Thousand-Year Golden-Patterned Two-Headed Tiger

Dai Xuanyu knew nothing of his imperial father's arrangements.

Even if he had known, he would have gladly accepted them.

He, Dai Xuanyu, was the future Star Luo Emperor. Filling his harem was inevitable.

And with countless beauties across the Douluo Continent, Dai Xuanyu certainly had no intention of letting any go to waste.

"Your Highness, we've reached the Tiger Might Mountain Range. I've already sent people into the mountains to search. They won't miss a single place."

Inside a luxurious carriage that resembled a small palace on wheels, the steward Dai Xuan was reporting on their progress.

Reclining on his side, Dai Xuanyu ate a crystal grape offered by an attendant's slender fingers before nodding in satisfaction. "Well done."

With subordinates to send, Dai Xuanyu naturally had no reason to waste his own strength trudging into the mountains to suffer.

Wasn't it far more comfortable to stay here and let the attendants serve him?

Once his people found the Soul Beast he needed, they would bring it out of the Tiger Might Mountain Range and straight to him.

Then Dai Xuanyu said to Dai Xuan, his tone full of meaning:

"Dai Xuan, progress on the other side can't stop either. Remember, use only Core Members for that."

"As you command, Your Highness." Dai Xuan immediately acknowledged the order, then withdrew respectfully.

The "other side" they spoke of was, of course, the source of the Soul Beast for Dai Xuanyu's Second Soul Ring.

Originally, Dai Xuanyu had intended to absorb both his First and Second Soul Rings in the Tiger Might Mountain Range.

But the plan had changed. Not only would they have to obtain the Soul Beast for his Second Soul Ring elsewhere, they would also have to do it in secret.

Why go to all this extra trouble now?

It was mainly because his imperial father had summoned him the night before, prompting Dai Xuanyu to become so cautious.

When he had awakened the Evil Eyes Saint King Martial Soul that day, its roar had shaken the imperial capital, and countless tiger- and cat-type Soul Masters had trembled. Such strange phenomena had naturally caught the attention of the spies hidden in Star Luo City.

The imperial family had later announced that His Majesty's Martial Soul Fusion Skill had improved.

But knowing how those spies from Heaven Dou and Spirit Hall would beat the grass in hopes of flushing out a rabbit, they were bound to investigate everything that had happened recently.

It was only natural that Dai Xuanyu, who had happened to undergo Martial Soul Awakening that day, would draw their attention.

Even if almost everyone believed there was no connection between the two events.

So today's Soul Hunting Operation had only one target for Dai Xuanyu: his First Soul Ring.

He had even made a point of turning the operation into a grand spectacle.

You spies like watching, don't you? Then watch to your hearts' content.

They would never uncover any secrets anyway. All they could do was enjoy the show.

At the same time, the display Dai Xuanyu had deliberately arranged could, to some extent, ease the other factions' wariness of the Star Luo Imperial Family producing a genius with Innate Full Soul Power.

"Your Highness, good news! Our people have found a Golden-Patterned Two-Headed Tiger." That afternoon, Dai Xuan arrived with the report.

"Good, good! Tell them to prepare." Dai Xuanyu pushed aside the palace maid attending him and rose at once.

"As you command, Your Highness."

With that, Dai Xuanyu stepped out of the mobile palace, led by Dai Xuan.

A thick, spacious tent had already been erected on a patch of open ground nearby.

"Your Highness, please." Dai Xuan lifted the flap for Dai Xuanyu.

A thousand-year Golden-Patterned Two-Headed Tiger is the best choice for my First Soul Ring!

Dai Xuanyu's spirits soared as he looked at the two-headed tiger Soul Beast inside the large iron cage.

The Golden-Patterned Two-Headed Tiger was an extremely rare Soul Beast.

As its name suggested, it was a tiger with golden markings and two heads.

"This little one, and the one over there, shouldn't go to waste either."

Dai Xuanyu turned toward several smaller iron cages nearby.

"Rest assured, Your Highness. There happen to be several death-sworn guards at the estate whose Soul Power Levels are suitable for absorbing those Soul Rings.

"For those fellows to absorb Soul Rings like these would be a blessing beyond their wildest dreams.

"If not for Your Highness's kindness..."

Dai Xuanyu waved off Dai Xuan's rambling. "Enough. Cut the nonsense. I'm going to absorb the Soul Ring."

Dai Xuanyu had ordered so many Soul Beasts captured specifically as a smokescreen.

If he had simply had someone bring him a thousand-year Soul Beast, even a fool would have seen that something was amiss.

So he had ordered several more Soul Beasts captured, and he would not be the only one absorbing a Soul Ring.

That way, the thousand-year Golden-Patterned Two-Headed Tiger could be slipped into the group without raising suspicion.

"As you command, Your Highness." Dai Xuan fell silent and opened the iron cage for him.

Dai Xuanyu entered the cage. Looking at the unconscious Golden-Patterned Two-Headed Tiger, he raised his blade and brought it down, swiftly ending the Soul Beast's life.

Before long, a purple Thousand-Year Soul Ring formed above the Golden-Patterned Two-Headed Tiger's corpse.

Dai Xuanyu sat cross-legged on a prepared cushion, released his Soul Power, and drew the Thousand-Year Soul Ring toward himself.

His Highness truly is the one who awakened the Evil Eyes Saint King Martial Soul—a peerless prodigy born with level-twenty Innate Soul Power!

Dai Xuan, standing guard while Dai Xuanyu absorbed the ring, was shaken to his core.

His very first Soul Ring was over twenty-seven hundred years old.

How terrifying was that?

But the more monstrous Dai Xuanyu proved to be, the happier people like Dai Xuan became.

After all, their own standing would rise with his, like a boat lifted by the tide.

Dai Xuan had experienced that firsthand over the past few days.

He had once been nothing more than a minor Soul King.

But ever since His Highness had revealed his monstrous talent, who in the imperial family—or beyond it—would dare look down on Dai Xuan now?

"Whew!" Dai Xuanyu let out a long breath and slowly opened his eyes.

Absorbing the Thousand-Year Soul Ring had gone smoothly and quickly.

Four levels at once. Not bad, I suppose. Once I absorb my Second Soul Ring, reaching level thirty might be a breeze.

Sensing how much his Soul Power Level had risen, Dai Xuanyu felt elated.

Get ahead by one step, and he could stay ahead at every step.

Only then could he become a god sooner and unite the entire Douluo Continent.

"Congratulations, Your Highness!"

Dai Xuan hurried over to congratulate him.

"Enough. Call those death-sworn guards in to absorb their rings," Dai Xuanyu instructed.

"As you command, Your Majesty."

The death-sworn guards brought along to absorb these Hundred-Year Soul Rings had all been raised under Dai Xuanyu's orders.

They had been unwanted infants, taken in through designated orphanages outside the palace by Dai Xuan.

From childhood, they had been taught loyalty to Dai Xuanyu.

Those with Innate Soul Power were recruited as death-sworn guards and given extensive training.

Raising qualified death-sworn guards from the ground up was indeed a slow and costly undertaking.

But Dai Xuanyu did not mind in the slightest.