Had the Emperor Died?
With a soft creak, the tightly closed gilded carved wooden door was pushed open.
The windows on all four sides of the top floor of the Star-Picking Tower are open, and a gentle breeze carrying the scent of the morning dew from the Imperial City flows through the hall, stirring the hanging light gold gauze curtains.
Behind a low rosewood table by the window, Xue Qinghe, dressed in Apricot-Yellow Crown Prince Attire and wearing a White Jade Crown, was holding a Red Clay Teapot and slowly pouring boiling amber tea into two White Jade Cup.
The moment Su Chen stepped across the threshold, he keenly sensed two extremely condensed Titled Douluo auras lurking in the dark room behind the screen.
"Captain Su is indeed a man of his word. Please take a seat."
Xue Qinghe put down the red clay teapot, smiled, and gestured with his hand. "Just now I was gazing at the Skywave Villa from the rooftop. Captain Su, such a young hero, is truly unparalleled throughout the entire continent."
Su Chen stepped across to the other side, glancing at the hot tea on the table. "Your Crown Prince, you certainly have excellent eyesight."
"Such a momentous event has occurred in Heaven Dou City, shaking the entire court and the country. How could I, as the Regent Crown Prince, not know about it?"
Xue Qinghe smiled gently, picked up the white jade Teacup, and pushed it in front of Su Chen: "Yesterday, Xue Beng Brother Xue Beng offended one of Captain Su's concubines, and deserved to die; today, Imperial Uncle Xue Xing recklessly mobilized the Imperial Knight Corps to besiege the villa, which is extremely reckless. Captain Su, rest assured, I will join forces with Sect Master Ning."
The moment the words left her lips, Xue Qinghe's slender index finger, resting on the rim of her cup, trembled slightly.
A wisp of pure and refined Soul Power flowed from the Teacup into the table and directly probed the Meridians in Su Chen's palm, which was resting on his knee!
At the same time, Xue Qinghe added seemingly casually, "Speaking of which, yesterday afternoon when Imperial Uncle Xue Xing first led his troops to cause trouble at the villa, my scouts vaguely sensed the oppressive aura of a Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum flashing high above the villa. I wonder what the connection is between Captain Su and that His Holiness of the Pope's Hall in Spirit City?"
Su Chen scoffed inwardly. This woman had been lurking in the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace for over a decade under the guise of Xue Qinghe; she was indeed quite cunning. Unfortunately, she had chosen the wrong person to play this game of feigned politeness with him.
If we don't expose and expose her carefully hidden trump cards right in front of her, she'll really think she's come to the Eastern Palace to ask her for a favor!
Buzz!
In the depths of Su Chen's eyes, the Purple-Gold Double Pupils of the "Ancient Truth-Severing Dragon Divine Pupils" flashed and disappeared!
The unremarkable face of the young crown prince opposite the low table instantly blurred and became transparent, revealing a stunningly beautiful true body hidden beneath the disguise.
She was a stunningly beautiful woman of about eighteen or nineteen years old. Her long, dazzling hair, as brilliant as crimson gold, was tied up under a jade crown. Her eyebrows were like distant, sharply defined mountains, and her nose was high and beautiful. Her skin, as white as snow, radiated a sacred and noble glow. Her phoenix eyes held a cold and aloof air that had long belonged to someone in a high position.
Deep within the Tanzhong acupoint on her heaving chest, a blazing, pure golden six-winged light, like the sun in the sky, was quietly dormant and flowing!
The Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul, Qian Renxue!
At the very moment Su Chen saw through his daughter's true form, a wisp of Soul Power probing from under the table touched his robes.
Su Chen stretched out his right hand and pressed it against the white jade Teacup. The Qi and blood of the Chaos Ancestral Dragon Ice-Fire Golden Body in his body trembled slightly, and a domineering and unparalleled Pure Yang Dragon Aura rushed into the cup through his fingertips!
Snap!
With a soft, crisp sound, a spiderweb-like crack instantly appeared on the bottom of the top-grade white jade Teacup. The wisp of Soul Power that Xue Qinghe had brought couldn't even last half a breath before being burned to nothingness by the blazing Pure Yang Dragon Aura!
Before Xue Qinghe could change color and withdraw her hand, Su Chen suddenly stood up, took a step over the side of the low table, and his tall and upright figure approached Xue Qinghe less than two feet in front of her, looking down at her suddenly tense face.
"Xue Qinghe, or should I call you by a different name?"
Su Chen leaned down slightly, his voice low, yet each word struck the other's eardrums like thunder. "Your Crown Prince, the divine power hidden beneath your masculine exterior is scorching and intense, unlike the Flat-Feathered Swan Martial Soul of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family. Heir of the Six-Winged Angel, haven't you felt stifled, hiding in the Eastern Palace and playing the subservient grandson for over a decade?"
Clang!! Inside the hidden room behind, two terrifying killing intents, each reaching level ninety-two or higher, suddenly erupted like a volcanic eruption!
Upon hearing that their core secrets had been revealed, She Long and Ci Xue, two Titled Douluo, exerted force with their feet and were about to break through the screen!
"Everyone, get out of my way!!"
At the critical moment, Qian Renxue swiftly transmitted her Soul Power into the dark room. "Without my death order, anyone who dares to step out of the screen and ruin the whole situation will immediately return to Spirit City to face death!"
She Long and Ci Xue exchanged a glance, filled with resentment, but ultimately dared not disobey Qian Renxue's death order, and could only grit their teeth and suppress their boiling Soul Power back down.
