Duchess Zhu Yue!

She was already forty-three years old.

As the lawful wife of Dai Hao, the Duke of White Tiger, and the legitimate daughter of the Zhu Clan of the Star Luo Empire, her life should have been one of limitless splendor and boundless luxury.

Yet only she knew how much fear and how many sleepless nights lay hidden beneath that splendor.

Because her husband's heart belonged to someone else.

That bitch—the maid she had "dealt with" more than a decade ago, the woman who had died without ever receiving a proper status.

Zhu Yue had always believed that matter was over. That woman was dead, and the bastard she had borne... even if he was still alive, he could not possibly stir up any trouble.

A bastard child with no status, no background, perhaps not even capable of awakening a martial soul—how could such a wildspawn threaten her two sons' positions?

But she had been wrong.

Three months ago, one of the confidants she had planted in the Duke of White Tiger Mansion's archives had stumbled upon an old record from over a decade ago. It stated that when the maid left the mansion, she had already been pregnant. Moreover, she had headed toward the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Zhu Yue immediately sent people to investigate.

And that investigation uncovered something enormous.

That bastard had not died. Not only had he survived, he had awakened martial souls—and he possessed Twin Martial Souls.

A One-Tomoe Sharingan and a sapling. Although his Innate Soul Power was only Rank Three and his talent was poor, he was still a Twin Martial Soul wielder. What if he encountered some great opportunity in the future? What if some major power took notice of him...

Zhu Yue did not dare think further.

She had two sons. Her eldest, Dai Yueheng, was eighteen years old and already a five-ring Soul King, even nearing the Soul Emperor rank. He was studying in the inner court of Shrek Academy and was one of the leading figures of his generation.

Her younger son, Dai Huabin, was thirteen years old and a three-ring Soul Elder. His talent was equally exceptional, and his future was limitless.

But all of that rested upon the foundation that the Duke of White Tiger Mansion had only these two legitimate sons.

If there were another illegitimate son, no matter how poor his talent was, he would still carry Dai Hao's bloodline. What if Dai Hao took pity on him someday? What if those people had other intentions? What if...

No. There would be no what-ifs.

Zhu Yue made her decision immediately—uproot the weeds and eliminate the roots.

She sent her own younger brother, Zhu Ye, along with fifty elite soldiers of the White Tiger Army, to the small border village called Konoha to dispose of that bastard and, while they were at it... erase the entire village.

The dead could not speak.

But Zhu Ye had been gone for two months without a word.

At first, Zhu Yue thought her brother had been delayed on the road, or perhaps he simply wanted to enjoy himself for a few extra days.

But one month passed, then two, and there was still no news. The people sent to meet them returned with a report: Konoha had become a field of ruins, corpses littering the ground. Some belonged to villagers, while others belonged to the White Tiger Army. Only Zhu Ye's body was nowhere to be found.

Zhu Ye had vanished.

All fifty elite soldiers of the White Tiger Army were dead.

That bastard... had disappeared as well.

"Duchess."

A knock came from outside the study, followed by an aged voice.

Zhu Yue snapped back to her senses. Taking a deep breath, she tried to make her voice sound calm. "Come in."

The door opened, and an elderly man in a gray robe entered. He looked to be over seventy, with graying hair and a face full of wrinkles, but his eyes were extraordinarily bright and sharp as an eagle's.

He was Zhu Yue's confidant and the Zhu Clan's old steward, Zhu Fu. He had served Zhu Yue for thirty years and was unwaveringly loyal.

"Uncle Fu, did you find anything?" Zhu Yue set down her teacup, her voice slightly tight.

Zhu Fu walked to the desk, bowed, then raised his head. He looked at Zhu Yue, hesitation flashing through his eyes, but he ultimately spoke.

"Duchess, I found out. The Second Young Master... is indeed dead."

Boom.

It felt as if something exploded in Zhu Yue's mind.

She shot to her feet, bracing both hands against the desk. Her nails dug deeply into the rosewood surface, producing a piercing scrape.

"What did you say? Say it again!"

Zhu Fu lowered his head, his voice dry. "This old servant took people to Konoha and carefully examined every corpse. All fifty White Tiger Army soldiers were killed, and their deaths... were horrific. Some had their necks snapped, some had gaping holes in their chests, and some... had their bodies twisted out of shape, as though something had crushed them alive."

He paused before continuing. "The Second Young Master's body... was not found. However, this old servant discovered a pool of blood in the center of the village. There were remnants of intense spatial fluctuations around it. And... the blood contained the aura of the Second Young Master's bloodline."

Zhu Yue's face instantly turned paper-white.

She staggered back two steps and collapsed into her chair. Her chest heaved violently, and her breathing became rapid and disordered.

Dead.

Zhu Ye was truly dead.

Her only younger brother. The brother closest to her since childhood. The brother who always smiled and called her "Sister," who always patted his chest and said, "Whatever it is, your little brother will handle it for you."

He was dead.

He had died in a small border village, at the hands of a... bastard she had believed she could crush with a casual squeeze.

"That bastard..." Zhu Yue's voice trembled, her eyes bloodshot. "Is he still alive?"

Zhu Fu was silent for two seconds, then nodded.

"Judging by the traces at the scene, someone left. And they headed north. In addition, this old servant found some... unusual things in the village."

"What things?"

"Traces of flames." Zhu Fu's voice became grave.

"That fire was extremely strange. It was black, and it gave off no heat while burning, yet it could burn through Soul Power armor, burn through bones, and even... burn through space. The area around the Second Young Master's pool of blood carried traces of that fire's aura."

"And," he added, "there were traces of vines in the village. The vines were incredibly tough, with golden patterns on their surfaces, and they radiated powerful life force. Judging from the residual Soul Power fluctuations, those vines... were at least at the level of a thousand-year soul skill."

Zhu Yue listened blankly, her mind in complete chaos.

Black flames? Flames capable of burning through space?

Golden vines? A thousand-year soul skill?

Wasn't that bastard only Rank Seventeen? Didn't he only have two worthless martial souls?

How could he possibly use a thousand-year soul skill? How could he possibly kill Zhu Ye, a four-ring Soul Ancestor? How could he possibly kill fifty elite White Tiger Army soldiers?

"Impossible..." Zhu Yue muttered. "Absolutely impossible... Someone must have helped him. Yes, someone must have helped him! Which force was it? Which sect? Who dared oppose my Duke of White Tiger Mansion?!"

Zhu Fu looked at Zhu Yue, who was on the verge of collapse. A trace of pity flashed in his eyes, but he still forced himself to speak.

"Duchess, there is another possibility."

"What?"

"That child... may not possess ordinary Twin Martial Souls." Zhu Fu spoke softly, but every word struck Zhu Yue's heart like a hammer.

"He may... be the kind of true genius that appears only once in a century. Perhaps his martial souls underwent some sort of... mutation or evolution that we do not understand."

Zhu Yue's breathing stopped completely.

She stared fixedly at Zhu Fu, her eyes bloodshot like a mother beast on the brink of madness.

"So... I let go of a genius who may one day overturn everything I have?"

"I let go of a monster who may have killed my brother and may also... kill my sons?"