That night, Chu Chengzhou returned to Heaven Dou City.
After going home and having the servants send a letter to Qian Renxue, Chu Chengzhou headed to Yuexuan to see Big Sister.
"Huh? Good little brother, you're back?"
On the fifth floor of Yuexuan, Tang Yuehua was cultivating Absolute Control. Seeing the one she thought of day and night return, joy bloomed on her face.
"Mm. Yuehua, did you miss me?"
Taking Big Sister's jade hand, Chu Chengzhou spoke with deep affection.
"Pah, who would miss this little rascal?"
Tang Yuehua flushed and spat lightly.
"Really? That's quite heartbreaking."
Looking at the stubbornly-denying Big Sister, Chu Chengzhou feigned sadness.
Then, noticing the harp hanging on the hall wall, Chu Chengzhou said, "Yuehua, let's play a duet."
"Oh?"
Tang Yuehua was a bit surprised.
The little rascal comes back and doesn't want to do bad things, but wants to play music with her? Would the sun rise in the west tomorrow?
She soon understood why.
Just after the harp was set up, Chu Chengzhou picked her up and sat her before the desk.
"What are you doing?"
Feeling the heat behind her, Tang Yuehua's face turned crimson.
"Yuehua, you play yours, I'll do mine."
Chu Chengzhou replied, hands roving.
Tang Yuehua: "…"
Soon the quiet, elegant hall filled with harp music.
But when the sound reached the ears of the two maids downstairs, they realized their mistress's musical skill seemed to have regressed a lot. No, it was no regression. It was almost like random plucking.
And gradually there were other sounds mixed into the off-key tune.
After a while, understanding what those sounds were, the two maids' faces flushed scarlet.
How could the mistress do this?
The next morning, Chu Chengzhou returned home.
He had arranged this with Qian Renxue the previous night; otherwise, with the girls not at home, he wouldn't have bothered to come back.
Not long after he got home, a luxurious carriage bearing the Heaven Dou royal swan crest arrived at the door, escorted by royal knights.
In the reception hall, after dismissing the servants, Chu Chengzhou set up a spirit power barrier.
"Little Angel, how is the plan coming?"
Chu Chengzhou asked Qian Renxue.
"No. It still feels leaky. Not perfect."
Qian Renxue shook her head.
Assassinating Emperor Xue Ye was easy, but doing it without exposing the assassin's identity and pinning it on Star Luo was far more difficult.
"Alright, I have a plan. Listen."
Chu Chengzhou laid out the relatively perfect plan he had thought up before.
"Good. This is good."
After careful consideration, Qian Renxue nodded excitedly.
"Virtuous brother, if I ascend the throne, I will grant you the rank of prince."
Qian Renxue said generously.
"Prince? Little Angel, a prince personally enfeoffed by an empress usually means royal consort."
Chu Chengzhou smiled.
Qian Renxue: "…"
After a moment's thought, Qian Renxue said solemnly, "When I ascend to the Angel God position, I will make you my royal consort. But if by then you cannot defeat me, you'll have to break up with those little girlfriends of yours."
As the sole heir of the Angel clan, the six-winged angel bloodline had to be passed on. Since she had to choose a husband, the "good virtuous brother" before her—talent, strength, and looks all excellent—was naturally the best choice.
But with so many girlfriends, Qian Renxue found it hard to accept.
On the Douluo Continent, strength ruled. If, after inheriting the ancestral Angel God position, her strength still fell below Chu Chengzhou's, she could accept it.
If she was stronger, then humph—she would not tolerate someone's philandering.
Hearing this, Chu Chengzhou fell into thought.
Defeat Qian Renxue after she became a god? If she became a god early, the difficulty would not be small.
"What, scared?"
Qian Renxue glanced at Chu Chengzhou "contemptuously."
"Who said I'm scared? Deal."
Chu Chengzhou straightened his back at once.
If the Little Angel became a god too early, no matter. He could drag his feet.
If her post-apotheosis strength was too strong, also no matter. Once the rice was cooked, she couldn't kill him, could she?
He was no longer worried that Qian Renxue would someday hold the Angel God Sword to his neck and force him to break up with Xiao Wu and the others.
He was more worried Xiao Wu would inherit the Seagod position first and then brandish the Seagod Trident to question him about his relationship with the Little Angel.
"Deal."
Qian Renxue agreed without hesitation.
Late at night, under cover of darkness, a figure left Heaven Dou City.
