Heaven Dou Empire, Heaven Dou Imperial City.
Within the opulent walls of the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace, Emperor Xue Li still sat upon his throne. His eyes were rimmed with fatigue; the night had dragged on as he debated with his long-absent sister's demands.
"Qinghe, send invitations to every major force. There will be a celebration, but do not specify the details. Prepare the entire city to welcome my sister and her family," Emperor Xue Li said, his voice echoing through the vast hall.
Xue Qinghe's (Qian Renxue) mouth twitched as he(she) was left as an after thought by the two of them all this time they were discussing.
Nonetheless, Xue Qinghe(Qian Renxue) bowed respectfully. "It will be done, Father Emperor." With a final nod—one for his father, one for the new aunt he'd never met but only heard about—Xue Qinghe(Qian Renxue) turned and strode from the chamber, mind already whirring with calculations.
Just as Xue Qinghe was about to leave, Xue Li studied him closely for the first time, noticing a detail she would have missed before the evolution of her Martial Soul.
'Interesting—a Crown Prince with a fake White Swan Martial Soul. Is this connected to "that woman"? ' she wondered, a faint smile flickering across her lips before vanishing.
Giving one last glance toward the direction Xue Qinghe had gone, Xue Li turned and exited the hall herself.
Staring at the back of the retreating Xue Li, Emperor Xue Ye couldn't help but sigh.
'The price I'm paying seems far too small compared to what my sister endured. Perhaps I should be more accommodating toward my grandniece Wu Hanrui.
Although my sister says little, I sense she's hiding much about him. She is even more protective of him than she ever was to me.
I just hope no one is foolish enough to challenge Wu Hanrui or try to humiliate him. With my sister's fierce protectiveness, even I cannot help those who cross him.
... I should order Qinghe to lock up Xue Beng, just in case. If he tries to make trouble with my sister's grandson, I'll have only Qinghe and Ke'er left as heirs.
Knowing her, it's already a miracle she spared me after becoming a Titled-Douluo." he thought. With that, Xue Ye withdrew from the throne and retreated to his chambers to rest.
Back to the present.
Marquis Estate,
The sun had already dipped beyond the distant walls of the estate, casting the sky in hues of gold and purple.
A gentle evening breeze slipped through the open windows, carrying the faint scent of garden teeming with various plants and plant type soul beasts and cooling the warmth left by the afternoon sun.
Hanrui was still hugging his fiancee Gu Yuena who was pouting in quiet comfort while Xiao Wu took her leave, while being guided by another maid to her training.
Hanrui rubbed his cheeks with hers and started tickling her, making her laugh in amusement and annoyance at his attempt to change her mood.
"Stop it Hanrui" she protested weakly while laughing but instead of stopping he doubled down until she gave up resistance, only then he stopped while she panted in exhaustion.
"Hmph, if my hug can't lift your mood my tickles definitely can." He declared childishly while making a proud face.
She stared at him without blinking for a long while before sighing.
Hanrui, noticing her mood calming down, summoned his "Void Weaver" and turned it into a Mahjong set infront of her.
"Want to play Mahjong?" He asked as she looked at him and then at his Martial Soul which has turned into Mahjong Set right infront of her in stunned disbelief.
"My Void Weaver martial soul can mimic other Martial Soul but i recently discovered, with enough control over it i can turn it into anything i want." Hanrui said satisfied with her reaction.
". . . You didn't say anything about this second Martial Soul before." She said then his words hit her.
"Wait, mimic other Martial Soul's?" Gu Yuena said dumbfounded at the possibilities.
"Yes, that's right. I can turn it into your other half Golden Dragon King, or even mimic the Dragon God. But I have to know the form first, the way it looks, the length, the width, the effects and stuff." Hanrui explained.
Gu Yuena's lips twitched at his casual explanation as she looked at the table set with the colorful tiles of Mahjong.
Gu Yuena sat opposite Hanrui in the quiet room, their hands poised over freshly arranged racks as they started playing.
"Your turn, Gu Yuena," Hanrui said with a sly smile, watching as she carefully selected a tile.
She consulted her hand thoughtfully before flicking a dot tile onto the discard pile.
Hanrui, raising his own tile in a dramatic show of confidence, discarded the bamboo tile.
The soft clatter of tiles filled the room as the game unfolded. Hanrui's hand lingered near Gu Yuena's briefly — a subtle, intimate gesture — before returning focus to the game.
"Looks like we're evenly matched," Gu Yuena remarked, eyes sparkling, as her hand formed a pung of red dragons.
"Don't get too cocky little silver," Hanrui warned, discarding a wind tile with a flourish. "I'm just warming up."
The tension grew lighter with laughter as Hanrui pretended to ponder each tile with exaggerated seriousness.
Gu Yuena's quiet chuckle was a balm to the slow evening.Finally, Hanrui drew a tile, his eyes widening in triumph. "Mahjong!" he declared.
Gu Yuena feigned shock, laughing as she conceded. "You win—for now." as she scattered the pieces and they played 4 more games with Henrui 3 and Gu Yuena 2 wins.
"You do realise I can cheat to win everytime right? Why didn't you protest?" He asked amused as he held her hand dismissing his Martial Soul.
"Spending time with you has taught me how to live. Which I haven't been doing before. I merely existed.
