Birthday Banquet, Prince Xuelin

Lin Yao glanced at the pages recommended by Lin Xueli that the shopkeeper was pointing to, opting for a low-key, dark-colored formal suit; the overall style was characterized by relatively simple patterns.

Lin Yao looked them over for a few moments, then began flipping through the pages. Having spent years reading people, the shopkeeper naturally understood that Lin Yao wasn't quite satisfied with those specific designs, so he immediately added, "The color of the patterns can be customized; those are just to indicate the general style."

Lin Yao nodded, then flipped his fingers back to the pages Lin Xueli had recommended. He pointed to a dark-colored robe embroidered with cloud patterns and said, "Change these cloud patterns to gold thread. I'll take this one."

The shopkeeper nodded and immediately instructed a clerk to take Lin Yao to be measured.

After Lin Yao finished being measured by the clerk, he placed the deposit given by Lin Xueli on the shopkeeper's counter. The shopkeeper opened the tube, took a look, and then pinched out five gold soul coins and pressed them into Lin Yao's hand, smiling broadly. "Young Master Lin will surely have a brilliant future after this; I hope you will continue to favor my humble shop in the future."

There were only fifteen or sixteen gold soul coins in that tube, so the shopkeeper had essentially given up a third of the profit with that gesture. Lin Yao shrugged and replied to the shopkeeper, "I'll keep your business in mind. I'm leaving."

Lin Yao turned and walked away. As he sat in the carriage, he looked through the window and saw a crowd gathered not far away, mostly women. Curious, he asked the coachman, "What's happening up ahead?"

The coachman took a glance and replied to Lin Yao, "It's people from the Xuanming Sect, here to recruit women to complete their martial soul awakening ceremony."

Lin Yao raised an eyebrow and asked the coachman, "Are people from the Xuanming Sect coming to our Douling City to recruit?"

The coachman smiled and said to Lin Yao, "To be precise, they are recruiting in almost every city across the entire Douling Empire. After all, it's said that the ceremony has a huge impact on a woman's martial soul and cultivation. Decent families usually wouldn't let their daughters do this kind of work, so they have to gather them from various cities."

Lin Yao nodded and turned his gaze toward the distance. The coachman deliberately slowed the carriage and asked, "Young Master, would you like to go take a look?"

Lin Yao's gaze had already swept over the crowd, and seeing no one with yellow hair, he let down the carriage curtain and said, "I cannot save everyone right now, so it is better not to try."

The coachman nodded and drove the carriage toward the Lin Mansion.

This small interlude left no ripples in Lin Yao's heart. Upon returning to the mansion, he continued to cultivate his soul power according to the methods provided by the Dragon Transformation.

Early the next morning, the clothing shop owner sent someone to deliver the formal suit Lin Yao had ordered. Lin Xueli was also very satisfied with the suit and arranged for servants to help Lin Yao put it on. Lin Yao felt that Lin Xueli was likely hiding some good news from him.

Otherwise, Lin Xueli's reaction seemed a bit too enthusiastic for simply trying on clothes to attend an old lady's birthday banquet.

For an ordinary official, a royal birthday banquet could be considered a great favor from the heavens.

But for an old official who had served two reigns like Lin Xueli, it wasn't exactly a rare occurrence.

In the afternoon, Lin Xueli took Lin Yao to the Douling Imperial Palace.

This Douling Imperial Palace was almost a replica of the layout of the Tiandou Imperial Palace of Ten Thousand Years Ago, though due to the nation's inherent weakness and reduced territory, some areas appeared cramped and stifling.

Looking at the increasingly poor quality of the courtyard walls, Lin Yao understood what it meant to be "gilded on the outside, but rotten on the inside."

However, the scale of the banquet was passable. After all, it was still the royal family; a starving camel is still bigger than a horse, and the dishes were of a luxury that ordinary people could not imagine.

When Lin Xueli led Lin Yao into the main hall, the eyes of the Douling Empire's nobles fell upon Lin Yao in unison.

Lin Yao did not feel stage fright; he simply followed Lin Xueli to his seat in silence. At this moment, he was merely speculating on what the Douling royal family meant by inviting him to such a royal event.

The mystery was revealed when the banquet officially began.

After the middle-aged Douling Emperor personally helped the Empress Dowager to her seat at the head of the table, he did not sit down immediately, but instead fixed his gaze on Lin Yao.

"Lin Yao, son of Official Lin, possesses exceptional talent. His martial soul awakening was accompanied by auspicious signs, which greatly pleases this Emperor. Now that I see him, he is indeed extraordinary and shows the potential to revitalize the Douling Empire. I hereby confer upon Lin Yao the title of Prince, with the honorific Xuelin."

Lin Yao paused, then looked up at the Douling Emperor sitting at the head of the table.

Everything clicked into place. It turned out this was a tactic to rope him in and bind him to the war chariot of the Douling Empire.

Thinking about it carefully, it made sense. If he, Huo Feng, had entered Shrek Academy to study earlier, it would have been very easy to cut ties with the Douling Empire after graduating.

This Douling Emperor was not as muddled as he had imagined; at least he knew that someone with talent could not be easily let go.

Under Lin Xueli's instruction, Lin Yao stood up and formally thanked the Douling Emperor. Then, at the Emperor's command, the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet officially began.

After the banquet ended, Lin Yao returned to the Lin Mansion and asked Lin Xueli, "Father, did you know this was going to happen all along?"

Lin Xueli nodded and said to Lin Yao, "Do you not think the title of Prince is a good thing, Yao'er?"

Lin Yao couldn't help but narrow his eyes, nearly blurting out, Do you think our Douling Empire is such a great kingdom? Being a prince in a place like this—whether it will be a blessing or a curse in the future is truly hard to say.

However, after a moment of thought, Lin Yao decided not to say it.

His father had dedicated his entire life to the Douling Empire. If he were to belittle the empire in front of him now, it would only upset the old man, and that would do him no good.

Taking a deep breath, Lin Yao said to Lin Xueli, "Father, I would like to go traveling in a while to see the situation in other countries on the Douluo Continent. What do you think?"

Lin Xueli frowned upon hearing this and looked at Lin Yao, saying, "Traveling? How old are you? Traveling at your age will only bring danger. At the very least, wait until you reach the second ring."

Over the next few months, Lin Yao handled some of the handover ceremonies required after being conferred the title of Prince.

In reality, the title the Douling Emperor gave Lin Yao was just like the "Great Sage Equaling Heaven" title given to the Monkey King—a nominal position with no real power or benefits.

By the following year, Lin Yao had reached the second-ring level.