Wuhun Xuanming Turtle? Bullshit, this is the sacred beast Xuanwu

Chapter 173 Mu Xue Ascends the Throne, Xu Lingxiao Promoted to Duke
Upon receiving Xu Lingxiao's reply, Yan Qin's face showed deep disappointment, but he quickly closed his eyes peacefully.

"Alright... let's leave it at that... I'd better not meddle in the affairs of young people."

Yan Qin's lips curled into a smile, though it was unclear whether it was a bitter smile or something else entirely.

A moment later, Yan Qin's head slowly tilted to the side.

The hand that had just been holding Mu Xue now fell limp.

Upon seeing this, a royal physician hurriedly stepped forward and reached out to take Yan Qin's pulse.

"His Majesty is dead!"

A sharp sound erupted from the imperial physician's mouth.

In an instant, the news spread throughout the entire palace and also beyond.

Along with Yan Qin's will, the entire court of the Heavenly Soul Empire came to know.

Soon, the entire palace was plunged into grief.

The death of an emperor is a momentous event that will shake the entire court, no matter the time.

The court officials quickly got busy after their initial grief.

In reality, their so-called grief is just for show; it's hard to say how much they truly grieve inside.

After that, everyone got busy preparing for Mu Xue's coronation ceremony.

three days later
Mu Xue officially ascended the throne.

"Long live your Majesty!"

At this moment, countless ministers knelt down before Mu Xue.

"Xu Lingxiao is hereby granted the title of Duke of the Empire!"

Immediately after assuming the throne, Mu Xue issued her first order.

That is to promote Xu Lingxiao to a higher official rank.

The Duke is now the second most powerful person in the empire.

For a duke, his power is terrifying. Take the White Tiger Duke in the Star Luo Empire as an example. The White Tiger Duke has his own fiefdom.

Moreover, they have their own personal soldiers, which is a terrifying privilege.

Even the Duke of White Tiger had his own personal soldiers who did not obey the imperial court's orders, but only the orders of the Duke of White Tiger's mansion.

Although the title of Duke is only the first rank among peerages, theoretically it is even lower than that of Prince.

However, despite holding the title of prince, he actually had no real power.

It's just an empty title.

Xu Lingxiao's status as a duke was similar; the power he wielded was equally astonishing.

However, no one in the court opposed this order.

Xu Lingxiao doesn't usually attend court, so he naturally doesn't know what kind of power he currently wields in the court.

He can be considered the leader of the new faction, and the new faction's power in the current Heavenly Soul Empire court is unprecedented, unlike before when it was constantly suppressed by the conservatives.

This naturally means that Xu Lingxiao has considerable influence.

Now that he has become a duke, no one objects.

"Thank you Lord for your grace."

Xu Lingxiao accepted the imperial edict of investiture and bowed respectfully to Mu Xue.

"Senior Ling Xiao, you're amazing..."

Huo Yuhao stood behind the crowd and couldn't help but sigh as he looked at Xu Lingxiao, who was standing at the front of the line.

He is now a disciple of the Body Sect, which is the state religion of the Heavenly Soul Empire.

His presence here is perfectly normal; not only are many of his disciples from the Body Sect present at this coronation ceremony, but Long Aotian is also among them.

"This guy's talent is truly amazing!"

Even Long Aotian couldn't help but shake his head at this moment.

"Yes, as expected of Senior Ling Xiao." Huo Yuhao thought to himself.

Long ago, when he first met Xu Lingxiao, the two almost had a conflict. At that time, Xu Lingxiao was just a count in the Heavenly Soul Empire, and he said he would help him raze the White Tiger Duke's Mansion.

At that time, Huo Yuhao still had doubts, but in such a short time, that count has now become the Duke of the Heavenly Soul Empire.

At least in terms of status, he should be able to stand on equal footing with the Duke of White Tiger.

The enthronement ceremony was rather complicated.

The ceremony finally came to an end after a long time.

After the ceremony, everyone naturally went back to their own homes and families.

"Your Grace, there are people claiming to be from Shrek Academy requesting an audience outside the door."

Xu Lingxiao had barely returned to his ducal mansion when a servant immediately stepped forward and began to report to him.

Upon hearing the name Shrek Academy, Xu Lingxiao couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

"Please come in."

Xu Lingxiao thought about it and then invited them in.

He calculated the time and concluded that the Holy Spirit Cult should have already launched a surprise attack on Shrek Academy by now.

However, in the original novel, Ma Xiaotao was in a coma, but now that Ma Xiaotao is so awake, there's no way they could just take her away.

"Duke Xu".

Soon, a person wearing a Shrek Academy uniform walked in.

This person was probably in his early thirties, and looked quite young, but there was no doubt that he was a teacher at Shrek Academy.

"What brings you here?"

Xu Lingxiao then inquired about the other party's purpose.

Actually, he didn't have much of a grudge against Shrek Academy. At most, he had studied there for a period of time as an exchange student.

Any further entanglement might just be because you stole a large number of their geniuses.

However, birds choose good trees to roost in, so it's not unusual for them to come here.

"Is such that."

The teacher quickly explained, "Recently, Shrek Academy received an exchange student application from the Sun Moon Empire Academy."

"After discussions at the Sea God Pavilion, we intend to give you one of our exchange student spots."

The teacher was quite respectful to Xu Lingxiao, after all, Xu Lingxiao was now a duke of the Heavenly Soul Empire.

The title of a duke is quite prestigious.

"Um……"

Upon hearing this, Xu Lingxiao immediately began to ponder.

The Sun Moon Empire was undoubtedly the most proficient in soul tools on the Douluo Continent, but he wasn't particularly interested in it.

After all, for Xu Lingxiao, the only difficulty in getting started with soul tools was that he had already mastered the basics, and he could easily navigate the rest of the journey on his own.

Moreover, for him, soul tools were not a necessity; he merely used them to assist himself.

"No need for that. How about this, you let Huo Yuhao go over there."

As Xu Lingxiao spoke, he had someone call Huo Yuhao over.

This opportunity is clearly more suitable for Huo Yuhao.

"Huh? What? You just gave me this spot like that?"

Huo Yuhao was also somewhat stunned when he learned of this news.

However, this was also good news for him, as Huo Yuhao soon left with that teacher.

……

(End of this chapter)