"This…"
Confronted by Jiang Qingtong's question, Du Bushi was momentarily at a loss for words. Shaking his head, he pondered aloud:
"Of course not. But what you are doing… it's just like the Spirit Hall from ten thousand years ago!"
"From the perspective of ordinary soul masters, before Spirit Hall decided to unify the continent and transform into the Spirit Empire, did their actions truly have fault? If not for Spirit Hall's pressure, would the two great empires of that era have ever provided subsidies to soul masters?"
Jiang Qingtong countered sharply, her gaze fixed on Du Bushi:
"Our Soul Hall will be that Spirit Hall of old — but better!"
"But Spirit Hall eventually became the Spirit Empire." Du Bushi reminded her, eyes narrowing.
"That's precisely why," Jiang Qingtong replied, "to prevent Soul Hall from following the same path, once it officially steps onto the continental stage, we will establish the Soul Master Congress in tandem."
"'Soul Master Congress'? What do you mean by that?" Du Bushi asked with a frown.
"Any sect that cooperates with Soul Hall will have disciples appropriately assigned to them by us, and their sect masters will serve as Soul Hall's guest elders."
"Unlike the nominal guest elders of Spirit Hall, Soul Hall's guest elders will be empowered to voice their opinions and suggestions regarding Soul Hall's governance during the Congress. They can even vote to dismiss and re-elect the heads of Soul Hall's various branches — including hall masters and vice-hall masters!"
Jiang Qingtong patiently laid out her vision.
But her ambitions did not end there.
In her blueprint, even the academies themselves would be brought under Soul Hall's control! Their deans, just like sect masters, would also serve as guest elders.
By then, Soul Hall would hold the complete archives of every soul master, overseeing their education and cultivation, while sects would act as technical units or enterprises.
In this way, Soul Hall would serve as a bridge between academies and sects — functioning more like a comprehensive soul master education and employment regulatory body.
In fact, with Jing Hongchen and Kong Deming's support, Soul Hall had already begun implementing this system within the Sun Moon Empire. Progress was slow, and resistance considerable, but the first steps had been taken — and the first step is always the hardest.
"Little girl, your ideas are good. But you seem to be overlooking a problem."
Du Bushi fixed his gaze on Jiang Qingtong and said:
"Granted, your design could prevent Soul Hall from turning into Spirit Hall. But over time, as Soul Hall's grip over the soul master world deepens, one day a Hall Master may emerge with ambitions he should not have. If that person holds the power of an Ultimate Douluo, then how could the Congress possibly depose him?"
"That's a good question."
Jiang Qingtong nodded thoughtfully before replying:
"But an Ultimate Douluo is not invincible. In this system, the Hall Master is elected by the Congress. He and the sect masters begin on equal footing! If the day truly comes when only the Hall Master reaches the rank of Ultimate Douluo, while no sect, academy, or nation can muster even a level 98 or 97 Super Douluo, let alone a Rank 9 Soul Engineer, then perhaps letting him rule the entire continent… wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing."
The Douluo Continent was unlike other xianxia worlds — here, individual strength had not yet reached the point where one could decide the life and death of nations with a single thought. Even an Ultimate Douluo as powerful as Mu En could still be threatened by a level 94 Jing Hongchen equipped with ninth-tier soul tools.
Because the gap between the strongest and others was not insurmountable, a form of democracy among the strong became possible.
The Hall Master, possessing complete control over the soul master community, would naturally strive to expand Soul Hall's reach to claim more soul masters. Meanwhile, the guest elders from sects and academies, for the sake of limiting Soul Hall's power and protecting their own interests, would be extremely cautious in choosing who became Hall Master — and in supervising all of Soul Hall's operations.
The two forces would be in natural opposition.
And if all the sects united to elect a useless fool as Hall Master? Then their intentions would be laid bare for all to see. At that point, why bother talking about rules? They might as well just start fighting outright!
Rules exist only when stability exists.
And when rules and stability have become the norm, even their collapse would be slowed by immense historical inertia.
No one can design a perfect system from the start. Every system must grow and evolve. Yet the one Jiang Qingtong and Jiang Shengyu envisioned for Soul Hall was already far more advanced than the current feudal empires.
After Jiang Qingtong finished, Du Bushi sank into contemplation.
After a long while, he suddenly asked:
"This was your brother's idea, wasn't it?"
Jiang Qingtong hadn't expected that to be his first question. Puzzled, she asked:
"Why does Senior think that?"
"Be honest with me — only that cunning little brother of yours could come up with something like this!" Du Bushi snorted, not bothering to hold back in front of Jiang Qingtong, "That brat dares to calculate against anyone. Only he could scheme this deep."
Jiang Qingtong raised her hand slightly, and said with mock protest:
"Senior, isn't it a bit inappropriate to insult my brother in front of his little sister?"
"I say the same thing to his face!"
Du Bushi snorted again. Then, in a more serious tone, he warned her:
"Little girl, don't let your brother lead you astray. That brat has too many ideas and takes steps that are far too big — being too forceful leads to breaking easily. It's one thing when he runs into someone like me. But if he ever crosses paths with a powerful evil soul master harboring malicious intent, it'll be impossible to guard against. After all, there's a saying: a thief can strike for a thousand days, but you can't guard against him for a thousand days."
Hearing Du Bushi's earnest warning, Jiang Qingtong nodded obediently and replied sweetly:
"Mm! I understand. Thank you, Senior."
Then she shifted the subject:
"But there's no need to worry too much about evil soul masters. On our way back, we already dealt with more than seventy of them — Soul Sages, Soul Douluos, and even over a dozen Titled Douluos."
Her words made everyone present stare in shock.
Even Elder Hong and the others looked at Jiang Qingtong in disbelief:
"Qingtong, is that true? This isn't something to joke about!"
Jiang Qingtong nodded firmly:
"It's true."
After carefully studying her face and confirming she wasn't lying, Du Bushi asked in astonishment:
"How did you manage that? Don't tell me… was it Di Tian again?"
Jiang Qingtong shook her head, but didn't elaborate. Instead, she said:
"That's a secret! Now then, Senior — it's your turn to answer my question. I've already proven to you that we have the ability to provide talented body martial soul users for the Body Sect. Senior, shouldn't you now fulfill your promise?"
Her words left Du Bushi silent once again.
Seeing his silence, Jiang Qingtong pressed further:
"Senior, you agreed. You can't go back on your word! I've already shared Soul Hall's secrets with you. If you renege now… then I'll have no choice but to see to it that you spend the rest of your life here in the Sun Moon Empire."
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