A deathly silence hung over Chengtian Hall.
Dai Weisi's question was like a soundless slap across the face of everyone in the hall, leaving their cheeks burning.
Especially the Star Luo Emperor on the dragon throne.
The heat and shock on his face slowly faded, replaced by a deeper scrutiny and suspicion.
This was something that could never be explained by talent alone.
Behind it, there had to be an earthshaking secret, perhaps even... a tremendous unforeseen factor capable of shaking the foundations of the empire?
"Speak."
The Star Luo Emperor did not answer Dai Weisi directly. His voice was even colder than before.
"Where did all that Soul Power of yours come from? And why did your Martial Soul mutate?"
"Your Majesty, there must be something suspicious about this!"
Prince Cheng, Dai Tianfeng, finally recovered from his shock. Pointing at Dai Weisi, he said sharply:
"His cultivation has soared and his Martial Soul has mutated in just a few days! This could never have been achieved by righteous means!"
"I suspect Dai Weisi used some sinister method to obtain this false strength!"
As soon as he said this, quite a few people immediately voiced their agreement.
"That's right! Normal cultivation could never achieve this!"
"Throughout history, there have been Soul Masters with strange methods who excelled at increasing their strength, but the consequences were endless!"
"Dai Weisi, you're drinking poison to quench your thirst and courting death!"
"Please investigate thoroughly, Your Majesty! You must not be deceived by appearances!"
The goateed minister from before rolled his eyes and jumped in as well, echoing the others with an expression of deep anguish:
"Your Highness... no, Dai Weisi! You've disappointed us terribly! To regain your position as crown prince, you were even willing to fall onto an evil path!"
"You're going to drag our Star Luo Empire into an abyss of eternal damnation!"
As he spoke, he beat his chest and stamped his feet, giving a performance of such apparent sincerity that he might have been the most loyal pillar of the court.
Dai Weisi watched the group's crude performance, his lips curling into a mocking smile.
He could not even be bothered to argue.
"An evil path?"
He chuckled, his laughter full of disdain.
He slowly raised his right hand, palm up.
The next moment, three radiant lights appeared in his palm without warning!
A golden flower bloomed, its petals shimmering with glazed light as an unusual fragrance instantly filled the air;
A crimson plant burned with dancing flames, its heat scorching the air;
An ice-crystal Immortal Herb with eight leaves glowed a deep blue, its chill condensing into tiny blossoms of frost.
The instant the three Immortal Herbs appeared, all of Chengtian Hall was enveloped in an intensely dense breath of life and pure energy.
"This... this is..."
"Heavens! That medicinal fragrance! That vitality! Could they be the legendary..."
"Hundred-thousand-year spirit herbs?!"
A white-haired imperial physician of great standing in the empire pointed at the Immortal Herbs in Dai Weisi's hand, trembling all over, tears streaming down his aged face in excitement.
"There can be no mistake! No mistake!"
"Although I don't recognize these three spirit herbs, even the ten-thousand-year spirit herbs treasured in the imperial vault can't compare to the presence of these three!"
"These... these are treasures precious enough to drive even Titled Douluo mad!"
"What?!"
"Hundred-thousand-year spirit herbs?!"
A single specimen of such a legendary divine treasure would likely be enough to change a Soul Master's fate, or even drive a top-tier sect mad.
Yet now, Dai Weisi had casually produced three!
If the Five-Ring Soul King and the change in his Martial Soul had shocked everyone before,
then the appearance of these three spirit herbs had now driven them all completely mad!
Throughout the hall, greedy, burning, disbelieving gazes were fixed on Dai Weisi's hand.
The goateed minister craned his neck and stared with round eyes, looking for all the world like a weasel that had spotted three fat hens.
The Star Luo Emperor's breath also caught as he looked at the three Immortal Herbs!
Though he was the ruler of the empire and possessed a richly stocked treasury, he had never seen a true hundred-thousand-year spirit herb!
So that was it!
So that was it!
No wonder... no wonder he had been able to shed his old self and be reborn in such a short time!
"You unfilial son... no, my son, you..."
The Star Luo Emperor's voice trembled slightly. He wanted to ask where the Immortal Herbs had come from, but swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue.
