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The next day, Ye Wen left the room clutching his lower back.
Whoever said dealing with one person was easier than dealing with two clearly didn't understand the concept of "combat effectiveness."
After merging, Qian Xue's combat power wasn't as simple as 1 + 1 = 2—it was more like 1 + 1 = 3, greater than the sum of its parts.
And who would've thought that these two girls, who appeared so elegant and refined on the surface, were so adventurous deep down? Last night, they'd tried nearly every possible position, which explained why Ye Wen couldn't handle it anymore.
The once-pristine holy maidens turned out to be fearless in experimenting with anything behind closed doors, their obsession with him bordering on madness. Such a stark contrast was utterly bewitching.
Though Ye Wen had accepted both women, their combined "combat effectiveness" was terrifying.
At home, there were still three other stunningly beautiful wives with equally explosive "fighting power." How was he supposed to survive this life?
"Thank goodness for divine energy—the ultimate all-purpose resource. Otherwise, a mortal body wouldn't withstand such relentless… exploitation," Ye Wen muttered wryly.
But thinking about his future plans, it seemed he'd have to add a few more wives into the mix. The expression on Ye Wen's face grew even more pained.
What kind of mess was this? -_-||
Others conquered the world through unparalleled martial strength, but how did he end up relying on... this aspect of human relationships?
Still, sacrificing a small part of himself could prevent countless lives from being lost in factional struggles. It wasn't such a bad trade-off.
Ultimately, he was too weak-willed. Ruthlessness wasn't his style, and he couldn't bring himself to take harsher measures.
In the aftermath, the Douluo Continent experienced an unusual period of calm.
Faced with the overwhelming might of the Holy Spirit Empire, no foolish soul master factions dared to stir up trouble or act out of line.
However, Ye Wen knew well that the collapse of a massive power often began from within. Thus, he focused on strengthening internal governance.
The former territories of the Star Luo Empire were gradually reformed according to the methods already established in the Holy Spirit Empire.
To be honest, in this fully unified Douluo Continent, even if Ye Wen wanted to implement a socialist system, there wouldn't be any issues. Currency could easily be abolished and replaced with ration tickets or similar systems.
But Ye Wen didn't do that.
While reforms might start with good intentions, corrupt individuals below could exploit loopholes to siphon off resources in ridiculous ways.
Having studied history, Ye Wen preferred not to meddle too much as long as the overall operation of Douluo remained unaffected.
However, the merfolk population was simply too small. Their numbers made anti-corruption efforts across the entire continent feel stretched thin.
If the merfolk were ordinary spirit beasts transformed into humanoid forms, they might have been wiped out by human society long ago. Unfortunately for the corrupt, the merfolk's mind-reading abilities exposed their vile thoughts without mercy.
Romantic notions? Nonexistent.
Even the most foolish among the merfolk could distinguish right from wrong.
Still, marriage pressures were applied where necessary. Ye Wen even specially developed drugs to aid in their reproduction.
Such an exceptional race couldn't be allowed to face near-extinction as they had in Douluo II.
As a loyal race to the Sea God, Ye Wen wouldn't treat them as harshly as Tang San had.
But the issue of insufficient manpower remained. To address this, Ye Wen recruited a group of orphaned soul masters to emulate the Ming Dynasty's Jinyiwei (Imperial Secret Police) and serve as spies.
Orphans, having no familial ties, showed no hesitation when dealing with corrupt individuals.
Ye Wen also provided them with generous benefits—so attractive that even ordinary soul masters might abandon their families to join.
Unfortunately, Ye Wen wasn't accepting new recruits.
Next, Ye Wen turned his attention to the political system. He implemented a whistleblower system: subordinates who discovered corruption among their superiors could report it directly. If verified, the whistleblower would replace the corrupt official's position.
For a time, the political arena of the Douluo Continent became tense, with officials walking on eggshells.
Under the implementation of various policies, the entire Douluo Continent flourished, steadily progressing toward a harmonious society.
During this period, however, Ye Wen's cultivation progress slowed significantly.
On one hand, the divine energy accumulated from faith was nearly depleted. On the other hand, advancing as a second-tier god required more than just accumulating divine energy, unlike the third-tier gods he had previously surpassed.
Breaking through as a second-tier god required profound insight into the rules—or "Dao"—associated with one's divine position, coupled with divine energy to continuously advance.
Ye Wen's previous breakthrough to the second-tier level had occurred because he unlocked a mental barrier and truly grasped the Dao of the Sea.
Through Poseidon's inheritance, Ye Wen gained a clearer understanding of the requirements for advancement at each level in the god realm—details he hadn't grasped from reading the original storyline in his past life.
At 110+ levels, third-tier gods were merely beginners, relying on accumulating divine energy to break through.
At 120+ levels, second-tier gods relied on comprehending the Dao, immersing themselves in the rule-based world opened by their divine position to grasp the intangible principles of the universe. The deeper the comprehension, the faster their cultivation progressed—though divine energy remained essential.
At 130+ levels, first-tier gods approached a mystical stage called "merging with the Dao." They aligned every aspect of themselves as closely as possible with the Dao of their divine position. The closer the alignment, the faster their strength grew.
As for the supreme 140+ level God Kings, the requirement was "transforming into the Dao."
Even Poseidon himself couldn't achieve this. According to his records, when he felt close to breaking through that boundary, it felt as though his entire existence would disintegrate into nothingness. Thus, he stopped.
But the path was correct. Nearly all God Kings in the god realm had transformed into embodiments of the Dao they cultivated—a terrifying existence.
Though Poseidon boasted of God King-level combat strength, he knew he couldn't stand against the five true God Kings in battle. His understanding of the Dao lagged far behind theirs.
Currently at 125 levels, Ye Wen didn't aim too high. For now, he focused on steadily accumulating faith energy.
Poseidon had spent thousands of years building his faith from scratch to reach his current first-tier god status. But Ye Wen was different—he inherited Poseidon's wealth and enjoyed far better access to faith compared to Poseidon in his early days.
Yet humans—and gods—were inherently greedy. No one ever complained about having too much wealth.
Thus, to increase the acquisition of faith energy, Ye Wen implemented some reforms.
First, he restructured the Spirit Hall, which had originally only worshipped the Angel God.
As the Sea God, the largest territorial deity of Douluo Star, Ye Wen naturally took the top position as the undisputed "uncrowned king."
Since the entire Douluo Continent was surrounded by the sea, no one found it strange for the Sea God to rank above the Angel God.
Below him, the Spirit Hall enshrined the Rakshasa, Angel, and Asura.
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