Chapter 3: with translation of chapter title

At this moment, two scorching gazes gathered on Dai Xiyu's face.

They were Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhu Yue.

Dai Mubai feared that his second brother would make a blunder on the spot by choosing Zhu Zhuqing, thereby disrupting his plan.

And Zhu Zhu Yue was afraid that Dai Xiyu would choose her.

After all, the Second Prince is utterly ordinary, not someone capable of great deeds.

Dai Xiyu was just about to step forward.

Immediately, he felt his left wrist tighten.

Turning his head, he saw Dai Mubai gripping his wrist, eyes full of threat.

However, in front of his father the emperor, Dai Mubai did not dare be too presumptuous; the hand gripping his wrist exerted no force.

Dai Xiyu easily broke free and stepped forward two paces.

Following the method from his memory, he bowed to the Star Luo Emperor.

Gathering his soul power, he spoke loudly: "Father Emperor, your subject has someone in mind."

It must be said,

As a transmigrator, addressing a stranger this way still felt a bit awkward.

The Star Luo Emperor became interested and asked: "Oh? Xiyu, who do you favor?"

Dai Xiyu spoke out clearly and forcefully:

"I, your subject, like Zhu Zhuqing; I fell for her at first sight."

After Dai Xiyu finished speaking, the air seemed to freeze for a moment.

Among the spectators outside, some young disciples began to whisper.

"The Second Prince really dares; I thought he would also leave the decision to His Majesty like Zhu Zhuqing."

"Indeed, and he even chose the ice‑cold goddess Zhu Zhuqing; if it were me, I wouldn't dare even glance at her."

"I guess there will be good drama ahead; although Zhu Zhuqing is beautiful, talented, and often tops the exams, her aloof personality makes her hard to get along with."

"The Second Prince's talent is so mediocre he hardly deserves Zhu Zhuqing; right now he's just lust‑blinded. Wait and see—later you'll reap the bitter fruit of his actions."

……

If looks could kill, Dai Xiyu would probably have been hacked to pieces by Dai Mubai behind him and killed a hundred times over.

Even Zhu Zhuqing, who is usually as still as an ancient well, unexpectedly turned her head and glanced at Dai Xiyu.

Being confessed to before a myriad of eyes makes it hard to ignore, no matter how cold one's nature.

Feeling the doubtful gazes from outside and Dai Mubai's heavy breathing behind him, Dai Xiyu also felt a hint of nervousness.

He is also making a gamble.

If he fails to obtain fortune, or if the system is altogether fake, then his action merely speeds up his death.

The Star Luo Emperor stood with hands behind his back, gazing at Zhu Zhuqing and smiling as he asked:

Zhu Zhuqing, what do you think? Are you willing to choose Xiyu?

Zhu Zhuqing remained her usual aloof self, bowing and saying: "I will fully abide by Your Majesty's decision."

The Star Luo Emperor nodded, turned his gaze to Zhu Zhu Yue, and asked: "Zhu Yue, do you like Mubai?"

Zhu Zhu Yue's heart leapt with joy; she immediately nodded in agreement.

As if afraid the Star Luo Emperor would mistakenly think she does not like Dai Mubai.

The Star Luo Emperor asked no further, immediately made a decision, and set the engagement between Zhu Zhuqing and Dai Xiyu.

The remaining Zhu Zhu Yue and Dai Mubai naturally became a pair.

As the Third Prince, Dai Mubai's turn to speak naturally comes after the Second Prince.

At this moment, after the three expressed their wishes, Dai Mubai no longer had the right to choose.

If Dai Mubai truly had ability, he should have used means beforehand to make Dai Xiyu change his choice, thereby achieving his goal.

Since he cannot do that, he cannot blame others.

It seems somewhat unfair to Dai Mubai.

But the Star Luo imperial family's struggle has never been fair.

Dai Xiyu and Dai Mubai are six years younger than the eldest brother, yet they must still contend on the same stage—either you die or I die.

What fairness can be spoken of in a royal house that operates by such rules?

At that very moment, a scrolling prompt appeared in the upper left of Dai Xiyu's vision.

【Harvest from Zhu Zhuqing's fortune +500000】

【Harvest from Dai Mubai's fortune +1000000】

……

At the moment the prompt refreshed, Dai Xiyu's heart leapt with joy.

One million five hundred thousand, more than he had imagined!

Taking a deep breath, he immediately used his will to open the status bar on the panel.

【Name: Dai Xiyu】

【Gender: Male】

【Age: 9】

【Martial Soul: White Tiger】

【Soul Power: Rank 8】

【Strength: 30】

【Agility: 23】

【Endurance: 21】

【Lifespan: 105 days 03 hours 53 minutes】

……

Lifespan increased!

Seeing that suddenly over a hundred extra days had appeared, Dai Xiyu could finally breathe a sigh of relief for the time being.

Next, he had to go to the shopping mall to verify the system's authenticity.

However, now is not the time.

After the Star Luo Emperor finished announcing the edict, he had the four people below return to their respective positions.

Dai Mubai's condition was somewhat off; when he stood up, he almost couldn't keep his balance.

Dai Xiyu was beside him and instinctively grabbed his arm.

He happened to see that the number representing fortune above Dai Mubai's head had already changed.

【19994214】

It instantly dropped below twenty million.

After Dai Mubai steadied himself, he rubbed his head and only then felt somewhat better.

