Time slipped by swiftly.
After finalizing his plan to commit patricide and seize the throne, Xu Tianran wasted no time and immediately began making meticulous preparations on every front.
He knew all too well that the ninth-rank soul tool seals arranged by Kong Deming were not something that could be breached by ordinary means. To ensure absolute success, he mobilized several of the Holy Spirit Cult's most deeply concealed eighth-rank Soul Engineers, coordinating them with the trusted agents he had secretly planted within the Imperial Guards over many years.
Finally, late at night on the eve of Xuan Zi's scheduled execution, Xu Tianran officially set his plan in motion.
That night, Mingdu was deathly silent. Apart from the occasional low hum of spirit tool patrols drifting from the direction of the royal dungeon, the city seemed completely asleep.
Deep within the dungeon corridors, several soldiers clad in Imperial Guard armor advanced swiftly with lowered heads. The tokens in their hands flickered with purple light patterns possessed only by high-level internal personnel. Wherever this light passed, the spirit tool infrared monitoring systems along the route eerily shut down for a short time.
The group soon arrived before the core prison cell holding Xuan Zi.
The leader withdrew an Interference Disk engraved with complex runes from within his robe and pressed it against the cell door's lock.
A faint crackle of electricity followed. The defensive shield—powered by a ninth-rank core and capable of withstanding a full-force strike from a Titled Douluo—rapidly fractured in several places before completely dissipating in just a few seconds.
The two elite Soul Engineers guarding the cell door did not even have time to raise an alarm. Pitch-black ghostly claws extended from the shadows behind them, crushing their throats instantly. Their bodies slumped to the ground without a sound.
Inside the cell, Xuan Zi sat collapsed on the cold stone floor. Over a dozen thick Soul-Inhibiting Chains pierced through his shoulder blades, sealing his cultivation. His hair was disheveled, and his aura was weak.
As the cell door opened, the black-clad leader strode inside, holding a specially crafted short sword that glowed with a dark red light. With precise movements, he severed the chains engraved with Anti-Magic Formations.
Immediately afterward, he pulled out a jade bottle and shoved it directly into Xuan Zi's hand.
"Eat it," the man said. His voice was deliberately altered, hoarse and dry.
Xuan Zi weakly raised his head. Vigilance and confusion flashed through his dim eyes as he stared at the intruder who had forcibly broken in to rescue him.
"Who are you?" he asked in a raspy voice. "Why save this old man at a time like this? Was it Shrek Academy that sent you?"
The black-clad man made no unnecessary movements and offered no answer regarding his identity. He only coldly pressed the jade bottle into Xuan Zi's palm.
Inside was a ninth-rank Recovery Medicinal Pill, radiating a dense aura of life—one of the Holy Spirit Cult's hidden treasures.
"Shrek Academy cannot save you," the man finally whispered, his eyes devoid of warmth.
"Take the medicine and leave immediately. In fifteen minutes, Mingdu's monitoring network will fully restart. Miss this window, and no one will be able to protect you."
Although doubt filled Xuan Zi's heart, as the pill entered his body, warmth spread through his meridians. More importantly, his long-dormant spirit power began to recover.
At a moment balanced between life and death, he did not waste time questioning motives. He swallowed the medicine, steadied himself, and under the cover of night, used his mastery of space to transform into a faint dark-yellow streak of light. Slipping past layers of checkpoints, he finally escaped the vicinity of Mingdu.
Yet just as Xuan Zi vanished into the rocky forest of the northwestern outskirts, Xu Tianran was observing everything in real time through spirit tools inside a secret room within the Crown Prince's Mansion.
A cruel curve lifted the corner of his mouth. His eyes were cold—those of someone firmly in control.
The timing was perfect. Xuan Zi's escape route would draw away all pursuers.
"It can begin," Xu Tianran said calmly, turning to the adjutant behind him.
"Activate the city-wide alarm system immediately and cut off communications on my Father Emperor's side for a short time."
"At the same time, spread the news of Xuan Zi's violent prison break and his escape after killing Imperial Guards as fast as possible. The entire city must know—and the one in the palace must learn of it immediately."
At Xu Tianran's command, the silent city of Mingdu was instantly shattered by piercing air-raid sirens.
The entire capital was thrown into shock.
Countless civilians jolted awake, staring in confusion at the red defensive light waves flashing across the night sky, unaware of what catastrophic event had just occurred.
