Mingdu.
Outside a remote courtyard, the air on the street suddenly rippled and twisted. Two figures in black robes stepped out of thin air.
The only difference was—
The leader was slightly thin, walking with the calm, steady steps of a woman.
Behind, the burly, tall black-robed man's steps were shaky, as if forcing himself to stay upright.
"Please, both of you, come in. His Highness has been waiting."
As the two approached the courtyard, the gate opened slowly. A white-haired old man stood inside, bowing respectfully.
"Xue Chen?" the leading woman raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"You actually serve under him now…"
"His Highness is compassionate. If His Majesty hadn't saved me back then, I'd have died a long time ago." Xue Chen smiled faintly, gesturing them in.
He also glanced at Long Xiaoyao behind her.
A flash of shock appeared in his eyes—someone had actually managed to injure Long Xiaoyao. No wonder these two responded to the invitation. The Holy Spirit Cult must be in dire straits…
Otherwise, with his master's declining power, these two would never have bothered.
Minutes later.
Inside a spacious hall.
Xu Tianran forced a bitter smile. "Please forgive me. Dragging this disabled body, I couldn't greet you outside."
"No problem." Ye Xishui removed her hood, revealing a beautiful face, and waved her hand casually.
"What's this cooperation you mentioned?"
Her violet eyes stared straight at Xu Tianran, voice cold.
"If my third brother takes the throne, the Holy Spirit Cult will be banished." Xu Tianran took a deep breath, as if finally making up his mind.
"…"
The room fell silent.
Long Xiaoyao folded his arms, eyes closed. Ye Xishui narrowed her eyes, a cold light flashing as the pressure of an Ultimate Douluo swept the whole courtyard. The wooden chairs creaked under the force, windows rattled, and Xu Tianran's face turned deathly pale.
"Mister, that's too much!"
Xue Chen's pupils shrank, quickly stepping in front of Xu Tianran. Releasing his Super Douluo power, even his martial soul appeared, with nine soul rings rising from his feet. He stared nervously at the other side.
"Old Xue." Xu Tianran coughed gently.
"Yes…"
Xue Chen took a deep breath and stepped back.
Ye Xishui withdrew her pressure at the right moment.
"You're right," she said softly. "The Holy Spirit Cult has no place in the original continent's countries. If the Sun Moon Empire also rejects it, its future looks grim."
"You have great foresight. I cannot compare." Xu Tianran smiled.
"So, what's your suggestion?" Ye Xishui asked.
"Cooperation! Win-win!" Xu Tianran replied firmly.
"I'm alone, with only a tiny portion of the military under my control—not enough to challenge my third brother. But if I take the throne, I'll rely on the Holy Spirit Cult to balance the army. At that time, the Cult will become the state religion of the Sun Moon Empire!"
"…"
Concise and clear, Xu Tianran looked sincerely at them.
The pros and cons were obvious.
Surely, they would make the right choice.
Sure enough—
"Alright!" Ye Xishui nodded, but frowned again.
"But now, the Cult has only eight hundred members left, and many strong ones have died. Supporting you to the throne will be tough. You said it yourself—your third brother's royal clan controls most of the military."
Xu Tianran's eyes shrank.
The Holy Spirit Cult really had suffered a disaster?!!
Recent intelligence was true.
By his estimates, all the Cult's branches combined had at least 1,500 soul masters—"elites," evil soul masters at least at Grandmaster rank. But now… nearly half gone!
Did these maniacs fight the Evil Emperor in the Evil Demon Forest or something?!!
Otherwise, who else could have hurt the Cult so badly?
Xu Tianran's heart churned, but his face stayed calm.
He pressed on: "Eight hundred is enough. We'll strike first!"
"In half a month, it's my father's birthday."
"As usual, Third Brother, Fourth, and Seventh will come. Their routes will all pass through the east gate, the Palace gate. You'll ambush them there, wipe them out, and then, as chaos erupts in the palace, join me to force Father to abdicate!"
"You won't kill your own father?" Ye Xishui sipped her tea, coldly.
"…"
Xu Tianran's mouth twitched.
"No! Fratricide is one thing, patricide is another! I won't bear that infamy. Besides, the old man needs to keep order. Elder Kong won't lose all hope in me. Once I'm in charge, he'll have to accept it."
"What if he imprisons you and has another child?" Ye Xishui asked.
