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"How did you know?"
Seeing the startled Shui Qingmei, Mu Xi couldn't hide the delight in her eyes. "You cursed me so fiercely just now, now it's finally my turn."
Mu Xi no longer hesitated. Looking at her wary teacher, she spoke directly, breaking the silence in the room.
"A while ago, Teacher suddenly came out of seclusion, traveled thousands of miles, and slaughtered several bandit strongholds. Afterward, she even killed a Spirit Douluo in the extreme northern ice fields, shocking Heaven Dou. This matter spread far and wide. Is it strange that I know?"
Before Shui Qingmei could speak again, Mu Xi added: "I understand Teacher's personality. As long as those scumbags don't provoke Skywater City, she is not someone who meddles in other people's business. But Teacher suddenly came out of seclusion and killed one Spirit Douluo and four Spirit Saints. Such massive killing intent is clearly unreasonable."
Mu Xi smiled, watching the expressions of Qingyun and Shui Qingmei change, and continued: "Based on my understanding of Teacher, there is only one reason she would do this: she is trying to intimidate someone. There aren't many things that would cause Teacher to go to such great lengths, especially in the Heaven Dou Empire. Besides the Heaven Dou Royal Family and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, I really can't think of anyone else."
"Leaving aside everything else, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School still needs to maintain its public image. Furthermore, given the incident with the Nine Heart Begonia back then, they wouldn't easily make enemies with any faction now, especially a neutral power like Skywater Academy."
"Therefore, this threat can only come from the other faction—the Heaven Dou Royal Family!"
Hearing "Heaven Dou Royal Family," Shui Qingmei's entire face turned grim, and even Qingyun beside her looked uncomfortable, clearly having been struck at a painful spot.
Mu Xi returned to her seat, picked up the teapot, poured herself a full cup of good tea, and drank it in large gulps.
"So this is why you are sure it involves Bing'er." Qingyun's eyes flickered as she stared at Mu Xi and spoke indifferently.
Mu Xi unceremoniously wiped her mouth with her hand, exactly as she had done back at Skywater Academy.
"Of course not. At first, I thought Teacher had suddenly seen the light and wanted to eliminate a few scoundrels to boost our Academy's prestige before leaving."
Mu Xi said with lingering fear: "You wouldn't believe it, I actually thought something was going to happen to you, old lady. I was so scared that I immediately went overnight to find the Grand Elder and apply to leave the Sect."
Qingyun looked speechlessly at the ceiling. Yes, this was her flavor. This Rebellious Disciple was still as unreliable as ever.
"It wasn't until I heard on the road that Senior Sister's daughter, Shui Bing'er, had Awakened Senior Sister's Condensing Water Flying Luan Spirit, and her Innate spirit power had reached rank eight, and that Senior Sister had recently thrown a massive Awakening banquet for the girl—at that moment, I knew this matter was absolutely related to them."
"Senior Sister has always disliked extravagance. Even if she doted on her daughter, this is impossible. I know her too well. Forget about her daughter Awakening a Spirit; even before she died, she would insist that there must be no waste or extravagance."
Shui Qingmei's eye twitched, but she understood that Mu Xi was retaliating for the curses she had just hurled at her.
"Therefore, I am certain that Bing'er's Spirit is definitely not the Condensing Water Flying Luan, nor is her Innate rank eight. Because that alone would not be enough to make the Heaven Dou Royal Family move against Skywater Academy."
"A clumsy cover-up!"
This was Mu Xi's assessment of Qingyun and Shui Qingmei's actions: too deliberate, at least in the eyes of someone who knew them intimately like Mu Xi.
The entire Douluo Continent believed that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School had the deepest obsession with Spirits, yet they always overlooked a group that was even more desperately in need of changing their Spirit: the Heaven Dou Royal Family.
Although the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Spirit has the limitation of being unable to achieve a Breakthrough past rank eighty, it possesses astonishing support capabilities. As long as they find a good partner, they hold a respectable position in the Spirit Master's world. Moreover, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Spirit established the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, ranking among the Upper Three Sects. Their search for a way to achieve a Breakthrough past the Spirit limitation is mainly aimed at advancing further.
But the Heaven Dou Royal Family is different. Their Legacy Spirit is the Swan. Yes, you heard correctly, the Swan—not the Jade Swan. In terms of Spirit strength, it is essentially at the bottom among the famous Legacy Spirits on the Continent.
Even the royal families of the four kingdoms and duchies that nominally submit to the Heaven Dou Empire have Legacy Spirits far stronger than the Heaven Dou Empire Royal Family.
Although the five kingdoms belong to the Heaven Dou Empire on the surface, in reality, apart from necessary tributes, they are sovereign nations with independent military and taxation rights and do not need to take the Heaven Dou Royal Family seriously at all.
