Within the dim, winding shadows of the backstage corridor, the girls of the Tianshui Team carefully supported the exhausted members of the Plant Academy Team, guiding them safely away from the chaotic scene of the tournament grounds.
Simultaneously, relaxing back in the Tianshui waiting quarters, Fu Ye casually severed his spiritual first-person vision sync with Shui Bing'er.
Indeed, he had been fully aware of everything that had transpired in that corridor from the very beginning. The seamless, instantaneous decapitation executed by the shadow puppet had been directly triggered by his own mental command. He knew that as intelligent and perspective as his beautiful Bing'er was, she had undoubtedly realized that her husband was watching over her every step, wrapping her in his absolute, omnipresent protection.
As for Shui Bing'er single-handedly beating Prince Xue Beng into a pathetic, whimpering dog? That had been entirely her own magnificent personal flair.
Fu Ye actually found it quite refreshing, though he silently noted that his icy captain had still been a bit too gentle. If he had personally stepped onto that field, Xue Beng wouldn't have just lost a few teeth and an arm—the wretched prince would have spent the absolute remainder of his miserable days paralyzed in bed, drowning in an endless, agonizing cycle of torment.
Meanwhile, inside the private preparation room of Plant Academy.
The female teacher and team leader of Plant Academy was pacing back and forth, her face tightly twisted with immense anxiety as she waited for her students to return. Just as she resolved to step outside to search for them, the heavy wooden door was suddenly and urgently knocked.
Knock, knock, knock!
Hearing the sound, she immediately yanked the door open. However, the sight that greeted her eyes made her breath catch completely in her throat—her precious team members stood before her, their clothes thoroughly drenched and stained with fresh, crimson blood!
"Yao Zi! Yunmo! Heavens, what happened to you?!"
Seeing the horrific, blood-soaked state of her girls, the maternal instinct of the female leader flared instantly. Without a single second of hesitation, she unleashed her Spirit. A beautifully soft, wonderfully cool, and invigorating aura instantly filled the room, washing over the exhausted bodies of her students.
Her Spirit was known as the Clear Spiritual Tree, a remarkably versatile control-type variant that possessed profound innate life force and exceptional healing capabilities. Unlike Tang San's corrupted approach to plant-type development, every single one of her Spirit Rings had been meticulously chosen to enhance pure vitality, leaning her combat style heavily into the domain of an elite healing-system master.
A dense, shimmering, pale-green mist enveloped the room. It was only after thoroughly examining each of her students and verifying that their core lifelines were entirely stable that the teacher finally let out a long, deeply relieved sigh.
However, a profound sense of bewilderment quickly pooled in her eyes. Looking closely, she realized that none of her girls possessed any major physical wounds or lacerations. If that was the case... where on earth did this massive amount of fresh, pungent blood coating their uniforms come from?
"Teacher, since we have successfully delivered your students back to you safe and sound, we shall take our leave," Shui Bing'er stated calmly, offering a polite nod.
She had absolutely zero intention of explaining the horrific slaughter that had just occurred in the corridor. Once the Plant Academy girls fully recovered from their shock and woke from their slumber, this teacher would naturally learn every single detail of the royal scum's depravity.
"Huh? Oh! Thank you... Thank you so much for bringing them back!"
It was only at this moment that the slightly dazed teacher finally snapped out of her confusion, quickly offering her profound gratitude to the departing Tianshui girls.
"Heehee, there's no need to be so polite, elder sister! It was just a small, neighborly favor," Wu Ling chimed in with a sweet, dazzling smile before the seven Tianshui girls swiftly spun around, lightly trotting back toward their own team's private quarters.
The moment the doors to the Tianshui preparation room clicked open, the girls were greeted by an incredibly luxurious, heartwarming sight. Fu Ye was lounging elegantly across a massive, plush velvet sofa, comfortably enjoying a wonderfully soothing, close-contact full-body massage from two of his adoring harem beauties, who were happily pampering their beloved king.
"Hmm? Is everything taken care of?"
Before the returning girls could even utter a word of greeting, Fu Ye opened his golden eyes, a warm, knowing smirk playing on his lips as he questioned them.
Hearing his voice, a look of "as I expected" gracefully bloomed upon Shui Bing'er's breathtaking face.
"Mm, we safely escorted the seven sisters of the Plant Academy back to their lodgings," Shui Bing'er murmured softly.
Then, completely shattering her usual frosty, strictly composed team-captain demeanor in front of everyone, she stepped forward with fluid, elegant strides. Without a single shred of hesitation, she directly and passionately threw her soft, slender body straight into Fu Ye's open embrace, nesting herself deeply against his broad chest.
"Whoa, what's gotten into my little captain all of a sudden?" Fu Ye laughed warmly, wrapping his powerful arms tightly around her waist, drawing her voluptuous figure completely into his lap. He gently pinched her flawless, exquisite cheek. "Those trash from the Heaven Dou Imperial Family are entirely irrelevant. Did you honestly believe your husband would ever scold my precious Bing'er over the lives of a few meaningless dogs?"
Seeing this incredibly sweet, rare display of intense vulnerability from their usually stoic leader, the surrounding harem girls couldn't help but unleash beautiful, knowing smiles, their eyes overflowing with profound warmth.
However, standing slightly to the side, Wu Ling and Meng Yiran—who still considered themselves a bit more reserved in public settings—felt their flawless cheeks instantly flush a brilliant, deep shade of crimson. This was the absolute first time they had ever witnessed Sister Bing'er taking such a wildly proactive, deeply affectionate initiative in front of the entire group.
