"Your son greets Father Emperor."
Waiting outside the hall, Dai Weisi saw Dai Yutian emerge and hurried forward to salute.
"Weisi, what business do you have with Father?"
Dai Yutian asked.
"Father, these are my proposals for handling the disaster areas in the southern provinces. Please critique them."
As he spoke, Dai Weisi presented the memorial in his hands.
A few days ago, the "earth dragon turned over" in Star Luo's southern provinces, and many commoners suffered.
Last night Dai Yutian gave Dai Weisi a test, telling him to propose a disaster relief plan. If it satisfied him, Dai Weisi, as crown prince, could begin participating in governance ahead of time.
Eager to seize the chance, Dai Weisi got to work at once (with guidance from specialists) and drafted the plan overnight.
"Mm. Set this aside for now. Come with Father."
Waving a hand, Dai Yutian spoke to Dai Weisi.
As a devout believer, the priority was to pay respects to the great Lord. As for testing his good son Dai Weisi, that could wait.
Dai Weisi: "???"
Soon, Dai Yutian took Dai Weisi into a carriage and, escorted by Star Luo Royal Knights, left the palace, heading toward Star Luo Royal Academy.
In the woods atop the hill by the official road outside Star Luo City, seeing the carriage approach with royal knights in escort, Chu Chengzhou's spirit lifted.
A golden flash flickered in his hand. The Nine Heavens Profound Spirit Bow and Flowing Gold Armor-Piercing Arrow manifested.
Bow in his left hand, arrow nocked in his right. With spirit power poured in, the arrow on the string gleamed with an inch of razor light.
Chu Chengzhou: Gazing southwest, shoot the White Tiger.
When the carriage drew near, Chu Chengzhou locked onto the seated Dai Yutian and Dai Weisi inside with spiritual power and released.
Whoosh—
With a soft hiss, the Flowing Gold Armor-Piercing Arrow shot out.
Midflight, it split in two, turning into twin streaks of gold that streaked for Dai Yutian and Dai Weisi inside the carriage.
"Not good. Guard His Majesty!"
Catching the twin golden flashes, the captain of the Star Luo Royal Knights, He Ruisi, shouted.
He was a step late. Before his words fell, the two golden streaks bored straight into the carriage.
Bang, bang—
Two muffled pops like watermelons bursting sounded inside.
"Your Majesty!"
In the next second, four middle-aged figures riding behind the carriage flashed to the window, lifted the curtain, and cried out.
What met their eyes was not the stern emperor and crown prince, but two headless corpses gushing bright red blood.
"Impudent!"
With a snarl, killing intent flared. All four erupted with spirit power, possessed their martial souls, manifested weapon souls, and lit yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black rings.
Clearly these four Soul Douluo were Dai Yutian's bodyguards, forming the imperial escort together with He Ruisi.
They had been careless. The emperor had been assassinated under their eyelids.
Even had they been cautious, they could not have stopped it. Chu Chengzhou's shots were too fast, and five eight-ring Soul Douluo were not enough.
In fact, even without unleashing the martial soul fusion skill Nether White Tiger, Dai Yutian's own strength surpassed any one of the five.
Just then, formless spiritual force descended into the seas of consciousness of the four Soul Douluo and He Ruisi. Their vision flipped, then fell into eternal darkness.
Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud—
With souls erased, the five collapsed, life gone.
An instant later, Chu Chengzhou arrived riding the Fire Phoenix spirit Xiao Hong. Ignoring the panicked royal knights, he landed by the carriage and collected the spirit bones blasted from Dai Yutian and Dai Weisi, along with a black pouch beside the corpses.
As for the two bodies, he left them. Star Luo needed the sight burned in.
He glanced at the five corpses outside the carriage. No spirit bones had dropped. Chu Chengzhou mounted Xiao Hong and departed.
The royal treasury plundered. The emperor dead. The crown prince dead. The Great Elder dead. The assassin had shown himself. With such a slap to the face, Star Luo would indeed be at daggers drawn with him.
Next, Chu Chengzhou would return to Heaven Dou and wait for Star Luo to empty its foundations.
How many experts would come?
Half an hour later, seven golden-haired figures arrived in succession at the scene.
After a bout of impotent rage, the Star Luo royal elders fell into sullen silence.
