Word Count: 3,903 Words
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The Battle of Jialing Pass had drawn to a close. Empire Marshal Ge Peng led the Heavenly Soul forces out to reclaim their lost territories, soothing the hearts of the war-torn populace wherever his army passed. Once the two great legions finished reorganizing, they set out on the long journey back to the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan and Shrek Academy.
The road home proved smooth and uneventful. Having shattered the Sun Moon Empire's invasion plans entirely, everyone felt a profound lightness settle over both body and spirit. The catastrophic losses inflicted on the Sun Moon Empire meant they would not dare cross the Heavenly Soul borders again anytime soon, and Ling Bai could finally quiet his mind to begin unraveling the Evileye Tyrant Emperor's seven-hundred-thousand-year comprehension of space, laying the crucial groundwork for his third spatial spirit core.
Far ahead, the hazy silhouette of Nine Treasure City emerged on the horizon. Its famous pagoda-shaped spires reached for the clouds, standing as a proud declaration across the continent. They were the architectural embodiment of the clan's inherited Martial Spirit, the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.
Wu Feng's eyes lit up. She beat her dragon wings harder and accelerated, hollering as she went:
"We're finally home! I'm diving straight into bed and sleeping until I can't tell day from night!"
Her shout drew good-natured smiles from the group, and more than a few heads nodded in fervent agreement.
Most members of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan had never tasted war before, and the Battle of Jialing Pass had been a nation-defining conflict on a colossal scale. Remove Ling Bai, the Spirit Empire, or Crimson Dawn from that equation, and the battle would almost certainly have ended in defeat.
Now that the taut strings of tension had finally gone slack, no one wanted to do a single thing more. They only wanted to close their eyes and sleep themselves senseless.
Ling Bai dismissed the Nine Treasure Spirit Guidance Legion with a broad wave of his hand. Ning Tian, Wu Feng, Ling Qiuxi, Ye Guyi, Yu Mengdi, and Na Na followed him back to the clan's main hall.
The Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan boasted a forest of geniuses, but only those six women held the privilege of residing in the main hall. Ning Tian and Wu Feng had lived there since childhood and required no explanation. Ling Qiuxi had initially moved in under the guise of Ling Bai's elder sister, while Ye Guyi had secured her place through her Holy Angel bloodline. As for the final two, they proudly styled themselves his personal maids, stubbornly insisting on attending to him every hour of every day.
Surrounded by his retinue of beauties, Ling Bai had scarcely crossed the threshold of the main hall when his gaze landed on an entirely unexpected silhouette.
That signature crop of vivid green hair framed a face every bit as dangerously alluring as the poison running through her veins. Those emerald eyes could hook straight into a man's soul, and every slow, liquid flicker of her gaze carried an intoxicating sensuality. She was dressed to flaunt every inch of her curves. A short green skirt clung to her narrow waist and flared lushly over her hips, leaving a blinding expanse of pale, long legs bare beneath the hem. Silver ankle-strap heels drew the eye down the elegant line of her calves. Her waist-to-hip ratio was exaggerated to a degree that bordered on sinful, and it was impossible to look away.
"Dugu Lin?!"
Wu Feng bristled instantly, as though facing a mortal enemy. She unconsciously straightened her back and thrust out her own proud peaks, refusing to concede a single inch of presence. Ling Qiuxi, unfamiliar with Dugu Lin, merely furrowed her brow and sized the woman up with quiet suspicion.
Ning Tian's expression shifted through several shades, her gaze laced with careful scrutiny. At Shrek Academy, Dugu Lin had been infamously known as the Deadly Snake Woman. One reason was the sheer ferocity of her Jade Phosphor Serpent poison, which in later years she could no longer fully control. The other was her eccentric, ruthless temperament. Warped by the constant torment of her own poison, she had come to treat Inner Courtyard surveillance assignments as a sort of pressure valve, and the viciousness of her methods had long since passed into horrifying legend.
As Ling Bai's future wife, Ning Tian remembered every woman whose bond with him ran deep. She certainly had not forgotten that Dugu Lin had chosen him at the Sea God Fated Blind Date Festival all those years ago.