I'm the Silver Dragon King,the de facto leader of the soul beasts, yet Di Tian holds my responsibilities. While I betrayed the cause and ran away from my responsibility by dying for a man according to your memories.
You could make me human just like you did to my subordinates Bi Ji and Zi Ji but you didn't. My injury may be one reason but another is your respect for my identity, right.
So while I believe you wouldn't cheat, even if you did cheat,it's just a mere game, it's not a big deal." Gu Yuena tailed with a radiant smile on her face.
Hanrui hearing reply couldn't help but pinch her cheeks while smiling. "You are right. I have other reasons to not make you human.
The real reason I took you with me is because I want you to learn how humans rule. So once the changes I want to make appear, humans and soul beasts can co-exist in relative peace." He declared.
But before she could respond he put a finger on her lips and continued.
"I plan to create a tower, where the essence of every soul beast is stored. Like the 'Spirit Pagoda' you saw in the memories but I'm going to add changes to it.
So it will effectively reduce the chances of soul beasts from going extinct.
Like Bi Ji's clan where she is the only one with pure phoenix bloodline left while most of her clan perished because they are more sought after for human healers.
I haven't figured out the complete details yet it's still in research so it will have to wait. But once it's done human soul masters won't have to go hunt soul beasts in the forest. They will have a completely different experience.
For example, they can choose and select the path they want to walk, like a menu order in a restaurant then the soul beast that suits their path will be recommended to them through the tower.
Then their character will be tested and a new soul beast will be created according to the character or if an existing soul beast wants to make a contract with the person or can be arranged.
But as I said it's still in development and a lot of details need to be looked at."
Gu Yuena, hearing his explanation, teared up at the thoughtfulness of her fiancee, despite being human still thinks for the good of the entire soul beast race.
Hanrui, seeing her tear up, wiped her eyes with his hands and joked. "Hmm, too much make up" as he looked at his hand that wiped the tears,making Gu Yuena laugh while hitting him to which hanrui grinned.
"Anyway, your job is to make every single one of the 100,000 year soul beast or 10,000 year beast which can transform into human form and want to transform have a home.
Create an empire where the transformed beasts will take care of their clan. So learn everything you can while you are here." He finished to which Gu Yuena nodded and kissed him on the cheek.
"Technically you are still underaged so, only the cheek" she teased him as she shrugged but another part of her is just screaming to hug him and kiss him after hearing his plan.
"You.. little" hanrui started but quickly pulled into a hug by her, silencing him.
They stayed like that for a bit, then Hanrui's stomach growled in protest.
Hanrui, not minding the embarrassment, got out of the hug, took her hand and walked out of the room.
"Let's go eat" he said without a slightest bit of blush on his face as Gu Yuena laughed at him.
Suddenly after they reached the dining hall and maids opened the door for them.
Xue Li is the only one waiting inside for him while his father, mother,Bi Ji and Zi Ji are nowhere to be found. Puzzled, he addressed his grandmother.
"Nainai, where is everyone?" Hanrui asked.
Xue Li who is reading a book and waiting for him looked at him with a faint smile on her lips and replied.
"I told your father and mother about the trip in a week to Heaven Dou City, so you Father is in preparation mode while your mother took Bi Ji and Zi Ji to go shopping."
Hanrui thought it would make sense since his father, while sloppy at times, takes care of the official business seriously.
But he couldn't help but laugh as if he heard a joke when Xue Li mentioned his mother going shopping.
"Nainai, are you joking? Mother, who didn't care much about shopping, and uses the maids to do it for her or get the clothes to the mansion to buy,went shopping herself?
She even took Bi Ji and Zi Ji?" Hanrui said in disbelief.
Xue Li raised an eyebrow at him with a smirk. "Oh, Rui'er, you think your mother doesn't like shopping?"
Hanrui, confused, replied "isn't that the case? Or did I miss something?"
Xue Li shook her head while laughing, amused at her grandson's misunderstanding.
"Rui'er, your mother is a teacher and mostly a house wife, especially after you were born. Not to mention her interest in research.
You think your mother has the luxury of shopping peacefully with all that on her plate?
And, Rui'er, you seem to have forgotten how beautiful your mother is. Do you think your father can let her leave to go shopping all on her own?" Xue Li said as she observed her grandson's changing expression.
Hanrui realized his mistake and thought, 'I should apologize to Mother later. It was careless of me not to notice how hard things were for her,' feeling a wave of guilt settle in his chest.
Xue Li ruffled his hair as she noticed his feelings. "Rui'er,You don't have to feel guilty, it's because of you, she can go shopping again. After all, both Bi Ji and Zi Ji are Titled-Douluo power houses,so your father can't stop her from going."
Hanrui hearing that let out a breath, and relaxed. "Nainai, i feel like punching your son" Hanrui says with a smile, making Gu Yuena who is listening to the side chuckle while Xue Li who was stunned at first but started laughing herself.
While they are in the midst of conversations the maids completed arranging the dining table.
Meanwhile in Wu Tian's office,
Wu Tian is ordering his subordinates about security when he leaves for the heaven dou city, when suddenly he felt a chill up his spine.
'Which god did I offend that I felt a chill this freezing' he thought as his son's words just left his mouth at the dining table.