immensely valuable to him personally.
After all, Hundred Thousand Year Spirit Beasts on the Douluo Continent were extremely rare.
While it was true that the vast ocean held many such Spirit Beasts, their attributes were often mismatched. They didn't suit Yin Zhang's first Spirit, Charizard—but for his second Spirit, the Golden Holy Dragon, there were no such conflicts.
Even so, with this item, he could preserve more Hundred Thousand Year Spirit Beast resources. Spirit souls could also be used directly as expendable combat power. Even if they dissipated after exhausting their Soul power, it didn't matter—they were an unexpected gain to begin with.
---
A few days later, the massive army finally arrived outside Heaven Dou City.
Qian Renxue had dispatched scouts days in advance. Upon learning that the army was nearing Heaven Dou City, she led her forces out early to welcome them beyond the city walls.
Several days earlier, Xue Qinghe had already publicly announced Heaven Dou's surrender to Spirit Hall. Anyone who might have opposed it had been quietly purged. Information took time to spread; by the time other sects and noble families with the ability to resist received the news, Heaven Dou had already fallen under Spirit Hall's control.
At that point, opposition no longer mattered. If anyone truly dared to resist, they would simply be crushed.
Qian Renxue sent forward the newly appointed marshal of the Heaven Dou army. After Ge Long's execution, she had arranged for a Spirit Douluo from Spirit Hall to assume the position. Many mid- and high-ranking officers across the major legions had also been replaced.
Because of this, the Heaven Dou military offered no resistance at all to surrendering to Spirit Hall.
"Your Majesty, Supreme Pontiff."
The marshal summoned his Spirit and flew before Yin Zhang. Yin Zhang was slightly surprised—this man was a flight-type Spirit Master, and he even seemed vaguely familiar.
Wasn't this the flight-type Spirit Douluo who, in the original timeline, had been sent by Bibi Dong to assist Yue Guan and Gui Mei in assassinating Tang San?
If so, it really was quite the coincidence.
Yin Zhang glanced to the side. At that moment, Qian Renxue—still disguised as Xue Qinghe—was slowly approaching atop a tall horse.
Yin Zhang nodded calmly and rode forward to meet her.
To be honest, he preferred summoning his Spirit and flying freely through the skies. But as the commander-in-chief of the army, riding a horse was more appropriate.
"Your Majesty, Supreme Pontiff," Qian Renxue said, maintaining her act before the assembled troops. "From this day forward, the Heaven Dou Empire submits to the rule of Spirit Hall. I hope you will treat the people of Heaven Dou well."
Yin Zhang naturally understood that she was acting. He replied evenly:
"Of course, Xue Qinghe. Previously, you were the Emperor of Heaven Dou. But in Spirit Hall, there are no emperors, no nobles, and no princes. I will grant you a generous status and appropriate conditions. Spirit Hall will not treat you unfairly."
Qian Renxue neither confirmed nor denied his words, but she still wore a visibly moved expression.
Soon after, Yin Zhang and his entourage entered Heaven Dou City amid the cheers of both armies.
There was no need for caution like ancient conquering armies. With their lineup, if they truly feared assassins, they might as well not have come to Heaven Dou at all.
Stepping into Heaven Dou City once more, Yin Zhang felt a surge of emotion.
He had never imagined that one day he would achieve something like this.
With the Heaven Dou Empire's surrender, half of the entire Douluo Continent was now under his control. Resource collection would accelerate dramatically, and many items Spirit Hall had struggled to obtain in the past would now be easily accessible.
Yin Zhang was deeply dissatisfied with the Heaven Dou Empire's feudal governance.
Across the Douluo Continent—Nuoding City included—many regions were effectively private territories, ruled by city lords and landlords. These systems had to be abolished.
The cities would be handed over to local Spirit Hall branches for direct governance.
To achieve this, Spirit Hall would need to expand on an unprecedented scale.
Once word spread, many who had previously hesitated to join Spirit Hall would eagerly do so. Recruitment standards could also be moderately relaxed; requirements for Rank and innate Aptitude no longer needed to be so rigid.
A new era for the Douluo Continent had officially begun.