One of the root causes of this situation is the Heaven Dou Royal Family's own weak strength. They have consistently failed to produce top-tier powerhouses capable of securing the nation, forcing them to rely on external officials for support. However, the core principle of imperial authority dictates that they must never entrust their lives or the safety of the nation to outsiders. Thus, they have no choice but to painstakingly maneuver and strive for checks and balances among various forces to maintain a fragile equilibrium.
Perhaps someone might ask, isn't the Spirit Legacy inherited from the parent with the higher quality? Why not just find someone with a powerful Spirit and change it?
It's not that simple, nor is it because the Heaven Dou Royal Family believes their Swan Spirit is sacred, noble, or inviolable. It's because the quality of the Heaven Dou Royal Family's Swan Spirit is simply too damn high.
That's right. The Heaven Dou Royal Family's Swan Spirit is a bizarre Spirit rarely seen on the Douluo Continent: its quality is extremely high, but its actual strength is ridiculously weak.
Over the years, the Heaven Dou Royal Family has frequently married talented female Spirit Masters in an attempt to improve their own Spirit, but the quality of those Spirit Masters' Spirits could not compare to the Heaven Dou Royal Family's Swan Spirit, rendering the attempts largely ineffective.
Every Heaven Dou Emperor, whenever they thought of this, could only look longingly toward the Star Luo Royal Family on the other side of the Douluo Continent, whose emperors possessed terrifying combat power and whose royal family constantly produced top powerhouses like Titled Douluo.
This vast disparity in strength caused the Heaven Dou Emperors, despite their deep reluctance, to shed tears of envy in their hearts.
Thus, the Heaven Dou Royal Family turned their attention to Spirit Masters with exceptional talent and top-quality Spirits. Among them, Spirit Masters with Avian Spirits were their primary focus, as, being Avian Spirits themselves, these Spirit Masters could make their Swan Spirit Legacy even stronger.
Mu Xi looked solemnly at Qingyun and said with certainty: "Therefore, there is only one reason for Teacher to come out of seclusion: to escort and protect my niece, Bing'er."
Qingyun remained silent for a long time, finally giving Mu Xi a deep look.
"I didn't expect you to understand your Senior Sister and me so well after being away for so many years. You guessed correctly. Bing'er's Spirit is not the Condensing Water Flying Luan, nor is her spirit power rank eight. It is the Ice Phoenix Martial Soul with Innate Full Spirit Power."
"Ice Phoenix?!" Mu Xi was visibly shocked. She had guessed that Shui Bing'er's Spirit might be strong, but she never expected it to be the ultimate Beast Spirit, Ice Phoenix. Coupled with the Innate Full Spirit Power talent, the Heaven Dou Royal Family would go absolutely mad for it!
"The Ice Phoenix Martial Soul! It is far more remarkable than the Ling Yuan of yesteryear." Qingyun sighed with emotion. The Ice Phoenix Martial Soul was an opportunity for Skywater Academy, but also a crisis.
Ling Yuan, an unparalleled prodigy who shook Heaven Dou forty years ago, possessed rank nine Innate spirit power and the Flame Eagle Spirit. She was also the youngest Spirit Emperor recorded in the Heaven Dou Empire. At the time, she was unrivaled in prominence within the Heaven Dou Empire, and everyone expected her to become a Titled Douluo.
However, over thirty years ago, she was pursued by the Heaven Dou Empire. After endless chasing, she fled to Spirit City and has been unheard of ever since.
In the subsequent statement released by the Heaven Dou Empire, the reason given for Ling Yuan's arrest was treason against the Empire. However, anyone with a bit of insight knew the true reason for her flight was that she had been targeted by Xue Ye, the Crown Prince of the Heaven Dou Empire, at the time.
Xue Ye wanted to use the strength of the Heaven Dou Empire to pressure Ling Yuan, but he didn't expect her to be so fiercely unyielding. He decided to go all the way and tried to forcibly capture her, which ultimately backfired. Not only did he fail to get what he wanted, but he also pushed her into the hands of Spirit Hall.
When Xue Ye ascended the throne, his decision to seek an alliance with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School included the underlying fear of retaliation from Ling Yuan.
Now, Shui Bing'er's Ice Phoenix Spirit far surpasses Ling Yuan's Flame Eagle Spirit from back then, and Shui Bing'er's own talent is superior to Ling Yuan's. Once the Heaven Dou Royal Family finds out, the chance of them taking action is almost one hundred percent.
Although the current Crown Prince of the Heaven Dou Empire appears virtuous and amicable to outsiders, appearances are never trustworthy when it comes to a future emperor. The Xue Ye of the past was no worse than the current Xue Qinghe and was even called the future sun. And now?
Shui Bing'er is different from Ling Yuan; she has ties. She cannot recklessly flee to Spirit Hall. Moreover, would Shui Bing'er, once she entered Spirit Hall, truly still be considered a member of Skywater Academy?