The actions of the Heaven Dou Empire's royal family angered all the powerful clans, sects, noble families, and wealthy tycoons, while also greatly alarming the opposing Star Luo Empire, which feared that the Heaven Dou Empire might deploy such a powerful weapon on its own territory.
Therefore, all parties gathered together again with great tacit understanding and formulated a revenge plan against the royal family of the Heaven Dou Empire. The core of the plan was to assassinate Xue Ye and the current Crown Prince Xue Qinghe of the Heaven Dou Crown Prince.
Xue Ye was naturally prepared for this, causing heavy losses to the assassins sent by various forces. However, the revenge plans of various forces were not without results.
By chance, they lured the Heaven Dou Crown Prince into a trap containing hundreds of Buddha's Fury Tang Lotus Tang Sect.
Hundreds of the Tang Sect's top-tier mechanical Hidden Weapon erupted simultaneously. Although the Heaven Dou Crown Prince was powerful and managed to break through the encirclement under the protection of his guards, he was also severely injured.
Most importantly, the Buddha's Fury Tang Lotus has been infused with Asura Divine Power. This level of divine power has astonishing destructive power, affecting not only the physical body but also the soul.
Despite the Heaven Dou Imperial Family's best efforts and the expenditure of countless precious medicines, they were still unable to save their crown prince.
For a time, the entire Heaven Dou Imperial Family was plunged into grief.
Of course, there were also those who were ecstatic, such as Xue Beng, who had always been suppressed by the Crown Prince.
"Beng'er, go in and see your brother one last time. He also has some things to tell you."
As the Xue Ye walked out of the crown prince's palace, he suppressed his grief and waved for Xue Beng, who had been guarding the door, to come in.
"Yes, Father!"
Unlike Xue Ye, Xue Beng suppressed his joy, bowed to accept the order, and then entered the Crown Prince's palace to listen to the last words of his elder brother, Crown Prince Hao.
He is currently the most suitable successor among all the princes; none of his other brothers can compare to him in terms of strength, influence, or political acumen.
This can be seen from the fact that his father brought him to this Crown Prince's palace alone, clearly regarding him as the next Crown Prince, and that this palace would belong to him afterward.
"Is it that idiot A-Beng?"
As they entered the palace room, a weak voice came from the bed in front of them; it was the voice of their elder brother, the crown prince.
The nickname "Silly Ah Beng" surprised Xue Beng, because no one had used this affectionate nickname for a long time. Only when he was a child would his elder brother, the crown prince, call him that.
After many years, I never expected that my beloved elder brother, the Crown Prince, would use this affectionate term of endearment again.
Silently, she stepped forward, lifted the gauze curtain, and looked at her elder brother, Ruyu Crown Prince, who had been handsome and dashing yesterday but whose face was now flushed. Xue Beng felt a mix of emotions, and much of her previous hatred for this brother had dissipated.
He's grown up a lot! And become much more handsome, but he's lost his chubby little face, which makes him a bit less cute!
Xue Qinghe, barely breathing, gazed intently at his younger brother, as if trying to memorize his appearance, while also feeling a deep sense of reluctance.
"I had baby fat back then, not a chubby face!"
Xue Qinghe's words left Xue Beng speechless, and he couldn't help but try to defend himself.
He was indeed quite chubby when he was a child, especially his round, chubby face, which was quite cute, but he would never admit that it was fat, but simply a bit of baby fat.
"Yes, yes, it's baby fat, not chubby... cough cough."
Xue Qinghe's gaze was gentle and indulgent, but before he could finish speaking, he coughed violently, coughing up dark red blood.
A drop of blood fell onto the brocade quilt with a hissing sound, corroding a large hole.
Xue Qinghe's entire body, inside and out, is now being corroded by the toxins formed from the Asura Divine Power, even in his blood.
If it weren't for the extraordinary foundation of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family, they would probably have perished long ago. Even so, they are now barely clinging to life and could perish at any moment.
"If you can't speak, don't pretend to be strong!"
With mixed feelings, Xue Beng tried to comfort him. He used to hate his elder brother, the Crown Prince, but now, seeing him in such a miserable state, he couldn't bring himself to hate him.
"I didn't want to say it, but if I don't say it now, I'll never have the chance again."
Wiping the blood from the corner of his lips, Xue Qinghe weakly pointed to the low table beside the bed and said, "Bring that box here and open it!"
In fact, Xue Qinghe at this moment is the real Xue Qinghe, not Qian Renxue in disguise.
When Qian Renxue decided to impersonate Xue Qinghe Xue Qinghe, she did not kill him. Instead, she had her grandfather, Qian Daoliu, secretly bring him back to the Spirit Hall Empire and even told him all her plans.
Unlike her original destiny, Qian Renxue has always imitated Bibi Dong's style of doing things, so she acts with dignity and grandeur, disdains to use schemes and tricks, and naturally would not execute Xue Qinghe.
He even had his grandfather Qian Daoliu, grant him permission to learn everything outside the Dream Spirit Network within the Spirit Hall Empire.
Xue Qinghe had no choice but to accept reality and make plans for the future.
Knowing that he would never escape the endless revenge of powerful families, sects, nobles, and wealthy magnates, he did not waste time improving his cultivation. Instead, he devoted all his time to the knowledge system that was beneficial to the people's livelihood of the empire.
Over the decades, even without the time flow boost from the Dream Spirit Network, Xue Qinghe has still learned a great deal of valuable knowledge.
