Princess Xue Ke Joins the Ranking, Blue Silver God King!

Gu Ye smiled gently at her words and reached out to lightly ruffle Xue Ke's hair.

"Everything has its own path. Martial souls have no inherent superiority or inferiority; they simply follow different roads."

He spoke calmly.

"Just watch with peace of mind. This Divine Ranking may bring everyone a surprise."

Meanwhile, in the imperial palace of the Heaven Dou Empire.

The atmosphere was oppressive to the extreme.

A bearded general roared, spittle flying everywhere.

"Your Majesty! We must immediately send men to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and form an alliance with them at any cost! With Sword Douluo there, the Heaven Dou Empire will stand as firm as a golden fortress!"

Another civil official immediately stepped forward to refute him.

"Foolish! This is no different from raising a tiger that will bring disaster! The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect has already grown powerful. If we try to win them over now, won't the royal family have to act according to their whims? In my opinion, we should join forces with Spirit Hall and pressure them together, crushing them in the cradle!"

"Bullshit! You're seeking a tiger's skin! Can't you see Spirit Hall's wolfish ambitions?"

"You're the one ignoring the bigger picture! The threat of sects is fiercer than tigers and wolves!"

The ministers argued endlessly in the great hall, turning the place into utter chaos.

Standing in the position of the Crown Prince, "Xue Qinghe" stood with his hands behind his back. As he watched the ministers below squabbling like market shrews, a trace of undisguised disgust and impatience flashed across his handsome face.

A bunch of Ordinary Mortals.

Shortsighted, knowing only how to fight among themselves.

What need was there for such an empire to exist?

Upon the dragon throne, Xue Ye looked haggard as he wearily rubbed his temples.

Watching the dispute below, a deep sense of helplessness rose within him.

There was no one to carry on the line!

His sons were each more useless than the last.

The royal family's authority had long since ceased to truly suppress these powerful sects.

Now that Sword Douluo Chen Xin had received another divine blessing, this balance would likely be Completely shattered.

Amid the noisy chaos, a vast Golden Light suddenly pierced through the palace dome and poured into the entire hall.

Everyone's arguments came to an abrupt halt.

They all raised their heads and looked beyond the sky.

On the Sky Screen, the golden radiance of the Divine Ranking flowed as new words slowly emerged.

[Martial Soul Golden Ranking, Ninth Place: Nine Heavens Neon Phoenix]

Nine Heavens Neon Phoenix?

What kind of martial soul was that? They had Never Heard Of it!

Could it be some Strong from a hidden sect?

Just as Spirit Masters across The Entire Continent sank into confusion, the next line of words condensed into being.

[Martial Soul Holder: Xue Ke]

When the final line formed upon the Sky Screen, the entire Douluo Continent fell silent for an instant.

Then came discussions as overwhelming as a mountain tsunami.

Xue Ke?

Who was that?

They had never heard of such a Strong on the continent!

Nine Heavens Neon Phoenix—the name of this martial soul sounded incomparably magnificent, yet it too was something Never Heard Of.

Could she be another secluded cultivator who had remained hidden from the world?

Shrek Academy.

Within the crudely built temporary courtyard, Yu Xiaogang stood with his hands behind his back, his brows tightly furrowed.

Xue Ke?

He remembered that name!

Wasn't she Xue Ye's most beloved little princess of the Heaven Dou Empire?

He had once seen in Spirit Hall's archives that her martial soul was the Swan Martial Soul inherited by the royal family. Her talent had been ordinary, with nothing remarkable about it.

Yet now, she had actually reached ninth place on the Martial Soul Golden Ranking?

Since when had the Heaven Dou Royal Family possessed such a terrifying martial soul?

Could that Swan Martial Soul really mutate to such an extent?

"Teacher, this..."

Tang San looked at Yu Xiaogang, his eyes filled with inquiry.

Yu Xiaogang took a deep breath. The expression of having everything under control returned to his face as he slowly spoke.

"There is no need for surprise. This should be the beneficial mutation of a martial soul that I mentioned in my theories."

He habitually pushed up his glasses, his gaze sweeping over the group with the air of one directing the course of the world.

"Look, the Swan Martial Soul itself is not powerful. It could even be called weak. But this Princess Xue Ke must have encountered some Great Opportunity, causing her martial soul to undergo a Qualitative Change and giving rise to this so-called 'Nine Heavens Neon Phoenix.'"

He paused and turned his gaze toward Ma Hongjun.

"This is essentially the same as Hongjun's situation."

"His martial soul was originally a Grass Chicken from his village. It became the Evil Fire Phoenix only because of mutation. Since even a mutated swan can enter the ranking, Hongjun's Evil Fire Phoenix will surely have a place on the ranking in the future!"

Those words immediately made Ma Hongjun straighten his chest, hope blazing in his eyes.

But Yu Xiaogang's next words made everyone feel somewhat uncomfortable.

He shook his head, a trace of disdain in his voice.

"However, placing a mutated swan in ninth place on the Golden Ranking is still somewhat exaggerated."

"The foundation of a martial soul is crucial. A swan is still a swan. Even if it mutates, its upper limit is ultimately limited. How could it be mentioned in the same breath as truly top-tier martial souls? Much less be ranked ahead of Sword Douluo's Seven Kill Sword."

He spoke eloquently, as though he had already thoroughly understood every secret of the Golden Ranking.

"In my view, the authority of this Golden Ranking remains open to question."

He did not know that the so-called "secrets" he possessed were merely scraps he had stolen years ago from Bibi Dong's study while at Spirit Hall.

As for his other theories, they were all his own conjectures and fabrications.

Dai Mubai and Oscar exchanged a look, each seeing a trace of helplessness in the other's eyes.

Master was spouting nonsense again...

The name Nine Heavens was certainly extraordinary. How could the Golden Ranking's might be so easily mistaken?

Just then, Golden Light began flowing across the Sky Screen once more.

The scene began to play.

It was a dim battlefield, filled with crumbling ruins and corpses strewn everywhere.

An Old Man wearing Spirit Hall's standard armor, his face sinister and gloomy, was grinning viciously as he drove a poisoned spike toward a young girl.

"Hehehe, princess of Heaven Dou, today is the day you die!"

The girl wore a plain white dress. Her features were delicate, her bearing noble and pure. She was Xue Ke.

Facing the fatal strike of a Titled Douluo, she showed no fear. She merely raised her head calmly, her clear eyes gazing beyond the Sky Screen as though proclaiming to the entire continent.

[Disciple of the Blue Silver God King, Xue Ke, I ask Senior to die.]

A line of subtitles appeared beside the scene.

The instant her words fell, an incomparably dazzling martial soul slowly rose behind Xue Ke.

It was a swan!

A swan formed from the radiance of countless Stars!

Its wings were flowing rivers of stars; its eyes were burning suns!

The instant it appeared, the entire dim battlefield was illuminated by starlight. Its sacred and noble Aura purified all filth.

"Martial Soul Avatar!"

Xue Ke gave a soft shout, her body merging with the Star Swan.

In an instant, a giant swan with a wingspan exceeding a hundred meters appeared above the battlefield.

The vicious grin on the face of Spirit Hall's Titled Douluo instantly froze.

"Porcupinefish Douluo! Spirit Hall's ninety-second-level Titled Douluo!" Yu Xiaogang cried out.