After the deaths of Sixth Elder Dai Sheng, Seventh Elder Dai Heng, Eighth Elder Dai Xu, and Ninth Elder Dai Yao, the original nine elders of the royal clan had been cut to five, but three replacements had been appointed, restoring the number to eight.
With Great Elder Dai Feng dead at Chu Chengzhou's hand, seven elders remained.
Soon a burly golden-haired elder descended from the sky.
"Old Clan Chief."
Seeing Dai Tao arrive, the elders rose and saluted.
Waving a hand, face dark, Dai Tao raised a trembling arm and lifted the curtain of the carriage.
Looking at his son and grandson's remains, Dai Tao's features twisted.
"Who… who did this?"
Dai Tao roared.
For an old man over eighty, his only daughter and son-in-law had died last year. Now his only remaining son and his grandson were dead. Reality could be crueler?
Tears fell from his tiger eyes.
"Old Clan Chief, the murderer who killed His Majesty and the Crown Prince was Chu Chengzhou."
Second Elder Dai Wei said in a low voice.
Chu Chengzhou had not attacked the royal knights. They might not all recognize him, but they recognized the Fire Phoenix summon. After the elders questioned them, the murderer was pinned at once.
"Chu Chengzhou again!"
Dai Tao seethed.
How many times had the royal clan stumbled before him?
In his rage, Dai Tao suddenly realized Dai Feng was not present and felt another pang of dread. "Where is the Great Elder?"
"We sent someone to the Royal Academy, but he hasn't arrived."
Dai Wei shook his head.
Just then a royal knight galloped up from the southern road.
"Where is the Great Elder?"
Dai Wei stepped up to ask.
"Reporting to Second Elder. The Great Elder and his wife are not in the academy."
"Damn it."
Dai Tao cursed.
No need to say it. Great Elder Dai Feng was, in all likelihood, gone.
On an ordinary day they might be away on business, but at this moment, what were the odds?
Two hours later.
In a great hall of the Star Luo imperial palace, many royal clan members gathered.
At the center lay two headless corpses covered by white cloth.
The emperor assassinated. The crown prince dead. The blow to the royal clan was heavy. Anger and grief filled the hall.
Except for one golden-haired youth.
This was none other than the Third Prince, Dai Mubai, whose eyes bore double pupils.
Father the emperor was gone. The throne was vacant.
Elder brother the crown prince was gone. The heir's seat was empty.
This… was a windfall.
If the crown prince had ascended, that would have been the day his spirit power was abolished, even his death. Now that the crown prince was gone, wouldn't he become heir apparent?
With the throne vacant, becoming heir was one step from becoming emperor.
He had been marginalized for being the prince whose fiancée had been "stolen" by Chu Chengzhou.
Even with that stain, who in the royal clan had more right to inherit?
His cultivation talent was not poor, and his own grandfather was the empire's supreme emperor emeritus, the old clan chief. How could his grandfather not support him?
Of course, Dai Mubai knew this was not the place. Though he was elated, his face was set in gloom and anger.
If a man could still smile after father and brother died, he had no fate with the throne.
A true "filial son."
Footsteps sounded outside. Second Elder Dai Wei entered, face tight.
He came to Dai Tao's side, opened his mouth several times, but could not speak.
"What else?"
Eyes bloodshot, Dai Tao asked in a deep voice.
"Old Clan Chief, I went to the Great Elder's residence. The butler said the Great Elder sold off his estate and borrowed two hundred million gold soul coins from the major chambers of commerce. Also…"
Dai Wei braced himself and looked at Dai Tao, wondering if he could bear more.
"Two hundred million gold soul coins…"
Dai Tao's face grew darker.
That was no small sum. Added to the cash from selling his estate, it equaled two or three years of imperial military expenditures.
He drew a deep breath. "And?"
"The treasury guards report His Majesty visited the royal treasury before the assassination and stayed for over an hour.
The inner gate key is held only by His Majesty. No one has gone in yet, but perhaps…"
Dai Wei did not finish. Dai Tao understood.
In the next instant, Dai Tao vanished from the hall, rushing to the treasury.
At the treasury gate.
"Greetings, Your Grace."
The guards bowed when Dai Tao arrived.
Ignoring them, Dai Tao possessed the White Tiger. Spirit power roared as his tiger claws slammed the gate.
Bang, bang, bang—
In under half a minute, the two black-iron gates were torn down.
What met his eyes was not the treasure-laden vault of memory, but an empty treasury. Everything was gone, save the corpse of the treasury's inner guard lying in a pool of blood.
