Douluo, my clone Groudon

Chapter 316 Big Oolong

The convoy slowly drove through the heavily guarded palace gates and into the royal forbidden area that symbolized the highest power and majesty of the Star Luo Empire.

The banquet hall of Xingluo Palace was magnificent, with huge crystal chandeliers casting soft and dazzling light, and melodious court music flowing in the air.

The elegantly dressed guests conversed in hushed tones, the air thick with the subtle interplay of champagne, gourmet food, and power.

However, for Tang Wulin, all of this seemed somewhat distant and dull.

He sat in the Shrek Academy area, forcing himself to stay awake, but his mind was already elsewhere.

The list of materials needed for the fifth layer of the Golden Dragon King seal swirled in his mind. Those rare and nearly extinct natural treasures made him feel immense pressure.

I stayed up late last night researching information, and after days of searching, exhaustion washed over me like a tidal wave.

He tried his best to maintain a proper posture, but his eyelids grew heavier and heavier, his consciousness gradually blurred, and his head drooped slightly. In the midst of the royal banquet filled with clinking glasses and elegant attire, he drifted off to sleep.

Not far away, Dai Yun'er, sitting in the royal family's seat, listlessly swirled the juice in her glass.

Her gaze swept across the entire room and quickly spotted the black-haired boy who dared to doze off in such an important occasion—the same guy who had given her guards a hard time on the street just two days ago!

A mischievous smile crept onto Dai Yun'er's lips as a prank idea popped into her head.

She channeled her mental energy, precisely focusing her voice into a single line, like an invisible needle, aiming to "pierce" Tang Wulin's ear:

“Murder!”

Enveloped in her soul power, the voice should have been audible only to Tang Wulin, enough to terrify him and make him look foolish in public.

However, just as the condensed soul power was about to reach Tang Wulin's ear, Gula, who had been sitting quietly near Tang Wulin and also found the occasion utterly boring, had a barely perceptible hint of mockery flash in his dark golden eyes.

His extraordinary mental strength, like the most sensitive radar, instantly detected the thin thread of soul power wrapped around Dai Yun'er's mischievous voice.

Without any hesitation, Gula's thoughts stirred slightly, and a wisp of purer, more concentrated, and slightly mischievous spiritual power, like the sharpest needle, precisely "stabbed" the weak point of Dai Yun'er's thin line of soul power.

"Pfft-"

A faint sound of energy breaking, barely audible to Gula himself, rang out.

Dai Yun'er's carefully crafted soul power shell instantly crumbled.

That clear, teasing scream from a young girl, originally directed only at Tang Wulin:
“Murder!”

Like a thunderclap released from its seal, it resounded without warning and with perfect clarity throughout the magnificent banquet hall, which had previously been filled only with whispers and music!

"Om-!"

Time seemed to freeze for a moment, followed by a tremendous uproar.

Tang Wulin, who was dozing off, was instantly jolted awake as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head.

Almost instinctively, his soul power erupted, the Blue Silver Emperor Martial Soul instantly possessed him, and the two-word battle armor pieces, shimmering with golden light, instantly covered his hands and legs, unleashing a powerful aura and instinctive defense.

His eyes were sharp as knives as he nervously scanned his surroundings, searching for the source of the sound and possible enemies.

But no one paid attention to him at this time, because the whole hall was in an uproar.

That abrupt, clear, and terrified cry of "Murder!" was like a boulder thrown into a calm lake.

Almost all the guests were so startled by the scream that their hearts stopped. The royal guards and soul masters responsible for security were like frightened birds, instantly unleashing their full soul power!

In an instant, the hall was filled with flashes of light, and the true forms of martial spirits and various battle armors appeared one after another. The sounds of swords being drawn, soul power surging, and screams were mixed together.

The atmosphere instantly became extremely tense, with everyone believing it was an assassination attempt targeting His Majesty the Emperor or a key figure in the delegation.

Emperor Dai Tianling of Xingluo was holding a wine glass, less than ten meters away from Cai Yue'er and Zhuo Shi, the key figures of the Federation delegation, preparing for a crucial courtesy greeting.

The scream and the sudden chaos before his eyes turned the face of this extremely shrewd emperor ashen.

An indescribable rage surged to his head. This was a blatant slap in the face to the Star Luo royal family and a disruption of this solemn state occasion.

He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his surging anger. The ashen color on his face quickly faded, and he regained his imperial dignity and composure.

His calm voice, like a booming bell, instantly silenced all the noise: "Silence!!" The powerful voice, imbued with immense soul force, sent a jolt through everyone.

