Nighttime Conversation

Zhu Zhuqing stared intently at Jiang Mingyang, wary and a little shocked.

Because people on the Douluo Continent matured early, there was a unique way to judge their ages.

Zhu Zhuqing was shocked because she had roughly gauged Jiang Mingyang's age: sixteen at most. He was far too young, yet he had already reached the level of a Five-Ring Soul King. Surely the continent's record for youngest Soul King had been broken?

He was fully qualified to become a top-tier Titled Douluo one day!

Seeing the wariness and shock in Zhu Zhuqing's eyes, Jiang Mingyang gave his habitual smile and said slowly, "Your Martial Soul is the Hell Spirit Cat, and you're being hunted? You're a daughter of the Zhu Family's main line, aren't you?"

Zhu Zhuqing glanced at Jiang Mingyang. She neither confirmed nor denied it, only asking slowly, "Can I ask how you managed to cultivate to Soul King at your age?"

Zhu Zhuqing rarely spoke much, let alone took the initiative to question someone like this.

But Zhu Zhuqing desperately wanted to grow stronger. Only then could she defeat her elder sister and take control of her own fate.

Jiang Mingyang walked over to the fire and sat down. With a smile, he said slowly, "Top-tier talent, top-tier cultivation resources, top-tier willpower... By the way, you still haven't answered my question."

Zhu Zhuqing hesitated, then walked over to the fire as well and sat opposite Jiang Mingyang. Pondering his words, she slowly nodded. "Mm."

Jiang Mingyang smiled and added, "Judging by your situation, you must be the one at a disadvantage."

Zhu Zhuqing gave Jiang Mingyang another wary look. After hesitating, she asked, "Are top-tier resources really that important?"

The moment Jiang Mingyang heard her question, he understood why she had asked. Zhu Zhuqing was the one at a disadvantage, and by fleeing to the Heaven Dou Empire, she had cut herself off from top-tier resources. Naturally, she cared deeply about what she was destined to go without.

In truth, Zhu Zhuqing understood the importance of top-tier resources herself.

But she had no choice. Her fiancé had fled, leaving her position in the Star Luo Empire even more awkward. Her resources had been cut further, and she had to endure bullying. She might as well flee to the Heaven Dou Empire too.

Jiang Mingyang thought for a moment, then answered slowly in three words: "They're very important."

Hearing those three ordinary words, Zhu Zhuqing fell into thought and said no more.

Jiang Mingyang did not try to continue the conversation either. After all, Zhu Zhuqing was, when it came down to it, a stranger.

He had said so much only because he admired Zhu Zhuqing's hard work and willpower.

Suddenly, as Jiang Mingyang turned his head without thinking, he caught a glimpse of a pair of snow-white, majestic peaks.

He could not help taking another look, then hurriedly turned away. His verdict: an ample bosom! Even bigger than Qianqian's!

After that, Jiang Mingyang did not dare turn his head again. One glance was normal enough, but staring would make him a pervert, wouldn't it? Still, he now had one more thing to admire about Zhu Zhuqing.

In his previous life, Jiang Mingyang had only seen her in anime and novels. Now that he had seen her in person, all he could say was:

She's even more exaggerated than in the anime and novels. At her age, she's already more impressive than Qianqian. How do you sleep at night...?

After a stretch of silence, Zhu Zhuqing seemed to hesitate before saying slowly, "Thank you for saving my life."

Jiang Mingyang looked at her. "I wouldn't go so far as to say I saved your life. Whether I helped you or not, you could have escaped. The people your sister sent never intended to kill you."

Zhu Zhuqing frowned slightly and drew a deep breath, unable to make sense of it.

Then she asked, puzzled, "She... I'm her only rival. How could she not want to kill me?"

Jiang Mingyang smiled and said slowly, "The Star Luo Empire has followed the rule that the strong prevail since ancient times. But when everything else is equal, the one born first generally has the advantage.

The ancestors of your Star Luo Empire considered that too. To keep the younger one from falling into despair, they gave them a chance to compete.

Generally speaking, the contest is judged within a set period.

Until that time arrives, your sister can only hold back your development and keep you from becoming too formidable a rival.

