Douluo: Reborn as a Dragon, I am the Lord of Soul Beasts

Chapter 24: Palace coup, battle against Long Xiaoyao
"Long Xiaoyao, hehe." After Xu Tianran left, Ying Qian leaned back on the soft sofa, shaking the wine glass in his hand, thinking happily in his heart.

Ying Qian had never fought against Long Xiaoyao, but he already possessed the Yin-Yang complementary soul cores, so he was not without the ability to fight against Long Xiaoyao and Ye Xishui. Moreover, Ying Qian had no intention of killing Long Xiaoyao right now. After all, Long Xiaoyao was still useful. The original novel mentioned that before his death, Mu En had asked Long Xiaoyao to take care of his last disciple Huo Yuhao, and the content of the request was a dragon pill.

The so-called dragon pill is a natural treasure condensed from the life essence of an adult dragon. It contains the blood and power of a dragon, which is equivalent to the soul core of a human soul master. It is an extremely precious pill. When Mu En traveled around the continent, he accidentally got a dragon pill of a white dragon of the light system. With the help of the dragon pill, Mu Lao's cultivation level improved rapidly and he soon broke through to become a limit douluo. However, the hostility contained in the dragon pill also made Mu Lao's body gradually weaken.

Before his death, Mu Lao asked Long Xiaoyao to take care of Huo Yuhao and let him give him the Dragon Pill at the right time. Since taking the Dragon Pill requires being in an absolutely weak state, Long Xiaoyao appeared when Huo Yuhao sneaked into Tiandou City, and crushed Huo Yuhao and Tang Wutong. He then threatened Huo Yuhao with Tang Wutong and asked him to stab himself nine times and eighteen times with the dark dagger. When Huo Yuhao was on the verge of death, he fed the Dragon Pill into his mouth. After taking the Dragon Pill, not only did Huo Yuhao's body become as strong as a dragon, but his soul power also rose to the bottleneck of level 80. Of course, more energy was compressed and condensed in Huo Yuhao's chest, preparing for him to condense the second soul core in the later stage.

This dragon pill was something that even Ying Qian was excited about. Although he didn't know what kind of dragon pill Moon had, the dragon pill alone contained the power of a giant dragon, which was enough to benefit Ying Qian infinitely. Therefore, he still needed Long Xiaoyao, at least he had to wait until Moon gave the dragon pill to Long Xiaoyao before killing him.

For several months, the underground forces in Mingdu began to become bloody. The evil soul masters of Xishui League began to plunder the territories of Pingfan League and Aodu Chamber of Commerce. The invasion of Aodu Chamber of Commerce was not so bad. But Pingfan League was a bit miserable. Not only did they lose most of the territory in Mingdu South City, but even many nobles died at home for no reason. And the whole family was slaughtered, and the death was miserable. For a time, the people in Mingdu's underground forces began to feel insecure.

In the Sun-Moon Empire, the Imperial Palace, Xu Tianran’s study.

The palace was brightly lit at night. The fourth prince Xu Tianran was reading a book in his study, with Ju Zi accompanying him.

Xu Tianran frowned slightly, turning the pages of the book in his hands, but his thoughts were far away. Although the lights in the palace were still bright, he felt a vague sense of uneasiness in his heart.

"Your Highness, you look a little worried." Juzi said cautiously. She had long been accustomed to being a maid beside Xu Tianran and was quite observant of Xu Tianran's emotional changes.

Xu Tianran raised his head, smiled and said to Ju Zi: "It's nothing, it's just that what happened recently made me feel a little uneasy. The rampage of the Xishui League made me feel that this group of evil soul masters is not simple."

"Xishui League?!" Orange's face changed slightly. She knew that this name represented darkness and fear. "What are you going to do?"

Xu Tianran took a deep breath, his eyes flashing with determination, "I have already done what the teacher ordered, and now the nobles are completely on our side. But those old foxes in the army, even so, their attitude is still ambiguous. It seems that Xu Tianxin has also given orders, so the Xishui League did not kill the Aodu Chamber of Commerce like they did the Pingfan League."

Ju Zi listened to Xu Tianran's words, frowning slightly, with a serious expression. "Your Highness, the attitude of the army is crucial. If they choose to remain neutral, then we are afraid..."