"Who's making a scene?! Guards, find out what's going on!" Dai Tianling's gaze swept across the entire area like lightning, finally landing on Dai Yun'er, who was pale-faced, at a loss, and trying to shrink back into the crowd.

He already understood about 70-80% of the situation, and a feeling of helplessness at the inadequacy of his son's potential was intertwined with even greater anger.

Dai Yun'er was filled with regret. She only wanted to use her voice to scare the sleeping guy, but how did her voice end up resounding throughout the entire area?!

Looking at the terrified people around her, especially the Federation delegation, who were casting suspicious, scrutinizing, and even slightly contemptuous glances at her, Dai Yun'er wished she could disappear into the ground.

Taking advantage of the chaos, she crouched down and tried to sneak away.

However, the titled Douluo, an elderly man with white hair and beard, who was responsible for protecting the royal family members, had already locked onto her.

He knew this little princess's nature all too well. It was one thing for her to play pranks normally, but she had caused such a huge mess on this occasion. How could he let her go?
With a flash, he subtly blocked Dai Yun'er's path, while simultaneously sending a precise telepathic message into Dai Tianling's ear.

Dai Tianling glanced at her most beloved youngest daughter with a complicated expression, barely suppressing the urge to explode. The most important thing now was to salvage the situation and prevent the Federation from becoming an even bigger laughingstock.

He turned to the federal delegation, a perfectly timed apology on his face: "Please forgive my rudeness, it was just a minor accident, a false alarm. The palace is heavily guarded, there was absolutely no trouble from the villains. Please rest assured, the banquet will continue."

He waved his hand, and the guards who had released their martial spirits and battle armor were relieved, quickly concealing their auras and returning to their original positions. However, the atmosphere had become extremely awkward and delicate. Dai Yun'er's face flushed red, and she wanted to explain, but didn't know what to say.

Dai Tianling's gaze fell on Dai Yun'er. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable authority: "Yun'er, don't be silly. Get out of here!" The tone was reprimanding, but the punishment was raised high and then gently lowered.

Dai Yun'er felt as if she had been granted a pardon. With her head down, she fled the hall quickly under the watchful eyes of countless people. She knew that her father was protecting her, but the grievance and shame she felt almost made her cry.

However, the impact of this farce did not dissipate. On the side of the Star Luo Empire, from the emperor and ministers to the guards and servants, everyone felt their faces burning with shame.

Although the gazes cast by the Federal delegation appeared calm on the surface, the subtle scrutiny and even the hint of schadenfreude they carried made the people of the Star Luo Empire feel an unprecedented sense of humiliation.

It was as if they were saying in silence: How could the Star Luo royal family be so ill-mannered?

The ensuing meetings and banquets proceeded according to protocol, but an underlying gloom and awkwardness lingered throughout. The Star Luo Empire side forced smiles, while the Federation side maintained a polite yet distant demeanor.

Gula remained quietly in his seat throughout, as if the earth-shattering chaos that had just occurred had nothing to do with him.

He picked up his wine glass, took a small sip, and a faint, unnoticed, gleam of pleasure, like the aftermath of a successful prank, flickered deep within his golden eyes, concealing his accomplishment and fame.

The banquet finally ended in an almost agonizing atmosphere. Shrek and his entourage, along with other members of the delegation, boarded the limousines returning to their hotel. As soon as they left the palace grounds, the oppressive atmosphere instantly dissipated.

"My God, that scared me to death! I thought someone was really going to assassinate the emperor!" Xie Xie patted his chest, looking terrified.

"Is it that princess? Dai Yun'er?" Xu Xiaoyan whispered. "She's too outrageous."

"That's her! The one who ran away after being scolded by the emperor." Le Zhengyu's tone was tinged with disdain. "To act recklessly in a setting like this, the Xingluo royal family's upbringing is truly an eye-opener today."

“However,” Ye Xinglan’s cool voice rang out, tinged with a hint of doubt, “as a princess, Dai Yun’er shouldn’t be so unwise, unless she’s so stupid as to not understand what today’s banquet represents.”

“Yes.” Yuan Enhui frowned as well. “Moreover, judging from her panicked expression, it doesn’t seem like she did it on purpose. Instead, it seems like someone is framing her. But judging from the voices of the other people in the Star Luo Empire, it is indeed Princess Dao’s voice.”

"Could it be that someone is secretly plotting something?" Xu Lizhi asked innocently.

Wu Changkong sat in the passenger seat, eyes closed, seemingly oblivious to the students' chatter, but his slightly furrowed brows showed that he was also deep in thought.

Tang Wulin recalled the scene at that time, and it did indeed have a strange feel to it.

