Dugu Yan was standing beside Dugu Bo.
She was actually rather curious about why Prince Xue Xing had summoned her grandfather from Sunset Forest.
As for the so-called young genius Prince Xue Xing had mentioned, she was even less convinced.
Because in her eyes, if anyone in this world could be called a true genius, it had to be the person she had met in Suotuo City!
Even though she adored Yu Tianheng and saw him through the rose-colored glasses of a lover, she still felt that he was nowhere near Ye Xuan.
She had never expected that the young man Prince Xue Xing was talking about would turn out to be Ye Xuan.
Her heart leapt into her throat with worry.
She knew that Prince Xue Xing had invited her grandfather here for reasons that had nothing to do with making friends.
But to make an enemy of Ye Xuan—
Wasn't that just pushing her grandfather into a pit of fire?
Her thoughts were in a complete tangle, and she had no idea how to talk to her grandfather.
Telling him outright here and now was surely inappropriate; calling him aside to speak privately would be just as awkward.
While she was worrying, Dugu Bo had already begun walking toward Ye Xuan.
Dugu Bo stopped in front of Ye Xuan and said with narrowed eyes, "Young Master Ye, to become His Highness the Crown Prince's guest advisor at such a young age—you truly have a bright future ahead of you!"
"Poison Douluo flatters me. I was simply lucky enough to earn the Crown Prince's favor and get a meal out of it," Ye Xuan said calmly.
"Those who have earned the Crown Prince's favor are all extraordinary. I'm just curious, Young Master Ye—who is your master? Or which academy did you study at?" Dugu Bo asked.
"I have no master or school, and I never studied at an academy," Ye Xuan replied.
"Poison Douluo, Young Master Ye is my honored guest. Don't you think these questions are rather inappropriate?" Qian Renxue said, displeasure showing in her voice.
"Your Highness, forgive me. I simply couldn't help myself when I saw a genius like Young Master Ye," Dugu Bo said with an ingratiating smile.
At least in public, he was still willing to show the Crown Prince of the Heaven Dou Empire some respect.
"Everyone, please take your seats! This is my banquet, and I hope you'll all eat and drink your fill. Afterward, you're welcome to discuss things and spar with one another. As long as no one gets hurt, I'll be delighted to see it. I wonder what Your Highness thinks?"
After speaking, Prince Xue Xing looked toward Qian Renxue.
He had made his intentions plain.
As long as Qian Renxue agreed, he would surely arrange for someone to spar with Ye Xuan later.
Asking Qian Renxue at this point made his meaning obvious: he wanted to see whether she would accept the challenge.
"Since Uncle has put it that way, how could I refuse?" Qian Renxue said with a smile.
They had discussed this before coming.
Whatever move Prince Xue Xing made, they would simply accept it.
If Ye Xuan could dampen Prince Xue Xing's arrogance today, then from here on, Prince Xue Xing would have to hold himself a step below Qian Renxue.
After all, if even the Titled Douluo he had brought in couldn't shake Qian Renxue's guest advisor, what grounds would he have to keep competing with her?
"Your Highness is certainly decisive. Everyone, please!"
Prince Xue Xing was delighted and immediately invited everyone to take their seats.
Then the servants of the estate began bringing out the food and wine.
Once everything was served, Ye Xuan and the others didn't hold back.
They drank to their hearts' content and tucked into the food with gusto.
After three rounds of drinks, everyone had eaten and drunk their fill.
Just then, a middle-aged man stepped forward and cupped his fists toward Ye Xuan. "Young Master Ye, since you're the Crown Prince's guest advisor, I imagine your strength is extraordinary. I'd like to ask you for a spar. Would you be willing? Of course, I know you're young. Whatever your Soul Power level is, I'll only use a corresponding amount of strength."
He was a teacher at the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, and his strength was quite impressive: a level-65 Soul Emperor.
As soon as he spoke, everyone present looked toward Ye Xuan.
Dugu Yan felt a little relieved.
With this Soul Emperor taking the lead, once Grandfather sees him lose easily, he should be able to judge Ye Xuan's strength. Then he probably won't make an enemy of him just for Prince Xue Xing's sake.
As Dugu Yan was thinking this, Ye Xuan's next words nearly made her jaw drop.
Ye Xuan said, "Since you put it that way, then suppress your Soul Power to level 40. I'm only a level-40 Soul Elder."
"What?"
"A level-40 Soul Elder?"
It wasn't just Dugu Yan. Everyone who heard him was shocked.
Based on the information Prince Xue Xing had gathered, Ye Xuan had to be at least as strong as a Soul Emperor.
Otherwise, there was no way he could have so easily defeated the two bodyguards beside Xue Beng.
He had also passed this information on to the Royal Academy teacher and Dugu Bo.
The reason he had sent the teacher to challenge Ye Xuan first was to confirm his exact strength.
He had never imagined that Ye Xuan was a Soul Elder, not even a Soul Ancestor yet.
As for Dugu Yan, Yu Tianheng, and the others who knew Ye Xuan's strength, they couldn't help thinking that he was deliberately making a fool of them.
How could he possibly be level 40?
How could someone with level-40 strength defeat two Titled Douluo?
This is bad. He's a little crafty. I hope I get a chance to explain things to Grandfather later, Dugu Yan thought.
At that moment, the teacher was clearly taken aback as well.
Seeing him standing there in a daze, Ye Xuan couldn't help smiling. "What's wrong? Is there some difficulty, sir?"
"Young Master Ye, you jest. Of course not. I just didn't expect you to be so strong. I don't have to suppress my strength by much," he said with an awkward laugh.
That was right.
At fifteen, he was already a Soul Elder. If he obtained another Soul Ring, he could break through to Soul Ancestor.
That was undeniably impressive.
But it didn't match the information he had received at first.
Still, he had already made the offer. Even if he suspected something was amiss, he could only steel himself and go through with it.
He summoned his Martial Soul: a weapon-type Martial Soul, a long spear.
"I'm Wu Zhang. My Martial Soul is the Cloud-Piercing Spear. I'm a level-65 Power Attack System Soul Emperor. Please!"
As he spoke, he suppressed his Soul Power and used only four Soul Skills.
Four Soul Rings—yellow, yellow, purple, purple—circled him.
"I'm Ye Xuan. My Martial Soul is the Hundred Beauties Scroll. I'm a level-40 summoning-type Soul Elder."
After Ye Xuan spoke, three Soul Rings began to emerge around him.
Purple, purple, purple.
The three purple Soul Rings made everyone present stare in astonishment.
Meng Shenji and the others had studied Soul Masters' Soul Ring absorption extensively. After all, they were educators at an academy, so they paid more attention to this knowledge than ordinary Soul Masters did.
The First Soul Ring was purple—a Thousand-Year Soul Ring. That made no sense at all.
The First and Second Soul Rings were both purple, and the Third Soul Ring was also a thousand years old. That seemed no more reasonable.
In their eyes, if someone was truly so monstrous that they could absorb a Thousand-Year Soul Ring as their First Soul Ring, then their Third Soul Ring should surely be a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring.
But these three Soul Rings of Ye Xuan's left them utterly baffled.
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