The next day.
Yuwen Tuo returned to the Body Sect.
His purpose in coming to the imperial palace had been fulfilled; the rest could be left to His Majesty. Yuwen Tuo's explanation was that he was caught between his so-called parents, torn and exhausted, with no mind to deal with anyone else. Everything about him would be decided by His Majesty. He just wanted to return to his room and stay there, seeing no one.
He was portraying himself as a pitiful, abandoned child, and the role of the villain, of course, was left to the Emperor.
Xu Jiujiu and Jing Hongchen couldn't even manage to see him in person.
Jing Hongchen was furious in the guest room. "Hmph, it's all because the Star Luo Empire interfered. If not for them, I would have certainly taken the Prince."
"Hall Master, in my opinion, the Heavenly Soul Emperor seems to favor Star Luo, which is disadvantageous to us." The attendant said.
"So what? He has already accepted my soul tool. The entire court knows it. A monarch's word is law. He can't just renege on it overnight, unless he's preparing to lose credibility throughout the world and coincidentally give our Sun Moon Empire an excuse for a direct attack." Jing Hongchen was very clear about his advantage. He just had to stick to the phrase "a monarch's word is law."
Who told the Emperor to accept his soul tool?
Conversely, Xu Jiujiu was equally worried. Although they felt the Heavenly Soul Emperor was biased towards them, Jing Hongchen now had a valid claim. First come, first served; it was that simple. Yuwen Tuo himself couldn't give a definitive answer, and they couldn't force him.
After all, if only one side, either his father or mother, wanted to see him, they could still use familial obligation to pressure him. But now, both wanted to see him, and both were at odds with each other, forcing him to choose one over the other. How could he, as a son, choose?
In other words, Yuwen Tuo had, in turn, morally bound them. Whoever pressured him at this point would be in the wrong, after all, no good person would force a child to abandon their father or mother.
"Sister Jiujiu!"
Just as she was anxious, Weina suddenly came knocking.
Although there were mutual grudges among the major nations, even the original three Douluo Continent nations, which ostensibly cooperated to resist the Sun Moon Empire, were in fact full of mutual scheming.
But at least on the surface, they maintained a good relationship. For example, Weina would call Xu Jiujiu "Sister," and she would call Heavenly Sun Douluo of the Dou Spirit Empire "Grandpa Heavenly Sun."
"Sister Weina!" Upon seeing Weina arrive, Xu Jiujiu seemed quite pleased. In her heart, Weina was her assistant in the Heavenly Soul court.
"Sister, how is the situation? What did His Majesty say?"
"Sister Jiujiu, Imperial Father is definitely biased towards your side. How could he possibly want Yuwen Tuo, a genius with innate rank 20, to join the Sun Moon Empire?" Weina said. "But... Imperial Father had already agreed to the Sun Moon Empire's request and accepted their soul tool before you arrived."
"This was all done in plain sight. As an Emperor, Imperial Father cannot go back on his word. I came today to remind you, Sister, that Imperial Father can only delay time for now, preventing Yuwen Tuo from immediately going to the Sun Moon Empire.
During this period, Sister, you'd best find a treasure exceeding a Grade 9 soul tool. One is for Imperial Father, effectively bidding against the Sun Moon Empire, and the other is for Yuwen Tuo, serving as compensation for abandoning him all these years."
Weina's words were somewhat suggestive, practically openly asking Star Luo for benefits. She originally hadn't wanted to use Yuwen Tuo's background in this way, but to her surprise, Yuwen Tuo completely disregarded this aspect. He had told her before that she could use it however she liked, as long as it didn't involve Shiwawa Village.
Since the main character himself said so, what reason did Weina have to be polite?
Xu Jiujiu immediately understood. After all, one of the departments she was responsible for in Star Luo was auctions. She secretly chastised the Heavenly Soul Empire's Emperor, that old fox, for actually treating her nephew as a commodity, making their Star Luo Empire and the Sun Moon Empire bid against each other.
