The Heaven Dou Empire's envoy hadn't even managed to see the Star Luo Emperor.
The Ministry of Rites had sent out only a middling official to handle the situation. He stood ramrod straight and coldly flung four words in the envoy's face—
"What's it to you?"
They said the envoy's face had instantly turned the color of pig liver. He pointed at the official, lips trembling for ages, yet couldn't force out a single word.
Then he couldn't catch his breath and fainted on the spot.
His attendants were scared out of their wits. They scrambled to lift him up and carried him all the way back to Heaven Dou in disgrace.
On the night they drove off the Heaven Dou envoy, the Star Luo Emperor stood on the highest terrace in the imperial palace.
The night wind howled, tugging at the hem of his robe.
With his hands clasped behind his back, he looked down at the brightly lit capital below.
The lights of countless households stretched out like a river of stars pouring down from the heavens, and the city was livelier than ever before.
Dai Mobai stood quietly half a step behind him, without saying a word.
"Mobai."
The Star Luo Emperor suddenly spoke, his voice carried on the night wind and tinged with rare emotion.
"You were right. With money, things really do get done more easily."
Dai Mobai smiled.
"Money is only a means, Father. What really matters is who it's spent on. Whoever benefits from it will give their all for the empire."
He said it calmly, but the Star Luo Emperor turned around.
He looked at his son, his eyes full of approval.
He raised a hand and patted Dai Mobai on the shoulder.
"You see things more clearly than I do. I'm not your equal."
He said it with frank ease.
For an emperor, admitting that his son was better than him should have been difficult. But when the Star Luo Emperor said it, his voice held nothing but pride.
"If Father keeps praising me like this, I'll get conceited."
Dai Mobai met his gaze, a smile at the corners of his eyes.
"Then I should be proud before you are."
The Star Luo Emperor chuckled and turned back around, facing away from him as he gazed at the sea of lights stretching across the land below.
"I'm proud to have a son like you."
His voice melted into the night wind, each word carried clearly to Dai Mobai's ears.
Dai Mobai said nothing more. He only smiled and stood quietly behind the Star Luo Emperor.
The night wind swept across the terrace, the father and son's figures illuminated by the lights, one behind the other.
Meanwhile.
The envoy who had fainted from anger returned to the Heaven Dou Empire and exaggerated his ordeal as he reported it to Xue Ye.
After hearing him out, the silver-haired Xue Ye trembled with rage.
He slammed a palm against the armrest of the Dragon Throne and declared on the spot that the Star Luo Empire would pay for this.
The ministers in court held their tongues, not daring to breathe too loudly.
But once his fury had ebbed and he had truly calmed down, an awkward problem arose.
Xue Ye sat in the empty bedchamber, his expression shifting between dark and bright.
He knew better than anyone that the Heaven Dou Empire was weaker than the Star Luo Empire. If Spirit Hall hadn't intervened back then, it was anyone's guess whether Heaven Dou would still exist on the map.
If they really went to war against the Star Luo Empire now, it would be no different from throwing their lives away.
But he had already made his threat.
If he acted as though nothing had happened, how would he be any different from the likes of Yu Xiaogang?
Just as he was caught between a rock and a hard place, Crown Prince Xue Qinghe stepped forward.
"Father, Whale Rubber isn't exclusive to the Star Luo Empire. If they can sell it, so can the Heaven Dou Empire."
Those words were like a lifeline.
Xue Ye's eyes lit up. On the spot, he allocated a huge sum of money and ordered his younger brother, Prince Xue Xing, and his fourth son, Xue Beng, to head to the coastal cities at once and purchase Whale Rubber.
But when they hurried all the way to Vast Sea City with their men, they were completely dumbfounded.
The Star Luo Empire had already swept up every last piece of Whale Rubber on the market that was over a hundred years old and of excellent quality.
The goods that remained were either too young or in appalling condition.
But after a moment's thought, they decided that since they had come all this way, they might as well buy what was left. They snapped up every last piece of Whale Rubber, loaded it onto carts, and set off home in a grand, heavily laden convoy.
