soul land: Huo Yuhao Inheriting Centipede Immortal

The young Variant Ice Jade Centipede was easily tamed by Huo Yuhao, as it was instinctively drawn to the bloodline aura of the same species emanating from him. What followed next was deeper domestication.

To that end, Huo Yuhao planned to nourish it with his own essence blood to accelerate its transformation into a true demonic beast. When the time came… it might even become a soul bone spirit!

Of course, given the nature of this little Variant Ice Jade Centipede, once its strength grew, it would be useful to Huo Yuhao in multiple ways—whether for direct combat support or alternative uses.

For instance, he could even refine it into another clone puppet!

Shortly after subduing the creature, He Caitou also finished absorbing his seventh soul ring.

As a food-type soul master, his seventh soul skill was also a Martial Soul True Body, but with the added benefit of still being able to produce edible food for others.

Even a hundred-thousand-year soul ring for a food-type soul master only provided one soul skill: Martial Soul True Body.

Cigar Martial Soul, Pale Sabertooth Tiger's 100,000-Year Soul Ring Seventh Soul Skill — Martial Soul True Body: Supreme Tiger Power: Savage Cigar!

 Incantation: One to refresh the mind, two to never feel tired!

Effect: When He Caitou consumes a cigar, his physical constitution increases by 45%, and the effectiveness of all cigar effects also increases by 45%. This boost lasts as long as the Martial Soul True Body is active.

 If other soul masters consume it, their physical constitution increases by 65%, with the duration being half that of He Caitou's Martial Soul True Body duration.

 Once created, the cigars can be stored indefinitely without expiring until used.

Special Effect of the 100,000-Year Soul Ring: Upon activating Martial Soul True Body, the first seven soul skills each consume one soul power unit to summon two cigars instead of one. When used simultaneously, their effects double.

This soul skill absolutely lives up to the prestige of a 100,000-year ring. The ability to double the effects of cigar soul skills would drive major powers insane if word got out. With this, He Caitou could arguably claim the title of the continent's number one support-type soul master.

Because for food-type soul masters, eating more food in one go only extends the duration—it never doubles the effect. Some even have a maximum duration limit.

There's just no comparison to He Caitou's new soul skill.

Now, He Caitou's seven soul skills are:

Amplify spiritual power

Amplify strength

Amplify defense

Amplify speed

Add poison attribute (with self-poisoning side effect)

Add physical damage reflection and amplify defense

Amplify physical constitution

Except for the first three, the remaining soul skills differ from the original novel's, with each having its own pros and cons. However, thanks to higher quality soul rings, their overall power is greater.

Additionally, after absorbing the soul ring, He Caitou's soul power level immediately reached level 79 and was on the verge of breaking into level 80.

But Huo Yuhao didn't rush He Caitou's breakthrough. Even if he did, the remaining 100,000-year soul beasts weren't a good fit for him.

Instead, Huo Yuhao had already decided on the next two soul rings for He Caitou: the Four-Horned Tyrant Deer and the Rainbow Dragon Sheep, both of which had appeared during the beast tide in the Star Dou Great Forest.

These two soul beasts had high-quality bloodlines, making them well-suited for integration into the Ghost Banner Martial Soul.

 Also, when they returned to the forest, they could help Jin Qiu'er gain soul rings as well—potentially two 100,000-year soul rings in one go.

While pillaging the Extreme North, Huo Yuhao also summoned Nan Shuishui back and decided to test the effect of Supreme Tiger Power: Savage Cigar on her. The results confirmed that the boost to physical constitution was comprehensive—affecting not only raw strength but also endurance.

After Nan Shuishui awakened from unconsciousness, Huo Yuhao began assisting her in forming a soul core.

Indeed, Nan Shuishui had not formed a soul core yet and was still on the traditional Title Douluo path, not the modern version of that realm.

After all, her breakthrough was entirely thanks to Huo Yuhao's cultivation techniques and bestowed power.

