Crown Prince Succession Struggle

With the emperor's authoritative voice, the rules of the Imperial Selection were then laid out.

It mainly revolves around two core points.

The first key point is to determine the order of the Crown Prince through a contest, with those in the higher order enjoying more resources.

If the Imperial Selection continues into its fifth and tenth year, and the Imperial Selection is not yet over, another competition will be held to rank Crown Prince heir apparent.

The deadline is ten years. If more than two people survive when the third round of the Crown Prince selection begins, the one with the highest final ranking will win, and the rest will be eliminated.

The second key point is that candidates and their factions are prohibited from killing other candidates; if such killings are discovered, the candidate will be stripped of their status.

But all the candidates knew perfectly well that this did not actually prohibit killing each other in competition; otherwise, what would be the point of the prompts in the first rule?

The truth is, the public cannot be allowed to see the candidates engaging in a bloody struggle for the throne. Conversely, any killings or struggles that are not conducted in public are tacitly approved.

The so-called "disqualification upon discovery" requires candidates to possess not only military strength but also a certain level of intelligence.

At the same time, those who lack physical strength can also use this method to scheme against those stronger than themselves and obtain evidence to disqualify them from the race.

If the first rule primarily assesses the candidate's strength and potential in a world where force reigns supreme, then the second rule considers the candidate's comprehensive abilities, including strength, intelligence, and influence.

If a candidate has the ability to summon Titled Douluo and can deceive everyone, even assassinating other candidates in the Imperial City on the first day of the Imperial Selection would be in accordance with the rules.

Of course, so-called unspoken rules have always existed in this world.

Such a blatant and reckless approach may be theoretically feasible, but in reality, it will not be smooth sailing.

If Dai Mubai, a direct descendant of the royal family, were to ask an elder with titled power to quietly kill the other seven candidates, he could indeed directly win the position of Crown Prince. However, such an action would inevitably lead to a violent reaction from the forces behind the seven candidates, as well as other nobles and common people watching the Imperial Selection.

Even if one obtains the throne, it will be difficult to maintain that position.

Even Dai Mubai, who was nominally the most qualified to be emperor, suffered such a backlash, and conversely, Amona suffered the same fate.

This is why the Spirit Hall did not directly and violently rule the Tiandou Empire Kingdom, but instead had Qian Renxue impersonate Xue Qinghe to seize power.

Because of the chaos in people's hearts and the complexities of interests and relationships among human groups, it is difficult to achieve the same level of authority and submission as with the Soul Beast race, where might makes everyone submit.

After the rules were read out, the Sequence Contest the Crown Prince position began.

To arrange the results from beginning to end in this order, the best way would naturally be a single round-robin tournament or a cycle tournament where everyone competes Douluo I.

In the center of the Golden Luan Hall, the candidates began their battle before the emperor and powerful officials.

As the saying goes, martial arts competitions are held in front of the palace, a custom that has existed since ancient times in the Star Luo Empire, which has a strong martial spirit.

Another factor contributing to the Sequence Contest the Crown Prince position is to allow candidates to showcase their talents to the empire's high-ranking officials, thereby winning them over to their side.

Not long after this round of war began, many powerful and influential people showed surprise.

The emperor, however, gave a subtle smile.

There's no other reason... At only 15 years old, Dai Mubai, already possessing four Soul Master rings, had demonstrated the strength of Soul Ancestor! It didn't take him long to easily defeat a rival at the Soul Elder realm!

Those who have the courage and confidence to participate in the Imperial Selection are naturally not those with weak talents.

The candidate defeated by Dai Mubai was also extraordinary in the same realm. Although his Martial Soul was not a pure Evil Eye White Tiger, Martial Soul quality was already very close to the top level, close to the limit of a normal Evil Eye White Tiger at the beginning of its awakening. He definitely had the ability to fight beyond his level.

However, he was easily defeated by Dai Mubai, which means that Dai Mubai is also a strong person even in the Soul Ancestor.

Dai Mubai was already very close to the Soul Ancestor level. Perhaps because he learned that he had the possibility of regaining the throne, he seemed to have broken through the shackles of the past and thus completed the breakthrough ahead of schedule.

On the way back to the Empire with Ettore, he also helped him hunt for his fourth Soul Ring.

The breakthrough occurred at most a month ahead of schedule, but it happened to coincide with the Imperial Selection.

Many onlookers expressed amazement at this.

"I heard that this person had been away from home for many years and only recently returned to the capital. He's probably not even 16 years old yet, right?"

