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As the Moon Merchant Ship approached, the seven teams near the coast halted their fighting and hurried into the ruins of Xiao Hai City, preparing to head toward Spirit City.
As for the contest over Xu Huang and Fu Hongchen, it would have to wait until their return journey.
"Don't even think about running!"
Three Soul Douluos leapt into the air the moment they saw the ship nearing the shore. But before they could land, an invisible force pressed them down onto the sandy beach.
"What is this?"
Xu Long struggled, but the overwhelming pressure on him was as heavy as a mountain, making it impossible to move. Only his eyes and mouth were free.
"Invading another's territory without permission is a grave offense." Standing in midair, Tang San lifted the pressure he had exerted on the three, his magnetic voice resounding in their minds.
"An Absolute..." Xu Long trembled, his mind abandoning any thought of escape or resistance. Against an Absolute Douluo, any action was futile.
This was the crushing force of absolute power.
Though they dared not act rashly, neither Xu Long nor his companions were prepared to surrender easily, nor to divulge information about the Sun Moon Empire. Little did they know, Tang San had no interest in their intelligence. Luo Qiu's knowledge was far more extensive than what these three Soul Douluos could offer. Besides, he could sense the Blue Silver Grass, Blue Silver King, and Blue Silver Emperor across the Sun Moon Continent. If he wanted, his Blue Silver kin would instantly relay all they knew to him, the Blue Silver Emperor.
"The Sun Moon Empire really won't let our Douluo Continent rest, sending wave after wave… it almost feels like I'm lying in wait, catching them one by one," Tang San said, addressing Xu Long and his companions, yet almost speaking to himself. With a wave of his hand, a spatial portal expanded, enveloping Xu Long, his companions, and the Moon Merchant Ship.
When Xu Long and the others opened their eyes again, they found themselves in a spacious area, tightly bound by long strands resembling Blue Silver Grass, rendering them immobile.
This Blue Silver Grass rope was remarkably resilient; even Soul Douluo-level soul power couldn't break free.
Spirit Hall's law enforcement officers proceeded to bind the remaining people on the ship and escort them to the dungeons, awaiting their trial.
Xu Long, calling out to Tang San, who was casually conversing with Gu Yuena, asked, "Might I know your name, sir? It's an honor for us to be apprehended by someone as powerful as you!"
"Tang San." With a glance at Xu Long, Tang San revealed his name. "You don't need to be so gloomy. Though you're accomplices with the invading Sun Moon forces, you didn't have time to enact anything, so your trial won't threaten your lives—at most, it's an illegal invasion charge."
After Xu Long was taken away, Gu Yuena asked, "What's 'illegal invasion'?"
"It's when someone trespasses on someone else's land without permission," Tang San explained.
"By that reasoning, don't soul masters who hunt soul beasts in the Star Dou Forest illegally invade my territory as well?" Gu Yuena said, her eyes sparkling with a mischievous smile. "So, there's no harm in capturing them too, right?"
"It's not quite the same," Tang San replied. "Soul beasts don't have the collective sense of order humans do. It's not an easy comparison."
"Hmph." Gu Yuena was a bit irritated but didn't press further. She understood that soul beasts hadn't yet developed a civilization like humans'. "Don't worry. Once artificial soul rings become widely available, humanity's dependence on soul beasts will lessen," Tang San said, patting Gu Yuena's head reassuringly. "As for the competition over living space, we don't need to worry about that for thousands of years. Who knows? Humanity might eventually find a way to coexist peacefully with soul beasts."
This thought led Tang San to recall the media in his past life that depicted the world of "Pokémon," where humans and creatures known as Pokémon coexisted harmoniously.
While there were dark conflicts of interest, people and Pokémon shared a unique, symbiotic relationship.
Humans fought alongside Pokémon, but they were partners rather than mere tools.
Achieving this in the Douluo Continent would be far more challenging. Changing human perspectives would take time, and soul beasts themselves were "wild and untamable"—unlike Pokémon, they lacked enough wisdom to understand human language until they reached a certain cultivation level.
One could say that soul beasts under ten thousand years in age have habits not so different from ordinary flora and fauna. The primary reason they are difficult to tame is that, unlike normal animals and plants, they possess extraordinary powers, which makes them a danger to humans.
Only soul masters have the ability to subdue soul beasts.
However, soul masters are scarce compared to the entire human population on the continent, and due to their esteemed status, they do not need to take on the task of taming animals for a livelihood.
Changing such ingrained mindsets is not something that can be accomplished overnight.
"Coexist with soul beasts?" Gu Yuena envisioned this future, then shook her head. "For that to happen, soul beasts and humans would have to truly understand each other. At the very least, most soul beasts would need to be born with a reasonable level of intelligence; otherwise, it's just wishful thinking."
"Indeed, that's a challenge," Tang San nodded. "After all, in every Pokémon world I remember, the creatures there are born with significant intelligence. Like soul beasts, they live in natural environments, focused on survival and reproduction."
But how could soul beasts also gain intelligence? Tang San thought the answer might lie in adjusting the rules governing the world.
"What a fantastical world it would be," the Eternal Lord said, sighing as he watched the Pokémon anime scenes that Tang San had drawn from memory. "It's a pity, though; I've journeyed across countless planes with the Thrones of Eternity and Creation, and I've never encountered a world quite like it. The closest I've seen was a realm where, upon reaching a certain level, animals and plants develop intelligence and can transform into a half-beast, half-human form, or even fully human. They're called 'demons' by the cultivators in that world."
Electus added, "That doesn't sound too different from Douluo Continent's soul beasts."
The Eternal Lord shook his head. "Not quite. In that realm, these beings can freely shift between beast and human forms, but their power is comparable only to ten-thousand-year-level soul beasts."
"Would it be possible to modify those rules and apply them to Douluo Continent?" Tang San wondered aloud. He thought that if they could compile similar laws known by the Eternal Lord, it might be possible to establish a set of rules suited to soul beasts.
But the Eternal Lord replied, "It's possible, yes. However, I haven't recorded enough rules. I've wandered the cosmic void guided by the will of the universe, mostly asleep, with little time for recording the laws of the planes I passed. I was never much of a researcher—I lack scientific methods."
Tang San: "..."
The road stretches endlessly ahead—
(End of Chapter)