Putting myself in his shoes, since Chu Chengzhou had the guts to come to Star Luo and assassinate the emperor and the crown prince, he must have considered the consequences that would follow the assassination.
Which means Chu Chengzhou was definitely prepared and had countermeasures. He did not fear imperial retaliation.
Of course, the empire's strength still surpasses that of Chu Chengzhou as well as the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and the Heaven Dou Empire. And aside from Spirit Hall, the territory of Heaven Dou City is not within the interest range of other top powers on the continent.
As long as Spirit Hall does not intervene, the empire has no chance of losing.
As for Spirit Hall stepping in to stop the empire?
With such a monstrous genius appearing in the Heaven Dou Empire, Bibi Dong, the Pontiff of Spirit Hall, probably can't even sleep well at night.
Setting everything else aside, just eliminating Chu Chengzhou is something Spirit Hall would definitely stand on the empire's side for.
Chu Chengzhou: Ah, yes yes yes, everything you said is right!
"Second Elder, even if those summoned beasts of Chu Chengzhou can match Titled Douluo in strength, with his seven-ring soul power he still can't possibly sustain the consumption of fighting at the level of five or six Titled Douluo, right?"
Suddenly, Azure Dragon Douluo Cao Lie spoke.
A seven-ring Soul Sage rivaling a nine-ring Titled Douluo is not impossible.
As far as he knew, Spirit Hall's current Grand Worship, "Unrivaled Under the Sky" Qian Daoliu, once defeated a newly advanced nine-ring Titled Douluo while still a seven-ring Soul Sage back in the day.
But one against five, and crossing two major levels at that, strength aside, just the soul power consumption would be unsustainable, no? Unless Chu Chengzhou doesn't need to expend soul power when commanding his summoned beasts to fight!
Dai Wei nodded and explained, "Marshal Azure Dragon is correct, but this one cannot be measured by ordinary spirit masters. He may not be able to sustain it for long, but for a short time it should be fine.
"Also, the empire seeks to avenge His Majesty and the crown prince. However, everyone present is a pillar of the empire and the foundation of its existence. To avoid losses, we will assume the enemy's strength is as high as possible."
On hearing this, everyone present nodded at once.
That's not wrong. They were all heavyweights of the empire. Even if loyal to the empire, as long as one is alive, who wants to die?
Moreover, as Dai Wei said earlier, their existence is the very foundation of the Star Luo Empire. If all thirteen people present in the hall were to fall, the Star Luo Empire would be finished.
Without top powerhouses to hold the line, not to mention Spirit Hall, the empire might not even be able to beat Heaven Dou, which they have always regarded as a soft persimmon.
At this moment, seated at the head, Dai Tao raised his right arm and said, "In this battle, the empire will go all out. When the time comes I will personally move against Chu Chengzhou.
"Second Elder, Third Elder, you will handle Chen Xin of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Fourth Elder, Fifth Elder, you will handle Gu Rong."
"Yes!"
Dai Wei and the other three took the order.
Then Dai Tao looked toward Dai Li, Cao Lie, and the others, and said, "Sixth Elder, Seventh Elder, Eighth Elder, and the five marshals, if more Titled Douluo from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect appear, or if Dugu Bo and the Heaven Dou royal guest retinue show up, you are to move to pin them down.
"If they do not appear, then you will go with me to annihilate Chu Chengzhou.
"Once it's done, withdraw from Heaven Dou immediately to avoid giving other forces an opening."
"Yes!"
The eight responded in unison.
"The corpses of the imperial emperor and crown prince must be offered sacrifice with Chu Chengzhou's head. Go make your preparations. Tomorrow night, assemble at the Hall of State."
With that, Dai Tao waved his hand, signaling everyone to withdraw.
Seeing this, they bowed toward Dai Tao, then left the Hall of State.
Elsewhere, while Dai Tao and the others were drafting tactics, Chu Chengzhou had already returned to Heaven Dou City.
After returning home and instructing his household servants to deliver a letter to Qian Renxue, Chu Chengzhou began tallying his spoils in his own backyard.
