The Third Prince? Su Heng? Xue Yan!

After dinner, Luo Chen sat alone on the roof, pondering how to craft Gulu Balls. In his hands, he held his three types: the ordinary Gulu Ball, the Tidal Gulu Ball, and the King Gulu Ball.

The heaven-defying properties of the King Gulu Ball meant Luo Chen had to abandon any thought of replicating it for now. Next were the Tidal Gulu Ball and the ordinary Gulu Ball; the latter could be generated infinitely, though his spirit power level limited the number of spirits he could capture.

Precisely because of this, he did not know how the ordinary Gulu Ball was made, leaving only the Tidal Gulu Ball.

The Tidal Gulu Ball was a brand-new type he had comprehended upon obtaining his second spirit ring and awakening his martial spirit. Since he possessed the crafting method for it, could he reverse-engineer the method for the ordinary Gulu Ball? Or perhaps he could just give one to his parents.

"What kind of martial spirit do you even have, kid? You want to replicate these? Are you trying to wipe out our spirit beast race?"

"Eh? That's not how you put it. I think what I'm doing isn't wiping you out, but rather preserving your lineage!"

"How so?"

Luo Chen bluffed, "Think about it. Current spirit masters hunt spirit beasts because they need spirit rings and spirit bones. But if one day there were another way to grant them even greater enhancements, they might reduce the slaughter. That would be a good thing for spirit beasts! Perhaps we could even artificially breed them."

Artificial breeding? A new idea suddenly struck Luo Chen. Artificial breeding was great; he might be able to cultivate all sorts of spirit beasts! In his past life, Luo Chen had graduated with a degree in biology, though he had ended up working at a pig breeding center. For a master of biology like him, cultivating spirit beasts might be a problem he could easily solve!

Technology is the primary productive force!

Even the Evil Emperor was shocked by these words. He had thought his title, "Evil Emperor," was wicked enough, but compared to the human before him, he felt positively upright.

Luo Chen had shifted into a lying position, watching the stars, when Su Heng silently climbed up and sat cross-legged beside him.

"Can't sleep?" Luo Chen asked.

Su Heng seemed unusually dejected, and Luo Chen assumed he was struggling to adapt to being so far from home.

"Luo Chen, I actually have a secret I want to tell you..." He didn't call him Brother Chen, but used his full name to sound more formal.

Luo Chen turned to look at him. Su Heng's expression was extremely serious, even grave.

"Actually, I'm not an orphan. My father is still alive, and I even have brothers." Su Heng began to recount his background, and Luo Chen listened quietly without interrupting.

Su Heng continued, "There were four of us brothers. Our eldest brother was much older than the rest of us, and I was about the same age as our second brother. Our eldest brother was a good man who took great care of us. Whenever the second brother and I fought, he would pull us apart and gently tell us not to fight."

"But one day, the second brother suddenly died! They said he drowned by accident. I was devastated, but the eldest brother comforted me the whole time, and I, too, believed it was just an accident!"

At this point, Su Heng was already streaming with tears, but his tone suddenly shifted, his eyes turning bloodshot. "But! One day after finishing my training, I felt thirsty and drank some water in my room. Just that one sip! I felt dizzy and faint. I passed out, then felt a burning sensation all over my body, and after that, I knew nothing."

Luo Chen continued to listen as Su Heng went on, "When I woke up again, I saw my uncle—the uncle who usually seemed so unreliable—it was he who saved me!"

"After saying all this, I'm sure you're wondering who I am and why someone would try to poison me." He paused and said, "Actually, my name isn't Su Heng. My real name is Xue Yan, and I am the Third Prince of the Heaven Dou Empire."

Luo Chen had actually guessed as much halfway through. At first, he thought the person before him was Xue Beng, but Xue Beng's martial spirit was not a Thunder Roc.

"That's not right. Isn't your family's martial spirit a swan? How is it a Thunder Roc?" Luo Chen asked, puzzled.

Su Heng explained, "That's the strange part. You could say I was lucky. The physician said that poison should have killed me, but as luck would have it, a certain substance in it accidentally triggered the ancient bloodline in my martial spirit. My spirit evolved into a Thunder Roc, my appearance changed, and I successfully broke through to level ten, becoming a one-ring spirit master."

So that was it. However, the Third Prince never appeared in the original story. Luo Chen had reason to suspect that the Third Prince was supposed to have died, or perhaps he was killed by Qian Renxue later, or maybe he simply ignored these matters and lived out his life under an alias.

Regardless, at least he was still alive for now.

Luo Chen asked, "Was it your kind eldest brother, Xue Qinghe, who did it?"

"How did you know?" Su Heng was startled; he had never told anyone.

"But I never even thought about the throne! Why would my eldest brother want to kill me?" Su Heng—no, Xue Yan—asked this in a rage.

Luo Chen said calmly, "Is there a possibility that he is no longer your eldest brother?"

"What do you mean?" Xue Yan froze.

"I mean, is there a possibility that your real eldest brother is already dead, and the Xue Qinghe you see now is actually an impostor?"

Luo Chen's words struck Xue Yan like a bolt of lightning.

"How could such a thing be possible?" Xue Yan couldn't believe it.

Luo Chen spoke again, "I don't just know that; I also know who killed your brother and took his place."

"Who?"

"Qian Renxue, the daughter of the former Spirit Hall Pope, Qian Xunji, and the current Pope, Bibi Dong!"

"What! Aren't Qian Xunji and Bibi Dong master and disciple?" Xue Yan's worldview was being reorganized once again.

"Heh, I know far too much. If I were to tell you everything, it would take three days and three nights. But what do you mean by telling me your true identity? Aren't you afraid I'll tell the current Xue Qinghe? I might even get a big reward for it!" Luo Chen said playfully.

Xue Yan replied, "No, Brother Chen, you aren't that kind of person. After these few months together, I've discovered something: you are too lonely. With your talent, any faction would fight to have you. For example, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect—if they knew of your abilities, they might exhaust the entire sect's resources to cultivate you into a powerhouse. Other factions wouldn't treat you poorly either. Yet, you don't seem to care about any of that. I can also see that Chief Meng Shenji can't teach you much, but you still call him 'Teacher,' which shows you are a man who values loyalty. And after feeling the atmosphere of your family—that warmth I've never felt before—I was moved!"