With Xia Hong in Mingdu, the War God Temple's powerhouses like Long Tianwu didn't even have a chance to stir up trouble.
They had barely entered Mingdu and hadn't even figured out where their family members were being held before they were surrounded by the Mingdu police.
Due to fierce resistance, over half of the War God Temple's members were killed or injured. The few who survived had their soul power sealed and were detained.
With Leng Yaozhu returning the Eternal Heaven to the Sun Moon Federation, the matter could be considered somewhat concluded.
The reason it's only somewhat is that even though the Eternal Heaven was recovered and the War God Temple's traitorous members were all captured (except for Chen Xinjie), the consequences of the incident couldn't be erased.
The theft of the Eternal Heaven, and the collective betrayal by the War God Temple, was clearly not a problem of just the War God Temple—it also reflected issues within the Sun Moon Federation's leadership.
Moreover, the people arrested by the Federation in this operation mostly held key positions within the government.
Take the families of the War God Temple's members, for example—they were mostly public officials within the Federation.
The same applied to the families of Sea God Legion soldiers and graduates of Shrek Academy.
Their arrests left numerous vacancies in vital posts across the Federation.
Now, all the major sects and academies were scrambling to get their own people into those positions.
However, the Sun Moon Federation didn't seem inclined to accept talents from private academies or sects. Most important posts were now only open to graduates from public institutions.
Clearly, the Federation had no intention of allowing another Shrek Academy to rise.
Not only were they rejecting new private academy graduates to fill vacancies—they were also laying people off en masse.
Even people from the Spirit Pagoda were among those dismissed.
With Tang Sect gone and Shrek Academy destroyed, the only remaining major threat to the Federation was the Spirit Pagoda.
And given the lesson learned from Shrek Academy, it was only a matter of time before the Federation started suppressing the Spirit Pagoda.
What made Leng Yaozhu speechless was how fast the suppression came.
She had just done the Federation a huge favor—at least wait a little and find a decent excuse before cracking down.
Already, many Spirit Pagoda members holding posts within the Federation were coming to Leng Yaozhu to complain.
"Forget it," Leng Yaozhu shook her head. She knew the Federation was testing her attitude, but this kind of petty matter wasn't worth her anger.
"What if I hand over the Spirit Pagoda to the Federation, turn it into a branch under their jurisdiction? What do you think?" Leng Yaozhu turned to Xia Yi, her beautiful eyes flashing with a strange light.
"Isn't that an internal matter for the Spirit Pagoda? Why ask me? I'm not even part of it," Xia Yi chuckled. Whatever Leng Yaozhu decided, he didn't intend to interfere.
Nor was there a need to. He trusted Leng Yaozhu to handle everything.
"So laid-back, huh?" Leng Yaozhu glared at him in annoyance, then softly said, "I have no desire for power, and I don't want the Spirit Pagoda to become the next Shrek Academy. But that's just my own thinking. I worry that one day, someone with ambition might exploit the Spirit Pagoda and lead it to ruin. Besides, two tigers can't share one mountain. With Shrek and Tang Sect gone, only the Spirit Pagoda remains. If such a massive organization isn't under Federation control, the Federation will never feel at ease."
Leng Yaozhu saw the situation clearly. There were only two roads ahead for the Spirit Pagoda: fight the Federation to the death, or submit to its authority.
After the War God Temple's betrayal, the Federation was already severely weakened. Meanwhile, the Spirit Pagoda was at its peak.
If it really came down to a deadly conflict, the entire Douluo Plane might suffer irreversible damage.
But that was never Leng Yaozhu's intent.
The Federation had already defeated both the Star Luo Empire and the Dou Ling Empire. Now that the continent was unified, it made no sense to waste time on internal strife.
Besides, if Leng Yaozhu had really wanted the Spirit Pagoda to rule, she wouldn't have returned the Eternal Heaven to the Federation in the first place.
"So long as you're at peace with it, do whatever you think is best," Xia Yi didn't object. He understood what she was after—stability.
"I have no regrets," Leng Yaozhu smiled slightly. "An organization like the Spirit Pagoda should indeed be nationalized. It benefits both the people and the country. And if the Spirit Pagoda leads the way in submitting to the Federation, other organizations like the Blacksmith Association will likely follow. That will usher in unprecedented unity for the Federation."