Even if he asked about such a fortuitous encounter, the other party might not tell him.
Dai Weisi took in everyone's expressions and curled his lips.
This was exactly the effect he wanted.
Revealing his Martial Soul and strength was a challenge.
Revealing his resources, meanwhile, was the source of the greed and awe in everyone's hearts!
He wanted to see what would happen next!
Dai Weisi put the three Immortal Herbs away.
His expression was so unconcerned that they might have been three ordinary radishes rather than divine treasures rarely seen in the world.
"Your Majesty!"
Prince Cheng, Dai Tianfeng, turned pale and then flushed.
Nevertheless, he gritted his teeth and took a step forward.
"Even if the eldest prince's cultivation has advanced greatly, it remains an indisputable fact that he lost to the second prince in the tournament! If we do not respond, would that not dishonor the rules of our ancestors and damage the dignity of our imperial family?"
He could not back down!
No one knew that in those few short days, he had already secretly placed all his bets on Dai Mubai!
If Dai Weisi turned things around, he would surely have bitter fruit to swallow in the future!
"Oh?"
Hearing this, Dai Weisi turned to look at him, a hint of mockery in his eyes.
"Uncle Cheng, do you mean to say that one defeat should determine the rest of my life?"
"I..."
Dai Tianfeng felt a chill under his gaze.
"Then I'd like to ask you, Uncle Cheng,"
Dai Weisi's voice abruptly turned cold.
"When you challenged my imperial father in your youth, how many times did you lose? If my imperial father hadn't remembered that you were born of the same mother, heh!"
"By your reasoning, shouldn't you kill yourself now to make amends to the world?"
"You... how dare you!"
Dai Tianfeng trembled all over with rage, his face turning the color of pig liver.
That old affair was the shame of his life. Now that Dai Weisi had exposed it before the entire court, it hurt even more than being slapped several times.
"Enough!"
The Star Luo Emperor put a stop to the farce with a cold shout.
His gaze returned to Dai Weisi, becoming exceedingly complicated.
There was relief and suspicion, but above all, the calculated weighing of an emperor.
By now, he had come to know Dai Weisi anew!
He was vastly different from the Dai Weisi of before!
This was a son who had encountered great fortune, whose strength had soared, and whose temperament had become calm and ruthless!
Still, Dai Tianfeng had a point. The rules of the imperial family could not be broken.
A loser was a loser.
"Dai Weisi,"
the Star Luo Emperor said slowly, his voice regaining an emperor's dignity and composure.
"Your strength may have advanced greatly, but a defeat is a defeat. The empire's crown prince cannot be a loser."
The atmosphere in the hall grew tense once more.
The ministers who had just begun to waver resumed their wait-and-see stance.
Dai Weisi smiled at his words.
"Father is right."
"However, when I was in a desperate situation, I happened upon a tremendous stroke of fortune, which brought me the blessings I have today."
"This is the will of heaven."
"Heaven wants me, Dai Weisi, to revive the glory of our Dai family and lead the Star Luo Empire to true greatness!"
The Star Luo Emperor's face darkened at these words.
He had not expected Dai Weisi to dare say such a thing!
Fortune? Blessings?
If he struck Dai Weisi dead on the spot today, what use would any amount of fortune be?
If he obtained those Immortal Herbs himself, might he be able to break through to Titled Douluo?
At that thought, an even denser pressure of Soul Power poured from the Star Luo Emperor, crashing toward Dai Weisi like a tangible, raging wave!
He still wanted to test him first!
He wanted to see what else his son had beyond what he had just shown!
He had used his full strength in that pressure!
He was a genuine high-level Soul Douluo! His Martial Soul, the White Tiger, was also steeped in the might of slaughter!
An ordinary Soul King would have been forced to his knees on the spot under that pressure!
Yet just as the pressure was about to descend upon Dai Weisi,
an aged, calm figure appeared before him without warning.
It was an old man dressed in coarse gray clothes, utterly ordinary in appearance, like an old servant from next door.
He did not release his Martial Soul or reveal his Soul Rings. He simply stood there quietly, stretched out his withered right hand, and waved it gently before him.
