After exchanging pleasantries for quite a while, Xue Ye finally pretended to casually ask the question he truly wanted answered.
"Duke Chen, why did you name your cultivation method the Douluo Heart Method and release it directly through Spirit Hall?"
"Your Majesty... sigh..." Chen Ming deliberately sighed regretfully. "I once handed the designs for ballista and hand crossbows to the Empire, yet within less than three months, the Star Luo Empire had already obtained both the blueprints and equipment and begun mass production."
"I also once wrote specialized medical books in the hope that civilians could live healthier lives, soldiers could avoid unnecessary casualties, and Spirit Masters could gain more opportunities. But not long afterward, the Star Luo Empire also acquired the books I had written."
"Since anything I create will inevitably spread throughout the world sooner or later, I might as well become famous openly from the beginning, to prevent others from stealing my reputation and using my works to deceive people under my name."
Chen Ming had already phrased things rather tactfully.
Was it that I refused to give them to you?
No. The previous two things I gave your empire both reached the Star Luo Empire in less than three months. Even if I had directly handed the cultivation method to you, could you truly guarantee it would remain only within the Heaven Dou Empire and never appear in the Star Luo Empire?
Since that was impossible, it was better for him to simply become famous across the world openly rather than allow others to seize the credit for his achievements.
"..."
The hand holding Xue Ye's wine cup tightened for a brief instant, but afterward he seemed to lose all strength and let out a sigh.
Emotionally, Emperor Xue Ye wanted to refute—or even rebuke—Chen Ming's rebellious remarks.
But rationally, he had no choice but to admit that Chen Ming was absolutely correct.
Compared to the Star Luo Empire, the Heaven Dou Empire was not inferior in terms of top-tier experts, and it possessed even more Spirit Master sects and powerful Martial Soul inheritances.
However, those forces and experts merely resided within the Heaven Dou Empire. They did not belong to the Heaven Dou Empire itself.
The Star Luo Empire, on the other hand, although possessing fewer powerful sects and Spirit Masters, maintained an extremely centralized system. Its powerful Spirit Masters and Martial Soul inheritances were deeply tied to the state itself. Furthermore, the fusion ability formed by the White Tiger and Hell Spirit Martial Souls—the Hell White Tiger—could compensate for the lack of high-level combat strength.
The entire nation possessed astonishing control and mobilization capability, something the Heaven Dou Empire simply could not compare to.
The bloody elimination process among the imperial princes was undeniably cruel and inhumane.
But those who survived such an environment were at least guaranteed to possess sufficient strength and decisiveness. No useless weakling could ascend the throne and ruin the empire.
Even if a tyrant emerged, state power itself would not become fragmented. It would merely wait for the next emperor to regain proper control over the nation.
Meanwhile, within the Heaven Dou Empire, imperial authority depended heavily on the capability of the emperor himself. And as time passed, regional powers, noble families, sects, and duchies continuously weakened both imperial authority and the empire's ability to mobilize resources.
Over the past several hundred years, the gap in national strength between the Heaven Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire had steadily widened. And because of the Heaven Dou Empire's loose internal control, many internal factions had already been secretly influenced or controlled by the Star Luo Empire.
The Star Luo Empire had long since gained the practical ability to devour the world and unify the entire Douluo Continent.
One could say that the only reason the Heaven Dou Empire still existed today was because Spirit Hall, as the continent's sacred land, had secretly mediated and supported it behind the scenes. Otherwise, the Heaven Dou Empire would have long ago been annexed by the Star Luo Empire.
But without a sufficiently capable ruler, even with Spirit Hall acting as mediator, the Star Luo Empire's eventual unification of the Douluo Continent would still become inevitable.
And with the Star Luo Empire's highly centralized rule, once it truly unified the continent, even Spirit Hall—the sacred land of the continent—would inevitably be influenced, restrained, or even controlled by imperial authority.
That was also the core reason why Spirit Hall had secretly supported the Heaven Dou Empire from the very beginning.
Because if the Star Luo Empire unified the continent, Spirit Hall's inheritance would inevitably be affected. As a force that truly possessed divine inheritances and top-tier experts, Spirit Hall naturally would never allow such a thing to happen.
But if Spirit Hall itself stepped forward before the two great empires, established its own nation, and openly carved out territory to rule, then the two empires—despite their countless conflicts—would have over an eighty percent chance of immediately turning their weapons toward Spirit Hall together in an attempt to destroy it.
Because to either empire alone, Spirit Hall's true strength was overwhelmingly superior. Only by joining forces would the two empires have any possibility of victory.
Until a true Transcender appeared—an existence whose strength surpassed the limits of humanity and could not be worn down by numbers—Spirit Hall's chances of victory would not be particularly high if they stepped out to face the continent
One could say this was an inevitable conflict between divine authority and emperial power. No matter who ruled the Douluo Continent, they would stand in opposition to Spirit Hall.
It was simply that the Heaven Dou Empire was too weak and lacked the qualification to annex Star Luo, which was why it had become the target of Spirit Hall's secret support. If Heaven Dou were strong and Star Luo were weak, Spirit Hall would have stood on Star Luo's side to deal with Heaven Dou.
Xue Ye, Xue Xing, and Xue Qinghe (Qian Renxue) all fell silent, each carrying their own thoughts.
"If the Heaven Dou Empire's decline were not already irreversible, if even with Spirit Hall's interference the Star Luo Empire would not inevitably unify the continent within a thousand years, then why would I need to infiltrate the Heaven Dou Empire and attempt to seize the throne?"
"Only by truly allowing Spirit Hall to unify the Douluo Continent and establish the Spirit Empire can Spirit Hall's inheritance continue."
"It's just that… I don't know how much longer I'll have to remain undercover…"
"In the past, I could still follow Elder Porcupinefish's suggestion and secretly poison Emperor Xue Ye over time. But now both Chen Ming and Dugu Bo are masters in medicine and poison. If I truly dared to poison him, I'd probably be exposed on the spot."
"But looking at it another way, if I can gain the support of those two, together with the influence of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and the foundations I've built over so many years, perhaps within a few years I could stand upon that highest seat."
Holding her wine cup, Qian Renxue continuously sighed inwardly.
"Three years, then another three years, and another three years… I only spent a few years in Spirit Hall, but I've already spent twenty years in the Heaven Dou Empire."
"If this continues, I really won't be able to tell who I am anymore. I won't know whether I am Qian Renxue, Young Lady of Spirit Hall and inheritor of the Angel lineage…"
"Or Xue Qinghe, Crown Prince of the Heaven Dou Empire and descendant of the imperial bloodline."
Although Chen Ming's words had already been extremely tactful, they still shattered the atmosphere Xue Ye had been trying so hard to create.
After barely maintaining the mood for a little longer and asking a few harmless questions—confirming that Chen Ming held no intentions toward the Star Luo Empire and intended to continue displaying his talents within the Heaven Dou Empire—Emperor Xue Ye finally used being unable to handle alcohol as an excuse to temporarily end the banquet.
Spirit Master cultivation brought very little increase to lifespan, especially before reaching Titled Douluo. The increase was almost negligible.
Xue Ye was already over fifty, nearing sixty years old. Even with various methods of preservation, his physical condition had noticeably declined. Especially due to his excessive indulgence in the harem over the past few years, he no longer looked young and frequently felt fatigued.
However, as an Emperor, Xue Ye would never relinquish the power in his hands to become a retired emperor before his life reached its end. Thus, for "Xue Qinghe" to ascend the throne, she would likely have to wait another twenty years.