Inside the Heaven Dou imperial palace, Yang Wudi was still confronting the royal family.
"Yang Wudi, what are you trying to do? You dared attack the crown prince! If you don't explain yourself, you'll die without burial!" Meng Shenji demanded.
The three deans had once looked down on Xue Beng, but now he was Heaven Dou's only heir. Meng Shenji was loyal to the royal family and had no choice but to serve him wholeheartedly.
"No explanation needed. I'm here to kill him. Anyone who tries to stop me dies too." Yang Wudi was supremely confident in his attack power. Killing someone like Xue Beng—even if all three deans attacked, they might not stop him, though he'd die as well.
"Your Majesty, Crown Prince, Dean Meng, please calm down." Shui Bing'er anxiously stood before them, shielding Yang Wudi. "Senior Yang is my friend. There must be a misunderstanding. I'll persuade him to leave."
"Hmph, since it's my wedding day, and for Ning Fengzhi and your sake, Bing'er, I'll spare him this once. But he must leave immediately, or he'll die here today," Xue Beng said coldly. Protected by the Royal Knights and the three deans, his fear was gone.
He really wanted to kill Yang Wudi for this insult, but since today was his wedding, it was best not to see blood. He also had to consider the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. As long as Yang Wudi stopped causing trouble, he could let it go for now.
"Thank you, Your Highness!" Shui Bing'er bowed, then turned to Yang Wudi. "Senior Yang, I know why you came today. Please, go back. I am marrying the crown prince of my own will."
She said it, but the pain on her face was obvious. In truth, Yang Wudi fighting his way to the palace for her moved her deeply—it felt like the fatherly love she hadn't known for years.
So she couldn't let this friend, like both elder and father, die here today.
"Miss Shui, look in the mirror at your face—holding back tears must be painful, right? Don't worry. Once I kill Xue Beng, you'll be free." Yang Wudi was not one to back down for a few empty words. Once he decided something, nothing could change his mind.
He'd been like this with Spirit Hall before, and he was the same now with the Heaven Dou Empire.
"Hmph, such arrogance! You think you can kill the crown prince before us? Don't forget, you were just our dog in the past. Now you have a new master, and you dare bark at your old one?" Lie Yang Douluo stepped in front of Xue Beng, looking down on Yang Wudi.
Though Yang Wudi claimed his attack surpassed Titled Douluo, it depended on the spirit. Against the Clear Sky Hammer, his Breaking Soul Spear was nothing. He'd easily knocked Yang Wudi's spear aside earlier, after all.
"Seventh Elder, I know I'm not your match. But you should know my character—I'm not like you, bullying the weak and fearing the strong. Even if a thousand enemies block my way, I'll keep moving forward!" Yang Wudi declared.
"You say I bully the weak? I lost a son fighting Spirit Hall, and you say I'm a coward?" The Seventh Elder was furious at this insult.
"Heh, you lost a son? Do you know how many died when you Clear Sky Sect abandoned the four great clans? How many of my clan, the Breaking Clan, died?"
"Over three hundred lives! From a clan of four hundred, only a hundred elderly, women, and children survived." Yang Wudi's eyes filled with tears. A man rarely cries, except when truly heartbroken.
"Even so, we never retreated. I tell you, Lie Yang Douluo—no one has more right than me to call your Clear Sky Sect cowards!"
Yang Wudi's furious speech made the Fifth Elder and Tang Yuehua lower their heads. At least they had some shame, and admitted Clear Sky Sect had wronged the Breaking Clan.
"Well said, Old Yang!" Bone Douluo nodded. What he admired most about Yang Wudi was not his immense attack power, but his courage against strong foes, loyalty to friends, and indomitable spirit.
No matter what, he would not let Yang Wudi be harmed today.
There were shameless people everywhere. The Seventh Elder, who in the original story bullied a Soul King as a Titled Douluo, was a prime example. Instead of feeling guilty, Yang Wudi's words made him even angrier. "Nonsense! Yang Wudi, you dare insult Clear Sky Sect? I'll execute this traitor right now!"
The Seventh Elder charged at Yang Wudi, Clear Sky Hammer in hand. Even if his soul rings weren't strong, and he wasn't as skilled as Tang Hao or Tang Xiao, the hammer weighed at least five thousand pounds, and with his strength, each strike was over ten thousand pounds.
Yang Wudi quickly raised his spear to block, but his strength was far inferior to a Titled Douluo.
With a loud bang, the spear shaft bent, and Yang Wudi was forced to one knee, his palm splitting and bleeding.
"Please, Lie Yang Douluo, show mercy. Your Highness, I beg you, I promise to keep my word and marry you, and I will persuade Senior Yang to leave," Shui Bing'er pleaded with Xue Beng.
Yang Wudi shouted, "Miss Shui, don't beg them! I came here today for my own will. If I must let you sacrifice yourself for me to live, then I am not Yang Wudi!"
Suddenly, icy air enveloped the Clear Sky Hammer. An ice phoenix soared through the palace, and everyone found their wine frozen in their cups. The ice phoenix flew at Lie Yang Douluo, forcing him to attack it instead of Yang Wudi.
The ice phoenix turned back into a woman, coughing blood—it was Shui Bing'er's mother, Shui Qingwu.
"Mother!" Shui Bing'er and Shui Yue'er hurried to help her. "Are you alright?"
Shui Qingwu shook her head. "Mother's fine. Bing'er, I must apologize to you. As your mother, I watched you enter a pit of fire and realized I'm not as good as Yang Wudi, who's only known you two years. I'm not worthy of being your mother."
"Mother, it's not your fault—I don't blame you at all." Shui Bing'er's forced strength broke down, and she burst into tears.
Shui Qingwu stroked her daughter's hair with a smile, then stood beside Yang Wudi and looked at Xue Beng. "Xue Beng, my daughter will not marry you today. Give up."
Xue Beng, Xue Xing, and Xue Ye all turned grim. Yang Wudi's troublemaking was annoying, but Shui Qingwu's words were a public humiliation.
Xue Xing Prince said coldly, "Shui Qingwu, you're courting death. Do you know what will happen to you now?"
"Alas, Qingwu, why did you do this?" The deans of Blazing and God Wind Academies shook their heads. Shui Qingwu's decision was too impulsive.
Shui Qingwu knew the consequences, but she had no regrets.
"What will happen to Dean Shui, I don't know. But, Prince Xue Xing, do you know what will happen to you if you harm someone from my Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect?"
A voice, both majestic and a bit playful, echoed through the palace, shaking everyone to their core. The weak wavered, and Xue Xing nearly had his soul shattered.