Douluo Continent: On Becoming a God Through Science

Zhu Zhuqing returned to her bedroom and pounced onto the bed with a thud.

He looked somewhat bewildered.

After all the pent-up emotions I'd been suppressing suddenly burst out and were released, my mind felt a bit empty.

This feeling is actually similar to the post-coital period, which most people should have experienced.

However, Zhu Zhuqing was still young and unaware of the existence of the Sage Time, which is why she was so confused and even somewhat fearful.

She herself was somewhat incredulous at her outburst just now.

How could I have said such things to my mother? Or were those my true thoughts?

She never imagined she would say so much in one go!

She sank into the soft bedding, still immersed in the afterglow of the pleasurable experience, unable to pull herself away for a long time.

"Miss, the head of the family wants you to go to the main hall to see her."

The knocking on the door was followed by the maid's voice, interrupting Zhu Zhuqing's lingering thoughts.

She sat up abruptly, her expression instantly switching to a calm demeanor.

"understood."

Zhu Zhuqing knew that the conversation just now was purely her venting.

The Beast Soul Alliance's mission progress is still not even close.

But the main event is yet to come.

"The questions she'll ask and the things she'll say will generally fall into a few categories, and Amona has already prepared a response plan for me."

She wasn't in a hurry at all. Instead, she took a leisurely shower to wash away the fatigue of the past few days before heading straight to the main hall with this thought in mind.

The door opened, and as Zhu Zhuqing stepped into the main hall, it closed naturally.

Zhu Lanyan held the throne in the main hall.

Humans are always influenced by symbols and identities, which do not possess real power but are entirely influenced by humanistic and subjective psychology, and feel a kind of tangible temperament, majesty and pressure.

We call it authority.

Thrones, by adjusting the height of the seat and its location, can naturally create a feeling of oppression.

This is precisely why Zhu Lanyan changed her location and chose such a place.

Clearly, the unexpected return of Zhu Zhuqing had prevented Zhu Lanyan from giving her guards any proper instructions, leading to Zhu Zhuqing's sudden intrusion and attack, which made Zhu Lanyan feel that her authority was being greatly challenged.

She had to get her revenge and regain her dignity.

The mother and daughter stared at each other in silence.

Even though Zhu Zhuqing had anticipated this situation, humans, who seem rational but are mostly driven by instinct, simply cannot achieve perfect self-control.

The mere change of scenery was enough to make Zhu Zhuqing feel the pressure.

However, she had ultimately received targeted training.

She didn't know how to relieve the pressure, but she maintained a calm facade and kept looking at Zhu Lanyan.

"After killing his sister, he can't even greet his own mother?"

After a long staring contest, seeing that Zhu Zhuqing's gaze remained fixed, Zhu Lanyan finally took the initiative and questioned Zhu Zhuqing on the grounds of filial piety and righteousness.

However, what she didn't know was that for Zhu Zhuqing, who had already been instilled with the goal of overthrowing the cruel blood-related competition mechanism of Xingluo, such false filial piety and friendship were exactly what she despised the most.

The anger that had subsided was reignited.

"Is a family that has long fought and killed each other for power now paying attention to such superficial things? If this is what nobility is, if this is what the royal family of Xingluo is, then it's truly laughable!"

Zhu Zhuqing retorted sharply, her face full of sarcasm.

Zhu Lanyan's face stiffened, her expression turning extremely ugly. She felt as if her daughter had been slapping her face repeatedly with all her might.

She never imagined that Zhu Zhuqing would be so sharp-tongued, leaving her speechless.

"Sharp-tongued and quick-witted!"

Unable to find a point to refute, Zhu Lanyan angrily moved on to the next topic: "No matter how much competition there is, it is ultimately an internal matter of our Zhu family! And you, Zhu Zhuqing, if you hadn't relied on the power of external forces, how could you have killed your sister?! You traitor, how dare you question family traditions in front of me? The decisions of countless family ancestors, even the founding emperor, are not for someone like you who relies on outsiders to deal with the rebellion and questioning of your own family!"

"Just because it's always been this way, does that mean it's right?"

Zhu Zhuqing looked at her mother, who was trying to use their ancestors to pressure her, and all her remaining sympathy vanished.

Now, when she looked at Zhu Lanyan again, she felt that compared to the many advanced ideas of the Beast Soul Alliance, this seemingly high-class and noble lady was only outwardly glamorous, but inwardly rotten and outdated.

