My Brother Shall Be a Sage King

"Of course it's true. How could I lie to Father about something like this? The Body Sect's several hundred disciples have formally moved into that estate. They simply haven't shown themselves yet."

After Xu Tiance assured him again and again, Xu Chengjing let out a long breath, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

Wonderful!

The Body Sect really has become a sect of our Sun Moon Empire, a force of our Sun Moon Empire!

There's nothing our Sun Moon Empire lacks now!

But Xu Chengjing soon seemed to remember something. His eyes shifted slightly, and he asked as though in passing, "Tiance, before you left the Offering Hall, did Elder Kong say anything? Or... did he ask you to pass along any message?"

Hearing that, Xu Tiance laughed to himself.

He had to admit, watching his father rack his brains for a way to coax information out of him was rather amusing.

For Xu Chengjing, although he had made thorough preparations and secured Mingde Hall's unequivocal support, Elder Kong remained the true Sea-Calming Divine Needle of the Sun Moon Empire. Xu Chengjing knew Elder Kong might have learned of his little maneuvers long ago and chosen not to stop them, but until Elder Kong made his position clear, he still dared not act rashly.

To put his father's mind completely at ease and get him to launch his bid for the throne sooner, Xu Tiance pretended to think carefully before saying, "Teacher didn't ask me to pass along anything. But before he invited Senior Du Busi to move the Body Sect to the Sun Moon Empire, he did ask me one question."

"Oh? What did Elder Kong ask you?"

Xu Chengjing was frantic inside, but he still managed to look unconcerned.

"Teacher asked whether I wanted to become the Crown Prince of the Sun Moon Empire."

At those words, Xu Chengjing and Xu Tianran felt two utterly different things.

Only two words remained in Xu Chengjing's mind—It's settled!

How could he not understand what Elder Kong meant by that?

The current Crown Prince of the Sun Moon Empire was Xu Chengye's only son, Xu He. For Tiance to become Crown Prince, Xu Chengjing first had to ascend the throne! That meant he could finally act without holding back!

With Elder Kong's support, the first thing he would do upon ascending the throne was name Tiance Crown Prince of the Sun Moon Empire!

As for Xu Tianran, the successor he had favored until now, he could take over Xu Chengjing's former position and become the new Prince Purple Brilliant.

Tianran might have his own thoughts about it, but Xu Chengjing trusted that he was a clever man and would accept the arrangement. Becoming Emperor of the Sun Moon Empire offered a wider world, but there was nothing wrong with becoming Prince Purple Brilliant either. Both served to strengthen their Sun Moon Empire!

Xu Tianran, meanwhile, felt as though the sky had fallen.

Once Elder Kong had said that, even if his father had never intended to make his fourth brother Crown Prince, he certainly would now. If for no other reason, he would do it to satisfy Elder Kong.

In fact, Xu Tianran's chance had vanished the moment his fourth brother awakened the Sun-Moon Radiance Martial Soul and became Elder Kong's disciple. He had merely clung to hope and lied to himself until now.

The strained smile on Xu Tianran's face gradually turned bitter.

His father was about to take the throne of the Sun Moon Empire. That was good news. His fourth brother had awakened the Sun-Moon Radiance Martial Soul and become Elder Kong's disciple. That was good news too. Together, the two might well be good news for the Sun Moon Empire, but for him, they had become a disaster.

So it really had come to this... a world where he was the only one who got hurt!

Xu Tiance ate a cordial dinner at Prince Purple Brilliant's residence—or at least, the meal was cordial on the surface. His other two brothers and several sisters sincerely congratulated him on becoming Elder Kong's disciple. Only Xu Tianran said nothing, drinking in sullen silence.

After the banquet, Xu Tiance prepared to leave Prince Purple Brilliant's residence. Before he could step through the gates, however, a thoroughly drunk Xu Tianran came after him.

Even alone with Xu Tianran, Xu Tiance felt no alarm.

In fairness, Xu Tianran was not particularly close to their other two brothers, who were nearer him in age. But he had always looked after Xu Tiance, his much younger and only full brother. When Xu Tiance had fought the children of other princes as a boy, Xu Tianran had usually been the one to smooth things over.

So Xu Tiance did not believe Xu Tianran, whose temperament had not yet become completely extreme, would attack him. Besides, an elder of the Offering Hall was guarding him from the shadows.

Shadow Douluo Xue Chen was a Level 93 Titled Douluo, a Level 9 Soul Engineer, and an elder of the Imperial Offering Hall.

In the original story, Xue Chen had been Xu Tianran's loyal servant, charged with protecting him. But now that Xu Tiance had become Elder Kong's most valued disciple, Kong Deming had sent Shadow Douluo to protect Xu Tiance instead.

"Big Brother?"

That single address seemed to sober Xu Tianran a little, and his expression grew complicated.

Buoyed by drink, he had come with plenty to say. But now that some of the alcohol's haze had lifted, he met Xu Tiance's unusually bright eyes and no longer knew where to begin.

After a moment of silence, Xu Tianran forced down the emotions churning inside him and said softly, "You have an excellent teacher in Elder Kong, Fourth Brother. Be diligent in your cultivation. Don't grow lazy or neglect it. If you need anything, just send someone back to let us know."

Had Xu Tianran chased him down just to say that?

Xu Tiance gave him a surprised look, but Xu Tianran did not stop. Instead, the words began pouring out of him. "Since Elder Kong wants you to become the future Crown Prince of our Sun Moon Empire, you must work even harder at your cultivation, Fourth Brother. You possess Innate Full Soul Power, something our empire sees perhaps once in a century, and you awakened a Martial Soul as symbolic as Sun-Moon Radiance. Of course everyone would want you as our Crown Prince."

"My brother, you should be a sage king like Yao and Shun!"

By the end, Xu Tianran had even taken Xu Tiance's hand. Every word sounded deeply sincere.

That little sequence of moves left Xu Tiance dumbfounded.

This wasn't how the script was supposed to go! Were those really your lines?

Wasn't Xu Tianran supposed to resent all this but be unable to do a thing about it? Then, when Xu Tiance finally ascended to the Divine Realm, shouldn't he take Xu Tianran's hand and say, "My brother, you should be a sage king like Yao and Shun"?

Why wasn't Xu Tianran following the script?

After saying all that, Xu Tianran seemed to lapse back into drunkenness. He staggered away and vanished into the night, leaving Xu Tiance alone in the wind, utterly at a loss.