"That's true." Xia Yi nodded. "But I'm guessing the others in the Spirit Pagoda won't accept it so easily. Not everyone has your vision and open mind, Zhu'er."
"That's not a problem for me. If I can't even handle this, then I'm not Leng Yaozhu," she smiled confidently. "I already have a plan. Even if the Spirit Pagoda is placed under Federation control, its internal structure won't change in the short term. I'll still be the Vice Pagoda Master."
Actually, Leng Yaozhu had another thought. Now that the Federation was undergoing structural reforms, if the Spirit Pagoda were turned into a government branch, all of them would become public officials.
And given her identity as Blood One from the Blood God Legion...
She would then be able to legitimately get involved in the Federation's reforms and work to perfect its internal institutions.
It might sound like the Spirit Pagoda was losing big by merging with the Federation, but if Leng Yaozhu managed to use this opportunity to enter the Federation's political and legal systems, gaining a voice within the ruling class—while still managing the Spirit Pagoda…
Then who was really merging into whom might not be so clear after all.
"You already have a plan and still asked me?" Xia Yi said speechlessly.
"Hehe, I just wanted to know your attitude," Leng Yaozhu laughed sweetly, looking at him with a playful blink. "I just realized something."
"What's that?" Xia Yi asked curiously.
Leng Yaozhu smiled and said, "Look at you—you try not to get involved in human affairs at all. It's always me and my sister doing everything while you just cooperate occasionally. As for the soul beast side, given how much time you spend here in the human world, you clearly don't have much to do there either. As a man, doesn't it hurt your pride to rely on women like this?"
"Pride? What pride?" Xia Yi grinned. He didn't need that stuff.
Besides, being able to rely on women was a skill in itself.
"Typical." Leng Yaozhu rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Go sort out things with Yali first. I'll be coming to you soon about something. Once that happens, don't expect to live a peaceful life anymore."
"With my strength? What could I even help you with?" Xia Yi asked curiously.
"You'll know when the time comes," Leng Yaozhu suddenly shifted the topic, "By the way, how are things going between you and Yali? Want me to help?"
Xia Yi's eyelids twitched wildly. "Don't you think that topic shift was a bit too abrupt?"
"I'm just curious," Leng Yaozhu clung to his arm with pouting red lips.
"Go do your serious business." Xia Yi turned his head aside. It was one thing for his younger sister to gossip, but now even this usually serious elder sister was becoming nosy.
"You're really playing hard to get. Yali is the number one beauty in the world, you know?" Leng Yaozhu snorted, then sighed softly, "Because of you, these past years have been hard on her too. So be a little more considerate."
"Because of me?" Xia Yi was baffled. "What does this have to do with me?"
"Of course it's because of you." Leng Yaozhu gave him a charming sideways glance. "Sure, Shrek Academy had its own problems. But it was your arrival that exposed them. Without you, those issues might have taken another hundred, thousand, or even ten thousand years to surface. It was your presence that brought them all to light so quickly. If not for you, even with Shrek destroyed, it would still hold the hearts of the people. And Yali would still be the Saint Spirit Douluo of old—not who she is now."
"So you're saying that discovering a problem means I'm responsible for it too?" Xia Yi was exasperated. "Yaozhu-jie, when did you become so unreasonable?"
"Women don't need to be reasonable," Leng Yaozhu laughed triumphantly.
Xia Yi turned his head away, speechless.
He knew she was just teasing him.
And he wouldn't be upset over something so trivial.
Xia Yi also understood why Leng Yaozhu was trying to set him up with Yali.
After the Devil Island events, Xia Yi finally understood why Shrek Academy's former Heavenly Favored Douluo had gone as far as faking a life-bond to keep Yali tied to Shrek.
Yali had an enormous amount of pure faith energy in her body, which was incredibly helpful for cultivation.
Even without her practicing the Yellow Emperor's Internal Canon, dual cultivating with her greatly accelerated his own progress.
It even rivaled his speed when cultivating with Leng Yaozhu.
And Leng Yaozhu had mastered the third part of the Canon—the Path of Immortals.
(End of Chapter)