The grand elder was silenced by a single remark from the emperor. He knew the emperor did not get along with his elder brother, but he had never expected him to stop even pretending.
Seeing the grand elder fall silent, the emperor's voice gradually grew cold. "What is it, Minister Su? Do you have some unique insight concerning my imperial brother?"
The grand elder shook his head. "No. Your subject merely never expected the late emperor to place a good-for-nothing on the throne for the sake of so-called seniority, overlooking Your Majesty's heroic bearing. That truly was a failing on the late emperor's part."
"Ah, don't say that. After all these years, Father had his difficulties too. Besides, my elder brother lacked the fortune to hold down the throne, leaving him unable to father a son. In the end, he could only find some bastard of unknown origin to make up the numbers."
"Now Father's spirit in heaven has sent down punishment, and I can only accept this appointment in a time of crisis. It's all those people's fault. Those people have truly made Us suffer!"
The emperor presented an image of brotherly affection and respect. Anyone who did not know what was really going on with him might actually have been fooled.
"Minister, the Sun Moon Empire will need more of your hard work in the future. Keep the ducal seal and resources safe. I hope your clan will always remain a ducal clan. We shall trouble you no further."
Hearing what the emperor had given him, the grand elder rather wanted to curse.
Upon reaching Titled Douluo cultivation, one automatically unlocked ducal status in every empire. Apart from special occasions, one could at least interact with the emperor as an equal in everyday dealings.
In the Sun Moon Empire, cultivation was mainly achieved by popping pills, and the good medicines were controlled by the Imperial Family. As a result, Titled Douluos here received somewhat worse treatment than in the Douluo Three Kingdoms.
But a ducal title for one generation was still guaranteed. After that generation, it would be downgraded to a marquisate. If the clan continued to have a Titled Douluo, it would retain its ducal title; without one, it would still retain a marquisate thereafter. This was a tacitly accepted rule in the Sun Moon Empire.
There would normally have been nothing wrong with such a reward, but the Sun Moon Empire's emperor had clearly been courting the Su Clan, making them choose a side. They had chosen his side, yet received no benefits.
Never mind anything more substantial-he had not even promised to let the ducal title pass down a few extra generations, hardly much of a benefit. The grand elder began to wonder how the current emperor had managed to take the throne. Surely it could not be because the previous emperor had been even worse!
Though he grumbled inwardly, he ultimately did not dare voice any criticism of the emperor, merely seeing him off in silence.
After the emperor left, the various Titled Douluos and some of the empire's nobles came to visit, familiarizing themselves with the household so that their clans' blind juniors would not end up picking fights with them in the future.
This continued for half a month, until Su Yun ran off to the Dou Qi Continent to refine medicine.
"Young clan leader, they have all been seen off."
Half a month later, after finally getting acquainted with those Titled Douluos and great nobles of the Sun Moon Empire, the grand elder reported to Su Yun upon his return.
"You don't need to tell me about ordinary matters. Is there anything involving my sister?"
"It's like this, young clan leader. There has been nothing much concerning the eldest young lady. I hear she has already become thoroughly acquainted with the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy's regular team members for the next Continental Advanced Soul Master Tournament, and she has even fought her way into being captain."
"However, the eldest young lady said you should be attending school and asked whether you wanted to go over. The room they gave her is quite large, and she could look after you too."
"Look after me?" Su Yun raised an eyebrow, recalling the days when he had been short of money and Su Qingxue had been the only one he could squeeze gold coins out of.
He suspected his sister was short of a servant.
"No need. I'm not interested in attending the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy. I don't mind using Soul Tools, but making them? Not with the current technology, at least."
Su Yun shook his head. He had no interest whatsoever in attending any of the academies on the Douluo Continent.
"I have other things to do. Have the clan keep a lower profile for now and secretly build up its strength first. The Snow Empress may be powerful, but we can't rely on her for everything. Our clan needs sufficient strength of its own to handle whatever situations might arise later."
"Pass down the order: for now, the Su Clan will buy External Soul Bones and mental-type Soul Bones at high prices. Buy as many as there are, so long as the prices aren't outrageously sky-high. Also..."
"Find that legendary Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife. Once you find it, seal it away for now. Bring it to me later when I need it."
At the mention of the Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife, the grand elder frowned. "Young clan leader, I hear that Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife can backlash against its owner. Should we find a Soul Master with an Angel Martial Soul to purify it?"
The grand elder recalled the Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife's reputation and worried that Su Yun might suffer its backlash if he used it. But since he did not know whether Su Yun intended to use it himself or do something else with it, he did not take it upon himself to find a Soul Master with an Angel Martial Soul.
"No need. What I want is precisely the Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife that can cause backlash. Purifying it would only get in the way."
Su Yun rejected the grand elder's suggestion outright. What he wanted was that Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife-or, more precisely, the remnant soul of the Evil Soul Master Titled Douluo upon it.
In Douluo I, Tang San had used the Ten Headed Fierce Yang Serpent's inner core as a Soul Ring for Ma Hongjun. That alone showed that a Soul Ring did not necessarily have to be something that floated out after a Soul Beast was killed.
Su Yun had successfully used Magic Cores from the Dou Qi Continent to provide his clan with sufficiently powerful Soul Rings. If he broadened his thinking a little, could other things serve as Soul Rings too?
For instance, the remnant soul of an Evil Soul Master.
Of course, generally speaking, using an Evil Soul Master's remnant soul as a Soul Ring was certainly unreliable. How could something like a soul simply be given tangible form and turned into a Soul Ring?
But Su Yun's Martial Soul was a soul!
To others, souls were ethereal and utterly impossible to grasp.
If souls were also ethereal and utterly impossible to grasp for Su Yun, then hadn't he awakened this Soul Martial Soul for fucking nothing?
A Soul Martial Soul owner who could not use souls-wouldn't that be just like the Poison Douluo having only a smattering of knowledge about poison...
All right, that was because Dugu Bo had something wrong with his head.
But clearly, there was nothing wrong with Su Yun's head. Soon after his Martial Soul Awakening, he had been able to control his soul and send it out of his body.
Although Su Yun's current soul strength most likely could not handle that Evil Soul Master's remnant soul, he was in no hurry.
Things were no longer as they had been at the beginning. Back then, he had nothing. To be safe, Su Yun had had no choice but to fuse with an ordinary Thousand-Year Soul Ring as his first ring, lest he suffer backlash from the Black Flame Purple Cloud Eagle's remnant soul.
But now, his clan's combat strength had soared, giving it sufficient power to protect itself. He no longer needed to worry about a passing Evil Soul Master casually turning them into food one day, and he had sufficient cultivation resources of his own.
He could afford to slow down now, stop wasting his remaining Soul Ring slots, and properly plan out his Soul Rings.
At worst, he could wait until he reached Da Dou Shi or even Dou Ling before fusing with an Evil Soul Master's remnant soul as a Soul Ring. In any case, with his current talent, those people on the Dou Qi Continent saw him as a top-tier genius. He had no need to worry about attracting investment.
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