At the Sun Moon Emperor's command, Xu Tianran was dragged out like a dead dog, without a shred of dignity befitting a crown prince.
Watching his son being dragged away, the Sun Moon Emperor not only felt no anger, but instead breathed a sigh of relief inwardly.
"So that was it, so that was it! I was wondering why Father wanted to chop my head off without a word. It turns out you were the bastard who brought this on me!"
"Handing our Xu Clan's realm to someone else on a silver platter! If this hadn't come to light today, wouldn't all my ancestors have chopped me into mincemeat when I finally went down there?"
The Sun Moon Emperor did not know which branch Xu Tianran would find a child from for him, but one thing was certain: whoever Xu Tianran chose to father his child would definitely not be a close member of the imperial family.
His father, his grandfather, his great-grandfather, and who knew how many generations before them-the efforts of all those generations would end up sewing a wedding dress for someone else. It would be stranger if his father didn't chop him down!
"I knew a mere elder brother couldn't warrant that. He only had that one son, too. So this was where the problem lay."
Having found himself a reason for his father cutting him down without a word, the Sun Moon Emperor successfully consoled himself.
At that moment, he seemed to return to his high-spirited days, no longer looking as sickly as he had after that fright.
Meanwhile, as Xu Tianran was dragged outside to be executed, he nearly shattered his teeth from clenching them.
All his long planning, all his preparations, had ended just like that because of a single rumor. Even his life was about to be lost.
And he wasn't being granted death, but beaten to death, without even the last scrap of a crown prince's dignity.
Xu Tianran refused to accept it. He refused to die like this.
"No! I can't die! I can't die!"
"I still haven't ascended the throne!"
"I still haven't unified the continent!"
"I am an emperor for the ages! Sun Moon needs me! The empire needs me!"
"I can't die! I can't die!"
Xu Tianran's eyes turned blood-red. At the same time, wisps of black Qi began rising from his body because of his extreme unwillingness to accept this. Clearly, his Martial Soul was mutating.
As long as he made it through today and his Martial Soul successfully mutated, his already terrifying talent would grow stronger still.
He didn't even need to make it through today. Just a little longer, even a short while longer, and once his Martial Soul finished mutating, both Xu Tianran's strength and his Martial Soul would undergo a qualitative transformation.
But before Xu Tianran's Martial Soul could finish its qualitative transformation, the two Soul Douluos who had dragged him out of the palace like a stray dog to beat him to death on the emperor's orders each struck him with a palm, smashing him into meat paste.
What a joke. A crown prince with considerable talent had been dragged out of the palace like a dead dog by the two of them.
Even if they had been acting on the emperor's orders, they had still offended the crown prince beyond reconciliation.
Having already offended the crown prince beyond reconciliation, and now seeing his Martial Soul mutate with the possibility of him rising again, even a moment's hesitation would have shown disrespect for their own nine generations of kin.
The two hurriedly killed Xu Tianran before his Martial Soul could finish changing, lest a long night bring many dreams and give Xu Tianran a chance to rise again.
And through their efforts, Xu Tianran, crown prince of the Sun Moon Empire, passed away!
Elsewhere, at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy.
As dean of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy and also hall master of the Illustrious Virtue Hall, Jing Hongchen held an extremely high position. He was someone most Soul Engineers would never meet in their entire lives.
For Su Yun, however, meeting Jing Hongchen was not difficult.
Jing Hongchen was quite willing to show consideration to his disciple's younger brother, who was also the young clan leader of a Titled Douluo clan.
"Need something?"
In Jing Hongchen's private room, Su Yun and Jing Hongchen sat facing each other, and Jing Hongchen spoke.
"Thank you for looking after the Su Clan over the past two years, Hall Master. This is a small token of appreciation. I believe it should be of some help to you. Please accept it."
As Su Yun spoke, he handed over a jade box.
Jing Hongchen glanced at the jade box, showing little interest.
After so many years as hall master of the Illustrious Virtue Hall, what fine things hadn't she seen? Thus, Jing Hongchen wasn't particularly concerned about what Su Yun had given him.
"What is this? Pills?"
Jing Hongchen took a look, then pushed the box back.
"There's no need for pills. Over all these years, I've taken every pill available in the Sun Moon Empire. Hoping to improve my strength with pills again is no longer very realistic."
Seeing Jing Hongchen push the jade box back, Su Yun remained unhurried. "Don't be hasty, Hall Master. These aren't pills for breaking through in cultivation, but pills for improving combat strength."
"Improving combat strength? Can these things increase Soul Power for a short time? What about the cost? Is there a price to pay?"
"No. Or rather, not from the pills. To be precise, these pills provide support rather than directly improve combat strength."
At that, Jing Hongchen finally became a little interested. "How so?"
"Hall Master, have you ever thought about shattering your Soul Rings, then using the power from their shattering for a burst of strength?"
"Shattering Soul Rings?"
Jing Hongchen was taken aback. Thanks to Tang Jia San Shao's intelligence-lowering halo, the Clear Sky Sect in Douluo I had thought of shattering Soul Rings to amplify the power of the Clear Sky Hammer.
Yet in all these years, no one in the Sun Moon Empire had thought of it, despite needing Soul Power more than the Clear Sky Sect did and having no need for Soul Rings.
"That's right, shattering Soul Rings! If some Soul Rings were shattered, wouldn't the Soul Power released when they shattered be exactly what Soul Engineers need most?"
As Jing Hongchen spoke, he released his Soul Rings without another word, and his First Soul Ring began to shatter.
As the Soul Ring shattered, a certain amount of Soul Power entered Jin Hongchen's body, but since it was only the First Soul Ring, there wasn't much.
Immediately afterward, his second, third, fourth, and even Fifth Soul Ring shattered in succession.
When he shattered the Fifth Soul Ring, Jing Hongchen frowned. By then, he could already feel the immense Soul Power released by the shattering Soul Rings.
At the same time, however, he also felt that immense Soul Power battering his meridians.
"This really is a good way to unleash a burst of strength. Why did I never think of it?"
For a moment, Jing Hongchen doubted his own intelligence. Then he looked at Su Yun again.
"So those pills will let me keep shattering my other Soul Rings without worrying about backlash?"
"You're indeed clever, Hall Master. As long as you don't shatter all nine rings at once, these pills can withstand even the power released when the Ninth Soul Ring shatters."
Su Yun handed the pills to Jing Hongchen again. This time, Jing Hongchen did not refuse the pills Su Yun offered, but immediately swallowed a Pulse-Protecting Pill.
Then he felt an extra layer of protective film covering the meridians inside his body.
Without any hesitation, Jing Hongchen swiftly shattered his Sixth Ring. Finding that there was indeed no longer any strain, he immediately shattered his Seventh Soul Ring.
After he had shattered even his Eighth Soul Ring, Jing Hongchen suddenly sat cross-legged amid that immense power and began refining the Soul Power inside him.
A long time later, when Jing Hongchen opened his eyes again, his presence had grown somewhat more powerful than before.
"I actually broke through to Level 94?"