When word reached Heaven Dou City, Xue Ye was overjoyed.
He not only personally went out of the city to welcome them but immediately ordered people to spread the word—
The Heaven Dou Empire was selling Whale Rubber too, at an even lower price than the Star Luo Empire.
The news spread as if it had grown wings.
Soul Masters across the land rushed to hear about it, and quite a few made a special trip to sample the Heaven Dou Empire's supposedly cheaper Whale Rubber.
For a while, Heaven Dou City was packed with people and bustling with activity. Seated in the palace, Xue Ye wore a rare smile.
But on the day sales officially began, everyone who saw the goods fell silent.
Most of the Whale Rubber wasn't even a hundred years old. That much was bad enough.
The pieces that were over a hundred years old, however, were in unbelievably poor condition.
They were a few blackened lumps lying on the counter. If you weren't told they were Whale Rubber, you'd think they were chunks of coal dug up from somewhere.
Compared to the lustrous, plump Whale Rubber sold by the Star Luo Empire, they weren't even in the same league.
If the Heaven Dou Empire hadn't priced its goods at only two-thirds of the Star Luo Empire's rate, the Soul Masters who had made the trip would likely have turned on their heels and left on the spot.
Even so, while plenty of people gathered to watch, almost no one paid.
The whole affair became painfully awkward.
With no other choice, Xue Xing and Xue Beng, who had been placed in charge of the whole matter, could only grit their teeth and slash the price again and again.
In the end, they cut it all the way down to one-third of the Star Luo Empire's price.
At that price, some Soul Masters finally started to take an interest.
But just as people were about to make a purchase, the Star Luo Empire suddenly released a piece of news—one that sent Xue Ye into such a fury that he spat blood.
"Studies show that only Whale Rubber aged a hundred years or more can improve a Soul Master's constitution. Whale Rubber under a hundred years old only has aphrodisiac effects."
Put in plain language, Whale Rubber under a hundred years old was only good for getting your dick hard.
As soon as the statement came out, the entire crowd erupted.
The Star Luo Empire's credibility was beyond question.
The Soul Masters who had been planning to stock up on cheap Whale Rubber immediately changed their minds. They had arrived full of excitement, only to leave in disappointment.
The Whale Rubber the Heaven Dou Empire had spent nearly a year's worth of tax revenue buying was now all stuck in its hands.
When the news reached the palace, Xue Ye was still daydreaming about making a fortune.
After hearing the report, he froze in place. His face grew redder and redder. A moment later, he spat out a mouthful of bright red blood and collapsed unconscious.
Xue Ye was bedridden for over a month after that, nearly letting Xue Qinghe take the throne without lifting a finger.
After that, having learned an expensive lesson, the Heaven Dou Empire finally got smart.
It began working with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and Spirit Hall to form an alliance.
Heaven Dou provided the ports, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect provided the money, and Spirit Hall provided the manpower. Together, they organized a mighty fleet and sailed into the deep sea to hunt whale Soul Beasts.
At first, the plan worked.
The three powers joined forces, their hunting operations were highly efficient, and shipment after shipment of high-quality Whale Rubber was brought back. They managed to wrestle half the market share back from the Star Luo Empire.
But the good times didn't last.
The three powers' indiscriminate hunting soon angered Sea God Island, which called itself the guardian of the ocean.
The two sides fought a great battle in the deep sea.
Even with all three powers working together, they failed to gain the slightest advantage.
For a time, neither side could break the deadlock.
Rumor had it that only after Qian Daoliu, the Great Enshrined of Spirit Hall, personally intervened was the conflict barely brought to an end.
After that battle, the three powers' hard-won fifty percent market share shrank until only thirty percent remained.
Spirit Hall held fifteen percent, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect held ten percent, and the Heaven Dou Empire was left with only five percent.
After the dust settled, everything finally returned to peace.
Thus, the continent passed three years in calm and stability.