Sorry for no uploads for a bit, I've been accidentally only posting on p@treon, will do a mass release of like at least ten chapters for each fic soon. Also p@treon is now like 30 chapters ahead and ideally I want to keep it that way so mass release will be on both platforms. Again, sorry.
But soon, Chu Chengzhou completely suppressed that fleeting killing intent.
The Spirit Hall's power was immense—far beyond what he could handle at the moment. Salas was a high-ranking figure within the Spirit Hall. If he killed him, that would be equivalent to declaring war on them. Even if he suspected Salas of sending the assassin, he could only pretend not to know for now.
Suddenly, Chu Chengzhou's eyes moved slightly, and he said, "Dai Mubai, you and I have had past grievances, and as the prince of the Star Luo Empire, you'd naturally speak in their favor. Since Lord Salas is here, you better not slander the Spirit Hall!"
Someone had to take the blame for tonight's events. Since he couldn't afford to offend the real culprit—the Spirit Hall—it would have to be the already-hostile Star Luo Empire.
"Hm? You're a prince of Star Luo?"
Salas immediately perked up with interest.
This young man is a Star Luo prince and has a grudge with Chu Chengzhou?
Perfect!
If they have animosity, then there's a motive to strike. Add in strength and motive, plus the fact that the assassin before dying pointed to Star Luo—should I just dump the blame squarely on them?
After all, the Star Luo Empire is a major obstacle in Spirit Hall's mission to unify the continent and bring peace to the masses. Such an evil power wouldn't hesitate to assassinate a genius Soul Master from an enemy nation.
Besides, compared to admitting the killer was from Spirit Hall, the Heaven Dou Empire and Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan would much rather believe Star Luo was behind it, right?
After all, Chu Chengzhou alone isn't worth making the Heaven Dou Empire or the Seven Treasure Clan go against the mighty Spirit Hall. And the Star Luo Empire was their old enemy anyway, with deep-seated grievances. Even if they suspected otherwise, they wouldn't mind piling on another false accusation.
Just then, Liu Erlong approached. Though she was grieving over the ruined student dorm and dead students, she couldn't delay further.
"Dean Liu, perfect timing. Do you know this man's identity?"
Salas pointed at Dai Mubai and asked Liu Erlong.
"Lord Salas, Mubai is indeed a prince of the Star Luo Empire. I know that much.
But he's just a minor prince—he couldn't possibly command a Soul Douluo and two Soul Sages. I believe this plot from the Star Luo Empire has nothing to do with him."
Liu Erlong spoke firmly.
Flender had already told her about Dai Mubai. In Liu Erlong's eyes, as a prince who had given up competing for the throne, Dai Mubai lacked the ability to command assassins of such strength. Honestly, the odds pointed more toward the Spirit Hall than Star Luo.
But… several of her students had died, and the dorm was destroyed. Someone had to pay for it.
Without strong proof implicating Spirit Hall, they would never compensate her for the damages. And since the assassin had blamed Star Luo before dying, well, she had no choice—the blame would fall there.
"Hmm, Dean Liu is right. This is clearly a Star Luo conspiracy!"
Salas nodded in satisfaction.
Liu Erlong's words had cleared Dai Mubai of personal involvement, but Salas didn't care. A minor prince wasn't worth his attention. As long as the Star Luo Empire took the fall, that was enough.
"Don't worry, Dean Liu. Since this happened during the Soul Master Tournament, and the Star Luo Empire dared to assassinate contestants, as a tournament committee member, I won't let this go. I will report this to His Holiness the Pope. The Spirit Hall will seek justice for Blue Tyrant Academy!"
Salas solemnly promised Liu Erlong.
"Heh, no wonder he's a Platinum Bishop of the Spirit Hall!"
Watching Salas shamelessly cry thief to catch a thief, Chu Chengzhou's eyelid twitched.
Indeed, the Spirit Hall had no shortage of eight-ring Soul Douluo experts. For a support-type Soul Master like Salas to rise to become one of the four Platinum Bishops—and head of the Heaven Dou Cathedral—it wasn't without reason.
"Thank you, Lord Salas!"
Though she was disgusted inside, Liu Erlong still thanked him.
With Spirit Hall backing her, she had a solid chance of getting compensation from Star Luo. Otherwise, Blue Tyrant Academy and even the Heaven Dou Empire wouldn't be able to do much—Star Luo would simply ignore them.
Before long, a luxurious carriage arrived at Blue Tyrant Academy, escorted by dozens of Heaven Dou Royal Knights.
It was the Crown Prince Xue Qinghe, the royal representative sent by Emperor Xue Ye.
