Submission?

"Lord Ning, do what you must."

"If the sky falls, I'll hold it up for you."

From that day onward, Heaven Dou City welcomed a completely different chief official.

He acted with lightning speed and remained sternly impartial.

Within a few months, the city's atmosphere had been swept clean.

And Crown Prince Xue Qinghe became a frequent guest at the City Lord's Residence.

The two often played strategy games in the rear courtyard or drank together beneath the moon.

From the classics and histories to imperial affairs and Soul Master cultivation, there was nothing they did not discuss.

To outsiders, His Highness the Crown Prince placed extraordinary trust and reliance in the newly appointed city lord.

In name, they were ruler and subject; in truth, they were brothers.

That night, the moonlight was lovely.

The two were drinking together in the pavilion again.

After three rounds, a tipsy flush rose on Xue Qinghe's face. His eyes, which always held a gentle smile, had grown somewhat hazy.

"Ning Lin."

He suddenly addressed him by name.

"Your Highness." Ning Lin raised his cup.

"Tell me, aren't there many things in life that lie beyond our control?" Xue Qinghe asked softly, watching the moon's reflection sway in his cup.

Ning Lin fell silent.

He knew that question was not meant for him, but for herself.

"Sometimes, I truly envy you."

Xue Qinghe looked up at Ning Lin, his gaze holding a measure of drunkenness and a measure of honesty.

"You can do what you want without having to shoulder so much."

"You were born into royalty, Your Highness. One day, you will rule a nation, revered by all its people. That is what everyone under heaven envies," Ning Lin said evenly.

"Rule a nation?"

Xue Qinghe gave a self-mocking smile, filled with bitterness.

"What if I don't want to be emperor?"

"What if I only want to..."

She swallowed the rest of her words and simply drained her cup.

Wine slipped from the corner of her mouth, tracing a glistening trail in the moonlight.

Ning Lin watched her, watched the struggle and pain in her eyes, and a jumble of emotions filled his heart.

How he wished he could tell her that he knew everything.

But he could not.

Once he exposed the truth, the delicate balance between them would shatter.

Qian Xunji's spies might be watching all of this from some dark corner.

He could only pretend not to know and play out this act alongside her.

"You're drunk, Your Highness."

Ning Lin rose, picked up a cloak, and draped it over her shoulders.

"It's late, and the dew is heavy. Return to the palace and rest."

His fingertips accidentally brushed her neck. Skin that delicate could never belong to a man.

Xue Qinghe stiffened slightly.

She craved that fleeting warmth, yet had no choice but to push it away.

"You're right."

She rose, resuming the bearing of His Highness the Crown Prince.

"I'm drunk."

She turned and left, her silhouette stretching long beneath the moonlight, tinged with desolation and loneliness.

Ning Lin remained where he was, watching her leave until her figure vanished at the end of the long street.

He picked up the wine cup Xue Qinghe had just used and drank what remained.

The wine was bitter.

Years passed in this fashion.

Until the day the winds over Heaven Dou City suddenly shifted.

Troops sealed off the imperial palace. Word spread that Xue Ye was critically ill, Crown Prince Xue Qinghe was serving as regent, and elders from Spirit Hall had been invited to "protect the sovereign."

Inside the City Lord's Residence, Ning Lin listened to his subordinate's report and crushed the teacup in his hand.

A palace coup!

His first thought was not that Xue Qinghe intended to usurp the throne.

It was that something had happened to Xue Qinghe.

From what he knew of "him," Xue Qinghe was certainly not someone who would collude with Spirit Hall and seize power through such crude methods.

The only explanation was that Spirit Hall could wait no longer.

They had taken control of Xue Qinghe and intended to force this coup into motion!

That "elder brother," outwardly gentle but proud at heart, was now trapped, reduced to someone else's puppet!

"Prepare my horse!"

Ning Lin's voice carried an unquestionable resolve.

"My lord, you mustn't!"

"The palace is under martial law! Going there now would be tantamount to treason!" his subordinate pleaded in terror.

Ning Lin ignored him and strode straight outside.

His only brother in Heaven Dou City was waiting for him to come to the rescue.

Outside Chengtian Gate at the imperial palace.

A murderous chill permeated the air.

Armored soldiers stood in tightly packed ranks.

Two figures stood before their formation.

One was tall and lean, holding a serpent-headed lance, Soul Power surging around him with an oppressive presence.

The other was short and stout, covered in peculiar armor that left only a pair of eyes gleaming with an eerie light.

Snake Lance Douluo and Porcupinefish Douluo.

Two long-renowned Titled Douluos of Spirit Hall.

Alone, clad in a blue robe, Ning Lin stood before thousands of troops.

"Lord Ning, stop there."

Snake Lance Douluo, She Long, spoke in a hoarse voice.

"His Highness the Crown Prince is overseeing matters. He does not wish to be disturbed."

"Have Xue Qinghe come out and see me," Ning Lin said.

Porcupinefish Douluo, Ci Xue, chuckled.

"Do you think you can see His Highness the Crown Prince whenever you please?"

"Lord Ning, you belong to Spirit Hall as well. You should know that today's events are the will of His Holiness the Pope. I advise you not to bring ruin upon yourself."

Ning Lin looked at them and slowly drew the sword at his waist.

It was nothing more than an ordinary standard-issue longsword.

"I'll say it once more."

"Have Xue Qinghe come out."

"Otherwise, bear the consequences."

His voice was not loud, yet it reached everyone's ears with perfect clarity.

She Long and Ci Xue exchanged a glance, each seeing mockery in the other's eyes.

A mere city lord who had not even released his Soul Rings dared to boast before two Titled Douluos?

"You're courting death!"

She Long wasted no more words. With a flick of his serpent-headed lance, a streak of dark green light shot straight toward Ning Lin's throat like a venomous snake darting from its den!

He used only thirty percent of his strength in that strike.

In his eyes, it was enough to pin this young man, who knew neither the height of heaven nor the depths of earth, dead against the palace gates.

Yet the next instant, his pupils abruptly contracted.

Ning Lin neither dodged nor retreated. He pressed the fingers of his right hand together like a sword and thrust them toward the lance tip.

A small purple-black flame ignited at his fingertips.

Clink!

A crisp sound rang out.

That seemingly feeble flame actually stopped the lance tip dead, preventing it from advancing even an inch!

A soul-searing pain traveled along the shaft, forcing even She Long to grunt and pull back.

"Heavenly Flames?"

At last, a grave look appeared in She Long's eyes.

At that very moment, Soul Rings rose around Ning Lin one after another.

Purple, purple, black, black, black, black!

Six Soul Rings, every one at least a thousand years old, forming an optimal configuration!

A Six-Ring Soul Emperor!

How was this possible?!

According to the records, he was clearly just a civil-service Soul Master with mediocre talent!

High atop the palace wall, a golden figure stood at the railing, taking in everything below.

Qian Renxue's heart twisted into a knot.

As she watched that figure charge alone into the dragon's lair to save "her," tears slipped down her face uncontrollably.

Fool.

You're the greatest fool under heaven!

"Seize him."

"Keep him alive."

She gave the orders to the dark figure beside her.

She dared not watch any longer.

She feared she would lose control, rush down, and tell him everything.