"He's too old for that now." Xu Tianran chuckled.
"What if he uses another royal descendant?"
"He cherishes the purity of the harem—he'd never do that. No matter what, I'm still his own flesh and blood…" Xu Tianran shook his head.
"Good!" Ye Xishui nodded, lips curling as her eyes flashed with bloodlust.
Having cultivated evil techniques and thirsting for blood, the Holy Spirit Cult always desired chaos. With the royal succession struggle, she didn't mind stirring up an even bigger storm—innocent citizens of Mingdu included…
"In that case, let's go all out!"
As the two figures vanished,
Xue Chen's expression grew complex.
"Your Highness, this time, the people of Mingdu…"
"It can't be helped. Let them suffer a little—the Holy Spirit Cult can take the blame." Xu Tianran's face was indifferent.
"If we succeed, I'll give Mingdu a more prosperous future, let the Empire's iron hoof sweep every corner of the continent. My third brother, that pleasure-seeking coward, is not fit to compete with me."
"But this crime of rebellion…" Xue Chen hesitated.
"Rebellion is what losers are called!" Xu Tianran said flatly.
"The winner takes all!"
…
Shrek Academy.
Inner court.
Though it was nighttime, lights shone bright along the Sea God Lake shore. Countless delicately carved pink lanterns hung from lampposts, dyeing the usual yellow light an ambiguous blush.
"Hey, this is the single dog club. Only us single dogs can enjoy this grape wine. What are you doing here?" Xu Sanshi grumbled.
"There's such a rule?" Su Wen raised an eyebrow, downing his glass of light purple wine—sweet and tasty, but unable to ease his worries.
How many girls were at this Sea God Fated Blind Date Festival?
Thirty-seven!
He remembered only seventeen in the original novel…
Of those extra twenty, how many liked him was unknown.
Maybe it was because he'd reformed the inner court's inspection team task system, suspending all evil soul master extermination missions and having the newbies go through his "tests" before moving on.
Defeating wild evil soul masters wasn't hard.
But hurting the elite of the Holy Spirit Cult was another matter—the current inspection team would be slaughtered by them.
They were organized, disciplined, and systematic, while the inspection team was still fighting random weaklings. How could that work?
So the number of inner court disciples had jumped from fifty-something to eighty or ninety. Discounting those already in relationships, over seventy joined the festival.
It also showed how pent-up the inner court was—less than a quarter were in relationships, and there were many older singles.
"I just remembered a joke," Xu Sanshi said, grinning over his wine.
"Shut up! I'm in a good mood tonight. If you ruin it, I'll kill you!" Bei Bei warned, grabbing his neck.
"Xiao Ya's here too?" Xiao Hongchen chimed in.
"Yeah." Bei Bei's face lit up at the mention of Xiao Ya.
Finally, the lovers had ended up together.
"Can I join?" Xiao Hongchen hesitated, face flushing. "Actually, it doesn't matter if I don't. I'm not—"
"Any inner court disciple staying on campus is on the list, unless you object and request to be removed," Bei Bei explained.
"You're already an inner court disciple—how come you only found out now?" he asked curiously.
"Busy researching battle armor lately…" Xiao Hongchen sighed in relief, then grinned.
Sweet, sweet love. Who didn't want that?
"Battle armor?"
At the familiar yet foreign term, everyone looked over.
Seeing Su Wen frowning, they didn't bother him, focusing instead on Xiao Hongchen. Battle armor research was top secret, known only to the academy's upper echelon. Now that they had an insider, they were curious.
"Uh… it's still under development. But the soul tool array core and metal forging techniques are coming along. You'll all see it in your lifetime—maybe even wear it. As for its performance…"
"It gives a unique boost to martial souls. A regular Soul King wearing basic battle armor can match a Soul Saint."
"Soul Saint?!!"
"What the hell?"
"…"
Shock spread all around.
A twenty-level leap—unbelievable! It took twenty years for a Soul King to reach Soul Saint, yet battle armor could let anyone jump right up.
What's the point of training, then?
"Don't get discouraged," Xiao Hongchen explained. "Battle armor just boosts power. If you go from Soul King to Soul Saint, others can go from Soul Saint to Soul Douluo, or even Titled Douluo."
"It's icing on the cake—not a replacement for ordinary soul masters."
…