"Dear brother, I heard assassins from the Star Luo Empire targeted you. Are you alright?"
The "good big brother" Chu had just met earlier today—Qian Renxue in disguise—asked with concern.
"Brother Xue, thanks to the Dean and others who risked their lives to stall the assassins, and the royal guest expert arriving in time, I wasn't harmed. Unfortunately, a few students died, and the dorm collapsed."
Chu Chengzhou shook his head sadly.
He wasn't pretending. Even though he had little connection with the deceased, they were still fellow students. Because of him, they lost their lives. He genuinely felt guilty.
"Hmph~! The Star Luo Empire grows bolder by the day! To commit murder in Heaven Dou City and target you?
Don't worry, brother. Father is furious at this vile act. The Empire will make sure justice is served for you and Blue Tyrant Academy!"
Qian Renxue comforted him.
Though she suspected the Spirit Hall was behind the attack—knowing Salas's personality—she was still the Hall's heir. She had to stand by them and throw the blame on Star Luo.
"Thank you, Brother Qinghe!"
Chu Chengzhou looked sincerely grateful, but in his heart, he thought:
One day, this woman will be on her knees singing my praises.
Maybe this wasn't Qian Renxue's doing and more Salas's decision, but as the heir of Spirit Hall, she'd pay the interest.
Later, Qian Renxue approached Liu Erlong to offer royal condolences and promised justice for the Academy.
An hour later, after learning the full story and assessing damages, Salas and Qian Renxue both departed.
"Kid Chu, here, your spoils of war."
After they left, Flender handed Chu Chengzhou a right arm soul bone glowing faintly blue.
Chu Chengzhou raised his brows.
"This dropped from the Ice Sparrow Soul Sage you killed," Flender explained.
"Dean Flender, give it to Dean Erlong. The academy suffered heavy losses tonight."
After a moment of thought, Chu Chengzhou declined.
The ice-attributed soul bone was under 10,000 years old and only a partial piece—the right forearm. He wasn't interested.
Soul bones under 10,000 years held little benefit for him.
Sure, he could use his cheat ability to level it up over time. But for a soul bone with uncertain or mediocre skills, it wasn't worth wasting a precious equipment slot.
He hadn't noticed a soul power boost when upgrading spirit rings, so likely soul bones would be the same.
Even with his cheat, the base age of the soul bone still mattered—older bones contained more energy and gave bigger boosts.
Unless the soul bone skill was exceptional, he'd rather wait and hunt beast-level sea soul beasts later for a full top-tier set.
Ten-thousand-year soul beasts were rare on the mainland, but the vast ocean was different.
They say Star Dou Forest is a paradise for soul beasts, but in Chu Chengzhou's eyes, the endless ocean—rarely hunted by soul masters—was even better.
After all, even Star Dou Forest only covered an area the size of the Balak Kingdom. The ocean? It was larger than the entire continent.
Of course, beyond disinterest, Chu also felt a bit guilty.
The assassin was after him. His classmates died, and the dorm collapsed. If he profited in the end, it would just feel wrong.
"That's fine."
After a moment, Flender nodded.
Tonight's biggest loss, aside from the students who died, was suffered by Liu Erlong, the dean.
Selling this soul bone could not only cover the financial losses—it would greatly exceed them.
The dorm destroyed was just a normal building, not one of the costly simulation training arenas. A millennium soul bone would fetch far more than a dorm's cost.
After collecting the corpses and confirming the list of the deceased, Liu Erlong began directing students to set up tents on the field.
With the dorm gone, most students had nowhere to sleep and had to make do with tents.
Of note: Ma Hongjun and Oscar were extremely enthusiastic in helping the girls pitch tents—more so than the ones who needed shelter.
Why so eager?
It was the middle of the night, and the attack had come while students were asleep. Many girls fled the dorm barely dressed—some in just undergarments.
Few students had storage soul tools. So naturally, the two rascals were quick to "help" the attractive and shapely female students.
With everyone settled, the teachers returned to their own dorms. After all, the tournament continued the next day.
"Huh? Xiao Wu, aren't you going to sleep?"
At his door, Chu Chengzhou noticed Xiao Wu following him and asked curiously.
"Inside."
Xiao Wu didn't answer—she just pointed at his dorm with a cold voice.
Chu Chengzhou immediately had a bad feeling.
He nervously opened the door and pulled Xiao Wu inside.
"BANG—"
The door slammed shut.
"Uhh… Xiao Wu, what are you doing?"
Seeing her furious expression, Chu Chengzhou asked weakly.
"Hmph! Be honest or face the consequences! Young Master Chu, tell me—why were you with Rongrong earlier?"