What's there to be afraid of about someone like that?

Zhu Lanyan coldly retorted, "You have no right to argue with me about right and wrong!"

The powerful pressure of soul force attempted to crush Zhu Zhuqing's knees.

After completely dispelling Zhu Lanyan's allure, Zhu Zhuqing was no longer able to be overwhelmed by her, at least on a purely spiritual level.

While Zhu Zhuqing is indeed someone who goes with the flow and prefers to rely on the strong rather than actively forging her own path, she is not without merits.

Her greatest strength is... her ability to endure hardship!

She's not the kind of person who truly knows how to persevere.

If someone truly wants to become stronger and has this kind of persistence, they will definitely keep trying to find and figure out how to become stronger more efficiently.

Zhu Zhuqing clearly does not possess such qualities.

Just like in the original timeline at Shrek Academy, she would only pursue the advice of authorities, regardless of whether the plan was feasible or not.

But at least... she has the ability to execute.

To put it bluntly, this guy has the innate Palu Holy Body! He's a tough nut to crack, silently enduring all the abuse!

She doesn't understand what perseverance is, but at least she can tough it out!

Faced with Zhu Lanyan's soul pressure, she stubbornly held her head high, refusing to let her knees bend completely.

She even continued to mock and attack Zhu Lanyan: "What are you going to do? Kill me? Kill my only daughter? If you find another man now, maybe you can produce a new empress before the next emperor ascends the throne?"

Although the Zhu family were members of the imperial family, they were not the same as the Dai family. Moreover, even members of the Dai family often sought help from others or brought down powerful forces during their competition with each other.

Even if Zhu Zhuqing truly used the power of external forces to kill Zhu Zhuyun, at least it was confirmed that the interference of this force was indeed beyond their expected controllable range; otherwise, it would have been within the permissible range.

Just like Davis's brother now has several high-ranking nobles standing among him.

The background that the Beast Soul Alliance arranged for Zhu Zhuqing, namely Marquis Casas, a member of the royal family, clearly falls within this scope.

Logically, unless Zhu Lanyan had lost her mind, she couldn't possibly have actually killed Zhu Zhuqing. Considering Davis's age, any more children she gave birth to wouldn't be princesses, so she would have to find candidates from other collateral branches, which would inevitably lead to a loss of power for her.

Forget about Schrödinger's mother-daughter relationship; as long as Zhu Lanyan had a shred of rationality, she wouldn't really hurt Zhu Zhuqing. At most, she would threaten or intimidate her.

As long as there is a rational situation...

The problem is that Zhu Lanyan was completely overwhelmed by Zhu Zhuqing's sweet talk and the subsequent barrage of words, which broke her defenses.

"Zhu! Zhu! Qing!"

Zhu Lanyan revealed a ferocious expression that was completely unlike what a mother should show in front of her daughter. To Zhu Zhuqing's astonishment, a dark energy claw shadow shot towards Zhu Zhuqing at an extraordinary speed.

Zhu Lanyan is nearing forty. As the head of the Zhu family and the only daughter of the former Star Luo Emperor, she has enjoyed top-tier resources since childhood and is now a powerful Soul Saint.

Although not the strongest in the Zhu family, he is still among the top combatants.

After completing the sublimation of the Soul Saint stage, the Martial Soul naturally reaches the top quality. Even without Martial Soul possession, simply using dark energy to launch an attack is enough to threaten ordinary Soul King powerhouses.

Zhu Zhuqing was completely taken aback when she realized that her mother would actually attack her.

Firstly, in her eyes, she didn't intentionally want to kill Zhu Zhuyun; it was a legitimate counterattack under duress. Zhu Lanyan, on the other hand, actively trying to kill her was a completely different matter.

Secondly, she felt that she and Zhu Lanyan were, after all, mother and daughter. Although their feelings for each other had faded, they were by no means devoid of affection.

In fact, both of her judgments were very reasonable and well-founded.

Her biggest misjudgment was that when an individual possesses extraordinary power, their behavior will inevitably become arbitrary and capricious.

This is especially true in the Douluo Continent, where self-cultivation is not emphasized.

Perhaps Zhu Lanyan would also fall into deep regret after killing Zhu Zhuqing.

But at this moment, facing her second daughter who had just killed her beloved eldest daughter and dared to provoke her again and again, barking wildly in front of her, Zhu Lanyan's murderous intent arose. Since there was no one around and no one could restrain her, she directly chose to take action.

