Douluo: Emerald Poison Emperor-Chapter 282: Douluo: Emerald Poison Emperor []

Half a day later, Chen Ming left Golden Crocodile Douluo at Lou Gao's place to conduct experiments together and then returned to the Worship Hall to update Qian Daoliu on the situation. Qian Daoliu, not being an unreasonable person, was delighted to learn that Golden Crocodile Douluo's strength could be further enhanced. Because of this, he also developed some interest in the forging system Chen Ming had mentioned, thinking it might be a potential method to strengthen Soul Masters in the future.

When Chen Ming mentioned he wanted to find Qian Renxue, Qian Daoliu arranged a room for him and personally went to fetch Qian Renxue.

Since the last assassination attempt, the Crown Prince of the Heaven Dou Empire, Xue Qinghe, had become increasingly radical after returning to the empire. Previously hesitant between the nobility and commoners, he now leaned decisively toward the commoners, significantly lowering his favorability among the nobility.

With Xue Qinghe holding great power, second only to Emperor Xue Ye, and as the next ruler of the Heaven Dou Empire, his will influenced many of the empire's decisions. This led to dissatisfaction among many nobles, including some who had originally supported him.

However, considering that the Crown Prince had recently survived an assassination attempt thanks to urgent help from the Spirit Hall, most nobles, even those who liked him less, refrained from supporting the wastrel Xue Beng. They simply hoped the Crown Prince would calm down, thinking he might return to normal in the future.

Of course, where there is a majority, there is also a minority. Some corrupt nobles faced intense purges by Xue Qinghe, and many of their illicit and gray incomes were significantly impacted. Not everyone could remain rational, and naturally, some desperate individuals resorted to extreme measures.

Opposition in the court and covert sabotage were minor issues. Some reckless individuals even plotted to assassinate the Crown Prince. In just over a year, Xue Qinghe had faced seven or eight assassination attempts of varying scales.

These lawless acts were so outrageous that even the usually mediocre Emperor Xue Ye rarely lost his temper, taking action to purge several noble families.

However, as time went on, the assassination attempts on the Crown Prince only increased. Each time, the attackers were captured by the Crown Prince's guards, and Xue Qinghe used the opportunity to strike back and bleed his enemies dry.

Interestingly, these attackers were often those most opposed to the Crown Prince's policies and decisions. While they did seem to have motives for assassination, strangely, several families adamantly denied involvement, claiming they were framed by someone targeting them.

In any case, the frequent and ambiguous assassination attempts on the Crown Prince caused headaches for the Emperor and the nobles of the Heaven Dou Empire.

Regardless of whether the later attempts were orchestrated by the Crown Prince himself or were cases of framing, by the time Xue Qinghe represented Xue Ye in his visit to the Spirit Hall, his security detail had grown to over 5,000 people. This included 1,000 cavalry and 4,000 infantry—a force akin to an army.

Some nobles, fearing being labeled as the masterminds behind an assassination plot or having their families destroyed, even proactively advised Emperor Xue Ye to further bolster the Crown Prince's security. They were terrified of being implicated in the endless assassination attempts.

Moreover, in most people's eyes, even if Crown Prince Xue Qinghe had become somewhat temperamental due to the constant assassination attempts and behaved less like an ideal ruler, he was still preferable to the wastrel Xue Beng. Xue Beng's behavior was so disgraceful that even dogs would shake their heads in disapproval.

As long as the Xue family didn't want a puppet emperor or didn't want Xue Xing to seize power, Xue Ye had no choice but to grit his teeth and provide the Crown Prince with a security detail on par with his own.

To ensure nothing went wrong during this critical matter, the Heaven Dou royal family also dispatched four Soul Saints and one Soul Douluo to protect the Crown Prince.

As Xue Qinghe's teacher, Ning Fengzhi of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect sent two Soul Sages and one Soul Douluo to provide additional protection. The defensive lineup was truly luxurious.

