The Glory of the Sun and Moon in the Peerless Tang Sect

The attendant knelt on the ground and said in a hoarse voice, "Your Highness, the West Sea Soul Master Corps and the Lan Sea Soul Master Corps were completely wiped out on the night they were escorting those one hundred noble ladies. Prince Zihuang has also disappeared without a trace."

The young man in white raised his head and silently watched the attendant, the quiet atmosphere causing the attendant to break out in a cold sweat.

"A bunch of useless trash!" He suddenly stood up and threw the teacup and scalding tea from the table at the servant.

The servant's skin was scalded red, but he dared not make the slightest movement.

The young man in white had a cold look in his eyes and a thoughtful expression.

"Was it the remnants of my third uncle's army, or my brothers?"

The reason he spared Xu Zihuang's life, and even went to great lengths to ensure Xu Zihuang had descendants, was actually for the relics of the Sun Moon Empire's ancestral land. That ancestral land was a small plane that partially overlapped with the Douluo Continent. To enter that ancestral land, one had to possess the pure bloodline of the Zihuang Extinction Dragon and cultivate to at least the Title Douluo realm.

Although he also possessed the Purple Emperor Annihilation Dragon Martial Soul, his bloodline was not pure enough. Among their generation, only Xu Zihuang had the possibility of entering the ancestral land.

If his brothers rescued Xu Zihuang, it would be fine; at least the ancestral treasures wouldn't fall into their hands until Xu Zihuang matured. But if he was rescued by the remnants of his third uncle's forces, things would be much more complicated.

After pondering for a long time, the young man in white waved his right hand lightly, and a five-clawed fire dragon jade pendant fell behind him.

"Elder Xue, tell them it's our order to have the Evil Monarch Soul Master Corps accompany you to investigate. At the same time, seal off the sea area between the southern part of the Empire and the Moon South Islands. Put all coastal cities with ports under martial law."

The northern border of the Sun and Moon Empire is an icy sea that is impossible to navigate.

As long as they don't enter the Star Luo Empire's territory through the South China Sea coast of the Sun Moon Empire, everything is still under control.

"Your subordinate obeys."

Before he finished speaking, a ghostly figure suddenly appeared behind the young man in white and took the jade pendant.

It was an elderly man with a slightly hunched back, dressed in the most ordinary servant's attire in the palace. His hunched back looked as if he might collapse at any moment. In a flash, he had already passed the servant who was previously prostrate on the ground.

At the same time, a line of blood silently extended from the attendant's forehead.

The other two servants, understanding the situation, entered with their heads bowed and silently began to dispose of the body.

The young man in white calmly withdrew his gaze and looked back at the scroll on the table.

He was none other than Xu Tianran, the current Crown Prince of the Sun Moon Empire.

Chapter 16 All-Night Talk and the External Soul Bone Radiant Dragon Claw

The morning mist is thick, marking the transition between yin and yang, and it is the coldest time of day.

However, the soldiers of the Imperial Dragon Soul Master Corps on the deck were much more relaxed, as sailing would be relatively safer during the day.

Xu Zihuang, Yao Yang, and Wang Xiao sat cross-legged on the deck without any pretense, using the wooden crate containing supplies in the center as a makeshift table. A pot of bubbling fish soup, emitting a rich aroma, sat on it. Several cooked purple lobsters were also placed on a tray. Each lobster was nearly half a meter long, its meat translucent and incredibly tempting.

This is a soul beast called the Amethyst Shrimp, which lives in the deep sea and has a cultivation level of around a hundred years. With everyone's strength, capturing it shouldn't be too difficult.

In addition, there was some black bread and a large jar of black caviar. These were foods that were easy to preserve during long voyages.

After a long night of conversation and learning about the background, Xu Zihuang grew even closer to Yao Yang.

Taking a bite of the black bread smeared with black caviar, Xu Zihuang said with a smile, "I never expected that Brother Yang would be a hereditary viscount from the Moon South Islands."

"Zihuang, are you mocking me?" Yao Yang's handsome face was also filled with a smile, his gaze gentle, completely different from when he used his martial soul.

"The Moon South Islands consist of seven islands: Moon Pivot, Moon Vortex, Moon Power, Moon Balance, Moon Sun, Moon Sway, and Moon Rock. I only control Moon Pivot Island, which is located in the far north."

Xu Zihuang was taken aback, and subconsciously asked, "What about the other six islands?"

Strictly speaking, the Southern Islands were also his father's fiefdom. However, because he was still young at the time, he did not have any specific experience with them and only knew the general situation.

“Zihuang, do you remember what I said before? Because the Moon South Islands are far from the Sun Moon Empire’s homeland, and the surrounding seas are inhabited by some particularly powerful sea spirit beasts, I have basically no control over this place. This has led to a lot of chaos here, with pirates causing trouble. The other six islands are nominally under my jurisdiction, but in reality they are controlled by the largest pirate groups.”

