Drawing Cards Starting from the Douluo World

The Elder Council's combined strength in Star Luo City might not even match these people.

What truly gave Dai Zhen a headache was the network of roots that had spread into every trade and every aspect of the Star Luo Empire. Move one thread, and the whole body would be affected.

But Dai Mubai, as a prince without deep foundations, had no ability to withstand such omnipresent assassinations. If the Elder Council truly succeeded, then even if Dai Zhen uprooted the Elder Council afterward, it would already be too late.

So, from the day of the assassination attempt onward, Dai Mubai never left the imperial palace again.

Another year later, Dai Mubai awakened a pure White Tiger Martial Soul. His Innate Soul Power exceeded level nine and a half, and from then on, Dai Zhen's protection of him became even tighter.

Dai Weisi had also silently become a Soul King, while every member of the Demon King Team made tremendous progress.

With Dai Mubai remaining in the palace, they could find no opportunity to strike. Dai Weisi, who lived outside the palace, was too tough to bite. This led the Elder Council to decide to lay their cards on the table with Dai Zhen.

After more than a dozen internal Elder Council meetings, they finally reached a consensus—

They would gather all of the Elder Council's strength in Star Luo and openly pressure Dai Zhen, forcing him to continue maintaining Star Luo's existing system of succession.

Thus, on a certain night one month after Dai Mubai awakened his Martial Soul, the Elder Council's First Elder brought the other five elders into the palace to meet Dai Zhen.

No one knew what exactly the two sides discussed.

Only rumors from within the palace spread that, on that night, the usually calm and steady Dai Zhen smashed several priceless treasures in Star Luo Hall.

But no one knew that the treasures Dai Zhen smashed were actually all counterfeits. After venting his anger, he went to the Empress's Nine Spirits Palace and laughed all night.

Early the next morning, Dai Zhen sent someone to Wanjin Mountain Villa to urgently summon Dai Weisi into the palace.

Rumors in the palace said that when Dai Weisi emerged from the palace, his face was livid.

On his way back to Wanjin Mountain Villa, he "happened" to visit one of the Elder Council's public businesses. He ordered the Elder Council's guard Soul Masters in the shop severely injured, then burned the entire storefront to the ground.

Openly provoking the Elder Council and committing arson on Prosperous Star Avenue, the capital's busiest street—either offense seemed enough to earn Dai Weisi a reprimand. Moreover, the Elder Council, his sworn enemy, surely would not let such an opportunity to attack him pass by.

Yet what puzzled everyone in Star Luo City was that the Elder Council took no action whatsoever. They did not even go before the Star Luo Great Emperor to lodge a complaint.

They even proactively sent people to put out the fire, clear away the wreckage, and destroy the evidence of Dai Weisi's crimes.

For a time, all of Star Luo City was harmonious to an unbelievable degree.

Until the night of Dai Weisi's eleventh birthday banquet.

Dai Mubai, who had always received an invitation to Dai Weisi's birthday banquet every year, did not receive one this time.

He desperately wanted to leave the palace to attend his older brother's birthday banquet. Even when Consort Lian tried to stop him on the grounds that it was dangerous outside the palace, he refused to listen. He even talked back to Consort Lian for the first time because of it.

When Dai Mubai left Consort Lian's chambers, her face, which had been angry just moments before, suddenly turned worried and relieved. She murmured softly:

"Go on, go on, my child. Believe that your father and brother will protect you..."

But when he reached the palace gates, the Soul Masters guarding them informed Dai Mubai that the emperor had forbidden him from leaving.

At the time, Dai Mubai thought it was a decision his father had made for his safety, until—

When he returned to Consort Lian's palace with a face full of disappointment, he suddenly discovered that there was not a single attendant in the entire place!

Even if Consort Lian, as an honored consort, had gone to sleep, guards and palace maids would still be standing watch outside her doors. Yet now, not one of them was anywhere to be seen.

Dai Mubai suddenly thought of something. He ran wildly toward the bedchamber, praying over and over in his heart:

No, no, this can't happen. This must not happen!

Yet the moment he entered the bedchamber, Dai Mubai seemed to freeze completely. Even his breathing stopped.

His birth mother, Consort Lian, was dressed in her most magnificent consort's ceremonial robes and lay quietly on the floor in the center of the bedchamber, without the slightest sound or movement.

Dai Mubai walked forward in disbelief, step by step, staggering as though he might collapse at any moment.

Only when he reached Consort Lian and reached out to touch her peerlessly beautiful face did he discover—

This unparalleled beauty who outshone all of Star Luo no longer had a heartbeat or breath. Moreover, an icy chill that pierced to the bone radiated from her entire body. Dai Mubai began shivering all over after touching her just once.

"Mother! Mother! Wake up!"

"I..."

Though Consort Lian's body was freezing to the bone, the young Dai Mubai still threw himself around her, hoping to use his own body heat to dispel the cold from her body.

But it was merely a drop in the bucket. Dai Mubai, only six years old, soon fainted from the cold as well.

When Dai Mubai woke again, he found himself lying on the bed in Consort Lian's bedchamber.

"Mother! Mother!"

As his mind gradually cleared, the first thing he did was call for his mother.

At that moment, Dai Zhen entered with a grave expression.

Dai Mubai did not notice Dai Zhen's expression and hurriedly asked:

"Father! My mother fainted from the cold! Where is she? Did you save her?"

Dai Zhen's face was frosty. He stepped forward, stroked Dai Mubai's head, and spoke to him in a gentler voice than ever before:

"Mubai, your mother... she has left."

Dai Mubai froze completely upon hearing those words. Before he could say anything, tears began streaming uncontrollably down his face.

"No... impossible, it can't be! Mother said she would watch me grow up. She said she wanted to see me become the Empire's great general one day, wearing battle armor for her to see..."

"How could she..."

Dai Mubai had lain hugging Consort Lian's icy body for a long time before anyone found him. His body had already been exceedingly weak, and after such emotional agitation, he fainted again.

When Dai Mubai woke once more, he heard a palace maid outside the door ask quietly:

"Her Ladyship the Consort had always been in good health, and she even possessed the cultivation of a Soul Ancestor. How could she suddenly die? And in such a strange manner?"

Another voice hastily stopped her. "Shh! We mustn't speak carelessly about this."

"I heard that Her Ladyship the Consort had been going to Nine Spirits Palace every day recently to pay her respects to the Empress. Several times, she was turned away at the door. After returning, she sighed all day long..."

"My dear aunt, please shut up. If you keep talking, the two of us will end up accompanying Her Ladyship the Consort."

The conversation outside abruptly stopped.

But Dai Mubai's thoughts inside the room did not.

The Empress?

Could Mother's death have something to do with the Empress?

Dai Mubai was very unwilling to suspect the Empress.

Not only because he had a good relationship with Dai Weisi, but also because the Empress had always been a kind and caring elder in his eyes. She should not have been capable of such cruelty.

But no matter what, Dai Mubai remembered this matter in his heart.