Dugu Lin's sudden arrival set off an immediate alarm in Ning Tian's mind. In some respects, she was far more dangerous than Ma Xiaotao. Ma Xiaotao was overbearing and forceful, but at least she could be reasoned with. Dugu Lin was a different breed entirely. Her mind had been so thoroughly twisted by the torment of the Jade Phosphor poison that no one could ever predict what earth-shattering stunt she might pull next.
Dugu Lin had been idly teasing a Nine Segment Jade, but the moment the man she'd been longing for day and night stepped through the doors, her expression blossomed into pure, radiant delight. She spread her pale, slender arms wide and called out in a voice dripping with honeyed charm:
"Darling, long time no see! Have you missed me~"
She cleared the distance in three quick strides and lunged at him, looping her arms around his shoulders and throwing herself fully into his embrace with desperate fervor, utterly heedless of the other women in the room. She clung to him so tightly she seemed hellbent on fusing their bodies together, her eyes blazing with such raw, uninhibited hunger that she looked fully prepared to drag him to the floor and stage a two-hour restricted-rated spectacle right there in the main hall.
BOOM—
On the left erupted the explosive aura of the Golden Dragon. Ling Qiuxi's breathing grew so heavy it roared like a bellows. On the right came the scorching heat of the Fire Dragon as Wu Feng shoved up her sleeves and ground her knuckles white. Yu Mengdi and Na Na quietly tried to edge back a few steps, only to freeze the instant they met Ye Guyi's glacial stare.
The two self-styled personal maids trembled where they stood, too terrified to move so much as a finger, and turned pleading eyes toward Ning Tian. Ning Tian's own presence sharpened into a blade.
Until now, she had been willing to turn a blind eye so long as nothing crossed the line. She had even tolerated Ma Xiaotao and Han Ruoruo stealing a night for themselves after the war. But Dugu Lin's brazen provocation, flung so openly in her face, was something else entirely.
"Miss what miss? Why didn't you come a week earlier?!"
Before Ning Tian could speak, Ling Bai curled a finger and rapped Dugu Lin's smooth forehead, neither lightly nor hard, his tone thoroughly exasperated.
"The Heavenly Soul Empire is finished, and only now do you decide to grace the court? Had you shown up at the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan a little sooner, we could have reenacted the Battle of Jialing Pass from ten thousand years ago right down to the last detail."
Dugu Lin covered her forehead and put on a deeply aggrieved look. The Sunset Forest was about as far from civilization as one could get. How on earth was she supposed to know a war had broken out? Surely this accusation was wholly unjust!
Ning Tian's displeasure melted away like morning mist at those words. She and Ling Bai had known each other for eighteen years. They might not share a heart-and-soul connection, but their tacit understanding ran deep enough that she caught his meaning at once. He was quietly reinforcing her standing without ever needing to say it aloud. The rightful lady of the house was not to be challenged.
"Bai-ge, we'll be going up to rest now. You can sort out the accommodations for Senior Sister Dugu."
Satisfied with the result, Ning Tian turned and led the other women upstairs. Ling Bai cast Dugu Lin a sidelong glance and said lightly:
"Finished playing?"
Dugu Lin tucked her little schemes away and answered in a soft, coaxing tone, "Just sounding out their ranks, that's all. Seems the principal wife truly is the principal wife. Her position is unshakeable.
Ahh, a lowly concubine like me, stripped of all rights, has to scrape by on what little she can get. Heaven knows how long I'll have to beg before I ever see a drop of rain."
"Xiao Tian is tolerant and reasonable. So long as you don't stir up trouble, she won't go out of her way to make things difficult for you."
Colorful flags could flutter outside only as long as the red flag at home never fell. The moment any of the women around him started believing she stood a real chance of supplanting Ning Tian, peaceful days would become a distant memory.
"Ohhh..."
Dugu Lin shifted into the perfect picture of meek obedience, waiting for him to pronounce her fate. Confronted with such seasoned stagecraft, Ling Bai did not know whether to laugh or cry.