That said, soul cores still had their value. A soul master with a core was more enduring in battle, had faster soul power regeneration, and could more easily ascend to the Super Douluo level.

Because Nan Shuishui had cultivated Huo Yuhao's methods, the soul core she was forming would be different from the current era's and would more closely resemble Huo Yuhao's Golden Core.

While assisted soul core formation often risks stunted growth, in this case, the quality would still be more than adequate.

Based on Nan Shuishui's own strength and foundation, it would've been impossible for her to form a Golden Core on her own. So Huo Yuhao gave her a 100,000-year soul bone to supplement her.

100,000-Year Wind and Snow Subdragon Right Leg Bone—bearing dragon bloodline and compatible with the Rouge Dragon attribute, making it suitable for Nan Shuishui.

For Huo Yuhao, such rare soul bones didn't mean much anymore—unless they bore powerful bloodlines or were external soul bones. Otherwise, even 100,000-year Subdragon bones wouldn't catch his eye.

He had to admit: after becoming suddenly rich, his mentality had inflated and his standards had risen.

But Nan Shuishui, being his Furnace Vessel, continuously produced Annihilation Attribute Power and fate energy, supporting his cultivation. Giving her a soul bone was like transferring energy from one hand to the other.

No big deal.

After absorbing the soul bone, Nan Shuishui's soul power smoothly advanced to Level 95, and under Huo Yuhao's guidance, she formed a Pseudo–Golden Core.

A Pseudo–Golden Core was essentially a weakened version of the real one.

It shared the soul core's advantage of not increasing soul power, but it greatly accelerated soul power recovery, and could grow stronger along with the user.

Its edge over a regular soul core? It extended the user's lifespan and allowed the formation of a divine ability. It also enabled domain condensation.

Not the best, but definitely better than average.

Upon forming the Pseudo–Golden Core, Nan Shuishui's divine ability also took shape—though it surprised Huo Yuhao a bit.

Divine Ability – Perish Together, Oblivion Burns All!

 Effect: Locks onto a target. Mutual destruction.

Simple and brutal.

"Reporting to Lord Ming, Shui Nu can feel that this move is enough to perish together with an Ultimate Douluo," Nan Shuishui respectfully explained the effect.

Huo Yuhao fell silent.

This was truly the peak of one-for-one destruction.

Now the question remained: could it threaten Quasi-Divine, True Divine, or Proto-Divine level soul masters?

Not useful for Huo Yuhao himself.

As for the Domain Nan Shuishui gained—it was, fittingly, the Oblivion Domain.

Oblivion Domain: A field composed of Annihilation Attribute energy that weakens enemies' defense, attack, and vitality.

The weakening effect was about 20%.

Compared to Huo Yuhao's power, it wasn't much, but compared to other Title Douluo of the same level, Nan Shuishui was now terrifyingly powerful.

After that, while letting his troops scour the Extreme North, Huo Yuhao deepened his own cultivation and upgraded all four black soul rings to 100,000 years, gaining four more powerful soul skills. Occasionally, he would offer pointers to Nan Shuishui.

And yes—real pointers, not lazy ones. He treated it like casually training a pet dog for fun.

At the same time, Huo Yuhao continued refining the Icefire Dragon King remains within the miniature world in his hand. These divine-grade remains would eventually become special artifacts that could be merged into his body—perhaps even evolving into divine tools in the future.

He even considered crafting them into extra arms—why not give himself two more? Five arms to choke five god-kings, and the last one to slap them silly.

And just like that, by the time Huo Yuhao left the Extreme North, over a month had already passed.

Huo Yuhao spent over a month in the Extreme North.

During this time, the Sun Moon Empire was in utter turmoil. Huo Yuhao hadn't forgotten to "shower his love" upon the empire—and prior to leaving, he had planted a massive trap within it.

On the third day after Huo Yuhao departed for the Extreme North, a major incident erupted in Mingdu. It was later dubbed—The Evil Dragon's Awakening!

