An engagement banquet with the princess, was it?
The center of everyone's attention, was he?
Huo Yuhao would ruin his reputation in front of everyone. The higher Dai Lingfeng flew, the harder he would fall!
"What's your name, little brother?"
Ma Xiaotao asked, her heart aching for him.
"Tang Xiao Wu."
Huo Yuhao smiled through his tears.
The heroic legends of the Tang Sect that NPC Huo Yun'er had fed him since childhood had worked wonders.
When he needed an alias,
Huo Yuhao gave a Tang surname without thinking.
The first signs of the Tang family's loyal dog were beginning to show.
The Divine Realm.
"Sigh, Sea God, do we really have to do this?"
Dai Mubai let out a frustrated sigh.
Tang San had already written the script:
Huo Yuhao would publicly expose Dai Lingfeng's crimes at the engagement banquet and make an agreement with him to fight fair and square after several years of cultivation.
After the brothers agreed to fight,
both would strive to better themselves and cultivate diligently...
Dai Mubai felt utterly stifled.
The script was good,
but Dai Lingfeng would be publicly slapped in the face, lose all dignity, and have his name dragged through the mud.
Huo Yuhao would also come under immense pressure.
They were both his descendants.
It pained him to see them treated so badly!
"It has to be done."
"A doting mother often spoils her child; jade must be carved before it can become a vessel."
"Mubai, have you forgotten how many storms and hardships we went through to achieve what we have today?"
"It's all for their own good."
"Without weathering the wind and rain, one can never see the rainbow."
Tang San spoke earnestly, secretly pleased with his own cleverness.
Huo Yuhao's escape from the Duke's Mansion
and his encounter with Ma Xiaotao had all been arranged by him.
These brothers needed to turn against each other and make a wager.
With a wager in place,
Huo Yuhao would have pressure and motivation spurring him on, making him easier to control and train.
As for Dai Lingfeng, once Huo Yuhao had aired his dirty laundry in public, it would be difficult for him to remain of one mind with Huo Yuhao.
Once the brothers had grown apart,
he could strike on both fronts!
He would sit back and reap the fisherman's profit, controlling the two of them separately!
He was truly brilliant.
Tang San couldn't be blamed for being ruthless.
If anything was to blame, it was that these brothers were simply so terrifying!
The elder brother possessed a self martial soul fusion skill, while the younger was a child of destiny.
If such a pair of brothers stood together as branches of the same tree,
Tang San wouldn't be able to sleep soundly.
So he had to sow discord between the brothers and drive them apart. As for Dai Mubai's little schemes, Tang San knew them inside out, and he wasn't afraid.
He wanted to mend Dai Lingfeng and Huo Yuhao's brotherly bond later?
In his dreams!
When children were at odds, the elders were usually without virtue.
As long as they favored Dai Lingfeng, there was no chance of the brothers' relationship being repaired!
"Sigh, all right."
"I hope the two children are resilient enough."
Dai Mubai sighed.
If Tang San were only tormenting Huo Yuhao, he could have looked away, but with Dai Lingfeng involved, he had to watch it happen.
Born from the same root, why torment each other so fiercely?
The feeling caused him some pain.
A man under another's roof had to bow his head.
Dai Mubai couldn't defy Tang San.
He could only hope Dai Lingfeng and Huo Yuhao could withstand the ordeal without being affected too badly.
The imperial palace.
An evening banquet at court.
"Father, Mother, Third Brother."
Dai Yueheng met up with Dai Lingfeng and the others. He had a heroic face and a vigorous, dashing bearing, and he stood at the banquet entrance as though he had been waiting for some time.
He was very warm upon seeing Dai Lingfeng.
"Lingfeng, this is your eldest brother."
Dai Hao introduced Dai Yueheng to Dai Lingfeng.
"Eldest Brother."
Dai Lingfeng greeted him at once.
"Third Brother, since this is our first meeting, I've prepared a gift for you. It's a token of affection between brothers, so take it."
"When we get to His Majesty's private banquet, the two of us must have a good chat."
Dai Yueheng affectionately took out a storage ring and handed it to Dai Lingfeng.
It contained gifts he had prepared himself. Though they weren't particularly valuable, he had put a great deal of thought into them.
"All right, you brothers can get to know each other, but we can't keep His Majesty waiting. Let's hurry inside."