"Ahhh—"
Three seconds later, overcome with grief and fury, Dai Tao threw back his head and howled.
The accumulation of thousands of years of royal heritage—aside from spirit bones already refined by clan members—was gone.
Pfft—
Son and grandson slain. Treasury plundered. Blood surged. The octogenarian Dai Tao spat blood and fainted.
"Your Grace, Your Grace! Quickly, fetch healing spirit masters!"
The guard captain shouted.
He was a Titled Douluo. Though over eighty, Dai Tao's body was still stout. After a brief spell he woke in his chambers.
Looking at his wife of nearly sixty years, Zhu Yuelian, hair white and eyes red, Dai Tao felt a wrenching pain as the day's events rushed back.
"Attend me. Bring in the Second Elder."
Patting his wife's arm, Dai Tao called out.
No reply came from outside, but Second Elder Dai Wei entered. He had been waiting at the door.
"Old Clan Chief, are you well?"
The empire had lost its emperor and crown prince, and the treasury had been stripped. They could not afford to lose their "sea-calming pillar" Dai Tao.
Dai Tao did not answer. A hard light flashed in his eyes. "Summon all royal elders and the imperial marshals to the Hall of Deliberation."
"Yes, Old Clan Chief."
Seeing his resolve, Dai Wei withdrew.
"Brother Tao, must it be so? If…"
After Dai Wei left, Empress Dowager Zhu Yuelian spoke, worried.
She understood his intent. The royal elders all possessed the martial soul fusion skill Nether White Tiger and, once unleashed, could match Titled Douluo at eight rings. Each imperial marshal was also a nine-ring Titled Douluo.
Though her son Dai Yutian and grandson Dai Weisi had been assassinated, and her daughter and son-in-law killed by the same murderer a year earlier, her pain was no less than Dai Tao's.
But she was more than a mother and grandmother. She was the empress dowager who rose and fell with the empire.
Spirit Hall watched like a tiger. If revenge now cost too much strength, even an empire of millennia could be reduced to ash.
"This hatred cannot be reconciled."
Dai Tao said without hesitation.
Star Luo Palace. Hall of Deliberation.
On the dais, Dai Tao sat in the emperor's seat with eyes closed.
The hall was heavy. Figures arrived one after another, bowed to him, and took their seats.
At length, when the last marshal arrived, Second Elder Dai Wei rose and spoke to the dais. "Old Clan Chief, all are present."
Dai Tao opened his tiger eyes.
"You all know what happened today. The emperor was assassinated. The crown prince is dead. The murderer is Heaven Dou's Chu Chengzhou. As the empire's high command, what is your answer?"
His tiger eyes swept the twelve others in the hall.
Second Elder Dai Wei, rank 88 Soul Douluo; Third Elder Dai Kun, rank 87 Soul Douluo; Fourth Elder Dai Mao, rank 87 Soul Douluo; Fifth Elder Dai Hui, rank 86 Soul Douluo; the new Sixth Elder Dai Li, Seventh Elder Dai Pan, and Eighth Elder Dai Kang, rank 81 Soul Douluo. All royal elders had mastered the martial soul fusion skill Nether White Tiger.
Even the newly advanced eight-ring trio, after unleashing Nether White Tiger, could match a rank 91 Titled Douluo with optimal ring distribution.
Marshal Cao Lie, martial soul: Azure Dragon Staff, rank 94 assault-type Titled Douluo, title: Azure Dragon.
Marshal Chu Xing, martial soul: Armored Tyrannosaurus, rank 93 assault-type Titled Douluo, title: Tyrant Dragon.
Marshal Meng Ji, martial soul: Wind and Thunder Leopard, rank 93 agility-type Titled Douluo, title: Wind and Thunder.
Marshal Du Ze, martial soul: Silver Moon Skywolf, rank 92 agility-type Titled Douluo, title: Skywolf.
Marshal Si Xu, martial soul: Icefiend Demon Bear, rank 92 assault-type Titled Douluo, title: Ice Bear.
These five Douluo were imperial marshals and also heads of five of the empire's seven ducal houses. The other two ducal houses had produced no Titled Douluo in this generation.
"Blood must pay for blood."
"The slayer of the emperor dies."
"Revenge for His Majesty and the Crown Prince."
"Kill."
As soon as Dai Tao finished, the seven elders and five marshals responded in unison.
