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“It seems you aren’t as calm and indifferent as you appeared to be after all.”

“Seeing the Sun Moon Royal Palace reduced to ashes with your own eyes—what do you feel now, I wonder?”

Ye Xishui’s words were sharp as knives.

Countless times, she had hinted that this old man should join forces with them against the Ice God Hall.

But this stubborn old man simply refused to give up—he just wouldn’t cooperate.

Now that this slap had landed straight across his face, did it hurt?

With the Sun Moon Royal Palace obliterated and untold numbers of royal family members dead, this old man must be in so much pain he can barely breathe.

“Ye Xishui, even now, you have to kick people while they’re down?”

“Don’t forget, you’re not exactly in a good place yourself.”

Kong Deming’s expression was ugly.

Yes, at this moment, he was full of regret.

Reality had proven that this event was completely beyond his expectations.

He never imagined Xu Tiannan would go so far as to fire ninth-level soul tool shells, and even less that Su Yu would be bold and audacious enough to return every single one of them, unchanged.

And directly bombard the Sun Moon Royal Palace.

Dozens of ninth-level soul tool shells raining down all at once—even Ultimate Douluo would be turned to dust.

That level of destructive attack was absolutely impossible for even him to block.

In the final, critical moment, all he could do was rescue Xu Tiannan.

As for the others, he had no time or ability to care.

Others might not know, but it was certain that the royal members inside the Sun Moon Palace were almost all dead or wounded.

Except for a few royal members who weren’t present, there was no way anyone else could have escaped.

With this move, Su Yu had practically wiped out the Sun Moon royal family.

What Kong Deming cared most about was the inheritance of the Sun Moon Empire. At this moment, his hatred for Su Yu was gnashing at his bones.

If only I had known…

If only I had known…

A shadow crossed Kong Deming’s eyes. But now, it was far too late for regrets.

Looking at the unconscious Xu Tiannan in his hands, Kong Deming’s gaze was full of disdain.

But there was nothing he could do.

The direct descendants of the royal family had all been slaughtered by Xu Tiannan—only this single seedling remained.

Even if he didn’t like Xu Tiannan, Kong Deming couldn’t just stand by and watch him die.

He couldn’t possibly abandon Xu Tiannan and support Xu Tianzhen as empress, could he?

How could a woman take the throne?

Moreover, with Xu Tianzhen’s personality, she was hardly fit to be emperor!

“Kong Deming!”

Ye Xishui’s face instantly darkened. Kong Deming’s words hit her where it hurt most.

He was stabbing right at her wounds!

“All right, enough! Stop arguing. This time, our losses are immense.”

At the crucial moment, Long Xiaoyao spoke up to defuse the tension.

No matter what, they were all in the same boat now.

Internal strife at a time like this would only spell disaster.

“Damn you, Su Yu!!!”

Hearing Long Xiaoyao’s words, the already hideously disfigured Xu Tiannan snapped, surrounded by a crimson aura of rage.

The losses were massive, indeed.

Not only was the Sun Moon Palace obliterated,

Even the Mingde Hall was destroyed.

Even the elite Royal Soul Engineer Legion and the Fire Phoenix Soul Engineer Legion likely didn’t survive.

A saturation bombing with dozens of ninth-level soul tool shells—Ultimate Douluo would fall, let alone a soul engineer legion.

To protect Xu Tiannan, these two legions had stood at the front.

The outcome was easy to imagine.

The more Xu Tiannan thought about it, the angrier and more hateful he became.

He’d never had many cards to play, and now Su Yu had destroyed most of them.

Especially the destruction of Mingde Hall—he simply could not accept it.

Everything else was bearable, but the elite soul engineers had taken decades, even centuries, to train. The Sun Moon Empire’s accumulation over a hundred years was gone in a day—who could accept that?

“Su Yu!!!”

Ye Xishui’s eyes were also red, her teeth gritted in hatred.

She had suffered too many losses at Su Yu’s hands.

Every time she encountered Su Yu, nothing good ever happened.

Not only had her own son died at Su Yu’s hands, but now even Long Xiaoyao had nearly died.

Ye Xishui’s hatred for Su Yu was not a bit less than Xu Tiannan’s.

What shocked her even more was Su Yu’s terrifying growth in strength.

Previously, Su Yu had only managed to defeat Zhongli Wu. Now, he had even badly injured Long Xiaoyao.

He had even handled dozens of ninth-level soul tool shells by himself.