The Star-Picking Tower returned to silence, with only the morning breeze causing the gauze curtains to flutter.
Qian Renxue looked up at Su Chen, who was so close to her, her gentle and approachable demeanor as the crown prince completely vanishing.
"Even Ning Fengzhi and Chen Xin didn't notice the disguise of the Angel Soul Bone, yet you saw through it with just a pair of eyes... Su Chen, what kind of monster are you? Ju Yue Guan secretly protected you, could it be that the woman from the Pope's Hall found out my background and sent you to Heaven Dou City to destroy my foundation?!"
The mere mention of Bibi Dong evoked an overwhelming sense of disgust and chilling killing intent deep within Qian Renxue's eyes.
"Don't try to pin Bibi Dong on me; she's not qualified to boss me around."
Su Chen suppressed his outward-radiating pure Yang Dragon Might, took a half step back, and sat down again. "Yue Guan was outside the Skywave Villa listening to orders because Bibi Dong herself was trying to win me over. It has nothing to do with what I'm doing. If I were really running errands for Bibi Dong, wouldn't it have been much more satisfying to just tear off your Xue Qinghe's fake face right there at the villa's gate in front of the three thousand imperial guards and Dugu Bo? Why would I bother coming up to your Star-Picking Tower alone?"
Qian Renxue's tense nerves suddenly relaxed.
She was inherently intelligent and ruthless, and after a moment's thought, she understood the key to it.
But then, an unprecedented sense of shame, anger, and fear surged into Qian Renxue's heart. The earth-shattering secret she had kept hidden for more than ten years and regarded as her life was now in the palm of a boy who was six or seven years younger than her!
"Since you weren't sent by that woman, what do you want from deliberately revealing my hand today?" Qian Renxue resumed her cold and arrogant demeanor and asked in a cold voice.
"It's so much easier talking to smart people. What I need is very simple, just two things."
Su Chen held up two fingers, decisively stating his price. "First, settle things with Xue Ye and Xue Xing, and stop letting those Imperial Family flies cause trouble at the Skywave Villa; second, the All-Continent Elite Tournament of Advanced Soul Master Academy is about to begin, and my Dragon God Team will absolutely not be affiliated with any corrupt academy. Before sunset today, I need you to send me a special approval gold token for an ' Independent Seed Team ' in the name of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family and the Tournament Organizing Committee, directly qualifying for the main competition!"
Upon hearing these two conditions, Qian Renxue was slightly taken aback, then coldly snorted, "The Special Approval Golden Token for a Seed Team hasn't been issued even once in the entire Heaven Dou Division in twenty years. You certainly have a big appetite! Why should I agree to your request?"
"With your crown prince hat on your head, you think you can easily become the Heaven Dou Emperor?"
Meeting her icy gaze, Su Chen said, word by word, "You secretly dealt with Xue Ye's other two sons years ago, leaving only the Fourth Prince, Xue Beng. Do you think Xue Beng is really just a good-for-nothing wastrel? Yesterday outside the Heaven Dou Academy, I saw through that fool at a glance; he was feigning madness, hoping to outlive Xue Ye before turning against you and vying for the throne. Now, I've conveniently slapped away this last obstacle for you. As long as I don't say a word, the Heaven Dou empire will fall into your hands sooner or later. Trading a single gold token for your decades of planning to land safely—do you think that's a bad deal?"
Qian Renxue's heart skipped a beat!
Looking at the handsome young man before her, who was calm and composed, and who, despite only having a level 52 Soul King cultivation, exuded an extremely strong sense of pressure, Qian Renxue's emotions were turbulent and difficult to calm.
He felt both the humiliation and resentment of being controlled by others, and a strong desire to recruit and conquer Su Chen's extraordinary combat power.
Weighing the pros and cons in a matter of seconds, Qian Renxue gritted her teeth and decisively made her decision. "Alright! Within the Tournament Organizing Committee, the Eastern Palace already holds a Imperial Family- granted spot. As long as you don't interfere with my taking over the Heaven Dou Empire, the special approval document for the Independent Seed Team will definitely be delivered to you today! As for that old man Xue Ye, I will personally suppress that matter for you!"
As the alliance was finalized, a silent system notification quietly appeared deep within Su Chen's mind:
[Ding! I've seen through Qian Renxue's angelic disguise and forcefully seized control of the Eastern Palace's lifeline, securing the Independent Seed Team Privilege in the tournament without bloodshed! Triggering the Heavenly Fate Critical Hit reward: Spiritual Origin Condensation Level increased by 20%, and I've obtained the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast Precise Tracking Secret Art!]
Clang--!! Clang--!! Clang--!!
Just then, from the depths of the majestic Heaven Dou Imperial Palace in the distance, a mournful and urgent Red-Copper Funeral Alarm Bell suddenly rang out!
The bell tolled nine times in a row, tearing through the clouds above the Imperial City, carrying an aura of impending doom and fear.
"Your Highness! Something terrible has happened!"
From below the Star-Picking Tower came the frantic, urgent report from the Eastern Palace Attendant eunuch, "An extremely urgent imperial edict has just arrived! Prince Xue Xing carried the critically wounded and dying Consecrated Shi Qing the palace, weeping and reporting that Poison Douluo has betrayed His Majesty and defected to another. His Majesty, in the Imperial Study, suffered a stroke and fainted on the spot! The Imperial Medical Academy is now helpless, and the Empress and high-ranking officials urgently summon His Highness the Crown Prince and Sect Master Ning of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect Crown Prince to the palace immediately to take charge of the situation!"