It was as though he were brushing a speck of dust from his clothes.
That terrifying pressure dissolved instantly, vanishing like spring snow beneath the warm sun!
All was calm in Chengtian Hall, as though nothing had happened.
"!!!"
At that moment, the entire hall fell deathly silent!
The Star Luo Emperor's pupils contracted sharply!
He knew his own strength perfectly well!
For someone to dispel it so effortlessly, there was only one possibility as to that person's strength...
A Titled Douluo!
At the head of the military officials, Zhu Xiaotian, who had remained silent and unmoving as a mountain, also felt towering waves surge through his heart!
He stared fixedly at the gray-clad old man, his burly body tensing slightly without his realizing it!
Like the Star Luo Emperor, he too was a high-level Soul Douluo!
He was likewise only one step away from the realm of Titled Douluo.
Thus, he too could sense what kind of power lay within the gray-clad old man!
"Who are you, sir?"
The Star Luo Emperor's expression was grave!
The gray-clad old man merely bowed slightly, then spoke respectfully, but without servility:
"This old servant has come on his master's orders to ensure His Highness the eldest prince's safety."
Old servant?
Master?
Protect him?!
Boom!
The entire court erupted!
A Titled Douluo!
Actually, actually had a master?
And on his master's orders, he was serving as Dai Weisi's guard?!
Prince Cheng, Dai Tianfeng, went deathly pale. His body swayed, and he could barely remain standing.
The Star Luo Emperor fell silent as well.
He looked at Dai Weisi, then at the seemingly ordinary figure before him, a jumble of feelings in his heart.
If it were only one Titled Douluo, he would not be afraid if it truly came to a fight!
There were several Soul Douluo in this court alone!
Moreover, the empress's Martial Soul was the Hell Spirit Cat!
Although she was only a Soul Saint, their Martial Soul Fusion Skill was enough to contend with a Titled Douluo head-on!
At the same time, there were two hundred thousand imperial guards in the city!
One had to remember that a Titled Douluo was human too! And a human's strength would eventually run out!
But judging by what the old man had just said, he had a master as well?
After a long while, the Star Luo Emperor slowly settled back onto the dragon throne, withdrawing all of his oppressive pressure.
"Good. Very good."
He looked at Dai Weisi and spoke.
"You've had a fortuitous encounter and gained the aid of a powerful expert. That's all to your credit."
"But the rules of the Star Luo Imperial Family cannot be broken."
"Even Spirit Hall cannot forcibly interfere in the internal affairs of the two great empires. That is the rule of the Soul Master World!"
The Star Luo Emperor paused, then his commanding voice rang through the great hall once more.
"You lost your position because you lost to Dai Mubai. That is a fact."
"If you want to reclaim everything that belongs to you, it's simple enough."
"I'll give you one month."
"One month from now, you and Dai Mubai will fight again at the Royal Hunting Ground!"
"If you win, you will remain my eldest son and the sole heir to the throne of the Star Luo Empire!"
"I can also let today's events be water under the bridge!"
"If you lose..."
A glint of cold resolve flashed in the Star Luo Emperor's eyes.
"Then it will prove that your so-called fortuitous encounter was no more than a flower that bloomed for a fleeting moment! When the time comes, no matter who stands behind you, I will personally wipe you and everything behind you from existence!"
This was an emperor's open scheme.
It was also the final step he offered Dai Weisi-and himself-to step down from the confrontation.
The entire court of civil and military officials fell silent; not even a sparrow could be heard.
Everyone's gaze focused on Dai Weisi once again.
Dai Weisi smiled.
Of course he knew that a single Titled Douluo would probably not be enough.
Naturally, he was the one who had told the gray-robed old man to say those things earlier. At the very least, it could win him another chance!
He waved his hand, and the gray-robed old man silently retreated behind him.
Then, meeting his father's oppressive gaze, he straightened his chest and spoke in a ringing voice.
"One month?"
"Father Emperor, you think too highly of Dai Mubai."
"There's no need for a month."
"Seven days!"
"Within seven days, I will defeat him! Father Emperor, please wait and see!"