Star Luo emperors might be domineering, but the empire's high command was united. Any high official not aligned with the royal clan had already been removed.
More precisely, only those inclined toward the royal clan could rise to the top.
Those with strong cultivation talent became army generals and marshals. Those without became high civil officials.
On internal unity among top forces on the continent, only the Seven Treasures Glazed Sect could stand beside Star Luo.
Since the current Pope Bibi Dong took the throne, Spirit Hall split into two factions: the open Pope's Hall and the behind-the-scenes Worship Hall.
In the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, the clan elders drove out the clan leader's son. Whatever the reasons, it showed internal disunity.
The Clear Sky Sect had also split after Tang Hao of the current generation consorted with the Blue Silver Emperor soul beast and brought calamity, with a sect-master faction and elders hostile to Tang Hao.
In Heaven Dou, the royal clan was weak because of its hereditary martial souls. Without the steadfast ally Seven Treasures Glazed Sect, the Xue clan could not keep a firm grip on royal power.
As for Seven Treasures Glazed Sect, because its direct line were all support-type spirit masters, successive sect masters valued cohesion. There might be spies, but aside from infiltrators, no high command opposed the sect master.
Besides fair leadership, other powers could not match the treatment available within the sect.
"Good."
Seeing unanimous assent, Dai Tao nodded, then turned to Dai Wei. "Second Elder, report on Chu Chengzhou, as well as Seven Treasures Glazed Sect and Heaven Dou. For this revenge, factor in every expert from those two powers."
In Dai Tao's view, past assassination plans had failed not only because they underestimated Chu Chengzhou's meteoric rise, but also because they failed to include the experts of Seven Treasures Glazed Sect and Heaven Dou.
To avoid failure, every expert from those two must be accounted for.
"In order, Old Clan Chief.
According to reports from the royal knights at today's scene, Chu Chengzhou has reached the rank of seven-ring Spirit Sage. His ring configuration is yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black.
As early as rank five Spirit King, he used archery to kill several seven-ring Spirit Sages in succession, with strength comparable to an eight-ring Soul Douluo.
His rank-six strength is unknown. We infer his archery and spiritual methods are lethal to high-rank Soul Douluo.
His Majesty had rank 89 spirit power and a high-aged head spirit bone, yet could not avoid being controlled.
The four guest Soul Douluo guarding him and the royal knight captain were all eight rings, yet all five were instant-killed by spiritual assault at the same time.
That is, after advancing to rank seven, his spiritual control and attack are absolutely a threat to newly advanced nine-ring Titled Douluo. His archery is formidable. Treat him as both a spiritual and assault-type Titled Douluo at the early nine-ring level.
Beyond his own combat power, his martial soul is special. He can command summons in battle. The fifth, sixth, and seventh summons are unknown, but his fourth is the Darkgold Dreadclaw Bear, strong enough to match a Titled Douluo.
His first, second, and third summons likely pose no threat to a Titled Douluo.
Maximally estimated, Chu Chengzhou may be able to contend briefly with five or six newly advanced nine-ring Titled Douluo."
Hearing this, the five marshals, who knew less of Chu Chengzhou, all changed expression.
Good grief. Only a seven-ring Spirit Sage, yet possibly able to face five or six Titled Douluo?
Dai Wei continued: "Seven Treasures Glazed Sect has two Titled Douluo, Sword Douluo Chen Xin and Bone Douluo Gu Rong.
We estimate both have reached rank 95, and Sword Douluo Chen Xin may already be rank 96.
Half a year ago, our agents near the Star Dou Great Forest encountered Chen Xin and his sect's Third Elder.
Since Seven Treasures Glazed Sect elders are eight-ring Soul Douluo, this Third Elder has very likely broken through to Titled Douluo. It is not ruled out that the first and second elders have also broken through.
Heaven Dou's own strength is weak. Due to Spirit Hall assassinations, only Dugu Bo remains as a Titled Douluo under Heaven Dou.
Thus, factoring in Seven Treasures and Heaven Dou at the maximum, our opponents are equivalent to ten newly advanced nine-ring Titled Douluo, plus a likely rank 96 Chen Xin and rank 95 Gu Rong.
One more note. Our revenge will most likely already be anticipated by Chu Chengzhou, Seven Treasures Glazed Sect, and Heaven Dou."
T/N: For up to 30 chapters ahead on my translations, become a p@tron at [email protected]/LordHipposApostle