Chapter 275. When I ascend the throne.
I will appoint you, Yu Xiaogang, as my national advisor. Before leaving, Tang San visited Xue Qinghe.
"Brother Xue, I'm leaving the Heaven Dou Empire soon. Have you thought things through regarding that matter from before?" Tang San asked.
Xue Qinghe nodded and said, "I have thought it through."
As for the outcome, neither of them elaborated further; they both understood.
Tang San said, "I have a talented person I'd like to recommend to His Highness the Crown Prince."
"There is a person who possesses the potential to encompass the universe and the ambition to swallow the heavens and earth, yet he is constantly overlooked due to the coldness of the world." Tang San spoke at length, praising the person highly, but without mentioning their name.
Upon hearing Tang San's introduction, Xue Qinghe's eyes lit up, and he laughed, "Alright, alright, Tang San, stop teasing me. Tell me quickly, who is this person?"
Tang San clapped his hands.
The door opened, and Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang, wearing a feather fan and a turban, strolled in. He walked to Xue Qinghe, bowed, and said, "Yu Xiaogang greets Your Highness."
"No need for formalities," Xue Qinghe replied humbly. "Tang San and I are of the same generation. You are Xiao San's teacher, so you are also my elder."
This made Yu Xiaogang feel extremely pleased.
"Is he the one you want to recommend?" Xue Qinghe asked.
Tang San said, "My teacher is the talent I want to recommend to you. What, Your Highness, are you also influenced by worldly opinions and look down on my teacher?"
Xue Qinghe shook his head and said, "No, Tang San, you are a genius, and the son of the Heavenly Douluo. You wouldn't become a disciple without a reason. I believe your teacher must have extraordinary abilities."
"Moreover, Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang was able to cultivate your Shrek Seven Devils to achieve third place on the continent. He is no ordinary person. Think of my Royal Fighting Academy, with so many excellent teachers training our Royal Fighting Team, yet it was wiped out by a single person from the Spirit Hall."
"Brother Xue, aside from other aspects, Master's theoretical knowledge of Soul Masters is unparalleled in the world. He can certainly train a legion of Soul Masters for your Heaven Dou Empire, quickly closing the gap in strength between us and the Spirit Hall." Tang San further praised Master, exclaiming, "Master's strength may not be great, but if you can utilize him effectively, his role can be even greater than some Title Douluos."
Xue Qinghe nodded, his gaze fixed intently on Master, as if he were looking at a rare talent.
Master, sensing Xue Qinghe's gaze, immediately straightened his back, shook his feather fan, clearly pleased with the look.
"Having Master is like having a thousand troops!" Xue Qinghe grabbed Master's hand.
"Your Highness, you flatter me," Yu Xiaogang said, his face flushing.
Xue Qinghe and Master's eyes met, almost sparking a passionate flame.
Seeing how much Xue Qinghe valued his teacher, Tang San was even more convinced of his previous thoughts.
Indeed, abandoning Xue Beng, that good-for-nothing, was the right decision; Xue Qinghe was far more suitable to be the ruler of the Heaven Dou Empire.
"Brother Xue, and Grandmaster, you two continue your conversation. I have something to attend to, so I'll be leaving now," Tang San said. "Tang San, I haven't even had a chance to host a grand banquet to thank you for recommending your teacher," Xue Qinghe said, trying to persuade him to stay. "The banquet is unnecessary. Brother Xue, simply making good use of my teacher is the greatest gratitude you can show me," Tang San said. "I have matters to attend to at my father's place."
"Okay, Little San, be careful," Grandmaster said.
"Mm," Tang San replied before leaving.
Now, only Grandmaster and Xue Qinghe remained in the Crown Prince's residence. Their eyes met again, almost sparking a flame.
Xue Qinghe invited Grandmaster to discuss the future situation of the continent.
At this moment, Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang launched into a long-winded explanation, gesturing wildly and speaking with great enthusiasm about his vision for the future of Douluo Continent. His expressions shifted dramatically, sometimes joyful, sometimes angry, sometimes sorrowful, changing like a Sichuan opera face-changing act.
Yu Xiaogang's narration covered everything imaginable: the history, customs, and traditions of the various factions on the continent.
Of course, it also contained Grandmaster Yu's characteristic biases; for example, in his account, everything the Spirit Hall did was considered a sin.
This narration lasted for several hours.
Grandmaster Yu had been suppressing his feelings for too long, feeling unappreciated and unable to showcase his talents. Now, having encountered someone who truly valued his abilities, his desire to express himself was ignited.
Xue Qinghe, on the other hand, was very patient, listening attentively as Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang recounted the continent's situation for hours.
