The court banquet lasted until the middle of the night. The nobles, who had been enjoying themselves in the palace, reluctantly left the palace garden one after another, still feeling the lingering joy of the evening.
The Next Day.
The grand tournament for elite soul masters held once every five years commenced as scheduled.
Tian Dou Division.
The grand Soul Arena in Tian Dou City.
Apart from the VIP seating area, all other seats were filled with spectators.
Inside the venue, the participating teams from various advanced soul master academies within the Tian Dou Empire gathered, greeted by enthusiastic cheers from the audience.
Among them, the team with the loudest cheers naturally belonged to the Tian Dou Royal Soul Master Academy, which had the advantage of being the host. Following closely were the teams from the Five Elements Academy, composed of Shinfeng, Chihuo, Tianshui, Leiting, and Xiangjia Academies.
Aside from these six major academies, all other academies combined barely received even one-tenth of the audience's cheers.
Before long, the opening ceremony of the pre-selection competition was successfully completed with a speech by Emperor Xue Ye, the current ruler of Tian Dou.
Next, as per tradition, a lottery would be drawn to select a team for a demonstration match against the second team of the Tian Dou Royal Soul Master Academy.
As expected, the team drawn by the Golden Bishop of the Spirit Hall, Salas, was the Blue Tyrant Academy founded by Liu Erlong.
Once the match started, the battle quickly escalated into a fierce contest, with both sides locked in a tense stalemate.
In terms of overall strength, the second team of Tian Dou was slightly stronger than Blue Tyrant Academy.
However, the second team's members were all from noble families, simply attending the tournament to gain prestige. They were, without exaggeration, delicate flowers raised in greenhouses.
They had no combat experience, lacked a calm mindset, and were deficient in the determination required for a fierce battle.
In contrast, the seven members of Blue Tyrant Academy were all from commoner backgrounds. They were far superior to the second team in terms of these qualities.
Thus, after an extended period of deadlock, the second team began to falter, revealing significant weaknesses.
Blue Tyrant Academy immediately seized the opportunity to counterattack. The tide of the match shifted, and the battle began to tilt completely in Blue Tyrant Academy's favor.
After the demonstration match ended, in the front row of the VIP seats.
Emperor Xue Ye sat between Ning Fengzhi and Salas, his dignified face now looking particularly grim.
At this moment, Xue Ye wanted nothing more than to turn around and question his younger brother, Prince Xue Xing, and the three members of the academy's council.
However, he ultimately refrained from doing so, since Salas, the Platinum Bishop of the Spirit Hall, was sitting beside him. Xue Ye suppressed his desire to confront them.
After the opening ceremony and demonstration match officially concluded and the royal party returned to the palace, Emperor Xue Ye could no longer contain his dissatisfaction. Slamming his right hand onto the armrest of the throne, he sternly questioned:
"Xue Xing, how do you plan to explain today's events?"
"The second team of the Tian Dou Royal Soul Master Academy represents the dignity of the royal family. How could they lose to an unknown academy like Blue Tyrant Academy? Where do you think the royal family's face is?"
"Why are you silent? Are you mute?"
Below, Prince Xue Xing struggled to find words.
The quality of the students at the Tian Dou Royal Soul Master Academy was poor, and this hadn't been a recent development.
This just so happened to be the worst batch in history, and losing the match was inevitable.
However, while everyone knew this, acknowledging it openly was another matter entirely.
Thus, Prince Xue Xing could only swallow his grievances, shouldering all the blame alone.
Once Xue Ye had vented his anger, he shifted his gaze from Xue Xing to his son, Xue Qinghe.
"Son, your uncle has failed to manage the academy effectively. Lend him a hand. I don't want to see a repeat of today's situation in the next competition."
Standing beside him, Xue Qinghe glanced briefly at the darkened face of Xue Xing, then bowed to Xue Ye and responded:
"I shall obey your command, Father. I will not fail you."
At this moment, Xue Qinghe's mind was already starting to think about how he could win over the three council members of the academy.
The three council members of the academy—Bai Baoshan, the second seat, and Zhi Lin, the third seat—both hailed from noble families in Tian Dou, the Bai family and the Zhi family, respectively. Though gifted, they came from collateral branches of their families and had no claim to the family's hereditary titles. Due to various personal reasons, they had taken positions as council members of the Tian Dou Royal Soul Master Academy.
The first seat, Meng Shenji, came from a small soul master family in the northern part of the empire, though he too was a native of Tian Dou.
These three council members, though unlikely to join the Spirit Hall, could still be of significant help to Xue Qinghe after Xue Ye's death. They would play a pivotal role in supporting his ascension to the throne.
After hearing Xue Qinghe's response, Xue Ye didn't say much more. He simply nodded slightly and left the hall.
Once the two of them were alone, Prince Xue Xing snorted coldly, flicked his sleeve angrily, and stormed out of the hall ahead of Xue Qinghe.
The Prince's Mansion.
After returning to the mansion, Xue Beng, who had been waiting, looked around to confirm that no one else was present. He quickly asked:
"Uncle, how did it go? Did Father punish you?"
"No."
Xue Xing's reply made Xue Beng breathe a sigh of relief. However, Xue Beng quickly heard Xue Xing continue:
"But, your royal brother has asked your elder brother to intervene in the academy's affairs. Though his authority isn't as great as mine, it still means you'll have to give up some control."
"Huh? What should we do now?" Xue Beng's face instantly darkened.
"Why are you panicking? Have you forgotten everything I've taught you these years?"
Seeing Xue Beng like this, Xue Xing became a bit annoyed and reprimanded him. He then explained:
"Although your elder brother is getting involved in the academy's affairs, it's not necessarily a bad thing."
"As the academy's top troublemaker, you must know what the academy's atmosphere is like."
"Even if your elder brother is incredibly talented, trying to change the entrenched habits of Tian Dou's noble families after so many years is nothing short of a fantasy."
"The greater the power, the greater the responsibility."
"If your elder brother gets involved in the academy, but nothing changes, and it continues to be ineffective, he will be blamed for the academy's failures."
"At that time, you and I, as uncle and nephew, will quietly stir the pot behind the scenes, and we will surely be able to lower your elder brother's standing in your royal brother's eyes."
After hearing this, Xue Beng's anxious expression faded. He looked at Xue Xing with admiration and flattered him:
"Impressive, Uncle. I was too rash and didn't consider this aspect."
Xue Beng was deeply grateful to his uncle, who had saved his life and taught him the ways of survival. If it hadn't been for his uncle, the naïve and impulsive Xue Beng would have been killed by his elder brother long ago.
"Enough with the flattery." Xue Xing tapped Xue Beng's head and then asked:
"How are things between you and Tang San?"
"Remember, Tang San is not only the heir of Haotian Sect, but he has also created those amazing hidden weapons, which could have a huge impact on the world's power structure."
"Getting close to him can only benefit you. Who knows, he may even help you rise to that position in the future."
"Well..." Xue Beng hesitated before answering.
"These past few days, Tang San has been completely obsessed with hidden weapons and cultivation. He rarely speaks to anyone."
"Also, Uncle, you know I'm playing the role of a young playboy, so Tang San doesn't care about me at all."
"This..." Xue Xing didn't know how to respond at first. After a moment of contemplation, he finally sighed and said:
"Since that's the case, forget about befriending Tang San. But there's one thing you must remember."
"Never let Tang San become your elder brother's ally."
"If we can't get his support, we cannot let your elder brother have it either. Understand?"
"Yes." Xue Beng nodded forcefully.