 …

The day after Beibei disappeared, Long Xiaoyao rushed to Mingdu upon hearing the news. He personally began the search for Beibei, charging directly into the underground world and quickly tracking down the Alto Chamber of Commerce.

Under Long Xiaoyao's pressure, An Litong and the elders of the Chamber immediately knelt and raised their hands in surrender. They swore that if he spared their lives, they would find the person he was looking for—within seven days, tops.

But Long Xiaoyao deemed seven days too long. He gave them only three days. If anything happened to Beibei, the entire Alto Chamber of Commerce would be buried with him.

What could An Litong do?

He had no choice but to comply.

He dispatched all his subordinates, offending every major power if needed, determined to turn over every stone to find Beibei.

Seeing An Litong so cooperative, Long Xiaoyao spared the Chamber—for now.

Of course, An Litong also reported the situation to the military. After all, the Chamber was an underground power fostered by the military—they had to report upward.

The other forces impacted by the Chamber's actions were baffled. They wondered if the military had gone mad—ordering the Chamber to target them?

Naturally, they didn't sit still. They began to resist and obstruct the Chamber's search.

That was until the military secretly dispatched a Title Douluo to eliminate Long Xiaoyao—only for that Douluo to be seriously injured by Long Xiaoyao in a single counterattack, barely escaping with his life.

At that moment, everyone realized: the military wasn't crazy. Nor was the Chamber suicidal. They were being coerced—by a terrifying powerhouse, possibly an Ultimate Douluo, searching for someone.

Suddenly, no force dared obstruct the Chamber's search. In fact, they opened every door, terrified of being mistaken by Long Xiaoyao and facing extermination.

The intelligence about Long Xiaoyao's arrival in Mingdu and his coercion of the Chamber also reached the ears of the Sun Moon Emperor.

He was furious.

Who could remain calm knowing such a formidable individual was stirring up chaos in the imperial capital?

In his fury, the Emperor ordered the City Defense Army to locate the person Long Xiaoyao was looking for as soon as possible, and tasked the imperial princes to assist.

The princes hadn't even wrapped up their investigation of the previous bombing incident, and now they were thrust into another mission. They all felt the struggle for the throne was reaching nightmare-level intensity.

Yet none dared to refuse—they could only comply.

Fortunately, Long Xiaoyao had not yet extended his reach above ground; the storm remained confined to the underground world.

But everyone knew—if Long Xiaoyao didn't find his target, he would surely emerge from the shadows.

And when that happened, all of Mingdu would quake.

Because in the current Sun Moon Empire, unless they deployed full military legions, no one could stand against Long Xiaoyao. Neither Jing Hongchen nor Kong Deming could land a crippling blow on a military-grade Title Douluo without soul tools.

And deploying a full legion to battle a single Ultimate Douluo inside Mingdu? That was simply unthinkable.

Unless, of course, the Empire was willing to sacrifice Mingdu itself.

So even though outsiders didn't know Long Xiaoyao's true identity, they could deduce that he must be a top-tier Super Douluo, likely even an Ultimate Douluo.

Such is the world of the strong—one individual, by virtue of strength alone, can shake an entire empire. If you can't do that, then you're simply not strong enough.

While the Emperor was wary of Long Xiaoyao, he also wanted to recruit him. Unfortunately, Long Xiaoyao refused to meet with any of the Emperor's messengers.

He had no choice.

Only two princes remained calm—Xu Tiannan and Xu Tiancheng.

Xu Tiannan had recently taken a godmother and had learned from her who Long Xiaoyao likely was. He understood that Long Xiaoyao could be considered half an ally.

Thus, Xu Tiannan became proactive. He figured—if he could do Long Xiaoyao a favor now, he might gain his support.

If he could hold the person Long Xiaoyao sought in his hands, he might win him over completely.

And then—everything would fall into place.

