After dinner, Luo Chen sat alone on the roof, thinking about how to make Gulu Balls. In his hands were his three kinds of Gulu Balls: ordinary Gulu Balls, Tidal Gulu Balls, and King Gulu Balls.
The King Gulu Ball's overpowered properties meant Luo Chen had to give up on trying to replicate it first. As for the Tidal Ball and the ordinary Gulu Ball, he could generate ordinary Gulu Balls infinitely. The only limit was that his Soul Power level restricted how many Spirits he could capture.
That was also why he had no idea how ordinary Gulu Balls were made. That left only the Tidal Ball.
The Tidal Ball was a new kind of Gulu Ball he had comprehended when he obtained his Second Soul Ring and awakened his Martial Soul, so he had learned how to make it. Could he work backward from the method for making Tidal Balls to figure out how to make Gulu Balls? Or perhaps he could simply give his mom and dad a Tidal Ball each.
"What kind of Martial Soul do you have, anyway? And you're thinking of replicating it? Are you trying to wipe out the entire Soul Beast Clan?"
"Hey, that's not how it is. I don't think this would wipe out your Soul Beast Clan. On the contrary, maybe it would preserve your Core Flame!"
"How so?"
Luo Chen spun him a story. "Think about it. Soul Masters hunt Soul Beasts because they need Soul Rings and Soul Bones. But if one day they had another way to make themselves even stronger, maybe they'd kill fewer Soul Beasts. That might be a good thing for Soul Beasts! Maybe we could even breed Soul Beasts artificially."
Artificial breeding? Luo Chen suddenly had another idea. Artificial breeding sounded great! Maybe they could cultivate all kinds of Soul Beasts! In his previous life, Luo Chen had graduated with a degree in biology, but after graduation, he'd gone to work at a pig-breeding center, raising piglets. Breeding Soul Beasts might be an easy problem for a biology master like Luo Chen to crack!
Science and technology were the primary productive forces!
The Evil Emperor was stunned by Luo Chen's speech. He'd thought that calling himself the Evil Emperor made him pretty evil, but compared to this human in front of him, he was still far too aboveboard.
By now, Luo Chen was lying on his back, gazing at the stars. Su Heng quietly climbed up and sat cross-legged beside him.
"Can't sleep?" Luo Chen asked.
For some reason, Su Heng seemed utterly dejected. Luo Chen had thought he was having trouble adjusting to being so far from home.
"Luo Chen, there's a secret I want to tell you..." He didn't call him Brother Chen, but used Luo Chen's full name, making the moment feel 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 tell him about his past. Luo Chen didn't interrupt; he just listened quietly.
Then Su Heng continued, "There are four of us brothers. Our eldest brother is much older than the rest of us. My second brother and I are about the same age. Our eldest brother was a good man, and he took great care of us. My second brother and I often fought, but our eldest brother would always pull us apart and gently tell us not to fight."
"But one day, my second brother suddenly died! They said he'd accidentally drowned. I was devastated, but my eldest brother kept comforting me, and I always thought it had been an accident!"
By then, tears were streaming down Su Heng's face. But suddenly his tone changed, and his eyes turned bloodshot. "But then one day, after finishing my training, I was really thirsty. I went back to my room and took a sip of water. Just that one sip! My head started spinning. I passed out, then felt my whole body burning. After that, I didn't know anything."
Luo Chen continued listening as Su Heng went on. "When I woke up again, I saw my uncle—the one who always seemed so unreliable. He was the one who saved me!"
"After all that, I'm sure you're wondering who I really am, and why someone would try to poison me." He paused, then said, "Actually, my name isn't Su Heng. My real name is Xue Yan, and I'm the Heaven Dou Empire's Third Prince."
Luo Chen had started to suspect something halfway through the story. At first, he'd thought the person in front of him was Xue Beng, but Xue Beng's Martial Soul wasn't a Thunder Roc.
"Wait, isn't your family's Martial Soul a Swan? How come yours is a Thunder Roc?" Luo Chen asked, puzzled.
Su Heng replied, "That's the strange part. You could say I was lucky to survive. The physician said that poison should have killed me, but by some fluke, a certain substance in it triggered the ancient bloodline in my Martial Soul. My Martial Soul evolved into a Thunder Roc, my appearance changed, and I successfully broke through level ten to become a One-Ring Soul Master."
So that was it. But the original story hadn't mentioned a Third Prince. Luo Chen had reason to suspect that the Third Prince had never survived in the first place. Maybe Qian Renxue had killed him later, or maybe he'd ignored all of this, changed his name, and lived out his life in peace.
Whatever the truth, at least he was still alive now.
Luo Chen asked, "Was it your kind and benevolent eldest brother, Xue Qinghe, who did it?"
"How did you know?" Su Heng was startled. He hadn't told anyone.
"But I never wanted the throne! Why would my eldest brother try to kill me?" Su Heng—no, Xue Yan—asked angrily.
Luo Chen said calmly, "Is it possible that he's no longer your eldest brother?"
"What do you mean?" Xue Yan froze.
"I mean, is it possible that your real eldest brother is already dead, and the Xue Qinghe you see now is actually someone else in disguise?"
Luo Chen's words struck Xue Yan's ears like a bolt of lightning.
"How could that be possible?" Xue Yan couldn't believe it.
Luo Chen spoke again. "I don't just know that. I also know who killed your eldest brother and impersonated him."
"Who?"
"Qian Renxue, the daughter of Qian Xunji, the former Spirit Hall Pope, and Bibi Dong, the current Spirit Hall Pope!"
"What! Weren't Qian Xunji and Bibi Dong master and disciple?" Xue Yan's entire worldview was turned upside down once again.
"Heh, I know far too much. If I started talking, I could go on for three days and three nights without running out of things to say. But why did you tell me your real identity? Aren't you afraid I'll tell the current Xue Qinghe who you really are? I might even get a big reward!" Luo Chen said playfully.
Su Heng replied, "No, Brother Chen. You're not that kind of person. After spending these past few months with you, I've realized something: you're too lonely. With your talent, any faction would be scrambling to recruit you. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, for instance—they might pour the resources of their entire sect into making you a powerful expert if they knew what you could do. The other factions wouldn't treat you badly either. But you don't seem to care about any of that. I can also tell that Chief Meng Shenji can't teach you much, yet you still call him your teacher. That shows what a loyal and affectionate person you are. And then I felt the warmth of your family, something I'd never experienced before. It moved me!"
Before you continue