“Young Master, this is also the reason why I brought you to the Moon South Islands. Once we’re here, it won’t be so easy for the Sun Moon Empire to reach out.” Wang Xiao interjected at the right moment, but as he said this, he suddenly turned pale and clutched his chest.

"Uncle Wang!" Yao Yang's expression changed slightly, and he quickly placed his hands on Wang Xiao's back to check his condition with his soul power.

Wang Xiao calmed himself down and waved his hand.

"It's nothing, it's an old problem."

However, Xu Zihuang keenly noticed a faint green tinge on Wang Xiao's chest and hesitated with a grim expression, "Old Wang, have you been poisoned?"

"Uncle Wang, Zihuang will find out about these things sooner or later."

Yao Yang and Wang Xiao's eyes met briefly. Although Wang Xiao tried his best to stop him with his eyes, he ignored him.

"Uncle Wang was poisoned by one of the two evil soul masters mentioned earlier during a battle ten years ago. Otherwise, his soul power wouldn't have remained at level 89. Once you, Zihuang, grow up, the special destructive attribute of the Zihuang Annihilation Dragon Martial Soul can slow down the spread of the poison. Although I don't want to put so much pressure on you, given Uncle Wang's current condition, the poison will probably invade his entire body in less than fifteen years at most."

"If you want to help Uncle Wang, you must cultivate to the level of Soul Saint or above within these fifteen years. And you must find a way to detoxify him as soon as possible."

At this point, Yao Yang's helplessness deepened. Fifteen years, which means that when Xu Zihuang was twenty-three years old, his soul power would have reached at least level seventy.

He was born with full soul power, but he only reached the Soul Saint level at the age of twenty-eight. Xu Zihuang, on the other hand, has twin martial souls, but his second martial soul, the Purple Thunder Prison Dragon, possesses both extreme lightning and destruction attributes. In addition, the soul power quality of twin martial souls is far superior to that of ordinary soul masters, which leads to an exceptionally slow cultivation speed.

Wang Xiao sighed and glared at Yao Yang with some resentment, but Yao Yang seemed oblivious and deliberately avoided his gaze.

"Old Wang, Brother Yang."

"Ok?"

"I will definitely cultivate to the level of Soul Saint or higher before I turn twenty-three. And I will find a way to cure Elder Wang's poison." Xu Zihuang's gaze was firm as he looked towards the boundless sea to the east. That was the direction of Douluo Continent, and having awakened his memories of his past life, he had full confidence in this.

The Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm, Electrolux, the 100,000-year-old immortal herb of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Eye, and the 10,000-year-old Profound Ice Marrow from the Earth Dragon Gate, another sect in Dragon City where his mother was born.

He wasn't sure if he would get all these opportunities, but he would try his best.

Looking at Xu Zihuang, who was radiating confidence, Yao Yang smiled with satisfaction.

Wang Xiao was also deeply moved. Perhaps the luckiest thing in his life was meeting this father and son.

But the two of them now share the same thought: to protect Xu Zihuang and help him grow up, no matter the cost.

The group sat down cross-legged again, tacitly avoiding the heavy topic, and continued to eat the food on the wooden crate. Conditions on the warship were simple; seasonings were scarce, but the ingredients were fresh. After another bowl of fresh fish soup, Xu Zihuang felt a wave of warmth instantly spread throughout his body.

"Old Wang, Brother Yang, I'm going back to my room to cultivate now."

Having regained his freedom, he naturally wanted to begin cultivating without delay. He estimated that although he hadn't acquired a spirit ring, after more than two years of cultivation, he should have reached level twenty. After all, he possessed innate full spirit power. The cultivation speed of an ultimate martial spirit master wouldn't be affected before level thirty.

He had some ideas about obtaining the first two spirit rings for his Golden Eye Martial Soul.

The primary goal is definitely to develop into a control-type Soul Master. Based on this, there will be a relatively wide range of choices regarding the Soul Skills one acquires.

……

Xu Zihuang was completely immersed in cultivation for the entire day. Just as he finished cultivating, there was a knock on the door.

Xu Zihuang had assumed it was a soldier from the Imperial Dragon Soul Instructor Corps delivering dinner, but instead, it was Wang Xiao, the division commander, who arrived. Moreover, as Wang Xiao entered the room, the sounds of crashing waves, howling sea winds, and the hustle and bustle of people moving about on the deck that had been surrounding him suddenly vanished.

"Old Wang?"

“Young Master, I originally intended to give you that item once we reached the Moon South Islands.” Wang Xiao solemnly took out a close-fitting, bright silver metal box from his robes. Inside lay a deep purple ring, engraved with magnificent dragon patterns. The ring itself was made of amethyst-like material, semi-transparent, and set with a flawless star sapphire.

