It took a while before Emperor Xue Ye finally caught his breath. He waved his hand and looked at Xue Beng, shaking his head with a sigh. Then he turned to another general standing beside Barton and asked, "Brook, is the Royal Knight Regiment in position?"
"Please rest assured, Your Majesty. Aside from the ten thousand knights stationed at the Royal Hunting Grounds for rotation training to prevent information leaks, the remaining forty thousand knights of the Royal Knight Regiment are ready at any time."
The Royal Knight Regiment Commander Brook quickly replied.
"Poison Douluo, have the spies within the Royal Guest Elder Group been thoroughly dealt with?"
Emperor Xue Ye turned to look at Dugu Bo, who had just entered the hall not long ago.
As a nine-ringed Titled Douluo, Dugu Bo undoubtedly held the highest prestige within the Royal Guest Elder Group and was nominally the supreme commander of the group though he usually didn't concern himself with its affairs.
"Your Majesty, the situation is not optimistic.
Due to time constraints, lack of intelligence, and the fact that the spies were unfamiliar with one another, this old man cannot guarantee that all spies within the Guest Elder Group have been completely eliminated.
However, some of the spies who couldn't withstand interrogation have already confessed. They all came from Spirit Hall.
As for why Xue Qinghe colluded with Spirit Hall, they were also unaware."
As he spoke, Dugu Bo glanced at Ning Fengzhi, Chen Xin, and Gu Rong sitting not far away.
This time, Ning Fengzhi truly misjudged things!
Hearing this, Emperor Xue Ye was silent for a moment, then said, "There's no time to further investigate the spies. Have the guest elders remain vigilant. A great battle is about to begin tell them to beware of sneak attacks from hidden enemies."
"Hmm, I've already given them that instruction."
Dugu Bo nodded.
After that, Emperor Xue Ye turned to Ning Fengzhi and the other two not far away: "Sect Master Ning, Sword Douluo, Bone Douluo the Empire is in grave danger at this moment. I hope the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect can provide its full support in the coming battle."
"Please rest assured, Your Majesty. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect is an ally of the Empire. Spirit Hall intends to overthrow the Empire this one will not sit idly by. Bone Douluo has already used spatial methods to send the sect's elite forces into the palace for ambush."
Ning Fengzhi nodded as he spoke.
Previously, when Emperor Xue Ye sent a secret message saying that Xue Qinghe was plotting a rebellion behind the scenes, Ning Fengzhi's first reaction was disbelief.
After all, Xue Qinghe's position as Crown Prince was very secure. There was simply no need for him to take the path of rebellion to inherit the throne of the Heaven Dou Empire.
But now, with Xue Qinghe having mobilized the army and a large number of suspected Spirit Hall-affiliated soul masters to surround the imperial palace, the truth was plain to see he had no choice but to believe it.
Originally, if Xue Qinghe hadn't colluded with outside forces, Ning Fengzhi might still have considered sitting on the sidelines or even stepping in to help his disciple.
Because Xue Qinghe was his disciple, and if his disciple committed treason, even if he hadn't participated, Ning Fengzhi would still be heavily implicated afterward.
But what Xue Qinghe should never have done was collude with Spirit Hall. That was something Ning Fengzhi could not tolerate.
Ning Fengzhi was well aware that his Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was a large and wealthy organization, constantly coveted by Spirit Hall. If not for the sect's considerable strength, they likely would've been devoured long ago.
Therefore, Ning Fengzhi had long regarded Spirit Hall as a potential enemy. That's also why he helped Tang Hao during the Continental Soul Master Tournament and often advocated for the unity of the "Upper Three Sects."
After all, compared to the legacy of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, a mere disciple could be discarded!
At that moment, the sound of battle cries erupted outside. Immediately after, a palace guard captain rushed into the hall in a hurry: "Report! Your Majesty, the rebels have begun their assault!"
Hearing this, Emperor Xue Ye's expression changed. He clenched his fists and said in a deep voice, "Everyone, I implore you unite as one and completely shatter Spirit Hall's conspiracy!"
"Please rest assured, Your Majesty."
Everyone responded in unison.
Meanwhile, in a residence not far from Moon Pavilion
"Ding dong, ding dong—"
An utterly ungraceful and unmelodious tune echoed in the gazebo of the garden in the rear courtyard of the residence.
On a stone bench inside the pavilion, Shui Bing'er sat expressionless, lightly plucking at a harp in her arms while calmly gazing at Mu Yang, whose eyes were vacant and face bore a bitter expression.
To be fair, while Shui Bing'er's harp playing wasn't particularly good, it wasn't exactly unbearable either but the problem was that she had been playing it for far too long.
At first, Mu Yang merely thought it was low-quality music.
After half an hour, taking into account that the performer was his soon-to-be fiancée, he did his best to think positively and simply regarded it as annoying noise.
Now, over an hour in, Mu Yang felt that even if the performer were his actual wife it was still nothing short of pollution!
"Hmm? Bing'er, pause for a moment. Sounds like there's a large-scale clash happening inside Heaven Dou City."
Suddenly, Mu Yang vaguely heard the sound of shouting and fighting reach his ears, and quickly signaled for Shui Bing'er to stop playing.
With a glance, Shui Bing'er ignored him and continued playing with total abandon. She'd already heard plenty of similar excuses over the past hour.
Your ladyship's harp playing isn't pleasant?
Hmph~ Even if it sounds like a pile of crap, you'd better praise it with all your heart! Otherwise, you'd better not plan on sleeping tonight. You'll be listening to me play all night long!
Mu Yang: "…"
Casting a speechless glance at this so-called "great musical master," Mu Yang listened closely for a while. Once he was sure the shouting he'd heard wasn't a hallucination induced by her dreadful music, he tapped his feet on the ground and leapt onto the rooftop of a nearby tower, then activated the flying soul bone skill of his Blue Silver Emperor right leg bone and soared into the sky.
Before long, Mu Yang released his spiritual power to scan the area and locked onto the direction the shouting was coming from.
"The Imperial Palace?"
Noticing that the commotion originated from the direction of the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace, and vaguely sensing intense soul power fluctuations from many soul masters engaged in combat, Mu Yang couldn't help but frown.
"What's going on?"
At that moment, Shui Bing'er appeared by Mu Yang's side, her Ice Phoenix martial soul already possessed.
"Seems like someone's staging a rebellion?"
Clicking his tongue, Mu Yang replied uncertainly.
Uh… someone's rebelling?
Could it be that his "plastic elder brother" Qian Renxue was launching a coup at Heaven Dou Palace tonight?
But if he remembered correctly, the coup at Heaven Dou Palace in the original story wasn't supposed to happen until four years later and even then, it was said that Qian Renxue launched it in a rush under Bibi Dong's orders. Otherwise, it might have taken place even later.
So now the question was: if this really was Qian Renxue rebelling, what triggered it?
At this moment, Mu Yang couldn't possibly have imagined that, at only fifteen years of age, he had already achieved the rank of a six-ring Soul Emperor and become one of the current generation's Killing Gods. This put immense pressure on Qian Renxue, the proud daughter of the heavens.
And it was precisely because of her competitive nature that Qian Renxue, unwilling to be outdone by her future top general, had launched the Heaven Dou coup ahead of schedule hoping to once again unleash the sacred radiance of the Angel.
For additional chapters
Versatile mage {40 chapters}
Douluo Dalu:This Soul Master is to Weird {30 Chapters}
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