Chapter 352: Two Years Later

Time flies; two years have passed in the blink of an eye.

Over these two years, Nan Feihuang has devoted himself entirely to three major tasks: recovering from his injuries, cultivation, and state affairs.

Now, his wisdom is known throughout the continent, and the entire nation is governed in perfect order; the speed of its national power's growth is even faster than during Nan Tianchen's reign.

One would have thought that Nan Feihuang was already a peerless genius in terms of cultivation, yet no one expected him to be a talent in both civil and military affairs.

"My Lord, the secret scouts I sent out have committed suicide. I fear there may be unusual movements within the Heaven Dou Empire in these coming days," Xun Yu said as he entered the palace hall to report to Nan Feihuang.

Nan Feihuang, dressed in his Crown Prince robes, turned around. His bearing had improved significantly compared to before; he truly began to possess the temperament of a ruler.

Furthermore, his soul power surged and flowed with brilliance around him; it was clear that not only had his injuries fully healed, but his cultivation had also seen a significant increase.

With the Dunjia Heavenly Book, no matter how severe the injuries he sustained two years ago were—even to the point of being fatal for an ordinary person—he had fully recovered after resting for more than half a year.

Not only that, but in the year and a bit since, he had cultivated diligently, raising his soul power by five levels to reach the peak of level 79, just one step away from becoming a Spirit Douluo.

One must know that this is cultivation after level 70; for an average Spirit Master, without the "cheat" of a God Trial or the amplification of top-tier Spirit Rings, relying solely on one's own cultivation, increasing by about one level a year is considered quite good.

Take Dugu Bo, for example: at fifty, he was a Spirit Saint, but it wasn't until he was over seventy that he successfully broke through to become a Title Douluo. Over twenty-some years, on average, that is indeed about one level per year.

People like Tang Hao are truly the exception.

"Wenruo, we don't need to worry about the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect for now. Since Ning Fengzhi did not bring me Tang San's head as agreed back then, the survival of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect has nothing to do with us," Nan Feihuang said.

In truth, Ning Fengzhi had indeed taken action against Tang San back then. Nan Feihuang had told Ning Fengzhi that if anyone came out of the back mountain of Slaughter City, as long as they were male, regardless of what they looked like, that person must be Tang San.

After all, Tang San's appearance should have changed compared to before, and he was worried that Ning Fengzhi wouldn't recognize him and would let him go by mistake.

Ning Fengzhi, operating on the principle of "better to kill the wrong ones than to let one go," had even dispatched three Spirit Douluo, prepared to kill everyone who came out of Slaughter City.

About a month ago, Tang San and Hu Liena fought their way out of Slaughter City together.

The people from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect struck ruthlessly. They naturally recognized Hu Liena and did not want to hurt her, but Hu Liena, just like in the original story, was deceived by Tang San—who had transformed into Tang Yin—and tried her best to protect him.

As a result, Gui Douluo, sent by Bibi Dong to retrieve Hu Liena, appeared and directly killed two of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's Spirit Douluo and left one severely injured, causing the sect's operation to fall short of success.

In reality, the ruthless Gui Douluo did not want to let Tang San go either. He indeed could not recognize Tang San's identity after his appearance had changed, but even without knowing the person before him was Tang San, the fact that his martial soul was the Clear Sky Hammer and that he possessed the Killing God Domain was enough to seal his fate.

Although Hu Liena pleaded for Tang San, she could not stop Gui Douluo's murderous intent. However, just as Gui Douluo was about to deliver the killing blow, Tang San disappeared without a trace at the exit of Slaughter City.

The only remaining Spirit Douluo from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect dragged his severely wounded body back to the sect and reported the sequence of events to Ning Fengzhi before drawing his last breath. Ning Fengzhi later sent someone to express his apologies to Nan Feihuang for the failed plan. In truth, Nan Feihuang did not care; he was now certain that Tang San was the Son of Destiny created by the Asura God, but as he had said before, even so, he did not fear Tang San in the slightest.

