"Sister Xue, Sister Bing." Lang Lei waved with a smiling face to greet the newcomers. The ones who had arrived were none other than Snow Empress and Ice Empress, who had just been settled in.
Right at this moment, a myriad of emotions washed over Lang Lei, and he finally understood why some people liked throwing their weight around. It turned out that having backing felt this reassuring.
"Lang Lei, remember to tell us earlier next time something like this happens," Snow Empress, who was always aloof, actually took the initiative to speak this time, a trace of concern leaking from her tone.
A warmth blossomed in Lang Lei's heart, and he hurriedly nodded in response. "Understood, Sister Xue."
In truth, Lang Lei had not actively notified Snow Empress and Ice Empress. Rather, through the special connection of the Life Silk, they had sensed that Lang Lei's location had suddenly shifted from Heaven Dou Royal Academy to the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace. Realizing something was amiss, they had hurried over to check on the situation.
Snow Empress's gaze slowly fell upon the two ice sculptures, her look like a passing cold wind that chilled one to the bone. Her willow-leaf brows wrinkled slightly, seeming somewhat displeased.
Her movement was elegant and casual, as if this were just a trivial gesture, but the instant she flicked her hand, a cold light flashed like lightning. Immediately following that, the two ice sculptures shattered in the blink of an eye, turning into a ground full of ice chunks.
Snow Empress, this monarch of the Extreme North and leader of the Extreme North soul beasts, naturally possessed unfathomable strength. Over tens of thousands of years, the soul beasts and soul masters she had killed were countless—if not ten thousand, there were certainly several thousand. And the soul masters who managed to reach her presence were without exception elites among soul masters; Soul Douluo were merely the lowest existences in her eyes.
Now, facing these two opponents who were merely at the Soul Douluo level, Snow Empress naturally did not take them seriously at all. Her strength already far surpassed the scope of ordinary soul masters, and for enemies like this, if they had not provoked Lang Lei, she would not even have been able to raise her interest, and she could easily crush them.
Ice Empress stood off to the side. She knew very well that she was not adept at handling this kind of occasion, so she chose to quietly stand by Lang Lei's side to prevent anyone from seizing the chance to use petty tricks against him. Her vigilant gaze swept across the surrounding crowd, missing not a single possible threat.
The surrounding nobles witnessed this scene and stood there dumbstruck. They had been so close that they saw the entire process clearly. Those two Soul Douluo had not even had a chance to retaliate before they were frozen into ice sculptures without warning, and then instantly shattered into countless pieces of ice, scattering across the ground.
Only a powerhouse at the level of Titled Douluo could pull this off, or so they feared. These nobles sighed in admiration inwardly; despite their noble status, in front of peerless powerhouses like Snow Empress, they could not help but feel their own insignificance and powerlessness.
Unfortunately, however, there were no Titled Douluo among them.
"Your Excellency, our Heaven Dou Empire expresses respect for your strength, but aren't you being somewhat too arrogant by completely disregarding our Heaven Dou Empire like this?" Xue Ye's voice was calm and steady, seeming unprovoked by Lang Lei's words. He sat on the dragon throne, gazing calmly at Lang Lei while pondering countermeasures in his heart.
Xue Ye knew that since this Lang Lei dared to kill people inside Heaven Dou Royal Academy, he definitely had something to rely on, and the forces behind him could certainly not be underestimated.
His son Xue Qinghe's teacher was none other than Ning Fengzhi, the master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect not only possessed two Titled Douluo, but also Ning Fengzhi, the continent's number one auxiliary-system soul master. With such strength, they could indeed deal with most enemies on Douluo Continent. This was also where Xue Ye's confidence lay.
Had Lang Lei known that an empire's ultimate backing was a sect, he surely would have been startled, but these were things Lang Lei had no interest in at present.
Even so, Xue Ye did not show weakness because of this. As the emperor of the Heaven Dou Empire, he naturally had his own pride and dignity. He took a deep breath.
"Originally, I thought the Heaven Dou Empire, which venerates civil governance, would be a bit more reasonable than the Star Luo Empire, which venerates martial might, but the result turned out to be so disappointing." Lang Lei made no effort to conceal the disappointment in his words, letting out a cold laugh. "If I didn't still have some background, I probably wouldn't even have had the chance to stand here right now, would I?"
His gaze was burning as he stared straight at Xue Ye, as if challenging his authority.
Xue Ye caught the implication in Lang Lei's words, his hand involuntarily gripping the armrest of the dragon throne tightly. He knew Lang Lei was hinting that without sufficient background and strength, he likely would have been disposed of long ago.
Xue Ye fell silent for a moment, then slowly spoke. "Yet to my knowledge, you trampled on human life within Heaven Dou Royal Academy. Isn't this your fault?" Though his voice remained calm, the majesty contained within it was something no one dared ignore.
"I only admit to using excessive force. They were the ones who provoked me first, and to be honest, not wiping out all those people who were jeering was me exercising restraint," Lang Lei said, spreading his hands with a helpless expression.
He knew very well that the hormones had a much greater impact on his emotions than he had imagined. Since he had been thoroughly enraged and possessed such formidable power, those court-death-seeking fools who dared to provoke him naturally had to pay the price for their actions.
"You were completely capable of seeking your teacher's help instead of handling it yourself. I happen to know there was a teacher present at the time, Your Majesty the Emperor!" The emperor frowned, speaking in a stern tone.
Lang Lei let out a cold laugh and retorted, "Oh, you mean that fence-sitter? If he had managed to fulfill his responsibilities as a teacher in a timely manner back then, matters wouldn't have blown up to the current state."
Lang Lei's words were filled with dissatisfaction and disappointment toward that teacher. If that teacher had been able to step forward and stop those people's provocative behavior in a timely manner after Fleke's provocation, perhaps this conflict would never have occurred.
"Oh right, Your Majesty, I still have one question I don't quite understand." Lang Lei abruptly changed the subject, looked toward Xue Ye, and continued, "When a noble kills a commoner versus when a commoner kills a noble, are the prices they must bear the same? Will the iron laws of the empire hand down the exact same verdict to them?"
Xue Ye's expression instantly darkened. Glaring at Lang Lei, he barked, "How can these possibly be lumped together!"
"Is that so? It seems you do acknowledge the status of nobles, and committing crimes against superiors truly ought to be severely punished." Lang Lei nodded thoughtfully.
Seeing Lang Lei follow along with his words, Xue Ye's complexion eased somewhat, but what Lang Lei said next made him lose all color in shock.
"Then might Your Majesty inform this commoner: supposing someone harassed a ninety-ninth-rank Peerless Douluo and a ninety-eighth-rank Super Douluo, what crime should that person be guilty of? And would the person who shelters them also be judged with the same crime?"
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