"Soul Ancestor at 16? Tsk tsk, such talent is rare even in the history of the Imperial Family."

"Now is the age of Martial Soul. Although this prince has been separated from his family, he has not neglected his early training. It is not surprising that he has such cultivation."

"But his talent must be the highest among the candidates, right? No wonder he has the blood of an emperor."

Everyone was buzzing with discussion, and some people's eyes were already shining as they thought about placing their bets on Dai Mubai.

After defeating his opponent, Dai Mubai listened to the surrounding people's discussions and looked triumphant.

For a moment, they even forgot the fact that they were intersex.

He first looked at Amona provocatively, but when he saw that she still had an indifferent expression, his face immediately darkened.

Then, Zhu Zhuqing was found among the powerful and influential.

As one of the most powerful and influential figures in the empire, Zhu Zhuqing naturally did not miss the opening ceremony of the Imperial Selection, and watched the competition with her mother.

Looking at Zhu Zhuqing, whose expression remained indifferent and aloof, Dai Mubai felt a fire burning in his heart.

'I'll make you regret this, you bitch!' Dai Mubai roared in his heart.

Zhu Zhuqing didn't take Dai Mubai's murderous gaze to heart.

Not long ago, she obtained the Immortal Herb from the Beast Soul Alliance, and in one fell swoop, she broke through from the starting level of Soul Elder to level 40 and obtained her fourth Soul Ring, becoming Soul Ancestor.

The improvement in Soul Power was secondary; the most important thing was that Zhu Zhuqing felt her aptitude had also been greatly improved.

When I reach Dai Mubai's age, I will be able to easily see through Dai Mubai's facade, and naturally I won't take Dai Mubai's hatred and hostility to heart.

Such a pleasant surprise and kindness made her even more grateful for the cultivation she received from the Beast Soul Alliance, and also broadened her horizons.

At least resources like the immortal Immortal Herb, which are unheard of, are something even the empire cannot produce.

If someone like me, a new member of the Beast Soul Alliance, is already this strong, then how strong must those who joined the Beast Soul Alliance much earlier, like the Young Alliance Leader and Amona, be?

This move was clearly at the behest of You Chen, the alliance leader.

The Star Luo Empire will be the new base and headquarters of the Beast Soul Alliance in the future. As the future ruler of the Star Luo Empire, Zhu Zhuqing's strength naturally cannot be too weak.

On the other hand, to complete the Martial Soul Fusion Skill with Amona, the difference in their strength cannot be too great.

There's nothing to be reluctant about parting with this Immortal Herb.

The format of the cycle battle is not one person fighting from beginning to end and then the next person takes over.

This isn't the battle of geniuses in Swallowed Star. In the virtual universe, everyone is at full strength again after each match.

To ensure fairness, the order of matches in the Sequence Contest Battle was staggered in advance, allowing everyone a rest period before the next match.

However, this fairness is not absolute.

According to this order, Dai Mubai's last opponent will be Tait, who is currently the strongest opponent. Furthermore, the two opponents before Tait are relatively weak, so he actually has a very long rest period.

The meaning is self-evident.

The goal is to ensure that Dai Mubai faces Tait in his prime.

Correspondingly, in the two battles before Tait faced Dai Mubai, one was against a skilled opponent who had also broken through to the Soul Ancestor realm but had only recently reached it, and the other was against Amona, whose information was unknown.

This means that the opponents he faced in the first few rounds were relatively weak.

As expected, after Tait entered the game, he defeated Dai Mubai with even more decisive moves.

Dai Mubai's expression turned slightly serious: ' His Soul Power level is a level higher than the data Father gave me, reaching level 46. Was he hiding it before, or has he made another breakthrough recently? His Martial Soul quality is also definitely top-tier; even if it's weaker than mine, the difference wouldn't be too great. No wonder Father specifically wanted me to be wary of this formidable rival.'

The gap in Soul Power intensity widens as the Soul Master's level increases.

Dai Mubai had just broken through, and due to a lack of spiritual cultivation methods, his fourth Soul Ring was not Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring, so even after absorbing the Soul Ring, he was only level 41.

With a level 5 difference, his Soul Power strength and flow were far inferior to Tait's, and his Martial Soul couldn't create an advantage either. He felt that if he were to face Tait, his chances of winning would be extremely slim.

While Dai Mubai was paying attention to Tait, he himself was also being paid attention to by others.