Xu Tianran took a deep breath and smiled at Juzi. "I know this, but don't worry. I've already told them that if Xu Tianxin ascends the throne, he will probably completely deprive them of their power and use his own military commanders. At that time, these generals who have lost their military power will be lambs to be slaughtered. Now is the time to choose sides. If you want to please both sides, you will end up being neither a good person nor a bad person."

A trace of admiration flashed in Orange's eyes, "Your Highness, you are really wise and decisive. I am willing to serve you to the best of my ability."

Xu Tianran smiled and nodded, "Thank you, Orange. I know I can trust you. When I succeed, I want to hand over all the armies of the empire to you to lead."

When Juzi heard this, he was pleasantly surprised, but he knew very well what kind of person Xu Tianran was, so he suppressed his excitement.
"Your Highness, I will remember your trust in my heart." Ju Zi's voice was full of excitement, "But I don't want to leave Your Highness. I only want to stay by Your Highness' side in this life. As long as Your Highness doesn't forget to help me avenge and flatten the Xingluo Empire, I can kill the White Tiger Duke with my own hands."

Xu Tianran looked at Ju Zi with satisfaction and said, "I will. A real man should seize every moment. I must conquer the entire continent while I rule the empire."

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

However, their conversation was interrupted by a sudden noise coming from outside the study. Xu Tianran frowned and immediately realized that something unusual might have happened. He put down the book in his hand and decided to go and check it out himself.

Ju Zi followed behind him, also filled with worry. She always held the soul guide in her hand, and as soon as she sensed something was wrong, she would immediately ask Mr. Ying for help.

"What's going on?" Xu Tianran's voice was very calm.

"Your Highness, there seems to be a fighting outside." Orange said as he felt the fluctuations of soul power outside.

"Hmm?" Xu Tianran frowned. It was so late, and there was actually a fight inside the palace. This was an extremely unreasonable thing, but in this special situation, Xu Tianran only thought about it for a moment and guessed most of it.

"Let's go quickly and contact Mr. Ying." Xu Tianran said hurriedly.

At this moment, suddenly, a familiar voice sounded behind him, "My fourth brother, it's so late, where are you going?"

A large number of guards rushed out instantly, surrounding the study room where Xu Tianran was. The sky suddenly became dark. Although it was night, the moonlight and the stars in the sky could still be seen. But now, Xu Tianran and Juzi seemed to be swallowed by a black hole. Darkness, endless darkness, and they looked up.

A figure was so proudly suspended above Xu Tianran, his black robe fluttering gently in the night breeze.

He just stood there, like a noble statue, standing proudly in the night sky.

There was no expression on his face, but there was an indescribable pride on his old face, as if he controlled the sky and the earth should submit to him.

"Long Xiaoyao." Juzi recognized him immediately and then looked at Xu Tianran.

At this moment, Xu Tianran was standing there quietly, looking at Xu Tianxin opposite him and said, "Second brother, what are you doing? Don't you know that surrounding the palace is like treason?"

In response to Xu Tianran's question, Xu Tianxin smiled slightly, his voice calm and confident: "Fourth brother, you don't have to worry too much. I didn't come here to rebel." Xu Tianran frowned, still with doubts in his heart: "Then why did you break into my study and stay here? What is your purpose?"

Xu Tianxin slowly landed in front of the study, his eyes revealing a hint of amusement: "I came here to talk to you, a brotherly talk."

"What are you talking about?" Xu Tianran remained alert. "Your sudden appearance here inevitably makes me a little wary."

Xu Tianxin smiled slightly: "I didn't expect that you, my fourth brother, are so capable. You have won over several nobles and military generals in just a few months. This really makes me look at you with new eyes! The little kid who used to follow me around is now competing with me for the world."

"That's because you were too ruthless, second brother. Those who obey you will prosper, and those who disobey you will die." Xu Tianran said quietly.

"Aren't you? Xu Tianran, don't tell me you didn't do those nobles who died tragically? Although I, Xu Tianxin, am cruel and ruthless, I am not that cruel. And you, Xu Tianran, in order to win over the nobles, actually asked people to pretend to be evil soul masters and wiped out those nobles. You are really good at throwing dirty water on me and forcing the nobles to stand on your side!" Xu Tianxin sneered.

Xu Tianran didn't say anything, but that didn't mean he wouldn't fight back, since both sides had already fallen out.

