Steamed buns and water, scraping out a miserable existence?
Fight to mutual destruction, throwing his life away in vain?
Or...
The corners of Dai Weisi's mouth rose uncontrollably.
Then laughter spilled from his throat, growing louder and louder until it became unrestrained laughter that rang throughout Chengtian Hall!
"Haha... hahahahaha!"
The entire hall fell deathly silent.
Everyone was bewildered by the sudden laughter.
Even the two imperial guards froze with their arms in midair and looked at each other.
The kneeling ministers forgot their smugness and looked up in astonishment.
The smile froze on Prince Cheng Dai Tianfeng's face. He stared at Dai Weisi, who looked as though he had gone mad, and frowned deeply.
This was...
On the dragon throne, the Star Luo Emperor's expression had turned from furious to ashen.
"Unfilial son! You dare mock the court like this?!"
He forced the words through clenched teeth, his killing intent chilling.
Nowhere was more heartless than the imperial family.
So what if Dai Weisi was his eldest son?
The Star Luo Empire had no need for a cripple, much less a madman who dared challenge imperial authority!
He had intended to spare Dai Weisi's life and throw him into the cold palace to fend for himself, honoring the last vestiges of their bond as father and son.
But now, it seemed this unfilial son was bent on seeking death himself!
Just as the Star Luo Emperor was about to order Dai Weisi killed, Grand Marshal Zhu Xiaotian, the man built like a mountain who stood at the head of the military officials, finally moved.
He stepped forward, his heavy armor rasping softly, and cupped his hands toward the dragon throne. His voice rang out like a bell:
"Your Majesty, calm your anger."
Everyone's gaze converged on him.
"The eldest prince... presumably could not bear the humiliation of defeat and lost his mind."
No emotion could be heard in Zhu Xiaotian's voice.
"Your Majesty's person is worth ten thousand in gold. Why lower yourself to take issue with a... patient? In this old minister's opinion, sending him to the Northern Garden would already be an act of boundless imperial grace."
His words gave the emperor ample room to save face.
If Dai Weisi was deemed a "madman," then all his previous acts of "outrageous defiance" had an explanation.
If the emperor continued to take issue with him, it would only be beneath his dignity.
Even Dai Weisi glanced at Zhu Xiaotian in surprise.
This old fox actually spoke up for me?
He had thought that what the Zhu Family wanted most now was for him and Zhu Zhuyun to disappear completely, so their younger daughter, Zhu Zhuqing, could secure her position as the future crown princess.
Strangely enough, no one at court spoke against Zhu Xiaotian.
His status was simply too high.
As the foremost figure in the empire's military and a relative of the imperial family, even Prince Cheng Dai Tianfeng was unwilling to clash with him openly over such a minor detail.
Sure enough, the Star Luo Emperor's killing intent gradually subsided a little.
He, too, felt that word would sound bad if it got out that he had personally killed a son who had been "driven mad" in front of the assembled civil and military officials.
Enough. Let him rot away silently in the cold palace as a madman.
He was just about to wave for the imperial guards to take him away.
"I'm not mad."
Dai Weisi stopped laughing. His eyes were frighteningly clear as he looked around at everyone.
"On the contrary, I've never been more clearheaded than I am now."
He paused, then turned his gaze back to his father on the dragon throne and spoke word by word:
"You think my defeat was a disgrace to the empire. But in my view, this defeat was good, it came at the right time, and it was... marvelous beyond words!"
"If not for this defeat, how could I have seen through the fog and found the true great path to the heavens?"
As soon as he said this, whispers and barely suppressed snickers broke out across the hall.
"Mad. He really has gone mad."
"The great path to the heavens? More like the great path to a mass grave!"
"He lost, yet he's still coming up with all these excuses. How ridiculous."
The goateed minister shook his head, his face full of contempt. He felt that the former eldest prince was utterly beyond saving.
The Star Luo Emperor's patience finally ran out.
He no longer wanted to look at the face that had disappointed him so deeply. He waved a hand coldly. "Drag him away!"
"I'd like to see who dares!"
