Stinking Fish and Rotten Shrimp Will Always Be Stinking Fish and Rotten Shrimp

Radiant City.

Atop a towering structure in the central district.

Xu Mozhen, captain of the Sun Moon Imperial Inspection Squad, looked down at the rolling smoke billowing from the massive explosion in the southern district. Unease and worry flickered in his eyes.

"Your Highness, is this really all right? Isn't it too risky? After all, Xia Yu's identity..."

After watching for a while, Xu Mozhen turned around with some hesitation and looked toward the Third Prince, Xu Tianchen, who sat on the sofa.

That was right. The attack Xia Yu now faced had been orchestrated and planned by the Third Prince's faction.

As for the reason, it was nothing more than the royal family's struggle for power and profit.

"Mozhen, do you think I still have a choice at this point?"

Rather than answering Xu Mozhen, the Third Prince Xu Tianchen narrowed his eyes at the distant imperial palace.

"My eldest brother, the Crown Prince, already has his butcher's blade at my throat. If I don't make a desperate gamble now, won't I end up following the same path as my second brother?"

As he spoke, a deep gloom clouded the Third Prince Xu Tianchen's eyes.

"Your Highness, we... still have a chance. After all, the Crown Prince's health..."

Xu Mozhen naturally knew that the Third Prince was telling the truth.

Originally, with support from their father, who controlled the imperial clan, the Third Prince could still contend with Crown Prince Xu Tianran, who had gained the support of the Consecration Hall, maintaining a relative balance.

But unfortunately, that so-called balance completely collapsed when Jing Hongchen led Virtue Hall into fully backing Crown Prince Xu Tianran.

With Virtue Hall's power behind him, Crown Prince Xu Tianran's faction began expanding at a terrifying pace.

Before long, he had kicked the Third Prince Xu Tianchen's forces to death like a stray dog by the roadside.

Well, not dead yet, but barely alive.

With the Third Prince no longer an obstacle, Crown Prince Xu Tianran swiftly used the Emperor's grave illness as an opportunity to ascend to the position of Regent Prince.

Now, he controlled two-fifths of the Empire's military.

One had to know that two-fifths of the Empire's troops had always been completely loyal to the Empire and the Emperor, never participating in factional struggles.

In other words, of the troops that the princes of the Sun Moon Empire could possibly win over, two-thirds had already fallen into Crown Prince Xu Tianran's hands.

As for the remaining third, it did not all belong to the Third Prince. The other princes and certain fence-sitters occupied quite a considerable portion as well.

It could be said that, judging by the balance of power on the surface, the Third Prince had already lost completely. He had no chance whatsoever of making a comeback.

That was why he had taken such a dangerous gamble, setting his sights on Xia Yu and planning this ambush.

Of course, the Third Prince was not so audacious as to want Xia Yu dead. He merely wanted to use an evil poison to control him.

As long as he could control Xia Yu, there would be countless ways to exploit the situation afterward.

If things went well, he could use Xia Yu as a stepping stone to connect the Consecration Hall and the ducal Xia Family.

If things went poorly, he could secretly use Xia Yu's identity to stir up trouble and thoroughly muddy the waters before fishing for benefits.

No matter how one looked at it, controlling Xia Yu brought nothing but advantages. It was entirely worth taking the risk.

Even if they failed, it would not matter. They had long made thorough preparations, completely erasing all relevant clues and traces before the operation began.

No matter how Xia Yu and the others investigated, they would never be able to trace it back to them.

The Third Prince Xu Tianchen was far too familiar with this sort of thing. He had done it so often that it came to him effortlessly.

"Tch. I really never expected to be attacked in Radiant City."

On a secluded street in Radiant City's southern district, Xia Yu stood atop the ruins left by the explosion. With his arms folded across his chest, he narrowed his eyes at the people surrounding him.

Because he had let his guard down from the outset, he had not been particularly vigilant when he went out to clear his head.

With careful planning against an unwary target, those sewer rats had actually succeeded in ambushing him, and he had taken the explosive impact of one Ninth-Level Soul Tool shell and numerous fixed-installation eighth-level soul tool shells head-on.

Fortunately, he wore enough defensive soul tools, and they had activated in time, so he had not suffered any injuries.

Still, this served as a warning to Xia Yu. It was necessary to maintain a certain degree of vigilance at all times.

He could not make such a mistake again.

After silently admonishing himself, Xia Yu spread out all of his spiritual power and began inspecting the situation.

"Hm?"

When his spiritual power swept over the aged figure at the front, Xia Yu had not expected to recognize him.

"Isn't this Ghost Fox, the one Teacher mentioned? I didn't expect him to still be alive."

No one knew Ghost Fox's original name. He had emerged out of nowhere decades ago and become famous throughout the Sun Moon Empire as a ninth-level control-type soul engineer.

But this man was extremely arrogant. Though he needed soul engineers to craft the various soul tools he required, he looked down on soul engineers.

He had even dreamed of enslaving soul engineers, treating them as tools to manufacture soul tools for him at all times.

That was utterly absurd.

One had to know that the foundation of the Sun Moon Empire was not some damned control-type soul engineer, but ordinary soul engineers.

So-called control-type soul engineers merely borrowed the title of soul engineer.

In truth, they still followed the old methods of traditional soul masters, simply using soul tools as combat weapons.

In the end, Ghost Fox was wanted by the Sun Moon Empire because of his actions.

Kong Deming, who had still been serving at Virtue Hall at the time, personally led the pursuit. After Ghost Fox escaped with grievous injuries, he vanished without a trace.

Kong Deming had originally believed Ghost Fox was dead, so while teaching Xia Yu, he had used the man as a negative example.

But no one had expected this fellow to be so hard to kill. Despite suffering such severe injuries back then, he had somehow endured.

He was practically no different from an indestructible cockroach.

"Oh? And who might this be?"

Xia Yu looked Ghost Fox over with contempt, his tone filled with undisguised mockery.

"Isn't this the famed control-type ninth-level soul engineer Ghost Fox from decades ago? How pathetic you are now. You've become nothing but a rat in the gutter."

"But then again, stinking fish and rotten shrimp will always be stinking fish and rotten shrimp. It's only natural for you to crawl around in the sewers."

"Ahhh! Xia Yu, you little brat! How dare you insult me like this? Die!"

Xia Yu's words instantly enraged Ghost Fox, sending him into a furious rage.

He no longer bothered concealing his identity. Without another word, he summoned his martial soul and fused with it.

At once, the phantom of an enormous black fox appeared in the void behind Ghost Fox, its body wreathed in chilling ghostly energy. Wearing a savage expression, it roared and shrieked at Xia Yu.

That was not all. After summoning and merging with his martial soul, Ghost Fox produced a Ninth-Level Soul Tool in the form of a soul cannon.

In an instant, he assumed a firing stance, aiming every barrel at Xia Yu's position.

"Even your teacher Kong Deming didn't dare speak to me like that. You're quite arrogant."

"Now let me weigh your abilities as his disciple and see just how much of Kong Deming's true teachings you inherited."

After preparing for battle, Ghost Fox did not forget to retort.

Just like that, he tried to put pressure on Xia Yu with his words.

Ghost Fox did have some real ability. Not only was his personal combat strength enough to rival that of a traditional soul master, but he was also exceptionally skilled with soul tools.

He had not disgraced his reputation as a control-type ninth-level soul engineer.