Feng Ran Pavilion fell into absolute silence.
Not a single breath sounded.
Every movement froze as though time itself had been sealed.
Qian Renxue—still wearing Xue Qinghe's face—stood rooted to the spot, her mind blank in a way she had never experienced before.
She even subconsciously glanced down at herself.
Me?
Heir of the Heaven Dou Empire?
Has this old man truly lost his mind?
In the suffocating stillness, the first to recover was Dai Tianfeng.
He stared at Emperor Xue Ye as though he'd just heard the most absurd joke in the world.
Three full seconds passed.
Then he slowly raised a trembling finger and pointed at Xue Ye's face—twisted with pride and manic certainty.
"You…"
"You're completely…"
"Insane?!"
Dai Tianfeng searched desperately for better words.
He failed.
At that moment, Xue Beng—his face swollen beyond recognition—finally reacted.
"Imperial Father?!"
His multicolored pig-headed face was filled with disbelief.
"That's someone from Spirit Hall!"
"She isn't even your biological son!"
His voice cracked, almost sobbing.
"How can you pass the throne to an outsider instead of me—your real son?!"
Then something seemed to spark in his battered eyes.
A sharp glint flashed.
"Unless…"
"Unless you've gone mad from anger?!"
His breathing quickened.
"If the Emperor is mentally unfit, then according to imperial law…"
"I— I can inherit the throne early, right?!"
The delusion grew brighter with every word.
The next instant—
A swan-embroidered shoe whistled through the air.
Slap!
A dull thud echoed.
Xue Beng was sent flying once again, collapsing face-first onto the floor.
Emperor Xue Ye slowly withdrew his foot, still maintaining the kicking posture, and roared hoarsely:
"Shut up!"
"You rebellious wretch!"
"Even if I passed the throne to a dog—no, even to this fake Crown Prince—I would never give it to you, you absolute waste!"
With that outburst, the pent-up rage in Xue Ye's chest finally dispersed.
He straightened slowly, even taking the time to smooth his wrinkled imperial robe, before turning back to Dai Tianfeng.
He snorted.
"Dai Tianfeng, you misunderstand me."
"I am not mad."
"I am perfectly clear-headed."
His gaze swept over Xue Beng's broken form, filled with cold disappointment.
"If I passed the throne to him, then in less than twenty years, Heaven Dou would be ruined—sold piece by piece and swallowed whole by your Star Luo Empire."
Then he turned again.
His clouded eyes fixed on Qian Renxue, gleaming with an unsettling, calculating light.
"But Xue Qinghe…"
"She is different."
Qian Renxue's brow twitched violently.
Emperor Xue Ye ignored it.
His voice rose, filled with unmistakable admiration.
"She has ambition."
"She has methods."
"She has courage."
"And more importantly—"
He suddenly raised his hand and pointed straight at her, his words landing one by one like iron nails.
"She has Spirit Hall behind her."
"Once she ascends the throne, Heaven Dou's strength will multiply several times—perhaps dozens—in a very short span!"
A chilling smile spread across Emperor Xue Ye's face.
It made Dai Tianfeng's heart tighten.
An instinctive dread surged through him.
Only Xue Ye's low, eerie voice echoed through the hall, like a devil whispering from beneath the ice.
"And by then…"
"It won't be my Heaven Dou that fears annexation by Star Luo."
His gaze pierced Dai Tianfeng like poisoned blades.
"You'll be the one praying day and night…"
"…wondering whether your Star Luo Empire is big enough for Spirit Hall to swallow."
Boom—!
The words struck Dai Tianfeng like black lightning.
All his arrogance, mockery, and confidence shattered instantly.
What replaced them was pure terror.
This man wasn't abdicating.
He was lighting a fuse—then shoving the explosive barrel straight into Star Luo's arms.
Using the fate of an entire empire to gamble with the continent itself.
A lunatic's open conspiracy.
A move that didn't care what floods came after his death.
Dai Tianfeng's face drained of blood.
Cold sweat trickled down his temples.
He had won the verbal sparring.
But strategically—
He had been utterly checkmated.
"Xue… Brother Xue…"
His voice was dry, stripped of imperial authority, sounding more like a nervous mediator than a sovereign ruler.
"This… this is too extreme."
"Between us brothers, we can settle things privately."
"Spirit Hall is burdened with countless affairs. The Holy Maiden is a noble figure—how could she spare time for such childish games with us?"
"Why drag her into this… don't you think?"
Dai Tianfeng was genuinely afraid.
If Spirit Hall and Heaven Dou merged—
No.
This was worse.
This wasn't a union riddled with suspicion.
Xue Ye was fusing them at the core.
A single will.
A single throne.
A superpower with Spirit Hall as its backbone.
Annex Heaven Dou?
If Star Luo wasn't devoured instead, it would be a miracle.
Seeing Dai Tianfeng's barely concealed panic, Emperor Xue Ye felt a rare, twisted satisfaction.
He sneered, about to say—
So you're afraid now?
But before he could speak—
A cold, crisp voice rang out from behind him.
Utterly disgusted.
Utterly disdainful.
"I don't want it."