The crowd buzzed with speculation, guessing at various possibilities—was it a powerful figure in the Federation delegation who disliked Xingluo? Was it someone within Xingluo who was dissatisfied with the princess? Or was it some hidden third-party force deliberately stirring things up? But whatever the guess, there was no solid evidence or motive, and in the end, it all came to nothing.

Meanwhile, deep within the Star Luo Imperial Palace.

Dai Tianling walked ahead with a sullen face, followed by Dai Yun'er, who was dejected and had red eyes.

Back in the imperial study, after dismissing everyone around, Dai Tianling turned around and looked at his most beloved daughter, his tone stern:

"Yun'er! You have disappointed me greatly. I usually take your mischievousness for granted because you are young and it is harmless. But what is this occasion?! A state banquet! A matter of the Empire's honor! How dare you act so recklessly!"

"Father!" Dai Yun'er cried, tears streaming down her face. "Your subject is innocent! Your subject really just wanted to use telepathy to scare that sleepy Shrek kid, but who knew... who knew the telepathy would suddenly fail and the sound would become so loud! I don't know what happened!"

She tried to explain herself urgently, her voice trembling with tears.

Seeing her daughter's aggrieved and frightened expression, which seemed genuine, Dai Tianling's anger subsided slightly, replaced by deep doubt.

He knew Dai Yun'er well. Although she was mischievous, she still knew her limits. The possibility of her playing a prank in this situation was very low, and she would never be stupid enough to use a word like "murder" that would cause a huge uproar.

Moreover, he was aware of Dai Yun'er's talent in controlling mental and soul power.

"You mean... your telepathic communication was disrupted?" Dai Tianling asked in a deep voice, his eyes sharpening.

“It must be!” Dai Yun’er nodded vigorously. “My voice transmission was perfectly concentrated, but just as it was about to reach that guy’s ears, I suddenly felt as if the soul power enveloping the voice was… pierced by a needle, and then it went out of control, and the voice came out on its own.”

“It was sabotaged…” Dai Tianling paced back and forth, his brows furrowed. “The sound transmission was so secretive that it was wrapped in soul power or mental power and transmitted in a directional manner.”

"Unless it's someone with mental strength far surpassing yours, and a powerful individual capable of precisely detecting the faint trajectory of your transmitted soul power, it's impossible to intercept or even disrupt it... And to do this silently, and amplify the sound to that extent..."

Dai Tianling grew increasingly alarmed as he thought about it. "What terrifying control over mental and soul power does this require? Even for a Super Douluo, it would be extremely difficult to do this if they didn't know when or who you were communicating with."

Father and daughter exchanged a glance, both seeing the gravity and confusion in each other's eyes. Who was it? Which hidden powerhouse within the Federation delegation?
Or is there a terrifying entity lurking within the empire that they are unaware of? And what is its purpose? Is it merely to embarrass Dai Yun'er and thereby humiliate the Star Luo royal family?
They racked their brains, sifting through possible candidates, but could not imagine that this earth-shattering scene, which almost triggered a diplomatic crisis, was instigated by someone who was bored and had a sudden, wicked idea.

Gula's name never even appeared on their list of suspects.

This mystery, like a dark cloud, shrouded Dai Tianling's heart and also made Dai Yun'er feel an unprecedented unease.

Unable to get an answer, she vaguely felt that all of this seemed to be related to the dozing black-haired boy, but all of this could only be a vague intuition and could not be verified.

Besides, if it weren't for him, I wouldn't have even thought of using telepathy, and I wouldn't have made that mistake.

Dai Yun'er, who had never been publicly reprimanded by Dai Tianling, had an incredibly strong sense of self-respect. Even without finding the real culprit, she still set her sights on Tang Wulin, just like in the original story.

The night in the palace seemed exceptionally deep.

The grand palace banquet finally began. Melodious music filled the air, and under the dazzling lights, guests flocked to the dance floor.

The incident caused by the "prank" during the previous meeting seemed to have been deliberately forgotten, and at least on the surface, the atmosphere had become relaxed and elegant again.

The Star Luo Empire side made a concerted effort to maintain polite smiles, and the Federation delegation tacitly cooperated with this "harmony."

Dai Yun'er changed into a more exquisite pale yellow court dance dress, her face adorned with an impeccable sweet smile, as if the girl who had just been scolded by her father and fled in a disheveled state had nothing to do with her.

Her gaze swept around and quickly locked onto her target—Tang Wulin, the black-haired boy who was trying to make himself inconspicuous in the corner, his face still showing signs of weariness and helplessness.

(End of this chapter)