The moment he said that, not only was Duke Spirit Cat Zhu Song stunned, but the Star Luo Emperor was taken aback as well.
The excited expression on Zhu Song's face hadn't faded yet. It froze halfway through.
The Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone wasn't fake news? Then the rumor His Highness had arranged to spread last night—had he used the real thing as bait?
The Star Luo Emperor reacted much faster than he did.
The astonishment on his face lasted only half a breath before he returned to normal.
After all, he had been emperor for decades. What kind of storms hadn't he weathered?
But his eyes didn't move. He stared intently at Dai Mobai.
"Then... where is that Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone?"
Dai Mobai met their gazes and unhurriedly set his teacup back on the table. Then he stretched out his right leg.
"Here."
He patted his right leg, his gesture casual.
The Star Luo Emperor and Zhu Song's gazes immediately fell on his right leg.
Dai Mobai urged his Soul Power. A layer of blue-gold light seeped from his leg, thin as a veil yet smooth and lustrous as jade.
The light grew brighter, shining from within until it enveloped his entire right leg in a shimmering blue-gold halo.
The Star Luo Emperor's pupils contracted slightly.
Zhu Song actually rose from his chair.
One of them was a Titled Douluo, the other a Soul Douluo. Their sensitivity to Soul Power was extraordinary.
With the slightest probe, an unimaginably vast aura of life washed over them.
Vast and profound, like a forest that had slept for ten thousand years awakening.
A Soul Power fluctuation of this level could never come from a ten-thousand-year Soul Bone.
"It really is a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone!"
Zhu Song's eyes shone as he stared fixedly at Dai Mobai's right leg, glowing with blue-gold light. His gaze was as heated as if he'd laid eyes on a priceless treasure.
He unconsciously took half a step forward, then realized he'd lost his composure and forcibly pulled his foot back. But the fervor in his eyes hadn't diminished at all.
The Star Luo Emperor was much more restrained.
He sat upright behind his desk, his expression calm and unruffled. Only the faintest trace of envy mingled with his gaze as he looked at Dai Mobai.
Envy.
He never let outsiders see this emotion easily, but at that moment, in front of his son, he made no effort to hide it.
This was a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone—
A rare treasure that could shake the entire Soul Master World the moment it appeared, one that even Titled Douluo would fight tooth and nail to claim.
Even he, the ruler of a nation, the mighty Star Luo Emperor, who had been a Titled Douluo for many years, didn't have a single Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone.
Such a thing was too rare to obtain through power or wealth alone.
And yet Dai Mobai, a boy of only fifteen, already possessed a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone that even Titled Douluo dreamed of.
How could he not feel envious?
Fortunately, Dai Mobai was his son.
The moment that thought surfaced, the Star Luo Emperor's envy ebbed, replaced by a trace of relief and pride.
It was better for the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone to end up in his son's hands than in someone else's. Keep it in the family.
He slowly concealed his feelings, once again adopting the composed expression befitting an emperor.
"Mobai, what kind of Soul Beast did this Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone come from?"
He asked in a deep voice, his tone more solemn than before.
"A Hundred-Thousand-Year Blue Silver Emperor."
Dai Mobai didn't hide the truth. He answered honestly.
"Blue Silver Emperor?!"
The Star Luo Emperor and Zhu Song both changed expression.
They instinctively exchanged a glance, seeing the same shock—and the same suspicion—in each other's eyes.
"Mobai..."
The Star Luo Emperor furrowed his brows slightly, his voice even lower than before.
"Could this Soul Bone of yours have come from..."
He left the sentence unfinished, but its meaning was already crystal clear.
"Blue Silver Emperor" and "hundred thousand years"—put those words together, and there was only one answer.
"Yes. It came from Tang Hao's wife, the hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast who took human form."
Dai Mobai understood what the Star Luo Emperor wanted to ask and gave him a direct answer.
The Imperial Study fell silent for a moment.
The Star Luo Emperor's lips moved slightly, soundlessly rolling the name around—Tang Hao.
It had been many years since that name first came up, but its weight had never lessened.
"Tang Hao..."
At last, he spoke the name aloud, his tone complicated.
"He's no pushover."
A rare gravity entered the Star Luo Emperor's voice.
He and Tang Hao had lived through the same era. No one understood better than he did what the Clear Sky Douluo was capable of.
Back then, Tang Hao had fought three Titled Douluo from Spirit Hall despite having only just reached the Titled Douluo rank.
And the result? One Titled Douluo died a miserable death, while the former pope, Qian Xunji, and another Titled Douluo fled back to Spirit Hall in disgrace.
Yet even that hadn't let them escape death's threat.
Not long after returning to Spirit Hall, Qian Xunji died of his injuries.
That battle had made Tang Hao famous overnight.
Whatever his character might have been, the Star Luo Emperor acknowledged his strength in battle.
"Mobai, you took the Soul Bone of Tang Hao's deceased wife. Aren't you afraid he'll come after you?"
"Afraid."
Dai Mobai smiled and frankly uttered the word "afraid."
"That's why we need to drag him out and use him as a shield."
The seemingly contradictory remark made the gravity between the Star Luo Emperor's brows suddenly fade.
He narrowed his eyes slightly, leaned back in his chair, and looked at his son, who was becoming harder and harder to read.
"You want Tang Hao to muddy the waters further?"
"Exactly."
Dai Mobai nodded, his fingers gently rubbing the rim of his teacup.
"If Star Luo wages war against Heaven Dou, Spirit Hall—who fancies itself the enforcer of the mortal world—will inevitably intervene. Their strength speaks for itself. A direct confrontation would put us at a disadvantage. So we have to keep them busy, preferably so overwhelmed they can barely cope and have no time to concern themselves with the war between us and Heaven Dou."
He paused and looked up, a calculating glint flashing in his eyes.
"Tang Hao, who shares a blood feud with Spirit Hall, is the perfect ally to divert their attention. Qian Xunji's death is a disgrace Spirit Hall will never be able to wash away. As long as Tang Hao lives, Spirit Hall's deterrent power will remain incomplete."
"They'll devote a great deal of manpower and effort to tracking down Tang Hao instead of keeping their eyes on the border between Star Luo and Heaven Dou."
"Tang Hao is the fire we need to light, to set Spirit Hall's own backyard ablaze first."
The Star Luo Emperor didn't speak immediately after hearing him out.
He fell silent for a few breaths, then slowly nodded.
But just then, Zhu Song spoke up.
"Your Highness."
He furrowed his brows slightly, worry in his voice.
"If Tang Hao hides away like he did before and vanishes without a trace, leaving Spirit Hall without a target, won't they eventually turn their attention back to the war between Star Luo and Heaven Dou?"
Zhu Song's concern wasn't unfounded.
Tang Hao had survived all these years by hiding.
The Douluo Continent was vast, and he was alone. As long as he didn't want to show himself, Spirit Hall could do nothing about him.
Hearing Zhu Song's words, Dai Mobai only smiled faintly.
"I've naturally considered Duke Spirit Cat's concern."
He lifted his teacup to his lips but didn't drink. He only looked at Zhu Song through the curling steam, a meaningful smile at the corner of his mouth.
"But what if I could make sure Tang Hao had no way to hide?"