At dawn, as the first ray of sunlight shone into Heaven Dou City, the capital of the Heaven Dou Empire took on an air of solemnity.
Soldiers had sealed off every street around Heavenly Soul Square in the center of Heaven Dou City, all for the grand continental event held once every five years—the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Fighting Tournament.
On the battlements of the Imperial City stood a middle-aged man in a bright yellow robe and a crown, his hands clasped behind his back. He was none other than Wei Tiance, emperor of the Heaven Dou Empire. A host of ministers stood behind him, but what Wei Tiance regretted most was that Du Busi, sect master of the Body Sect, was not there to watch the competition.
Ever since Vina had joined the Body Sect, its ties with the Heavenly Soul Imperial Family had indeed grown somewhat closer, but they still fell short of what Wei Tiance had hoped for. Du Busi had silenced him on that matter with a single simple statement: Ye An, the Young Sect Master destined to inherit the Body Sect, had a fiancée, Zhang Lexuan, who was a descendant of the Moonwatch Viscount. The Moonwatch Viscount's entire clan had been exterminated in Heaven Dou City. Although the Heavenly Soul Imperial Family had nothing to do with it, some lingering resentment remained.
Wei Tiance was utterly helpless about this and could only keep inwardly cursing the Xuan Ye Earl, whose clan had long since been exterminated to the third degree of kinship.
After the incident involving the Moonwatch Earl, Wei Tiance had secretly conducted a thorough investigation of the Heaven Dou Empire's entire noble class. To his horror, he discovered that over eighty percent of its nobles had ties, close or distant, to