Douluo Continent: The creation of Jixia Academy made Bibi Dong drool with envy.

Chapter 152 We only accept submission.

That evening, the Eastern Palace was brightly lit, but only a small banquet was set up inside the luxurious palace.

Crown Prince Xu Yun of Xingluo had already dismissed all the servants and was waiting outside the palace himself.

When he saw Shangguan Wan'er and Huo Yuhao appear in front of the palace gate, he immediately put on his warmest and most sincere smile and took the initiative to greet them.

"Miss Wan'er, Mr. Huo, it is truly an honor for your presence in my Eastern Palace."

Xu Yun adopted an extremely humble posture, showing none of the airs of a crown prince.

"Your Highness is too kind," Shangguan Wan'er said with a smile, returning the greeting.

Huo Yuhao followed her example and awkwardly cupped his hands in greeting.

The three sat down and drank several rounds of wine.

Xu Yun stopped beating around the bush. He put down his wine glass, looked intently at Huo Yuhao, and said bluntly:

"Mr. Huo, I have taken the liberty of inviting you today because there is something I would like to discuss with you."

"Your Highness, please speak." Huo Yuhao's heart leaped into his throat.

"I witnessed Mr. Huo's performance on the field today." Xu Yun's eyes were filled with undisguised admiration. "Guiding the entire game with soul power and deciding the outcome by the smallest of margins. Such command ability is rare in this world! Not to mention, your family's miraculous hidden weapon skills have truly broadened my horizons!"

He paused, his voice becoming incredibly sincere:
"I know that there is a deep-seated grudge between your family and the White Tiger Duke's Mansion. And I, like Dai Hao, am irreconcilably at odds with him!"

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

Xu Yun suddenly stood up from his seat and bowed deeply to Huo Yuhao.

"I wish to form an alliance with the Tang Clan!"

"I can promise that as long as the Tang Sect is willing to lend me a hand in eliminating Dai Hao, this traitor to the nation, when I ascend the throne in the future, I will surely honor the Tang Sect as the number one sect in Xingluo, enjoy unparalleled glory, and live in harmony with the nation!"

boom!
His Highness the Crown Prince's words struck Huo Yuhao's heart like a thunderbolt from a clear sky!

An alliance with the Crown Prince?
Eliminate Dai Hao?

Is it revered as the number one sect?

This...this is practically a chance to rise to the top in one step!
Huo Yuhao's heart pounded wildly at this sudden and immense temptation.

He could even feel the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm within his sea of ​​consciousness humming excitedly at this moment.

However, just as he was feeling excited and almost subconsciously nodded in agreement.

Shangguan Wan'er's clear and melodious voice, like a clear spring, gently rang in his ears.

"We appreciate Your Highness's kindness."

She put down her teacup and looked at Xu Yun with a smile. Her clear eyes, which seemed to see right through people, made Xu Yun's heart skip a beat.

"However, Your Highness seems to have... made a mistake."

"Oh? Please enlighten me, Miss Wan'er." Xu Yun's heart skipped a beat, but she forced a smile and asked.

"My Tang Clan, or rather, my Jixia Academy." Shangguan Wan'er's tone remained gentle, but the weight contained in her words made the air in the entire hall seem to freeze.

"I have never needed to form an alliance with anyone."

"because…"

She looked at Xu Yun and said clearly, word by word:
"We only accept... submission."

Surrender?!
When those two words were lightly uttered from Shangguan Wan'er's gentle red lips, the air in the entire East Palace seemed to freeze instantly!
The smile on Crown Prince Xu Yun's face froze completely.

His eyes, which were already filled with astonishment and doubt, were instantly replaced by boundless shock and disbelief!

He had imagined countless possibilities.

The other party might agree with great joy, or they might pretend to be reserved and haggle, or they might even politely refuse out of fear of Dai Hao's power.

But he never expected it.

The other party is actually... so arrogant!

So... merciless!
Surrender?!
To make him, the crown prince and future emperor of the Star Luo Empire, submit to a mysterious academy whose origins are unclear?!

This is simply the most ridiculous thing in the world!

It was the greatest humiliation to his royal dignity!
"You...what did you say?!"

