Snow Ji punched out, shattering every meridian in Prince Xue Xing's body. Xue Xing felt his legs give way, and the next second, he collapsed onto the ground.
"You there, take Prince Xue Xing back to his chambers and look after him properly."
"Yes!"
Several guards beside Xue Ye carried Prince Xue Xing away, his body like a puddle of mud.
"My brother has always been like this. Young friend Su Ling, Your Eminence Snow Ji, please don't take offense."
Xue Ye laughed awkwardly as he apologized to the two. Su Ling waved a hand, unconcerned.
"I think you wanted to kill with a borrowed knife, Emperor Xue Ye."
Snow Ji had never cared for humans, much less a calculating, two-faced old fox like Xue Ye.
Seeing that Snow Ji had no intention of giving him face, Xue Ye found himself embarrassed.
"Young friend Su Ling, Your Eminence Snow Ji, Emperor Xue Ye, come along! The banquet is starting."
Ning Fengzhi stepped in as peacemaker, giving Xue Ye a way to step down gracefully.
"Your Eminence Snow Ji, I am truly sorry. I was indeed rash this time. Once the banquet is over, I will certainly offer you generous thanks!"
Snow Ji ignored Xue Ye. In her eyes, neither Xue Ye nor Ning Fengzhi ever spoke a word of truth.
"Ding! Congratulations to Ning Rongrong on obtaining an opportunity to issue a daily quest."
Ning Rongrong, who had been sitting bored at the banquet, suddenly brightened. Her little feet, which couldn't reach the floor, swung back and forth excitedly.
Ning Fengzhi didn't understand why and thought a dish Ning Rongrong liked had appeared.
But this didn't escape Xue Qinghe's notice. Ning Rongrong was quite lucky. There had only been a handful of opportunities to issue quests over the past six months, yet this little girl had taken two of them.
"It seems everyone has arrived!"
Seeing that almost all the seats were filled, Xue Ye prepared to deliver his speech.
The younger members of quite a few small and medium-sized clans and sects were already ravenous. This was their first time attending a Heaven Dou state banquet, and they had deliberately gone hungry for two days.
"I have gathered everyone here today primarily to celebrate my recovery. Of course, none of this would have been possible without the stars of today's banquet, the young genius Su Ling and Her Eminence Snow Ji!"
Every gaze present turned toward the two.
"That lady is so beautiful."
"Emperor Xue Ye just addressed her as Your Eminence. Could she be a Titled Douluo?"
"I've never heard of anyone like her."
Discussion buzzed among the guests, with everyone's attention focused on Snow Ji. As for Su Ling, they simply took him for Her Eminence's disciple.
Chen Xin and Gu Rong stared at Snow Ji with grave expressions. They sensed the breath of death from her.
Neither could sense even a trace of Soul Power fluctuations from Snow Ji. Even the spiritual power they used to probe her was annihilated outright.
"All right, today is mainly about bringing everyone together to enjoy themselves. Please, eat."
The moment he finished, quite a few people began wolfing down their food. This was all meat from Soul Beasts over a hundred years old, and several dishes were even made from thousand-year Soul Beasts.
"Emperor Xue Ye, are you in such a hurry to begin the banquet that you don't intend to wait for me?"
Everyone's attention was drawn to the owner of that voice.
A short buzz cut, a zombie-like face-the only difference was that his face was clean, without a single whisker.
Holy shit, Yu Xiaogang!
Su Ling remembered that the last time he had heard anything about Yu Xiaogang had been from Wang Sheng at Nuoding Academy.
Back then, he seemed to have said that Grandmaster had castrated himself to focus on cultivating. How had he ended up in the Heaven Dou Empire so soon?
Surely he hadn't really focused on cultivating and awakened Luo Sanpao into the Radiant Sacred Dragon?
"Damn it, this wretched beast has come here to disgrace the sect!" There were members of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan among the many guests, and Yu Xiaogang's foul reputation naturally thundered in their ears.
"And you are?"
Xue Ye thought for a moment, certain that he had never heard of such a person among the prominent families and sects he knew.
"Hmph. No wonder the Heaven Dou Empire has remained firmly beneath the Star Luo Empire all these years. Sigh..."
Hearing Yu Xiaogang say this, Xue Ye broke into a cold sweat. With Su Ling's example still before him, he no longer dared underestimate any stranger.
"You trash from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, stop disgracing yourself here!"
The speaker was the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's third elder, who belonged to the same generation as Yu Yuanzhen.
To nurture Yu Xiaogang, Yu Yuanzhen had diverted almost all the resources meant for the clan's younger generation to him. As a result, the third elder's son, despite having an innate Soul Power of rank seven, was still only a Soul Emperor.
One slow step meant every step afterward was slow. Once the best years for cultivation had passed, improving one's strength became much slower.
"Yu Xiaogang?"
Xue Ye vaguely recalled that there was indeed such a person, apparently a swindler. If not for the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan behind him, his corpse would have long since been left in the street.
"Throw this charlatan out!"
Hearing that Xue Ye wanted him thrown out, Yu Xiaogang felt he had lost face and immediately flew into a rage.
"If I wish it, none of you will be able to eat this meal today!"
That wasn't false. As long as Yu Xiaogang wished it, the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace's cleaning department would suffer.
As for why Yu Xiaogang had come to the Heaven Dou Empire, that story began a few days earlier.
Nuoding Academy had closed for summer vacation, leaving Yu Xiaogang with the problem of feeding himself for two months.
Although his status as a Soul Grandmaster entitled him to a monthly subsidy of ten Gold Soul Coins, every time he received the money, he ran off to find Cuihua. He hadn't saved a single Copper Soul Coin in all these years.
He couldn't swallow his pride and go to Flender, so he simply came to Heaven Dou City to find Liu Erlong.
But two hundred-year Gale Hounds were kept at the entrance to Blue Tyrant Academy, and the moment they saw Yu Xiaogang, they zapped him with lightning spikes.
Cold and hungry, Yu Xiaogang saw that Xue Ye was holding a state banquet and decided to try his luck.
Returning to the matter at hand, he knew Su Ling well: Round Stone Martial Soul, innate Soul Power of rank four.
"Your Majesty thinks I'm a swindler, but what about the child beside you? Could Your Majesty value a Trash Martial Soul so highly?"
Yu Xiaogang placed his hands behind his back, assuming the bearing of an expert.
"Guards!"
At Xue Ye's command, two heavily armored knights entered through the doors.
"Take Yu Xiaogang away and get some boiling water to fill his stomach!"
Oh? He knows I've been hungry for a long time, so he's giving me some warm water to drink first? This Xue Ye is quite considerate.
Yu Xiaogang laughed heartily. "Very good, very good. But Emperor Xue Ye, there's no need to prepare a special meal for me. Just let me eat with everyone else."
"Ding! Today's quest has been issued: walk up to Ning Rongrong and make a heartfelt confession of love. Reward: Soul Power Level ×3."
P.S. Adding a setting: when the protagonist gains three ranks of Soul Power, the Soul Beasts gain ten thousand years of cultivation; when all the Soul Beasts gain ten thousand years of cultivation, the protagonist gains one rank of Soul Power. (You can't exploit a bug by stepping on your right foot with your left.)
Su Ling: Huh?
Qian Renxue: Huh?
Dugu Yan: Huh?
Everyone peeking in: Huh?
What kind of bullshit quest was this? Still, three ranks of Soul Power were quite tempting to Su Ling.
Before you continue