Think about it carefully. Your sister sent only two Soul Grandmasters to kill you. If you think she couldn't have sent higher-level Soul Masters, you're seriously underestimating the influence of Dai Weisi, the eldest son of the Star Luo Empire's main line."

In fact, because of the Dai Family's Martial Soul, the family had intermarried with the Zhu Family for generations. As a result, children of the Zhu Family were generally drawn into struggles for the throne.

Usually, the contest between the two sides took place when the younger one came of age.

In the original story, Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing defeated the older Dai Weisi and Zhu Zhuyun at the Soul Master Tournament despite being younger themselves. That brought the contest between the two sides to an early end.

Zhu Zhuqing thought over what she had heard and fell silent.

Jiang Mingyang said nothing more either, offering only a polite smile.

Jiang Mingyang was tall, and his bearing was mature and steady. At a glance, he seemed like someone who could make others feel safe. His smile made him all the more heartwarming.

Zhu Zhuqing was momentarily taken aback. She wondered whether her fiancé was anything like him.

She understood why Dai Mubai had fled. What she could not understand was why he had disappeared without a word. Could he not have sent her a message? Instead, he had left her alone in the Star Luo Empire to bear the pressure.

Jiang Mingyang truly admired Zhu Zhuqing.

Faced with pressure from Dai Weisi and Zhu Zhuyun, she had not given up. Instead, she had come to the Heaven Dou Empire, determined to fight her way forward. That was undoubtedly admirable.

The one regrettable thing about Zhu Zhuqing, however, was that she gradually lost her independence.

Zhu Zhuqing had come to the Heaven Dou Empire to find Dai Mubai. After finding him, she slowly lost her independent sense of self and became his appendage.

Losing her independent sense of self meant gradually losing the habit of thinking things through for herself and becoming blindly obedient.

In a marriage, one person was bound to make the decisions. That was understandable and unavoidable.

The difference was that, once Zhu Zhuqing got together with Dai Mubai, she became a woman who lived by the rule that a wife must follow her husband.

Zhu Zhuqing no longer dared object to anything Dai Mubai proposed. She lost her own judgment completely.

That had nothing to do with whether Zhu Zhuqing became empress of the Star Luo Empire. Being empress did not mean she had to obey the emperor in every respect, never daring to disagree or form opinions of her own.

This was probably the result of her family's upbringing. After all, because the Star Luo Imperial Family's Martial Soul could form a Martial Soul Fusion Skill, the empress was expected to be of one mind with the emperor.

But achieving that required either a couple deeply in love or one person becoming blindly obedient, with no chance of ever taking the lead.

Of the two, the second was undoubtedly easier.

And to achieve that, shaping a person's thinking was crucial. Start such lessons in childhood, and who could withstand them?

After being raised that way, Zhu Zhuqing would instinctively take Dai Mubai's actions as her standard once they were together, slipping into blind obedience.

It was a pity, really.

The next day, at the first light of dawn, Jiang Mingyang and Zhu Zhuqing prepared to go their separate ways.

Jiang Mingyang smiled at Zhu Zhuqing and said slowly, "My name is Jiang Mingyang."

Then Jiang Mingyang turned and walked away. Zhu Zhuqing watched him go, lost in thought. After a while, she turned and left too. She wanted to see what her fiancé was like, and how he compared with Jiang Mingyang.

Mingyang stood more than eight feet tall and was handsome in form and face.

One morning, dressed and looking into a mirror, he asked his wife Qian Renxue, "Who is handsomer, Hongjun or I?"

His wife Qian Renxue said, "You are exceedingly handsome. How could Hongjun compare?"

Hongjun was renowned for his beauty throughout the Empire.

Still unconvinced, Mingyang asked his concubine Zhu Zhuqing, "Who is handsomer, Hongjun or I?"

His concubine said, "How could Hongjun compare with you?"

The next morning, Sea God Tang San came to visit. As they sat and talked, Mingyang asked the Sea God, "Who is handsomer, Hongjun or I?"

The Sea God said, "Hongjun's beauty falls short of yours."

Mingyang laughed heartily. "Just as I thought! You are all honest people!"

"Mingyang's Beauty Contest"