Douluo Dalu 2: The True God King

Credits: Alberto Cervantes

Jing Hongchen let out a long sigh and said softly, "Su Yu, are you forcing me to make a choice?"

Su Yu shook his head and replied calmly, "Hall Master, I'm not forcing you—I'm advising you. You know as well as I do what evil soul masters are. Cooperating with them is akin to making a deal with a tiger—it's only a matter of time before it turns on you.

"As for us at the Ice God Palace, I can make this clear: we are destined to stand against the Holy Spirit Cult. Our temple worships the Ice God, a deity of purity and justice. Opposing evil is part of our duty.

"I won't hide it from you—I was late returning because I just destroyed a Holy Spirit Cult stronghold in Radiant City."

"I killed one Soul Sage, two Soul Emperors, and several evil soul masters below the level of Soul Emperor. All of them wielded black skull martial souls capable of controlling others' souls."

"They even created a weapon called the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, which contained the tormented souls of hundreds of innocent civilians. As for which country those civilians belonged to, I think you already know without me needing to say it."

Jing Hongchen fell silent for a moment.

What other country could it be? Of course, it was the Sun-Moon Empire. After all, this group operated within Radiant City itself.

These evil soul masters were slaughtering Sun Moon Empire citizens. There was no way Jing Hongchen could be entirely indifferent to that.

"These evil soul masters dare to do such things?" Xiao Hongchen roared, outraged. He might be prideful and arrogant, but even he couldn't tolerate hearing about such atrocities.

"What wouldn't they dare to do? Especially when the higher-ups are colluding with them—they've got plenty of confidence," Su Yu said coldly.

"In the eyes of the royal family, the combat power of the Holy Spirit Cult is all that matters. The lives of a few commoners? They couldn't care less. As long as the Holy Spirit Cult doesn't commit large-scale massacres, they'll turn a blind eye. After all, having such powerful allies is too tempting."

Jing Hongchen sighed softly. "Su Yu, I'm aware of everything you've said. But cooperating with the Holy Spirit Cult was decided by those above me. Even I can't change that."

The emperor permitted it. The royal family approved. Even Kong Deming was directly involved. What could he possibly do? Besides, the Sun Moon Empire was indeed lacking in high-level combat power.

Su Yu replied calmly, "Hall Master, I know you alone can't change the situation. All I ask is that you keep yourself clean—don't associate with the Holy Spirit Cult. That's enough for me."

"I truly don't want to find myself on the battlefield against you someday."

"My time at this academy has been pleasant. I've enjoyed my interactions with you, Xiao Hongchen, and others."

"Most importantly, I've met someone I deeply care for."

"For her sake, I don't want to end up as enemies."

As Su Yu spoke, he gently held Meng Hongchen's hand, his gaze softening.

His greatest concern was his relationship with Meng Hongchen. Without her, he wouldn't have gone to such lengths.

If not for Meng Hongchen, Su Yu wouldn't mind standing on the opposite side of Jing Hongchen. He might have offered some advice, but if Jing Hongchen ignored it, he wouldn't hesitate to walk away, even if it meant becoming enemies later.

But Meng Hongchen was different. Because of her, he was willing to try harder—even to the point of pleading.

A girl who genuinely loved him, without ulterior motives—how could he bear to lose her?

Sensing Su Yu's emotions, Meng Hongchen tightened her grip on his hand. She, too, felt nervous and uneasy.

If her grandfather and Su Yu became enemies, the one who would suffer most would be her.

And if Su Yu ended up with her grandfather's blood on his hands, it would completely devastate her.

Meng Hongchen was deeply moved by Su Yu's willingness to say so much to Jing Hongchen.

She might be naive, but she wasn't stupid.

Su Yu's openness revealed a lot. If not for their relationship, he wouldn't have gone to such lengths.

"Grandfather!" Meng Hongchen suddenly turned to Jing Hongchen, her face full of earnest pleading.

She believed that keeping himself clean shouldn't be a difficult choice for her grandfather.

Jing Hongchen looked at Meng Hongchen, his brows furrowing slightly as he pondered.

After a long pause, he looked at Su Yu and asked in a deep voice, "Your Ice God Palace has remained secluded for tens of thousands of years. Why are you suddenly targeting the Holy Spirit Cult now?"