This involved the royal bloodlines of two nations; the Heavenly Soul Empire wasn't afraid of biting off more than it could chew.
Although Xu Jiujiu was intelligent, compared to the cunning Heavenly Soul Emperor, she could only grasp the superficial layer of the situation.
"Then, Sister Weina, how long can His Majesty delay?" Xu Jiujiu asked.
"A year to a year and a half at most." Weina said, "Sister Jiujiu, I am useless. This is all I can do to help you. You'd best report back to His Majesty the Star Luo Emperor as soon as possible and see if there's any other way."
"Don't say that, Sister. I will return now to discuss with Imperial Brother. I'll still rely on you and His Majesty here. You absolutely must not let Tuo'er go to the Sun Moon Empire."
Weina nodded firmly. "Sister, rest assured!"
Watching Xu Jiujiu's anxious departure, Weina inwardly thought, Plan successful.
Although she still wasn't clear about what Yuwen Tuo and her Imperial Father were secretly plotting, she knew that delaying time would benefit Yuwen Tuo, no matter what choices he made afterwards.
The most direct benefits were two things: one was the Sect Master's injuries, which would essentially recover in a year. With a Limit Douluo as backup, they could do anything with more confidence.
The second thing was, naturally, the second awakening of Yuwen Tuo's Xuanyuan Sword Martial Soul. With his current cultivation, it should be enough to begin the process.
The situation was exactly as expected. After Yuwen Tuo returned to the Body Sect, he entered seclusion to cultivate with Xiaoxiao.
Xiaoxiao cultivated String Sound Without Form as usual. She actually didn't need to enter seclusion, but she was very attached to Yuwen Tuo and knew that in a year, Yuwen Tuo would likely leave for a period. She couldn't bear to be separated, so she cherished the time she had with her beloved. She accompanied Yuwen Tuo in seclusion, and some of her melodies could also aid cultivation.
As for Yuwen Tuo's main cultivation, it was no longer the Divine Fire Clone, but the Secret of the Body! In the original work, Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Eyes' second awakening relied on the Autumn Water Insight Dew from the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, which was an external force.
However, according to the records in the Secret of the Body, the most perfect second awakening of a Body Martial Soul should be achieved through one's own efforts.
Yuwen Tuo sat in silent meditation, communicating with the Xuanyuan Sword Soul within his spiritual sea.
The Ice Empress and Snow Empress resided deep within his spiritual sea. Looking at the Xuanyuan Sword Soul emanating endless golden light, the Snow Empress said, "This cultivation is extremely crucial.
He must rely on himself to complete the second awakening of his Body Martial Soul. The difficulty is not small, but once completed, his strength will undergo a qualitative change. Perhaps, the time it takes to summon me will even be shortened because of this."
"Snow Empress, did you notice it too?" The Ice Empress asked.
The Snow Empress nodded, "His Body Martial Soul is very peculiar. It seemingly exists only as a soul, but in reality, it has already influenced his physical body. I suspect that this Xuanyuan Sword Soul is helping his physical body undergo a transformation. If I'm not mistaken, before his reincarnation, his body and the original Xuanyuan Sword might have had some connection."
The Ice Empress chuckled, "But if that's the case, he'll truly have no relation to his so-called father and mother."
Originally, Yuwen Tuo wasn't close to his father and mother and didn't wish to acknowledge them. The only remaining connection was a bit of bloodline. But if Yuwen Tuo's body was gradually being transformed by the Xuanyuan Sword,
once he activated his second awakening state, reaching the unity of man and sword, body and soul, he would become similar to his previous life's Xuanyuan Sword Fragment body. At that point, Yuwen Tuo in that state would truly have no connection whatsoever to his father and mother.
"What does it matter? Xiaotuo never liked his parents anyway. Aren't my sister and I enough as his guardians?" The Snow Empress smiled.
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