Dai Weisi's thunderous shout sounded like a tiger's roar and a dragon's cry. It shook the two imperial guards to the core, making them halt in their tracks!
He ignored everyone else, simply standing in the center of the hall and slowly closing his eyes.
The next moment, his eyes snapped open, brilliant golden light blazing in his pupils!
"Open your eyes wide and watch closely, all of you!"
"Martial Soul, Holy White Tiger, possess me!"
"Roar-!"
An earthshaking tiger roar erupted from within Dai Weisi!
Then dazzling golden light shot into the sky, accompanied by the phantom of an enormous white tiger!
It was no longer the mighty Evil-Eyed White Tiger Martial Soul they remembered.
The Holy White Tiger before them was so solid it looked alive, every line of its muscles brimming with explosive power.
Its entire body was covered in sacred golden-white fur, and the "king" mark on its forehead shone with piercing golden light. As its tiger eyes opened and closed, they revealed not mere ferocity, but an unrivaled majesty that reigned over all under heaven!
All of Chengtian Hall was instantly enveloped in a sacred and incomparably domineering presence!
"This... this Martial Soul's presence... how could it..."
Prince Cheng Dai Tianfeng's expression changed drastically.
His Martial Soul was also a white tiger!
At this moment, he felt it directly!
"Something's wrong! His Martial Soul seems to have changed!"
A sharp-eyed Soul Master minister also cried out in alarm.
But what truly took everyone's breath away was yet to come!
With a low shout from Dai Weisi, Soul Rings rose one after another from beneath his feet!
Yellow! Yellow! Purple! Purple!
Four Soul Rings! This was the configuration everyone knew.
Many ministers secretly breathed a sigh of relief. So only his Martial Soul had changed?
No, perhaps even the change in his Martial Soul was merely for show. His Soul Power Level hadn't...
Before they could finish the thought, their eyes bulged as wide as bronze bells!
Above the fourth purple Soul Ring, a black Soul Ring as deep as ink appeared!
Black!
It was black!
A Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring!
One yellow, one yellow, one purple, one purple, one black!
Five whole Soul Rings!
A fifth Soul Ring! He had already broken through to level fifty and become a Soul King!
And his fifth Soul Ring was also a ten-thousand-year ring, part of the optimal Soul Ring Configuration?!
"F-five... five rings! A Soul King! How is this possible?!"
"Didn't he suffer a crushing defeat in the competition, lose heart, and see his cultivation stagnate?!"
"This has to be a lie! Before the competition, he had only just reached level forty-nine! This... this is absolutely impossible!"
"Hasn't he been in the imperial palace these past few days? Where did he hunt down a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast?!"
Cries of alarm and sharp intakes of breath rose and fell throughout the hall, blending into a continuous din.
The mocking, indifferent, and gloating looks from before had all been replaced by horror!
Prince Cheng Dai Tianfeng was struck as if by lightning, his entire body freezing in place.
Of course he felt the Soul Power coming from Dai Weisi!
It was not even level fifty-one, the level of someone who had just broken through to Soul King, but a full level fifty-six!
He had misjudged him!
The eldest prince they had regarded as a discarded pawn had not only failed to sink into despair, but had instead... soared into the sky?!
"How on earth did he do it?!"
A flash of shock also passed through the deep eyes of Grand Marshal Zhu Xiaotian, who had remained as still as an ancient well until now!
And at the highest point, the Star Luo Emperor had already sprung to his feet from the dragon throne!
He stared fixedly at the fifth, black Soul Ring beneath Dai Weisi's feet, sensing the sacred presence of that Martial Soul and the Soul Power that far surpassed that of an ordinary beginner Soul King. The expression on his face was a sight to behold.
Shock, doubt, bewilderment-in the end, they all turned into a... burning fervor!
Bathed in the light of his five rings, Dai Weisi took in everyone's expressions.
Then his gaze passed over the stunned faces and finally settled on the face of his father, the supreme ruler of the court.
"Father Emperor, now, take another look."
"Do you still want to strip me of my position as prince and banish me to the cold palace in the Northern Garden?"