In the end, she was his woman all the same. Dugu Lin had come to seek refuge with no one else to turn to, and there was no way Ling Bai could simply cast her aside. He had her room arranged right next door to Ye Guyi's.
…
The moment the door clicked shut behind them, the playful act fell away.
Their reunion since parting ways in the Sunset Forest had left Dugu Lin like parched earth aching for rain, and she wasted no time. Her lithe body sank smoothly downward, bare knees pressing against the cold floor until her pale skin bloomed a tender rose beneath the chill.
Ling Bai watched, and a fire stirred deep in his eyes. Dugu Lin had always known exactly how to draw out the most primal hungers in a man.
She tilted her chin up, meeting his gaze through half-lowered lashes, and finding the satisfaction written plainly across his face, she rose just enough on her knees to close the distance. Her hands glided up his thighs with the careful, worshipful precision of someone handling a priceless work of art. She eased his robes aside and leaned in, pressing a slow, fevered kiss to the base, then traced her lips upward along the length in unhurried reverence, inhaling him between each touch until she reached the tip and let herself linger there with a soft, contented hum.
Ling Bai accepted her devotion with the easy indulgence of an emperor. He threaded his fingers through her vivid green hair, tucking a playful strand behind her ear, and in the same motion let his senses drift across the spirit power fluctuating inside her.
"Rank 85 Spirit Douluo." His thumb traced a slow arc along her cheekbone. "No wonder you left the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. You ate the Nine Absolutes Jade Phosphorous Flower King, didn't you?"
Dugu Lin's reply came muffled and indistinct around him. "Mmm... the Nine Abhsolutesh Flower King fed on Dugu anceshtorsh for generationsh... it wash only right I ate it... Leaving itsh sheedsh behind wash mershy enough..."
The Jade Phosphor Poison Array was the ideal cultivation ground for the Jade Phosphor Serpent lineage. By swallowing its poisonous mist, Dugu Lin's cultivation had advanced a thousand miles a day, and once her spirit power broke past Rank 80 she became a direct threat to the 100,000-year Nine Absolutes Jade Phosphorous Flower King. The flower had two paths open to it: sacrifice itself and leave behind its seeds to begin anew, or face utter annihilation.
Crushed beneath the higher-tier suppression of an Ultimate Poison that stood above its own, the flower king yielded without hesitation and offered itself up as the eighth spirit ring of her Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor.
When she finally pulled back for air, her lips were swollen and her emerald eyes had gone dark with craving.
"Don't be gentle with me. Give me the wildest thing you have..."
Desire shivered beneath every word. Years of being eaten alive from within by her own Jade Phosphor poison had rewired her senses. Her body was a stranger to softness, and pain had long since become the kindling that stoked her hunger higher rather than smothering it.
What followed turned ferocious in a single heartbeat. Unfortunately for Ye Guyi, trying to rest in the adjoining room, the stone walls did precious little to muffle the storm. The rhythmic sounds, the strange, piercing cries threaded through with equal parts agony and bliss, drifted to her unimpeded and cracked open a wholly new world. She couldn't stop her mind from conjuring increasingly vivid, increasingly flustered images of exactly what methods Ling Bai was using to wring such desperate noises from Dugu Lin. Her fingers curled unconsciously into the sheets as a furious heat crawled up her neck and set her ears ablaze.
By the time the first light of dawn filtered through the window, Dugu Lin lay boneless and utterly spent. Her cheeks burned a deep, intoxicating crimson, and the marks of possession still showed in faint red blooms across her wrists and the soft hollows behind her knees. Yet her emerald eyes brimmed over with a devotion so sweet it was almost sickening. In that euphoric haze, there was nothing Ling Bai could have asked of her that she would have refused, her own life included.
Ling Bai watched her slip at last into an exhausted slumber and stretched his arms lazily. Han Ruoruo really was an anomaly, a freak of natural talent. For any ordinary woman, half his usual effort was more than enough.
...
Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan.
Ning Fengya maintained a disciplined and demanding routine, her mornings invariably devoted to clan affairs. Today, however, under the loud and thoroughly stubborn insistence of her younger sister Ning Fengyu, her workspace had been relocated to the main hall sofa. There she sat, gracefully reviewing the financial reports submitted by the various merchant associations under the clan's banner.