There was no need for him to go find Tang San. Once Tang San could not find Tang Hao and Xiao Wu, he would surely try every possible way to investigate, and eventually, he would trace it back to him. He could just wait for him to deliver himself to his doorstep.

However, Nan Feihuang still rewarded the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect slightly. Their plan had failed, but they had indeed tried their best. Feihuang took action to suppress the Ice and Fire Power within Chen Xin, allowing him to live a few more years, and gave the Sword Douluo the same Ice Continuation Pill that Tang Hao had taken back then.

This was, of course, with ill intent. He wanted to let the Sword Douluo's power temporarily recover during the Soul Hunting Operation. In any case, this medicine had a strong aftereffect, and the Sword Douluo would still have to die eventually. Having him and the Spirit Hall and the Lower Four Sects suffer mutual destruction before he died was not a bad thing for Nan Feihuang.

"I don't care about the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, but as for the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Family, since they are Old Poison's in-laws, we must help them a little," Nan Feihuang continued.

Xun Yu nodded. "Correct, but there is one point to note: we cannot enter the fray directly. I have a strategy that can allow the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Family to be severely damaged without being wiped out."

"Wenruo, I know your thoughts. I have told you before that the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Family is stationed on the Lake Heart Island in Leilong City, a place easy to defend and hard to attack. If the Spirit Hall wants to break the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Family by surprise, they must rely on the power of an inside agent. I have already confirmed that the inside agent is none other than Yu Yuanzhen's younger brother, Yu Luomian. If I am not mistaken, your strategy is to use their own ruse against them," Nan Feihuang said, one step ahead of Xun Yu.

Xun Yu revealed an appreciative expression. "As expected of my Lord, that is exactly it. Our Gu Lei Kingdom's forces cannot enter the fray directly, but the Poison Douluo can. Because he has the status of being Yu Yuanzhen's in-law, he can go to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Family under the name of visiting his granddaughter, which is perfectly justifiable. Firstly, it happens to help the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Family defeat the attack from the 'unknown forces,' which is reasonable. Secondly, he can secretly communicate with Yu Yuanzhen to prepare in advance within the clan. However, the Spirit Hall's strength is formidable; even with preparations, I estimate that we can only barely ensure the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Family is not wiped out; they will inevitably be half-crippled."

"And that is the result we want. A Blue Lightning at its peak cannot be subdued; only when they are half-crippled is the time to subdue them."

Xun Yu's desire to save the Blue Lightning was not as simple as doing it for Dugu Bo's sake; he wanted to subdue the power of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon for his own use.

After the Soul Hunting Operation, even if the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Family could barely be preserved, Yu Yuanzhen would inevitably become like a bird startled by the mere twang of a bow. He might not fear death himself, but he could not ignore the lives of his entire clan.

Thus, the first thought he would have at that time would surely be to seek protection.

On the current continent, there are only a few forces that can contend with the Spirit Hall. First, the Upper Three Sects: the Clear Sky Sect has already gone into seclusion, and the Seven Treasure will be in an even worse state than the Blue Lightning by then, so they are not to be considered.

Then what remains are the nations with extremely strong military forces; the Two Great Empires are the first choice, and the Seven Kingdoms are the candidates.

But the current Gu Lei Kingdom is quite special, possessing the Profound Ice Douluo and the Poison Douluo, and perhaps two more Title Douluo will be added before long.

Their competitiveness will reach a level comparable to, or even exceeding, that of the Two Great Empires.

Coupled with the in-law relationship with Dugu Bo, as long as Nan Feihuang or Nan Tianchen goes there in person and appeals to their emotions and reasons, it will not be too difficult to subdue them.

It is just that, in doing so, the Gu Lei Kingdom will likely also enter the Spirit Hall's list of enemies.

However, since Nan Feihuang has his sights set on the world, that is only a matter of time.

For this, Xun Yu has actually prepared another plan, which can be implemented once the Spirit Hall's Soul Hunting Operation is over.

(End of chapter)