"Say less. You can't beat her right now, and it'll be awkward if she suddenly realizes what's going on."
The Ice Dragon King was a little confused. "Is that what you're worried about?"
"Otherwise what?" Xuan Ming said.
"That's a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring and Soul Bone. Do you think she'd give it up so easily?"
"Uh... I think you're overthinking it," the Ice Dragon King said strangely.
"Why?" Xuan Ming asked.
"She's not Qian Renxue," the Ice Dragon King said.
"What does this have to do with Qian Renxue?" Xuan Ming asked.
"Would Qian Renxue sell you out for enough profit? Would Bibi Dong?" the Ice Dragon King asked.
"..."
Xuan Ming stopped and remained silent.
If it were before, he wouldn't have thought Bibi Dong valued him that much.
But now, he's unsure Bibi Dong will.
"I don't want to gamble."
Half an hour later.
Xuan Ming walked along the long street of Heaven Dou City, a hint of confusion in his eyes.
Where is this place?
"Brother, you're lost again?" the Ice Dragon King asked curiously.
"I'm not lost, I just haven't been here before," Xuan Ming said.
As the capital of the Heaven Dou Empire, Heaven Dou City is very large, and he rarely goes out, only staying in three places: the Crown Prince's Residence, Moonlight Pavilion, and the Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
Xue Qinghe usually took him to the Martial Soul Holy Temple, and they always rode in a carriage. He could only vaguely remember the route from the Martial Soul Holy Temple to the Crown Prince's Mansion, the route from the Crown Prince's Mansion to the Moonlight Pavilion, and the route from these two places out of the city to the Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
However, he did not head towards the Crown Prince's residence after leaving the Martial Soul Holy Temple.
Now, he has no idea where he's ended up.
"Why don't you ask for directions?" the Ice Dragon King said.
"No need, I can find my way back," Xuan Ming said.
"You're not planning to go back the way you came, then from the Martial Soul Holy Temple to the Crown Prince's Mansion, then from the Crown Prince's Mansion to the Moonlight Pavilion, and finally to the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, are you?" the Ice Dragon King asked strangely.
"Otherwise what?" Xuan Ming retorted.
This is the only road I know.
"Then you probably won't be able to leave Heaven Dou City until dark," the Ice Dragon King retorted.
Because Xuan Ming uses two brains simultaneously, he has extremely high requirements for the accuracy of information. If the information in front of him deviates from his memory, and what he sees now is not completely consistent with what he remembers, he will fall into confusion!
If the information is the same, he can remember it all at once, no matter how complicated the road conditions are. But if there are changes in the middle, he will be confused!
This is the real reason why Xuan Ming is a directionally challenged person!
Chapter 160 Hard Control
"That's... Xuan Ming?"
Not far away, led by Qin Ming, the Shrek group, who were heading towards the Blue Tyrant Academy, stopped in their tracks.
Seeing Xuan Ming standing there alone, looking left and right, refusing to move, Ning Rongrong's expression was very strange. "Could he have gotten lost again?"
"Lost?" Oscar was taken aback.
"How can someone this big get lost?"
Whether they heard it or not, Xuan Ming, who was standing at a distance, suddenly turned around and looked in their direction.
Oscar's expression froze, and he instinctively hid behind Flender.
Flender's eye twitched slightly, but he still led everyone toward Xuan Ming.
"Brother Xuan Ming, what are you doing here?" Ning Rongrong blinked.
"I... came out for a walk," Xuan Ming said.
What are you doing here?
"Uh..." Ning Rongrong subconsciously turned to look at Flender.
She couldn't bring herself to talk about being kicked out of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, a shameful thing.
Although she knew Dugu Yan, she didn't know Dugu Bo, and Poison Douluo's personality, she didn't dare say anything today.
"It's nothing, I'm just new here, taking a look around." Flender didn't want to talk about such embarrassing things.
Xuan Ming looked at Qin Ming, "Something happened?"
Qin Ming sighed, "Something went wrong. I won't be a teacher at the Heaven Dou Royal Academy anymore."
Xuan Ming glanced at the disheveled Shrek Academy group and roughly guessed what had happened.
All three members of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy's teaching committee supported Xue Qinghe. If Qin Ming were allowed to bring Shrek in, it would strengthen Xue Qinghe's power. Although Prince Xue Xing couldn't directly help Xue Beng in this matter, he could still help reduce Xue Qinghe's power to some extent.
Moreover, the fact that Prince Xue Xing was standing with Xue Beng was most likely at the behest of Xue Ye.
After all, with the two princes dying one after another, Xue Qinghe, who benefited the most, was ultimately the most suspicious. As the emperor, the crown prince's power and position had to be restrained.
Prince Xue Xing holds supreme military and political power in the empire and enjoys the emperor's deep trust. His close relationship with Xue Beng not only balances Xue Qinghe's power but also, to some extent, restrains the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Even if Ning Fengzhi has ulterior motives, he cannot go too far in many matters.
"What's next?" Xuan Ming asked.
" Blue Tyrant Academy has announced they're hiring teachers, and we're planning to go check it out," Qin Ming said.
"Perfect timing! Blue Tyrant Academy isn't far from here. Why don't you stop by and take a look?"
Xuan Ming's expression was somewhat unnatural. "I'm not going."
After exchanging a few more words with Xiao Wu and the others, and learning the general route from Ning Rongrong, Xuan Ming quickly left.
"He also has connections with the Blue Tyrant Academy?" Flender couldn't help but ask.
"It's not really a connection. He had some friction with a few students from the Blue Tyrant Academy before, which alarmed the dean of the Blue Tyrant Academy," Qin Ming said.
