The scene froze in a secluded corner of the Star Luo Imperial Garden.
Five-year-old Dai Mubai sat cross-legged on a green stone, dressed in a simple black outfit, regulating his breathing.
His little face was still childish, but between his brows there was already a hint of heroic spirit that made people hesitate to meet his gaze.
Just then.
A jumble of footsteps broke the garden's tranquility.
"Well, well. If it isn't my dear little brother?"
A slightly shrill voice rang out.
The scene shifted.
A group of richly dressed youths walked over.
The one leading them was around eleven or twelve. He was handsome enough, but his more mature eyes held an unmistakable trace of gloom and arrogance.
It was Dai Weisi!
Dai Weisi hadn't fully grown into his looks yet, but as the eldest prince, he already carried himself with all the arrogance of someone who expected others to bow before him.
Behind him followed several youths from collateral branches of the royal family. They all had their noses in the air as they looked at Dai Mubai sitting on the stone, their faces full of mockery.
"What's wrong? Can't you even salute your elder brother?"
Dai Weisi walked up to the green stone and looked down at his little brother, who was much shorter than him.
He had never liked this little brother.
Their father paid far too much attention to him, even making an exception to let him into the Martial Armory at the age of three.
That had made the eldest prince feel threatened like never before.
Today, he had come looking for trouble.
He meant to teach this so-called "genius" a good lesson in this deserted spot and show him who would be the future ruler of the Star Luo Empire.
On the green stone.
Little Dai Mubai slowly opened his eyes.
His Double Pupils were perfectly calm, without the slightest hint of emotion.
He merely glanced at Dai Weisi, then prepared to get up and leave.
That dismissive attitude instantly enraged Dai Weisi.
"Stop!"
Dai Weisi stepped forward and blocked his way.
A cruel smile tugged at his lips as he pointed to the ground.
"Did I say you could leave?"
"Since you don't know the rules, your big brother will teach you properly."
"Kneel."
"Bow to your big brother and apologize. Then we'll call it even."
"Otherwise..."
Dai Weisi clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking as the fluctuations of Soul Power flickered faintly around him.
"Even if you're a prince favored by Father, you're going to suffer today!"
Black World.
At the sight of this scene, the somber mood that had settled in after they'd been put in their place by "Fist Strikes the Void" immediately lifted.
"Dai Weisi!"
Someone in the Heaven Dou Camp recognized the youth.
"That's the eldest prince of Star Luo, Dai Weisi!"
"Judging by his age, he must be eleven or twelve, right?"
"Tsk, tsk. This should be good."
"That Little White Emperor may be impressive, but what kind of boxing could he have practiced at three? He hasn't even awakened his Martial Soul yet, has he?"
"Exactly. A five-year-old fighting a twelve-year-old? That's ridiculous."
The soldiers whispered among themselves, their voices tinged with schadenfreude.
Little White Emperor had been far too perfect earlier. Perfect enough to make ordinary people like them jealous.
Now that he was about to suffer a setback, they felt a little more at ease.
In the middle of the crowd.
Dai Mubai watched Dai Weisi on the Sky Screen, his expression complicated.
He knew his elder brother all too well.
From childhood onward, he had been his nightmare.
"When I was five..."
As Dai Mubai recalled the past, his face paled a little.
"Dai Weisi had already awakened his Martial Soul by then. I think his Innate Soul Power was Rank Seven or Eight?"
"By the time he was eleven or twelve, his Soul Power must have been above Rank Fifteen!"
As he said this, Dai Mubai seemed to regain his confidence, and his voice grew louder.
"Soul Masters and ordinary people are two different species!"
"No matter how much that version of me in the White World trained his body, without Soul Power to back him up, he'd still be nothing more than a slightly stronger ant."
"A Rank Fifteen Soul Master has a Soul Ring and can use Soul Skills!"
"He's bound to lose this fight!"
Dai Mubai declared firmly.
He had to say that.
Because if he didn't, he would be admitting that his five-year-old self had more courage than he did now.
Nearby, Yu Xiaogang had finally recovered from the sting of being proven wrong earlier.
He clasped his hands behind his back. The confidence and wisdom had returned to the stern Grandmaster's face.
"Mubai is right."
Yu Xiaogang nodded, sweeping his gaze across the crowd as he began his "authoritative" analysis.
"According to my Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul theory..."
"The First Spirit Ring greatly enhances a Soul Master's physical abilities."
"A Soul Master with a Hundred-Year Soul Ring has strength, speed, and reflexes several times greater than those of an ordinary person."
"That child from the White World may have practiced some strange boxing techniques, but he's only five."
"His body hasn't finished growing, and his bones haven't fully set."
"Against a Soul Master who awakened his Martial Soul years ago and already has a First Spirit Ring..."
"His odds..."
Yu Xiaogang raised one finger and wagged it in the air, his tone certain.
"Are zero."
"That's an objective law, an ironclad rule that doesn't depend on anyone's will."
Tang San stood to one side and nodded slightly.
As a Transmigrator, he knew even better the difference between having internal energy and not having it.
Little White Emperor might have been able to create sonic booms with his strikes, but in Tang San's view, that was more likely due to some kind of force-generating technique.
Soul Power, on the other hand, improved every aspect of one's abilities.
"This will be difficult."
Tang San gave his considered opinion.
"The gap in strength is too great."
"If I were that White Emperor, my best choice would be to endure the humiliation. It wouldn't matter if I had to kneel. As long as the green hills remained, there'd be no shortage of firewood."
"Meeting force with force would only get him beaten worse."
White World.
Unlike the pessimism in the Black World, the major factions here watched in anticipation.
Spirit Hall, inside the Pope Palace.
Bibi Dong elegantly swirled the red wine in her glass, her beautiful eyes fixed on the Sky Screen.
"A five-year-old fighting a twelve-year-old?"
"Heh. This should be interesting."
She wasn't worried.
It was because of that look.
The little fellow wasn't looking at Dai Weisi as if he were an unbeatable enemy.
He was looking at him as if he were... a barking stray dog.
Sea God Island.
Bo Saixi stood atop a cresting wave, the sea breeze stirring her long hair.
"Let's see how the so-called God Emperor faced provocation in his youth."
She was curious.
What kind of confidence did an emperor who inherited no godhood and fought his way to the top on his own truly have?
Star Luo Imperial Palace.
"That Dai Weisi is asking for trouble!"
Xiao Wu stomped her feet in anger, her rabbit ears standing straight up.
"How dare he tell Brother Mubai to kneel!"
"If it were me, I'd have hit him with an Eight-Stage Throw and slammed him so hard his own mother wouldn't recognize him!"
Ning Rongrong was just as indignant.
"Exactly!"
"What kind of ability is it to bully someone just because you're older?"
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