The warm-toned soft soul guidance lights isolated the chill from outside the window. Light and shadow intertwined. Xu Zihuang lay on the wide, comfortable bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.
His eyes were lifeless as he let one noble young lady after another sway atop his body. The long years of imprisonment had long since numbed both his body and his soul.
Memories of the past surfaced one by one in his mind.
Before the age of five, he had been the son of a prince with overwhelming power in the Sun Moon Empire. But ever since that palace coup, he had been exiled overseas. Thirteen full years of imprisonment had spanned his childhood and adolescence.
When he awakened his martial soul at six years old, his twin martial souls and innate full soul power had brought him a laughable glimmer of hope.
The memories of his previous life had awakened, and the precocious him had successfully concealed his first martial soul, the Golden Eyes.
Yet all of it was in vain. No matter how great the talent, what meaning was there if he could not escape this place?
The most ironic part was that, under the orders of his imperial brother Xu Tianran, starting from the age of fifteen, he had become a tool for continuing the pure imperial bloodline.
Like a stud horse among beasts, imprisoned in this cage.
Faced with such humiliation, he had resisted, raged, and fallen into depravity. In the end, he had no choice but to accept this cruel reality, turning into the neither-human-nor-ghost appearance he had now.
Facts proved that humans were not as strong as they imagined.
A series of rustling sounds rang out as the noble young ladies, their faces flushed, put their clothes back on and left the room, fully satisfied.
His Highness the Crown Prince had promised that once they bore offspring who inherited the powerful Purple Huang Extinguishing Heaven Dragon martial soul, their families—and they themselves—would receive immense benefits.
Xu Zihuang regulated his breathing. The emptiness and stinging pain in his body could no longer stir any ripples in his heart.
His imperial brother, the current Crown Prince Xu Tianran, to hasten these noble ladies into conceiving offspring with outstanding cultivation talent and pure imperial bloodline, had forced him to take many drugs that depleted his body's potential and lifespan.
With his current physical condition, he would not live more than a few years.
If suicide were not impossible, he would never have wanted to linger on like this.
Xu Zihuang sat up mechanically and leaned against the headboard, his gaze never shifting from the ceiling.
Not long after, the commander of the West Sea Soul Engineer Corps, Hai Xiao, who was responsible for supervising him, walked in with heavy steps.
The ambiguous atmosphere in the room did not cause the slightest change in the usually stern-faced Commander Hai Xiao's expression. He merely approached Xu Zihuang's bedside with a respectful yet somewhat pained look.
After all, Xu Zihuang's father, Prince Purple Huang, had once bestowed great kindness upon him. Yet he was unable to protect his benefactor's descendant.
Xu Zihuang calmly asked Hai Xiao in a soft voice.
"Commander Hai Xiao, how is the situation on the continent lately?"
"The empire has fully launched its war against the three original kingdoms of the Douluo Continent. Recently, the Empress War God has nearly conquered the entire Heaven Soul Empire. The remaining members of the Heaven Soul imperial family have arrived at Shrek City under the protection of the Body Sect." Hai Xiao answered methodically.
Over the years, Xu Zihuang had learned many major events on the continent from Hai Xiao.
For example, about a year ago, during the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Duelling Tournament held in Mingdu. Shrek Academy's Golden Dragon Queen Wang Qiu'er, the Body Sect's seven-ring Soul Sage Long Aotian, and Shrek Academy's twin martial soul owner Huo Yuhao—all had shone brilliantly.
He no longer held any illusions about escaping this place; he simply wanted to add a bit of different colour to his otherwise deathly dull final days.
Time continued to pass, but on this desolate, isolated island, the change of seasons was hardly felt.
Xu Zihuang's physical condition grew worse and worse, to the point that two years later, he could only half-recline on a lounge chair by the window. Most of his black hair had turned grayish-white.
On this day, Hai Xiao brought shocking news: the current Sun Moon Empire emperor had been assassinated—none other than Xu Tianran, who had ascended the throne a few years prior.
Hearing the news of Xu Tianran's death, Xu Zihuang felt little emotional fluctuation.
He let out a meaningful light laugh—not out of relief or letting go of hatred, but out of helplessness and self-mockery.
Because his own life was also nearing its end. Looking back on his life, it was nothing but a silhouette of tragedy.
Xu Tianran's fall did not cause turmoil in the Sun Moon Empire; the Empress War God forcefully took the throne. Yet for some unknown reason, even though the Sun Moon Empire's army had the upper hand in besieging Star Luo City, they suddenly withdrew their troops and renamed the Sun Moon Empire to the Heavenly Dou Empire.
However, soon after, another palace coup occurred within the imperial family, and the name was changed back to the Sun Moon Empire. The Empress War God's whereabouts became unknown.
The imperial family was embroiled in constant internal strife and had no time to concern itself with Xu Zihuang, this exiled prince. With Xu Tianran dead, Hai Xiao seemed to have broken free from his restraints and wanted to take him back to the continent.
But Xu Zihuang refused, spending his final days in this very castle.
On his deathbed, he heard more rumours about the continent from Hai Xiao.
The Spirit Ice Douluo had ascended to the God Realm and created the soul spirit system that was enough to revolutionise the soul master world. The Spirit Pagoda had also rapidly expanded in a short period of time.
As he listened to the whispers beside his ear, his vision began to darken. He who had already accepted his fate suddenly felt a thick surge of unwillingness deep in his heart.
It was as if he had traversed distant space-time, restarting every timeline—like the turning of the wheel of reincarnation.
In yet another reincarnation, he once again awakened the memories of his previous life and continued to endure in silence.
