Iron Guard Interrogation, Consolidating His Realm

When Su He saw more and more people gathering to watch, he smiled awkwardly. Though he was not a member of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family, he had come here, done nothing, and directly destroyed an ornamental mountain. He felt rather embarrassed.

This is great. When Xue'er gets back, she'll definitely twist my ear. Su He secretly thought as he began figuring out how to talk his way out of it with Qian Renxue.

Yet, before he noticed, a squad of palace Iron Guards clad in heavy black armor had surrounded him from a distance, their spears pointed as they encircled him.

"You dare cause trouble at the Crown Prince's residence? You've got some nerve!" Five soul rings—white, yellow, yellow, purple, and purple—rose beneath the leader's feet in succession. He was actually a Soul King!

"Throw him into the iron prison and await judgment!" At the squad leader's command, two nearby soldiers moved to restrain Su He and bind him with strange black ropes.

These tough ropes had been specially developed by the Heaven Dou Empire to subdue Soul Masters who refused to obey the law, and they were entirely made of synthetic materials. Once Soul Masters below Rank 30 were bound by these iron cords, no one aside from someone like Su He, who possessed a Golden-type Spirit of ultimate strength, could move an inch.

"Wait! I am His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's personal guard." Unruffled, Su He directly pulled out the token Qian Renxue had given him from the start. "This is a token bestowed upon me by His Royal Highness. Please inspect it."

Qian Renxue had long known that Su He was not the settled sort. To guard against sudden incidents like this, she had made preparations in advance. That way, should Su He run into any trouble in the palace, this token could settle almost anything—as long as he had not killed Xue Ye.

Su He cupped his hands toward the Iron Guard squad leader and continued explaining.

"The commotion earlier was indeed my mistake. After making some gains in my cultivation, I came to the rear mountain to test my strength, but I did not expect to destroy this ornamental mountain outright." Su He spoke with an apologetic expression.

"Please rest assured, I will compensate for the full value of this ornamental mountain."

What Su He lacked least was money. Ever since he had acquired forty percent of the shares in the Great Soul Arena of Heaven Dou Imperial City, Director Ling Yu transferred an enormous sum into his card every month.

Gold Soul Coins were now merely a number to Su He.

Although Su He donated ninety percent of that money to Spirit Hall's charitable organizations, the remaining ten percent still amounted to a considerable sum after accumulating over several months.

"So it is Lord Chief Guard. This humble one did not recognize you. Please forgive me, my lord." The palace Iron Guard squad leader's attitude underwent a complete reversal the moment he saw the Crown Prince's Token. In that respect, he was somewhat like Ochumelov.

The person before him held His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's token. He was a great figure whom the squad leader could not afford to offend, much like a subordinate of Spirit Hall seeing the Pope's Token.

Though Su He was indeed at fault in this matter, the squad leader had arrogantly tried to arrest him without even asking what had happened. That was rather excessive. Now, the squad leader only hoped that Su He would not hold a grudge against a minor figure like him. If Su He happened to "praise" him a little before His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, losing his job would be the least of his worries. He feared there might be even more serious consequences.

It was the same in every empire and every faction on the Douluo Continent: a superior rank could crush those beneath it. And Su He stood far more than one rank above him.

However, this squad leader was truly worrying too much. If Su He knew what he was thinking, he would not know whether to laugh or cry.

With Su He's disposition, how could he bother holding a grudge against a subordinate over something like this? Moreover, after the life-and-death trial of battling the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, Su He had come to view worldly matters more and more lightly.

There were only two things he sought. The first was supreme strength, and the second was for himself and those he cared about to live peacefully and safely.

Everything else had long ceased to matter to Su He. Naturally, he would not casually condemn others to death.

Su He waved his hand to indicate that it was nothing. The squad of Iron Guards all voiced their gratitude for his magnanimity, then cupped their hands and departed.

Su He walked into the mountain that had been carved apart by the Sky-Rending Dreadclaw and ran his hand over it, once again sensing the power of this Soul Bone Skill.

Its supremely fierce and forceful offense suited Su He's temperament perfectly.

After arranging for the servants to clean up the scene, Su He returned to the cultivation chamber. However, he did not intend to absorb the powerful left leg bone produced by the second Radiant White Tiger yet.

Trying to swallow too much only led to indigestion. Cultivation had always required slow, careful work to achieve fine results. This had always been Su He's belief.

He planned to begin absorbing this second soul bone after breaking through Rank 50. His most urgent task was to quickly consolidate his realm and sort through his mixed Soul Power.

Su He had just gained a soul ring and absorbed a powerful soul bone. Although the Soul Power within him was condensed, it was not pure.

Some came from the Immortal Herb, the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum; some came from the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's soul ring; some came from the Dreadclaw Bear soul bone; and some even came from Qian Renxue's Angel Soul Power.

Su He had to ensure that all of this Soul Power was refined into his own pure Soul Power. Only then could he gain more meticulous control over his body and become even more formidable in battle.

Su He sat cross-legged, gathering his spirit and guarding his focus as he once again entered a state of deep meditation. Strands of Soul Power from other sources were slowly refined by his body, transforming into threads of golden Soul Power that flowed into his dantian.

This closed-door cultivation lasted for three months. Even when Qian Renxue returned midway through it, Su He remained completely unaware. Seeing him in seclusion, she did not disturb him. Instead, she sat cross-legged beside him and sensed his aura.

No matter when it was, as long as Su He was by her side, Qian Renxue always felt incomparably at ease.

But when she saw the ornamental mountain outside with half of it sliced away, her face instantly darkened. Restraining the urge to kick Su He, she went off to handle state affairs.

During this time, Golden Crocodile Douluo also came by to visit several times. Seeing that Su He remained in seclusion, he did not disturb him further.

On a starless night, Su He finally ended his seclusion after completing the sorting of his Soul Power. Sensing the purity and degree of condensation of his current Soul Power, Su He smiled in satisfaction.

The moment he opened his eyes, he found a fair, slender finger pointed at his forehead.

Before Su He could react, he received a sharp flick on the forehead.

(Su He: Wah, wah, wah, that hurts!)

Looking closely, the beauty before him wore a long palace dress that accentuated her exquisite figure. Who else could it be but Qian Renxue? She wore a cold smile, clearly having come to demand an explanation.

"Congratulations on leaving seclusion, Young Master Su. Shall this servant find another artificial mountain for Young Master Su to test his strength on?"

Qian Renxue's teasing yet chilling voice made Su He immediately shift his gaze away from her long, fair legs, which he had been staring at.

"Xue'er, listen to my explanation..." Su He looked as if he wanted to cry but had no tears.

He truly had not known that the Sky-Rending Dreadclaw would be so powerful!

The second update is out, and the story has surpassed one hundred thousand words! Please bookmark it, please bookmark it!