His godmother was powerful, but she didn't deliver. Xu Tiannan had to provide her with substantial resources and political favors in exchange for a vague promise of support for his claim to the throne. If he succeeded, he'd be expected to establish the Holy Spirit Sect as the state religion and grant conveniences to the Evil Soul Masters.

If such a deal were exposed, Xu Tiannan's name would be forever stained in Sun Moon Empire history. But for the sake of the throne, he had no choice.

If he declined, another prince might accept, and then he'd lose everything.

For an ambitious man, this was unacceptable.

Of course, Xu Tiannan also believed—if he did become Emperor, he could use his power to control or even subjugate the Holy Spirit Sect.

As for Xu Tiancheng? He remained calm because he was a puppet of Huo Yuhao, and the current situation had been triggered by Huo Yuhao himself.

While controlling Xu Tiancheng's body, Huo Yuhao activated his spiritual sight and scanned the fortunes of Mingdu. After making a few calculations, he slapped his thigh.

"This is bad. That old fogey Long Xiaoyao is taking this seriously!"

He hadn't expected Long Xiaoyao to care so deeply about Beibei.

He'd assumed Long might act out of respect for Mu En's memory—but this level of intensity?

Beibei wasn't even his real kin. Mu En wasn't worried—why was he?

Oh. Right. Beibei was Mu En's last remaining bloodline. That explains it.

As a result, the White Lotus Subdivision and Alto Chamber were as good as doomed. Long Xiaoyao had his eyes on the White Lotus already—he was just waiting, afraid that a rash move might destroy Beibei.

Clearly, too much resistance makes a fish easier to catch.

But Huo Yuhao remained calm. With the Third Prince under his control, he could afford to sacrifice both the White Lotus and the Alto Chamber. But not the Death God Envoy.

So, Huo Yuhao made preparations.

The Death God Envoy, along with the core members of the White Lotus, began evacuating Mingdu under the guidance of the high eunuch. With his help, the retreat would go smoothly.

Only Nana was left behind, continuing her infiltration of the Ordinary Alliance.

Previously, Huo Yuhao had tasked her with entering the group to sow chaos and draw them into the growing conflict.

He hadn't expected the White Lotus to fall before she could pull the Alliance in. Ironically, the Alliance now became Nana's safe haven.

An Litong and the elders of the Alto Chamber remained hidden, ready to escape. Though the Chamber would be lost, they, as five Soul Douluo, could return to the military. They might not join the elite five legions, but they could easily serve as commanders of minor ones.

And Beibei would be found—within three days, without fail. By then, Long Xiaoyao would be too preoccupied to care about a few irrelevant people.

Because Huo Yuhao had prepared for this loss, he remained unflustered—and even saw it as an opportunity for profit.

Finally, the three-day deadline arrived.

A dragon's roar shook Mingdu!

Long Xiaoyao and Tang Ya both received intel stating that "Beibei has been found," and rushed to the underground base where the secret chamber was located.

Staring at the empty underground base, they knew instantly—the perpetrator had fled. There was still no sign of An Litong or the other leaders of the Myeongdu Trade Association. But neither of them paid much attention to such side details.

Their only concern right now was Beibei's safety.

Soon, the sealed chamber was located.

Seeing that Long Xiaoyao didn't immediately open the chamber, the anxious Tang Ya tried to do it herself, only to be stopped by Long Xiaoyao.

With an extremely solemn expression, Long Xiaoyao said in a low voice, "Lady of the Blue Silver, there's a very strong aura of evil inside this chamber. You'd better not get too close."

"What? An evil aura? That's impossible!" Tang Ya cried out, a dreadful feeling already rising in her heart.

"In any case, step back and leave it to me," Long Xiaoyao insisted.

Tang Ya had no choice but to back away, her heart filled with worry.

Long Xiaoyao unleashed his power of darkness, enveloping the entire chamber before blasting the stone door open.

But the next moment, a terrifying wave of evil energy erupted, accompanied by the roar of a dragon. The dark energy surged out from within the chamber, breaking through Long Xiaoyao's protective darkness and even forcing him back half a step.

