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After being defeated, the Sun and Moon Empire was forced by Shrek Academy to not only change the names that had been used on the Sun and Moon Continent since ancient times but also to sign a series of unequal treaties.
From then on, the reputation of Shrek Academy skyrocketed. Originally already a dominant force on Douluo Continent, it now carried the aura of the ancient overlord, the Martial Soul Hall, which ruled thousands of years ago.
Meteor (Liúxīng) knew very well that Shrek Academy, Tang Sect, and Haotian Sect were all deeply connected to the former protagonist Tang San. Since Tang San had ascended to godhood and was watching over them, it made perfect sense that Shrek Academy was doing so well. Although Haotian Sect chose to stay hidden, anyone with even a little status wouldn't dare underestimate them.
The only one that didn't quite make sense was Tang Sect. Among the three powers, Tang Sect felt like it was the odd one out—the "stepchild"—and also the one struggling the most.
But none of that was really Meteor's concern. He just collected this info to find familiar things. After all, he wasn't sure if this was really the world he saw in that novel, tens of thousands of years later, or some kind of parallel universe that just looked similar.
Thanks to Luan Yu's introductions, Meteor and Flowing Firefly (Liúyíng) gradually got a better understanding of the Sun and Moon Empire.
Although the current Sun and Moon Empire was still hostile towards the three major empires, their current emperor still strictly honored the treaties signed by the royal family four thousand years ago after their defeat. There was no intention of starting a war.
Moreover, the empire strictly limited Soul Mentors from developing soul devices for war and heavily promoted the research of civilian soul devices. Because of this, the living standards of the Sun and Moon Empire's people were far ahead of those in the original three kingdoms of Douluo.
The current emperor cracked down on the pro-war faction, restricted large-scale destructive soul device development, and limited the spread of military soul devices, focusing fully on civilian use. This made him very popular among the people, earning him a solid reputation among common folk.
Even Luan Yu herself had a good impression of the current Sun and Moon Empire royal family. She wasn't a fan of war and didn't despise the original three kingdoms; otherwise, she wouldn't call Nan Shuishui her sister. Her dream was just to quietly do research, earn some money, and if she got the chance, maybe reach the legendary level 10 Soul Mentor.
She was glad to see the Douluo Continent in a relatively peaceful state nowadays.
But now, with two little ones under her care, she had to think about their future. They couldn't just wander around like she did, with no fixed home.
To survive on Douluo Continent, strength, connections, and relationships were all essential. She could be so free only because she was a level 9 Soul Mentor and had a high-ranking sister backing her. That's why she wanted to bring the two kids back to the capital of the Sun and Moon Empire—to give them a solid foundation.
Though strength was king in Douluo Continent, having allies and friends mattered too. The more friends you made, the stronger you became. Just like Shrek Academy—they rallied hundreds of titled Douluo to fight for them at a moment's notice during the Holy War. That kind of power stunned not only the Sun and Moon Empire but also the original three kingdoms. That war revealed Shrek Academy's incredible influence, which made the three empires extremely wary ever since.
But because of Shrek Academy's massive influence, strength, and thousands of years of history, the three empires didn't dare openly fight them. Instead, they tried to suppress Shrek Academy indirectly, trying to weaken it from the sidelines.
Shrek Academy's Inspection Group was famous all over the continent. Even nobles from the three empires could be judged privately by them. If evidence was clear that a noble broke the law, the Inspection Group could execute first and report later. That shows just how powerful Shrek Academy was.
No wonder the three empires were so cautious. Any emperor in their place wouldn't tolerate Shrek Academy's existence. But the situation was beyond control. Although it was just an academy, its influence and power were far beyond those of the three kingdoms. If a fight broke out, the three empires could easily be crushed.
Plus, Shrek Academy guarded the Star Dou Great Forest and had repeatedly stopped beast tide invasions from the wild beasts, making an irreplaceable contribution to the continent. The three empires couldn't touch them, so they just let this "state within a state" thrive for thousands of years.
Especially the Tianhun Empire—Shrek Academy was right in their territory, an area their royal family couldn't govern.
From Luan Yu's point of view, the future of Douluo Continent belonged to the Soul Mentors. Even if Meteor and Flowing Firefly didn't have the talent to become Soul Mentors, at least they could learn how to use soul devices so they wouldn't be left behind like the traditional soul masters in the original three kingdoms.
The people from the original three kingdoms probably still looked down on Soul Mentors and underestimated soul devices, but Luan Yu, a level 9 Soul Mentor herself, clearly knew and firmly believed Soul Mentors would dominate the future.
That's one reason why she wanted to bring Meteor and Flowing Firefly back to the Sun and Moon Empire, not keep them in Earth Dragon Gate.
Although level 9 Soul Mentors often lost to traditional titled Douluo in direct combat, given enough prep time and distance, a level 9 Soul Mentor could kite and wear down any titled Douluo without taking damage.
They were just on completely different playing fields.
Below titled Douluo, Soul Mentors under the Soul Saint rank could dominate by relying on the ever-evolving soul devices, suppressing traditional soul masters hard.
But once traditional soul masters reached Soul Saint rank and awakened their true martial souls, they could flip the script and suppress same-level Soul Mentors, even crushing them from Soul Saint all the way to titled Douluo.
This was one reason traditional soul masters never really accepted Soul Mentors—the early advantage was nice, but once you crossed Soul Saint, Soul Mentors struggled a lot against them.
The downside of Soul Mentors was their soul power cultivation. Since most of their energy was spent researching soul devices, they had less time to train, often relying on pills to boost their growth. Their foundations were weaker than traditional soul masters.
Also, since their soul rings mainly enhanced their soul power or boosted their soul devices, they didn't get much combat power increase themselves. Once they lost their soul devices, they were sitting ducks.
Furthermore, no Soul Mentor had reached the level of a Super Douluo openly. They had to rely on powerful level 9 soul devices to stand a chance against Super Douluo, let alone Limit Douluo.
Most traditional soul masters looked down on Soul Mentors and their devices for good reasons: Soul Mentor paths rarely produced top-tier experts, and to traditional soul masters, it was a dead end.
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