As a Soul Douluo, in the strength-is-everything Star Luo Empire, she should at least have held a marquisate, along with the land and privileges that came with it.
But as empress, she had lost those rights. The Star Luo Emperor was domineering and overbearing. To him, the women in his harem were nothing but ornaments and tools for bearing children. They could only remain inside the palace, forbidden to go out.
Her children also had to fight and kill one another to claim the throne.
After exhausting every scheme, the empress had finally changed the fate of her own full-blooded siblings, who would otherwise have slaughtered one another. She had chosen a younger half-brother, six years her junior, as a rival for her eldest son, Dai Weisi.
Zhu Zhuyun knew that this might be her own future, too.
She would help her fiancé seize the throne, become one of the women in Dai Weisi's harem, bear child after child, and then watch her children slaughter one another.
The fact that the Hell White Tiger had yet to be discovered in its winged form already said enough. The Zhu and Dai Families could perform Martial Soul Fusion purely because their Martial Souls were highly compatible. In truth, the Soul Masters from both sides had little affection for each other—in fact, they were often at odds.
Just like in the original story, Dai Mubai abandoned Zhu Zhuqing and ran away. Zhu Zhuqing must have resented him, even hated him, but in order to survive, she had no choice but to perform a Martial Soul Fusion Skill with him.
Their relationship was terrible, yet they could still use a Martial Soul Fusion Skill. That would have been impossible for ordinary Soul Masters, but the Hell Spirit Cat and Evil Eye White Tiger had managed it through sheer compatibility between their Martial Souls.
Zhu Zhuyun looked at A Ke and smiled, nodding in greeting. But when she saw Zhu Zhuqing, her smile immediately turned cold.
Their eyes met. Young Zhu Zhuqing was at a disadvantage and couldn't help taking a step back. Everyone around them knew the state of the sisters' relationship and silently pretended not to notice.
Zhu Zhuyun was seven years older than Zhu Zhuqing and had graduated from the junior Soul Master academy long ago.
However, the Star Luo Royal Junior Academy was right next to the Star Luo Royal Intermediate Academy, so it was perfectly normal for the two to run into each other. Students from both schools came and went there all the time.
The Zhu sisters' schools had been decided for them, too. They had to attend the same schools as their fiancés so they could assist them in performing Martial Soul Fusion Skills.
In short, everything had to revolve around their fiancés.
Chapter 34: A Ke and Pei Qinhu
This was one of the reasons Zhu Zhuqing went to Shrek Academy in the original story. Besides the pressure from Zhu Zhuyun, the royal family and her clan had demanded it, too.
Find Dai Mubai, or die!
Dai Mubai was four years older than Zhu Zhuqing. He was already ten and in the fourth grade at the academy.
He had long since surpassed level twenty and become a Soul Grandmaster. By rights, he should have graduated early and moved on to an intermediate academy.
But the coward had chickened out. His big brother, Dai Weisi, was at the intermediate academy, too. Since Dai Weisi wasn't skipping grades, neither was he. He was hiding from him.
It was obvious which of the two princes was stronger.
A Ke also spotted her partner, her fiancé Pei Qinhu, in the junior academy's first-year honors class.
Apparently, the fellow had nearly been renamed Dai Qinhu a while back.
He spotted A Ke from far away, waved, and shouted her name, as if he were afraid she wouldn't hear him.
Auspicious Fortune — Pei Qinhu!
It was an incredibly flashy skin, and in real life it was even more extraordinary. His Soul Beast form was Lu Wu, an ancient divine beast. His many tails were half-immortalized, imbued with divinity and power. Flames and auspicious clouds adorned him, and blazing energy swirled around him. Even the tips of his toes seemed to touch clouds...
Well... here, it was considered a beneficial mutation of the Evil Eye White Tiger Martial Soul.
Anyone who saw it could hardly help being stunned.
In terms of strength, this should have counted as a divine-grade Martial Soul. It just didn't come with innate level twenty Soul Power.
The royal family wanted to pass Pei Qinhu's Martial Soul down through the generations.
A Ke's Martial Soul wasn't bad, either. But in a world where people judged by appearances, a little black cat with ordinary effects naturally couldn't compete with Pei Qinhu's Blazing Divine Tiger.
Pei Qinhu's hairstyle was even more flamboyant: black and red, with a distinctive design. From a distance, it looked like blazing divine fire, and his golden eyes shone like a brilliant sun.
He drew everyone's attention just by standing there. He was hard to overlook, and his personality was straightforward and warm, without the restraint expected of a noble. That made him seem all the more approachable.
His shout also drew plenty of attention to A Ke.
As an assassin, A Ke was used to keeping a low profile, so she wasn't comfortable with it. Still, she didn't dislike him. He was a good teammate who charged to the front when it was time to fight.
Zhu Zhuqing watched them, feeling a little envious. Her fiancé was only ten, but he was already fairly well known at the academy—for being a playboy.
The minor nobles were happy to offer him their daughters. If one of them could bear a powerful child, they'd have struck it rich; their clan might even rise again.
