The Xue Ye Emperor's Thoughts

"Are you telling the truth?"

In the Heavenly Dou Imperial Palace, inside the Imperial Study, Emperor Xue Ye's hands were trembling. He stared at the three worshiped experts before him, his lips quivering, unable to believe his own ears.

"Your Majesty, the three of us saw it with our own eyes and heard it with our own ears. We would not dare speak a single false word."

Xue Tianya's expression was grave. "That Title Death God's strength is rarely seen in this world. Poison Douluo had no power to fight back before him, and has now submitted to him. Fortunately, he is not someone who delights in killing, and the three of us were not too disrespectful. Otherwise, just for going to his door to demand an explanation, we would probably already be corpses by now."

Xue Tianya and the other two were still seized by lingering fear. Faced with an existence like His Excellency Death God, the three of them, Spirit Douluo who were normally considered powerful, were truly no different from ordinary people. He could wipe them out with a flick of his finger.

Emperor Xue Ye said hoarsely, "Xue Xing has ruined me. I warned him time and again to restrain himself and stop acting so lawlessly and tyrannically, but he never listened. He believed no one in the empire would dare provoke him. This time, he has finally kicked an iron plate. Now that His Excellency wants to take his life, I cannot protect him."

Xue Tianya hesitated for a moment, then said, "Your Majesty, from what I saw, His Excellency is not a bloodthirsty man. Perhaps matters have not yet reached that point."

Emperor Xue Ye glanced at him and asked for advice. "What suggestion does Worship Xue have?"

He only had this one younger brother, who had not fought him for the throne back then. Although the man was somewhat useless, their brotherly bond was still quite good. He did not want to lose this younger brother.

Xue Tianya said, "Prince Xue Xing should be ordered to bear thorns on his back and plead guilty. As long as he can keep his life, even if he has to abandon his dignity, that is acceptable. After all, kneeling and begging for mercy before a powerhouse like that is not shameful."

"In addition, perhaps Sect Master Ning can be invited to mediate. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect has two Title Douluo, both of extraordinary strength. They are qualified to speak with His Excellency. Out of consideration for Sect Master Ning and Your Majesty, he may spare Prince Xue Xing."

Emperor Xue Ye's eyes lit up. "You speak reasonably. As long as His Excellency Death God is willing to spare Xue Xing's life, I will also go to his door to apologize."

Meng Shenji said, "Your Majesty, you are the emperor of the empire. Even Sect Master Ning must salute and greet you when he sees you. For you to personally go to his door to apologize... I fear that would be inappropriate!"

A sharp light appeared in Emperor Xue Ye's eyes, and he shook his head. "I, on the other hand, feel it is very appropriate. Do you not know that within crisis there is also opportunity? From a bad perspective, this matter is indeed terrible. Because Xue Xing was arrogant and reckless, the empire has offended a powerhouse it cannot afford to provoke. But if handled properly, we can also turn crisis into opportunity and allow the empire to profit from it."

After hearing this, Xue Tianya and the other two fell into thought. Meng Shenji said, "Your Majesty means to use this chance to draw His Excellency over?"

Emperor Xue Ye said, "Such an unrivaled powerhouse does not yet belong to any known force on the continent and has no entanglements of interest with them. Is that not the best possible external support? If the empire can befriend such a powerhouse, or even invite him to serve as Nation-Protecting Douluo, then the empire's prestige will soar greatly. Even Spirit Hall will no longer dare look down on the empire."

Xue Tianya said, "The vision is wonderful, but for a powerhouse like that, what could possibly be used to draw him in? Wealth, glory, power, fame, and profit in the mortal world—if he wanted them, they would be within easy reach. I fear the empire cannot offer anything that would move him."

Emperor Xue Ye also looked troubled. He said slowly, "Success depends on human effort. If we do not try, how will we know whether it can succeed? As long as we can draw in His Excellency Death God, that would be equivalent to drawing in Poison Douluo as well. I can accept any price."

The three nodded. Although they felt the hope was not great, since Emperor Xue Ye insisted on doing this, they would not object.

If the other party truly became the Nation-Protecting Douluo of the Heaven Dou Empire, that would also be a good thing for them. The empire's strength was not weak; what it lacked was precisely such an unrivaled powerhouse capable of holding up the sky. As long as it had one Title Douluo presiding over it, the empire's overall strength would not be inferior to the Upper Three Sects in the slightest, and might even be stronger.

