Dragon, Black Dragon!

Lin Xiao's expression was cool and indifferent. With his hands neatly clasped behind his back, he stepped out slowly through the main gate, his footsteps exceedingly light and unhurried. In his eyes, the encirclement formed around him was nothing more than a rabble, utterly unworthy of fear.

When he reached a point less than a hundred meters from the Royal Knights, Lin Xiao quietly fixed his gaze on everyone before him. As for the Soul Masters of the Royal Knights present, the burning fervor in their eyes was nearly impossible to conceal when they looked at him.

According to His Majesty's verbal decree, whoever killed the assassin before them would be granted the title of Count and rewarded with ten thousand gold. The gold was unimportant; the crucial thing was the title of Count!

In the Heaven Dou Empire, there were five ranks of nobility: Duke, Marquis, Count, Viscount, and Baron. Of these, a Count possessed corresponding authority and was a title with genuine power.

For members of the Royal Knights, unless they held the position of captain, the allure of becoming a Count was beyond words.

If one of them killed the assassin before them, he would gain the wealth and glory they dreamed of, and even his descendants would benefit from his blessings!

Several hundred powerful members of the Royal Knights stared fixedly at Lin Xiao not far away, their eyes ablaze as they desperately suppressed the excitement deep within their hearts.

Although they knew full well that this assassin had already reached the rank of Soul Douluo, they felt no fear—only endless excitement. After all, wealth and honor were sought amid danger!

"Kill him! Kill him! Kill him for me!" Xue Ye glared furiously at the utterly unfamiliar young man before him. His eyes were bloodshot, his body trembled uncontrollably, and he shouted in an exceedingly cold voice.

The young man had just emerged from the residence of his imperial child, Xue Qinghe. There was no need to guess—he was the assassin. And clearly, his beloved imperial child, Xue Qinghe, had already met with disaster.

"Your Majesty, you must ensure your own safety. We will definitely avenge His Highness!!!" Supporting the emotionally agitated Xue Ye, the commander of the Royal Knights spoke with a resolute gaze.

In the eyes of all the ministers, Xue Qinghe was the most suitable—and the one who absolutely had to become—the future emperor of the Heaven Dou Empire. They believed that Xue Qinghe could lead the Heaven Dou Empire to ever greater strength. Now, Xue Qinghe had died at an assassin's hands. How could they not be grieved?

After Xue Qinghe's death, the only remaining candidate qualified to become the future emperor of the Heaven Dou Empire was Xue Beng. Yet these ministers knew Xue Beng's character inside and out.

If Xue Beng truly became the future emperor of the Heaven Dou Empire, it was hard to imagine what the Heaven Dou Empire would become if it were handed over to that wastrel prince!

The commander of the Royal Knights arranged for several exceptionally powerful Soul Saint captains to protect Xue Ye, then turned to look at the three Education Committee Members from Heaven Dou Royal Academy. The four looked at one another, all wearing complicated expressions.

Several Soul Saint captains tightly surrounded Xue Ye and swiftly escorted him away. At the same time, the commander of the Royal Knights shouted heavily, "Kill!"

Several hundred members of the Royal Knights rapidly closed in on Lin Xiao. Releasing their Martial Souls and displaying their soul rings, all of them were Soul Masters of at least the Soul Ancestor realm as they instantly launched fierce attacks at him.

At that moment, dark clouds suddenly surged across the night sky. Lightning flashed and thunder roared, the thunderclaps deafening enough to make everyone's ears ring. A violent hurricane swept in at once, its fierce gusts so sharp and powerful that people could not even open their eyes.

The sudden change descended without warning, causing everyone to halt their attacks in an instant. They all turned their gazes toward the deep night sky, but the howling hurricane was so powerful that they could barely keep their eyes open.

They could only vaguely sense that within the boundless black night, some enormous creature seemed to be hidden among the clouds.

"What exactly is that?" The commander of the Royal Knights condensed a Soul Power barrier before himself to resist the oncoming hurricane. His eyes remained fixed on the colossal being concealed behind layer upon layer of clouds, and he could not help crying out in shock.

"What... is that?" The three Education Committee Members reacted similarly. The four of them were immensely powerful, their Soul Power Levels having reached Soul Douluo rank. Though the hurricane was fierce, it could not affect them in the slightest, allowing them to clearly see the colossal being hidden behind the Martial Souls.

Within the thick, overlapping clouds, a slender body appeared with the sudden flashes of dazzling lightning, becoming clear one moment and obscured the next. It resembled a majestic black Great Wall, standing imposingly in the deep night sky.

"Awooo~" A dragon's roar suddenly resounded through heaven and earth. It was deafening, and nearly everyone in Heaven Dou City, no matter where they stood, could hear that earthshaking roar with perfect clarity!

As the deafening dragon's roar echoed across the vast sky, the heavy Martial Souls slowly parted, and the thing hidden within their layers finally revealed its true form.

An enormous dragon head appeared completely before everyone's eyes. Its eyes shone like a deep starry sky, continuously radiating incomparably brilliant light.

"Gasp... That's a dragon, a real dragon—and a Black Dragon at that! How could a dragon appear in Heaven Dou City?!" The members of the Royal Knights all sucked in cold breaths. That incomparably massive dragon head, together with its thunderous roar—

For some unfathomable reason, their hearts trembled and quivered without stop.

"A dragon... and a Black Dragon. This isn't a soul beast. It definitely doesn't feel like a soul beast. Could it be—?!" The commander of the Royal Knights suddenly came to a realization, his heart filled with shock. Seeming to think of something, he slowly shifted his gaze from the Black Dragon in the night sky to Lin Xiao.

(There will be another chapter around noon or this afternoon. I can't keep writing late at night—I'm so sleepy.)