Double Pupils Were Already an Invincible Path; Why Borrow Another's Bone?

At that, a chorus of sharp, collective gasps swept through the hall.

The Ruthless Empress!

What a ruthless woman!

Cruel to others, even crueler to herself!

Even Ning Rongrong, who had always been so proud, stared blankly at the peerless figure on the screen. A deep sense of helplessness welled up inside her.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, whose backing she had always taken pride in, seemed like a joke before the Ruthless Empress, who had fought her way through the universe.

Just as everyone was left reeling at the Ruthless Empress's brilliance,

an indignant voice suddenly rang out from another private room on the second floor.

"Mr. Su!"

A young man dressed in the robes of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan abruptly rose to his feet.

The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan had always boasted that it possessed the world's greatest Beast Martial Soul, and valued bloodlines and physiques above all else.

Asking him to admit that a mortal body could stand above every supreme physique was more agonizing than death.

"The Ruthless Empress's talent is certainly astonishing, but that Heaven-Swallowing Demonic Art is far too much of a shortcut!"

The young man gritted his teeth and stared fixedly at Su Chen.

"Is there truly no physique in the Shrouding the Heavens Universe that was nurtured by heaven and earth, born able to suppress all things, and even rival the Ruthless Empress?"

"For example... what if you combined some of those powerful physiques you mentioned earlier?"

At the young man's words, many of the sect disciples in the hall, who placed great importance on Martial Soul inheritance, chimed in.

They simply couldn't accept the idea that a mortal body could be the strongest.

Hearing the young man's challenge, Su Chen stopped idly swaying his folding fan on the high platform.

Then he turned slightly and looked at the young man from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.

"Combined?"

"Do you know there is a physique born from combining the Ancient Sacred Body, with its peerless physical strength, and the Innate Dao Fetus, which is close to the Great Dao?"

"It is called the Innate Sacred Body Dao Fetus!"

At those words, Listening Rain Pavilion fell silent once again.

Even Yu Xiaogang gripped the armrests of his chair, his eyes shining.

The Ancient Sacred Body combined with the Innate Dao Fetus?

It was the perfect union of the perfect body and the perfect talent!

"Mr. Su, does such a heaven-defying physique really exist?" Xue Qinghe couldn't help asking.

"It does."

Su Chen nodded, his voice cool and clear.

"Not only does it exist, its fame was raised to a peak without precedent or successor!"

"He never suffered a single defeat in his life!"

"Whether facing the ancient emperors or the Supremes in the forbidden zones, he swept all before him and suppressed every enemy!"

The scene shifted. A towering figure appeared against the shattered starry sky.

He did not turn around, merely standing with his back to all living things.

Yet that single silhouette was enough to make the myriad worlds tremble!

An ancient, unadorned stone bell hovered above his head, radiating an aura that could suppress the ages.

"He quelled the Dark Turmoil, terrifying the old monsters in the Life Forbidden Zones so badly that they hardly dared to breathe. They could only huddle in their forbidden zones and cling to life!"

"Even a black dog he raised gave those so-called sacred lands no end of trouble!"

"His name was Wu Shi!"

"Emperor Wu Shi!"

At the words "Emperor Wu Shi," the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan disciples and Spirit Hall bishops in the hall went weak in the knees, nearly unable to catch their breath.

With his back to all living things, he suppressed the ages!

What domineering bearing!

Just as everyone's excitement reached its peak, all eyes fixed on that towering silhouette as they tried to make out what he looked like,

the Gavel in Su Chen's hand rose abruptly, utterly without warning.

Then it slammed down hard on the table!

The sharp crack instantly shattered the scene in midair.

Soon, the hall returned to calm.

But everyone's hearts were already stirred up. They wished Su Chen would reveal the whole story at once.

Su Chen put away his folding fan, then abruptly changed the subject, leaving everyone with words that drove them wild on the spot:

"What I just told you took place in the era after Perfect World. That world is called Shrouding the Heavens."

"Those events lie too far beyond our reach. A little glimpse is more than enough."

"Now, let us return to the matter at hand."

"Let us see how Little One Shi Hao, in Perfect World—the world where heroes vie for supremacy—settled the score after digging out his own bone."

With those words, Su Chen broke the mood that had taken hold of the hall.

"Don't stop there, Mr. Su!"

A sect disciple slapped his thigh in desperation, his face full of frustration. "What happened to Emperor Wu Shi afterward? What did he look like?"

"That's right, sir! Please keep telling us about Shrouding the Heavens!"

"Was the Dark Turmoil ever completely quelled? Emperor Wu Shi suppressed the ages—was there really no one who could fight him?"

In an instant, the whole of Listening Rain Pavilion was in an uproar.

Everyone had only just been captivated by Emperor Wu Shi's peerless bearing, standing with his back to the world and suppressing the ages. How could Su Chen just stop there?

