At the entrance of Tian Dou Palace.
When Chen Xin and Gu Rong arrived at Tian Dou Palace with Ning Fengzhi flying through the air, they immediately noticed that the atmosphere in the palace seemed unusual.
From their vantage point in the air, they could clearly see that not only had the number of guards at the main gate increased several times compared to usual, but patrols of the imperial guards were also everywhere throughout the palace, as if a major disturbance had occurred.
However, the three didn't think much of it. After all, given the huge commotion outside the city tonight, it was reasonable for the palace to be on high alert.
"Respectful greetings, Lord Ning of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, Sword Douluo, and Bone Douluo."
As soon as the three landed outside the palace gates, a captain of the imperial guards stepped forward to greet them respectfully.
Although the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect was an ally of the Tian Dou Empire, Ning Fengzhi still showed proper respect to Emperor Xue Ye. Instead of allowing Chen Xin and Gu Rong to fly him directly into the palace, he entered through the main gate to observe proper etiquette.
"Mm."
Ning Fengzhi nodded slightly and walked in with Chen Xin and Gu Rong.
There was no need to wait. As the leader of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, Ning Fengzhi could simply enter Tian Dou Palace by "face value."
There was also no need to ask where Emperor Xue Ye was—just head toward the Hall of Governance in the center of the palace. Once Ning Fengzhi stepped inside, news of his arrival would quickly reach Emperor Xue Ye, who would send someone to greet them.
Sure enough, just a few minutes later, before the trio reached the Hall of Governance, Ning Fengzhi saw Xue Qinghe, accompanied by several imperial advisors, approaching with a sorrowful expression.
"Teacher, Sword Douluo, Bone Douluo."
Qian Renxue (disguised as Xue Qinghe) stepped forward and bowed deeply.
"No need for formalities."
Ning Fengzhi waved his hand and helped Qian Renxue up.
Seeing his disciple's sorrowful expression, Ning Fengzhi said, "Qinghe, are you worried about what happened outside the city? If so, there's no need to worry—the enemy has been completely annihilated."
Qian Renxue nodded slightly but then shook her head, bowing again and saying, "Teacher, tonight my father, the emperor, was assassinated, and the empire is in turmoil. I hope you will lend your full support."
"What? His Majesty was assassinated? What's the situation?"
Upon hearing that Emperor Xue Ye had been assassinated, Ning Fengzhi was shocked and immediately asked for details.
"Just moments ago, during the great battle outside the city, a mysterious Title Douluo infiltrated the palace to assassinate Father. The palace guards were no match, and Father..."
Qian Renxue, feigning deep sorrow, did not continue.
Hearing this, Ning Fengzhi's expression froze, and his mood grew heavy.
At once, Ning Fengzhi identified two prime suspects behind the assassination of Emperor Xue Ye:
The first was the Star Luo Empire, and the second was the Spirit Hall.
The reason the Star Luo Empire was the primary suspect was because the timing was too coincidental, and they had ample motive.
Tonight, the Star Luo Empire had launched a major attack outside Tian Dou City. Regardless of whether they succeeded in eliminating his son-in-law, the Tian Dou Empire wouldn't stand idly by.
If the Star Luo Empire could send so many experts to intercept the empire's geniuses outside Tian Dou City, why couldn't they also send experts to assassinate the emperor?
Moreover, Chu Chengzhou was his son-in-law. If the Star Luo Empire's interception plan succeeded, it would inevitably provoke retaliation from the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect.
Since they would face retaliation either way, why not kill Emperor Xue Ye as well, causing chaos in the Tian Dou Empire and leaving them unable to retaliate against the Star Luo Empire?
As for the Spirit Hall, although the timing was suspicious, it was possible that they had learned of the Star Luo Empire's plan to intercept Chu Chengzhou and secretly orchestrated the assassination of Emperor Xue Ye, pinning the blame on the Star Luo Empire.
These two events almost occurred simultaneously, and the blame for Emperor Xue Ye's assassination would fall on the Star Luo Empire whether they liked it or not.
This way, a war between the two empires would break out, allowing the Spirit Hall to sit back and watch the fight.
Unfortunately, regardless of which party was behind the assassination, they had overlooked one crucial factor:
His son-in-law was simply too powerful. With his strength alone, he had reversed the balance of power between the two empires.
In other words, no matter who the mastermind was, their plans had failed.
The Star Luo Empire had lost so many experts tonight. Whether the assassination of Emperor Xue Ye caused turmoil in the Tian Dou Empire or not, the Star Luo Empire was already on the verge of collapse.
And the premise of sitting back and watching a fight was that the two sides were evenly matched. However, if the two empires went to war now, the Tian Dou Empire would undoubtedly have the upper hand, while the Star Luo Empire would be weaker.
If the Spirit Hall sat back and watched without intervening, they would miss out on their share of the "cake" that was the Star Luo Empire.
However... the assassination of Emperor Xue Ye might not necessarily be a bad thing for the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect.
Although Emperor Xue Ye had a good relationship with Ning Fengzhi and was considered an ally, when it came to closeness... wasn't it better for his own disciple to ascend the throne than an ally?
After all, on the Douluo Continent, the relationship between a teacher and disciple was equivalent to that of parent and child.
Having thought this through and convinced he had seen through everything, Ning Fengzhi patted Qian Renxue's shoulder and said, "Qinghe, you are the crown prince of the empire. Pull yourself together!
Now that His Majesty has been assassinated, your task is to stabilize the empire's situation as quickly as possible. Your teacher and the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect will fully support you."
With the continent on the brink of turmoil and the empire welcoming a new ruler, wasn't this a clear sign that a new era was about to begin?
---
On the other side, outside Tian Dou City, Chu Chengzhou, having finished cleaning up the battlefield, returned with a bountiful harvest.
The enemies who came tonight weren't wandering soul masters but experts affiliated with the Star Luo Empire and imperial family—individuals with backing and organization. Their wealth far exceeded that of ordinary soul masters of the same level.
The eight Nether White Tigers consisted of sixteen individuals, plus five Title Douluos, totaling twenty-one people. Together, they dropped 15 thousand-year soul bones, 20 ordinary ten-thousand-year soul bones, and 12 soul bones aged over fifty thousand years.
The most valuable item was the seventy-thousand-year head soul bone that dropped from Dai Tao.
However, the high-value soul bones primarily came from Dai Tao and the seven elders of the Star Luo imperial family. These eight individuals were the wealthiest, each possessing at least one soul bone aged over fifty thousand years.
Next were the Nether Spirit Cat soul masters who paired with Dai Tao to form the Nether White Tiger martial soul fusion technique. Each of them had at least one ten-thousand-year soul bone.
Finally, there were the five Title Douluos from the Star Luo Empire. Among them, three didn't even have soul bones, while the other two possessed only ordinary ten-thousand-year soul bones.
Of course, as Title Douluos, if they wanted, they might not be able to obtain high-grade items, but acquiring ordinary thousand-year or ten-thousand-year soul bones wouldn't be difficult.
The reason three of them lacked soul bones was likely not due to poverty but rather that they simply looked down on ordinary goods.
After all, for Title Douluos, unless a ten-thousand-year soul bone carried a skill that compensated for their weaknesses, it wouldn't provide any significant boost to their strength.
Satisfied with his haul, Chu Chengzhou returned to Tian Dou City and headed straight for Yue Xuan.
The commotion outside the city tonight must have frightened his beloved elder sister. He needed to go comfort her.
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