Chaos erupted within the Imperial City.
"Report! The royal dungeon was attacked by high-level Spirit Masters of unknown identity. Xuan Zi has been rescued!"
When this news reached the Hall of Worship, Kong Deming and Jing Hongchen were in the middle of discussing the execution arrangements. Both men rose abruptly, disbelief etched across their faces.
"This is absolutely impossible!" Jing Hongchen slammed his hand onto the table, his eyes wide.
"That was a ninth-rank spirit tool barrier, along with chains I personally designed. How could they be broken without triggering an alarm? Did Mu En act personally?"
Kong Deming was equally baffled, but as the strongest pillar of the Sun Moon Imperial Family, he instantly sensed something deeper.
This was no simple external attack—there had to be internal cooperation.
There was no time to hunt for traitors.
At that moment, an imperial oral decree arrived.
Upon learning of Xuan Zi's escape, the Sun Moon Emperor flew into a rage within the inner palace. His illness worsened from anger and humiliation, and he coughed violently as he issued his order.
"Outrageous! In my capital, on the eve of an execution, someone was actually allowed to escape?!"
"Kong Deming, Jing Hongchen—I command you to take several Titled Douluo and pursue him immediately. No matter the cost, you must bring that old bastard Xuan Zi back to me!"
Facing the Emperor's absolute command, Kong Deming and Jing Hongchen exchanged a glance and did not hesitate. In an instant, they transformed into two terrifying rainbows of light, leading several ninth-rank Soul Engineers and Titled Douluo as they chased the faint traces of spirit power left behind, racing madly toward the outskirts of Mingdu.
From the terrace of Liu Yuan's Duke's Mansion, however, the scene unfolded very differently.
Liu Yuan did not panic like the others.
He stood quietly, watching the distant figures of Kong Deming and Jing Hongchen disappear. His gaze was calm and deep.
He could sense that most of the surveillance surrounding the Duke's Mansion had withdrawn in that instant. This abnormal change sent a sharp warning through his mind.
Turning slightly, he spoke in a low voice to the Snow Empress beside him. "Snow Empress, something about this is deeply wrong."
"Xuan Zi is a Super Douluo, but his injuries were severe—his meridians nearly destroyed. Without high-level internal guidance and access codes for key systems, there's no way he could have breached a ninth-rank spirit tool barrier so easily."
A trace of doubt surfaced in the Snow Empress's ice-blue eyes. "Master suspects someone within the Sun Moon Empire is helping him?"
"No," Liu Yuan replied slowly. "They aren't helping him. They're using him."
His gaze did not follow the pursuit outside the city. Instead, it turned toward the heavily guarded heart of the imperial palace.
"Xu Tianran. Only he has the audacity—and the motive—to mobilize power on this level. He's luring the tiger away from the mountain."
Liu Yuan's heartbeat quickened slightly. He realized that the original 'execution spectacle' had been forcibly rewritten by Xu Tianran into a deadly game of usurpation.
And from Xu Tianran's perspective—
With Kong Deming and Jing Hongchen, the twin pillars of stability, drawn away, the once-impenetrable inner palace had become an undefended hunting ground.
Seated in his wheelchair, Xu Tianran slowly pushed open the final iron door of the underground palace.
In the darkness, two figures radiating despair-inducing auras opened their eyes. One was the exquisitely beautiful yet ice-cold Ye Xishui. The other was the burly Long Xiaoyao, known as the Incarnation of Darkness.
"Prepare to move," Xu Tianran said flatly.
His voice carried no emotion, as if the person he was about to kill were not his biological father, but merely an obstacle in his path.
He looked at Ye Xishui and Long Xiaoyao and issued his final command.
"I ask the two Seniors to head to the palace immediately. Ignore reputation. Enter the inner palace directly and kill my Father Emperor."
"Move fast. It must be done before Kong Deming and the others can react."
Xu Tianran lifted his gaze toward the highest tower of the palace. Flames of ambition burned fiercely in his eyes.
He had waited far too long for this day.
As long as that man died, all the blame would fall upon the escaped Xuan Zi—and he would ascend to the supreme throne amid blood and fire.
At the edge of the horizon, two streaks of pitch-black light vanished in an instant, plunging straight toward the brilliantly illuminated Sun Moon imperial palace.