Heaven Dou Imperial Palace, at the main gate.
When Chen Xin and Gu Rong brought Ning Fengzhi through the air to the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace, they immediately sensed something off about the atmosphere inside.
Hovering in midair, the three clearly saw that not only were the gate guards several times more numerous than usual, the palace interior was also full of patrolling imperial guards, as if some great chaos had broken out.
They did not dwell on it. Given the huge commotion outside the city tonight, a palace lockdown was reasonable.
"Greetings, Sect Master Ning, Sword Douluo, Bone Douluo."
After the three landed outside the palace gate, a captain of the imperial guards stepped forward at once to salute.
Although the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was an ally of the Heaven Dou Empire and their relations were unusual, Ning Fengzhi knew how to conduct himself and gave Emperor Xue Ye due respect. He did not have Chen Xin and Gu Rong fly him straight in, but entered through the main gate as a show of courtesy.
"Mm."
With a slight nod, Ning Fengzhi led Chen Xin and Gu Rong inside.
No need to wait. As Sect Master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Ning Fengzhi could enter the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace simply by showing his face.
No need to ask where Emperor Xue Ye was either. Just head toward the Hall of State Affairs at the center of the palace.
Once he stepped through the palace gate, the palace's master, Emperor Xue Ye, would receive the message shortly and send someone to meet them.
Soon, a few minutes later, before the three reached the Hall of State Affairs, Ning Fengzhi saw Xue Qinghe, face full of grief, coming to meet them under the escort of several royal guest retainers.
"Teacher, Sword Douluo, Bone Douluo."
Qian Renxue stepped forward and bowed.
"No need for ceremony."
Ning Fengzhi waved a hand and helped Qian Renxue up.
Seeing his disciple's sorrowful expression, Ning Fengzhi added, "Qinghe, are you worried about the situation outside the city? If so, set your mind at ease. The enemy has been annihilated."
Qian Renxue gave a slight nod, then shook her head, bowed again, and said, "Teacher, His Majesty was attacked tonight. The empire is in turmoil. I ask that you lend your full support."
"What? His Majesty was attacked? How is he?"
At the mention of an attempt on Emperor Xue Ye's life, Ning Fengzhi was shocked and hurriedly asked.
"Earlier, while the great battle outside the city was underway, unfamiliar Titled Douluo infiltrated the palace and attempted to assassinate Father. The palace guards were no match. Father…"
The "grief-stricken" Qian Renxue did not continue.
Hearing this, Ning Fengzhi's expression stiffened and his mood grew heavy.
At once, he locked onto two possible masterminds behind the assassination of Emperor Xue Ye.
First, the Star Luo Empire. Second, Spirit Hall.
He ranked Star Luo first because the timing was too coincidental, and they had ample motive.
Tonight Star Luo had pulled a major move outside Heaven Dou City. Whether or not they managed to eliminate his son-in-law, the Heaven Dou Empire would not sit idly by.
Since Star Luo could send so many experts to ambush the empire's prodigy outside the city, they could just as well dispatch experts to assassinate the emperor.
Moreover, Chu Chengzhou was his son-in-law. If Star Luo's ambush succeeded, it would inevitably provoke retaliation from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
If they would be retaliated against either way, why not take the opportunity to kill Emperor Xue Ye as well, throw the Heaven Dou Empire into turmoil, and leave Heaven Dou too busy to retaliate against Star Luo?
As for Spirit Hall, although the timing was also coincidental, perhaps Spirit Hall learned in advance that the Star Luo Empire planned to ambush Chu Chengzhou, immediately plotted in the shadows to assassinate Emperor Xue Ye, and pinned the blame on Star Luo.
With the two events happening almost simultaneously, the black pot of assassinating Emperor Xue Ye would be borne by Star Luo whether they liked it or not.
In this way, the two empires would be driven to war, and Spirit Hall could sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight.
Unfortunately, whoever the mastermind was, they overlooked one point.
His son-in-law was too strong, and by his strength alone reversed the balance of power between the two empires.
Put plainly, regardless of who was behind it, their scheme had failed.
With Star Luo losing so many experts tonight, whether or not the attempt on Emperor Xue Ye would throw Heaven Dou into turmoil, the Star Luo Empire was already on the verge of destruction.
And sitting on the mountain to watch tigers fight only works when the two sides are evenly matched. If the two empires go to war now, Heaven Dou will be strong and Star Luo weak.
If Spirit Hall tries to sit and watch without entering the field, then they will get no share of the Star Luo "cake."
However, the attempt on Emperor Xue Ye's life was not necessarily a bad thing for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
Although Emperor Xue Ye had good relations with him and was an ally, in terms of closeness, how could an ally on the throne compare to a personal disciple on the throne?
On the Douluo Continent, the relationship between master and disciple is equivalent to that of parent and child.
With that, convinced he had seen through everything, Ning Fengzhi patted Qian Renxue on the shoulder and said, "Qinghe, you are the empire's heir. Pull yourself together.
Now that His Majesty has been attacked, what you must do is stabilize the empire as quickly as possible. Your teacher and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect will support you."
The continent was on the verge of upheaval. The empire was about to welcome a new sovereign. Was this not a sign that a new era for the empire was beginning?
Elsewhere, outside Heaven Dou City, Chu Chengzhou finished cleaning up the battlefield and reaped a bountiful haul.
The enemies who came this time were not rogue Spirit Masters, but experts belonging to the Star Luo Empire and the Star Luo royal family. They had backing and organization, and were generally wealthy, far beyond ordinary Spirit Masters of the same level.
Eight Netherworld White Tigers, sixteen people, plus five Titled Douluo. Twenty-one in total yielded fifteen thousand-year spirit bones, twenty ordinary ten-thousand-year spirit bones, and twelve spirit bones over fifty thousand years.
The most valuable was a seventy-thousand-year head bone taken from Dai Tao.
However, the high-value spirit bones all came from Dai Tao and the seven Star Luo royal elders. The eight with the highest net worth each had at least one spirit bone over fifty thousand years.
Next were the Netherworld Spirit Cat Spirit Masters serving as "pendants" for the Netherworld White Tigers formed by those eight. Each had at least one ten-thousand-year spirit bone.
Last were the five Titled Douluo of the Star Luo Empire. Of the five, three did not even have spirit bones. The other two had them, but they were only ordinary ten-thousand-year spirit bones.
Of course, as Titled Douluo, if they wished, high-end goods might be hard to acquire, but ordinary thousand-year and ten-thousand-year spirit bones were not hard to obtain.
The reason three had none was most likely not poverty, but simply that they looked down on common goods.
After all, for a Titled Douluo, even a ten-thousand-year spirit bone would not provide obvious help in terms of strength unless its attached skill filled a personal shortcoming.
Afterward, in a very good mood, Chu Chengzhou returned to Heaven Dou City and headed straight for the Moon Pavilion.
With such a big commotion outside the city tonight, Elder Sister was surely frightened. He had to go and comfort her.
T/N: For up to 30 chapters ahead on my translations, become a p@tron at [email protected]/LordHipposApostle