Then, the two of them got into a fight.
"A fight? When did that happen?" Flender was taken aback.
"Many years ago, back when Xuan Ming was just Soul Grandmaster," Qin Ming said.
"He seemed to have gotten lost at the time, and got into a fight with some students from the Blue Tyrant Academy on the street. He beat them up."
"That very evening, the dean of the Blue Tyrant Academy went to the Heaven Dou Royal Academy demanding an explanation, and then, I don't know how the two of them ended up fighting."
Fortunately, Chief Strategist Meng Shenji intervened in time, and the misunderstanding was eventually cleared up.
"Furthermore, after that fight, Xuan Ming broke through to level 30, and his Third Soul Ring was also obtained with the help of this Dean of the Blue Tyrant Academy."
"After that, the two of them got to know each other."
"I see..." Flender nodded. Given Liu Erlong's temper, this was indeed something she was capable of doing.
"But since we know each other, why did he seem to be trying to avoid me just now?" Flender asked, puzzled.
"Dean, the dean of the Blue Tyrant Academy went to the Heaven Dou Royal Academy to demand an explanation, thinking that his student had been bullied by some noble's son, but after learning about Xuan Ming's situation..." Qin Ming's expression was somewhat unnatural.
"You can imagine how devastating his background is to women over thirty, right?"
Flender's eye twitched slightly. He knew perfectly well that a large portion of Xuan Ming's fans in the Great Soul Arena were "mommy fans"!
Xuan Ming's terrifying commercial value is largely due to his exceptional ability to attract aristocratic women who would spend lavishly on him!
Especially wealthy women over thirty!
"And this Dean of the Blue Tyrant Academy, his personality..." Qin Ming hesitated, then stopped himself.
"A bit fierce," Ning Rongrong said strangely.
"Fierce? What does that mean?" Xiao Wu asked, puzzled.
Ning Rongrong thought for a moment, " Xuan Ming doesn't like to get too close to others, but that dean seems to think that Xuan Ming's aloofness stems from shyness. So, every time she sees Xuan Ming, she forces herself on him and tries to control him!"
Xiao Wu looked bewildered, "Hard control?"
"Hard control, literally." Ning Rongrong shrugged.
" Xuan Ming couldn't beat her, and he couldn't stand the way she held her son, so... he had no choice but to hide."
"However, Xuan Ming has grown up in the past few years, and that dean has toned it down a lot. She doesn't control him as much as before, but Xuan Ming is still a little afraid of her, so he always avoids her."
Oscar's eyes widened in astonishment, and he couldn't help but exclaim, "Such a strange thing! The dean of the Blue Tyrant Academy is truly unique!"
"Won't I be controlled by someone?" Ma Hongjun asked with some anticipation.
Flender glared at Ma Hongjun. "Yes, definitely. I'll kick you into the wall and keep you under control all day."
Ma Hongjun shrank back, startled by Flender's words, and said, "Dean, I was just joking."
The crowd burst into laughter, and the previously somber atmosphere eased somewhat with the lighthearted banter.
The Crown Prince's Residence.
"Young Master, Xuan Ming has already left the Martial Soul Holy Temple and is heading towards the Heaven Dou Royal Academy."
Snake Lance Douluo immediately reported Xuan Ming's information back.
"I stayed overnight and didn't leave until noon..." Qian Renxue gritted her teeth.
"She really doesn't act at all."
Xue Qinghe went to visit, but was driven away without saying a word. Instead, Xuan Ming was left at the Martial Soul Holy Temple for the night. Once this news spreads, who knows how many doubts and discussions it will cause!
"Tell them I'm going over there tonight to ask the Pope what she's up to!" Qian Renxue said.
Xuan Ming is extremely important to Xue Qinghe. His position in everyone's eyes absolutely cannot be wrong. If people suspect that Xuan Ming has been won over by the Pope, then there will be a big problem!
"Young Master, there's one more thing. Today, Prince Xue Xing persuaded Dugu Bo to drive Shrek Academy away," said the Snake Lance Douluo.
" Xue Xing..." Qian Renxue frowned slightly.
"What's the reason?"
"They said the Shrek Academy students offended Prince Xue Beng," said Snake Lance Douluo.
"However, it can basically be said that they were forced out. The three education commissioners have already reported this matter here, and are leaving it to the Crown Prince to decide."
Emperor Xue Ye has now delegated most of the less important political affairs to Crown Prince Xue Qinghe, and only major matters that Crown Prince Xue Qinghe cannot decide are reported to Xue Ye.
"Report it to the Emperor," Qian Renxue said.
"Anyway, that old man tacitly approved it."
Xue Ye was ultimately wary of Xue Qinghe; just as an emperor is wary of his crown prince, so it has always been so throughout history.
She left the Xue Beng behind, not only because the guy posed no threat to her, but also as a buffer between herself and the Xue Ye.
If the crown prince has no concerns whatsoever, the emperor should panic.
It's possible that the emperor will take action against the crown prince.
The Heaven Dou Imperial Family isn't limited to Xue Ye's lineage; there are many members of the imperial clan who aspire to be emperor.
The existence of the Xue Beng also provides a check and balance for the royal family, led by Prince Xue Xing. If the Xue Beng were to disappear, the younger generation of royal family would lose their backbone and might develop other ideas.
In this situation, the safest course of action is to wait for Xue Ye to pass away, and for Xue Qinghe to succeed him in order of succession.
If Xue Beng were to die as well, a crown prince who hadn't even ascended the throne yet could wipe out all his brothers, the royal family members would probably be in for a rough time...
Chapter 161 You really have some ideas.