In comparison, even the Star Luo Empire, despite being stronger overall than the Heaven Dou Empire, allocated only half the level of security for Crown Prince Dai Weisi.

However, such layers of protection also meant layers of surveillance. Even though Qian Daoliu was a demigod and the Spirit City was the Spirit Hall's territory, he still took nearly half an hour to quietly bring Qian Renxue back without alarming anyone.

Xue Qinghe's personal entourage included twenty maids, whose strength ranged from Soul Elders to Soul Kings, and twenty guards, whose strength ranged from Soul Ancestors to Soul Kings. The leader of the guards was a Spirit-type Soul Emperor. Additionally, there were three Soul Saints and one Soul Douluo constantly by his side. In a single room, dozens of eyes were fixed on Qian Renxue, with at least a third of them remaining vigilant. Outside, over a hundred soldiers, all possessing soul power, stood guard.

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Qian Daoliu had no choice but to enlist the help of a Spirit-type Titled Douluo to deceive these people. Eventually, a decoy was used to replace Qian Renxue.

After much effort, Qian Daoliu finally brought Qian Renxue back. Upon seeing Chen Ming, Qian Renxue immediately removed the disguise from her soul bone skill, took off her wig, and tucked it into her storage soul tool. She then strode toward Chen Ming.

She wanted to say something, but out of habit, she calmed herself before speaking. After adjusting her emotions, she smiled gently.

Unlike the formal smiles she wore when dealing with others in Heaven Dou City, Qian Renxue's smile this time was pure, with an unusual gleam in her eyes. This caused Qian Daoliu, who was standing nearby, to raise an eyebrow. He didn't know what to say and could only shake his head before leaving the room. He sat down on a chair outside, closed his eyes, and meditated.

Qian Daoliu had assumed that after all the effort he had put into arranging this meeting, his granddaughter—who had expressed a strong desire to meet Chen Ming—would at least have a long conversation with him. He estimated they'd talk for at least an hour.

Yet, less than half an hour later, Qian Renxue emerged from the quiet room with a flushed face, wearing a pendant around her neck. Her face was so red that she couldn't hide her blush.

Seeing her grandfather, Qian Daoliu, sitting there, Qian Renxue quickly tucked the pendant into her chest, coughed twice to compose herself, waited for the redness to fade, and then sat down beside Qian Daoliu.

To be honest, Qian Daoliu didn't know what to say anymore. He could sense that his granddaughter was distracted during their conversation. From time to time, she would lower her head to look at the pendant on her chest and smile faintly.

The conversation was going nowhere.

Qian Daoliu covered his face, sought out the Spirit-type Titled Douluo again, and replaced Qian Renxue with the decoy. Later that evening, after returning to the Worship Hall, Qian Daoliu's gaze toward Chen Ming became odd and even carried a hint of resentment. Chen Ming could only smile awkwardly and didn't offer any explanation.

Under the cover of the night, Chen Ming visited the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's residence in Spirit City to have a brief conversation with Ning Fengzhi.

However, after presenting the Seven Treasure Tokens and waiting for the attendant to pass the message, the Soul Masters of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect informed Chen Ming that the Sect Master was busy discussing matters with others and would not be available for a while. They suggested Chen Ming return for a meeting after the Sect Master and the two Protector Douluos returned to the main sect.

Chen Ming wasn't a fool. From the response of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's Soul Masters, he deduced that Ning Fengzhi might have heard about his performance on the battlefield and suspected he had ties to the Spirit Hall.

Without a clear choice or allegiance, Ning Fengzhi would rather temporarily strain his relationship with Chen Ming—planning to compensate him later—than risk compromising the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's position.

After all, in Ning Fengzhi's eyes, Chen Ming was merely a talented young man with great potential to become a Super Douluo someday and the future husband of Poison Douluo's granddaughter. Ning Fengzhi had no idea that, in just over a year since their last meeting, Chen Ming had grown to an astonishing level of power.