Chapter 247: Turmoil in Mingdu (Part 1)

I had thought that the development of events would continue according to the original plot, but who could have known that all the focus would now fall upon Xu Tianran and Luo Yu.

Looking at it from another angle, if Su Yu had chosen to stay in the Sun Moon Empire back then, would their target now not be himself?

The Three Great Empires have a sense of anxiety, but not much...

This is a matter that cannot be explained, and the risks of doing so are great, but the short-term gains are also extremely obvious.

If their plan succeeds, the Sun Moon Empire will not make a move against the Three Great Empires for at least several decades; the struggle for the throne alone is a huge trouble. A living example is the palace coup of the Sun Moon Empire back in the day.

It is precisely because of this that Xu Tianran chose to clear away all obstacles before ascending to power.

Just as Su Yu was thinking, He Cai Tou walked over and asked quietly, "Su Yu, do you know something?"

He Cai Tou used a code that only the two of them knew; in front of Su Yu, He Cai Tou had no restraints and no mask.

"Let's go, the competition will take a while longer. I know some things; I found a clue a few days ago." Su Yu looked at He Cai Tou; perhaps there are times when it really is necessary to tell him a few things.

After greeting the others, Su Yu and Xu He left the competition venue.

In a nearby restaurant, Su Yu spoke slowly: "The old Emperor of the Sun Moon Empire does not have much time left. If you want to take revenge, you only have two choices: either sneak into the Sun Moon Imperial Palace and assassinate the old Emperor, or wait until your strength is sufficient to assassinate the old Emperor's heirs."

"How do you know?" Xu He asked.

Su Yu looked at Xu He and said, "The old Emperor's condition has never been good; this is something the upper echelons of the Sun Moon Empire all know. Moreover, for several years in a row, the old Emperor has not held court, and he has handed over government affairs to Xu Tianran, which shows that his condition is getting worse and worse. If it were you, would you hand over the power of the state to someone else to control?"

"No." A hint of killing intent appeared in Xu He's eyes.

Whenever the old Emperor was mentioned, the day of the palace coup back then would appear in his mind.

That is a wound in the depths of his heart that can never be erased!

"You know about the plan of the Three Great Empires, right?" Su Yu did not know much about the plan of the Three Great Empires, because he had not asked about these matters for a long time.

"I know. You can ask me anything you want to know." Xu He did not hide anything from Su Yu, and as the only candidate for the Extreme Individual Soldier Plan, Xu He could be said to be a proper local within Shrek.

"Is the operation tonight or tomorrow night? If my guess is correct, it should be within these few days. Those people definitely have insiders in the Sun Moon Empire, otherwise, it would be impossible for them to make up their minds to take this action." Su Yu looked at Xu He, recalling their previous words.

Their plan was very rushed, but the target was very clear; it was obvious that the plan was formulated temporarily.

"The operation is tomorrow night. What are your plans for then?" Xu He silently clenched his fists. This is a great opportunity, but he cannot go to take revenge because his own strength is insufficient.

"Although I don't have Spirit Power as monstrous as Huo Yuhao's, I think that once the chaos starts, their focus will definitely not be on the old Emperor's bedchamber. When the time comes, let's take advantage of the chaos and go to the Sun Moon Imperial Palace to take a look. You should also go back and see; after all, that is your original home."

If not for the palace coup back then, Xu He would now be the Crown Prince of the Sun Moon Empire, and perhaps he would also be a benevolent monarch, but for the Three Great Empires, that would not be a good thing.

Every high-ranking official of the Sun Moon Empire has an indelible hatred for the Three Great Empires, as well as an unparalleled expectation for the prosperity of the Sun Moon Empire. From a certain perspective, the Sun Moon Empire is more like the protagonist, but they hold the protagonist's script without the protagonist's fate.

Is this a tragedy? It is not; it is just that the gods do not allow it.

Perhaps, one day, I will also fall at the final step before the finish line...

"But we cannot get into the Sun Moon Imperial Palace. It has been more than ten years; everything there has long since changed..." Xu He had some hope, his gaze cast in the direction of the Sun Moon Imperial Palace.

"We can't, but that doesn't mean others can't. I have a very risky plan, but the risk is great. This is an extremely dangerous deal. Are you going or not?"

Everyone's target is on Luo Yu, but no one should be able to imagine that Su Yu would go to the Sun Moon Imperial Palace.

"You mean..."

In Xu He's heart, a bad premonition arose. His intuition told him that if he went, this journey would not be very peaceful.