Once far from the city, Chu Chengzhou summoned Xiao Hei and sped toward Star Luo City to the south-southwest.
Xiao Hei was fast. Well before dawn he had crossed half the continent, arriving more than twenty li south of Star Luo City.
Why come here?
Like Heaven Dou Royal Academy, Star Luo Royal Academy had many students and needed many mimicry training grounds, so it was built outside the imperial capital.
Standing atop a small hill, Chu Chengzhou could see the entire Star Luo Royal Academy below in the darkness.
Releasing spiritual power to scout, Chu Chengzhou soon found his target for the night.
The target was easy to find because his spirit power rank was unique within Star Luo Royal Academy.
Dai Feng, Great Elder of the Star Luo royal clan, a rank 89 peak Soul Douluo. His wife was still alive and was also a high-rank Spirit Sage. The couple could jointly unleash the martial soul fusion skill: Nether White Tiger. Their strength rivaled that of an ordinary rank 95 Titled Douluo. He was one of the foundation figures of the Star Luo royal clan and served as principal of Star Luo Royal Academy.
Star Luo City had many experts. Counting the martial soul fusion skill Nether White Tiger, combat power at the Titled level probably reached double digits. It was a dragon's pool and a tiger's den. Chu Chengzhou did not dare slip into the Star Luo palace to assassinate the royal clan; he might well stumble.
Moreover, according to the intel from Qian Renxue, the former Star Luo Emperor, White Tiger Douluo Dai Tao, was not dead. If his wife was also alive, the two together likely would not be weaker than Xiao Hei, who was constrained by bloodline when outside.
To be safe, he would "lure" Emperor Dai Yutian out of Star Luo City.
This wasn't hard to do. Use the Void Illusion Realm to control Dai Feng, and Dai Feng, who viewed him as the great Lord, would make it happen.
Tch. I traveled far in the dead of night, and you're still cuddling your wife in bed? Unfair.
Chu Chengzhou grumbled inwardly.
The next moment, the Void Illusion Realm activated. Spiritual power surged out, and sleeping Dai Feng and his wife had their consciousness altered, becoming temporary slaves.
A dozen minutes later.
"Greetings, my Lord."
Under the night sky, on the hilltop beside the only official road seven or eight li north of Star Luo Royal Academy leading to Star Luo City, Great Elder Dai Feng and his wife Zhu Qiulan devoutly paid respects to the great Lord.
"Mm. How much property do you have?"
Chu Chengzhou nodded and asked.
How much property do you have?
Anyone else would be dumbfounded, then furious. You dog dare covet my assets?
But to Dai Feng and his wife, there was no dissonance. They wished they could offer up all their property to the great Lord.
"Great Lord, your humble servants in Star Luo City have…"
Like beans spilling from a bamboo tube, Dai Feng laid out his assets.
"Stop. No need. I have a task for you. In three days, get me money by any means. Three days from now, the plan begins."
Cutting off the inventory, Chu Chengzhou issued orders.
It was rare to pull a big job. Collecting a fee should be fine.
Dai Feng was the Great Elder of the Star Luo royal clan, a true top dog. He was surely wealthy.
The three days were for Dai Feng to handle his assets.
"Yes, great Lord."
Dai Feng and his wife replied without hesitation.
"Alright. Go."
With a wave, Chu Chengzhou dismissed them.
Dai Feng and his wife left, not to return to Star Luo Royal Academy, but straight back to Star Luo City to liquidate assets.
For great aristocrats, cash flow was only a small part. The valuable parts were mostly immovable property.
Thus back in Star Luo City, Dai Feng and his wife immediately ordered the servants to contact the major chambers of commerce and sell off immovable property.
Sell what can be sold. Mortgage what cannot. Just scrape up money.
"Feng-ge, within three days we can probably scrape together one hundred million gold soul coins for our Lord."
After tallying assets and estimating, Zhu Qiulan spoke to Dai Feng.
As the third-in-command of the imperial royal clan, Dai Feng's wealth was indeed considerable, and that did not count the spirit bones on the couple.
"One hundred million? Great Lord, your humble believer has shamed you."
Hearing this, Dai Feng cried out, bent his knees, and knelt to face the direction of Chu Chengzhou, knocking his head to the ground three times.
No. Too little.
Rising, Dai Feng frowned and pondered.
As the great Lord's most devout believer, how could one hundred million gold soul coins demonstrate his devotion?
