Douluo: Brains Over Bloodline

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"Rest assured, my cultivation won't be affected," Yun Ming reassured him.

In the past, he might not have been able to say this confidently.

After all, he had been genuinely constrained, unable to fully seclude himself for deep cultivation.

But now, things were different.

"Your dreamscape has given me a lot of inspiration. Though I can't create an illusory space like you and transform it from illusion to reality, I have my own methods to control my own personal domain."

Yun Ming waved his hand dismissively.

"I know what you want to do—lure the snake out of its hole. But this involves the lives of millions of people in Shrek Academy. We can't take that risk."

Xu Yuan held back once more, refraining from speaking.

Yun Ming saw everything clearly.

He had already considered every possibility.

Xu Yuan remained silent for a long while.

It turned out that the only one who couldn't see through the situation was himself.

Trapped in the superiority of foresight, Xu Yuan had overlooked others' thoughts and their ability to connect the dots.

Since that was the case, he couldn't offer Yun Ming too much advice.

All he could do was share some secret intelligence with him.

"Teacher, do you know the Holy Spirit Sect's goal?"

"Oh?" Yun Ming looked at Xu Yuan curiously.

"To become gods!" Xu Yuan said gravely.

At the mention of becoming gods, Yun Ming's expression turned serious.

A figure suddenly surfaced in his mind.

It was someone he had encountered deep in the ocean during his recent pursuit of the Ghost Emperor.

From the Ghost Emperor's words, this person was the Demon Emperor.

"Their path to godhood is through slaughter," Xu Yuan explained. "The Godslayer Missiles are tools they intend to use against Shrek Academy, but their true purpose lies in the missiles' widespread destructive power. They need souls—countless souls."

Yun Ming's expression grew stern as he asked, "What do they need so many souls for?"

Every generation of the Holy Spirit Sect indulged in mass slaughter.

Each generation had its own objectives.

The uses of souls varied.

"Teacher, have you ever heard of the Blood River Killing God Great Array?"

"The Blood River Killing God Great Array?" Yun Ming frowned.

Just the name sounded like an array used by evil soul masters.

And this array claimed to slay gods?

"The Blood River Killing God Great Array requires the sacrifice of ten million people, using their souls to activate the array," Xu Yuan revealed what he knew about the array. "As for the array's purpose, it aligns with its name—Godslayer. However, rather than killing gods, it's more accurate to say it kills to achieve godhood."

"Whenever any living being dies within the array's range, their soul is immediately devoured by the array's master, who uses it to enhance themselves. After devouring enough souls, the array's master can elevate their strength to god-level."

Yun Ming listened carefully to Xu Yuan's explanation, his eyes flickering.

"Is this information left behind by your father?"

Xu Yuan nodded.

Anything related to the Holy Spirit Sect's secrets came from his father.

"From what you've said, the conditions for activating the Blood River Killing God Great Array are extremely restrictive. Not only is activation difficult, but achieving the desired effect—elevating the master to godhood—would require a war of unprecedented scale," Yun Ming said. "They've already completed nearly half the conditions. With two Godslayer Missiles in their possession, they indeed have the qualifications to activate this array. But how will they spark a war of such magnitude? After the recent changes in the Federation, even the tensions stirred up by the Spirit Pagoda over the two smaller continents have subsided, making it impossible to launch such a war anytime soon."

Not only was it impossible to launch such a war now, but even if those conflicts did erupt, they wouldn't meet the Holy Spirit Sect's demands.

"I don't know either," Xu Yuan said, withholding further details.

This revelation was enough.

At least, he had made Yun Ming aware of the Holy Spirit Sect's true objective.

Shrek Academy was an annoyance to the Holy Spirit Sect—but only an annoyance.

Eliminating Shrek was merely venting anger; it wasn't their true goal.

---

"What you've told me, I understand. I'll keep it in mind."

If this dragged on, the Godslayer Missiles would inevitably fall.

That was what Xu Yuan wanted to convey.

If Shrek City didn't take the risk, another city would.

But Shrek City housed the headquarters of three major factions, giving it at least the ability to resist and minimize losses. Other major cities, even Mingdu, couldn't withstand the impact of the Godslayer Missiles.

Yun Ming hadn't made a decision yet.

There was nothing Xu Yuan could do about it.

If his teacher wasn't going to step up, then he'd have to rely on himself.

Boom!

A surge of energy erupted.

Xu Yuan and Yun Ming both turned toward the depths of the Sea God Pavilion.

An explosive yet restrained energy surged forth, sending shivers down their spines.

Even though it was restrained, the scorching heat of the energy was undeniable.

Extreme fire.

To be precise, extreme yang energy.

Lan Muzi had broken through.

The dual-soul core system of yin-yang complementation had advanced.

At the moment his energy erupted, another similar surge of energy burst forth from elsewhere—stronger than Lan Muzi's.

Feng Wu Yu, who had been in seclusion for over half a year, finally showed signs of movement.

Waves of spiritual fluctuations rippled outward, accompanied by the sounds of forging echoing in the ears of everyone in the inner court.

It was the sound of forging.

Bang bang bang.

Boom boom boom.

Ding ding ding.

Crisp, heavy, rapid, or slow—the varying sounds of forging resonated through the sky above the inner court, conjuring vivid scenes of the forging process.

Spirit materialization.

When breaking through to the Spirit Domain Realm, a soul master's spiritual power resonates with the elements in nature, manifesting their most genuine inner vision in the world.

Breaking through to the Spirit Domain Realm itself is a process of self-exploration. After confirming their most resolute beliefs, they resonate with heaven and earth, taking the first step toward mastering it.

Of course, this resonance and mastery pertains only to the tangible forces and elements of nature.

What Xu Yuan had previously described—using martial souls as an extension to integrate with and control heaven and earth—referred to a deeper essence: the laws of existence.

If one listened carefully, they would notice that the forging scenes were gradually converging in one direction.

From violent and heavy to crisp and slow.

By the end, the forging scene in the air was silent. In the vision, Feng Wu Yu no longer struck metal with a forging hammer but instead placed his hand above the metal, seemingly resonating with its soul.

Above the Sea God Pavilion, at its very core, an illusion of Feng Wu Yu's right hand rested on a piece of pitch-black metal.

As a burst of extreme flame erupted, the metal transformed. Rolling clouds of thunder gathered in the sky, and the illusion finally dissipated.

"Damn it!"

Xu Yuan was shocked.

"Teacher, this is the Heavenly Forging Tribulation."

Elder Feng's breakthrough used forging as a catalyst—an unimaginable method that no one could have predicted would succeed in Heavenly Forging. That wasn't an illusion, nor a manifestation of strong will—it was the literal visualization of everything happening in Elder Feng's secluded room!

This also meant that no one knew Elder Feng was forging, let alone anticipated that a piece of metal would undergo successful Heavenly Forging.

Holding a piece of dark red metal, Elder Feng emerged from the depths of the Sea God Pavilion, quickly moving away from the Golden Ancient Tree and heading toward the Sea God Lake.

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