The Different Kinds of Loyalty

At first light, Huangfu Ji woke from his dreams. Sitting up in bed, he glanced at Zhao Yuan, who was still sound asleep in the neighboring bunk. He quietly got out of bed, dressed, and slipped out of the dormitory without waking Zhao Yuan.

Leaving the dormitory, he arrived at the academy gates.

Cheng Yao was already waiting there. The two boarded a carriage without a word and left the academy directly.

Along the way, Cheng Yao explained knowledge about Martial Souls and Soul Beasts to Huangfu Ji.

Although Huangfu Ji already knew all of it, he still listened to Cheng Yao with great attention.

As he spoke, Cheng Yao suddenly asked a question.

"What age Soul Beast are you planning to choose for your First Soul Ring?"

Cheng Yao was no genius when it came to Martial Soul cultivation. Otherwise, he would not still be only a Soul King despite being several decades old. So, he wanted to ask what age Huangfu Ji had in mind for his First Soul Ring.

Huangfu Ji pretended to think it over. He had long since decided on the age of his First Soul Ring, but he still put on a contemplative act.

"For my First Soul Ring, I'm thinking of absorbing a Soul Beast that's at least three hundred years old. Four hundred years would be even better, if possible."

"Four hundred years..." Cheng Yao was somewhat surprised.

He was not surprised by a three-hundred-year First Soul Ring, but he had not expected Huangfu Ji to consider a four-hundred-year one. After all, that was already the Second Soul Ring for many Soul Masters.

It was not that Soul Masters could not absorb a four-hundred-year Soul Ring as their First Soul Ring. Rather, he had to consider Huangfu Ji's safety.

Absorbing a Four-Hundred-Year Soul Ring was still somewhat dangerous. After all, Huangfu Ji was only six years old. Unlike him, many Soul Masters were around ten when they absorbed their First Soul Ring, and some were even twelve or thirteen.

But Huangfu Ji was only six. Cheng Yao felt that absorbing a two-hundred- or three-hundred-year Soul Beast would be the safest option.

"To be safe, you should absorb a two-hundred-year Soul Beast." There was an unmistakably commanding note in Cheng Yao's voice.

Huangfu Ji gave him an imperceptible glance and said nothing more, but a measure of vigilance rose in his heart. Cheng Yao's attitude had changed rather drastically. Just moments ago, he had seemed to be asking for Huangfu Ji's opinion.

Yet in the blink of an eye, he had become like this.

Cheng Yao was certainly loyal to the Huangfu Family. After all, he was Huangfu Ji's father's friend. But loyalty came in different forms. Some loyalty wished for you to become better, while other loyalty wished for you not to become too good.

The former served the public wholeheartedly, hoping the ruler would grow and lead the nation toward strength. The latter hoped you would be easier to control and not too forceful, so that ruler and ministers could work together to lead the nation forward according to their plans.

Huangfu Ji silently placed Cheng Yao in the latter category.

After sorting Cheng Yao into that category, Huangfu Ji felt somewhat depressed.

If he were not somewhat familiar with this world, he would have doubted whether he had truly been reborn into the world of Douluo Continent.

Other people were reborn, underwent Martial Soul Awakening, cultivated diligently, held beauties in their arms, and defeated every enemy with absolute power.

Why had things changed when it came to him? He underwent Martial Soul Awakening, only to be treated as a Puppet by powerful ministers. He had to grow stronger, defeat the powerful ministers, and reclaim his nation.

He even suspected that he had been given the wrong script.

He had been reborn into a cultivation world, so why did he still have to play this game of monarch against powerful ministers?

He definitely had to cooperate with people like Cheng Yao, but he also had to guard against them. Nothing was obvious yet, but even from the matter of obtaining a Soul Ring, he could tell that his opinion did not seem all that important.

The other party wanted to influence him subtly over time.

It could not be denied that Cheng Yao did not harbor much ill intent toward him. From Cheng Yao's perspective, there was not much wrong with it either. Rulers and nobles governing a nation together was the prevailing pattern of this era. It was not only like this within the Duchy; the entire continent was the same.

But unfortunately, Cheng Yao had gotten one thing wrong: Huangfu Ji was a reincarnator. He was absolutely unwilling to govern the nation alongside the nobles.

There could be nobles, of course. This was the age of monarchs, and there had to be a group with shared interests. He could not change that.

But what Huangfu Ji wanted was a new group of nobles, one that obeyed him completely and followed his lead without question—not these old nobles who only wanted to govern alongside him and disperse the authority that belonged to the ruler.

Since he had been reborn, how could he not have ambitions of his own?

Simply put, if given the opportunity, he intended to centralize power, even if he was only the ruler of a small Duchy.

It was foreseeable that if he defeated Yuan Hao and reclaimed power in the future, he would inevitably come into conflict with people like Cheng Yao.

At that thought, he suppressed all those ideas. For now, the only thing he needed to do was cultivate diligently. That was the foundation; he could not put the cart before the horse.

Cheng Yao was still on his side for now and would not harm him.

In this world, strength was ultimately supreme. Compared to strength, power came second. Even an Imperial Prince would not dare act recklessly before a powerful Titled Douluo.

As for absorbing a Soul Ring, he would certainly remain firm in his decision to absorb a Soul Beast that was at least three hundred years old, or perhaps four hundred years old.

The Soul Beast Forest lay three hundred li south of Qingyang City. It was where the Duchy raised Soul Beasts.

They set out in the morning and arrived at the market outside the forest by evening.

Though it was already evening, the place remained lively. Soul Masters were a wealthy group, something that was almost common knowledge across the continent. Even those born as commoners generally became well-off after becoming Soul Masters.

This wealth did not mean living in extravagant luxury, but at the very least, they could afford several dozen Gold Soul Coins.

Several dozen Gold Soul Coins was the income many families earned over many years.

An ordinary family of three earned only a few Gold Soul Coins a year. After expenses, they could barely save anything, so many people set their sights on Soul Masters and sought to earn their money.

The market outside the Soul Beast Forest was mainly a place where people from nearby villages came to set up stalls, though some merchants also came.

The market was not very large, but it had everything one could need, all of it intended for low-level Soul Masters—medicinal herbs, weapons, and the like.

Cheng Yao led Huangfu Ji to a small inn.

"It'll be dark soon. We'll rest for the night and enter the forest tomorrow."

Huangfu Ji nodded in agreement.

The two entered the inn, and Cheng Yao rented two rooms.

Huangfu Ji entered his room and stood by the window. From there, he could see the Soul Beast Forest in the distance. It was enclosed by Iron Fences, with Soldiers from the Duchy patrolling around it.

He knew very well that although the Soul Beast Forest nominally belonged to the Duchy, it had actually been brought under Spirit Hall's control. To gain Spirit Hall's secret support, Yuan Hao had secretly transferred Ownership of the Soul Beast Forest to Spirit Hall.

So long as Yuan Hao remained in power, the forest would belong to Spirit Hall, and Spirit Hall would inevitably support him.

"Spirit Hall..."

That was a problem for him. At present, he did not want to fall out with Spirit Hall. It would be troublesome if he ended up on their Kill List. What major faction did not have a few dirty secrets?

Spirit Hall had done its share of secretly ambushing and killing Prodigies. Qian Daoliu, the Grand Priest, was even more determined to eliminate everyone who posed a threat to Spirit Hall.

A falling-out with Spirit Hall was inevitable, but definitely not now.

Before becoming a Titled Douluo, offending such a superpower would be unwise.

"Ultimately, I'm still not strong enough."

Withdrawing his gaze, Huangfu Ji began cultivating.