"What about you, Xu Tianxin? Do you think I don't know that you ordered someone to assassinate me in the Demon Forest and that Xu Ji had rebelled? Do you think I don't know either?"

"Who made you so annoying? I'm just curious. You were lucky enough to survive the assassination in the Demon Forest, so how did you survive the second assassination by Xu Ji?" Xu Tianxin asked.

Facing Xu Tianxin's questioning, Xu Tianran's eyes flashed with a hint of indifference and vigilance. He knew that Xu Tianxin's coup was now a fait accompli, and now the other party dared to question him face to face, obviously ready to break up with him completely.

"Xu Tianxin, you are so arrogant." Xu Tianran said coldly, "Do you think your conspiracy can be covered up forever? I know all the assassinations you ordered. But I chose to let you go, just hoping that you can turn back."

"As for the assassination of Xu Ji, he was just your puppet. He has been controlled by me, and your conspiracy has completely failed." Xu Tianran's tone was firm and cold, ruthlessly exposing Xu Tianxin's conspiracy.

Xu Tianxin's eyes narrowed slightly when he heard this. He didn't expect Xu Tianran to know everything. But he was not panicked. Instead, he smiled and said, "Xu Tianran, you are really smart. Do you think you can hide it from me by lying? Xu Tianran, you colluded with spies from Douluo Continent and intended to steal the secrets of my Sun Moon Empire. Now, this prince announces that you will be stripped of your status as a prince and arrested and imprisoned. Anyone who disobeys this order will be executed immediately."

When Xu Tianran heard Xu Tianxin's accusation, he was immediately filled with anger and shock. He had never thought that the other party would frame him so viciously and put him to death.

"Xu Tianxin, you are so shameless!" Xu Tianran's voice was filled with anger and unwillingness, "I have never colluded with any spies, and I have no intention of stealing the empire's secrets. On the contrary, you colluded with the evil soul masters, a bunch of beasts that are intolerable to heaven."

But Xu Tianxin was obviously not in the mood to listen to Xu Tianran's nonsense. He just waved his hand impatiently, and the guards surrounding Xu Tianran immediately began to slowly approach Xu Tianran.

There was a flash of fear in Juzi's eyes, but she still held the soul guide dagger tightly in her hand, ready to deal with any emergency at any time.

"Your Highness, I will escort you out of the encirclement." After Orange finished speaking, the soul guide dagger in his hand suddenly emitted a ray of light. Although it looked so weak in the endless darkness, when facing these guards who were not even soul guides, Orange was unstoppable for a while.

However, how could the bright moon compete with fireflies? Long Xiaoyao just snorted softly and knocked the soul guide dagger out of Orange's hand.

"Mr. Long, please act quickly and capture them alive." Xu Tianxin shouted from below.

But Long Xiaoyao had no intention of paying any attention to Xu Tianxin. He suddenly looked solemn and looked at the boundless darkness above his head.

"Boom! Boom!" Bursts of muffled thunder-like sounds kept ringing in everyone's ears.

The next moment, the endless darkness above suddenly became much lighter.

"Not good!" Long Xiaoyao was shocked, and the robe behind him moved without wind. Black soul power surged out from under his black robe and protected Xu Tianxin who was still in a daze.

The next second, countless thunderbolts penetrated the endless darkness and fell beside Xu Tianxin. Countless thunderbolts, like silver lightning, instantly penetrated the curtain of darkness and illuminated the palace that was originally in darkness. They roared in, carrying the breath of destruction, as if to devour everything.

The power of thunder was like a thousand troops galloping past, making a deafening roar. They intertwined together to form a series of gorgeous lightning chains, illuminating the entire dark place.

Each lightning bolt contained infinite power and emitted dazzling light. They streaked across the sky, instantly tearing the curtain of darkness apart, making everything clearly visible.

Xu Tianxin and his men were trapped by the power of thunder. Except for Xu Tianxin, all the guards were enveloped by the thunder and lightning like a storm and were annihilated in an instant. Xu Tianxin's face was distorted. He did not expect Xu Tianran to have such a powerful force that he could break his defense line with one blow.

Xu Tianran and Juzi looked up, and the bright moon and stars that were originally covered by darkness appeared in front of them again.

However, a more powerful dark energy suddenly surged out from the depths, trying to devour all the power of thunder and shroud everything in darkness again.

(End of this chapter)