Chapter Eight: He Dares to Found a Nation? Reunifying the Two Shores Cannot Wait!
The Royal Palace
Ming King Hall
Buzz~ Buzz~ Buzz~
Xu Nian'an sat cross-legged on the ground. In front of him, a long sword glittering with golden light, covered in dragon scales and adorned with streamlined dragon patterns, spun continuously.
Bang~! Bang~! ...
With each explosive sound that rang out from within his body, Xu Nian'an's Soul Power surged wildly.
A blood-red Soul Ring bearing two strange life patterns revolved above his head.
Those two life patterns, representing two hundred thousand years, left Long Xiaoyao utterly stunned.
There was no Soul Beast, no sacrifice. How had this Soul Ring appeared?
A Soul Ring with a lifespan far beyond a hundred thousand years had simply fallen from the sky???
He couldn't understand it. He didn't know what to make of it.
It wasn't until a pale dawn lit up outside Ming King Hall and a wisp of purple appeared over the East Sea that...
[Level 15~!]
[Level 16~!]
[Level 17~!]
After his Soul Power broke through level eleven, it began surging wildly inside Xu Nian'an.
It seemed to rise by one level every so often. By the time dawn broke in the east, after a single night, Xu Nian'an's Soul Power had reached the peak of level seventeen.
When he reached that peak, it seemed as though some restriction inside his body had stopped him. He had reached saturation.
Only then did the blood-red Two-Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring, with its two life patterns, slowly sink into Xu Nian'an's body.
Thump~!
Thump~!
Thump~!
His heart beat powerfully within him. Xu Nian'an slowly opened his eyes, a golden light flashing in them.
吟~吟~吟~!
The instant Xu Nian'an opened his eyes, the Dragon Emperor Sword before him began spinning, and a series of soft dragon roars rang out from it.
Buzz~!
A blood-red Soul Ring slowly appeared around Xu Nian'an. He slowly reached out and grasped the sword's hilt.
Shing~!
The Dragon Emperor Sword was slowly drawn.
Shing... Shing... Shing!
A gentle breeze began to stir around Xu Nian'an.
Everywhere the breeze passed, it left behind sharp sword marks.
Splurt~ Splurt~
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Xu Nian'an narrowed his eyes slightly. Every piece of furniture in the palace shattered at once.
"Congratulations, Your Majesty, on acquiring a Two-Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring and breaking through to Soul Master!"
Long Xiaoyao's voice rang out calmly.
"Phew~"
Xu Nian'an let out a soft breath. Absorbing the Two-Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring had put his body under considerable strain.
Under that pressure, a great deal of filth had been expelled from his body. Though he felt refreshed, his Python Robe clung to him, sticky and uncomfortable.
"Rise."
At Xu Nian'an's words, Long Xiaoyao slowly straightened from his slight bow.
"Your Majesty, I'm curious. There were no high-level Soul Beasts nearby, and no Soul Beast offered itself as a sacrifice. So this Two-Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring of yours..."
Long Xiaoyao's ability to recognize the blood-red Soul Ring on him as a Two-Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring didn't surprise Xu Nian'an in the slightest.
After all, Long Xiaoyao was a Limit Douluo and had two Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings of his own.
"Would you believe me if I said it was all a gift from nature?"
Although Long Xiaoyao was completely loyal to him, Xu Nian'an would never tell anyone about the system.
Not even the people summoned by the system.
After speaking, Xu Nian'an had no desire to linger on the subject. He turned to leave, but Long Xiaoyao's voice drifted after him.
"I believe you!"
"In Your Majesty, I see the might of an Emperor. I believe all this must be Heaven's arrangement."
Xu Nian'an paused slightly.
"Tell that old eunuch to replace everything in my palace with new furnishings."
After that, Xu Nian'an had the palace maids bathe and dress him.
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty, you've really grown quickly. You've gained nearly twenty centimeters since I saw you last night."
"Wonderful~!"