This trip to Star Luo, although the Star Luo experts he killed were fewer than ten, the spoils were exceptionally rich.
Dai Yutian was very considerate. When packing the royal treasure vault, he had already sorted the treasures in advance.
The treasures could wait. Chu Chengzhou started with the gold soul coins.
After checking the many storage soul tools one by one, Chu Chengzhou made a rough calculation. Adding Dai Feng's family property to Dai Yutian's private stash and then the Star Luo royal vault, just the gold soul coins came to about six hundred million, plus gold coin cards totaling a little over one hundred million in face value.
Truly, counting money until your hands cramp!
The gold soul coins issued by the Star Luo Empire and those issued by the Heaven Dou Empire are a bit different. One bears a white tiger pattern, the other a swan pattern.
But aside from the pattern, the two gold soul coins are identical in size, weight, and composition. The main material is gold, a hard currency, so the gold soul coins issued by the two empires are accepted across the continent. The gold coin cards, however, are different.
To put it plainly, gold coin cards are ultra-large-denomination banknotes officially issued by the two empires. Once too many are issued, there is huge room for devaluation. Therefore the gold coin cards issued by the two empires have different designs.
Thus, to prevent the enemy nation from plundering wealth, Heaven Dou's gold coin cards cannot be exchanged for an equal amount of gold soul coins within Star Luo territory, and vice versa for Star Luo's gold coin cards.
"Better cash these out early. If Star Luo collapses, these gold coin cards will be worthless."
Looking at the thick stack of gold coin cards, Chu Chengzhou thought to himself.
But even excluding the gold coin cards, after this haul, Chu Chengzhou could straighten his back and say, "I don't care about money. I'm not interested in money."
After all, to him, gold soul coins are only for living expenses.
And speaking of living expenses alone, this many gold soul coins could probably last thousands upon thousands of years.
Next, the "not interested in money" Chu Chengzhou turned his gaze to the spirit bones.
As the Star Luo Emperor, the Star Luo Crown Prince, and the Star Luo Royal Grand Elder, Dai Yutian, Dai Weisi, and Dai Feng were all spirit masters of "considerable means," and the wife of the royal Grand Elder, that seven-ring Hell Civet Soul Sage, also had a spirit bone.
These four alone provided him three legacy spirit bones, a sixty-thousand-year left arm bone, as well as five ordinary ten-thousand-year spirit bones and eight thousand-year spirit bones.
The most valuable among them was a head spirit bone of up to seventy thousand years that burst from Dai Yutian.
Of course, among the four, Dai Feng's wife barely counted, more like an accessory. Except for the torso bone, her other five spirit bone slots were all filled, but only with thousand-year bones.
Even though head bones are relatively precious, a head bone of just over four thousand years is only worth about as much as an ordinary ten-thousand-year limb bone.
However, the spirit bones on the four were not the main haul. The Star Luo royal vault had even more spirit bones.
Because this was the accumulation of the Star Luo royal family over thousands of years. Aside from those already refined, these were essentially all the spirit bones the royal family possessed.
Fifty-two thousand-year spirit bones, twenty-six ten-thousand-year spirit bones under fifty thousand years, and six spirit bones above fifty thousand years.
And among those six above fifty thousand years, three were enough to be called the Star Luo royal legacy spirit bones.
A sixty-thousand-year torso bone, an eighty-thousand-year left leg bone, and a ninety-thousand-year right leg bone.
Mm, it looks like a lot, but for a top power that has lasted thousands of years, it's actually not much, even very little.
But spirit bones are treasures that only function after being refined by spirit masters. It's understandable that there are only this many unrefined spirit bones in the vault.
If one were to slaughter all the Star Luo royal experts, the number of high-age spirit bones that would burst out would surely be considerable.
"Huh? I can put together a full set of legacy spirit bones?"
Suddenly, Chu Chengzhou said with a hint of surprise.
For top forces across the continent, head and torso bones of fifty thousand years and above can be called legacy spirit bones, and limb bones of eighty thousand years and above also count as legacy spirit bones.