Xu Yun's voice became somewhat sharp due to extreme shock and anger.

He even forgot that he needed to maintain his image as a gentle and refined prince.

"Miss Wan'er, do you know what you are saying?"
Do you know what your words mean?! "Of course I know."

Shangguan Wan'er's face still held that calm and elegant smile, as if those earth-shattering words had not come from her mouth at all.

“Your Highness, you are a wise man and should be able to see the current situation on the mainland.”

She slowly poured herself a cup of tea and said calmly:

"Whether it's Xingluo, Tiandou, or the Spirit Hall which is already in decline."

Before true power, they are nothing but… rotten logs about to be overturned by the tides of time.

"And my Jixia, and... the great power it represents that is enough to create a new era, is the only future of this continent."

Her voice wasn't loud, but it carried an unquestionable confidence, as if she were stating an established fact.

Huo Yuhao, standing to the side, was already captivated and his blood was boiling!

He knew that the "imposing power" his senior was referring to must be that god-like, all-powerful emperor of the Qin Dynasty, His Majesty Ying Zheng!

After hearing Shangguan Wan'er's words, Crown Prince Xu Yun fell completely silent.

A storm raged in his heart more violently than ever before!

He had thought that although Jixia Academy was powerful, it was ultimately just an academy, a tool that could be won over and used.

But now it seems...

He's completely wrong!
What the other side is after is not the power of a mere sect or an empire.

Rather... the entire world!
It is the ultimate ownership of this continent!

A strong sense of crisis and... an irrepressible excitement surged into his heart at the same time.

He knew he was standing at a crossroads... a crossroads that could determine the future of himself, and even the entire empire!
Is it a choice to decay along with the old order, ultimately being mercilessly crushed by the torrent known as "Jixia"?

Or... should we seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, take a gamble, and engage in a... high-stakes gamble with this emerging force full of infinite possibilities?

“I…I need to know your sincerity.”

After a long while, Xu Yun finally spoke with difficulty, his voice hoarse.

He knew that once he made the choice, there was no turning back.

"Sincerity?" Shangguan Wan'er chuckled upon hearing this.

With a gentle wave of her jade-like hand, an ink brush appeared out of thin air. In the void, with flowing strokes, she wrote a message filled with iron will and ruthless intent—

The word "kill"!

The moment the character "kill" took shape, it transformed into a streak of blood-red light and instantly disappeared into Xu Yun's brow!
Xu Yun felt a sudden jolt in his mind!
The next second, countless images flooded into his mind like a tidal wave!
That is all the evidence that Duke Dai Hao of the White Tiger colluded with the Holy Fire Cult in an attempt to murder his son!
That is a list of traitors within the Star Luo Empire who outwardly comply but secretly defect to the Sun Moon Empire, preparing to betray the empire at a crucial moment!
Even more so…

His seemingly indifferent but actually ambitious second prince secretly cultivated a private army, privately manufactured soul-guided devices, and was involved in all the crimes of plotting a rebellion!
"What...what are these?!"

Xu Yun was utterly terrified and chilled to the bone as he looked at the incredibly detailed intelligence reports in his mind, as well as the earth-shattering secrets that could overturn the entire empire!

He never imagined that he, the crown prince, had been living in a huge conspiracy filled with lies and betrayals all along!

And this mysterious Jixia Academy before us actually... knows everything about it?!

"This is the sincerity of Jixia Academy."

Shangguan Wan'er's voice rang out again, but it carried a hint of icy coldness.

"Your Highness, do you choose to continue being a puppet crown prince, kept in the dark and potentially replaced at any moment?"

"Or...choose to cooperate with us, wield the thunder, cleanse the universe, and become the true...ruler of this Star Luo Empire?"

"time is limited."

"Dai Hao, we've started to suspect you."

Shangguan Wan'er left behind this last sentence, which was full of warning, and then said no more.

She knew that she had done everything she needed to say and do.

All that remains is for His Highness the Crown Prince to make his own... choice.

Inside the main hall, a deathly silence fell once again.

Only the heavy breathing of Crown Prince Xu Yun, trembling with shock, echoed for a long time in the empty palace…

(End of this chapter)