A restaurant.
Only a single street separated it from the White Tiger Duke's Mansion. A glimpse of the mansion's carved beams and painted rafters hinted at its ostentatious extravagance.
Xiao Zi sat alone on the second floor, ordering a pot of plain tea and a few plates of pastries to savor at his leisure. His gaze seemed to wander, but he was actually keeping constant watch on the movements within the Duke's Mansion.
He kept this up for several days. His lack of presence had become an advantage, allowing him to stay from morning until night. Whenever he grew tired, he went downstairs for a stroll and listened to the mansion's servants shoot the breeze, fishing useful information out of their chatter.
In the Sea of Consciousness, Qian Renxue was puzzled. "Xiao Zi, what exactly are you trying to do?"
Having chosen to sacrifice herself and gone all in with everything she possessed, she naturally considered his interests wholeheartedly. Without realizing it, she had gone beyond the bounds of a partnership and entered a closer relationship.
At her words, Xiao Zi leisurely took a small sip of tea and replied with an unhurried question. "Xiao Xue, even I'm not anxious, and I'm the one involved. Why are you in such a hurry?"
Qian Renxue's expression grew solemn, her voice cool and earnest. "Xiao Zi, since you're not from Douluo, you probably don't understand. Soul Masters generally awaken their martial souls at six, but you only got yours at twelve. You've wasted six whole years compared to everyone else. You need to work hard!"
As a Destruction God King, dwelling high above the nine heavens had not meant knowing nothing of the mortal world. In his daily life, Xiao Zi had handled various affairs to maintain order in the planes under his jurisdiction.
How could he not know what Qian Renxue was telling him? A burning urgency rose in his eyes, only to vanish an instant later.
He told her the truth. "My target is Dai Huabin. He's the White Tiger Duke's second son, raised from childhood amid the adulation of thousands, and he has a very overbearing personality. Most people keep young masters like him at arm's length, but I intend to do the opposite... After listening to people talk these past few days, you know about Dai Yueheng, right?"
Qian Renxue nodded. "Yes. He's Dai Huabin's elder brother, the rightful heir to the Duke's Mansion and the man who will truly become the White Tiger Duke." Knowing that Xiao Zi would not speak without a purpose, she fell silent and waited for him to continue.
Xiao Zi said, "He's been groomed as an heir since childhood. A few glib words won't fool him. If I volunteered my services, it would probably backfire and earn his dislike. Dai Huabin is different. His entirely opposite personality makes him simple-minded. He won't deliberate over everything, so he can genuinely accept me."
Having once served as a nation's crown prince, Qian Renxue was no novice at political maneuvering. She quickly pieced everything together and worked backward to his intended outcome. "Dai Huabin isn't just the duke's second son. He's also a student at Shrek Academy. You're befriending him so you can study there!"
"Exactly."
"Then that makes things easy. Although the Duke's Mansion is heavily guarded, and Dai Huabin and the others have plenty of guards, your weak presence will keep them from noticing you. You can approach without being detected. In that case, what are you waiting for?"
Xiao Zi turned his gaze toward the White Tiger Duke's Mansion again, his thoughts deep and inscrutable. "Entering his service is easy. Earning his trust isn't. Dai Huabin may be simple, but that doesn't mean the people behind him are. If the mansion's people investigate carefully, my background won't withstand scrutiny. Tell me, if you were in their place, would you feel comfortable employing someone like that?"
"That's true," Qian Renxue agreed. "Then when do you intend to show yourself?"
Xiao Zi toyed with his teacup and smiled faintly. "The holiday is almost over, and Shrek's second academic year is about to begin. I'll show up just before they leave, so the Duke's Mansion won't have much time!"
A hunter always appeared in the guise of prey, and that often required ample patience. As it happened, Xiao Zi had little else to boast of, but time to spare was something he had in abundance.
Draining his final cup of tea, he left his seat to await the right opportunity.
A room.
Xiao Zi woke from meditation and exhaled a faint breath of stale air. His soul power completed a full circuit before flowing back into his dantian.
"Level twenty-six."
Half a month had passed since he descended upon the Douluo Continent. The two purple soul rings had raised him five levels, and his cultivation during this period had increased his soul power by another level.
Breaking through a level in half a month would have been a miracle even for a genius with innate full soul power. But Xiao Zi was an Otherworldly Demon with innate soul power at level twenty, so this pace was nothing remarkable.
The cultivation method he currently practiced came from his days as a God King. He had no intention of switching-not because he looked down on other methods, but because of what Luo Feng had said before leaving-
"I'll come find you again, so you can face the trial of Swallowed Star."
Xiao Zi had never forgotten those words. He looked forward to their reunion and the chance to encounter Swallowed Star's higher-level cultivation methods. His sights were not confined to the Douluo Continent, but set on the far more distant sea of stars, the boundless expanse of the Endless Starfield.
His consciousness sank into the Sea of Consciousness, where he saw a graceful figure from behind, her bearing cool and untouched by worldly dust.
Although repairing him had exhausted the essence she had accumulated throughout her life, Qian Renxue's perfect sacrifice and former godhood had allowed her soul to remain intact. What appeared before Xiao Zi was the Holy Six-Winged Angel of ten thousand years ago.
She was a peerless beauty with an imposing face, an exquisite figure, and golden hair cascading like a waterfall. Divine power endowed her with nobility and majesty, and the awe-inspiring aura she radiated made it impossible to look directly at her. She merely stood there in silence, yet seemed to be the center of the universe.
"I'm puzzled. Although less than a tenth of the Angel God Ring's power remained, it should have been more than enough to increase your soul power. Why hasn't it had any effect?" The Angel Goddess's mature, feminine voice rang out in confusion.
At that, Xiao Zi felt rather embarrassed. "My second martial soul, the Destruction Scepter, is the super divine artifact I used when I was a God King. It was damaged in the war. So all the energy from your god ring went into repairing it..."
Her assets had been wiped out overnight. Qian Renxue felt nothing but heartache. "Then can my god ring still be used?"
"Yes," Xiao Zi assured her. "The energy hasn't disappeared. It simply exists in a different form. If I encounter a danger I can't overcome, I can draw on that power for my own use."
Hearing that her possessions were still there, Qian Renxue pressed her delicate hand to her chest and let out a long sigh of relief. Her full, undulating snowy peaks trembled slightly.
Despite having lived hundreds of thousands of years, Xiao Zi was no seasoned player, but an innocent at heart. Silently repeating, Look not upon what is improper, he withdrew his consciousness from the Sea of Consciousness.
To suppress his agitation, he forced himself to focus on serious business. His gaze turned toward the Duke's Mansion, his eyes gradually growing intent.
After observing Dai Huabin for the past few days, he had more or less worked out the young man's movements. His life followed a straight line between two points-the Duke's Mansion and the brothel, where he listened to songs-dull and monotonous.
The Duke's Mansion was heavily guarded both inside and out. A weak presence was not a cure-all. As long as he was human, he still breathed. He could fool ordinary people, but before true experts, he risked exposure.
Laws were rules. The plane was ignoring him; he was not dead. If the Star Luo Imperial Family's resident experts discovered him and captured him as a monster to study, that would be a ridiculous turn of events.
Meeting at the brothel was equally inadvisable. Even if Dai Huabin regarded him as a kindred spirit, he would never pass muster with the Duke's Mansion.
As things stood, he merely had an unknown background and a questionable identity. This would slap him outright with a label of "disreputable" and land him on the blacklist!