But that also left Zhu Zhuqing, who had recently become Dai Mubai's fiancée, in an awkward position.
Quite a few beautiful senior students at the academy were involved with her fiancé. What could she do?
Still, after recently learning that he had a fiancée, Dai Mubai had curbed himself a little.
Meanwhile, in the Heaven Dou Empire, at the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect...
Sikong Zhen had successfully entered the Yu Clan, but he hadn't made much progress in status.
The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect was a clan built around blood ties.
When it came to distributing resources and privileges, talent mattered, but blood ties and closeness of kinship mattered even more.
Only direct descendants of the clan received special training...
Sikong Zhen's bloodline was several branches removed from the main family.
And he didn't even have the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul that the Yu Clan took pride in.
So...
Chapter 35: Doubts About His Bloodline
So Sikong Zhen had been subjected to a round of brainwashing.
The direct descendants of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan wanted him, an illegitimate son from outside the family, to loyally assist the brothers Yu Tianheng and Yu Tianxin and serve as a perfect tool and enforcer.
It was unexpected, but also perfectly understandable.
People naturally favored those close to them over outsiders.
Thunder Douluo and Yu Luomian couldn't neglect their own grandsons to raise a child from the same clan whose bloodline was who knew how many generations removed.
Especially when their own children were talented and hardworking.
There was no way they would help an "outsider" instead.
Even if Sikong Zhen was more talented than their children.
Back then, Yu Xiaogang had only possessed half a level of Innate Soul Power. With just a little help from his Douluo father...
He had still been forcibly raised to level twenty-nine.
No one knew how many Soul Masters could have been nurtured with the resources that took.
Naturally, that wasn't the sort of reason they could make public. The official explanation was that Sikong Zhen's Martial Soul wasn't the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul, so his bloodline was suspect. As a result, he received fewer resources than direct descendants like Yu Tianxin.
The old men from the clan's branch families had nearly laughed in anger. When Yu Xiaogang had awakened such a strange Martial Soul, Thunder Douluo hadn't once doubted his bloodline. He had simply called it a Martial Soul Mutation.
Now a genius with a mutated Martial Soul had emerged from the branch families, and suddenly his bloodline was suspect. But there was nothing they could do. They couldn't win a fight, so they had no choice but to accept it.
Besides, plenty of clan members agreed with the argument about his Martial Soul. Everyone in the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan took pride in the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul, and the clan revered pure-blooded direct descendants above all. The clan's young men looked down on the Thunder Martial Soul, which couldn't even undergo Dragon Transformation.
Sikong Zhen's Thunder Martial Soul had managed to pass itself off as related to the clan's, but the "locals" still rejected it.
When Qian Xunji heard about it, he laughed. Well, look at that—he'd accidentally guessed the truth!
The most important resource in the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan was Soul Ring resources.
The clan specialized in hunting dragon-type Soul Beasts. On top of that, dragon-type Soul Beasts bred slowly, so their numbers dwindled year by year.
The clan had even started raising dragon-type Soul Beasts in captivity to ensure that its younger generation would have some to hunt.
Every year, they also bought information about dragon-type Soul Beasts from exploration teams and mercenaries.
Each year, members of the Yu Clan would fight tooth and nail for a good Soul Ring.
Of course, the Soul Rings for direct descendants like Yu Tianheng had already been prepared. No one dared compete with them.
But that kind of resource wasn't a good fit for Sikong Zhen.
He focused on the element of thunder. He didn't need dragon-type Soul Beasts, or even benefit from them; Soul Beasts with thunder attributes were enough. Their interests didn't conflict.
Yuan Zhao Shan He Ding — Sikong Zhen!
In this skin form, Sikong Zhen's Martial Soul was a dazzling golden bolt of lightning: pure, powerful, and devastating.
While the other children were still obediently following their elders' instructions and hunting dragon-type Soul Beasts, Sikong Zhen had already begun planning his own path.
He had studied demonic arts, possessed Self-Created Soul Skills, and understood his own weaknesses. His body was too fragile for close combat, while his reach was too short to hit anyone from a distance.
Against ordinary Soul Masters in this world, those weren't really weaknesses.
But if he fought heroes at the same level, Sikong Zhen knew these flaws were painfully obvious—and potentially fatal.
So Sikong Zhen now had two development paths. First, strengthen his physique and bulk up, becoming a true warrior.
Second, increase his attack range.
Of course, if possible, Sikong Zhen wanted an elementalization Soul Skill. Being untargetable or immune to physical damage would be even better.
That would make up for the weaknesses in his kit.
Unfortunately, the Thunder Martial Soul was the first of its kind. The Soul Skills he gained after obtaining Soul Rings would be like a lottery draw. All Sikong Zhen could do was choose Soul Beasts with similar abilities to hunt and hope he obtained similar Soul Skills.
Chapter 36: A Method for Cultivating Twin Martial Souls
Heaven Dou Empire, Nuoding Academy
After sending Tang San off, Yu Xiaogang was met with another round of threats and intimidation from Tang Hao.
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