"In short, the Spirit Hall's ambitions will inevitably affect the entire Douluo Continent in the future. All parties should prepare in advance, and only by uniting can we curb the Spirit Hall's ambition to conquer the world and prevent it from falling under Qian Xunji's corrupt rule," Grandmaster said eloquently, his eyes filled with wisdom.
Upon hearing this, Xue Qinghe clapped repeatedly, praising, "Grandmaster's insight is truly remarkable."
"Hahaha, not at all, Your Highness, you flatter me," Grandmaster said, scratching the back of his head.
"Alas, in recent years, the Spirit Hall's strength has grown increasingly powerful. Qinghe has witnessed this and is deeply concerned. The nation is in peril, and I am deeply worried about the future of the Heaven Dou Empire. However, with the assistance of a wise person like you, Grandmaster, Qinghe is very confident in dealing with the threat of the Spirit Hall in the future," Xue Qinghe said.
From then on, Xue Qinghe and Grandmaster talked day and night, even sleeping side-by-side late into the night.
Xue Qinghe increasingly recognized the master's talent. Finally, Xue Qinghe said, "Master, when I ascend the throne, I will appoint you as the National Preceptor of the Heavenly Dou Kingdom, to execute the Spirit Hall's encirclement plan. Would you be willing?"
The master was overjoyed and immediately bowed deeply, saying, "It would be an immense honor."
At that moment, tears streamed down the master's face.
"My true friend," he thought, "all these years of unfulfilled potential are precisely because the world lacks people like Xue Qinghe.
A thousand-mile horse is common, but a discerning eye to recognize it is rare. A horse capable of traveling a billion miles a day is a once-in-a-millennium find, and a discerning eye to recognize a billion-mile horse is even rarer. Without such a discerning eye, even if I, Yu Xiaogang, were a horse capable of traveling a billion miles a day, I would still be unappreciated and have nowhere to display my talents. Xue Qinghe is indeed my discerning eye! It is because of his insightful eyes that he discovered and valued my talents."
Standing on the pavilion of the Crown Prince's residence, Yu Xiaogang looked towards the Spirit Hall, his eyes filled with hatred and wisdom:
"Spirit Hall, Qian Xunji, I will repay every humiliation I, Yu Xiaogang, suffered in the past. Just wait, in a few decades, I will make your Spirit Hall's foundation crumble. With the destruction of your Spirit Hall, I, Yu Xiaogang, will become famous throughout the Douluo Continent."
After settling Grandmaster, Tang San, Ye Yang, and Tang Hao went to the City of Slaughter.
Qian Xunji intercepted the news of Tang San and the others' trip to the City of Slaughter and immediately accelerated his surveillance of the people there.
"Since Tang San is a reborn person, there's no reason for him not to rescue Tang Chen." Qian Xunji looked towards Seagod Island: "Then things will get interesting."
Qian Xunji casually contacted the Investiture of the Gods, which fell into his hands. He unfolded the Investiture of the Gods, and two new god positions had condensed on it.
"A second-level god, a ghost god, and a first- level god, the Phoenix God?" Qian Xunji was slightly taken aback, then contacted the system:
"What's the difference between the Phoenix God formed on the Investiture of the Gods and the Phoenix God native to Douluo Continent?"
[Dear host, both of these divine positions involve the same law and can both command all birds in the world. However, the Phoenix God on the Investiture of the Gods will gradually replace the native Phoenix God of Douluo Continent as its assimilation with the world deepens. At that time, the native Phoenix God will completely lose its divine authority.]
"So that means that as the Investiture of the Gods assimilates with the world, the gods of the God Realm will gradually lose their divine authority?" Qian Xunji asked.
[That's right. Of course, they only have one other option left: to hang their divine position on the Investiture of the Gods before a god of the same rank appears.] Qian Xunji nodded. From this perspective, as long as his strength is powerful enough, he can challenge the Douluo God Realm and even take over the God Realm without bloodshed.
Qian Xunji emerged from the secret chamber and addressed the main hall, "Chrysanthemum Douluo, Ghost Douluo."
Ghost and Yue Guan replied, "Your subordinates are here."
Qian Xunji opened his hand, and two divine cores condensed in it. He then casually placed them between the brows of the two titled Douluos, Chrysanthemum and Ghost.
"Considering your diligence over the years, these two divine cores are a reward to you."
"Divine cores?" Chrysanthemum and Ghost's voices trembled.
When the Flower Goddess entered Chrysanthemum Douluo's body, he could feel the energy surpassing soul power—divine power. The Flower Goddess's divine core represented her divine position; if it were completely refined, she could ascend to godhood and transcend immortality.