Such ability moved even Ye Xishui.

If she asked herself honestly, even she could not confidently neutralize that many ninth-level soul tool shells without harm.

Su Yu’s strength was clearly not below hers anymore.

This filled Ye Xishui’s heart with a sense of urgency.

“Xiaoyao, you fought Su Yu. How did he defeat you?”

Long Xiaoyao was gravely wounded now.

Especially the sword scar across his chest, running from his shoulder to his waist—his internal organs were visible.

Anyone else would have long perished from such injuries.

Only because Long Xiaoyao had nearly become a god, transcending ordinary humanity, was his life force so resilient—otherwise, he would surely have died.

Long Xiaoyao sighed softly. “In terms of raw strength, Su Yu is still much inferior to me.”

“It’s just that his martial soul restrains me too much.”

“Under such suppression, I could barely use a tenth of my power.”

“And then there are his bizarre secret arts, his formidable divine weapons, and endless tricks—his explosive power is simply astonishing.”

“If Xu Tiannan hadn’t fired those ninth-level soul tool shells at the end, perhaps I would have perished right there.”

Long Xiaoyao’s expression was full of rueful loss—the lament of one who had truly been crushed.

He had always been proud, only ever suppressed by Mu En for a while; he had never really cared much about anyone else.

Especially after breaking through to Ultimate Douluo, achieving it through his own insights, smooth and natural.

He had surpassed others in strength, even in cultivation, outstripping Mu En and Ye Xishui.

Among human soul masters, those who could compare to him were few and far between.

He had always been proud of this.

It wasn’t until he first met Hai Bodong that he was jolted awake and his attitude became more humble.

There is always someone stronger.

There would always be those above him in the world.

But Hai Bodong was from the hidden Ice God Hall, a grand priest, incomparably powerful, yet he didn’t really affect Long Xiaoyao that much.

After all, except Hai Bodong, he was still unrivaled on the continent.

But this time, Long Xiaoyao had truly been shaken.

A youth not yet twenty years old had defeated him head-on, sweeping him aside.

He had even nearly killed him.

What struck him most was that, just a few years ago, this youth had still been so immature.

In just a few short years, he had been defeated by this youth.

The impact on Long Xiaoyao was unparalleled.

Though Long Xiaoyao’s body was fine, his confidence had been devastated.

He no longer had the high-spirited mindset of the past.

“His martial soul is truly bizarre. Back then, my son also fell to that martial soul,” Ye Xishui said through gritted teeth.

If it weren’t for the martial soul’s suppression, how could Su Yu possibly have defeated Zhongli Wu? Or Long Xiaoyao?

“What on earth is Su Yu’s martial soul?”

 “My martial soul, in front of his, feels an unspeakable dread and disgust,” Xu Tiannan said resentfully.

When Su Yu’s martial soul had appeared, it immediately suppressed his Purple Radiant Heaven-Extinguishing Dragon.

Just a wisp of its aura was enough to keep him down—such terror and trembling made Xu Tiannan loathe it from the bottom of his heart.

How could such a martial soul exist in the world?

Ye Xishui shook her head, her face unsightly: “I don’t know. Xiaoyao, you…”

Long Xiaoyao’s eyes flickered as he recalled, “That pressure was supreme and noble, far above the Dark Holy Dragon.”

“Even far beyond that golden dragon girl from the Holy Slayer Palace.”

“If I’m not mistaken, Su Yu’s martial soul might be related to the legendary Dragon God, ancestor of the dragon clan.”

“Dragon God?”

“How is that possible?” Ye Xishui doubted.

Long Xiaoyao sighed. “I can’t be sure. But besides something related to the Dragon God, I can’t imagine any other dragon martial soul with such suppression.”

Ye Xishui frowned deeply, then said coldly, “Who cares if it’s a Dragon God martial soul or not. Next time we meet, I’ll deal with him myself.”

“I’m not a dragon martial soul; facing me, he won’t have any advantage.”

Long Xiaoyao opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end, he said nothing.

He wanted to say that the wisest choice now was to take this last chance and stay far away.

Don’t ever get involved in Su Yu’s affairs again—maybe then they could stay alive.

But he knew that Ye Xishui wouldn’t listen now.

He had no choice but to follow her, down a path of no return.

Whoosh!

Space rippled; a mass of black mist appeared, gradually forming into a vague shadow.

“Ye Xishui, you’re looking pretty miserable!” the mysterious shadow mocked.