Shamelessly leveraging her status as a recovering patient to milk every ounce of sympathy, Ning Fengyu had gotten exactly what she wanted. She lay comfortably with her head resting on her sister's warm, supple lap, and from time to time a single slender tendril of the Sky Azure Vine Emperor would shoot from her fingertip, coil around a plump green grape on the fruit tray, and drop it neatly into her waiting mouth. A more utterly content and lazy existence would have been impossible to find.
This was the exclusive privilege of a blood-related younger sister. Only Ning Fengyu could shamelessly glue herself to Ning Fengya like this. Had Xie Qin or Du Weilun witnessed the scene, they would surely have bitten down on their handkerchiefs and wept rivers of envious tears.
Ling Bai came downstairs to the serene, picturesque sight of the two sisters. "Good morning, Aunt Ya. Good morning, Aunt Yu."
"Good morning, Xiao Bai. That Miss Dugu who arrived yesterday mentioned she was an old friend of yours. Have you made proper arrangements for her?"
Ning Fengya was the very picture of a quintessential noblewoman. Years of wielding supreme authority had polished her every gesture, and even her casual smiles radiated effortless poise.
"Yes." Ling Bai gave a small nod. "Aunt Ya, there is a matter I'd like to discuss with you."
"Go on."
"The Heavenly Soul imperial family needs to be replaced."
"Cough, cough, cough!"
The words struck like a thunderbolt from a clear sky. Ning Fengyu, lounging in perfect bliss only moments before, nearly choked to death on her grape. She shot upright, coughing violently for a long moment before raising a hand. "Hold on. Something this massive feels way above my pay grade. I officially request permission to withdraw from this conversation."
"Lie down and behave," Ning Fengya said, her tone cool and flat.
"Yes, ma'am!"
Ning Fengyu flopped flat on her back and did her best impression of a corpse.
"Replacing the imperial family..."
A calculating glint surfaced in Ning Fengya's sapphire eyes. "The timing is indeed exceptional. Your personal combat strength has reached the absolute zenith of the Douluo Continent. You crossed ten thousand miles into Sun Moon territory to rescue the hostages of all three nations, which means the major Spirit Master factions will undoubtedly pledge their support to you. Add to that the triumphant victory at Jialing Pass, where you personally slew Dragon Emperor Douluo and Demonic Phoenix Douluo, two Limit Douluo, and your prestige right now stands unrivaled.
Since the Heavenly Soul imperial family foolishly chose to align themselves with the Body Sect, removing them is no great tragedy. Better to deal with it now than leave endless trouble for the future.
The execution is simple enough. You could just storm into the imperial court, loudly demand to know who agrees and who objects, then immediately brand any dissenters as Evil Spirit Masters and cut them down. You are quite practiced at that particular maneuver by now."
Ling Bai: Smooth...
"Aunt Ya, I would prefer the transfer of power to be as peaceful as possible," he said. "I need the citizens of the Heavenly Soul Empire to genuinely welcome the new imperial house. That foundation will be essential for what I have planned."
Ning Fengya analyzed the problem with clinical detachment. "Imperial successions are rarely free of bloodshed, nor are they free of heavy-handed suppression of public dissent. The Heavenly Soul imperial family is undeniably incompetent, but they haven't committed any glaring atrocities visible to the commoners. Making the populace actively yearn for their downfall will not be easy."
"Princess Wei Na secretly colluded with Death Abyss Douluo and plotted to have Holy Evil Douluo assassinated. Why don't we use that as our foundation and build the narrative from there?"
Ling Bai produced the alliance pact Wei Na had once signed with Death Abyss Douluo. The parchment bore the unmistakable, specialized seal of the Heavenly Soul Princess, and the lines of text practically dripped with fawning adulation, phrasing that sought to elevate Death Abyss Douluo to the status of the foremost saint across all ages.
"You little schemer, you've been plotting this for ages!"
