"But my scouts had already been there several times. Before this, they never found any clues, nor did they see any buildings going up nearby."
Dai Hao questioned Huo Yuhao. By now, he no longer treated Huo Yuhao as a small child, but as an adjutant with whom he could discuss matters.
A smile appeared on Huo Yuhao's face, and he pointed to the location on the Sand Table.
"There was nothing aboveground, but did they look underground?"
Dai Hao froze for a moment, then understood what Huo Yuhao meant. He said to Huo Yuhao,
"That's too risky. We'd be deep behind enemy lines, after all. Searching for the target inch by inch would be far too difficult."
Huo Yuhao waved a hand and said to Dai Hao,
"I've looked around the camp lately, too. We have quite a few Soul Saints. Just send one who's good at long-range attacks and packs a strong punch, and have them blast a huge crater right into that spot. Whether there's anything underneath or not, it'll still serve a strategic purpose."
Dai Hao nodded at his words, then said to Huo Yuhao,
"All right, you can head back. I'll have to think over the details."
After Huo Yuhao left, Dai Hao raised his head to glance at his retreating figure, then tapped his fingers lightly against the desk and said,
"To think that cryptic old senior was right all those years ago. My Dai Family really could rise with the next generation. Such talent at only six years old—his future prospects are boundless."
One month later.
One night, Huo Yuhao heard a deafening explosion. The next morning, he saw three Soul Saints return, covered in dust and grime. Dai Hao personally welcomed them when they entered the camp.
Countless hunting-model Soul Guidance Ray Guns and Soul Cannons were taken out of the three Soul Saints' storage rings, proving that Huo Yuhao's judgment had been correct.
Naturally, Dai Hao was delighted. The entire White Tiger Legion celebrated for two days and two nights.
Huo Yuhao, however, did not let his guard down completely. Instead, he patrolled around the camp every night.
Dai Hao had assigned him several personal bodyguards, who naturally were not included in the victory banquet. As though walking dogs, Huo Yuhao led these guards around to keep watch in his stead.
On the second night, sure enough, they ran straight into a night-raiding squad sent by the Sun Moon Empire.
The guards at Huo Yuhao's side were naturally all Soul Saint-level experts. Facing this Sun Moon Empire night-raiding squad, they were like tigers charging into a flock of sheep, swiftly completing their first wave of attacks.
Once the White Tiger Legion was alerted, the night-raiding squad withdrew.
After this night raid, Dai Hao grew more vigilant.
Huo Yuhao then advised Dai Hao to strengthen security along the grain supply routes. After all, they had managed to slip Soul Saints behind enemy lines.
There was no reason the Sun Moon Empire would not have similar routes through which to infiltrate the Star Luo Empire.
Although Dai Hao did not quite believe the Sun Moon Empire could penetrate so deeply into the Star Luo Empire, he still deliberately sent additional personnel, assigning some of his otherwise unoccupied troops to protect the Supply Convoy.
Sure enough, just as Huo Yuhao had predicted, people from the Sun Moon Empire really did infiltrate their territory and attack the Supply Convoy.
Although Dai Hao had already assigned more guards, they still lost a considerable amount of provisions.
Over the next few years, the overt and covert struggles between the White Tiger Legion and the Sun Moon Empire's border garrison never ceased. Huo Yuhao also gradually sensed that the Sun Moon Empire's border garrison had definitely sought guidance from an expert.
He could clearly feel that the enemy's skill in military operations had improved dramatically in an instant.
It was not a gradual improvement, but a sudden, fundamental transformation.
Yet even after that transformation, the Sun Moon Empire's commander could only trade victories and defeats with Huo Yuhao. The two sides once again settled into a strange balance.
The only thing that worried Huo Yuhao somewhat was whether Dai Hao could withstand the Sun Moon Empire commander's vicious schemes after he left.
His opponent was not someone who employed cruel methods. Every arrangement included a loose knot through which his own soldiers could escape alive, but that escape usually came at the cost of greater losses for the Star Luo Empire.
Even Huo Yuhao felt his heart pound with apprehension when facing such an opponent.
With Dai Hao's headlong, reckless temperament, he would probably find this opponent difficult to handle.
Huo Yuhao had spent these past few years in the military camp. Coupled with his relationship with Dai Hao, no one would believe him even if he claimed not to belong to Dai Hao's faction.
The White Tiger Legion could also be counted as one of Huo Yuhao's footholds in the Star Luo Empire. Although it would not carry much weight once he reached the heights of a Title Douluo, or even a Limit Douluo, it would still be an important advantage.
Dai Hao, however, was not worried at all. Instead, he enthusiastically began preparing for Huo Yuhao's journey to Shrek Academy.
As he saw it, Huo Yuhao had now reached the Soul Elder rank and could enter Shrek Academy together with Dai Huabin. That meant placing his stakes on two prospects at once. Besides, by entering Shrek Academy a year early, Huo Yuhao could theoretically graduate a little earlier and come back to help him.
As for Huo Yuhao's latter two Soul Rings, they were indeed extraordinary. Huo Yuhao now had one yellow ring and two purple ones. His third Soul Ring was a six-thousand-year ring, stronger even than most people's fourth Soul Ring.
Just then, a secret letter from the White Tiger Duke's Mansion introduced further uncertainty into Huo Yuhao's journey to Shrek.
Huo Yun'er had died. According to the Duchess, she had died of a sudden illness.
Dai Hao was clearly caught off guard by the news as well. By the time he rushed back to the White Tiger Duke's Mansion with Huo Yuhao, Huo Yun'er's body had already been cremated, and her ashes had been buried on a small hill outside the White Tiger Duke's Mansion.
At Dai Hao's insistence, another round of arrangements was made, and her remains were moved into the Dai Family's ancestral burial ground.
Throughout the entire affair, the Duchess met Dai Hao only once and briefly described the circumstances of the death. Her account was indeed so watertight that not a drop could leak through.
However, Dai Hao's gaze toward her had already grown colder.
That evening, Dai Hao had Huo Yuhao accompany him in a ceremonial vigil before Huo Yun'er's memorial tablet.
Huo Yuhao, who had remained silent throughout, now said to Dai Hao,
"Father, I don't think Mother necessarily died at the Mistress's hands."
Dai Hao froze, then turned to look at Huo Yuhao, who spoke with feigned composure.
"For someone in the Mistress's position, acting like this would be far too foolish. I'm more inclined to believe there's a mole serving some other faction inside the Duke's Mansion."
Dai Hao fell silent, and Huo Yuhao continued,
"Having me brought back was very likely just an attempt to unsettle me and affect my performance after I enter Shrek Academy."
Dai Hao nodded, and Huo Yuhao said,
"Father, I have a request."
Dai Hao looked at Huo Yuhao and spoke with some puzzlement.
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