If this knowledge is applied to the empire, it will surely lead to a leap forward in the empire's strength. This is the last and best gift he left for the Heaven Dou Empire and his foolish younger brother.
"This is..."
Xue Beng picked up the brocade box, opened it, and looked at the two strange objects inside. He looked at Xue Qinghe in Xue Beng, not understanding what they meant.
There were only two items in the brocade box: a crystal of pure white light and a strange compass.
"That crystal contains all my knowledge; you should study it more in the future. That compass represents the future of our Heaven Dou Empire."
This world wasn't originally just our Douluo Continent; in the endless ocean, there existed another new continent, no smaller than ours.
The changes on the Douluo Continent are too numerous and too great for us to handle. Our only way out is to cross the sea and travel to that entirely new continent.
At this point, Xue Qinghe couldn't help but cough again, and this time the cough was even more violent, with large mouthfuls of blood gushing out.
However, Xue Qinghe ignored his own condition, forcibly swallowing the last mouthful of blood. His eyes fixed on the Xue Beng, he forced himself to say, "Don't believe in any gods, any powerful families, sects, nobles, or wealthy tycoons. We can only believe in ourselves. Finally, we must never become enemies with the Spirit Hall Empire!"
After managing to utter his last words, Xue Qinghe's tense body went limp, his eyes closed, and even the corners of his lips held a smile of pride and relief.
To be honest, Xue Qinghe's life was truly a tragedy. In the beginning, he did hate Qian Renxue and the entire Spirit Hall Empire. However, the dramatic changes on the continent made him deeply understand how deep the waters of this world were, and how weak their Heaven Dou Empire was.
On the contrary, Qian Renxue's plan was an opportunity for their Heaven Dou Empire, and also an opportunity for Xue Qinghe.
Otherwise, without Qian Renxue's intervention, their Heaven Dou Empire would have inevitably perished in the annals of history, and would have been killed by those treacherous aristocratic families, sects, nobles, and financial magnates.
Compared to that tragic ending, things are much, much better now.
Unfortunately, the gods' intervention in the Divine Realm allowed aristocratic families, sects, nobles, and wealthy clans to discover many divine legacies, making their plans imperfect.
But it's not bad, at least their Heaven Dou Empire still has a future, and it will surely become even more glorious and brilliant.
"Brother, I will remember everything you said!"
Stroking the two items, Xue Beng murmured to himself, his expression incredibly heavy.
Only then did he understand some of the secrets. Perhaps his brother's behavior towards him in the past was not really meant to destroy or even kill him, but rather a form of silent cultivation.
If it weren't for his older brother's past targeting, he wouldn't have stood out from his many brothers and become second only to his elder brother, the crown prince.
In other words, from the very beginning, this elder brother, the crown prince, chose to train him, which led to his current opportunity.
At the same time, a carriage emerged from the main gate of Heaven Dou City and sped off into the distance, but stopped after traveling only a short distance.
Because there was a carriage parked on the side of the Great Dao, a very ordinary carriage, but the people sitting inside were anything but ordinary.
Because that is none other than the Heaven Dou Empire — Xue Ye!
If people knew that Xue Ye had left the Heaven Dou Imperial City so easily, it would shock the world, because at this time, many people wanted his head.
Meanwhile, the two carriages that had just left the Heaven Dou Imperial City were also extraordinary, not because the carriages themselves were extraordinary, but because the people riding inside were extraordinary.
"When people get old, they should stay at home and enjoy their retirement. It's dangerous to go out and wander around. If something happens to you, your children and grandchildren won't even be able to see you one last time."
A clear yet melodious voice emanated from one of the carriages on the road, reaching Xue Ye in another carriage.
Indeed, the person riding in this carriage is none other than Qian Renxue, who has regained her female identity.
Having dealt a heavy blow to powerful families, clans, noble families, and wealthy clans, she had successfully completed her test and no longer needed to stay.
She hadn't expected that Xue Ye would be waiting for her here; it seemed that the old man had clearly seen through something long ago.
"Thank you for the reminder, but I came here only to say goodbye to my son—no, I should say my daughter—so I had no choice but to come!"
Xue Ye smiled. Although he couldn't guess the true identity of the person who had been impersonating his son all these years, he White Zetsu from the Spirit Hall Empire and that their status was certainly not low.
But it doesn't matter. Anyway, this child hasn't done anything to harm the empire over the years. In fact, he has helped the empire a lot. He didn't even harm his real son and returned him safely in the end.
What he hadn't expected was that the person impersonating his son all these years was actually a woman. To achieve such a feat as a woman was truly astonishing, and even he had to admire it.
After decades of getting to know each other, some feelings would inevitably develop, which is why he risked coming out today to see them off.
"I'm so sorry about what happened to him. He didn't have to die!"
After a brief silence, Qian Renxue spoke apologetically, this being the only unexpected turn of events in her plan.
Xue Ye knew who Qian Renxue was referring to, and shook his head slightly, saying, "There's no need to blame yourself. This is Qinghe's own choice, and we should all respect it."
"You're going home too. Take this with you; it might come in handy. Take care!"
Xue Ye threw a seemingly ordinary iron box at the carriage where Qian Renxue was, and then ordered the driver to turn the carriage around and leave.
Take care of yourself too!
The cool, clear voice reached Xue Ye's ears, causing a smile of satisfaction to appear on his lips.
After decades of living together, Xue Ye developed familial feelings for Qian Renxue, and Qian Renxue Qian Renxue felt the same way, always deeply respecting this "father emperor."
This parting may be the last time we ever meet!