The seventy-thousand-year head bone and ninety-thousand-year right arm bone from Dai Yutian, the eighty-thousand-year left arm bone from Dai Weisi, the sixty-thousand-year torso bone, the eighty-thousand-year left leg bone, and the ninety-thousand-year right leg bone from the royal vault, together make a full set of legacy spirit bones.
Of course, this set of legacy spirit bones is not a suit, just assembled from loose pieces.
As if thinking of something, Chu Chengzhou quickly opened his attribute panel to take a look.
"If the Absolute Control technique levels up tonight, I wonder if I'll be able to remove spirit bones without side effects?"
Chu Chengzhou couldn't help thinking.
Spirit bones look like actual bones, but Chu Chengzhou knew they were in fact solidified energy, otherwise they couldn't fuse with a spirit master's body.
If the Absolute Control technique's quality rose to gold and his control power increased further, and he could remove already refined spirit bones without side effects, he could temporarily fill his own missing spirit bone slots. Once those were filled, his strength would certainly see a substantial boost.
If he encountered better ones in the future, he could replace them then.
At this moment, a household servant hurried over.
"Master, His Highness the Crown Prince has arrived."
Hearing this, Chu Chengzhou was slightly stunned. He had agreed with the little angel on tomorrow morning. Coming now?
He didn't think too much. He temporarily set aside sorting the spoils and went to the reception hall.
In the reception hall.
After dismissing the maids in the hall and laying down a soul power barrier to isolate inside and outside, Chu Chengzhou asked Qian Renxue, "If I remember right, we agreed on tomorrow, didn't we?"
"At such a critical moment, can I wait until tomorrow?"
With no one else around, Qian Renxue had changed back into women's dress. She shot him a glance and said irritably.
Pausing, Qian Renxue continued, "How did it go over in Star Luo?"
"I've already sent Dai Yutian and Dai Weisi to meet Death. If nothing unexpected happens, the Star Luo high-ups are definitely discussing how to kill me right about now."
Chu Chengzhou did not mention the spoils.
After the little angel ascends the throne, there will be plenty of places to spend money. For a vast empire, no amount of money is ever enough. By then, with a large amount of valuable treasures and cash in his pocket, he could, well, make some excessive requests.
Chu Chengzhou: Little angel, you don't want your empire's finances to be tight, do you?
"That's good. But the Star Luo Empire has no shortage of experts. Are you sure you can handle it? Should I have Grandfather send over two Worship Elders?"
"No need. Even if I can't beat them, I can definitely run."
"... Don't you dare get yourself killed."
After pondering a moment, Qian Renxue said.
"Can't bear to part with me? Relax. I haven't conquered my little angel yet, nor has my little angel conquered me. How could I be willing to hand over my little life just like that?"
Chu Chengzhou said with a smile.
Qian Renxue: "..."
Face flushing, Qian Renxue cursed inwardly.
"Alright, no more jokes. The Star Luo Empire won't be slow to act. They'll probably get here in a few days. Make sure nothing goes wrong on your end.
"By the way, I have some Star Luo gold coin cards here. Have someone exchange them for me so they won't become unusable."
As he spoke, Chu Chengzhou took out a thick stack of gold coin cards from his storage soul tool and handed them to Qian Renxue.
"This many?"
Taking the cards and giving them a quick look, Qian Renxue's beautiful eyes widened.
All large denominations. The biggest was five million, the smallest still a hundred thousand. With such a thick stack, even if it wasn't over a hundred million, it had to be seventy or eighty million at least.
Of course, what shocked Qian Renxue was not the cards themselves, but that Chu Chengzhou could bring out so many Star Luo-issued gold coin cards.
Barring surprises, Chu Chengzhou's pockets were fat right now.
After all, if there are this many gold coin cards, there must be plenty of gold soul coins as well.
And given Chu Chengzhou's "never leave empty-handed" nature, if he even took the gold coin cards, then spirit bones and the like surely weren't few among the things he "brought back" from Star Luo.
Once the follow-up plan succeeds, she will be the new ruler of the Heaven Dou Empire. By then, gold soul coins and the like will never be enough. With a wealthy patron who has more money than he knows what to do with right in front of her, why not tap him for a donation?