Faced with such an attack, Zhu Zhuqing was acutely aware that she was doomed.

The script didn't go as she had envisioned. While Zhu Zhuqing was taken aback, looking at Zhu Lanyan's crazed face, she also felt a sense of relief...

Just then, a figure suddenly appeared from Zhu Zhuqing's shadow, blocking her path with seemingly leisurely but incredibly fast steps, much to Zhu Zhuqing's astonishment.

"As expected, something unexpected happened."

Youxing muttered to himself as he blocked Zhu Lanyan's Netherworld Claw attack with a single hand.

"Young Master—" Zhu Zhuqing stared blankly into her black pearl-like eyes, but before she could utter the title, her voice was interrupted by Zhu Lanyan.

"Who are you!?"

After regaining her senses, Zhu Lanyan's arm trembled violently, clearly filled with regret. However, her immediate priority was dealing with You Xing, the unexpected guest who had suddenly appeared.

She was briefly captivated by Yusei's handsome and youthful face, then quickly composed herself, fixing him with a chilling gaze and demanding, "How did you sneak in here?"

Yusei, a young gentleman seemingly sculpted from a chivalrous novel, bowed before calmly looking directly into Zhu Lanyan's eyes and saying, "I am Yusei, a guard from the Casas family, one of the 'external forces' mentioned by Duke Zhu. I am here on my young master's orders to escort Miss Zhu Zhuqing back to the Duke's mansion and to perform my protective duties."

Zhu Zhuqing's pupils dilated slightly, suppressing her gasp.

Clearly, both Yusei's inexplicable becoming a guard for the Carsas family and the fact that Yusei, the young leader of the alliance, condescended to be her bodyguard were far beyond Zhu Zhuqing's expectations.

On the other side, just as Yusei had expected, Zhu Lanyan relaxed slightly after hearing Yusei's self-declaration. At least the Casas family, the force supporting Zhu Zhuqing, hadn't yet reached the level of an external power.

But instead, he put on an arrogant air: "Leaving aside your identification, you're a guard of the Carthus family, and you haven't answered my second question yet."

It's only natural that Zhu Lanyan would be arrogant.

Although the Marquis de Casas is a marquisate, it has been in decline for nearly a century and is a marginal family within the empire. While some viscount families still look up to them, they no longer hold any authority over some prosperous earl families and are privately referred to as fallen nobles.

Compared to the powerful Zhu family, they are nothing but insignificant shrimps.

Even though Yusei easily blocked my casual attack just now, he still possesses the combat power of a Soul King.

Given You Xing's appearance and age, he was undoubtedly an extremely brilliant genius, and Zhu Lanyan did not take him seriously.

This is the way of the aristocracy.

Unless they possess an individual power that can disregard the nation's strength, even the strongest forces will assume they can overwhelm and defeat others with their power.

Zhu Zhuqing's heart tightened.

She knew very well what Yusei was really like.

It's one thing to step in and save the day, but how could I possibly treat the other person like my bodyguard and let Zhu Lanyan interrogate me like a servant?

You Xing didn't look at her, but Zhu Zhuqing felt that You Xing was looking at her.

She immediately straightened her face, forgetting the fear of her near-death experience, and said coldly to Zhu Lanyan, "Zhu Lanyan, he is my guard, not a member of the Zhu family. He has no reason to answer your question."

Zhu Lanyan's eyes flashed.

Instead of reprimanding her daughter for addressing her by her first name, she calmed down completely and smiled, "So firmly on the side of the Carthus family? It seems you already know about that matter and intend to place your bets entirely on the Carthus family?"

Zhu Zhuqing's expression remained unchanged.

The matter in question involved the Beast Soul Alliance's plans, which she naturally knew about before returning to the Zhu family.

At first, she was indeed shocked and speechless, but after so much time, although Zhu Zhuqing was still incredibly shocked, she was no longer unable to accept it.

As for the specific matter that could cause Zhu Lanyan to change her attitude so suddenly?

On the same day that Zhu Zhuqing agreed to join the Beast Soul Alliance, You Chen sent an avatar to assassinate Davis, the current Crown Prince of the Star Luo Empire.

This incident naturally caused a huge uproar within the Star Luo royal family, who frantically searched for the assassin.

Besides finding the assassin, another major event followed—the change of the crown prince. (End of Chapter)