After reassuring the others and sending the senior officials on their way,
Su Changge glanced toward a corner. The air rippled, and a figure in a black robe quietly appeared.
"Senior, thank goodness you made it back today. Otherwise... I really wouldn't have known how to deal with them."
Pufferfish Douluo neither accepted nor rejected Su Changge's flattery.
In his eyes, this was a trivial matter. Even if he hadn't stepped in, even if the situation had truly fallen apart, Su Changge would have had a way to turn the tide!
This young friend of his was sharp as a tack.
Otherwise, he would have run off long ago!
Seeing that Pufferfish Douluo wasn't responding, Su Changge didn't press the matter. Instead, he asked, "Senior, did you come alone again this time? What about the Crown Prince?"
"According to the message Princess Rose secretly sent back, the old king probably won't last through this month. At most, he has half a month; at least, ten days. He's bound to die."
"When the old king is no longer there to keep everyone in check, the struggle for the throne will inevitably reach its conclusion. By then... the entire Royal Capital will become a living hell."
"This is a grave matter. The Crown Prince needs to come and take charge as soon as possible! Otherwise, I won't feel confident."
Thinking back to twenty days ago, when he had just set up the Thirteenth Princess's faction, Xue Qinghe had washed his hands of the whole affair and run off, leaving all the dirty, exhausting work to him...
Su Changge couldn't help but sigh.
He'd been a lackey for so long, but this was the first time he'd met someone as shameless as Yu Xiaogang.
If there weren't a few scraps to be had! If he weren't afraid that two Titled Douluo would settle the score with him later, he would have run off long ago.
As for Xue Qinghe, the Gold Soul Coins and resources Pufferfish Douluo had bestowed on him earlier—sorry... those had only bought half a month of his loyalty.
That loyalty had already expired.
Want his loyalty?
Easy. Renew the subscription. Send the money.
"His Highness is tied up with political rivals in the imperial capital, but don't worry. He'll be here when the time comes."
Pufferfish Douluo glanced at Su Changge and saw his crestfallen expression. He immediately understood.
"My young friend, although His Highness hasn't been in Haagen-Dazs Royal City these past few days, he knows what you've done and how much hardship you've endured."
"His Highness specifically asked me to pass along a message when he sent me here!"
"Oh? What did His Highness say?"
"His Highness said your efforts will be rewarded. When he returns to Haagen-Dazs Royal City, he'll bring you a Soul Bone with a cultivation age of over fifty thousand years..."
Hearing that he could get his hands on a top-tier Soul Bone, Su Changge perked up at once.
His loyalty to the Crown Prince... was as clear as the sun and moon!
A most loyal subject!
"His Highness also instructed me that if your Soul Master rank is high enough to hunt Soul Beasts, I should personally take you to the Star Dou Great Forest and find a suitable Soul Ring for you..."
"Well?"
"His Highness treats you pretty well, doesn't he?"
"Having a Titled Douluo as your bodyguard is more than enough for you to brag about for the rest of your life."
"I'll remember His Highness's kindness forever."
As he spoke, Su Changge shamelessly dropped to his knees facing north in front of Pufferfish Douluo and, though separated by thousands of miles, knocked his head against the ground several times for Xue Qinghe.
Then he sprang to his feet and grabbed Pufferfish Douluo by the wrist. "Senior, better today than tomorrow. The Royal Capital is unlikely to see any large-scale disturbances over the next few days, so why don't we make another trip while we can?"
One day later, in the mixed zone of the Star Dou Great Forest.
There was no denying it: getting carried along by a Titled Douluo made for incredibly fast travel.
Countless afterimages flashed past his eyes, and he threw up more times than he could count along the way.
Still, with Pufferfish Douluo watching over him this time, Su Changge no longer had to worry about whether night would fall in the Star Dou Great Forest.
"Su, hunting a ten-thousand-year Soul Ring as your third Soul Ring—isn't that too big a leap?"
"A Soul Ring isn't better just because it has a higher age. Finding one that suits you is what matters most."
"Take the Crown Prince and me, for example. Our third Soul Rings were only purple..."
Seeing that Su Changge was dead set on hunting a ten-thousand-year Soul Beast, Pufferfish Douluo kept trying to talk him out of it.
It had taken a great deal of effort for His Highness to find someone capable of shouldering the burden. He didn't want Su Changge to get himself killed by underestimating the danger and having his body burst apart from the Soul Power of a ten-thousand-year Soul Beast...
"Don't worry, Senior. I know what I'm doing! I'll only look for ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts. I won't turn my nose up at one that's only ten thousand years old, and I won't complain if it's thirty thousand."
Su Changge thumped his chest and promised.
It was rare for him to get the Crown Prince to pay up, so he wanted a suitable one—and he wanted a high age, too.
Seeing that Su Changge wouldn't be swayed, Pufferfish Douluo sighed helplessly. "From the look of you, you've already picked out a target, haven't you?"
"Go on, what kind of Soul Beast do you want to hunt?"
"Any species with a powerful body. But I've already hunted Soul Rings from the Titan Giant Ape and Golden Nine-Headed Lion species. The Seven-Colored Heaven-Swallowing Python... or one of those ancient clans or dragon-blooded variants would do, too."
Su Changge spread his hands, as if to tell Pufferfish Douluo... I'm not picky. I'll leave it all up to you, Senior.
The sheer shamelessness of it made Pufferfish Douluo's face twitch uncontrollably.
His young friend seemed to have become even more shameless.
With a general direction in mind, the rest was simple.
Pufferfish Douluo took Su Changge back and forth through the mixed zone.
They tracked down one ten-thousand-year Soul Beast after another, only for Su Changge to reject them.
At last, they found a thirty-thousand-year-old Seven-Colored Heaven-Swallowing Python in a secluded pool.
The python's body stretched dozens of meters, its seven-colored scales shimmering and lighting up half the pool.
"Senior, that's the one..."
Su Changge pointed casually, and Pufferfish Douluo attacked at once, as if afraid Su Changge would change his mind again and keep nitpicking forever.
A thirty-thousand-year Soul Beast usually matched a top-tier human Soul Emperor.
Even with part of the bloodline of an ancient clan, the Seven-Colored Heaven-Swallowing Python before them could at most match a peak human Spirit Saint.
Against a Titled Douluo like Pufferfish Douluo, it couldn't even escape.
In just a few minutes, Pufferfish Douluo had beaten the Seven-Colored Heaven-Swallowing Python half to death and tossed it in front of Su Changge.
After quickly delivering the finishing blow, Su Changge paid no mind to the mess strewn across the ground. He sat cross-legged and began absorbing the black Soul Ring emerging from the Seven-Colored Heaven-Swallowing Python.
Crack!
In an instant, mighty, boundless Soul Power rampaged through every meridian in Su Changge's body.
The pain of having his soul torn apart was unbearable, and he couldn't suppress a groan of agony.
"This kid really is a monster."
"His willpower is monstrous, and so is his strength... He's nothing but a walking stat sheet!"
"If he doesn't die young, he'll surely become a Titled Douluo."
Looking at the two purple Soul Rings around Su Changge and the third Soul Ring gradually taking shape, Pufferfish Douluo sighed again.
Fortunately, he was already at the pinnacle of the mortal world, a Titled Douluo.
Otherwise, if he and Su Changge had been of the same generation,
that crushing sense of helplessness would have driven even him to despair.