"How do you know?"
Seeing Shui Qingmei's panic, Mu Xi couldn't hide her satisfaction. She'd scolded me plenty just now—my turn.
She looked at her wary-eyed teacher and spoke, breaking the dead silence.
"Recently, Master abruptly left seclusion, rampaged across a thousand km and wiped out several bandit camps, then even killed a Soul Douluo on the Extreme North Ice Field—shocking the Heaven Dou Empire. The matter spread like wildfire. Isn't that strange?"
Before Shui Qingmei could speak, Mu Xi continued, "I know Master's temper. Unless those scum provoke Skywater City, she isn't one to meddle. But she suddenly leaves seclusion and kills one Soul Douluo and four Soul Sages? Such killing intent is clearly abnormal."
Smiling at the changing faces of Qingyun and Shui Qingmei, Mu Xi added, "Given what I know, there's only one reason: she was sending a message. There aren't many things in the Heaven Dou Empire worthy of such a display. Apart from the royal family and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, I can't think of anyone."
"As for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect—whatever else, they maintain their image on the surface. And after the Nine-Hearted Begonia incident, they won't casually make enemies, especially not with a neutral force like Skywater."
"So the threat could only have come from the other—Heaven Dou's royal family!"
At the mention of the royal family, Shui Qingmei's face turned stormy, and even Qingyun's expression grew strained—Mu Xi had hit a sore spot.
Mu Xi sat back down, filled her cup to the brim, and took big gulps.
"So that's why you're sure it concerns Bing'er," Qingyun said, eyes flickering as she stared at Mu Xi.
Wiping her mouth with her hand—just like she used to at Skywater—Mu Xi said, "Not at first. I thought Master had just had a sudden change of heart and, before leaving the world, wanted to take down some scum to boost our academy's prestige."
She shuddered at the memory. "You don't know, I thought you were in danger and rushed overnight to ask the Grand Elder for leave."
Qingyun looked skyward, speechless. Yes, that was exactly like this unruly disciple of old.
"Then on the road I heard that Senior Sister's daughter, Shui Bing'er, awakened Senior Sister's Condensed Water Flying Bend, with innate soul power at level eight. Not long ago, Senior Sister even threw her a lavish awakening banquet. That's when I knew they were involved."
"Senior Sister has never liked ostentation. No matter how much she loves her daughter, she wouldn't do that. I know her too well. Even on her deathbed she'd say: no extravagance."
Shui Qingmei twitched at the corner of her eye, recognizing this was payback for the earlier scolding.
"So I was sure Bing'er's martial soul definitely wasn't the Condensed Water Flying Bend, and certainly not innate level eight. That alone wouldn't make the Heaven Dou royal family act."
"A clumsy cover-up!"
That was her verdict on Qingyun and Shui Qingmei's handling—too deliberate, at least to someone who knew them this well.
People thought the sect with the deepest obsession over martial souls was the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, but they overlooked a group even more desperate to change theirs: the Heaven Dou royal family.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda couldn't break past level 80, true, but its support ability was astonishing. As long as they found a good partner, they enjoyed high standing in the soul master world. They pursued change mainly to go even further.
The Heaven Dou royals were different. Their hereditary martial soul was the Swan. Yes, you heard right—the Swan. Not the Emerald Swan. Among famed hereditary martial souls, it ranked at the very bottom in combat strength.
Even the royal lines of the four kingdoms and one duchy nominally under Heaven Dou had stronger hereditary souls.
On paper, the Five States belonged to Heaven Dou, but in practice—aside from tribute—they were sovereign, with independent armies and taxes. They hardly needed to care about the emperor.
One root cause was the royal family's own weakness, never producing a top-tier powerhouse to anchor the nation, forcing them to rely on outsiders. But imperial statecraft abhors entrusting life and throne to any outsider. They had no choice but to juggle and balance all sides to preserve a fragile equilibrium.
You might ask: doesn't the child inherit the higher-quality martial soul? Can't they just marry someone with a strong soul?
It's not that simple. Nor is it because the royals think their Swan is too sacred to sully. It's because the Swan's quality is absurdly high—yet its battle strength is absurdly weak.
That's right: Heaven Dou's Swan is a rare high-quality yet feeble martial soul.
Over the years, they married plenty of gifted female soul masters, hoping to improve their lineage. But those women's souls still couldn't match the Swan's quality, so the improvement was marginal.
Every generation of emperor could only gaze across the continent at the Star Luo royal family, whose emperors were terrifying fighters, and whose clan occasionally produced Title Douluo.
The disparity was so stark that however unwilling Heaven Dou's emperors were, they could only weep with envy.
Thus, the royals turned to soul masters with top-tier talent and high-quality martial souls—especially avian types. Sharing the avian attribute might strengthen the Swan lineage.
Mu Xi looked solemnly at Qingyun. "So, there was only one reason you left seclusion: to shield my little niece, Bing'er."
Qingyun stayed silent for a long while, then looked deeply at her.
"I didn't expect you to still know us this well after all these years. You're right: Bing'er's martial soul isn't the Condensed Water Flying Bend, nor is her innate soul power level eight. She has an innate full-soul-power Ice Phoenix."
"Ice Phoenix?!" Mu Xi was clearly shocked. She'd guessed it was strong, but hadn't expected the supreme beast soul Ice Phoenix—plus innate full soul power. The Heaven Dou royals would go mad for that.
"The Ice Phoenix—greater even than Ling Yuan back then," Qingyun sighed. For Skywater, it was an opportunity—and a crisis.
Ling Yuan, a prodigy famed in Heaven Dou forty years ago: innate level nine, martial soul Flame Hawk, the youngest recorded Soul Emperor in Heaven Dou's history. Her renown was unmatched; everyone expected her to become a Title Douluo.
But thirty-plus years ago, she was declared wanted by the empire, and fled under endless pursuit to Spirit City—vanishing thereafter.
The official statement said she betrayed the empire. Anyone with sense knew the real reason: the then–crown prince Xue Ye had set his sights on her.
He tried to use imperial might to coerce Ling Yuan, but never expected her to be so unyielding. He tried to seize her by force, only to push her into the arms of Spirit Hall.
After Xue Ye ascended, his bid to ally with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect partly stemmed from fear of Ling Yuan's revenge.
Now, Shui Bing'er's Ice Phoenix far outclassed Ling Yuan's Flame Hawk, and her talent surpassed Ling Yuan's too. If the royals learned of it, they'd almost certainly make a move.
Although the current crown prince presented himself as virtuous and amiable, appearances of a future emperor were never to be trusted. Back then, Xue Ye had been no worse than today's Xue Qinghe.
Shui Bing'er wasn't like Ling Yuan; she had bonds here. She couldn't just flee to Spirit Hall with abandon. And if she did—would she still be Skywater's person?