Thinking this, Qian Renxue, whose little abacus had started clicking, looked at Chu Chengzhou with heated eyes.
"Want them?"
Pointing at the stack of gold coin cards in her hand, Chu Chengzhou asked with a smile.
"Mhm mhm!"
Qian Renxue nodded.
Seventy to eighty million, even over a hundred million gold soul coins, exceeds the annual military budget for Heaven Dou's million-strong elite army. This is no small sum. Lacking money now and even more in the future, Qian Renxue naturally wanted them.
"From now on, call me 'good big brother' in private, and these gold coin cards are yours!"
Chu Chengzhou said with great generosity.
Hearing this, Qian Renxue froze for a moment, thought it over, put on her mask, turned back into Xue Qinghe, and said sternly, "Worthy younger brother, is this how you speak to your elder brother?"
Chu Chengzhou: "..."
Chu Chengzhou waved his hand. "Pretend I never said that."
"No, you said it."
Qian Renxue shook her head, then pinched her throat and called out in a coquettish tone, "Good big brother\~, good big brother\~"
If that "good big brother" were called by the peerlessly beautiful Qian Renxue, it would surely make Chu Chengzhou's body and mind feel at ease, like drinking ice-cold soda on a scorching day.
But this "good big brother" was being called by Xue Qinghe, and in a cutesy tone like a soft, sweet girl. Chu Chengzhou got goosebumps at once.
"Stop. Don't call me that."
Feeling a bit unnerved, Chu Chengzhou hurriedly stopped Qian Renxue and cut off her desire to continue.
"What about these gold coin cards...?"
With a faint smile tugging at her lips, Qian Renxue raised the thick stack of cards in her hand.
"Yo, you little vixen, trying to freeload?"
Chu Chengzhou was annoyed. It's one thing to gross me out, but you also want to freeload a hundred million off me?
You think being pretty means you can do whatever you want? You must not know how formidable Lord Chu is!
"Just answer whether I called you or not\~"
Dropping the smile, Qian Renxue said expressionlessly.
Seeing Qian Renxue acting like a shameless scoundrel, Chu Chengzhou narrowed his eyes.
The next instant, the Void Illusion Realm activated, and formless, intangible spiritual power descended into Qian Renxue's sea of consciousness.
At once, Qian Renxue's gaze toward Chu Chengzhou changed.
Right after, Qian Renxue placed the gold coin cards on the table, removed her mask, and revealed her peerless face once more.
Looking at the little angel before him, eyes silky with charm, Chu Chengzhou stepped forward, hooked her delicate chin, and smiled. "Little angel, let's play a little game. See who holds their breath the longest."
As he spoke, Chu Chengzhou lowered his head and pressed his lips to those moist red lips.
Half a minute later, Chu Chengzhou released the control of the Void Illusion Realm, and Qian Renxue's consciousness returned to normal.
Only, Qian Renxue didn't push him away at once. She responded clumsily instead, because with goodwill already present, the feeling of kissing was simply too wonderful.
After a long while, when she was almost out of breath, Qian Renxue finally pushed Chu Chengzhou away.
"Well? Little angel, how did that feel?"
Licking the corner of his mouth and savoring it, Chu Chengzhou asked.
"You—"
Qian Renxue's chest trembled. Face bright red, she pointed at Chu Chengzhou, not sure if from shame or anger.
"What about me?"
Chu Chengzhou puffed out his chest and took a step forward, closing in on Qian Renxue.
"Go to hell!"
Qian Renxue bit down on her silver teeth and slammed a fierce right hook into Chu Chengzhou's left eye socket.
Bang!
Off guard, Chu Chengzhou was punched back two steps and fell onto the chair behind him.
"Hmph!"
With a cold snort, Qian Renxue put her mask back on, returned to the appearance of Xue Qinghe, and strode toward the door.
Faced with such a shameless scoundrel, she needed to cool down. If she stayed, she might well lose her body tonight.
"Wait."
