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"Uphold the rule of law, wait for a wise ruler in each generation, and act when the opportunity arises."
Dai Mingzong silently recited these words several times.
He recalled the strategies and policies previously proposed by Wei Yang and couldn't help but sigh, "Chancellor Wei, you truly were a genius of the age. According to what you said before your passing, this opportunity has actually appeared. My Star Luo will certainly seize it."
Truth be told, Dai Mingzong had never expected this opportunity to arrive so quickly.
Three years ago, he had received a secret report from the Nether Guards stating that the second prince of the Heaven Dou Empire had been poisoned to death.
This had slightly surprised him.
That young man, only twelve years old at the time, possessed a wit far beyond his years. Had he truly ascended the throne in the future, he would have posed a significant threat to Star Luo. To think he would perish by poison.
Originally, this wouldn't have mattered much, as he had already intended to send the Nether Guards to eliminate that exceptionally gifted youth anyway. This turn of events simply saved him the trouble.
However, unexpectedly, just one year later, the third prince of the Heaven Dou Empire—who possessed remarkable Martial Soul aptitude—was also poisoned to death. In the span of just two years, two princes had died one after another.
This caught his full attention.
As the Star Luo Emperor, he had experienced his fair share of imperial power struggles in his youth; his own throne was stained with the blood of his brothers.
With the second and third princes dying in the same manner within such a short period, the eldest prince, Xue Qinghe—as the primary beneficiary—naturally became his prime suspect.
One could say that if these two acts were truly Xue Qinghe's doing, even the Emperor would have to offer a word of praise: this lad was truly ruthless and possessed great boldness; he was someone meant for great things.
Still, he was ultimately a bit young and impulsive.
Although he achieved his goal, the methods were slightly crude. The interval between the deaths was too short and the methods too identical; it was far too easy to arouse suspicion. Nevertheless, this Xue Qinghe was by no means an ordinary person.
If he were to become the Heaven Dou Emperor in the future, Heaven Dou might find a chance for a resurgence. Therefore, two years ago, the Emperor made a decisive call and dispatched the Commander of the Nether Guards, Zhu Xuanfeng, to assassinate Xue Qinghe.
Zhu Xuanfeng was the current Patriarch of the Hell Spirit Cat Clan, the Zhu Clan. As one of the most vital supporters of the Star Luo Imperial Family, the Zhu Clan had always enjoyed their utmost trust.
The Nether Guards—an essential department focused on assassination, intelligence gathering, and protection—was composed entirely of Zhu Clan disciples. The Patriarch served as the Supreme Commander, loyal only to the Emperor.
Their inherited Martial Soul, the Hell Spirit Cat, was a high-level Martial Soul. Not only was it perfectly suited for the Agility Attack System, but it also wielded significant dark-attribute power.
Most importantly, the Hell Spirit Cat Martial Soul possessed a natural, high level of compatibility with the White Tiger Martial Soul inherited by the Star Luo Imperial Family—his own Dai Clan. This compatibility was the necessary foundation for a Martial Soul Fusion.
The Hell Spirit Cat Clan had followed the Star Luo Imperial Family for over a thousand years. Through the efforts of the ancestors of both clans, they had not only created the Martial Soul Fusion Skill, Hell White Tiger, but had also perfected it to the best of their abilities.
The current Zhu Patriarch, Zhu Xuanfeng, was not only the Commander of the Nether Guards who swore fealty to him but was also his Martial Soul Fusion partner—effectively his right-hand man.
With both of them at the eight-ring Soul Douluo level, once they unleashed the Hell White Tiger, they were capable of resisting the powerhouses among Titled Douluo.
Furthermore, because the Hell Spirit Cat Martial Soul naturally controlled strong dark-attribute energy, possessed high speed, and strong attack power, it was ideal for the Agility Attack System.
To better fulfill the duties of the Nether Guards, the Zhu Clan was also extremely adept at stealth and assassination. Their inherited Nether Shadow Stealth technique was famous in the Soul Master world; those stronger than a Nether Guard might still fail to escape a Nether Guard's assassination.
However, the mission to assassinate Xue Qinghe was not as simple as he had initially thought.
Zhu Xuanfeng had been gone for nearly a year.
Not only did the assassination fail, but he had also returned heavily injured, only recently recovering his health. Though it seemed Zhu Xuanfeng had suffered a heavy loss, the intelligence he brought back made the Emperor ecstatic.
According to Zhu Xuanfeng, after successfully infiltrating the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace, he had intended to bypass the Wind-Fire Phoenix Lu Clan members who guarded the Heaven Dou Imperial Family to find an opening to kill Xue Qinghe.
Unexpectedly, on the day he planned to strike, he happened to overhear a conversation between Xue Qinghe and two mysterious individuals.
Strangely, those two were not only shrouded in black robes but had also been suppressing their auras the entire time, as if they, like him, did not want to be discovered by the Heaven Dou Imperial Family.
Moreover, these two possessed extremely high concealment methods, no worse than his own. He hadn't even realized they were secretly guarding Xue Qinghe before, nor could he discern their specific cultivation levels.
Thus, he did not strike immediately, choosing to continue observing.
Surprisingly, the two addressed Xue Qinghe as "Young Master," while Xue Qinghe addressed them as "Elders." They repeatedly mentioned a certain woman without naming her, with Xue Qinghe referring to her only as "that woman."
The matters they discussed were even more shocking to Zhu Xuanfeng. Xue Qinghe actually intended to administer a slow-acting, lethal poison to the Heaven Dou Emperor, Xue Ye. Such an act of killing his brothers and murdering his father was truly sinister.
It was this news that shook Zhu Xuanfeng's composure, causing a momentary flaw in his Nether Shadow Stealth. That single instant of distraction allowed the two mysterious individuals to detect his presence.
Zhu Xuanfeng fled immediately but was still overtaken by the pair.
Upon clashing, he discovered that both were nine-ring Titled Douluo.
Figures of such caliber were definitely not nobodies; it was no wonder that even while hunting him, they kept their faces hidden and refused to fully release their Martial Souls, merely mobilizing the source power of their souls within their bodies.
Facing such formidable foes, Zhu Xuanfeng was forced to give his all. Since the two mysterious individuals were intent on hiding their identities, they couldn't exert their full power. Thus, they hunted him for several months, seemingly determined to silence him forever.
In the end, he used the body-double death-faking technique from the family's secret manual, the Nether Records—the Nether False Puppet—to deceive the two Titled Douluo, making them believe they had killed him.
Even so, he was left with heavy injuries.
However, the harvest was immense.
Although the two Titled Douluo never truly released their Martial Souls, merely mobilizing their internal source power to fight him.
That alone was enough to reveal several characteristics of their Martial Souls. Given that the number of Titled Douluo on the continent was small to begin with, he eventually identified them.
In this battle, although he was severely injured and only escaped through a death-faking technique—losing from that perspective—he was undoubtedly the winner in terms of his objective.
When Zhu Xuanfeng revealed the identities of these two Titled Douluo to Dai Mingzong, it truly gave him a massive shock, followed immediately by wild joy.
Who could have imagined that the two people secretly conspiring with the Heaven Dou's Eldest Prince, Xue Qinghe, were actually two Elders from Spirit Hall, listed in the Elder Hall?
The Snake Lance Douluo, Yu Long, and the Porcupine Fish Douluo, Ci Xue.
**
Enjoying the story? Support the translation and get early access to future chapters here: www.patr eon.com/c/FanficTranslator
Thanks for reading!
I have 70 advanced chapter now on Patreon. I will post 5 advanced chapter on Patreon everyday except Sunday