Dai Weisi's words were like a boulder crashing into a still lake, stirring up a thousand waves.
The air seemed to freeze.
A crack appeared in Dugu Bo's icy indifference.
His emerald-green serpent eyes widened slightly, as though he hadn't heard clearly, or perhaps couldn't believe what he'd heard.
A Soul Emperor?
On his turf, right to his face, saying he couldn't stop him?
In all his years roaming the continent unchecked, he had never met such an arrogant junior.
He was a Titled Douluo!
Even the Heaven Dou Empire did everything it could to court him and dared not offend him!
And a prince of the Star Luo Empire dared treat him like this?
After a moment of astonishment, Dugu Bo laughed, a raspy, dangerous "heh heh" that came from deep in his throat.
"Interesting. Very interesting."
He stuck out his scarlet tongue and licked his lips. He no longer looked at Dai Weisi as an intruder, but as an extremely rare specimen worth collecting.
"Little fellow, I'll admit you've got some skill, finding this place and making it through that poisonous fog."
"But... do you have some misunderstanding about what the words 'Titled Douluo' mean?"
"Your Majesty!"
Zhu Zhuqing also recovered from her shock, and a surge of conflicting emotions, anger mixed with secret delight, welled up in her heart.
She nearly laughed aloud. This Dai Weisi really was a complete fool! This was a godsend!
She immediately bowed to Dugu Bo, her tone growing even more earnest, with just the right touch of concern and contempt:
"Your Majesty, do you see? That's the kind of person he is, always looking down on everyone and full of arrogance!"
"He has no idea how high the heavens are or how deep the earth is! If the future of the Star Luo Empire is entrusted to a madman like him, it will only lead to ruin!"
She raised her head, a resolute light flickering in her beautiful eyes.
"Second Prince Dai Mubai and I had no choice but to oppose him for the empire's future, so that its countless subjects wouldn't be buried alongside him!"
Her words rang with passion and righteous conviction.
As Dugu Bo listened, the amusement in his eyes deepened.
He glanced at Zhu Zhuqing, then at the youth across from him, whose expression was indifferent, as though everything were under his control. Killing intent quietly rose in his heart.
"Oh?"
He drew out the word as emerald-green mist began to curl around his fingertips.
"So, according to you, if I help your Star Luo Empire get rid of this future 'tyrant,' I'd be doing a great and virtuous deed?"
His tone shifted, and his voice abruptly turned cold:
"But why should I help you? What do your family affairs have to do with me? If you want me to act, you'll have to offer me something tempting."
The opportunity was here!
Zhu Zhuqing was ecstatic. She knew she had made the right gamble!
She forced down her excitement and said gravely:
"I know my empty words alone can hardly win Your Majesty's trust. But I can swear an oath here on behalf of Second Prince Dai Mubai!"
"As long as Your Majesty is willing to help, on the day the second prince ascends the throne, he will surely honor you as the empire's imperial preceptor and an honored guest elder!"
She paused, then played a bargaining chip enough to drive anyone mad.
"Not only that, the Dugu Family shall endure as long as the empire, its title passed down without end, and be bestowed the rank of the Star Luo Empire's sole king of a different surname!"
A king of a different surname!
At those words, even Dugu Bo's gaze, as undisturbed as an ancient well, wavered violently.
To be made king or appointed minister, and leave one's descendants under that protection-what glory and power!
He was alone in the world and had never cared that much for power, but he still had a granddaughter, Dugu Yan.
If he could pave a road to the heavens for his descendants...
The temptation was too great.
Zhu Zhuyun's face had already turned deathly pale.
She had never dreamed that her own younger sister would twist black and white so completely, all to stay alive and for so-called power!
And... she could even make a promise that would shake the foundations of the empire!
She looked at Dai Weisi, only to find him as calm as ever. He hadn't even blinked an extra time, as though what Zhu Zhuqing had promised was not a throne, but a cabbage.
What on earth is this man thinking?
What trump card does he have?
Zhu Zhuyun didn't know, and she no longer wanted to guess.
She knew only that from the moment she and Dai Weisi had become engaged, they had been one.
Whether in life or death, she had to stand by his side.
She silently stepped forward to stand at Dai Weisi's left and took his broad hand in her slender one.
Her hand was somewhat cold and even trembling slightly, but her grip was tight.
A stream of Soul Power belonging to the Hell Spirit Cat quietly stirred, answering the presence of the Holy White Tiger within Dai Weisi from afar.
She said nothing, but her actions had already made everything clear.
If we must fight, then fight! If we must die, then we'll die together!
The Martial Soul Fusion Skill, Hell White Tiger, could be unleashed at any moment!
Feeling the softness and resolve in the hand against his palm, Dai Weisi turned to her and smiled faintly, a trace of approval and reassurance in his eyes.
Across from them, Dugu Bo took it all in.
He weighed the pros and cons, thoughts racing through his mind.
The pie Zhu Zhuqing had painted for him was truly tempting.
But the risk was just as great.
Killing the crown prince of the Star Luo Empire on the spot would be no different from declaring war on a behemoth.
Even if Dai Mubai did ascend the throne one day, might he turn his back on him to appease the royal family's wrath?
He couldn't trust a politician's promise.
But he was unwilling to simply let them go.
A brilliant idea formed in his mind.
Killing them was too risky.
But... not killing them didn't mean he couldn't do something else.
"Heh heh heh..."
Dugu Bo let out another hair-raising laugh. He looked at Dai Weisi and Zhu Zhuyun like two prey already caught in a spider's web.
"The pie the little girl painted smells wonderful, and I'm very tempted. But I always like to keep a move in reserve."
"Killing you would cause too much of a stir. How about... you two stay a while longer in my herb garden instead?"
Before the words had left his mouth, he shot up his hand!
"Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor Poison!"
A thick, dark-green mist burst from his palm. It came without an earth-shaking display, yet carried a bone-deep chill and deathly stillness.
The green mist coalesced in the air into the terrifying shadow of a serpent. Opening its bloody maw, it silently swooped down to swallow Dai Weisi and the other two!
This poison wasn't meant to kill, but to control people.
Once the Serpent Emperor Poison entered the body, Soul Power would be sealed and the body paralyzed. Life and death would hang on a single thought from the one who had administered the poison!
He had made up his mind to bring these two hot potatoes under control first.
Then, no matter who won or lost in the Star Luo Empire, he would have another trump card in his hand!
Faced with the Titled Douluo's thunderous strike, a smug smile appeared on Zhu Zhuqing's face, while Zhu Zhuyun's heart sank to rock bottom.
Yet Dai Weisi, standing at the very front, watched the venomous serpent shadow rush toward him, and the corners of his mouth curled into an even more amused smile.
"Finally willing to make a move?"
"Too bad. Your methods are nothing special, and you're far too slow."