Emperor Xue Ye immediately made the decision. "I ask the three worshiped experts to personally make a trip to Xue Xing's residence and explain the severity of the matter to him. Tell him that if he does not want to die, he should hurry over and bear thorns on his back to plead guilty. If he cannot obtain His Excellency's forgiveness, I will not save him, nor do I have the ability to save him."

Xue Tianya said, "Your Majesty intends to seek out Sect Master Ning?"

Emperor Xue Ye said, "Ning Fengzhi and Sword Douluo attended the Heaven Dou Auction last night and bought those spirit bones. They have not yet left Heaven Dou City. I will ask them for help."

Not long after Liu Erlong left, Zhu Huang heard a voice come from outside the hotel. "I am Xue Xing. Blind to life and death, I offended His Excellency Death God. Today, I have come to bear thorns on my back and plead guilty. I ask His Excellency Death God to punish me. As long as you are willing to spare my life, I, Xue Xing, am willing to pay any price."

The street erupted in an uproar. Everyone pointed and discussed it, all of them looking bewildered and incredulous.

Who was Prince Xue Xing? He stood beneath one man and above ten thousand, the number one silkpants tyrant of the Heaven Dou Empire. Aside from a limited few, he placed no one in his eyes.

What kind of person possessed such might that they could make Prince Xue Xing kneel on the ground, bear thorns on his back, plead guilty, and beg for his life?

Even Sect Master Ning of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect probably did not have that qualification. Could that person's status actually be higher than Sect Master Ning's?

"What did I just hear? His Excellency Death God? The one Prince Xue Xing offended is a Title Douluo. No wonder."

"That's not right either. Even a Title Douluo wouldn't have the qualifications to make an imperial prince kneel and beg for mercy, would he? Although the empire itself has no Title Douluo, it isn't afraid of one or two Title Douluo. Not to mention the empire is on good terms with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Could the other party be an elder of Spirit Hall?"

"No idea. Spirit Hall doesn't seem to have any elder titled Death God, right?"

"That's hard to say. Spirit Hall might have hidden powerhouses we don't know about. After all, it's the number one force on the continent. Having hidden strength would be normal."

"He might not necessarily be from Spirit Hall either. Don't be fooled by the fact that there are fewer than ten Title Douluo on the continent on the surface. I dare say the true number is definitely more than ten. There must be certain hidden powerhouses who simply don't reveal themselves before others."

"Could this Death God Douluo be one of those hidden powerhouses?"

Everyone's heads were full of question marks. They discussed it endlessly, making all kinds of guesses, but they all now knew that inside this hotel lived a super big shot who could make Prince Xue Xing bear thorns on his back, kneel, plead guilty, and beg for his life.

Zhu Huang looked outside and saw that at the hotel entrance, Prince Xue Xing was bare-chested, exposing his pale, flabby flesh. On his back he carried a bundle of thorny branches, and the barbs, over a centimeter long, had pierced many bloody holes into the skin of his back. Because he had walked here, they had also scraped out streaks of blood.

Blood covered his entire back, even dyeing his lower pants red. He looked utterly wretched.

At this moment, Prince Xue Xing was kneeling flat on the ground in complete prostration, his face pressed deeply against the earth. His whole body trembled, whether from pain or from overwhelming humiliation.

Even from a great distance away, Zhu Huang could see the flush on Prince Xue Xing's face, filled with shame and fear.

He did not even dare be angry.

Zhu Huang only glanced at him before paying him no more attention and continued sitting cross-legged on the bed, cultivating the Heavenly Demon Creation Art.

A mere Prince Xue Xing had never been worth taking seriously in his eyes. Whether he killed him or not was a small matter. He would let him suffer a little first, then see how things went later.

When Prince Xue Xing saw that Zhu Huang ignored him, his body shook even more violently. Kneeling on the ground, he did not dare get up at all. Even though he felt so ashamed he wished he could find a crack in the ground and crawl into it, he still did not dare raise his head.

He knew that his little life was now hanging by a thread. Before life itself, things like face and dignity were not worth mentioning at all.