He Was Still a Child

Each head retained its expression from the final moment before death. Some were terrified, some were savage, and some had not even had time to react.

Xu Jingyao had deliberately left their heads intact. Since he had not gotten a good night's sleep tonight, neither would those who had disturbed him!

He stood amid the scorch marks covering the floor, his bare feet planted in the ashes. His nightclothes were spotless, without even a speck of ash on them.

His sword martial soul slowly dissipated, and two yellow soul rings sank beneath his feet.

"Tsk, you dirtied my floor."

His voice carried a hint of disgust, as though he had just crushed a few cockroaches.

But cockroaches were disgusting too!

Just then, a dark silhouette appeared soundlessly outside the hall, then flashed forward and knelt before Xu Jingyao.

The newcomer wore close-fitting combat clothes and had a stern face, his soul power contained within him. From the look of him, he was clearly one of the Sun Moon Empire's consecrated experts, Shadow Douluo.

Shadow Douluo was the commander of the covert guards the emperor had assigned to him.

"This subordinate arrived too late to protect Your Highness. Please forgive me!"

Xu Jingyao glanced down at him, that gentle, harmless smile returning to his face.

"Your timing was perfect. You arrived right when I finished dealing with them. But that doesn't matter."

He bent down, picked up a head, and casually tossed it in his hand as though playing with some interesting object, then carelessly threw it in front of Shadow Douluo.

"Investigate. Twelve people, ranging from Soul Ancestors to Soul Emperors. No ordinary faction could afford to support them. Before tomorrow morning, I want to know which of my older imperial brothers paid for this."

Shadow Douluo took the head, not daring even to look up. "Yes."

Xu Jingyao turned toward the inner chamber, then stopped after two steps and tilted his head, a hint of amusement in his smile.

"Oh, and remember to clean this place up. This is my bedchamber. I can't very well sleep on someone else's ashes. Sorry for the trouble, but deliver the heads to their masters in person."

He waved a hand, climbed barefoot back onto his bed, and sat cross-legged to begin cultivating.

How interesting. This Shadow Douluo seemed to be testing me. He was clearly watching from the sidelines just now but didn't show himself, only making a move after I killed them.

It looks like this Shadow Douluo isn't entirely loyal either!

It looks like I'll have to build a faction of my own after all. If they aren't my own people, there's no way to guarantee they won't trip me up at a critical moment.

It's just like the difference between agency workers and your own people.

And although my money looks like quite a lot, it's clearly not enough to build my own faction.

But I clearly don't have any ways to make money!

No, wait!

Public welfare development!

This was clearly an area the Sun Moon Empire's nobles hadn't paid attention to!

Even the soul engineers who had devoted themselves to inventing soul tools for everyday life had always been left warming the bench, until Huo Yuhao later took them all away in one fell swoop!

I'll ask the emperor and Kong Deming for them later. Those people are warming the bench anyway, so I might as well scoop them up and put them to work.

As for soul tools, I only need to know how to use them and repair them once they're damaged. There's no need to delve into their workings.

My first priority is cultivation.

Only with a high enough cultivation level would he have the right to change everything!

The moonlight remained cold and clear. Wind poured through the gaps in the torn window paper, stirring the stray hair over his forehead.

The air still held a lingering scorched smell and the faint scent of blood.

Kneeling outside the hall, Shadow Douluo looked up at the broken window and the blackened interior, then glanced at the six-year-old boy breathing evenly on the bed. A fine layer of cold sweat seeped across his back.

This prince was even crazier than he had thought. As expected of someone raised by the crown prince!

Shadow Douluo took all the heads from the floor and cleared away the ashes. The next moment, he vanished into the night.

Three breaths later, someone slammed the door open.

Tang Wulin rushed in, clutching a table leg he had torn off somewhere, his face still carrying the panic of someone who had just woken up. "Your Highness! I sensed fluctuations in soul power!"

"...Could your reaction be any slower? They're already gone."

"Huh?"

Xu Jingyao waved him off. "It's fine. Go back to sleep. Get the window fixed tomorrow. Find someone to do it."

"Oh... Okay." Tang Wulin scratched his head and looked at the window again. Sure enough, there was a crack in its frame where soul power had split it.

He muttered something under his breath, closed the door, and withdrew.

Xu Jingyao lay on the bed, looking at the ceiling.

The soul power inside me doesn't seem simple. It should be equivalent to the kind Tang Wutong had later.

My martial soul and soul power were naturally born with seeds of divine power.

"But..." Xu Jingyao closed his eyes, a faint smile still on his lips. "These princes really can't hold their nerve. There are plenty of fools among them too."

But fools could do plenty of damage too!

Moonlight shone through the window, falling on the bracelet on his left wrist and the ring on his right hand. The two Super Divine Artifacts were utterly quiet, as though asleep.

Xu Jingyao stroked the ring on his right hand and murmured to himself, "Mom, Dad, your son's doing pretty well down here. It's just that the color of these soul rings really is a bit of a disgrace to you. I hope you'll bless me so the Divine Realm doesn't discover me and I can keep my head down and grow stronger."

The next morning.

Shadow Douluo quietly appeared at the Carefree King's Residence. "Your Highness, this is the list of those who acted yesterday."

Xu Jingyao took it and chuckled softly. "Not bad. They're quite united. Everyone except my crown prince brother made a move. Even the deposed second prince got involved. They really do think highly of me."

"Your Highness, should we report this to His Majesty?" Shadow Douluo reminded him.

"Of course we have to tell him. But before that, sorry for the trouble, Your Eminence Shadow Douluo, but help me hang these heads at each prince's residence. Make sure they see them at first glance." Xu Jingyao sneered.

Although he knew people like them were certainly not afraid of the dead, he could still disgust them a little!

"And you, Your Highness?" Shadow Douluo asked.

"Naturally, I'll have a word with my dear brother and shed a few tears before His Majesty. After all, I'm still a child." After giving his instructions and motioning for Shadow Douluo to leave, Xu Jingyao casually picked up a set of the Carefree King's royal robes and quickly put them on.

He stood before the mirror, looking at himself. The child before him wore silver moon white clothes embroidered all over with gold trim, with golden sun and moon patterns neatly covering the fabric.

His long black hair fell loose behind his cape, and his violet and emerald-green eyes gazed at the mirror before him.

"Oh my goodness, I really am handsome." Xu Jingyao offered his daily praise as he looked at himself in the mirror.

This visit to Xu Tianran would be a good opportunity to start trying to treat his legs. But the treatment couldn't cure him all at once.

Even if I had the ability!

After all, I couldn't stake all my safety on brotherly affection and respect.

Besides, it wasn't that I wouldn't treat him. I would simply treat him according to a plan, at a measured pace, slowly!

Once I was strong enough, even taking him to the Divine Realm wouldn't be a problem.

But right now, I was young and my cultivation was insufficient. Stability had to come first in everything.

"Crown prince brother, someone's trying to kill me!" Xu Jingyao wafted an onion in front of his eyes twice.