His implication was clear—if the Ice God Palace despised evil soul masters so much, why had they stayed inactive until now? Their recent actions didn't seem consistent with their professed ideals.

Su Yu explained calmly, "The reason is quite simple."

"Over ten thousand years ago, there was a superpower on the continent called the Spirit Hall."

"The Spirit Hall worshiped the Angel God and aimed to spread the angel's light across the continent. Angels are symbols of holiness—or at least, that's the claim."

"The Spirit Hall's greatest responsibility was to maintain order in the soul master world and eradicate evil soul masters."

"During their era, the suppression of evil soul masters was incredibly effective. While it's impossible to say there were none, they were very few and far between."

"With the Spirit Hall maintaining order, our Ice God Palace saw no need to intervene."

Jing Hongchen, Xiao Hongchen, and Meng Hongchen were stunned.

Su Yu's praise for the Spirit Hall was astonishing. It completely contradicted the history they knew.

Xiao Hongchen hesitated before asking, "The Spirit Hall was such a sacred organization? But why does Douluo Continent's history portray the Spirit Hall as evil and say Sea God Tang San saved the continent?"

"Sea God Tang San saved the continent?" Su Yu scoffed as if he'd just heard the world's funniest joke.

"He didn't save the continent. All he saved were the nobles."

"But aren't you from Douluo Continent? Shouldn't you revere the Sea God?" Xiao Hongchen asked in confusion.

"Why do I get the feeling you're not particularly fond of him?" Xiao Hongchen asked, surprised.

"Revere him?"

"Even if I were to revere a beggar on the street, I wouldn't revere him.

"If he were alive in my era, I'd make sure to beat the crap out of him.

"Tang San? He's nothing but a hypocrite, a self-righteous little man who hides his dirty deeds behind a façade of justice."

"If it weren't for that meddling troublemaker, the Douluo Continent would have been far more harmonious."

Su Yu criticized Tang San harshly.

"Uh…" Xiao Hongchen was at a loss for words. This was completely different from the version of events he had heard. Yet, strangely, he felt that Su Yu's account might be closer to the truth.

Don't ask why. If you asked, his answer would simply be that he didn't like Tang San either.

And why didn't he like Tang San? Because he didn't like Shrek Academy.

And Tang San was Shrek's poster child.

Without Tang San, Shrek wouldn't have grown so insufferably arrogant.

"I'm somewhat grateful to Tang San. If it weren't for him, the Douluo Continent would have been unified back then," Jing Hongchen remarked.

"It would have been disastrous for the Sun Moon Empire if we'd faced a unified Douluo Continent at the border. We might've been crippled or even annexed."

It was precisely because of Tang San that the Douluo Continent remained divided.

For Jing Hongchen, a fragmented Douluo Continent was far easier to deal with than a unified one.

A unified Douluo Continent, with all its resources and strength concentrated, would have been the Sun Moon Empire's worst nightmare.

"From that perspective, I suppose you're right. With the Sun Moon Empire's strength thousands of years ago, we wouldn't have been able to resist a unified Douluo Continent.

"And even now, it might still be difficult," Su Yu said with a shake of his head. "But internal strife is a hallmark of the Douluo Continent. Getting them to unite without any discord is nearly impossible."

The combined strength of the Douluo Continent's sects could undoubtedly crush the Sun Moon Empire.

But such unity was a pipe dream.

How could three backward empires compare to a powerful, unified machine?

"You make a good point, but let's not delve too deeply into that. Go on—there was Spirit Hall ten thousand years ago. What about the past thousand years?" Jing Hongchen asked.

"In the past millennium, with the decline of Spirit Hall, there have indeed been signs of a resurgence among evil soul masters.

"But this resurgence didn't happen overnight—it was gradual."

"For thousands of years, evil soul masters weren't particularly rampant."

"And with the three great empires still in place, things remained relatively peaceful."

"Until the Sun Moon Empire reached the borders, and war broke out. Shrek Academy then rose to prominence."

"At that point, Shrek Academy took up the mantle of fighting against the evil soul masters."

"We were quite pleased with that development because, frankly, we don't like getting involved."

"Nine out of ten people in the Ice God Palace are homebodies. With Shrek Academy stepping in, we were optimistic about them taking the lead."

"Although I don't like Shrek Academy, I have to admit they put in real effort in this area."

"But frustratingly, the harder they fought against evil soul masters, the stronger the evil soul masters became."

