Negotiation, Xu Jiawei's Cultivation and Attitude (2)

Xu Jiawei paused, then smiled and waved a hand. With a hint of approval, he said,

"You do see things clearly. But after observing them for some time, I am no longer as tense and worried as before. Just as my teacher said, Fierce Beasts with higher intelligence are ultimately different from those low-level soul beasts that only know slaughter and reproduction. We should not view them through the same lens as ordinary soul beasts. There have also been precedents for cooperation between humans and soul beasts. If I remember correctly, the wife of the Sea God from ten thousand years ago was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soft Bone Rabbit who had taken human form..."

"Teacher?"

Shu Yan keenly caught the crucial detail. Xu Jiawei having a teacher was something he had never heard of. Perhaps even Xu Jiujiu did not know that her own brother had a teacher. Otherwise, she generally would not have kept it from Shu Yan.

Of course, there were exceptions. Unless the matter ran extremely deep and involved far-reaching repercussions, such an exception could arise.

Xu Jiawei smiled faintly and no longer concealed it, saying directly,

"You met Elder Qian once last time, so I will not hide it from you anymore. Elder Qian is my teacher and had extremely deep ties with several ancestors of my Star Crown Sect. That was why, after those ancestors passed away, he joined the Imperial Hall of Worship and succeeded them as a guardian of the empire."

"Later, when I succeeded to the position of crown prince and displayed exceptional talent, Elder Qian chose to emerge from seclusion and take me as his disciple, guiding me in my cultivation. Without Elder Qian, I fear it would have been impossible for me to break through to the Titled Douluo realm, which countless soul masters dream of reaching, at my current age."

Shu Yan was slightly stunned. He had not expected there to be such hidden circumstances behind this matter. But after some thought, he temporarily shifted away from the subject.

"There are still several things I am curious about. Could Imperial Brother clear them up for me?"

Xu Jiawei nodded, his gaze gentle as he said,

"Ask. So long as it is not excessive, I can answer you."

A faint smile also appeared on Shu Yan's face as he asked,

"First, what realm has Imperial Brother's cultivation reached now?"

Xu Jiawei looked at Shu Yan, amusement flickering in his eyes. After thinking for a moment, he said,

"I did not expect you to be curious about my cultivation. To tell you the truth, I am currently Rank 94. I am not far from becoming a Super Douluo, but I have always lacked the insight and opportunity."

Xu Jiawei slowly rose to his feet. Nine soul rings gradually rose beneath him: yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, red. The eighth soul ring was black with a reddish tint. While it was not the most top-tier configuration overall, it was still exceedingly rare.

Seeing that Shu Yan seemed somewhat surprised, Xu Jiawei withdrew his martial soul and soul rings, then gently sat back down and explained,

"An accident occurred when I absorbed my eighth ring. That soul beast should originally have had a cultivation of one hundred thousand years, but during its desperate counterattack, it burned too much of its essence and source Soul Power. As a result, the age of the soul ring fell slightly short. Otherwise, I should have possessed two Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Rings as well."

Shu Yan was somewhat astonished, but when he considered Xu Jiawei's identity and status, he found it understandable.

Influenced by their martial souls, Star Crown Soul Masters possessed powerful support abilities and even offensive power, but their martial souls provided very little enhancement to their physical constitution. This meant that physical strength was an unavoidable problem for Star Crown Soul Masters.

Yet at the time, Xu Jiawei had been the crown prince of a nation as well as the next sect master of the Star Crown Sect. The resources available to him had been unimaginably vast and precious.

This was no exaggeration. From a young age, Xu Jiawei had consumed all kinds of treasures beneficial to his physique. Some were even supreme treasures, such as the Ten Thousand Year Whale Rubber Shark Pearl, which might not appear once in a century. Such enormous resources quickly made up for Xu Jiawei's shortcomings in physical constitution and even made his body stronger than that of battle soul masters at the same rank. That was what gave him the confidence to absorb a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring as his eighth ring.

There was perhaps one thing Shu Yan did not know. Xu Jiawei's entire set of Soul Bones was complete, and two of them had even reached the hundred-thousand-year level. The more precious of the two Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bones was a Torso Bone produced by a hundred-thousand-year Starflare Dragon. It was also the most valuable inherited Soul Bone of the Starcrown Sect.

After a brief silence, Shu Yan continued asking,

"The second question is this: what exactly is the relationship between the empire and those Martial Soul Hall Remnants? Or rather, I want to know Imperial Brother's attitude."

Xu Jiawei fell silent for a while upon hearing this, as though organizing his words or wrestling with the matter. Only after a long time did he softly say,

"It is simple. You could call it a cooperative relationship."

"Several thousand years ago, the ancestors of our Star Crown Sect led the soldiers and people of Star Luo in successfully defending this fertile land where we had lived for millennia. The White Tiger Royal Family of that time had declined and ceded the throne to the sect master of the Star Crown Sect from that generation. That sect master, in turn, bestowed upon the former White Tiger Royal Family the title of imperial dukes, hereditary in perpetuity, never to be revoked."

"But anyone with a brain can understand that, as former imperial blood, how could the White Tiger Dukes of every generation not harbor thoughts of reclaiming the throne? It was merely that reality had never been enough to support those ambitions."

"The surface balance between the imperial family and the White Tiger Dukes was never broken, because everyone knew that in those times, once that balance was broken, all of Star Luo would face a catastrophic disaster. It was under such circumstances that the imperial family accidentally discovered remnants of the former Spirit Hall in several coastal cities in the Southern Empire."

"Those remnants had been oppressed and driven out by the former Heaven Dou Empire for more than a thousand years. Later, because of war and unrest, they migrated together to the Star Luo Empire. At that time, the imperial throne and supreme authority had only just changed hands. Those Martial Soul Hall Remnants seemed to see the possibility of revival, so they did not reject contact with our Xu Family imperial house. Over a long period of coexistence, compelled by reality, they gradually accepted the resources and support provided by the imperial family..."

"But in return, they became a sharp blade secretly fostered by our Star Crown Imperial Family, one used to deal with domestic conflicts and other troubles. This relationship has endured from several thousand years ago until now. I only learned of it from the elders of my Star Crown Sect after succeeding to the throne as Emperor of Star Luo."

At this point, Xu Jiawei paused slightly before continuing,

"As for my attitude, what you see is what it is. Elder Qian is my teacher. If I were forced to choose between the White Tiger Duke and the Martial Soul Hall Remnants you speak of, I would choose the latter without hesitation."

Seemingly noticing the surprise on Shu Yan's face, Xu Jiawei smiled and took a sip of fragrant tea before saying leisurely,

"Being emperor is not so easy. Those without depth, or those who are overly naïve, cannot survive long in that position. What is seen on the surface may not be real, and what lies beneath the surface is even harder to judge..."

Shu Yan laughed soundlessly, then nodded lightly. His understanding of the situation and reality had deepened by another degree...