Magnificent Palace, Crown Prince's Mansion!

The night was like thick ink, deep and tranquil. The stars glittered like dazzling jewels, shining brilliantly, while the full moon hung in the sky, casting down its soft, pure radiance.

In the darkness, Lin Xiao walked with his hands behind his back, his expression exceptionally cold. His gaze remained fixed ahead as he strode lightly down the long street.

Not far from where he stood, despite the impaired visibility of night, he could clearly make out a structure that stood in stark contrast to the surrounding buildings: an extraordinarily magnificent, imposing palace.

Under the moonlight, as pure as flowing water, the palace ahead became increasingly clear. Its majestic bearing was awe-inspiring, while its resplendent scale was truly breathtaking!!!

"This is the Crown Prince's Mansion? It really is magnificent and extraordinary. As expected of the residence of the Heaven Dou Empire's heir! Even compared to the Worship Hall, it is not inferior in the slightest!"

Lin Xiao stared ahead. As he drew closer and watched the extraordinary palace gradually become clearer before his eyes, he could not help but marvel inwardly.

The splendor displayed by the palace before him was in no way inferior to the Worship Hall of Spirit Hall. In certain aspects, it even completely surpassed the Worship Hall!!!

It was not difficult to understand. After all, the Heaven Dou Empire controlled half of Douluo Continent, and the residence of the Heaven Dou heir naturally had to far exceed other buildings in scale and standards.

Otherwise, if the residence of the Heaven Dou Empire's future emperor were too modest in scale, would that not be terribly humiliating?

The Star Luo Empire was the same in terms of the scale and standards of its heir's residence. It likewise controlled half of Douluo Continent and possessed endless wealth and skilled craftsmen. In terms of architecture, it was likely not inferior to the Heaven Dou Empire at all.

Lin Xiao continued forward and soon arrived roughly three hundred meters from the palace. From here, he could take in the entire extraordinary palace with exceptional clarity!

In Lin Xiao's eyes, this palace was enormous—truly enormous—and immensely spectacular. Even its main gates were grand beyond compare, standing more than ten meters tall and five or six meters wide!

On either side of the palace gates stood two guards clad in sturdy silver armor. A clearly visible insignia was branded upon the left breastplates of their armor. Their bearing was extraordinary, their gazes resolute, and silver spears were tightly gripped in their hands.

The two stood tall and straight like sturdy pines, firmly stationed on both sides of the palace gates. Their determined eyes were filled with vigilance as they occasionally looked around in every direction!

"They are actually two Soul Saints! And among Soul Saints, they are Soul Masters whose Soul Power Levels have reached level seventy-seven and seventy-eight! Yet they are serving as gatekeepers here!"

"Heh, I thought only Spirit Hall, the holy land of Soul Masters on the continent, could afford to have Soul Saints guard its gates. It seems the Heaven Dou Empire is also extremely diligent when it comes to security. After all, this is where the future emperor will live!"

As Lin Xiao looked at the guards standing on either side of the palace gates, he could not help but sigh inwardly. Although the Heaven Dou Empire was far inferior to Spirit Hall in terms of high-level Soul Master combat strength,

it was also inferior to Spirit Hall in low-level Soul Master combat strength. However, compared to certain ordinary sects, the number of Soul Masters controlled by the Heaven Dou Imperial Family was not small!

Of course, having Soul Saints guard the gates was not particularly rare. It was simply not the case that every member of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family had Soul Masters at the Soul Saint level serving as gatekeepers.

Otherwise, where would the Heaven Dou Empire find so many Soul Saints for every member of the Imperial Family to use? Soul Masters were already few in number, and the stronger they were, the scarcer they became!

"Who goes there? Who is it?!" The moment the two guards noticed someone in the distance, they instantly became alert.

"This is the Crown Prince's Mansion, a vital site within Heaven Dou City. At night, no unauthorized persons may approach. If you continue forward, we will be forced to drive you away by force!" the two guards declared in unison!

As the distance closed, being discovered was only a matter of time. Lin Xiao ignored their words, maintaining his cold expression as he continued forward. He paid no heed to their threats whatsoever!

Seeing that Lin Xiao had ignored their warning, the two guards' faces immediately turned stiff and livid. They had already explained what kind of place this was, yet he still refused to stop. Was he courting death?

There were two major restricted sites within Heaven Dou City: the Crown Prince's Mansion, where His Highness the Crown Prince resided, and the Imperial Palace, where Xue Ye lived. Security in these places was extremely tight, but they were also frequent targets of assassins.

The Imperial Palace's security could even withstand a Title Douluo. As for the Crown Prince's Mansion, the residence of the future Heaven Dou emperor, its security needed no further explanation—it was second only to the Imperial Palace where Xue Ye lived!

Over the years, countless assassins had come to kill His Highness the Crown Prince, only to be successfully intercepted and slain by them. As for the man before them, who had swaggered through layer after layer of Soul Master patrols to arrive here—

if he was not an assassin with ill intent, they simply would not believe it. Soul Masters patrolled back and forth around the Crown Prince's Mansion, and anyone approaching it would be intercepted.

Those who passed through layer after layer of Soul Master patrols without being stopped and successfully reached the vicinity of the Crown Prince's Mansion were all exceptionally powerful assassins. It was only right for the two of them to deal with such people!

"Hmph! Since you remain so stubbornly unrepentant, do not blame us for taking your head!" the leftmost guard snorted coldly with a grim expression, then began to release his Martial Soul.

Immediately afterward, Soul Rings gradually appeared beneath his feet: yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black—seven Soul Rings in total, the configuration universally recognized across the continent as the best!

He casually tossed the silver spear in his right hand to the ground beside his feet. In an instant, an incomparably ferocious blood-red broadsword appeared in his hand. He swung it about without restraint, the corners of his mouth curling slightly as he watched Lin Xiao mockingly.

The guard on the far right did the same, casually tossing the silver spear in his right hand beside his feet. Soul Rings then gradually emerged beneath him, the same configuration universally recognized across the continent as the best, just like the guard on the left.

His Martial Soul was an exceptionally sturdy shield, a shield of pure black!