Douluo Dalu: The Frozen Throne

Chapter 198: Changes in the Empire, Shu Yan's Aunt and Warmth

As the days go by, the next Fighting Spirit Competition is getting closer and closer, and Xingluo City has slowly begun to make preparations.

It is worth mentioning that, due to Xu Jiawei's tough attitude and persistence, Xingluo's soul guide technology has developed well in recent years. In addition, with the ninth-level soul guide who defected from the Sun-Moon Empire constantly providing advanced soul guide technology from the Sun-Moon Empire, the enthusiasm for the development of soul guides in the entire empire is unprecedentedly high.

Those nobles or forces that originally stood in the way turned into dry bones in the previous bloody cleansing. Everyone understood that this was the emperor's will. At this time, most people could hardly protect themselves, so who would dare to be the first to step forward?
Isn't this obviously seeking death?
As we all know, once obstacles are removed, anything will become much easier than before, whether it is the development of soul guide technology or the so-called welfare policy.

With Xingluo City as the center, a total of twenty-eight major cities in the entire empire have now begun to implement the policy of awakening martial spirits for civilians free of charge. Of course, based on the current situation on the mainland and within the empire, the possibility of such a policy covering the entire country in a short period of time is not very high.

However, with these twenty-eight big cities as the core, it will only take a certain amount of time, and one day in the future it will be able to cover the entire country and even the entire plane.

Most of the soul masters who awaken martial spirits for civilians are only soul masters at the Soul Master to Soul Master level. They themselves have low potential, and most of them don’t even have a yellow soul ring. It is a kind of luck for them to be able to get into the empire’s organization.

Moreover, awakening martial spirits for civilians is directly linked to their performance. Once a genius appears among the children they awaken, they can also obtain a generous reward of gold soul coins or training resources. The empire conducts a large-scale survey every five years. The one who awakens the most people and awakens the most trainable soul masters (geniuses) can even get a soul bone. Of course, it is only a thousand-year soul bone of ordinary quality.

If the quality and age were higher, it would not be within the reach of people of their level. If they ever get their hands on it, I'm afraid their entire family would be killed that day.

In this era when ninety-seven out of a hundred civilians cannot awaken their spirits due to poverty or various reasons, this decree is what the people want. The reason why the Spirit Hall ten thousand years ago was so popular among the people in that era is because of this. Although a large part of the gold soul coins they used to support this work came from the two great empires at that time...

The whole country seemed to be thriving, and Xu Jiawei, as the emperor, was naturally very happy. He also seemed to be a little more relaxed, no longer as serious and stiff as before.

The changes in Xing Luo were visible to the naked eye. The other three countries and even Shrek Academy had heard about it. But no matter what the reason, everything was going smoothly. Several riots had broken out in various places, but they were all quickly suppressed with bloody means by many Titled Douluo who arrived in time. The benefits of having many Titled Douluo were reflected at this time. In the face of such potential large-scale threats, it was entirely possible to assign one person to each place for surveillance.

In today's era, although the number of Titled Douluo has increased several times compared to ten thousand years ago, the overall value is still there. Once you become a Titled Douluo, no matter which of the four empires you join, you will gain extremely good status and power. Compared with the rare and precious Super Douluo or Extreme Douluo, the existence of Titled Douluo may not affect large-scale battles, but in such a cleansing, the spirit of enduring hardships and hard work is very admirable.

……

On this day, Shu Yan, who was arranging affairs, learned a piece of news that surprised him a little.

His father's sister, his aunt, actually came to Xingluo City today.

Shu Yan was not familiar with this aunt, and he had never even met her in person. However, she had written him several letters, and the affection she expressed in her letters was unmistakable.

Back when they were in the Douling Empire, his aunt was busy dealing with important matters and could not return. When she finally had time, Shu Yan and his companions had already hurried back to Xingluo City. She happened to have come back empty-handed. In addition, she was on the verge of a breakthrough, so she went into seclusion until she had a breakthrough before coming to Xingluo City to look for them.

Unlike Su Mingxuan, Su Wanqiu looked extremely young, seemingly in her twenties. She had long gray hair and delicate facial features. If Shu Yan did not know that she was only a few years younger than Su Mingxuan, he would probably have mistaken her for a young descendant of a certain family.

The moment Su Wanqiu saw Shu Yan, her eyes lit up. She ignored her status and gave Shu Yan a big bear hug. Then she let go of his hand and said with a faint smile:
"My dear nephew, come and call me auntie..."

"aunt……"

Shu Yan smiled helplessly. Although he had learned from his parents that his aunt had a peculiar personality, he was still a little surprised when he saw it with his own eyes.

After all, this person is at least fifty years old...

Su Wanqiu seemed very satisfied with Shu Yan's understanding. She pinched Shu Yan's cheek, then stretched out her hand with a serious look, which made Shu Yan a little confused.

Seeing a trace of confusion in Shu Yan's expression, Su Wanqiu glanced at the helpless Su Mingxuan and his wife behind Shu Yan, and then said with a smile:
"My strange nephew, where is the gift for your aunt? I know how wealthy you are, so why are you being a stingy person?"

Shu Yan was stunned when he heard this, then he smiled helplessly, spread his hands and said:
"Aunt, you are my elder, so you should prepare this gift for me. Why do you think it's wrong for me?"