It was more agonizing than killing them!

At that moment, the nobles of the Tiandou Empire and the bishops of Spirit Hall alike gazed up at Su Chen on the high platform with wounded expressions.

They looked ready to refuse to leave until he finished telling them about Emperor Wu Shi.

Yet faced with the commotion below, Su Chen merely lifted his teacup and took a gentle sip.

He was in no hurry.

Storytelling was all about knowing when to tighten the strings and when to ease them, about luring them in by holding back.

Amid the uproar,

Xue Qinghe, in a private room on the second floor, took it all in.

She glanced at Su Chen, composed onstage, and a faint glimmer flickered in her eyes.

This Mr. Su truly knew how to keep people eating out of his hand.

At the thought, Xue Qinghe smiled faintly.

Since Mr. Su wanted to steer the conversation back to Perfect World, as the Heaven Dou Crown Prince, she certainly didn't mind going with the flow and quietly giving things a push.

Then Xue Qinghe slowly walked over to the railing.

"Everyone, please settle down."

At the Crown Prince's words, the heated discussion in the hall gradually died away.

Everyone looked up toward Xue Qinghe on the second floor.

With her hands clasped behind her back, Xue Qinghe looked straight at Su Chen on the high platform and spoke slowly:

"Mr. Su, I have a major question about the Little One Shi Hao you mentioned."

"Here on the Douluo Continent, if a Spirit Master wishes to absorb a Soul Bone, it must first be ownerless—something that fell from a Soul Beast."

"If it comes from a living person, then unless they are killed or the limb it has fused with is severed, it cannot be forcibly taken."

At this, Xue Qinghe deliberately paused, her brows furrowing as she put on an utterly puzzled expression.

"But as you explained earlier, the Supreme Bone in Perfect World was a Source Bone that grew naturally inside Little One's body. It had long since become one with his flesh, soul, and very life force!"

"After that vicious aunt dug out such a heaven-defying Divine Bone, could it really be installed in someone else's body as casually as one of our Soul Bones, and even continue to grow in their flesh?"

At those words, the crowd in the hall, still reluctant to let the story move on, froze.

Right!

They had been so stunned by the aunt's cruelty and the Supreme Bone's power that they had completely overlooked this most crucial logical problem!

This was a naturally born Supreme Bone, the kind of treasure that even the titans of the Upper Realm would go mad for!

Then Xue Qinghe raised her voice a little, putting the central question into words:

"What's more!"

"How could the flesh of an ordinary person withstand the Fortune of heaven and earth and the terrifying power contained in the Source Divine Treasure of a true-born Supreme?"

"Forget about fusing it into their body."

"The moment that bone touched an ordinary person's flesh, wouldn't its divine might make the poor wretch explode, leaving nothing but a pool of blood?"

"How could ordinary flesh possibly nourish such a divine treasure?"

After Xue Qinghe's rapid-fire questions, all of Listening Rain Pavilion fell utterly silent.

The Crown Prince made a very good point!

It was like an ordinary Soul Scholar trying to forcefully absorb a hundred-thousand-year External Soul Bone. There could be only one outcome: their body would explode and they would die.

And this was a Supreme Bone, capable of knocking down stars and suppressing an entire epoch!

No matter how vicious the aunt was, surely she hadn't dug out a bone just to burst her own son apart!

In an instant, everyone's curiosity was stirred up all over again.

They gazed up at Su Chen, eyes full of anticipation. Their obsession with the story of Shrouding the Heavens had been completely swept away by this enormous mystery.

On the high platform, Su Chen looked toward Xue Qinghe's private room, a smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

What a Crown Prince of Heaven Dou.

That clever way of tossing out an idea to draw out the answer was truly pleasing.

"Your Highness, you have a mind as fine as a strand of silk. You've hit the nail on the head."

Su Chen gently set his teacup down, and it made a crisp clink.

"Exactly!"

"The Supreme Bone is a crystallization of the Great Dao of heaven and earth, containing innate runes and the power of creation beyond compare."

"Ordinary flesh couldn't fuse with and nourish it. It would be ground to dust by that divine might just by drawing near!"

"But..."

"What if the person fusing with the Supreme Bone wasn't ordinary to begin with?"

At those words, everyone's hearts gave a sudden jolt.

Not ordinary?

Could the aunt's son also have some heaven-defying background or physique?

Su Chen picked up the folding fan on the table and snapped it open.

"Little One's cousin—the aunt's own son—was named Shi Yi!"

"He was only a little older than Little One."

"And he, too, was no ordinary person!"

"If Little One was a true-born Supreme, then Shi Yi was a born sage of antiquity!"

A sage of antiquity?

At those words, Yu Xiaogang and the others in the hall widened their eyes.

Another sage of antiquity?

The Martial King Manor's fortune was terrifying!