"Originally, evil soul masters weren't all that powerful. But with Shrek's involvement, they snowballed into a much larger force."

"Now, evil soul masters have grown into a major threat. The Holy Spirit Cult, in its current form, is far beyond Shrek Academy's ability to handle."

"With the Dragon Emperor Douluo, the Death Douoluo, and the Holy Spirit Cult Master, they could easily crush Shrek Academy."

"We had no choice but to step in."

"If we don't intervene, the evil soul masters will completely overrun the continent."

Su Yu laid out the situation.

The Ice God Palace detested evil soul masters, but they were also inherently lazy.

As long as someone else was dealing with the problem, they wouldn't bother to act.

Now they were targeting the Holy Spirit Cult because the previous defenders weren't reliable. They had no choice but to step out of the shadows.

If they didn't, things would fall apart.

Jing Hongchen was speechless.

Admitting their laziness so openly—and so righteously, no less—was something else.

"So, are you saying your Ice God Palace is destined to oppose the Sun Moon Empire?" Jing Hongchen asked with a sigh.

Su Yu quickly waved his hand. "Hall Master, don't jump to conclusions. We bear no ill will toward the Sun Moon Empire."

"Our target is solely the Holy Spirit Cult and those colluding with evil soul masters."

"In our eyes, the Sun Moon royal family does not represent the entire Sun Moon Empire."

"The Sun Moon Empire is its people, not the Xu family."

"The Xu family is just one family fortunate enough to ascend the throne."

"If the Xu family were gone, another family would take their place."

"The nation remains the nation, the people remain the people—but emperors can be replaced."

"'How can kings and nobles claim divine right?'"

"If the Xu family can rule, why not someone else?"

"I think the Hongchen family might give it a try. Who knows, Hall Master, maybe you'll have the chance to rally the masses yourself?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Xiao Hongchen's eyes lit up.

Kings and nobles, are they born of special bloodlines?

Whoa, that makes a lot of sense!

"Hey, hey, hey! Stop right there!"

"You little rascal, you're taking this too far. Are you trying to make me disloyal?" Jing Hongchen hastily interrupted Su Yu. If Su Yu kept talking, he was afraid he might be tempted.

He didn't have such ambitions, but somehow, Su Yu's words—ordinary as they seemed—had a knack for sparking unusual thoughts in others.

What Jing Hongchen didn't realize was that Su Yu had been sneakily using his persuasion skills. Or rather, he'd never turned them off in the first place.

Su Yu grinned and said, "Hall Master, true loyalty is loyalty to the people, not to one family or surname."

"If anyone hears that, they'll call you a heretic for sure," Jing Hongchen replied irritably.

From Su Yu's demeanor, he could tell that Su Yu held not a shred of reverence for royal authority. It wasn't an act—it was a genuine disregard for the concept of monarchy.

"Who dares say that? Let them step forward. I'll have Elder Hai visit them at night to deliver some special local products."

Su Yu spoke with a sly grin.

Jing Hongchen: "..."

An Ultimate Douluo delivering special local products in the middle of the night? That would probably scare someone's soul right out of their body.

Feeling a bit exasperated, Jing Hongchen now fully understood just how audacious Su Yu was.

This was a truly fearless young man who seemingly had no boundaries, and to top it off, he commanded an immensely powerful force.

If one were to make an enemy of Su Yu, it would probably lead to many sleepless nights.

"Su Yu, be honest. What are your odds of defeating the Holy Spirit Cult in a head-on confrontation?" Jing Hongchen asked.

Su Yu shrugged. "Right now? I'd say about 60%.

"But in a few years, I'm 90% confident I can wipe them out completely."

Currently, the Ice God Palace wasn't overwhelmingly stronger than the Holy Spirit Cult. But given a few more years of preparation, there wouldn't be any issue.

"Really?" Jing Hongchen was skeptical.

"Hall Master, I wouldn't lie to you about this."

"All you need to know is to never align yourself with the Holy Spirit Cult."

"After all, it wouldn't look great to see your head rolling on the ground."

Jing Hongchen: ???

Excuse me?

Is this the way a prospective grandson-in-law is supposed to talk to his future grandfather-in-law?

"Get out of here. Now." Jing Hongchen pointed toward the door.

"Fine, fine, I'm leaving."

"Wait a moment…"