"Not good!" Long Xiaoyao exclaimed, his expression dramatically changing.

His darkness attribute hadn't been overpowered by sheer strength—it had been suppressed by a countering attribute.

That evil energy had already reached the extreme!

At that very moment, the entire city of Myeongdu was engulfed in darkness. The shadow seemed so close to the ground, as if it intended to drown the world. Thunder rumbled angrily behind the darkness, as though divine wrath had descended in response to the birth of this evil—yet the darkness held it at bay.

The people of Myeongdu were thrown into panic.

Countless powerful individuals rushed out from their residences, staring anxiously at the sky.

Meanwhile, Huo Yuhao stood calmly at the edge of a loft, observing this apocalyptic scene. A smirk tugged at his lips as he softly commanded, "Qingci, Mòyǐng, prepare the celebration."

"Yes!" they both responded, then vanished.

A draconic roar echoed across Myeongdu.

From the depths of darkness emerged a massive black claw, followed by a dragon's head, its body, wings, and tail. This dragon was covered in pitch-black scales glowing faintly with a purplish sheen. Its eyes were the color of blood—mad, evil, and terrifying.

All those below the rank of Titled Douluo who saw this monstrous form shivered in fear.

Even Titled Douluos, sensing the malevolence radiating from it, became gravely alert. They understood: if this evil dragon were allowed to roam freely, the entire continent might be plunged into unimaginable disaster.

In a refined courtyard, a beautiful and mature woman rose from a lounge chair, staring in astonishment at the emerging dragon in the sky. "A Dark Holy Dragon? No—it's evil, to the extreme. And oddly… it even resembles the Light Holy Dragon!"

"How interesting. How terribly interesting."

With that, her figure disappeared, leaving behind only an eerie chuckle echoing through the courtyard.

That woman was none other than Xu Tianran's godmother, Supreme Elder of the Holy Spirit Church—Ye Yeshui!

How could she miss the excitement when it concerned those two men?

Beneath the darkness, the evil dragon scanned its surroundings, greedily eyeing the flesh and life of Myeongdu's people. Then, with the darkness trailing behind it, it dove toward a certain place in the city.

The location: the chamber.

Now knowing the direction, the strong defenders of Myeongdu moved immediately. The city's defense troops rushed to seal off the area and hunt down the evil dragon's master.

But unexpectedly—

Explosions erupted throughout Myeongdu in terrifying synchronicity.

The sound of detonations and civilian screams filled the air.

The top officials and elites of the Sun-Moon Empire were furious.

Some lunatic had planted fixed-installed soul tool bombs across Myeongdu?!

The commander of the city defense forces nearly fainted. He knew—he was done for.

Immediately, all assumed that the tragedies engulfing the city were directly related to the birth of the evil dragon.

What else could explain such perfect timing?

The strong all rushed toward the spot where the dragon had vanished, determined to find the mastermind. Among them, Jing Hongchen led the charge.

"Hahahaha! Fire the cannons for the birth of the evil dragon!"

"Brother Beibei, I'll make the entire Myeongdu erupt in celebration for your transformation~"

You tell me—did it erupt or not?!

Huo Yuhao burst into laughter. Then, he quickly put on a look of terror, urgency, and concern, dashing out of the loft and shouting to the guards, "Quick! Follow me into the city to assist with rescue efforts!"

The guards immediately responded, deeply moved. To them, the Third Prince was clearly a good prince who cared for the people.

At the same time, Qingci Douluo and Mòyǐng Douluo reappeared at Huo Yuhao's side. They had simply gone out to detonate the fixed-installed soul tool bombs, so they returned quickly. To avoid being traced, they activated the devices remotely from outside the city and destroyed the controllers afterward.

Those bombs had actually been planted over the last three days under the guise of the Alto Trade Association searching for Beibei.

Moreover, all of the bombs had come from the private stores of a certain royal noble—his life's collection. It ensured that no one could trace the devices to any outsiders.

