Emperor Xue Ye's appeal in the Heaven Dou Empire was still very great.
The nobles and powerhouses who received the invitation were all famous and renowned experts without exception. Heaven Dou City also fell into a brief period of revelry because of this event.
The guards and maids in the imperial palace were almost so busy that their feet didn't touch the ground, especially in the imperial kitchen, which had to handle a banquet of such quantity and scale that they wished they could split one hand into two to use.
Countless precious ingredients and various treasures were escorted into the towering palace walls by heavy-armored cavalry. Any single one of these items, if taken outside, would be worth hundreds of thousands of gold soul coins, enough for an ordinary family to live a stable and happy life for a lifetime.
Yet on this birthday banquet of Emperor Xue Ye, these were merely the most ordinary congratulatory gifts. Under the shine of certain treasures, they were like plain bricks casually discarded in a corner.
Shui Ningbing and the others were specially invited as honored guests, so naturally, they didn't have to wait outside the palace gates like the other guests. A dedicated official came to receive them and lead them into the imperial palace.
The Snow Emperor held Shen Hanyu's arm as she walked among the group from Heavenly Water Academy. Her unparalleled, noble, and cold beauty caused the surrounding crowd to fall into brief moments of daze.
The Snow Emperor didn't like such gazes. Shen Hanyu slightly narrowed his eyes, releasing an invisible pressure. Those still lost in fascination were abruptly jolted awake, then broke out in cold sweat and hurriedly fled.
Shen Hanyu slightly lowered his head and said with a light smile:
"No need to mind them. Just a bunch of second-generation parasites living off their families. If you're really unhappy, we can kill them all after the banquet ends."
The Snow Emperor slightly raised her eyes, then said softly:
"Let's go."
...
The architectural style of the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace was extremely distinctive.
It had a certain ancient flair, mixed with some Western-style elements from his previous life. The grand complex stretched out continuously, with various flowers and plants blooming luxuriously in the surrounding flowerbeds, complementing the palace's splendor and making it appear even more noble.
All around were soldiers clad in heavy armor, their strength generally ranging from rank 10-something soul masters to Soul Elders. The squad leaders were usually at the Soul Ancestor level, and a few commanders had even reached the Soul King or Soul Emperor rank—their strength could be considered quite good.
Shui Ningbing walked at the front of the group and explained softly:
"The palace guards are all elite warriors selected from the Heaven Dou army. Every one of them is battle-hardened. Not to mention that the palace defenses are strict, filled with all kinds of mechanisms. Even though the imperial family still has something, no one can be sure of."
Shen Hanyu's spiritual power swept across the entire palace. He didn't discover any hidden powerhouses, but in the four corners of the palace, he noticed some unique mechanical structures.
They were formation-type soul tools. A flash of interest passed through Shen Hanyu's eyes. From the killing intent contained within, these should be offensive attack-type formation soul tools. Although they were extremely ancient, their cores were still operational and could still unleash several full-powered strikes comparable to an ordinary Titled Douluo. After that, however, they would likely collapse completely.
In the ancient era of the Douluo Continent, soul tools were once extremely prosperous. But because of an indescribable catastrophe, the once-flourishing soul tool era was ended, and more than ninety percent of soul tool technology was lost or destroyed, leaving later generations with only some of the most basic storage soul tools and a few special large devices.
Entering the resplendent golden banquet hall, quite a few people in luxurious attire were already waiting inside.
When they saw Shui Ningbing, they all cupped their hands in greeting:
"Greetings to Ice Luan Crown Below..."
Shui Ningbing smiled faintly and indicated that they need not be so formal.
The status of a Titled Douluo was even higher than that of a prime minister in the current two great empires; this was consistent across both.
Emperor Xue Ye, that old man, had not yet arrived. The crowd was basically free to move about. Quite a few noble ladies chose to approach Shui Ningbing to chat and socialize. Shui Ningbing forced a smile to deal with them, but the helplessness and boredom in her eyes were almost overflowing.
Shen Hanyu took a cup of clear fruit wine from a table covered with a white tablecloth while holding the Snow Emperor's hand, gently handing it to her and saying:
"Try it, fruit wine."
The Snow Emperor elegantly picked up the goblet, took a light sip, then furrowed her brow slightly and said:
"Mediocre."
Shen Hanyu took the rest and drank it in one gulp, smacked his lips, and said:
"Pretty good, actually."
The Snow Emperor glanced at Shen Hanyu without speaking.
Although she had accepted Shen Hanyu, her personality was also extremely slow to warm up. Fortunately, Shen Hanyu seemed to greatly enjoy the pleasure of developing things slowly with her, step by step.
This was somewhat strange; both of them had strong and domineering personalities, yet in this matter, they reached a tacit understanding, both indulging the other and slowly accepting everything about each other. Neither of them truly understood what love specifically was, but they both very much liked the current situation.
Throughout the entire hall, aside from the gazes falling on Shui Ningbing, the most attention was drawn by Shen Hanyu and the Snow Emperor.
But those who could enter here were no ordinary people. Many harbored crooked thoughts, many wanted to make connections, yet the aura of "strangers keep away" emanating from the two directly dissuaded them.
Shui Bing'er and the other three girls also felt somewhat bored and chatted among themselves about little girlish topics, occasionally letting out clear, crisp laughter, which sparked quite a few ideas among the young nobles attending the banquet.
As another group arrived, a young man almost instantly drew the attention of the entire hall.
"Greetings, Your Highness the Crown Prince ×n"
Xue Qinghe (Qian Renxue), approaching slowly, smiled slightly. Though his appearance wasn't top-tier, he had straight features and gave off a refreshing, spring-breeze-like feeling.
The Snow Emperor slightly narrowed her eyes. She saw through Qian Renxue's disguise almost instantly. The fact that the other's true appearance was not inferior to hers even surprised her a little.
Qian Renxue smiled and gestured for everyone to dispense with formalities, then said:
"Everyone here is an honored guest of the imperial family. Today is my imperial father's birthday. I wish everyone enjoyed themselves."
With that, she took a cup of clear wine from the side and drank it in one go.
The Snow Emperor turned her head and met Shen Hanyu's gaze directly.
Shen Hanyu smiled and said:
"You felt the divinity in her body, right? Six-winged Angel, a true god-level martial soul born from a deity. Innate twentieth-ranked soul power. In the future, she is destined to be the inheritor of the Angel God."
The Snow Emperor nodded and said softly:
"She is wasting her talent and time."
Shen Hanyu curved his lips into a smile and said:
"Earlier, when he was heading to Elements City, it was said that he suddenly fell ill midway and stopped at a nearby city for treatment. Less than five days later, when he reappeared, he was perfectly healthy again, like nothing had happened. Thinking about it now, that period should have been when she had just broken through to the Soul King rank."
With the help of his million-year mental skull, he could easily see Qian Renxue's true appearance beneath the disguise. No matter how powerful the camouflage ability of that Angel skull was, it was ultimately only a 99,999-year soul bone, not even a true hundred-thousand-year soul bone. How could it possibly block the probing of a million-year mental-attribute soul bone?
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