The Heaven Dou Imperial Palace.
Xue Ye's face was deathly pale, without a trace of color.
His health had deteriorated terribly over the years, and no one knew exactly why. Even bringing in a nine heart begonia Soul Master who specialized in healing had changed little.
In the end, Xue Ye attributed it all to having overdrawn his body's vital essence in his youth.
Many others thought so too.
After all, a Soul Master's path of growth was hardly a smooth road.
Every battle, every Soul Ring they absorbed, was a gamble.
Xue Ye had risen above his many brothers in their struggle not merely through brains, but through his talent and strength as a Soul Master.
Unfortunately, for some unknown reason, his Soul Power had begun growing extremely slowly after he reached Soul Douluo.
The swan martial soul had once produced several Titled Douluos.
Yet since the founding of the Heaven Dou Empire, the Xue Clan had rarely produced any Titled Douluos.
At first, everyone had assumed that the emperor was too busy with affairs of state to spend much time cultivating.
But even the collateral branches, who had few duties to occupy them, had produced no Titled Douluos. That was rather strange.
By now, members of the Xue Clan who could cultivate to Soul Douluo were as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns.
Xue Ye was waiting for Prince Xue Xing to bring back the murderer of his youngest son.
But what greeted him was a thoroughly bedraggled Prince Xue Xing.
"Your Majesty, they're dead! They're all dead!"
At the sight of Xue Ye, Prince Xue Xing burst into tears, snot streaming from his nose as he clung to Xue Ye's leg. "I nearly died too!"
"Your Majesty, we're no match for that man!"
"He said you're