"Xiao Tian, this soul ring is extraordinary! It's at least 500,000 years old. Looks like that Asura God didn't offer any other rewards before—he was waiting for you to reach level 90 to give you something big," Tianmeng Ice Silkworm exclaimed.
"I understand. Not only that, but this soul ring contains at least six different divine powers. The one who shaped it must be the Asura God, and the one who infused other powers, if I'm not mistaken, should be the Element God," Tianlin said, now fully operating his cultivation technique to absorb the soul ring.
He could clearly feel that while absorbing this soul ring, the five elemental attributes within his demon sword were increasing—not all at once, but in a particular sequence.
Currently, the strength of the elemental attributes in his sword, from weakest to strongest, was: fire, wind, lightning, water, earth.
So, fire increased first. When fire matched wind in strength, wind started to increase, followed by lightning.
This soul ring was actually helping Tianlin's demon sword correct its imbalance among the elements.
"How thoughtful, Lord Asura God. Thank you!" Tianlin said gratefully. He then summoned his soul bone armor, pushed his body to its limit, and entered deep meditation to absorb the soul ring with all his strength. The longer he absorbed it, the higher the soul ring's age would become.
…
Meanwhile, a piece of joyous news spread throughout Heaven Dou City: their great Crown Prince was getting married. The bride was none other than the goddess with the Ice Phoenix martial soul, Shui Bing'er.
The people of Heaven Dou City were unimpressed—they thought Xue Beng was unworthy of Shui Bing'er. Still, none dared speak out, so they hid their disdain and offered congratulations to the crown prince.
Emperor Xue Ye promptly ordered Prince Xue Xing to bring generous betrothal gifts to propose marriage at Shui Bing'er's family.
Shui Bing'er's mother, Shui Qingwu, was the former dean of Skywater Academy and an eighty-third level Soul Douluo. She possessed the same Ice Phoenix martial soul as her daughter, though of lower quality. Usually, she could fight at full strength and was a rare powerhouse below the Title Douluo level; while only an eighty-third level Soul Douluo, her real combat ability rivaled that of a high-level Soul Douluo at eighty-nine.
Unfortunately, her marriage was not happy. She was far stronger than her husband, leading to a lopsided relationship, and her strong-willed nature caused them to drift apart. Her husband eventually cheated and fathered Shui Bing'er's younger sister, Yue'er, with another woman.
She had considered killing the man, but, as can be seen from her upbringing of Shui Bing'er, she was inherently kind and chose to let him go.
Afterward, that irresponsible man abandoned little Yue'er, so Shui Qingwu took her in, gave her her own surname, and raised her as Shui Yue'er.
These experiences left her with a poor opinion of men, which is why Skywater Academy only admitted girls and never allowed men inside.
Today, seeing Prince Xue Xing seated as a guest and a eunuch reading out the list of betrothal gifts, her long-repressed anger was nearly triggered again.
"Dean Shui, what do you think? Our Heaven Dou Empire is very sincere," Prince Xue Xing smiled.
Shui Qingwu had to admit, the gifts were truly generous: countless gold soul coins, a ten-thousand-year soul bone, ten precious soul tools, and a promise to build a new Skywater Academy for her in Heaven Dou City so she wouldn't have to rely on others.
If it were any other request, she might have agreed. But what they wanted was her daughter's lifelong happiness.
Xue Beng was absolutely not someone who could be entrusted with her daughter's life, and Shui Qingwu saw this clearly. Scarred by her own experiences, she didn't want her daughter to repeat her mistakes. "Sorry, Your Highness—"
Before she could refuse, Prince Xue Xing's face darkened and he interrupted, "Dean Shui, I advise you to think carefully before you speak. Why not ask your daughter's own thoughts? Rumors everywhere say your daughter and our crown prince are deeply in love and have pledged themselves to each other. It was her idea for us to propose. Are you toying with the royal family?"
"Nonsense! My sister would never fall for that Xue Beng!" Shui Yue'er said angrily. She knew very well how much her sister disliked Xue Beng—there was no way they were in love.
"Yue'er, enough!" Shui Bing'er immediately stopped her sister from speaking further. To insult Xue Beng in front of Prince Xue Xing was to provoke the royal family. "Your Highness, my sister is young and doesn't understand. Please don't be offended. I rarely interact with the crown prince, and we've hardly ever been alone together, let alone fallen in love. I really don't know where these rumors came from. Please, Your Highness, don't believe them."
"Hmph! This isn't a rumor you can just deny. Now everyone knows about your relationship with the crown prince, and the wedding date is set for a month from now. Kingdoms and duchies under the empire have sent congratulations and gifts. And now you say it's all rumors and refuse to marry? Where does that leave the dignity of the Heaven Dou Empire?" Xue Xing fumed.
For the royal family, it no longer mattered whether the news was true. At this point, Shui Bing'er had no choice but to marry—their face was more important than anything.
"Please forgive me, Your Highness. I am willing to explain to the public that this is all a misunderstanding. Please inform His Majesty and ask for some time," Shui Bing'er pleaded.
"Explain? How? Will you tell everyone you don't like the crown prince and he's just pining for you? How is our future emperor supposed to face the world then? How can he rule the land?" Xue Xing pressed.
A ruler's word is never in jest. Once spoken, it must be carried out.
"Miss Shui, I'll give you three days. If you still refuse after three days, then to preserve the empire's face, there's nothing we can't do!" With that, Xue Xing stormed out of Shui Bing'er's home.
Outside, he ordered, "Deploy the army to surround this place and assign two royal Soul Douluos to guard them. No one from the Shui family is to leave for three days. Also, send the three deans from Heaven Dou Royal Academy to warn Huo Ran and Feng Yuan—this isn't their concern, and they'd best stay out of it."
The other two Soul Douluos from the Elemental Academies were the heads of Blazing Fire and God Wind Academies. If they helped Shui Qingwu, it could become a problem.
As for Thunder Academy, it was actually managed by the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon sect, who had kept a low profile like the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and were unlikely to get involved.