"What's there to argue about? First, Senior Brother Long has shown me kindness. Without his and Senior Sister Weina's help, I'd probably still be trapped in Shrek. Just the fact that I have another master, and Senior Brother Long is the Sect Master's direct disciple,
makes him more suitable to be the Sect Master than me." Yuwen Tuo said, "Your Majesty, you don't need to probe. My heart already belongs to Xiaoxiao, and perhaps there's another faint shadow. I have no interest in being the Body Sect Master or the Emperor's son-in-law."
"Senior Brother Long is a good man, and Senior Sister Weina is not without affection for him. Your Majesty should cherish this good match for your daughter."
Emperor Xuedan smiled, "Heh heh, you truly sound exactly like Nana said, without desires or pursuits. Sometimes, I truly wonder why a young man would have such a detached nature."
Yuwen Tuo shook his head, "I am by no means without desires or pursuits. It's just that what I seek has nothing to do with power. I want to reach the pinnacle of power, and then exact the revenge I must, and save the people I must."
"Meaning your pursuit lies entirely in power? In that case, I won't force it. Yuwen Tuo, do you know why I agreed to let Jing Hongchen take you away a few days ago?"
"I'm guessing Your Majesty never intended for me to return to the Sun Moon Empire in the first place, right? Your intention was mainly to push Senior Sister. She's always been bothered by being a girl and cares about her relationship with her brothers,
suppressing her own ambition. What a pity, this world doesn't allow her to be like that. If she doesn't step up, the Heavenly Soul Empire will perish sooner or later." Yuwen Tuo chuckled, "As for me, I presume I would have been jointly ambushed and killed by the Heavenly Soul Empire and the Dou Spirit Empire on my way back, dying halfway."
"Indeed, a smart man. You guessed correctly. You are currently under the scrutiny of various nations and are an enemy of Shrek, like a hot potato. If Nana ultimately doesn't step forward, for the stability of the nation, I cannot keep you. But your talent is truly too immense; I couldn't possibly let you return to the Sun Moon Empire.
On your way back, I would sell your information to the Dou Spirit Empire. They are the ones who most wish for your death. By uniting with them, I planned to kill you halfway, leaving Jing Hongchen with only a corpse to bring back. That was my original intention." Xuedan spoke bluntly.
This was the best course of action. The hot potato would be thrown away, and the Sun Moon Empire wouldn't grow stronger.
"But, because you later realized that the Sect Master genuinely regarded me as a disciple, and learned that I strongly urged Her Royal Highness to contend for the succession, your thinking changed, did it not, Your Majesty?" Yuwen Tuo said gravely,
"Now, you not only wish for me to return to the Sun Moon Empire, but you also plan to use this matter to execute a terrifying plan. Otherwise, you wouldn't have immediately accepted Jing Hongchen's soul tool upon learning of the Star Luo's impending arrival, creating a fait accompli that gives the Sun Moon Empire an advantage."
Xuedan sighed, "You are indeed more intelligent than Weina. It seems you've already guessed."
"I ask you something: in your heart, which is more important, the safety of the nation, or your parents?"
"The safety of the nation, of course." Yuwen Tuo replied without hesitation.
Xuedan paused. Does this fellow possess such high awareness? Suddenly remembering something, he seemed to realize he had asked the wrong question.
"Uh, let me rephrase. In your heart, which is more important, the safety of the nation, or your Village Chief Grandpa from Shiwawa Village?"
"My Village Chief Grandpa, of course!" He still didn't hesitate in the slightest.
Xuedan nodded. Now this is the correct way to open! How could this guy's persona be one where the nation is more important than family? It was just that in this guy's heart, his so-called father and mother simply didn't rank.
"This is where you and I differ. As the Emperor of the Heavenly Soul Empire, on my scales, nothing is allowed to be more important than the nation's rise and fall. As long as the nation can prosper, I am willing to sacrifice everything I possess honor, status, kinship, even my life.
So... Yuwen Tuo, I sought you out today, and after some discussion, I am willing to believe your words. I know that you are a national hero bestowed upon our country by Heaven. I earnestly implore you, assist me in completing a plan. Only then can the Heavenly Soul court be stable, external enemies be defeated, and the nation be saved." Xuedan stood up and bowed deeply to Yuwen Tuo.
Given the majesty of an emperor, this bow was undoubtedly a heavy one. Furthermore, the Protector Douluo Jiang Yuan, who stood nearby, did not stop him, indicating that he also understood the importance of this plan to the Heavenly Soul Empire.
Seeing this, Yuwen Tuo immediately stood up and helped him. "Your Majesty need not be so humble. Since I am willing to come today, I am naturally prepared to agree to your request. Perhaps you don't know, but this plan is also extremely beneficial to me. I can use this to kill many people I wish to kill!"
"Thank you, young friend!" Emperor Xuedan thanked him and said to Tremor Douluo, "My dear official, bring out that item and present it to our nation's future Grand Preceptor Yuwen."
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Tremor Douluo took a scroll from his embrace and handed it to Yuwen Tuo. "Young friend, this is a gift from His Majesty."
Yuwen Tuo curiously took it and looked, immediately shocked. It was a map with several locations marked, and written at those locations was information about 100,000-year soul beasts.
"Your Majesty, this is..."
"Heh heh, I know. For a powerful soul master, there is probably nothing more precious than a 100,000-year soul beast's soul ring and soul bone. These are all locations of 100,000-year soul beasts that our Heavenly Soul Empire has investigated over many years, but they are limited to our Douluo Continent.