The duchess chimed in from the side, giving Dai Lingfeng no chance to refuse the gift.
Dai Hao took the opportunity to lead the group into the banquet.
The engagement banquet was scheduled for the next day.
All the arrangements had long since been made, and it would be held in the Heavenly Star Garden at the Star Luo Imperial Palace.
A day early, that evening,
Dai Hao had brought his entire family to look the place over, and the Star Luo Emperor, Xu Jiawei, also wanted to meet Dai Lingfeng.
Once they entered the private banquet,
there was no need to say what Tang Hao and Xuan Zi, those drinking buddies, did: they went off to eat and drink to their hearts' content.
Dai Lingfeng followed Dai Hao over to Xu Jiawei.
"Greetings, Your Majesty."
The White Tiger family all bowed together.
"All right, rise. This private banquet is for our two families to get better acquainted, so let us set aside the distinction between ruler and subject."
Xu Jiawei came over warmly, passed the others, and helped Dai Lingfeng to his feet first.
"You must be the White Tiger Clan's qilin child?"
"Haha, you truly have extraordinary talent."
"Having you in Star Luo is a blessing for Star Luo!"
The more Xu Jiawei looked at Dai Lingfeng, the more he liked him.
How long had it been since he awakened his Martial Soul?
His cultivation had already reached level 16!
What was more, his foundation was solid, without the slightest sign of instability. If he continued to grow at this terrifying pace,
Dai Lingfeng might become a Titled Douluo in less than thirty years!
By then, he could safeguard three hundred years of peace for the Star Luo Empire in a single day!
"Your Majesty flatters me."
Dai Lingfeng put on a flattered expression.
Inwardly, he reflected that Xu Jiawei was a flatterer too. The praise was enough to make him feel embarrassed.
"To have such talent and yet remain neither arrogant nor impatient is truly rare."
"Lingfeng, I admire you more and more."
"You must be tired from your journey. Take a seat first and have something to moisten your throat."
After Xu Jiawei had a maid lead Dai Lingfeng to his seat, he began drinking and chatting with Dai Hao.
Dai Lingfeng's mouth was indeed a little dry, so he had some sweet drinks.
Xu Jiawei had been very considerate. Everything on his table was food and drink children liked.
"Third Brother, you don't mind if I sit beside you, do you?"
Dai Yueheng warmly took a seat to Dai Lingfeng's left.
Although Dai Huabin was thoroughly convinced,
he had bullied Dai Lingfeng before and found it somewhat hard to swallow his pride, so he simply nodded and sat down beside Dai Yueheng.
"Not at all."
Dai Lingfeng smiled faintly.
He didn't mind either Dai Yueheng or Dai Huabin sitting there.
Where you sat determined how you thought.
There had been some unpleasantness before, but now the White Tiger Clan was his strength, and Dai Yueheng and Dai Huabin were willing to serve him. He had no reason to make things difficult for himself.
"Third Brother, I heard Mother say you cultivated your Nether Civet Martial Soul first, and that you mastered the Hell Spirit Cat's first three soul skills without needing soul rings?"
"It's truly astonishing."
"I never expected you to master the Hell Spirit Cat's first three soul skills in the form of self-created soul skills."
"Doesn't that mean you've saved three soul ring slots for your Nether Civet Martial Soul?"
Dai Yueheng asked with considerable wonder.
On the Douluo Continent, soul masters relied heavily on the soul rings provided by Soul Beasts for their means of attack.
Self-created soul skills were very rare.
Dai Lingfeng had created his own soul skills at six years old. A genius truly was beyond the reach of ordinary people.
"That's right."
Dai Lingfeng was speechless.
Aren't you the eldest brother?
The duchess told me to ask you for cultivation advice, so how come you're the one asking me?
"It's just a few paltry tricks, not worth mentioning."
Dai Lingfeng was very modest.
The Hell Spirit Cat's three basic moves were little more than petty tricks to begin with.
"Third Brother, you're truly humble."
Dai Yueheng chuckled and shook his head.
A genius was a genius. What seemed earth-shattering to him was not worth mentioning to a genius.
"Third Brother, look over there."
Dai Huabin suddenly lowered his voice and alerted Dai Lingfeng.
Dai Lingfeng looked in the direction he indicated.
A little girl, delicate as carved jade and dressed in luxurious clothes, sat across from him, staring straight at him with bright eyes.