Ning Fengyu clicked her tongue in amazement. Ning Fengya lightly tapped her sister's head to silence her and continued:
"A princess secretly consorting with Evil Spirit Masters is a scandal that can be minimized or magnified depending on how the tale is told. We need to frame this so it implicates the entire Heavenly Soul imperial family as willing accomplices of the Evil Spirit Masters. At the same time, we broadcast your monumental achievements to the masses. Once the tide of public opinion completely flips, the people themselves will come begging you to ascend the throne.
We should also inform Shrek Academy in advance. With their explicit backing, resistance to a dynastic shift will plummet considerably. Ideally, Dean Yan himself should step forward and publicly voice Shrek's support."
Ning Fengya's political acumen was razor-sharp. Having once been a Shrek Academy disciple herself, she understood Yan Shaozhe perfectly. To him, the supreme interests of Shrek Academy always superseded all else. While someone like Xian Lin Er or Qian Duoduo might cling to personal moral convictions, the esteemed Dean's principles were famously flexible when it truly mattered.
"No. I have no interest in the throne. My only desire is to become a God."
Ling Bai's eyes burned with focused intent. "I have obtained the shattered Angel God Position and successfully completed the Rakshasa First Trial. All I need is for the new empire to erect Seraphim statues across every major city to gather the necessary faith. Once that is done, I will ascend to godhood.
Aunt Ya, do you have any interest in becoming an Empress?"
Ning Fengya rejected the offer without a second thought. "The Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan already works me half to death. Now you want me to govern an entire empire on top of that?
I will have my subordinates handle the manipulation of public opinion, but you will have to find your new emperor yourself. As for the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan, our demands are simple: we want the official position of Guardian Sect, along with an ironclad standing imperial marriage pact akin to the bonds enjoyed by the Zhu family and the Dai family. The Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan and the imperial house shall remain eternal allies."
There was no false modesty or political dancing in her words. Ning Fengya laid out precisely what her clan deserved, and that candor was itself a mark of her wisdom. The imperial throne was not necessarily the most enviable seat under the sky. The Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan simply intended to claim the substantial share of benefits that was rightfully theirs.
…
Once the finer details were locked in, Ling Bai left the main hall to deliberate on who would best suit the new throne, while the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan set its formidable machinery into motion step by methodical step. Within days, every street, tavern, and alleyway across the Heavenly Soul Empire buzzed with the same explosive rumor.
The Heavenly Soul imperial family had colluded with Death Abyss Douluo and conspired to murder Holy Evil Douluo!
From there, the narrative escalated rapidly. It soon became accepted as undeniable fact that the entire imperial family had been in league with the Holy Spirit Cult all along. Days later, the accusations swelled into outright treason. The royal house had knowingly sold out the nation, standing idly by as the Sun Moon Empire and Ye Xishui slaughtered innocent Heavenly Soul civilians. The story concluded with a single, resounding truth: only Holy Evil Douluo Ling Bai and the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan had managed to turn back the apocalyptic tide, shouldering the crushing weight of the war and dragging the tottering empire back from the brink of ruin.
He who wins the hearts of the people wins the realm. It was an immutable truth that had held firm since ancient times.
The reputation of the Heavenly Soul imperial family nose-dived into oblivion. Before they could even attempt to mount a defense, Shrek Academy, the Earthdragon Sect, the Tianyuan Sect, and every other major sect and academy within the empire's borders stepped forward one after another, publicly pledging their unyielding support to Holy Evil Douluo while furiously condemning the imperial house as treacherous scum unworthy of the name.
Under the crushing weight of that united front, the Heavenly Soul imperial family was rendered utterly voiceless, drowning helplessly in an ocean of public fury.
"I choose the Angel! The Angel is the people's choice!"
That cry echoed across the entirety of the Heavenly Soul Empire. Demands for the imperial family's immediate abdication grew deafeningly loud, and petitions from the common multitudes flooded in from every corner of the nation, begging the Angel lineage to take up the reins of the empire.
One evening, amid the boiling political turmoil, Mermaid Princess Li Jing approached Ling Bai. Holding an elegant invitation with both hands, she bowed deeply:
"Your Eminence Holy Evil, Princess Wei Na requests the honor of a private audience with you at the imperial palace."