On the Sun Moon Continent, our people cannot penetrate deeply. Whether you can successfully hunt them depends on your own ability, young friend. After all, for our plan to succeed, your strength is of utmost importance.
If there are any stragglers then, the future Grand Preceptor Yuwen will be needed to fill in the gaps and eradicate them for me." Xuedan smiled, showing no reluctance regarding this precious information.
"Then I thank Your Majesty. I will." Yuwen Tuo happily accepted it. Indeed, for him now, this was far more valuable than any gold, silver, jewels, or soul tools.
Actually, Shrek Academy should also have such items; otherwise, Yan Shaozhe wouldn't have made such a promise to Xiaoxiao back then.
"However, Your Majesty, are you truly willing to trust me? After all, I am a Prince of the Sun Moon Empire. Are you not afraid I might defect midway and directly declare myself Emperor in the Sun Moon Empire?"
"I am willing to believe, because in your heart, the nation is not as important as your village. Weina told me that during the Soul Master Tournament, you showed great hostility towards the Sun Moon Empire, even more so than towards Star Luo, which abandoned you.
I originally couldn't understand what the Sun Moon Empire could have done to provoke you, making you willing to help the despised Shrek win that final. After our conversation tonight, I have some guesses. In this world, if there's anything that can make you temporarily put aside your hatred for Shrek, it's only your village. The Sun Moon Empire is related to that village massacre, isn't it?" Xuedan guessed.
"Your Majesty is truly worthy of being a monarch. You are correct. So please rest assured, Your Majesty. I, Yuwen Tuo, will absolutely not genuinely return to the Sun Moon Empire. In the future, I will definitely return to the Heavenly Soul Empire to complete the plan. Next, I ask Your Majesty to mediate for me and buy me a year's time. In one year, I will depart for the Sun Moon Empire."
For Yuwen Tuo, his own safety was also extremely important. He could not disregard his own safety for the sake of completing Xuedan's plan, as he still carried the hopes of the Ice Empress and Snow Empress. Therefore, to go to the Sun Moon Empire, he had to wait until he could summon them again.
"Rest assured, I understand. Your Body Titled Douluo indeed needs time to recover." Xuedan thought Yuwen Tuo was referring to Old Poison's condition. As emperor, he naturally knew Old Poison was injured and needed over a year to recover. With Old Poison's deterrence, Yuwen Tuo would be safer.
"Then, Grand Preceptor Yuwen, how long do you believe you need to stay in the Sun Moon Empire? You don't have to rush too much; our plan won't begin for at least several more years." Emperor Xuedan said.
"I know, but I won't stay there for too long. I must return within half a year to a year. After all, I can't excessively waste my valuable cultivation time for your plan. Rest assured, I can complete the first half of this plan in just half a year." Yuwen Tuo said.
Emperor Xuedan asked doubtfully, "Only going for half a year to a year? How will you return then? The Sun Moon Empire won't release you. My original plan was for you to stay there until the next tournament began, at which point I would have Body Titled Douluo travel to the Sun Moon Empire to bring you back."
"Your Majesty need not worry. I have my own way of returning. You don't need to make any moves on that front." Yuwen Tuo said.
"Good, then I shall trust Grand Preceptor!"
The two quickly reached a consensus.
No sooner had Yuwen Tuo finished speaking with the Emperor than the Empress returned with Xiaoxiao. At this time, Xiaoxiao had changed into a magnificent palace attire, complete with everything from hairpins to boots. This made her look even cuter and more beautiful than before, with an added touch of nobility.
"Tuotuo, this was given to me by Her Imperial Majesty the Empress. Does it look good?" Xiaoxiao asked Yuwen Tuo expectantly.
Yuwen Tuo smiled and nodded. "It looks good. This outfit... it doesn't seem like ordinary clothes?"
"Indeed, it's a soul tool set." Her Imperial Majesty the Empress introduced, "The jade hairpin is called the Snow Silver Hairpin, its radiance flowing and exceptionally noble. The skirt is called the Five-Color Glazed Skirt, containing a magic array that can emit colorful divine light, peerlessly beautiful.
The jade pendant is called the Exquisite Coral, its magic array condenses fragrance, a faint scent lasting for centuries, intoxicating. The boots are called the Flowing Wave Boots, with jade-carved lotus flowers on them, and a magic array reduces their weight, making them feel like nothing when worn, as light as flight."
This soul tool set sounded somewhat like the battle armor of later generations.
The difference was that battle armor enhanced strength, while this set, besides being described with words like noble, beautiful, and fragrant, seemed to have no practical significance typically attractive but useless. No wonder the Heavenly Soul Empire, which had always looked down on soul tools, would collect such things; they were probably the Empress's favorites.
Fortunately, Xiaoxiao seemed to quite like them. Yuwen Tuo and she thanked the Empress together, then excused themselves.
Not long after he left, two more people entered the garden.
"Your Majesty!" The two saluted. "Do you think Yuwen Tuo can be trusted?"
"In my humble opinion, trustworthy." Xuedan said, "Old Ning, you may have to put up with some hardship in the future. You had already ceased to concern yourself with court affairs, living a carefree life in the mountains, but I forcibly dragged you down the mountain to toil for our Heavenly Soul Empire. I feel truly apologetic."
"Why does Your Majesty concern yourself? Compared to Your Majesty, I am hardly suffering. Besides, our sect was so glorious ten thousand years ago. Alas, our descendants are unworthy and cannot restore its former splendor. How can we be content to forever hide in the mountains and enjoy peace? If there is an opportunity to revitalize the sect's prestige, I naturally will not miss it." The man named Old Ning said.
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