"Greetings, Your Highness!" Jing Hongchen withdrew his hand and bowed. Now that Yuwentuo had returned, he naturally wouldn't make things difficult for Nana anymore.
Yuwentuo said, "Hall Master Hongchen, did His Majesty send you to bring me back to Mingdu?"
"Yes, His Majesty urgently summoned you back and ordered that you are not to leave the city freely again," Jing Hongchen conveyed the Sun Moon Emperor's decree.
They hadn't expected that by simply granting Yuwentuo a seemingly useless authority, he could cause such great trouble. This time, no matter what, they couldn't let him wander around outside anymore.
"Alright, let's go then!" Yuwentuo nodded. For a short period, he hadn't planned to go out again anyway. Near Mingdu, it would likely be difficult to find any more Evil Soul Master branch altars. Next, he could only wait for them to come find him.
"Nana, are you alright?" Yuwentuo turned to look at Nana. Jing Hongchen hadn't held back against her earlier. Although Nana's shoulder was covered by her clothes, it was surely bruised and red.
Nana blushed and shook her head. "I'm fine, thank you for your concern, Your Highness." In front of outsiders, she no longer used the term "Benefactor," but addressed Yuwentuo by his princely title.
Yuwentuo led Nana past Jing Hongchen and said, "Hall Master Hongchen, after we return, please handle Nana's withdrawal from the academy. An academy that would rather help an Evil Soul Master harm her than rescue her from trouble she has no reason to stay!"
Jing Hongchen's expression was somewhat grim. "That's not for Your Highness to decide, is it?" Nana was one of the academy's top actualized soul engineers, with a chance to break through to Soul Emperor before the next great competition, and one of the academy's main forces he was preparing. How could he let her leave so easily?
"Your Highness's will is my will. From now on, wherever Your Highness is, I shall be," Nana declared firmly.
"You... you'd best think it through carefully. The people who persecuted you are gone. Why still leave the academy and abandon a promising future?" Jing Hongchen tried to persuade her. He had only been inactive before, not participating in Nana's persecution. With the Evil Soul Master gone, why insist on leaving?
"But the one who saved me from the inferno was Your Highness, not the academy!" Nana found that as long as she followed Yuwentuo, she feared nothing. Even the Mingde Hall Master, whom she had previously held in great awe, she now dared to openly challenge.
"Let's go, Nana!" Yuwentuo called out. The two activated their flying soul tools, ascended into the sky, and headed towards Mingdu.
Watching their retreating figures, Jing Hongchen felt a sense of helplessness. He felt his previous judgment of the Flaming Prince was likely mistaken. This Flaming Prince truly had no desire to contend for the throne.
After all, since Yuwentuo had already brought Nana under his wing, he would surely be able to learn some inside information about Mingde Hall and the Holy Spirit Church from her. And who else but the imperial family could command Mingde Hall?
He believed that with Yuwentuo's intelligence, he couldn't have failed to notice a hint of the Sun Moon Empire's possible alliance with the Holy Spirit Church through this incident. He also knew that his actions over the past few days would inevitably incur His Majesty's displeasure. Yet, he had still done it without hesitation.
If it were for the sake of contending for the throne, he absolutely shouldn't have acted this way. Was he targeting Xu Tianran and the Evil Soul Masters merely for revenge?
In that case, many of his own plans might need to change. How would Yuwentuo, without contending for the throne, resist Xu Tianran in the future? It seemed that, at least publicly, he would have to keep some distance from the Flaming Prince, lest he be held accountable by the Crown Prince later. However, secretly, he would still let Xiaomeng maintain some private contact with him.
Firstly, Xiaomeng's poison still required Yuwentuo's continued help to clear. Secondly, Yuwentuo's own talent was simply too strong, so strong that even if Xu Tianran became emperor in the future, he might not be able to deal with him. It was precisely for this reason that the Hall Master didn't even consider asking for "Red Dust's Attachment" back.
Jing Hongchen escorted Yuwentuo and Nana all the way back to Mingdu. During this time, none of the three spoke much. Once Jing Hongchen made up his mind about something, he wouldn't easily change it. He had to publicly distance himself from Yuwentuo.
Yuwentuo landed outside the imperial palace. He lightly tapped his soul tool, and a human head appeared in his hand. He then tossed it to the ground and declared, "I, Yuwentuo, have successfully slain the Evil Soul Master, Nightmare Douluo, and have come specifically to request commendation from His Majesty!!!"
He could guess what these people were thinking: they would surely try to conceal this matter, or even pin the blame on others, such as the Body Sect. How could that be allowed? Not only would Yuwentuo absolutely not let his own sect take the blame for him, but if the Holy Spirit Church didn't know he had killed their elder, how would they send more powerful experts to seek him out?
He knew that he currently didn't have the ability to single-handedly take on the Holy Spirit Church. The best plan was to lure them out one by one. After all, these guys were extremely arrogant. No matter how formidable he was, he was still just a mere Soul Emperor. Would they really send out their entire force for him? If they did, Yuwentuo would actually commend their wisdom.
But he wasn't afraid. With Snow Empress by his side, even if two fists struggled against four hands, no one except a true god could stop them. At this time, Yuwentuo's cultivation was much stronger than before. With this roar, not only within the imperial palace, but even the streets outside heard him clearly.
Everyone was utterly astonished. The Flaming Prince had actually eliminated a Titled Douluo-level Evil Soul Master! And he brought his head to claim credit from the Emperor!
Yuwentuo's reputation among the common people was already excellent due to his previous clean-up of various Evil Soul Master branch altars and the rescue of countless citizens. Now, his prestige soared even further, as deeds of eliminating Titled Douluo-level Evil Soul Masters hadn't occurred for many years.
Tracing back to the last time, it was at the very beginning of the Shrek Inspection Corps' establishment, when the leader of that generation's inspection corps killed the Blood Infant Douluo who had plagued infants, thus making the Shrek Inspection Corps famous.
But since then, such brilliant achievements had never reappeared. Unexpectedly, the second such instance was actually by their Sun Moon Empire's Flaming Prince. For a time, all the common people were filled with reverence for this newly appointed Flaming Prince of their nation.
Jing Hongchen was dumbfounded by Yuwentuo's audacious move. The Nightmare Douluo he had seen earlier was just a corpse without a head. Indeed, Yuwentuo had hidden it! This guy definitely had a bizarre hobby of collecting Titled Douluo heads! From Gluttony Douluo to Shadow Douluo, and now Nightmare Douluo, three Titled Douluo had had their heads taken by him. He was absolutely deranged!
With this, his and His Majesty's plan to blockade the news was instantly bankrupt. Now the entire Mingdu knew. How could it be kept secret? Jing Hongchen could already imagine His Majesty's furious expression at this moment.
In the Imperial Study, just as he expected, the Sun Moon Emperor heard Yuwentuo's roar and was so enraged that he spat out a mouthful of old blood. "That rebellious son, that rebellious son! So high-profile,
is he trying to destroy my Sun Moon Empire's relationship with the Holy Spirit Church and undermine my national policy?" Wouldn't it have been better to let the Body Sect take the blame? Now, they couldn't shake it off. The Holy Spirit Church would definitely come to settle accounts with them later.
🚨 Note: Consider supporting this story on Patreon.com/Flokixy to access 400+ advance chapters and 2 new chapters daily! (Full story bundles also available without a subscription).