Ye Xishui’s face was dark. “Did you come here just to ridicule me?”

The shadow chuckled. “On the contrary—I’m here to warn you.”

“After this battle, you should have experienced the true might of the Ice God Hall, right?”

“We need to speed up our plans.”

Ye Xishui paused, then said coldly, “But the people from the Ice God Hall have already intervened.”

“It won’t be so easy to pull off any tricks on the battlefield now.”

The shadow laughed. “Simple—just stop focusing on the battlefield for now.”

“The war can go on, keep their attention, but we need to shift our target.”

Ye Xishui thought for a moment: “You mean…”

“Mm. Tolerance and inclusion…” the mysterious shadow said meaningfully.

At those words, Ye Xishui’s blood-red eyes narrowed.

…

…

When Su Yu woke up again, what greeted him was a spacious tent.

A soul lamp glowed with a soft yellow light; through the door curtain, the sky was dim.

“Mm…”

Su Yu let out a soft sound, not loud, but it startled the girl beside him.

Wang Dong’er, with her pink-blue hair flowing, her delicate face was full of deep concern.

“Xiao Su, you’re awake!”

Wang Dong’er’s beautiful eyes lit up, her big pink-blue eyes sparkling with excitement.

Su Yu rubbed his temples and asked, “How long was I asleep?”

Wang Dong’er stepped forward to help him up: “You’ve been unconscious for three whole days and nights.”

“Everyone has been worried sick.”

“You crazy fool, using power you couldn’t control—how could you be so reckless?”

“Elder Hai said you’re lucky your body is so strong, otherwise you’d have hurt your very foundation this time.”

Wang Dong’er puffed out her cheeks angrily, glaring at Su Yu.

Su Yu gave an awkward smile. “There won’t be a next time. I didn’t expect Xu Tiannan to go that crazy.”

Wasn’t it nuts? Firing dozens of ninth-level soul tool shells indiscriminately in Mingdu—he was utterly deranged.

“You’re thinking of a next time?”

Wang Dong’er’s eyes widened, exuding a sense of authority and pressure.

Su Yu blinked. For a moment, Wang Dong’er seemed as fierce as a tigress.

“N-no next time. I wouldn’t risk my own life like that,” Su Yu laughed.

“Hmph, as if I’d believe you.”

Wang Dong’er snorted, but when she saw Su Yu’s pale face, her glare softened with a touch of tenderness.

“You haven’t eaten in days. You must be starving. I’ll get you something to eat.”

Su Yu nodded with a smile.

A few minutes later, Wang Dong’er returned.

With her came Meng Hongchen, Di Mingli, Zhang Lexuan, and the others.

And of course, Jing Hongchen.

“Su Yu!”

“Yu!”

“Xiao Yu!”

…

The girls crowded around, their eyes full of concern.

Su Yu smiled and nodded to each of them in turn.

Then came the inevitable scolding from the girls—after all, Su Yu had returned unconscious.

He’d almost scared them to death.

“Su Yu, have some food.”

Wang Dong’er stepped forward with a tray, feeding Su Yu herself.

After a bowl of meat porridge, some color returned to Su Yu’s cheeks.

Looking tenderly at Wang Dong’er, Su Yu glanced at Jing Hongchen.

“Hall Master, have you gotten used to things these past few days?”

Su Yu smiled as he asked.

Jing Hongchen pursed his lips. “What’s there for an old man like me not to get used to?”

Su Yu smiled gently. “Hall Master, what are your plans next?”

Jing Hongchen rolled his eyes. “Didn’t you say you were going to rebuild Mingde Hall?”

“I’m still waiting for you to keep your promise.”

Su Yu grinned. “A promise to you is one I’ll never break.”

“Hall Master, what do you think of my Holy Slayer Palace?”

Jing Hongchen’s eye twitched. “I knew you were up to no good! You want me to work for you, don’t you?”

Su Yu waved his hand. “Hall Master, that’s not what I mean!”

“There’s really no difference between Mingde Hall and Holy Slayer Palace—just a different name.”

“Even Mingde Hall belonged to the Sun Moon Empire, not your personal property!”

“And the empire controlled Mingde Hall tightly—even you couldn’t make big decisions on your own, right?”

“But the Holy Slayer Palace is different.”

“Our relationship is one of absolute trust.”

“If you join the Holy Slayer Palace, I can give you all the support you need!”

“After all, we’re on the same side—no need to stand on ceremony. We can always discuss things together.”