Not enough. Far from enough.
After brooding for a long time, Dai Feng suddenly had a good idea and shouted, "Attend me."
"Patriarch."
A middle-aged man dressed as a butler soon approached.
"Go. Contact the heads of the major chambers of commerce in the city. Have them come to the residence."
Dai Feng ordered.
"Yes, Patriarch."
The butler withdrew at once.
Dai Feng's plan was simple. His own assets were only so much, but that didn't mean he couldn't get more money.
If the net worth falls short, make it up with loans.
As for repayment? Not in Dai Feng's considerations.
Given his identity and status as Great Elder, a little urging would see the loans approved at once.
Dai Feng: To contribute to the great Lord is the highest honor of your lives.
Three days later, in the morning.
A four-ring flying-type spirit master dressed as a servant left Star Luo Royal Academy with a handwritten letter from Dai Feng and flew toward Star Luo City.
At the same time, in the hilltop woods beside the official road midway, Dai Feng and his wife arrived with a huge sum to see the great Lord.
"Greetings, great Lord."
They knelt devoutly.
"Mm. How did it go?"
Chu Chengzhou nodded and asked.
"Great Lord, the plan is proceeding smoothly. Also, this is a gift from your humble believers."
With that, Dai Feng handed over a large bag.
Opening it, Chu Chengzhou found storage-type soul tools of various styles inside.
"How much is in here?"
Seeing so many storage soul tools, Chu Chengzhou perked up.
"Great Lord, the storage soul tools contain a total of three hundred million gold soul coins."
"Three hundred million? Star Luo's royal clan is that rich?"
Chu Chengzhou raised his brows.
In his impression, with every effort in three days only four people on the continent could gather three hundred million.
One was his very rich father-in-law Ning Fengzhi. One was the Heaven Dou Emperor, the old man Xue Ye. One was the Star Luo Emperor, Dai Yutian. The last was Spirit Hall's Pope Bibi Dong, who fielded spirit master legions numbering in the tens of thousands.
By no measure did Dai Feng's finances match those four.
"Great Lord, one hundred million is what your humble servants offered. The other two hundred million we borrowed as loans."
Dai Feng said devoutly.
Time was tight, and the big chambers of commerce could not assemble more gold soul coins quickly; otherwise he would have borrowed more.
As Great Elder with the imperial royal clan at his back, which lender would worry he could not repay?
Chu Chengzhou: "…"
Good fellow. Devotion by loan? Acceptable.
Elsewhere, a letter entered the Star Luo imperial palace.
Two hours later, a luxurious carriage bearing the royal White Tiger crest rolled out of the palace, escorted by Star Luo royal knights, heading toward the Star Luo Royal Academy outside the city.
Midway, formless spiritual power invaded the sea of consciousness of the stern, burly figure in the carriage.
Dai Yutian's face twisted in fear. He was about to cry out, but too late to react. He became someone's temporary slave.
A devout glow flashed in his eyes. He spoke out the window: "Stop."
"Your Majesty."
The captain of the royal knight escort, He Ruisi, rode to the window, dismounted, and saluted.
"Return to the palace."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Though puzzled why the emperor changed his mind about going to the academy, He Ruisi obeyed without hesitation.
Soon the convoy turned and returned to Star Luo City.
Meanwhile, in the wooded hilltop by the road, Chu Chengzhou looked relieved.
Damn it, I didn't expect Dai Yutian to have a head spirit bone. I almost tripped.
Star Luo emperors rose by martial strength, which was beyond doubt. Dai Yutian was not young. Though not a Titled Douluo, his rank matched Great Elder Dai Feng's—rank 89 peak Soul Douluo.
With a rank 89 peak Soul Douluo's spirit power and a high-aged head spirit bone, Dai Yutian's spiritual power surpassed that of an ordinary newly advanced nine-ring Titled Douluo.
Chu Chengzhou's spiritual power was not much stronger. If he hadn't kept up with Everlasting Will recently, he might have flipped the cart when he used the Void Illusion Realm to control Dai Yutian's mind.
Fortunately, the demonic rises a foot, the Dao rises a yard. In this brief clash that drew no attention, he had the last laugh.
But Chu Chengzhou did not directly kill Dai Yutian. In terms of wealth, how could Great Elder Dai Feng compare to Emperor Dai Yutian?
Even without a private stash, as emperor he certainly had the authority to open the royal treasury, likely without needing other royals' consent.