Absorbing a Soul Ring always brought a round of physical enhancement.
It was perfectly normal for him to grow taller and bigger to varying degrees.
Xu Nian'an was a little disappointed, though. The parts that had grown were his height and build, not the part he'd imagined.
Sigh, who knows how long I'll have to wait before I can put it to use.
Looks like the little maids in my palace will have to work hard for me these next few years.
"Reporting! Urgent dispatch, one hundred li!"
Just then, Xu Yi's voice sounded from outside the bath chamber.
Raising his brows, Xu Nian'an stood with his arms and legs spread wide, put on the last piece of clothing, and slowly walked out.
"Speak."
At Xu Nian'an's words, Xu Yi slowly raised his head.
"Your Majesty, I have three matters to report."
"First, following Your Majesty's orders, I occupied all the territory of the Gu Lei Kingdom before dawn and brought the local forces under control. The officials have been imprisoned and await Your Majesty's judgment."
"Second, after dawn, an envoy from the Heaven Dou Empire came to investigate the situation."
At that, Xu Nian'an raised his brows.
Well, damn... That was way too fast.
They'd only just occupied the Gu Lei Kingdom, and the Heaven Dou Empire already knew what was happening here. They hadn't even had time to react.
"Third, according to my investigations and the information available in the Gu Lei Kingdom, the other half of our Great Ming Kingdom's territory in the Star Luo Empire... has already been swayed by the Star Luo Empire."
"With support from the Galloping Wolf Kingdom, Li Xingyao has led one hundred thousand militia to proclaim himself ruler of the Star Shine Duchy!"
At this news, Xu Nian'an's pupils contracted sharply.
The Star Shine Duchy... It was one of the two great duchies in the novels he'd read in his previous life.
So it really was happening. If he hadn't resisted, the Starry Sky Kingdom might well have become another vassal duchy of the Heaven Dou Empire.
But... the Galloping Wolf Kingdom...
"The Gu Lei Kingdom came after me, and now the Galloping Wolf Kingdom wants to join in? Then we'll fight!!!"
"Doesn't the Heaven Dou Empire want to know what's going on between the Gu Lei Kingdom and our Great Ming Kingdom?"
"Tell them everything, in detail. Tell them how we first launched a surprise attack and killed their king's camp, then drowned two hundred thousand of the Gu Lei Kingdom's soldiers!"
With that, Xu Nian'an turned and strode away.
He went to the highest point in the Great Ming Kingdom and looked south.
Over there, across the sea, lay the other half of the Great Ming Kingdom's territory.
"The Star Shine Duchy... Heh..."
"Li Xingyao has some nerve."
"He dares to found a nation? Reunifying the two shores cannot wait!"
But... thirty thousand troops and the Holy Spirit Cult alone didn't seem enough to intimidate the Heaven Dou Empire.
Long Xiaoyao, a Limit Douluo, had to stay by his side to protect him. He couldn't leave for the Gu Lei Kingdom to intimidate the Heaven Dou envoy.
There was no choice. It seemed he would have to use that card.
"System, use the Myriad Worlds Summoning Card!"
Xu Nian'an had barely finished speaking when, in the next instant, the system's cold notification rang out in his mind.
[ Ding, congratulations, Host. You have summoned Ming Lei, the Holy Spirit Cult's Third Elder from Peerless Tang Sect, a level ninety-two Titled Douluo and Level 9 Soul Engineer! ]
Looking at the interface that appeared from the system, Xu Nian'an let out a deep breath.
He'd thought he'd summoned one of the second-weakest Douluo in the series. Thankfully, he was a Level 9 Soul Engineer. A Level 9 Soul Engineer could make Level 9 Soul Tools, so he should be able to hold his own against the Super Douluo of this era, right?
No, he needed to make some arrangements. At the very least, he had to bluff the Heaven Dou Empire and buy himself enough time to send troops and reclaim the Star Shine Duchy's territory.