Starlight sapphire is an essential material for crafting top-tier storage soul tools. Even this one, which is only the size of a thumbnail, is worth at least 500,000 gold soul coins.

"There is a piece of soul bone left behind by His Highness the Prince. You can try to absorb this soul bone. If you cannot absorb it, you can leave it to your descendants and pass it down through generations."

Xu Zihuang accepted the storage soul tool in a daze.

"Are these all my father's instructions?"

"Yes."

Wang Xiao nodded. "Young Master, you can try it with peace of mind. I will not let external circumstances interfere with you."

After saying that, he left the room, leaning against the wooden door with a deep gaze.

When Your Highness handed this ring to me, you probably foresaw your fate.

Inside the room, Xu Zihuang silently slipped the ring onto the index finger of his left hand. He was indeed very interested in the soul bone left behind by his father, especially the meaningful instructions given at the end.

There is only one situation in which a soul bone cannot be absorbed by a soul master: that is, the quality of the soul bone is extremely high, so high that it has very strict requirements on the soul master's martial soul attributes and physical qualities.

The ring contracted slightly the moment it touched his index finger, then closed tightly around his finger. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the Sun Moon Empire's technology in crafting soul tools was over a thousand years ahead of the original three great empires of the Douluo Continent.

He immersed his mind in the soul tool, which was almost the size of a small room. But just as Wang Xiao had said, it only contained a soul bone.

A flash of blue light, and a strange bone emanating a chilling aura floated above his left hand. The immensely powerful energy instantly seemed to freeze the surrounding space. This soul bone was a translucent, deep purple, with a deep purple flame emanating from it, carrying a terrifying aura of destruction. Moreover, this soul bone was not one of the six common soul bones found in humans; it was a peculiar left palm bone.

Five finger bones and metacarpal bones of varying lengths are connected together, with a purple fluorescence flowing around them, and the sharpness of the fingertips seems capable of piercing through everything.

"This is an external soul bone?" Xu Zihuang frowned slightly. "Shouldn't external soul bones be irremovable?"

This means that this soul bone has never been fused with before.

However, this soul bone is clearly of the same origin as the Purple Radiance Annihilation Dragon Martial Soul of the Sun Moon Empire's royal family.

There seem to be many secrets within the royal family that I don't know about.

Calming his mind, Xu Zihuang extended his left hand and used his soul power to guide the soul bone in an attempt to fuse with it. The same deep purple flame danced on his left hand, and the two merged the moment they touched, the color of the flame becoming even deeper.

Immersed in his surroundings, Xu Zihuang was horrified to find that the scenery around him had undergone a complete transformation. He found himself in a void, and an extremely suppressed voice resounded through the sky.

"I was born alongside you and have rendered great service to my dragon race. What wrong have I done that I would be killed by your own hands in the end?! You are only afraid of my potential! Is that what you call a dragon god?!"

"Hahaha! Under your leadership, my dragon race will surely be plunged into utter ruin!"

Xu Zihuang's own emotions seemed to be infected, and endless anger and resentment completely overwhelmed him.

The scene then shifts.

Blood splattered everywhere as a colossal purple-scaled dragon corpse, over three hundred feet long, plummeted downwards, crashing onto a vast continent.

"Huff—, huff—" Xu Zihuang suddenly opened his eyes in the room, breathing heavily. Looking at his powerful left hand, he murmured, "Is that purple dragon corpse the source of my Sun Moon Royal Family's Zihuang Annihilation Dragon Martial Soul? The ancestor of sub-dragons, the Radiant Dragon Claw..."

Looking up at the sea shrouded in darkness again outside the window, I realized that the brief change in the scene had actually taken up a whole day in the real world.

Chapter 17 Flying Fish and the Demonic Orca

As the days and months passed, fifteen days had gone by in the blink of an eye. As they sailed further south, the temperature gradually rose.

The sea breeze at night was no longer icy cold, but instead had a strange refreshing feel.

Having finished his cultivation, Xu Zihuang stepped out of his room and leaned against the railing in the corridor, gazing down at the undulating waves of the sea. A few strands of purple hair ruffled his forehead in the sea breeze, adding a touch of majesty to his refined features—truly the image of a handsome young nobleman. After fusing with the Radiant Dragon Claw, his physique had been improved by the Soul Bone, and even his skin had become much fairer.

He stretched lazily, and out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a kind-looking young man of about eighteen. He was the youngest among the soldiers of the Imperial Dragon Soul Instructor Corps.

"Meng Lang, you don't need to stay by my side all the time. I just want to get some fresh air." Xu Zihuang rubbed his forehead, already regretting saying those words.

As expected, the boy answered mechanically as before.

"Young Master, Father instructed me to stay by your side at all times to ensure your safety."