Chapter 45: Ever Since the Day I Awakened My Martial Soul at Six and Grasped This Sword Hilt…
[Right in front of Dugu Bo, you dug up every remaining immortal herb in the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well—roots and all—and stuffed them into the Wishful Hundred-Treasure Purse.]
[You were like an excavator, digging the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well down three feet deep, not leaving behind even a single ordinary medicinal herb.]
[Dugu Bo was utterly stunned. He told you not to hold back—but you really didn't hold back at all!]
[So furious that his blood pressure spiked, he hung you up and gave you a good beating before finally leaving the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.]
[Yet he didn't take back the Wishful Hundred-Treasure Purse, which was effectively tacit approval of your actions.]
[You returned to Heaven Dou City, to the Crown Prince's residence.]
[You informed Qian Renxue about Dugu Bo joining Xue Qinghe's faction, leaving her completely stunned.]
[You also told Qian Renxue about the immortal herbs and asked her to have Yue Guan send over an illustrated guide to the herbs, letting her choose freely.]
[To your surprise, Qian Renxue selected one immortal herb—and a stone.]
[She tried it, but the stone did not bloom.]
[Using the illustrated guide sent by Yue Guan, you selected two more immortal herbs and consumed them. Your soul power level rose drastically.]
[You reached rank fifty. After successfully hunting a soul beast, your soul power broke through once more, finally stabilizing at rank fifty-six.]
[Your body still contains a vast amount of energy. As long as you refined the remaining medicinal energy, your soul power would continue to increase rapidly.]
[Yue Guan suddenly came to find you. The two of you chatted happily—he had come because of the immortal herb Illustration, and he had guessed something.]
[You gave the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum and the Daffodil Jade Flesh Bone to Yue Guan and Gui Mei. After some hesitation, they ultimately chose to stand on Qian Renxue's side.]
[After all, the Qian family was the legitimate line.]
[The two of them betrayed Bibi Dong and became Qian Renxue's eyes and ears.]
[Qian Renxue accepted Yue Guan and Gui Mei's loyalty with a dazed expression. She felt that you were becoming more and more mysterious.]
[Another half year passed, and you broke through to rank sixty. With She Long's assistance, you obtained your sixth soul ring.]
[Your soul power rank reached sixty-two.]
[At this time, the day Tang San would arrive in Heaven Dou City was drawing closer and closer.]
[At Qian Renxue's suggestion, you joined the Heaven Dou Royal Academy. The three Education Committee members personally went to the academy gates to welcome you, this peerless genius.]
[This caused dissatisfaction among many nobles, who believed you were merely a lowborn nobody who had gotten lucky by becoming the Crown Prince's subordinate.]
[You held no noble title, which indeed gave them grounds for criticism. After Qian Renxue's mediation, Emperor Xue Ye bestowed upon you the title of hereditary Viscount!]
[The noble students were dumbfounded. None of them had expected the Crown Prince to value you this highly!]
[You joined the Royal Fighting Team. Without even releasing your martial soul, you defeated Yu Tianheng and became the team's captain.]
[Dugu Yan had heard Dugu Bo mention you before and was extremely curious about you.]
[Qian Renxue, secretly observing you, felt a hint of discomfort in her heart, and her feelings toward you began to subtly change.]
[Previously, she had only regarded you as a younger brother, with no romantic feelings at all—this was precisely why the Lovesickness Heartbroken Red showed no reaction.]
[Yu Tianheng had been pursuing Dugu Yan, yet he was utterly crushed by you, his pride shattered. Until he could defeat you, all he wanted was to cultivate diligently and reclaim his position.]
[Team leader Qin Ming wanted to probe your strength and asked you to attack him with full force!]
[Under everyone's shocked gazes, you still did not release your martial soul, yet you fought Qin Ming back and forth evenly.]
[In the end, a sword hilt suddenly appeared in your hand.]
[You spoke: "Ever since the day I awakened my martial soul at six and grasped this sword hilt, I knew that I would one day stand at the pinnacle of the sword path!"]
Wang Li: "..."
Was he really this flamboyant?
Once he had a bit of strength, he couldn't hold it back at all!
[Everyone stared at you in shock, utterly confused. They couldn't understand why your martial soul was nothing more than a sword hilt!]
[You took a single step forward. Two yellow, two purple, and two black soul rings rose rapidly from beneath your feet.]
[The members of the Royal Fighting Team were dumbstruck, their jaws nearly hitting the floor.]
[They were shocked to discover that you were actually a Soul Emperor!]
[Qin Ming was completely numb. He was known as the second genius in a hundred years to break through to the Soul Emperor realm before thirty.]
[Yet you had reached the Soul Emperor realm at not even thirteen years old. At thirty, wouldn't you reach the level of a Titled Douluo?!]
[You grasped the lightsaber's hilt. Instantly, a pillar of light burst forth, accompanied by a sizzling hum, like the chorus of a hundred birds.]
[You accidentally—yet deliberately—let the sword tip touch the ground. The iron-forged arena instantly melted into molten metal—this was without even using a soul skill.]
[Qin Ming's scalp went numb at the sight. He didn't believe his body was sturdier than that arena itself!]
[Touching this sword meant either death or crippling injury!]
[He acknowledged your claim of being the pinnacle of the sword path and chose to concede. He never wanted to face you again.]
[Yu Tianheng stared blankly at you and your sword, a dazed, foolish expression plastered across his face.]
[Qin Ming proposed taking everyone to the Soul Fighting Arena to compete, to adapt to the competition atmosphere in advance and gain more battle experience.]
[Before you could even respond, he excluded you outright—your strength simply didn't require participation in such battles.]
[Dugu Yan's poison was cured, and her martial soul evolved. Her strength now surpassed Yu Tianheng's, making her the vice-captain of the Royal Fighting Team.]
[She led the team in various competitions.]
[On this day, nobles from Suotuo City invited the Royal Fighting Team to compete there. They offered substantial deposits, and for every victory, the team would receive a large sum of gold soul coins.]
[After a brief consideration, Qin Ming agreed.]
[You did not accompany them to Suotuo City. You were afraid that Tang Hao, upon learning of your soul power level, might abandon all sense of propriety.]
[You stayed at the Heaven Dou Royal Academy to continue cultivating, receiving the academy's highest-grade cultivation resources. The three Education Committee members even frequently served as your sparring partners!]
[When they looked at you, it was as if they were staring at a hundred-thousand-year soul bone. Anyone who dared touch you would have to step over their corpses first!]
Wang Li: "..."
What the hell do you mean, step over their corpses?!
These three committee members were desperately seeking talent—they truly wanted the Heaven Dou Royal Academy to rise again.
After all, Heaven Dou really lacked successors.
[The Fourth Prince, Xue Beng, wanted to test you, but was mercilessly scolded by the three Education Committee members and even reported to Emperor Xue Ye!]
[Xue Beng was summoned to the imperial palace and did not appear at the academy for a full month. The next time he encountered you, he limped away the moment he saw you!]
"Xue Ye's overall outlook isn't bad. He'd rather cripple a useless prince than lose a talent. Thinking about it carefully, his decision isn't wrong at all."
The Heaven Dou Empire truly had no one to succeed it.
End of Chapter