Chapter 184: This Rebellious Son is Hard to Control
What does this mean? Did he really turn against me this quickly?
“What’s wrong? Did I say anything wrong?”
Emperor Xia glared at everyone in the attic.
“My son worked hard and sacrificed so much to obtain these soul pearls, yet they’re taken away by people who haven’t done a thing! How can this be acceptable?”
“Oh~ Now you see these young men injured, but have you considered that my son is only at the Golden Core realm, and most of these people are at that same level? What if my son can’t hold his own? Isn’t he just going to be bullied by this crowd?”
“Don’t come to me with useless arguments, the rules have never stated that one can’t resort to force!”
“These people brought this upon themselves! My son is sensible, he only applied a little bit of pressure to teach them a small lesson. You should be grateful!”
“Does anyone have a different opinion?”
Emperor Xia scanned the crowd.
A group that was just shouting loudly moments ago now wouldn’t dare to let out a peep.
Everyone knew that sometimes, the current Emperor Xia was quite reasonable.
For example, initially, he was undeniably rational. Even when the crowd was discussing Qin Bei, Emperor Xia remained unfazed.
But those present also understood that sometimes, the current Emperor Xia could be completely unreasonable.
In such instances, anyone who disagreed would be silenced!
Clearly, that was the case now—no one dared to utter a word of opposition.
Even the Beast Lion, who usually loved to stir the pot, was exceptionally quiet and obedient, not daring to voice any disagreement at all.
“Hmmm~”
Seeing no objections, Emperor Xia nodded in satisfaction, “Everyone here is quite reasonable, able to distinguish right from wrong, not blindly defending someone… good, good.”
After saying this, Emperor Xia turned his attention happily to the projected images.
This rebellious son really knows how to bring honor!
While everyone below wouldn’t say anything aloud, each of them was secretly grumbling in their hearts.
Even the always upright Grand Elder of the Sword Sect was internally discontent.
“Are you seriously trying to reason with us? Isn’t it glaringly obvious that you’re talking about fists?”
“You were cursing him out a moment ago, calling him a rebellious son, but now that you see new developments, he’s suddenly become a royal son? Be a little more direct, will you?”
Everyone was grumbling inwardly but knew that when all was said and done, it was Emperor Xia who called the shots.
After seeing the ten sixth-tier soul pearls, everyone could also understand why Emperor Xia was behaving this way.
How could the royal family’s genius ever be at fault?
If anyone was to blame, it’s those who stirred trouble!
…
The Beast Lion stared at Qin Bei in the images, his brows furrowing.
The talent displayed at this moment likely surpassed the understanding of the Holy Demon Dynasty regarding Qin Bei.
If the royal family truly didn’t have any secret weapons and all of this was accomplished by Qin Bei himself, the sheer horror was unimaginable.
At least so far, no one had heard of any cultivator who could simultaneously comprehend so many martial arts techniques in such a short time.
This could no longer be described as genius—perhaps a defying-the-heavens monster?
That sounds a bit off too.
Because even a monster shouldn’t be able to pull off such a feat.
Not just the Beast Lion thought this, but everyone present shared the same sentiment.
Moreover, the keen-eyed individuals noticed a peculiar issue.
That is, the number of these soul pearls.
Fifty for the first tier, and ten for each tier from second to sixth.
If that were merely coincidence, it would be too much of a stretch.
The only reasonable explanation is that Qin Bei could not only obtain soul pearls quickly but could also control the tier of these soul pearls!
That’s just too terrifying.
They preferred to believe the royal family had unearthed some secret from the royal tomb, which is how Qin Bei could achieve this.
Or perhaps they had already come to trust this possibility, because the alternative was simply too outrageous—one that even these old-timers struggled to accept.
Only Emperor Xia had accepted this rationale.
But at this moment, Emperor Xia’s heart was anything but calm beneath his composed exterior.
He too found it hard to believe someone could achieve this—especially when that someone was just a twenty-year-old youth.
Yet what differentiated Emperor Xia was that he understood this possibility, no matter how improbable, was indeed a reality.
So he kept reinforcing the idea to himself to accept this heaven-defying situation.
Ultimately, he thought, this is my son; so what if he has such extraordinary abilities?
It’s only natural—who would’ve expected him to have such a magnificent father?
However, Emperor Xia’s excitement couldn’t last long, given that he had such a ‘wonderful’ son like Qin Bei.
…
Inside the royal tomb.
Qin Bei had no idea about these people’s thoughts, nor did he know that Emperor Xia was so pleased.
