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The more losses suffered during the unification process, the more time Su Yu would need to accumulate if he wanted to later reverse-devour the Abyss or lead Douluo Continent in territorial expansion.
Things were no longer as they once were.
With the widespread dissemination of general cultivation methods, coupled with the impending revolutionary shift in the cultivation system of soul masters, this unique era would bring unprecedented rates of advancement for both soul masters and soul engineers.
Especially now, as they stood at the fate-defining juncture of Douluo Continent's unification.
Su Yu even planned to unify the other two continents on the planet during this grand unification, and to complete a full survey of the entire Douluo Star, bringing it wholly under the Federal Union's rule.
This would be a sweeping, unprecedented movement of history!
Even losing an extra ten thousand soul engineers would be a devastating blow.
After his conversation with Qian Tong, Su Yu left Wanhu Tower and headed toward Shrek Academy.
Huo Yuhao and the other three had already arrived in Shrek City a few days earlier and were now settled inside Shrek Academy.
As Su Yu approached the academy's gates, a group was already waiting for him.
Huo Yuhao, Xiao Hongchen, Meng Hongchen, and Bai Feng—four individuals—along with Xuan Ziwen, who led the group, made up five representatives from Sun-Moon Hall. Standing with them were Xuanzi and Elder Song, two elders from the Sea God's Pavilion.
To this day, Xuanzi remained only an acting Pavilion Master of the Sea God's Pavilion—not the true master.
"Brother Yu."
"Teacher."
"Su Yu."
Su Yu nodded, but didn't engage in pleasantries with Huo Yuhao and the others just yet. Instead, he turned to Xuanzi.
"All five of us are here now. We should be allowed to enter the Sea God's Pavilion for cultivation, right?"
Huo Yuhao and the others had already waited several days for Su Yu's arrival before they could enter the Pavilion for joint cultivation.
Xuanzi's face darkened, and he let out a cold snort.
"Let's go," Elder Song said, though a trace of reluctance tinged her voice as well.
Sun-Moon Hall had released Shrek's many inner-court geniuses.
They weren't crippled or missing limbs, but after more than a year of imprisonment, their talents had unquestionably suffered.
The most crucial point was that Shrek had completed a deal with Sun-Moon Hall—other forces had not.
This created a rift between Shrek and the other factions.
For example, the Proud Sword Sect, Dou Ling Royal Academy, and Heaven Soul Royal Academy still had their geniuses imprisoned by the Sun Moon Empire.
And before Shrek attempted to send envoys to Sun-Moon a year ago to negotiate with Sun-Moon Hall, they and those factions had been planning to gather their elites and launch a surprise incursion into Sun Moon Empire territory to sow chaos and force the Empire to release their geniuses.
However, Shrek quickly struck a deal with Sun-Moon Hall on their own, ransoming back their own geniuses.
Though it was delayed by a year, it was still far better than the situation of those other factions, whose geniuses' fates remained unknown.
This inevitably led to a deterioration in Shrek's relationship with those factions.
Of course, in the span of a year, most of those factions had ceased to exist altogether. With the Sun Moon Empire's conquest of the Heavenly Soul and Dou Ling Empires, they were wiped off the face of Douluo Continent.
Only a few factions compromised and aligned themselves with the Sun Moon Empire. Their disciples were released and even joined the Empire, in turn exerting considerable pressure on the current Star Luo Empire.
At present, a ceasefire was in place.
Though friction along the Sun-Moon Mountains and the eastern border of Star Luo Empire never ceased, the Sun Moon Empire's offensive had clearly slowed.
This state of affairs was what passed for a "ceasefire."
The Sun Moon Empire was in a phase of consolidation—assimilating forces within the former Heavenly Soul and Dou Ling Empires and spreading soul tool technology.
Though only four months had passed, public approval of the Sun Moon Empire within the two former empires had already skyrocketed.
Any hopes of restoring the old nations had been completely quelled among the common people.
The Sun Moon Empire had even begun conscripting troops within the former Heavenly Soul and Dou Ling territories, training a new generation of forces.
Sun-Moon Hall had established a branch in Heaven Dou City and founded a subordinate soul engineer academy. After consolidating all the original academies across the two empires, they restructured them into ten soul engineer academies affiliated with Sun-Moon Hall.
These four months of ceasefire effectively served as recruitment season.
It was also graduation season—a time for collecting the many talents who had matured in the academies.
One could say these four months represented the perfect digestion of wartime gains for the Sun Moon Empire.
Everything was proceeding smoothly for the Empire—but not for Shrek.
Pitifully, the once number-one academy on the continent, Shrek Academy, was facing a dismal enrollment year.
This was why both Xuanzi and Elder Song looked so sour and standoffish.
The former talents from Heavenly Soul and Dou Ling were being drawn into the ten academies under Sun-Moon Hall, and even the talents within Star Luo Empire were becoming less willing to leave.
The Star Luo royal family had lost faith in Shrek. Without official backing, student recruitment had taken a major hit—this was the first blow.
Star Luo was on the verge of collapse, and once it fell, the various sects would be left to fend for themselves. Only by growing stronger could they ensure their survival. At the very least, if they didn't resist too fiercely, they could preserve their lineages post-collapse and rebuild in the future. As the era of battle armor dawned and the soul spirit cultivation system replaced the old soul master traditions, these sects had to adapt to survive. Thus, they began aggressively recruiting disciples, absorbing more of the available talent—this was the second blow to Shrek's recruitment.
Lastly, the unclear relationship between Sun-Moon Hall and Shrek caused disillusionment among many of the rising geniuses from humble origins. They gave up on entering Shrek—this was the third blow.
In the hearts of commoner geniuses, notions of national duty and righteousness had taken root, and they harbored resentment toward the Sun Moon Empire. As a result, they also developed resistance toward Shrek.
Once revered by soul masters, Shrek Academy had now fallen into such straits.
Truly pitiful. Truly lamentable.
Even so, Shrek was still Shrek.
With the Golden Ancient Tree and deep foundations, their current status and strength remained indisputable.
Su Yu entered Shrek Academy.
The outer courtyard presented a desolate scene.
Originally built to serve as a place for talented youths from the Three Kingdoms to gain prestige, the outer courtyard had collapsed with the fall of Shrek's reputation. Its former prosperity vanished in an instant.
This was false prosperity.
The outer courtyard had always been a gilded stage, propping up an illusion of success. Now, with that illusion shattered by upheaval, the contrast was stark and jarring.
Soon, the group entered the inner courtyard.
The dense spiritual energy that greeted them invigorated Su Yu and the others.
By the shore of Sea God Lake, they could clearly see the ancient tree at the heart of the lake's island—the towering Golden Ancient Tree.
Su Yu glanced at it, noting the profound aura swirling around the massive golden tree.
"The flow of laws around the Golden Ancient Tree is becoming more distinct."
(End of Chapter)