"More or less. Don't forget, what was your former identity? If you want, if our plan succeeds this time and Mingdu falls, with your identity as the orphan of the former Emperor, you can openly inherit the position of Crown Prince. Of course, this is just a hypothesis of mine."

Xu He will not inherit everything from the Sun Moon Empire, because he had long since been disappointed in the Sun Moon Empire.

Ever since that palace coup, Crown Prince Xu He had long since died.

Xu He asked the question he wanted to ask, "Tell me about your plan?"

"Reveal your identity to Xu Tianran, go to the Sun Moon Imperial Palace, kill the old Emperor, and let Xu Tianran ascend the throne early. Although the old Emperor does not have much time left, judging by the current situation, he can still rely on a large amount of spiritual medicine to keep his breath. As long as the old Emperor does not die, Xu Tianran cannot ascend the throne, nor can he hold more power, because he is not the Emperor. This is a very risky plan; there is only one chance. Are you going or not?"

This is a very risky plan, but there are many places where it can be changed.

The defense of the Sun Moon Imperial Palace is no worse than that of Mingde Hall; wanting to sneak in is simply impossible. The only possibility is to cooperate with Xu Tianran and conspire to get rid of the old Emperor together.

Xu Tianran is not a good bird, and cooperating with him makes it even more impossible to retreat unscathed.

However, as long as one sees Xu Tianran, everything will get better, because, don't forget, Su Yu still has Yi Lao with him.

"You should think about it carefully. There is only one chance. If you miss this time, the next opportunity will be when the Three Great Empires and the Sun Moon Empire launch a war."

After leaving this sentence, Su Yu disappeared from Xu He's field of vision.

There is only one chance; if it is missed, it will not come again...

The battle between Wang Qiu Er and Luo Yu on the competition stage was also nearing its end. Both sides did not choose a fight to the death, so this match was not too tragic.

Luo Yu looked at Wang Qiu Er and spoke slowly: "Still not admitting defeat?"

Luo Yu, in a blood-red battle armor, looked down at Wang Qiu Er like a demon. On the Soul Guidance Long Sword in his hand, blood was still dripping down drop by drop.

The damaged armor, the disheveled Wang Qiu Er—the states of both sides were much the same, but in terms of soul power consumption, Luo Yu had used even less than Wang Qiu Er. At this moment, Wang Qiu Er's face was a bit pale, and her previous veil had also been knocked off by Luo Yu's Soul Guidance Ray during the battle.

That peerless face stained with blood was exposed to the air without any restraint.

The Wang Qiu Er before them made everyone involuntarily recall that scene from five years ago; wasn't that goddess bathed in light exactly this appearance!

"I will not admit defeat, absolutely!" Wang Qiu Er gripped the Golden Dragon Spear in her hand tightly, the majesty belonging to the Dragon Clan blooming in her eyes.

The sun hung high; her body seemed as if cast in gold, shining brilliantly under the scorching sun!

"Then I'm sorry, your team competition will be the same; it is destined to be a loss!"

The Soul Guidance Armor on Luo Yu's chest slowly separated, a blue Energy Core exposed to the outside. In an instant, a large amount of soul power gathered toward that blue core, and a pitch-black ball of light was constantly taking shape.

Looking at that black ball of light, the National Teacher sitting beside the Crown Prince Xu Tianran crushed the armrest of his chair. If it weren't for this guy...

The Golden Dragon was roaring, and the ball of light, like a black hole, was expanding.

The two of them were like two giant dragons: one was a Golden Dragon filled with supreme majesty, and one was a blood-colored Demon Dragon covered in slaughter.

…………

The competition ended. In the team competition, because Wang Qiu Er was seriously injured and unable to play, Shrek was swept across the board by Luo Yu and the Hongchen siblings.

This tournament finally came to an end with the victory of the Sun Moon Empire.

Shrek and the Tang Sect achieved second and third place respectively.

Who could have imagined that a thousand years later, the Three Great Empires would be swept away by the Sun Moon Empire, which would go on to win the championship of the tournament?

At the same time, they recalled that former student of Shrek Academy; if he had also participated in this tournament, would he have achieved a shocking reversal in the finals just like that?

The events of the past were still vivid in their minds, yet now, a new era was unfolding before their eyes...

…………

"How strange, that fellow would actually take the initiative to find me?" Xu Tianran frowned as he looked at the letter delivered by the Hall Master.