If he did know, he would definitely have a word or two with Emperor Xia to vent his frustration.
At that moment, Qin Bei’s hands were bound.
Mu Zhaoxue and Ji Zhuyue each grabbed one of his arms, shaking him excitedly.
This unexpected surprise caused the two to disregard the gazes of those around them entirely.
Pulling Qin Bei, they began to celebrate.
“Wait, wait, there are so many people here! Let’s find a quiet place to celebrate at night, alright?”
Qin Bei was nearly shaken to bits, and he managed to speak up.
Of course, while speaking, he didn’t forget to be a bit cheeky.
His shameless actions caused everyone nearby to grumble under their breath.
All they could do was complain internally; now, everyone watched Qin Bei as if he were some kind of monstrosity.
Not only was his combat prowess abnormal, but his ability to grasp martial arts techniques was also unparalleled.
There was simply no room for comparison.
Mu Zhaoxue and Ji Zhuyue soon snapped back to reality, still shaken from their excitement.
Qin Bei’s public display of mischief left both women speechless.
“Well, consider these soul pearls my compensation.”
Qin Bei casually selected thirty soul pearls from the pile.
Among those, there were nine sixth-tier, nine fifth-tier, nine fourth-tier, and three third-tier soul pearls.
He left only one soul pearl above the third tier.
“No need to give those to us; after all, these soul pearls are…”
Ji Zhuyue initially intended to refuse.
Regardless of whose possession the soul pearls were in, it would amount to the same thing.
Ultimately, they were all merely passes to enter the inner circle anyway, and she practically had zero need for them.
But before she could complete her thought, Qin Bei made an astonishing move.
Thwack~
Thwack~
Thwack~
The sharp cracking sounds filled the air as everyone watched in disbelief as the soul pearls in Qin Bei’s other hand shattered one by one.
First-tier? shatter!
Second-tier? shatter!
…
Dozens of soul pearls were ruthlessly crushed by Qin Bei’s hands.
“No, husband! What are you doing?!”
Mu Zhaoxue exclaimed in shock.
She couldn’t wrap her head around Qin Bei’s actions.
Qin Bei turned to look at Mu Zhaoxue, confusion written all over his face.
“Crushing the soul pearls to enhance soul power, right? Don’t these pearls have that ability?”
Qin Bei found no fault in his reasoning.
Taking action to disregard that many soul pearls? His ultimate goal had never been about gaining access to the inner circle.
That was far too simple—Qin Bei didn’t even want to bother with it.
His true objective was simply to feel the rush from boosting his soul power, which he had come to love.
Thus, he thought about gathering more soul pearls to amplify his soul power.
Yet to Qin Bei, that seemed entirely normal, although to everyone else around, it appeared exceptionally odd…
Some even questioned whether they and Qin Bei had entered the same secret realm…
Ji Zhuyue was equally dumbfounded, not anticipating her husband would hold such contrary views.
Just moments ago, she had viewed the soul pearls as universal, but in the next moment, she hurriedly snatched the pearls from Qin Bei’s hand, quickly stashing them in her Qiankun bag.
Those pearls were her entry passes into the inner circle.
…
“No, husband, stop joking around! These soul pearls can indeed improve soul power to some degree, but the effect is extremely limited! Growing soul power isn’t that easy!”
Though Mu Zhaoxue found Qin Bei’s thinking peculiar, she remained patient to explain that the true utility of the pearls wasn’t for enhancing soul power.
“I know, of course, that one soul pearl’s enhancement of soul power is quite limited. I certainly don’t care, yet I have prepared dozens of soul pearls, right?”
Qin Bei pointed at the remnants of dozens of shattered pearls before him, speaking calmly.
Mu Zhaoxue:…
Ji Zhuyue:…
Everyone:…
What he said made so much sense that it left them at a loss for a rebuttal.
All eyes turned sharply to Qin Bei.
He was openly showing off.
For those dubbed ‘geniuses’, acquiring a single soul pearl might take them several days of effort to even have a shot at getting one.
And that was just the lowest-tier first-level soul pearl! If they aimed for those of higher ranks, the time simply wouldn’t suffice.
Hence, for everyone present, every single soul pearl was of utmost importance.
Now, watching pearls that were deemed treasures being smashed one after another in Qin Bei’s grip, it wasn’t hard to imagine the seething anger among those around.
Sadly, everyone could only be furiously helpless, unable to do anything about it.