Hands on hips, finger pointing accusingly, Xiao Wu didn't hold back.
She'd held off earlier to save face, but now that it was just the two of them, she wasn't pulling punches.
As expected, that ominous feeling came true!
"Xiao Wu… if I say Rongrong and I are innocent, would you believe me?"
After a pause, Chu Chengzhou tried to defend himself.
"Innocent? I believe your nonsense! Tell me—when did you and Rongrong get together?!"
Chu Chengzhou: "..."
"You're not talking, huh? Fine, then let me guess—did you and Rongrong start sneaking around behind my back back when we were at Shrek Academy? No wonder I saw Rongrong blushing and running back to her room—did you two do something in that illusion realm of yours?"
At this moment, Xiao Wu's mouth was like a machine gun, firing off accusation after accusation, leaving Chu Chengzhou no room to deny anything.
From the very beginning, Xiao Wu had sensed something fishy between the two, but after checking, she found that her bestie Ning Rongrong was still a pure maiden, so she dismissed the idea.
But after seeing Chu Chengzhou and Ning Rongrong together earlier, she wasn't so sure anymore.
After all, her dorm was closer to Chu Chengzhou's than Ning Rongrong's.
As soon as she heard noise outside, she had thrown on clothes and rushed out immediately.
There was no way Rongrong could've moved faster than her, yet she arrived before her—that could only mean the two had already been together before the noise started.
A lone man and woman, in the middle of the night, doing God-knows-what behind closed doors—what else could it be?
As for whether Rongrong was technically still pure? It's not like Xiao Wu hadn't experienced Chu Chengzhou's illusion before.
Maybe her body was still untouched, but her soul? Definitely shaped like a certain someone's by now!
Having her "home" stolen—this infuriated Xiao Wu.
"Well, um…"
Chu Chengzhou opened his mouth, but had no idea how to explain himself.
"Hmph! Say it—what are you going to do about this?"
Xiao Wu snorted coldly, demanding an answer.
'What am I going to do? Obviously—handle both at once!' he thought.
But of course, he didn't dare say that out loud.
Suddenly, an idea struck him. Chu Chengzhou activated his illusion technique and pulled Xiao Wu's consciousness into a dreamscape.
Pleasure, after all, could make one forget unpleasant things.
At first, Xiao Wu resisted, still angry—but it didn't take long for her to "selectively forget" her grievances and immerse herself in joy.
While enjoying himself with Xiao Wu in the illusion, Chu Chengzhou suddenly heard knocking from the real world.
He spread his spiritual sense and realized—it was already morning. Outside, Ning Rongrong was knocking at his door.
At once, he ended the illusion and brought Xiao Wu back to the real world.
"Senior Chu, Dean Erlong saw you weren't around and asked me to get you. We've got a match this morning!"
Ning Rongrong's voice called out from beyond the door.
"Got it, coming now!"
Chu Chengzhou responded.
"Rongrong?"
Hearing her bestie's voice outside, Xiao Wu instantly felt sour. Her eyebrows furrowed, and she grabbed Chu Chengzhou's arm—then bit down hard.
"Hiss—!"
Chu Chengzhou inhaled sharply, making a small and insignificant contribution to global warming.
"Xiao Wu, I love you—can we maybe not bite me right now?"
He tried to reason with her.
"Hmph! You two-timing carrot! Bet you were just thinking about how you love Rongrong too, weren't you?"
Letting go of his arm, Xiao Wu snapped.
"Ahem… well, Xiao Wu, you're the big sister here, you should set a good example."
Chu Chengzhou said solemnly.
"Go to hell!"
Xiao Wu, furious, gave him a sharp right hook to the left eye.
BANG—
"AH—!"
Hearing the crash and scream from inside the dorm, Ning Rongrong outside the door looked confused.
In the academy cafeteria, second floor, Liu Erlong and the Blue Tyrant team were having breakfast.
The explosion last night had destroyed the dorms, but luckily the cafeteria was untouched—otherwise, the students wouldn't even have a place to eat.
"Eh? Boss Chu, what happened to your eye?"
Munching on a giant meat bun, Ma Hongjun noticed Chu Chengzhou's swollen left eye and asked in surprise.
"Accidentally fell."
Chu Chengzhou replied emotionlessly, setting down his half-finished bowl of fragrant meat porridge. He shot a glance at Xiao Wu, who looked indifferent, and Ning Rongrong, who was sneakily laughing behind her hand.
"Accidentally fell?"
Ma Hongjun looked stunned and exchanged looks with Oscar beside him.
Who "accidentally" falls and ends up with an eye that swollen? Looks more like someone punched him!And with Xiao Qing around, that kind of minor injury should've been healed in minutes.