As for exposure afterward? Once the goods were in hand, Chu Chengzhou would not care about exposure, and he certainly would not spit them back out.
Besides, his ultimate goal in coming to Star Luo City was to crank Star Luo's hatred of him to the maximum, so they would stop at nothing—sacrificing even the empire's foundations—to eliminate him.
Then Qian Renxue would fish in troubled waters and send someone to kill old man Xue Ye. Star Luo would have to take the blame.
With the two incidents overlapping, who besides Star Luo would the world believe?
As for Star Luo's deep foundations… as long as no one of Qian Daoliu's caliber appeared, even if he could not win, escaping would not be a problem.
The Dark Devilgod Tiger spirit Xiao Hei had wings and an age of a hundred and ten thousand years. How many experts on the continent could keep up?
Aside from "invincible in the sky" Qian Daoliu, perhaps only Spirit Hall's Third Worshiper, Qingluan, a rank 97 Titled Douluo, might be able to give chase.
Chu Chengzhou glanced at Dai Feng and his wife still waiting nearby.
Dai Yutian had been "caught," and their assets had been turned over. They had completed their "mission" and had no value left.
The Void Illusion Realm activated. Spiritual power surged out as Chu Chengzhou pulled the couple's consciousness into illusion.
The next second, terrifying spiritual pressure crushed them. Without a sound, Dai Feng and his wife's consciousnesses were erased. GG.
"Not bad."
Sensing spirit bone fluctuations from both bodies, Chu Chengzhou nodded in satisfaction and stored the corpses in a storage soul tool.
Back at the imperial palace, Dai Yutian found some storage soul tools and headed straight for the royal treasury.
"Greetings, Your Majesty."
The guards outside the treasury door bowed.
"Open the treasury."
Dai Yutian nodded slightly and ordered.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The eight-ring guard captain took out a silver key and opened the outer gate.
Rumble—
With a deep roar, the black iron treasury gate slowly opened, revealing the inner gate of the passage.
Then Dai Yutian entered alone and used a golden key to open the inner gate.
After entering, he closed the inner gate behind him.
At that moment, seeing that His Majesty had entered, a figure with the aura of an eight-ring Soul Douluo appeared at Dai Yutian's side and bowed. "Greetings, Your Majesty."
The Star Luo royal treasury had outer and inner gates. The entire vault was forged of black iron and inlaid with special materials that blocked spiritual probing.
The key to the outer gate was held by the outside guards, the inner gate key by the emperor. An eight-ring Soul Douluo also guarded the vault inside. It was essentially thief-proof.
Even a Titled Douluo would find it difficult to steal the treasures without making a sound.
But today there was no thief. There was a "mole."
"Mm. I'm here to take the inheritance spirit bone."
Dai Yutian nodded and casually made up an excuse.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The treasury guard turned to lead the way.
As he turned, a vicious gleam flashed in Dai Yutian's eyes. White Tiger martial soul possessed, he drove a "Black Tiger Steals the Heart" into the guard's back.
Squelch—
Caught off guard, the eight-ring guard was pierced through the left chest by razor-sharp tiger claws.
"Cough…"
Lowering his head to look at the claws through his chest, the guard opened his mouth but managed no words, only fresh blood. Soon, life left him.
Pushing the corpse aside, Dai Yutian—Star Luo's biggest mole in history—went to work like a rat in a rice bin, madly sweeping up the vault's treasures.
Precious herbs? Bag them.
Ancient soul tools handed down from antiquity? Take them.
Oh? Plenty of storage soul tools? He'd worried about not having enough space. Problem solved.
Spirit bones? Pack them all.
Piles of gold soul coins like small hills? Take everything.
More than an hour later, with the heavy gate opening again, Dai Yutian left the treasury, pockets stuffed with storage soul tools.
Inside the now-empty treasury, only the guard's corpse remained, and he had no spirit bones.
Because of the special materials blocking spiritual probing, the guards outside still had no idea the vault they loyally watched had already been emptied by their own emperor.
Leaving the treasury, Dai Yutian returned to his residence and packed his private vault into storage soul tools as well.
Just then the guards outside announced, "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince requests an audience."
Hearing this, a smile appeared on Dai Yutian's face, and he walked out.
Perfect. The great Lord wanted him to bring Davis along later. Saved him the trouble of sending for him.
T/N: For up to 30 chapters ahead on my translations, become a p@tron at [email protected]/LordHipposApostle