Chapter 165: Dai Weisi Breaks Down, The Furious Star Luo Emperor!
"You know the competition rules of our Star Luo royal family better than I do," Zhu Zhuyun said deliberately, lowering her voice and asking tentatively, "Then does that mean... We'll be forced to withdraw from the competition for the throne?"
"Withdraw?!"
These two words were like a fuse igniting a powder keg, instantly causing Dai Weisi to break down.
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
Dai Weisi roared in fury, his eyes bloodshot from extreme unwillingness. He clenched his fists tightly, his nails digging into his flesh.
"This Star Luo Empire's throne, I will definitely obtain it! No one can make me withdraw! Even without a martial soul fusion skill, I am still the strongest prince of the Star Luo Empire!"
At this moment, Dai Weisi felt worse than if he had swallowed flies. How much effort and sacrifice had he poured into this throne? His hands were stained with blood. He had finally, through secret schemes, eliminated his second brother, who posed the greatest threat to him!
Now, among the adult princes of the Star Luo royal family, only he, Dai Weisi, remained. Aside from him, there was only the still-young, insignificant third prince, Dai Mubai. And Dai Mubai posed no real threat to him at all. As long as he proceeded steadily, the throne would be his for the taking!
But at this critical moment, his martial soul fusion skill with Zhu Zhuyun was gone!
Even worse—
Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing of the Zhu family had already been betrothed shortly after Zhu Zhuqing awakened her martial soul. Originally, in the original story's timeline, this engaged pair, Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing, were supposed to meet for the first time years later at Shrek Academy in the Heaven Dou Empire.
But now, due to the massive butterfly effect caused by Lin Yuan's diary copy, everything has changed.
Because of the system's guaranteed reward, Zhu Zhuqing's innate soul power had undergone a dramatic transformation. She was no longer at innate rank seven soul power as in the original story but had become innate full soul power!
As soon as this news spread, the entire upper echelon of the Star Luo Empire was shaken, and the Zhu family treated her like a treasure.
Meanwhile, Dai Mubai, who was also in the palace, became quite curious upon hearing that his never-before-seen fiancée possessed innate full soul power. Under the deliberate arrangements and guidance of certain people in the palace, the young Dai Mubai went to the Zhu family in advance to meet the equally young Zhu Zhuqing.
That meeting, however, had a rather strange atmosphere.
As a child, Zhu Zhuqing had skin like snow and delicate features and looked like a porcelain doll—extremely lovable. However, perhaps because Dai Mubai was more than three years older than Zhu Zhuqing, combined with the early maturity brought by royal education, Dai Mubai's mentality was far more mature than that of the naive Zhu Zhuqing.
More importantly, despite his young age, Dai Mubai had long been frequenting pleasure houses with certain playboy youths. His conduct could be described as quite indulgent, and he had already seen all kinds of charming, mature women.
Therefore, when facing Zhu Zhuqing, who had not yet developed at all, Dai Mubai couldn't muster much interest in male-female attraction. After all, although Zhu Zhuqing had a good foundation and decent looks, her figure was currently quite average, completely that of a little girl.
And beyond the lack of interest, Dai Mubai's feelings toward Zhu Zhuqing even carried a trace of deep resentment. Because it was precisely due to Zhu Zhuqing's displayed innate full soul power talent that he, who had originally wanted to stay out of everything, was once again pushed into the spotlight!
The rules of the Star Luo royal family were cruel. The better Zhu Zhuqing's talent, the greater the potential of their branch, and the greater the threat to Dai Weisi! This resulted in Dai Mubai being forced into this life-and-death struggle for the throne, even if he wanted to avoid it.
With all these factors combined, his favorability and interest toward Zhu Zhuqing were naturally quite low. If he had truly cared about Zhu Zhuqing that much, then in the original story, he wouldn't have heartlessly left her alone in the Star Luo Empire to suffer while he fled like a coward to the Heaven Dou Empire to indulge in a life of pleasure.
Although his fiancée Zhu Zhuqing's innate full soul power surprised him, Dai Mubai still held no optimism about his future, and he was even filled with despair. The reason was simple—there was an insurmountable gap.
Dai Weisi was 6 years older than him! This meant Dai Weisi had awakened his martial soul and begun cultivating six years earlier! During the golden period of soul master cultivation, a six-year gap was enough to create nearly a twenty-rank difference in soul power.
How could a ten-year-old child like him compete with the already grown Dai Weisi for the throne? Even if his talent was slightly better than Dai Weisi's, what use was that? The Star Luo royal family's competition for the throne was never considered potential; it focused solely on real combat power. Whoever had the stronger fists would ascend!
They didn't care how monstrous your talent was or whether your young age put you at a disadvantage. In that cruel arena, strength was everything. If you lost, you would most likely die!
Therefore, after clearly seeing this despairing reality, Dai Mubai's mentality completely collapsed, and he chose to give up. Since no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't defeat his elder brother, who had cultivated six more years than him, he might as well take advantage of the fact that the royal family hadn't yet forced him into life-and-death trials and enjoy a luxurious life using his prince's identity. Listening to music in pleasure houses, drowning his sorrows in alcohol.
…
Star Luo Empire, Imperial Study.
The news that Zhu Zhuyun and Dai Weisi could no longer perform their martial soul fusion skill spread rapidly throughout the Star Luo royal family in an extremely short time.
Dai Weisi had wanted to conceal it, but how could such a matter possibly be hidden? This was no small issue. It concerned the future succession of imperial power and the stability of the nation!
After the Star Luo Emperor Dai Yutian learned of this, he was furious. He immediately issued an imperial decree, summoning Dai Weisi, Zhu Zhuyun, and the current Duke of the Zhu family to the Imperial Study.
The atmosphere in the Imperial Study was terrifyingly oppressive. Dai Yutian looked expressionlessly at Dai Weisi and Zhu Zhuyun, his gaze as cold as ice, without the slightest warmth. Then, Dai Yutian turned his sharp, blade-like eyes toward the trembling Duke of the Zhu family standing to the side.
"Patriarch Zhu," Dai Yutian's voice was extremely low, filled with the terrifying pressure of a ruler: "Do you not intend to give me a reasonable explanation? Why has the martial soul fusion skill between Zhuyun and Dai Weisi suddenly disappeared without any warning?!"
—
End of Chapter