Su Wanqiu's smile did not fade at all. She stepped over Shu Yan and hugged Ruan Qinyu's arm. She also pushed Su Mingxuan, who looked helpless, aside and said:

"I originally prepared a ten thousand year soul bone for you as a gift, but who knew that my nephew was such a genius. I really can't afford a ten thousand year soul bone, and my family is poor, so I have no choice but to let my nephew show some mercy~"

As she spoke, Su Wanqiu squeezed her eyes in a pitiful manner, although there was no trace of moisture at all.

Su Mingxuan next to him stepped forward and patted Shu Yan on the shoulder, then spoke softly:
"Ayan, don't bother with your aunt. She has been spoiled by the elders in the family since she was a child. When she grew up, she didn't want to have a stable family. Instead, she traveled around. She finally settled down in the past few years, but when she heard the news that you were back, she became wild again..."

Su Wanqiu showed a teasing smile on her face. She stared at Su Mingxuan and then said softly, "Brother, I don't know if you still remember that time when you got drunk and hugged your sister-in-law's thigh..."

"stop!"

Before he finished speaking, Su Mingxuan's old face suddenly turned red.

The old things still come to mind now. In order to pursue the goddess Ruan Qinyu, he made a lot of embarrassment. But his sister knew everything under the pretext of giving him advice...

If Su Wanqiu really said it now, I’m afraid he would never be able to show his face in front of his wife and children in the future.

Su Wanqiu was laughing so hard that her body shook. Ruan Qinyu rolled her eyes at Su Mingxuan and then pinched Su Wanqiu's arm secretly. How could these two people affect her image of being gentle, considerate and sensible in front of her own son...

Shu Yan watched from the side, his face, which had become increasingly cold and mature with age, was now full of gentleness. Feeling the fights between family members now was indeed an indescribable feeling.

After thinking about it, Shu Yan took out the 30,000-year-old dark gold terrorclaw bear's right arm bone from his soul guide.

"Aunt, I see that you haven't absorbed the right arm soul bone yet. Although this right arm soul bone from the Dark Gold Terror Claw Bear is only 30,000 years old, due to the strength and rarity of the Dark Gold Terror Claw Bear itself, its quality is no less than the right arm bone produced by ordinary soul beasts of 70,000 to 80,000 years old. It can be regarded as a gift from me to Aunt..."

The violent and sharp aura was rampant in the air, as if the hideous and huge figure of the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear was right in front of him. For a moment, even the air seemed to be stagnant.

Su Mingxuan and the other two were stunned for a moment, then Su Mingxuan's expression became more serious. He looked at Shu Yan and said:
"Ayan, where did you get this soul bone?"

Shu Yan smiled helplessly, and then said:

“Don’t think too much. You all know that I have two northern soul beast masters beside me. The beast god Di Tian of the Xingdou Great Forest and many fierce beasts are also quite friendly with me. As for this soul bone, it was given by the king of the dark gold terror claw bear, Xiong Jun. Among the people around me, no one wanted to absorb the soul ring of the dark gold terror claw bear at that time…”

After hearing this, the three of them were startled again. After a long while, Su Mingxuan smiled bitterly, then patted Shu Yan's shoulder again and said:
"What you have done is beyond our reach, A Yan, you really surprise and delight me..."

Ruan Qinyu sighed softly. She knew her son's ambitions and goals. As a mother, she should have supported her son. However, as a mother, she was selfish by nature and didn't want him to be involved in dangerous things...

Su Wanqiu was stunned for a moment, then saw that Su Mingxuan and Ruan Qinyu both looked not surprised. Thinking of her brother's previous instructions, a smile appeared on her face for a moment, and then she took the soul bone from Shu Yan without any psychological burden.

"My little nephew is really promising. I will follow you from now on. Don't worry, I don't have high requirements. You just need to feed me to level 99 in the future."

There is a hint of sarcasm in the last sentence, and it is obviously a joke.

There is no doubt that she loves Shu Yan. She has no family or children and has been spoiled by her brother since she was a child. Later, Ruan Qinyu took care of her in every possible way. She has a very deep affection for her brother and sister-in-law, and she also loves Shu Yan very much. It's just that with her personality, she doesn't show it much. But Shu Yan is so sensitive to emotions that all this naturally cannot escape his eyes.

Su Mingxuan looked at Su Wanqiu who was holding the soul bone in her arms and couldn't let it go. He sighed with some regret and said:

“You and I are both born with full soul power. Although your killer whale martial soul is not as powerful as my ice lord martial soul, it is also a powerful existence among the top beast martial souls. If you had worked harder, you would not have stayed at level 91 for so long before breaking through to the next level. You...sigh..."

The eldest brother’s teachings and helplessness are obvious.

Su Wanqiu just curled her lips and smiled, then chuckled and said:

"Brother, what you said is wrong. Our nephew is so promising. If he can give me any benefits in the future, it will be ten times or a hundred times better than practicing on my own. Look, I haven't practiced much in all these years, but the elders and you have forced me to reach the Titled Douluo realm. So, this proves that I am not born to be suitable for cultivation. The truth is that I am waiting for you to lead me..."

Listening to Su Wanqiu's twisted logic, Su Mingxuan was so angry that he almost destroyed his years of energy-cultivation skills, but he forced himself to hold it back in the end.

Ruan Qinyu continued to smile as she and Shu Yan watched the fight between the siblings. For a moment, the scene was unusually warm...

……

(End of this chapter)