Ghost Douluo's divine core was filled with the divine power of ghosts, belonging to the laws of the soul, possessing the ability to control all ghosts under heaven—a perfect divine position for Ghost.
"Thank you, Your Holiness, for bestowing the divine cores," Ghost and Yue Guan said excitedly.
As for the other people's divine positions, Qian Xunji decided to wait. He manipulated the Investiture of the Gods to first fuse the divine power of this world from several specific directions. This way, the divine positions created next would suit Qian Xunji's needs.
Qian Xunji didn't hide the matter of bestowing divine positions from his women. Tang Yuehua, Liu Erlong, A Yin, Luo Ningshui, and others felt despair upon learning that Qian Xunji was casually bestowing divine positions upon others. If Qian Xunji possessed the ability to casually bestow divine positions upon others, could Xiao Gang (Brother Hao, Feng Zhi) and the others really stand against the Spirit Hall?
It must be said that although Liu Erlong's Spirit Hall fusion technique had been broken, Yu Xiaogang had long been an obsession for her, just like Bibi Dong had been.
"Stop thinking about your useless men." Bibi Dong looked at Liu Erlong and the others with disdain and said, "If you had the chance to understand, you would only find that the people you once loved are not even worth dog shit, especially Yu Xiaogang, he's just a piece of trash." "Shut up." Liu Erlong said to Bibi Dong, "Xiaogang is not trash."
"That's right, Brother Hao is not trash." A Yin and Tang Yuehua retorted to Tang Hao.
Luo Ningshui remained silent.
Bibi Dong ignored Tang Yuehua and A Yin, and looked at Liu Erlong angrily, saying, "Liu Erlong, Yu Xiaogang is just trash, I'm just stating the facts."
When Bibi Dong looked at Liu Erlong, she felt like she was looking at her naive self, and the more she looked, the angrier she became.
During the time that Tang San and Ye Yang went to the City of Slaughter, the situation on Douluo Continent was also changing rapidly. First of all, the Heavenly Dou Palace Coup still happened.
In the past few years, Emperor Xue Ye's health deteriorated rapidly, until finally he was bedridden for weeks or months at a time and unable to attend court.
Later, the armored soldiers discovered through investigation that the lotus seed soup Prince Xue Beng presented to the Emperor contained a toxic substance. Further investigation revealed that Prince Xue Beng had bribed the Emperor's chef to add the poison. The Spirit Hall media, with great fanfare, publicized Prince Xue Beng's shameless act of patricide, making the whole world aware of his crime. The Heaven Dou Empire immediately responded, stripping Prince Xue Beng of his royal status and his martial spirit, and imprisoning him permanently in the Heaven Dou Clock Tower.
"Injustice! This is an injustice! I didn't bribe the cook at all, and I didn't poison my father!" Xue Beng said indignantly. "And the lotus seed soup was also made for me by someone from the Prince's Mansion. How would I know there was poison in it?"
"How dare you!" The judge slammed his gavel and said angrily, "Xue Beng, the witnesses and evidence are all there. The people from the Prince's Mansion have even testified that you secretly made the lotus seed soup. The Prince has protected you for so long, yet you slander him like this. No wonder the Prince is unwilling to defend you anymore. What else do you have to say?"
"Did my uncle abandon me?" Hearing this, Xue Beng lowered his head in despair, but soon, he remembered that Xue Qinghe and Prince Xue Xing had been seeing each other frequently recently, and his brain, which had been rusty for many years, finally started to work again.
Xue Beng suddenly realized what was happening. He looked up at the judge, his face contorted with rage, and said, "I know! My royal uncle abandoned me long ago! Xue Xing and Xue Qinghe conspired to murder me!"
*Slap!*
"Xue Beng, even on the verge of death, you still try to slander His Highness the Crown Prince and His Highness the Prince. Give him twenty strokes of the cane!"
Even though Xue Beng understood everything, he was a complete wastrel. He hadn't built up much power over the years, and faced with the combined framing of Xue Qinghe and Prince Xue Xing, he had no chance to fight back.
Xue Beng was ultimately imprisoned in the cold Clock Tower prison, where he died mysteriously three years later.
Although the matter of Xue Beng poisoning Emperor Xue Ye was solved, Emperor Xue Ye's body had already been damaged by the mixed poison. He died that autumn, and the throne passed to Prince Xue Qinghe of the Heavenly Dou Empire.
That year, amidst the mourning for the world, the Heavenly Dou Empire welcomed its new emperor, Xue Qinghe.
(End of Chapter)