"What? You got a problem?"
Chu Chengzhou glanced at Ma Hongjun.
"Uh, no, no~"
Ma Hongjun quickly waved his hands.
Even if I do, I'll swallow it! I'm just a little three-ring Soul Elder—I can't afford to offend a support-type who can kill a Soul Saint!
"Xiao Wu, why did you hit Senior Chu?"
Zhu Zhuqing whispered to Xiao Wu.
To punch Chu Chengzhou and have him not dare heal himself—only Xiao Wu, his girlfriend, could get away with that.
"Ask him yourself! And you—Rongrong! Quit laughing! I haven't even settled the score with you yet!"
Seeing her bestie giggling, Xiao Wu was even more annoyed.
I treated you like a sister, and you went behind my back?
"My dear Xiao Wu, we're lifelong sisters, right? Here, a gift from your little sister!"
Ning Rongrong stuck out her tongue and sweetly offered her cup of milk to Xiao Wu.
"Hmph! I'll deal with you later!"
Xiao Wu snorted and shot her a glare.
"Good sister, don't be mad~ I was wrong, I'll give you a shoulder massage!"
Ning Rongrong walked around behind her and began massaging Xiao Wu's shoulders with great enthusiasm.
Xiao Wu: "…"
Flattery without reason—either a thief or up to no good!
Watching this, Zhu Zhuqing looked thoughtful.
After breakfast, the group headed to the Great Spirit Arena.
Before they reached the entrance, Chu Chengzhou saw Ning Fengzhi and Sword Douluo standing at the gate.
"Dad! Grandpa Sword!"
Seeing her father and Sword Grandpa, Ning Rongrong happily ran up to them.
"Scared last night, weren't you?"
Sword Douluo gently ruffled her hair.
"Mm-hmm! The Star Luo assassins were so evil!"
Ning Rongrong gritted her teeth at the mention.
"As long as you're okay. Dean Liu, the match is starting soon—you all go in. Chu, come with me."
Ning Fengzhi said to the group.
There had been an assassination attempt at the academy last night. Since the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect wasn't far from Heaven Dou City, Ning Fengzhi knew quickly. He'd placed more than two Soul Emperors outside as protection for his daughter.
The moment he heard the news, Ning Fengzhi had panicked—after all, he only had one daughter.
He was about to rush to the academy with Sword Douluo when news came in: the assassins were dead, and Ning Rongrong and the target, Chu Chengzhou, were both safe. Only then did he relax.
If it weren't so late, he would've gone there in person last night.
Liu Erlong nodded and led the group inside.
Chu Chengzhou, meanwhile, followed Ning Fengzhi and Sword Douluo to a nearby teahouse.
Inside a private room, Ning Fengzhi dismissed the servers and had Sword Douluo set up a soul power barrier to prevent eavesdropping. Then he finally asked, "Chu, what's your take on what happened last night?"
"Simple. Someone can't stand to see me doing well—especially can't stand me getting close to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. So they wanted to secretly kill me."
Chu Chengzhou said calmly.
"Who do you think is behind it?"
Ning Fengzhi asked again.
"Salas from the Heaven Dou Hall."
"Oh? Not the Star Luo Empire?"
Ning Fengzhi raised his brow in surprise.
He wasn't shocked that the assassin wasn't from Star Luo, but that Chu Chengzhou had managed to figure out it was someone from Spirit Hall.
Chu Chengzhou explained, "I've had past grudges with a Contra and Crown Prince Davis of the Star Luo royal family, and I don't get along with Dai Mubai either. But if they were going to act, they would've done it earlier.
Plus, Dai Mubai knows how strong I am—those three assassins clearly didn't. They weren't cautious at all.
And I just displayed some strength in the arena that morning—then got ambushed at night. That rules out Star Luo.
Which leaves Spirit Hall. Given the timing, the only one who could pull this off is Salas."
"Not bad. Looks like you've got a decent head on your shoulders."
Ning Fengzhi nodded in approval.
He'd come to warn Chu that Spirit Hall was likely behind it, but was pleasantly surprised to see the young man had already figured it out.
"Too bad… the culprit has to be the Star Luo Empire."
Chu Chengzhou sighed.
Hearing that, Ning Fengzhi was even more pleased.
Not only was the boy talented—he was politically sharp.
That kind of "deliberate ignorance" was exactly what Ning Fengzhi wanted in a future son-in-law.
At least with a guy like this, he didn't have to worry about Chu Chengzhou being played like a fool someday.
T/N: For up to 30 chapters ahead on most of my translations, become a p@tron at p@treon.com/LordHipposApostle