The Sun Moon Emperor was indeed filled with anger over Yuwentuo's actions. But he was powerless to do anything, merely raging in a fit of pique.
There was nothing to be done. The authority to eliminate Evil Soul Masters had been granted by him, and Yuwentuo had genuinely rescued many common folk, even slaying one of the continent's public enemies, the Titled Evil Soul Master, Nightmare Douluo. In any nation, this would be an immense meritorious achievement.
For instance, Shrek Academy's feat of eliminating the Blood Infant Douluo hundreds of years ago is still recounted daily. Every new batch of students joining the Shrek Inspection Corps is given a boost of morale by this story.
Thus, outwardly, no matter how enraged the Sun Moon Emperor was, he couldn't punish Yuwentuo; he could only bestow awards. Consequently, an imperial decree of promotion swiftly spread throughout Mingdu.
"Imperial Decree: Flaming Prince (Junwang) Yuwentuo, loyal, brave, decisive, kind, and benevolent, saving the populace from dire straits, is hereby elevated to Prince Yan (Qinwang). He is granted a princely estate and ten million gold soul coins.
With the new Soul Fighting Competition approaching, Prince Yan is ordered to enroll in the Sun Moon Empire Royal Soul Engineer Academy for three years of study. During this time, he shall serve as captain, not permitted to leave without authorization, and must secure victory in the competition. Failure is not an option!"
This was an imperial decree that appeared to be a promotion but was, in essence, a demotion. The Emperor feared Yuwentuo would continue to stir up trouble outside, hence assigning him this task, confining him to Mingdu for three years to diligently study at the academy.
Of course, to outsiders, this imperial decree was a lavish reward from beginning to end. A lower-ranked prince promoted to a higher one, and also enrolled in the Sun Moon Empire's finest academy, becoming the team captain it clearly showed the immense hopes His Majesty the Emperor had placed upon him.
Xu Tianran, in a fit of rage, once again used the Purple Emperor Heaven Destroying Dragon, turning his newly planted garden back into a desolate wasteland.
He genuinely couldn't fathom what kind of monster Yuwentuo was. He could even slay a Titled Evil Soul Master; how then could he truly be killed? Could he really only rely on inviting the Holy Spirit Church's esteemed elders to intervene? Yet, he himself was still under close scrutiny. That "dog emperor," having learned of his castration, was already gradually stripping him of his power.
If Yuwentuo truly helped the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy win the championship and his prestige reached its peak, what other chances would he have? In truth, he was overthinking. How could Yuwentuo genuinely lead some Sun Moon Academy to victory? Even if he were to participate, it would be with his own people from the Heaven Dou Empire.
He knew how special the next competition was; not only could academies participate, but sects could as well. Thus, his student registration wouldn't matter in the slightest.
Yuwentuo accepted the imperial decree and, accompanied by Nana, returned to his new princely estate. To his surprise, someone was already waiting for him at the entrance.
"Your Highness!" The beautiful girl with wine-red hair walked up, smiling. It was Meng Hongchen.
"Your Highness has been missing for several days, making Xiaomeng very worried. Yet, Your Highness seems quite content, actually off punishing evil and promoting good with this student Nana." Meng Hongchen said with a hint of jealousy.
If only she had known earlier, she wouldn't have hesitated that day when she learned of Yuwentuo's intentions.
What if Yuwentuo didn't want to be emperor? Did it diminish his terrifying talent? This latest outing, he had eliminated yet another Titled Douluo. The continent was currently in a period of peace; no Titled Douluo had fallen for nearly a century.
Yet, within the last two years alone, four Titled Douluo had fallen because of Yuwentuo. Three of them had even directly perished by his hand. Now, many were spreading rumors that he was a "Titled Douluo Head Maniac."
With his talent, he was sure to become an Ultimate Douluo expert in the future. Mingde Hall already wielded great power, so even if she didn't become empress, it didn't truly matter much to Meng Hongchen.
On the contrary, if there were another Ultimate Douluo within the hall, perhaps it would further solidify Mingde Hall's standing at the peak of the continent.
Yuwentuo frowned. "Xiaomeng, I've already told you, I won't..."
"I know, if you don't want to be, then don't. What I admire is you, not the position of an emperor," Meng Hongchen said with a smile. "Besides, my cold poison hasn't been completely removed yet, and you yourself said earlier that you wouldn't drive me away."
"Alright then, welcome!" Yuwentuo nodded. She had indeed helped him, as long as she didn't try to help him contend for the throne again.
Furthermore, Jing Hongchen was currently still on Yuwentuo's list of adversaries. He couldn't treat Meng Hongchen with the same unreserved trust he showed Nana.
Unless, in the future, Jing Hongchen could completely sever ties with the Evil Soul Masters.
The three walked into the new princely estate. It was indeed several times larger than the previous Junwang residence, and the number of servants was also much greater.
When Yuwentuo entered, two or three dozen servants and maids were already waiting to welcome their new master.
Yuwentuo didn't actually need so many people; a few for cleaning would suffice, and he didn't require others to wait on him.
He looked at Meng Hongchen and said, "Xiaomeng, since you're here, I'm entrusting you with something. His Majesty has appointed me captain of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy's combat team, but I don't have the time to manage such affairs. You should also be able to guess that His Majesty's true objective in doing this is simply to keep me from leaving Mingdu."
Meng Hongchen nodded. "I understand. Your actions this time caused too much of a stir. His Majesty's doing this is actually also a way of protecting you. Don't worry, you don't need to lead the team; my brother and I will handle it. You just focus on your cultivation."
The Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy's team consisted entirely of soul engineers. How could Yuwentuo, a pure soul master, possibly lead such a team effectively? Did he understand soul tools? Was he familiar with the combat style of soul engineers?
Therefore, the moment the imperial decree was issued, Jing Hongchen had already surmised the Emperor's true intentions and informed Meng Hongchen.
"Many thanks!" Yuwentuo said gratefully.
For the next period, he indeed needed to lie low for a while. Not because his vengeance was satisfied, but in preparation for a much larger eruption.
Merely destroying a few small branch altars and killing one Nightmare Douluo would likely still not force out Ye Xishui or Long Xiaoyao at most, only revered elders of Zhang Peng's caliber.
But what if he killed Zhang Peng, or even Feng Ling and Zhong Liwu? He refused to believe those two old fogeys would still be able to sit idly by.
However, these were all Super Douluo-level Evil Soul Masters. Even if Yuwentuo relied on the Evil Eye Tyrant, he wouldn't be their match.
The Ice and Snow Twin Emperors were to be reserved for Ye Xishui and Long Xiaoyao.
Therefore, he had to elevate his strength to another level if he wanted a chance to kill these Super Douluo powerhouses.
"Little brother Tuo, cultivate diligently over the next few years and strive to become a Soul Saint as soon as possible. Bing'er said she has a gift for you! Once you receive it, one day, you will surely become the strongest being!" the Snow Empress said.
Yuwentuo nodded. "Don't worry, Snow Empress, I won't let you and Ice Empress down!"
For his own future, and even more so for both revenge and repayment of kindness, he would not slack off in the slightest.
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