…
Mu Zhaoxue wanted to argue against Qin Bei’s unique perspective.
Over the years, in the trials conducted at the imperial tomb, no one had ever been heard of using soul pearls like this, had they?
Even if some geniuses could manage to obtain more soul pearls, they wouldn’t end up directly smashing them apart to merge the soul power inside.
Usually, they’d choose to take them back to their sect, contributing to their sect and trading for some cultivation resources.
To hear of Qin Bei’s actions was a first for everyone.
“But the greatest utility of soul pearls isn’t in the paltry soul power they contain…”
Mu Zhaoxue and Ji Zhuyue both aimed to advise Qin Bei not to undertake such a thankless task.
While boosting soul power was indeed challenging, having an extensive soul power that surpasses peers was surely valuable.
Yet accomplishing such a feat was far too steep a hill to climb, not something a handful of soul pearls could suffice for.
For a talent like Qin Bei, spending time increasing his soul power might actually be less worthwhile than honing his own cultivation level.
That would be far more reliable.
At least everyone, other than Qin Bei, thought so.
However, Qin Bei remained unmoved by the two’s persuasion.
Limited benefits? Well, that applies to ordinary geniuses.
Because even geniuses like them couldn’t hope to gather too many soul pearls within a month of the tomb’s opening.
So that negligible boost of soul power was hardly more advantageous than just taking the pearls back to their sect for more training resources, was it?
But those arguments only applied to ordinary geniuses.
Qin Bei considered himself no ordinary genius.
Though he wasn’t sure how his talent measured in this cultivation world, he knew that his external advantages would rank first here.
All that talk of grandfather’s ring just didn’t measure up.
For him, soul pearls were merely objects that would come flying his way at a wave of his hand.
“Alright~ Don’t worry, your husband knows his stuff. Just wait for me over there.”
Qin Bei gestured towards a stone in the distance.
Seeing that neither of them could convince Qin Bei, Mu Zhaoxue and Ji Zhuyue decided to drop the matter. Ultimately, it wouldn’t matter if Qin Bei discovered the soul power was merely a side bonus.
As long as they secured the pearls in their hands, entering the inner circle would be no trouble at all.
What Qin Bei ended up doing mattered little to them.
…
After the two walked away, Qin Bei settled onto the ground.
What he urgently needed now wasn’t to absorb the soul power.
Instead, he wanted to gauge how much soul power the various tiers of soul pearls provided him.
For him, acquiring soul pearls wasn’t difficult.
However, gaining access to these pearls required spending some of his precious points to exchange for moments of insight.
The higher the tier of the soul pearls, the more insight points he would need for exchange.
To Qin Bei, he felt that he was currently using those points to gain soul power.
So he needed to weigh his options and find a path most cost-effective.
Meanwhile, many people trickled into this cemetery one after another.
What surprised everyone was that none of these tombstones yielded any soul pearls.
“Oh my god, how many people have passed through here? Not a single soul pearl can be gained from all these tombstones!”
“This is the most crowded cemetery I’ve seen since arriving here a few days back; it’s practically the hottest spot. What a pity I came too late.”
…
“What? It’s not what you think, just hurry somewhere else! If you wait too long, we might have to wrap up this imperial tomb trial early.”
Those who had witnessed Qin Bei’s prowess kindly advised the newcomers, preparing to take their leave themselves.
Since there was no point in lingering here for pearls, they planned on heading to the next location.
…
A tombstone in the outer area of the royal tomb could only produce one soul pearl, with its tier determined by the cultivator present.
In other words, if two individuals practiced the same martial art and encountered the tombstone of a predecessor who had practiced that art, they would simply be at the mercy of luck; whoever found it first would have the better fate.
Even under those circumstances, the opening of the imperial tomb consumed tens of thousands of soul pearls each time.
Thus, the imperial tomb opened only once every three years to allow for recuperation before it could be opened again.
Yet Emperor Xia, watching Qin Bei with his eyes closed as he absorbed the soul power, suddenly felt something was amiss.
He began to worry if he had celebrated too soon.
Could it be that this rebellious son was capable of saving face while still behaving like a model citizen?
That didn’t seem like something a rebellious child like him would do at all!
Suddenly, Emperor Xia’s pupils narrowed as he considered what Qin Bei might do next.
The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed, since wasn’t Qin Bei already doing it?
‘This time, will we only be able to reopen the imperial tomb after ten years?’
Emperor Xia suddenly felt a wave of helplessness wash over him.
This rebellious son, so hard to manage!
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