In that moment just now, he felt as if something had been sucked out of his body, an indescribable discomfort.

This bodily condition made Dai Mubai even more irritable.

He forcefully pulled back his arm, his eyes fixed tightly on Dai Xiyu.

After holding it in for a while, he squeezed out a sentence from between his teeth: 'Just wait and see.'

Dai Xiyu snorted coldly, ignoring Dai Mubai's threat.

He turned around and went straight back to his seat.

As soon as he sat down, he used his thoughts to open the fortune store.

【Fortune Balance: 1500032】

【This month's listed products are as follows (updated after the 29th)】

【Hundred-year soul ring: 1000 fortune】

【Five-hundred-year soul ring: 5000 fortune】

【Thousand-year soul ring: 10000 fortune】

【God-given soul ring: 1000000 fortune】

【Ten-thousand-year right arm soul bone: 200000 fortune】

【Soul power (level 1): 10000 fortune】

【Free attribute points: 10000 fortune】

【Second martial soul (random): 1000000 fortune】

【A bag of gold soul coins (1000 pieces): 1000 fortune】

……

"Whether I can survive in this world depends on you."

Holding a hint of nervousness, Dai Xiyu focused his thoughts and chose to purchase level‑1 soul power.

【Successfully purchased soul power (level 1), fortune -10000】

At the moment the prompt appeared, Dai Xiyu clearly felt that his soul power had suddenly increased greatly.

Only then did he finally confirm it.

This light screen that only he could see was not an illusion!

Opening the status bar again, the soul power shown had already become level 9.

Dai Xiyu was overjoyed inside, but on the surface he tried to remain calm.

At this point, the ceremony had completely ended, and everyone dispersed.

Dai Mubai stood up, left with a grim face without pausing.

Dai Xiyu gazed into the distance and saw that Zhu Zhuqing had already left the training grounds under the guidance of the Netherworld Duke.

Seeing that, he also rose from his chair.

After the awakening ceremony ended, a banquet was to be held in the palace to celebrate.

Before that, those attending the banquet each had to return home.

Dress up nicely, then change into noble attire.

The Royal Elementary Academy is built opposite the Imperial Palace Plaza, a fifteen‑minute walk there and back.

Unlike the imagined Forbidden City with its rows of halls, the palace of the Star Luo Empire is a single enormous square‑courtyard complex.

The main structure covers a vast area, has three floors, and contains over a thousand rooms of various sizes.

Structurally, it is more similar to Buckingham Palace from his previous life.

Dai Xiyu walked along the corridor with a strong European medieval style and returned to his bedroom on the west side of the third floor of the Star Luo Imperial Palace.

And he instructed the maid not to let anyone enter to disturb him.

Sitting cross‑legged on the soft big bed, he opened the fortune store again.

He first purchased level‑1 soul power, raising his soul power to level 10.

Then he bought a five‑hundred‑year soul ring.

In his memory, the theoretical upper limit for a soul master's first soul ring should be over four hundred years.

However, this limit is not absolute.

For example, the protagonist Tang San.

Theoretically, for a normal person, the upper limit of the fourth soul ring is five thousand years.

And Tang San directly absorbed a ten-thousand-year soul ring.

As a result, by the middle of the plot, wherever he went, Tang San became the focus of everyone's attention.

Relying on this ten-thousand-year fourth soul ring, he shocked countless people.

So, in Dai Xiyu's view, as long as the body can withstand it, there is no fixed upper limit to the age of the soul ring one can absorb.

After purchasing a soul ring, it is automatically stored in the warehouse.

Dai Xiyu did not rush to absorb it; instead, he first bought attribute points in the shop.

In order to absorb a five-hundred-year soul ring as much as possible, he needed to first improve his physical quality.

【Successfully purchased free attribute point +1, luck -10000】

【Successfully purchased free attribute point +1, luck -11000】

……

Not only soul power, but after purchasing free attribute points, their price also keeps rising with each purchase.

In the end, purchasing one attribute point costs forty thousand luck.

However, for Dai Xiyu, who possesses 1.5 million in wealth, this is still within an affordable range.

Buying attribute points cost over one million in total.

Strength and stamina were directly raised to 50 points, and agility also increased to 40 points.

Feeling the surging strength within his body and the slightly bulging muscles, Dai Xiyu smiled.

With his current physical strength, few peers can match him.

Withstanding a five-hundred-year soul ring should not be a problem.

After preparing, he directly opened the warehouse, used his will to click the five-hundred-year soul ring, and chose to take it out.

The next moment, a palm-sized small sphere appeared in Dai Xiyu's hand.

The small sphere resembled jade in material, its surface covered with yellow patterns, shining brightly.

It was somewhat similar to the divine-bestowed soul ring from the original work as remembered.

Dai Xiyu tried to infuse soul power into it; the next moment, the sphere turned directly into a streak of yellow light that entered his body.

He quickly gathered his soul power and began to concentrate on absorbing it.

The soul rings purchased from the system lack the ferocious aura produced when a soul beast dies, so the absorption process is extremely smooth.

After about half an hour, the absorption process ended.

Upon opening his eyes, a yellow halo already circled around him.

Having successfully obtained his first soul ring, Dai Xiyu finally became a true soul master!

"The first soul skill uses the sound wave of a tiger's roar to cause dizziness and mental sluggishness in enemies, counting as a group control skill."

"Then let's give it a more domineering name: 'Tiger Roar Mountain Forest'!"

(End of chapter)