The goddess of luck seemed to favour him this time.
His father's old subordinates risked their lives to rescue him.
Having escaped the cage, he was filled with lofty ambitions. However, in the western sea region of the Sun Moon Empire, he was caught up by the Evil Lord Soul Engineer Corps sent by Xu Tianran and the Shadow Douluo Xue Chen.
Wang Xiao and Yao Yang, leading the remnants of the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Corps, fought with their lives, but they were ultimately outnumbered.
Right in front of him, they were personally killed by the commander of the Evil Lord Soul Engineer Corps, Mad Bull Douluo Wang Yiheng.
At that moment, for some reason, an immense determination surged in Xu Zihuang's heart. He ended his own life with the soul guidance longsword at his side.
His wide-open eyes were filled with unwilling despair.
He would rather die than be imprisoned in that cage again. This thought was so strong that it surpassed reason.
In one lifetime, under the desperate protection of Wang Xiao and the others, he survived and landed alone from the southern sea region of the Sun Moon Empire. Travelling north around the Ming Dou Great Forest, hoping to use its dense forests to evade pursuit by the Evil Lord Soul Engineer Corps.
Moreover, this happened more than a year earlier. At this time, war had not yet broken out between the Sun Moon Empire and the Star Luo Empire.
Having consumed various heavenly treasures since childhood, combined with the amplification from twin martial souls and innate full soul power, he fled continuously for half a month and luckily escaped disaster.
But his body was on the verge of collapse. There was not a single intact spot on his body, all torn by thorns.
Before falling unconscious, he saw a family of three camping harmoniously and happily in the forest. The middle-aged man was honest and kind, the beautiful woman was gentle in nature, and there was a black-haired girl who was lazy yet somewhat naturally dazed.
He was taken back by this family of three to a nearby small town, where he recuperated for a full half year before recovering.
The people in the town, like this family, were kind and showed no rejection toward him, an outsider. This family even treated him as their own and was willing to take him in.
Having no place to go, he naturally stayed.
Xu Zihuang also learned the girl's name: Ju Zi, precisely the Empress War God he knew from his memories of previous lives.
In this life, he specially made a trip to the Star Dou Great Forest. However, he did not encounter the Million-Year Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, nor Electrolux. He did not even meet Tang Ya and Beibei, cutting off his last chance to enter Shrek Academy.
Ju Zi's family was a commoner of the Sun Moon Empire. Obtaining a recommendation letter for Shrek Academy was nothing short of a pipe dream.
But relying on the memories of his previous lives, Xu Zihuang changed the fate of Ju Zi's family. On his advice, the family of four (now including him) moved to the nearest city from the town. He also did his best to warn the townspeople, but unfortunately, only a very few were willing to listen.
Ju Zi's father was very skilled at cooking, and their business was extremely prosperous in that modest-sized city.
Influenced by Ju Zi's family, his icy heart gradually melted. Yet the hatred in his heart never subsided for even a moment.
A genius is a genius.
Even without the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, he was destined to shine like the golden sun.
Because of his previous experiences, Xu Zihuang did not dare to display overly astonishing talent, fearing it would attract attention. He endured until he was eleven years old, when his appearance had changed significantly, before risking entry into the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy.
In just a few short years, he began to stand out, surpassing in cultivation the Ju Zi who had entered the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy several years before him, becoming classmates in the same grade.
He also represented the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy alongside the siblings Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen in two consecutive confrontations against Shrek Academy, with both sides trading victories and defeats.
Relying solely on his spiritual attribute, Golden Eyes' martial soul, and his talent in soul tool creation, he gradually surpassed Xiao Hongchen, becoming the number one genius of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy's younger generation and earning the favour of Meng Hongchen.
But the softness in Xu Zihuang's heart always belonged to the girl who had quietly accompanied him all these years.
Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy.
The vast Sun Moon Plaza was brightly lit.
Xu Zihuang gazed gently at Ju Zi, who had suddenly stopped beside him.
If not for that encounter, perhaps he would still have sealed away his emotions, discarding everything he could for the sake of revenge.
Yet even so, at twenty years old, he already possessed cultivation close to the Soul Sage level. He was hailed as the one most likely to become another level 10 soul engineer and had been accepted by Kong Deming as his final disciple. Without the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, he still had other opportunities.
Three years ago, he had successfully prevented Shrek Academy's plan to bomb Mingde Hall. The current gravely ill emperor of the Sun Moon Empire did not die from excessive fright as he had in the memories of his previous life.
Although the situation on the continent was tense, everything remained under control.
And his position within the Sun Moon Empire had become increasingly stable.
He knew that the time for his revenge was approaching.
"What's wrong, Sister Ju Zi?"
Ju Zi turned her head to meet his gaze, her black hair shimmering with moving lustre under the soul guidance lights.
She suddenly said with faint resentment in her eyes, "I'm already twenty-five this year."
Xu Zihuang looked at her beautiful face and remained silent for a long time.
More than ten years of companionship had long made the two of them regard each other as family.
In their daily life together, feelings had naturally grown in their hearts.
For him, in her twenty-five years, she had never had intimate contact with any other man of her age.
For her, he had clearly rejected Meng Hongchen and every female student at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy who had openly expressed admiration for him.
In this life, although he had not let go of the hatred in his heart, he had found other things that were incomparably precious to him.
At this moment, the softest place deep in his heart seemed to be touched.
Just as he made up his mind to grasp Ju Zi's hand and was about to say something, his consciousness once again became blurred.
Reincarnation after reincarnation, restarting in different timelines each time, with completely different circumstances.
He had experienced glory and humiliation; he had tasted every aspect of life without exception.
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