Wu Ling & Meng Yiran (Internal Monologue):Sister Bing'er truly looks like a sacred, breathtaking ice angel right now... But oh goodness, her actions are so incredibly bold! Our hearts are beating so fast... we want to be pulled into Brother Fu Ye's warm, cozy embrace and be kissed just like that too...
"Heehee, so Brother Fu Ye really did know everything from the start," Shui Bing'er whispered, her voice completely melting into a sweet, submissive purr.
She showed absolutely zero intention of moving from his lap. Why should she? The man holding her was her beloved husband, her sovereign, and her absolute sky. Feeling the intense, radiating warmth of his masculine chest and the secure, iron-clad grip of his arms around her, her heart completely liquefied with blissful satisfaction. Under the indulgent, adoring gazes of her harem sisters, she simply snuggled deeper into his neck, thoroughly monopolizing her husband's pampering for several blissful minutes.
Zhu Zhuyun:Tsk, tsk. Sister Bing'er is truly becoming more and more delightfully affectionate lately. I love it.Dugu Yan:Mmh, looking at how cozy she is, I feel like I should slide right into his lap next.Xue Ke:Sister Bing'er looks so overwhelmingly cute and happy right now!Jiang Jing:Heehee, Sister Bing'er is always so gentle, but she knows exactly how to claim Master's love!
The Imperial Palace Crisis
Later that evening, deep within the heavily fortified imperial complex of the Heaven Dou Royalty.
A young man whose luxurious robes were completely ruined and soaked in blood, his face horrifically swollen and missing more than half of his teeth, dragged his half-crippled, agonizing body through the grand corridors of the palace.
"Your Highness Xue Beng!!! Heavens, what on earth happened to you?!"
The grand imperial physician nearly passed out from pure shock upon witnessing the prince's catastrophic, pathetic state, hastily ushering him into a private medical chamber.
Following an immediate, panicked emergency report, the aging Emperor, Xue Ye, arrived at the chamber in a flash. Gazing down at the horrific, thoroughly ruined state of his third son, an explosive, earth-shattering wave of pure royal fury instantly erupted from his old body.
"Xue Beng!!! Tell me this instant! Who dares to brutally injure a Prince of the Heaven Dou Empire to this absolute extent?!"
Xue Ye's voice shook the very foundations of the room, his aura pushed to the absolute precipice of a violent explosion. One had to understand that even if Xue Beng was an incompetent, useless playboy who did absolutely nothing productive for the state, he was still the biological son of Xue Ye! He was a blood Prince of the Empire! Striking him in broad daylight wasn't just a simple assault—it was a savage, unforgivable slap directly to the face of the entire Heaven Dou Imperial Family!
"Father... please, forgive your son's clumsiness," Xue Beng whimpered miserably, thick blood and saliva leaking from his broken jaw as he wept. "Your son... your son was simply being careless while walking down the palace stone stairs. I accidentally tripped and fell all the way down... Please do not blame anyone else, Father."
Xue Beng was practically shaking with pure, unadulterated terror. How could he ever dare to admit the truth? How could he tell his father that for the sake of his own depraved, lustful desires, he had illegally mobilized elite imperial guards to kidnap and forcefully enslave the injured members of the Plant Academy Team?
Illegally deploying the imperial guard for private use was already a supreme royal taboo, let alone the fact that he had mobilized them right under the noses of the tournament officials!
Fortunately, before crawling back to the palace, he had used his hidden personal contacts to thoroughly scrub the corridor and dispose of the guards' headless corpses. After all, the imperial guard numbered in the thousands; the sudden, silent disappearance of a mere dozen or so wasn't a catastrophic anomaly that would immediately trigger a grand investigation.
"Tripped and fell on your own?! You expect me to believe you tripped down a flight of stairs and somehow ended up in this horrific, half-dead state?! Speak!!! Who the hell beat you into this phantom?!"
Xue Ye was already on the absolute verge of an aneurysm. Over the past few days, he had been pushed to the brink of insanity by Fu Ye. That monstrous youth had been casually strolling through the capital with his youngest daughter, Xue Ke, openly and ruthlessly broadcasting every single piece of dark, classified imperial dirt and corruption right in front of his face!
He could still perfectly recall the agonizing expressions of Ning Fengzhi and the other sect masters—desperately trying to choke back their mocking laughter while maintaining a serious facade!
Dammit! It was a psychological execution far worse than physical death!
Furthermore, because he had excessively pampered and spoiled Xue Ke in her early years, the girl possessed an immense treasury of highly sensitive, classified imperial secrets. Now, she completely refused to recognize him as her father, happily exposing his dirt to the entire world, and most importantly... she was backed by that terrifying Fu Ye!
Fight back? They couldn't fight back at all! He knew with absolute, terrifying certainty that if he ever lost control of his temper and dared to raise a finger against them, his imperial head would be separated from his shoulders before he could even blink!
"Father! It's the absolute truth! Your son genuinely just tripped and fell down on his own!"
Xue Beng was literally weeping tears of pure anxiety and terror now. He would rather die than expose the truth! After all, the goddess who had effortlessly shattered his arm and jaw was Shui Bing'er—and behind her stood that absolute primordial demon, Fu Ye. If his father foolishly investigated this and provoked that monster, the entire imperial lineage would be wiped off the face of the continent overnight!
"Speak!!! Damn you, I command you to speak the truth!!! I am the Emperor of this nation, and you are a Prince of the realm! Stuttering and whimpering like a pathetic coward, what kind of royal bloodline are you?!"