Su Chen paid no heed to their shock. He paced across the platform, his voice gradually taking on an ethereal quality.

"In that vast and boundless world, there was an ancient and terrifying feature of the face."

"Those born with it could see through the source of all things, discerning every flaw and illusion in the world."

"It was a symbol of divinity, a synonym for invincibility!"

"And Shi Yi was born with eyes that could see through the ages!"

At that, Su Chen came to an abrupt halt.

"Double Pupil!"

"What is a Double Pupil?"

"It is when a single eye contains two pupils!"

Su Chen thrust his folding fan toward the air. Though he had not activated Immersive Experience, everyone seemed to see a pair of overlapping pupils in his words, so full of pressure.

"Double Pupils were already an invincible path; why borrow another's bone?"

As he spoke, Su Chen's voice rose higher and higher, shaking the beams of Listening Rain Pavilion until they hummed.

"The aunt dared to dig out Little One's Supreme Bone because her son, Shi Yi, was born with Double Pupils!"

"Only the flesh of a Double-Pupiled One, gifted with the Fortune of heaven and earth, could withstand the Supreme Bone's tyrannical divine might!"

"A peerless prodigy born with Double Pupils, destined to walk an invincible path."

"If a naturally born Supreme Bone that did not belong to him were forcibly implanted in his body as well..."

At this, Su Chen looked around the hall and fell silent.

Everyone in the hall froze at the words.

Born with Double Pupils, and then given a naturally born Supreme Bone!

Was this damn thing even human?

It was like forcing two future gods into a single person's body!

If such a monster grew to maturity, who in the world could possibly stop him?

Everyone's anticipation had been pushed to the limit. Countless eyes were fixed on Su Chen, impatient to learn what astonishing power would erupt when Double Pupils and the Supreme Bone were combined.

After losing his bone, how would Little One face such an almost unbeatable, terrifying cousin?

But just as every eye was upon him, Su Chen lightly tapped his folding fan against the table.

Smack!

"Who could say what heaven-defying Fortune the Double-Pupiled One, Shi Yi, would gain after fusing with the Supreme Bone?"

"And how would Little One, now bereft of his Divine Bone, rise from the ashes in his darkest hour?"

Su Chen smiled faintly, lifted the cup of tea that had long since gone lukewarm, and leisurely uttered a few words:

"Let's hear the rest tomorrow."

As soon as Su Chen finished speaking, the many Spirit Masters weren't having it.

"Don't leave it there, Mr. Su! You can't torment us like this!" A portly merchant slapped his thigh in a panic. The teacup beside him toppled from the impact, splashing tea all over him, but he didn't even notice.

"Exactly! What does the Double Pupil look like? What kind of celestial omen appeared after Shi Yi fused with the Supreme Bone? Please, tell us the details!"

"I'll pay more! Double the tea money—no, ten times! Please, sir, tell us for another incense stick's time!" Another disciple of a sect flushed with desperation and pulled a heavy sack of Gold Soul Coins from his robes, slamming it down on the table.

"I've lived for over sixty years and never been this worked up! If you don't finish the story, I'm staying right here in the Listening Rain Pavilion all day!" An old Spirit Master glared at the high platform, stroking his beard in indignation.

"Those are the naturally occurring Double Pupil and the Supreme Bone! With two peerless Divine Bones in one body, won't the Martial King Manor rise to the heavens? How can a heaven-defying Fortune like this be cut off here?"

"Don't go, Mr. Su! Even if you only tell us whether Little One, the one who lost his bone, survived in the end, that'll do!"

"You can't stop here! How am I supposed to sleep tonight?! Every time I close my eyes, all I see is that Double Pupil gazing down on all living things!"

The uproar in the hall swelled louder and louder. Some people were so frantic they tried to charge the platform.

Even Ning Rongrong, in a private room on the second floor, was biting her lower lip hard. Her little fists were clenched until her knuckles turned white, and the unresolved suspense left her practically beside herself.

Yet, faced with the agitated crowd of Douluo natives, who were on the verge of losing control,

Su Chen remained completely unmoved on the high platform.

He straightened his snow-white sleeve, then casually tucked his folding fan into his belt.

"The Listening Rain Pavilion's rules cannot be broken."

"If you wish to hear what happens next, come early tomorrow."

Leaving them with those words, which allowed no room for negotiation,

Su Chen turned and walked backstage without the slightest hesitation, beneath countless resentful, frantic stares.

All that remained was a crowd of Douluo natives, left fuming helplessly after being worked up over the story.

After crossing a long corridor,

Su Chen pushed open the door to his luxurious private lounge on the top floor.

Incense drifted through the room, its tranquil atmosphere shutting out the noise beyond.

He walked over to a redwood armchair and sat down, then casually poured himself a cup of tea.

Next, he closed his eyes and silently recited in his heart:

"System, settle today's Storyteller popularity rewards."