Currently, there are only three people who have reached the Soul Ancestor realm, but Dai Mubai's age, his potential is undoubtedly the most feared by others. Many even believe that his threat level far exceeds that of Tait.

However, besides Tait and Dai Mubai, there is another person who is also quite eye-catching.

Amona has never used her Martial Soul Possession to wield her spirit in the battle so far, defeating her enemies solely with her exquisite "Self-Created Soul Skill".

Many people speculate that this is yet another Soul Ancestor.

"No wonder Miss Zhu Family favors him."

"Although he was born out of wedlock, if he has already broken through to the Soul Ancestor at this age, his talent is definitely no less than that of Prince Dai Mubai."

"I wonder who can force him to use his full strength."

The audience was abuzz with discussion.

Hearing everyone's praise for Amona, Dai Mubai felt as uncomfortable as if he had eaten shit.

He'd rather be looked down upon than see this guy praised!

Noticing Dai Mubai's resentful gaze, Amona turned her head slightly and returned his smile.

Dai Mubai naturally took this smile as a mockery, which fueled his anger even more.

Fortunately, their next meeting will be the one where they meet again.

The duel between the two involves Zhu Zhuqing. Whether it's her past entanglements with Dai Mubai or her future status as empress, this battle is undoubtedly full of talking points.

Amidst the intense anticipation of the crowd, the two took to the stage together.

Looking at Amona, who maintained a leisurely attitude, Dai Mubai really wanted to beat her to her knees and tear off her pretentious facade.

He was about to utter some harsh words.

However, before that, Amona released her Soul Ring.

Yellow, purple, black, five Soul Ring shimmering.

The vast Golden Luan Hall fell silent instantly.

Dai Mubai's eyes widened, and he whispered, "Monster..."

This Sequence Contest lost its meaning as Amona revealed her Soul Ring.

The emperor's assistance in helping Dai Mubai achieve a higher rank was of little significance.

After suffering a crushing defeat to Amona, Dai Mubai also failed to gain any advantage in his subsequent battles against the two Soul Ancestor, ultimately ending up in fourth place.

After Amona won the first tier, she naturally attracted a lot of big bets from powerful and influential people.

Many nobles who had initially been hesitant to approach Amona took the initiative to make contact with her.

In fact, many people believed before this that Dai Mubai, backed by the royal family, had a 90% chance of winning in this competition.

Amona's talent was so overwhelming that it left everyone else feeling suffocated.

The other candidates were also distraught after witnessing the five Soul Rings.

However, they were ultimately individuals who actively threw themselves into a life-or-death struggle, and their minds were not those of ordinary people.

Soon, the duke's son, Tait, gathered the remaining seven people, including Dai Mubai, and then directly proposed to exclude Monaldo, who had a breakthrough-level cultivation talent, first.

"Heh, the mighty Fierce Tiger Tait, actually joining forces with others? Didn't you always look down on associating with us?"

One of the candidates made a sarcastic sound. This was clearly due to a prior conflict with Tait.

Faced with such ridicule, the proud Tait did not show any anger. Instead, he calmly and steadily said, "At this age and with this level of cultivation, even if he is not recruited by any force, he will become a force of his own once he breaks through to the Soul Emperor realm. Moreover, you have seen how enthusiastic those nobles are towards him. If we don't get rid of him first, the seven of us, except for Dai Mubai, will have no hope."

These words silenced everyone else.

Because what Tait said was indeed the truth.

They had already witnessed Amona's strength.

That's a talent that wasn't forcibly cultivated through methods like pulling up seedlings to help them grow.

Not only is his Soul Power extremely stable, but he also possesses many powerful Self-Created Soul Skill...

If Tait's power still allowed them to think about catching up or resolving the issue through cooperation, then Amona's strength had cast a shadow over them, making them feel that even if they joined forces, they would not be able to defeat her.

Some people noticed that Tait specifically mentioned Dai Mubai, and with their quick wit, they soon understood what Tait meant.

Instead of revealing his true intentions, he pondered, "To deal with Monaldo, we must do it as soon as possible. Once he reaches the Soul Emperor level, even if we wanted to assassinate him, it would be difficult to cover our tracks unless we eliminated top-tier Soul Douluo. Assassination would then be out of the question. The best course of action is to strike during this period, before those noble families have truly placed their bets on him and arranged a large number of guards!"

As he spoke, he looked at Dai Mubai and asked, "Dai Mubai, if we need to deal with him in the capital soon, what kind of help can you offer?"

Dai Mubai frowned.

He noticed that everyone was looking at him.