Chu Chengzhou called out to stop Qian Renxue.
Her steps halted. She looked back at Chu Chengzhou.
"Consider it a tip from Lord Chu."
Covering his left eye and pointing at the stack of gold coin cards on the table, Chu Chengzhou said magnanimously.
The next second, two pairs of holy angelic wings unfolded behind Qian Renxue. Seven spirit rings of yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black shone. With the first spirit ring flashing, a golden fist shining with sacred light rapidly expanded in Chu Chengzhou's field of view.
Dusk fell. Chu Chengzhou finished tallying his spoils.
Then he pried up the floor tiles in the bedroom and dug a hole, burying the many storage soul tools inside.
No helping it. There was too much stuff. In this era, Douluo Dalu is a soul tool desert. Extra-large-capacity storage soul tools simply do not exist. A single storage soul tool cannot hold it all.
And storage soul tools are incompatible with one another. You can't nest them. Carrying too many on the body is inconvenient, so he could only stash them at home for now.
There's no way a thief would come to his house to steal and just happen to find them, right?
Impossible. Absolutely impossible.
Of course, to be safe, Chu Chengzhou also placed a small piece of blood-sacrificed metal in each storage soul tool to serve as a locator.
This way, it was basically foolproof.
Afterward, sporting a panda eye, Chu Chengzhou went to Moon Pavilion.
His left eye had taken a basic attack from Qian Renxue. The injury wasn't serious and had healed by now. But his right eye, which had eaten an "Angel Assault," was a bit more serious and wouldn't recover so easily.
Proven fact: running your mouth has a price, especially in front of a not-so-weak little angel.
"Huh? What happened to you?"
On the fifth floor of Moon Pavilion, seeing Chu Chengzhou's slightly dark and swollen right eye, Tang Yuehua looked surprised.
"Oh, fell when going out."
Chu Chengzhou waved his hand, signaling Tang Yuehua not to dwell on this small detail.
"Pfft."
Tang Yuehua couldn't help but laugh.
"Very funny?"
Chu Chengzhou raised an eyebrow.
"Mhm mhm."
Tang Yuehua nodded with a smile.
Soon, big sister was no longer laughing.
A melody laced with strange sounds and with no sense of rhythm drifted once more into the ears of the maids downstairs.
At night, the boy who had entered sage mode was holding big sister as he slept.
Abruptly, a vast torrent of information poured into the sleeping boy's mind.
After a long time, having digested the information, Chu Chengzhou woke up.
"Gold-grade Absolute Control. Let's see if it works."
Awake, Chu Chengzhou thought to himself.
Without much hesitation, he sat up on the bed, glanced at his left arm, and began the attempt.
He currently had two spirit bones. One was the Crystal Guard Left Arm Bone, and the other was the Elemental Dominion Skull.
The head bone is not something to tamper with lightly to avoid harming the brain, so Chu Chengzhou chose the left arm bone.
At the very least, even if it failed, it wouldn't cause too much damage to himself.
The Absolute Control technique circulated. In that moment, Chu Chengzhou immediately sensed that his control over all his own powers, including soul power, had reached an unprecedented realm.
The next second, a slightly dim, blue-crystal-like radiance glowed on his left arm.
At once, with his meticulous control over his own soul power, Chu Chengzhou sensed his soul power diminishing by a tiny trace.
And it wasn't the usual soul power consumption from using a soul skill or a technique, but a slight reduction in the upper limit of his soul power level.
Moreover, not just the soul power cap. Even his physique's toughness showed a decrease.
Of course, the drop was extremely tiny, negligible. Without the gold-grade Absolute Control technique, he wouldn't have noticed it at all.
Gradually, the decrease in physique toughness and the drain of soul power within became more and more obvious. Although he did not drop a level, in Chu Chengzhou's perception, his soul power accumulation at mid level 74 had already decreased by one-fifth of what was needed for that level.
At the same time, the blue crystal light on his left arm had turned into a blue mass that looked as if it had a crystalline texture.
T/N: For up to 30 chapters ahead on my translations, become a p@tron at [email protected]/LordHipposApostle