Vying for the Throne

Liu Consecrated Elder watched the golden sun in Xu Tianming's palm, a smile gradually appearing on his aged face.

He could clearly sense the powerful aura of fire and light contained within that sun. Even though Xu Tianming had yet to officially become a soul master, his newly awakened Martial Soul alone had already noticeably raised the surrounding temperature.

More importantly, the Soul Power fluctuations within Xu Tianming's body had reached an astonishing level.

Liu Consecrated Elder withdrew his Soul Power, turned to the War Prince, and cupped his hands. "Congratulations, Your Highness. Seventh Young Master has awakened the Sun Martial Soul, and his Innate Soul Power has reached level ten."

Innate Full Soul Power.

As soon as those words fell, the entire Awakening Hall fell silent for a moment before being filled with hearty laughter.

"Good! Good! Good!"

War Prince Xu Mo said "good" three times in succession, the smile on his face nearly impossible to conceal.

He strode over to Xu Tianming, raised a hand, and patted his shoulder. The delight in his eyes was more intense than anyone could have imagined.

"As expected of my son. You awakened the Sun Martial Soul and possess Innate Full Soul Power. Tianming, you have not disappointed your father."

Xu Tianming's body swayed slightly from the pat, but he did not mind. He merely looked up at his clearly overexcited father.

Xu Mo turned around and gave a booming order. "Pass down my command. Everyone in the residence will receive a bonus. Hold a banquet today to celebrate. Everyone in the residence will have a share."

"Yes, Your Highness!"

The surrounding guards and maids responded in unison, their faces also showing delight. Xu Tianming's other brothers, however, all froze at the same time.

They naturally remembered the scenes when they had awakened their Martial Souls.

Even when their eldest brother, Xu Tianran, had awakened the Purple Radiant Heaven-Slaying Dragon Martial Soul, their father had been just as pleased then, but he had not lost his composure as he had today. Nor had he directly ordered bonuses for everyone in the residence and a celebratory banquet.

The Sun Martial Soul was powerful, but several of them had awakened the Sun Martial Soul as well.

The only difference was perhaps that Xu Tianming possessed Innate Full Soul Power. At that thought, several princes felt somewhat bitter.

They were all their father's sons, yet the difference in treatment was simply too great. When they looked at Xu Tianming, there was now a little more envy and jealousy in their eyes.

Still, those emotions were buried deeply. No one would reveal them at a time like this.

Xu Tianran, however, kept a smile on his face the entire time. He was genuinely happy for his younger brother.

Among all his siblings, he had the greatest age gap with Xu Tianming, yet he was also the one who cared most about this younger brother. As he watched the golden sun in Xu Tianming's palm, his eyes were full of gratification.

Yet for some reason, he felt that there was vaguely a familiar aura within that sun.

That aura was somewhat similar to his Purple Radiant Heaven-Slaying Dragon Martial Soul.

However, Xu Tianran quickly suppressed that thought. The Sun Martial Soul was originally an inherited Martial Soul of the imperial family, so it was not strange for it to share a similar aura with the Purple Radiant Heaven-Slaying Dragon.

He did not dwell on it further. Instead, he walked up to Xu Tianming and said gently, "Congratulations, Seventh Brother. You awakened the Sun Martial Soul and possess Innate Full Soul Power. You must cultivate diligently from now on."

Xu Tianming put away the sun in his palm and returned Xu Tianran's salute.

"Thank you, Eldest Brother."

After that, several of his other brothers also stepped forward to offer their congratulations.

"Congratulations, Seventh Brother."

"With Innate Full Soul Power, Seventh Brother will surely become a powerful soul master in the future."

"Once you reach a certain level of cultivation, I'll take you to the Soul Arena for some fun."

Facing everyone's congratulations, Xu Tianming returned each salute. His attitude was neither warm nor distant. Among all these siblings, the one he actually liked the most was Xu Tianzhen.

Although Xu Tianzhen was always pestering him to call her big sister and had a somewhat spoiled temperament, her mind was simple and she had no schemes. She was like a sweet, foolish child who had never grown up.

As for the second person he liked, it was Xu Tianran. At least for now, Xu Tianran was indeed steady, gentle, and very easy to get along with.

He cared deeply for all his siblings, especially Xu Tianming and Xu Tianzhen, the youngest brother and sister.

Whenever Xu Tianran returned from outside, he would bring them little gifts.

Xu Tianzhen would occasionally act cute and ask to leave the residence to play outside. Although Xu Tianran would always look helpless, he would still take them out with him.

Even if their father scolded him afterward, he would take all the responsibility upon himself.

However, power was often a poisonous toxin that corrupted the human heart.

Xu Mo was still only the War Prince, and the throne was still far from them. Thus, the struggle for power among the brothers had not truly revealed itself.

But Xu Tianming had already met Crown Prince Xu He several times. The other boy was nine years old this year, which also meant that the change in the imperial palace was not far away.

Once his father ascended the throne, how long could the bond between these brothers last?

Xu Tianming did not hold much hope for it.

Of course, he was not without ambition himself. That position was not one Xu Tianming could not sit in.

Wasn't coming to another world as a transmigrator all about becoming emperor and building a harem?

After all, in the five thousand years of cultural history from his previous life, he had only seen four words: vie to become emperor. It had been impossible in his previous life, but now that he had come to another world, he had to experience it at least once.

Of course, he did not merely want to become the emperor of the Sun Moon Empire. He also wanted to unify the entire Douluo Continent, even become the master of the Divine Realm, and ultimately stand above all worlds as the overlord of the universe.

Of course, those were merely his ambitions at this moment. At this stage, they could only be considered dreams.

But weren't dreams a man's romance?

He would take it slowly.

After the awakening ceremony ended, the War Prince's Residence was soon decorated with lanterns and colorful ornaments as a banquet was laid out.

Once Xu Mo's orders were passed down, the entire residence was immersed in joy. The maids and guards received extra bonuses, while the kitchen prepared large amounts of precious ingredients.

At the banquet, cups were raised and laughter rang out without end.

Xu Tianzhen sat beside Xu Tianming with a cup of fruit juice, occasionally leaning over to ask him a question.

"Tianming, am I weaker than you now?"

"Not for the time being."

"What do you mean, not for the time being?"

"Your Soul Power is higher than mine."

Xu Tianzhen immediately became smug. When she had awakened the Sun Martial Soul, her Innate Soul Power had reached level nine, and she had now cultivated to level fifteen.

"Then hurry up and call me big sister."

"Xu Tianzhen."

"How can you be like this!"

Xu Tianzhen gritted her teeth in anger, yet there was nothing she could do about Xu Tianming. Even when the banquet ended, Xu Tianming still had not changed the way he addressed her.

Night deepened.

Xu Mo summoned Xu Tianming alone to the study.

The study was simply furnished, with books and soul-tool materials lining all four walls. An ancient-looking soul-tool lamp sat atop the desk, its dim yellow light casting Xu Mo's shadow long across the room.

"Little Seven, release your Martial Soul again and let your father have another look."

Xu Tianming did not ask any questions. He nodded. "All right."

The next moment, golden light lit up the study.