After finishing the letter, Xu Tianran's expression changed slightly, and only then did he speak slowly: "Understood, I will handle the subsequent matters myself."

After dismissing Luo Yu, Xu Tianran felt a surge of excitement; the fish that slipped through the net from back then had surfaced, and who could have known that the stray dog would dare to return?

However, the conditions proposed by Su Yu were very tempting; this was a collaboration of seeking skin from a tiger, and it was worth his consideration whether to proceed.

For Xu Tianran, the emergence of this collaboration could allow him to ascend to the pinnacle of power, or it could leave him beyond redemption.

However, he preferred to act more quietly; since he could borrow the hands of others, why should he need to step forward himself?

Colluding with outsiders to kill one's father and seize power was a great taboo; once exposed, Xu Tianran would never be able to recover, but since the other party had already told him, he simply did not need to provide any response.

Leaving traces was a great taboo, especially with someone like Su Yu.

Burning the letter, Xu Tianran looked at the defense map, his fingers brushing over the location of the imperial palace, and a faint smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.

…………

Sun Moon Empire, Imperial Palace.

The palace was brightly lit at night, and Crown Prince Xu Tianran was reading in his study, with Ju Zi accompanying him on the side.

"Ju Zi, do you want to go to Mingde Hall to see your former classmates? You were once a disciple of Mingde Hall, after all." Xu Tianran suddenly raised his head and asked Ju Zi with a smile.

Ju Zi was stunned for a moment, then slowly said: "Your Highness, let's have you accompany me another time when you have time; for now, let's finish handling the government affairs first."

Xu Tianran smiled instead: "No need to worry, there will always be someone to take over the handling of government affairs. Think carefully, if it weren't for the Hall Master, we wouldn't have won the tournament so easily this time. I must say, that junior of yours really surprised me too much."

Ju Zi suddenly wanted to say something, but held back.

"What? Worried that I might be suspicious of him?" Xu Tianran saw through the doubts in her heart at a glance.

Ju Zi shook her head gently and said: "Your Highness, what are you saying? In the few years that Luo Yu has been by your side, Your Highness has long since treated him as one of your own. It is not this that Ju Zi is worried about, but rather..."

Xu Tianran waved his hand and said: "I know what you are talking about, but those things cannot be accomplished in a single day."

"In terms of the development speed of Soul Guidance Devices, those three countries originally belonging to the Douluo Continent cannot catch up to us at all. Our national strength is also far superior to theirs, but when it comes to true strength, we simply cannot defeat the Three Great Empires. We need the Holy Spirit Cult, and the Holy Spirit Cult needs us; before we have Title Douluo capable of countering the Three Great Empires, we cannot do without them."

"Why have those three countries never been committed to developing Soul Guidance Devices? It is not just because they lack Rare Metal, but more importantly, because of the deep-rooted philosophy of Soul Masters. The powerful profession of Soul Master has existed on the Douluo Continent for far too long. To a country, a powerful Soul Master is a strategic existence."

"In terms of the number of Soul Masters, we are far from being able to compare with those three countries, and this is even more so regarding high-end combat power. Just think, how many Title Douluo are there in Shrek Academy alone? Perhaps, in a few hundred years, when our Sun Moon Empire has accumulated enough Soul Guidance Devices and excellent Soul Engineers, we will be able to unify the continent, but I cannot live that long. A great man only strives for the present. I must conquer the entire continent during the days I rule the empire."

Speaking of this, Xu Tianran's eyes were already filled with fanaticism.

This was Xu Tianran's aspiration, and it was also the heartfelt wish of the successive monarchs of the Sun Moon Empire and most of the high-level officials of the Sun Moon Empire.

"To achieve this, we need allies, we need the strength to confront those Soul Masters in terms of high-end combat power. With sufficient preparation and layout, Soul Engineers are not afraid of Soul Masters, and in terms of area combat, they are even far superior to Soul Masters. However, in a sudden encounter, a Level 9 Soul Engineer has almost no possibility of winning against a true Title Douluo. And every Level 9 Soul Engineer is an incomparably precious treasure to the empire. Therefore, I will not use them to deal with those Soul Masters and Title Douluo. In this situation, the best choice is to cooperate with the Holy Spirit Cult."

"We have no other choice, because this is the only path we can take. So I trust Luo Yu, and I also trust the Hall Master's judgment. The vision of the Silver Moon Douluo cannot be wrong, and the vision of those Level 9 Soul Engineers cannot be wrong either!"