Unfortunately, after the previous bombing incident, the city defense had been significantly tightened. They couldn't plant the bombs in crowded market areas. Most were only level-five or level-six bombs.

Even so, the estimated casualties this time could reach tens of thousands—after all, Myeongdu was a prosperous metropolis.

As for taking so many lives with their own hands? Qingci and Mòyǐng didn't feel much at all. Morality and conscience weren't worth their lives.

Elsewhere, the Centipede-Leg Clone carried a soul flag soul tool, wandering beneath the city to collect the souls of the dead.

Huo Yuhao, under the identity of the Third Prince, traveled through the city, overseeing rescue operations.

Myeongdu had plunged into utter chaos.

The powerful individuals rushing toward the chamber hadn't even arrived before they were struck back by a surge of soul power and a thunderous shout: "Scram!"

That one move sent them all flying.

Long Xiaoyao had emerged from the chamber, carrying Beibei.

Beibei was still unconscious. His appearance hadn't changed much, except that his hair had turned black. In fact, he looked to be in remarkably good condition—his life force steady and strong.

Tang Ya finally relaxed upon seeing Beibei unharmed. She cared little for anything else at that point.

Without delay, Long Xiaoyao swiftly left with Tang Ya and Beibei. They absolutely couldn't reveal themselves. Long Xiaoyao could handle exposure, but Beibei would be condemned, and it might even tarnish Mu En's name.

Everything else could wait until they were safe.

After they left, Ye Yeshui appeared quietly, curiously inspecting the layout of the chamber.

"What an interesting arrangement."

Memorizing everything, Ye Yeshui silently disappeared before more strong cultivators arrived—leaving not a trace.

Well… almost.

She did leave behind a level-nine fixed-installed soul tool bomb.

Ye Yeshui had seen right through it—someone was trying to pin the blame on others. But she thought the attempt was a bit… petty.

So she decided to go big.

When Myeongdu's elite fighters stormed into the underground base and finally reached the chamber, they hadn't even figured out what was going on before all eyes locked on to the flashing level-nine soul bomb.

"No! It's a trap!"

"Retreat! Retreat now!"

Too late.

BOOM——

An even more devastating explosion tore through Myeongdu.

Even Huo Yuhao was stunned by the blast. When he realized it came from the chamber's location, he couldn't help but murmur, "There's another master at work?"

The Centipede-Leg Clone rushed over to collect more souls.

He couldn't keep up. He absolutely couldn't keep up!

The darkness that had loomed over Mingdu had dissipated, but the blood-red afterglow of the setting sun was so intense it was hard to look at directly.

A sense of bloodshed lingered over the entire capital.

All explosion sites were sealed off, surrounding residents placed under control, the wounded sent for treatment, and the dead handled collectively.

Troops patrolled the city streets to maintain order. Shops shuttered their doors. The once-bustling capital had fallen into eerie silence.

Mingdu was under complete lockdown.

Fortunately, despite the severity of the blasts, no widespread chaos or secondary disaster followed.

The situation was quickly assessed.

Over 200,000 people were affected, with more than 50,000 casualties. The deadliest zone was the epicenter of the Level 9 stationary soul-guided bomb—its explosion caused over half the deaths and injuries, its destructive range vast. Several Soul Douluo and over a dozen Soul Saints were killed. Even Jing Hongchen was gravely injured.

The Sun Moon Emperor, overwhelmed by emotion, fainted on the spot. Crown Prince Xu Tiannan temporarily assumed command and swore to uncover the truth.

Xu Tiannan wore an ashen face. Mingdu was, after all, the capital of the Sun Moon Empire. As crown prince, and with his sights firmly set on the throne, how could he tolerate such a disaster?

Having taken a powerful foster mother under his wing, Xu Tiannan became more audacious. He immediately ordered the military to seal off Mingdu.

Unbeknownst to him, the very bomb that dealt such damage had been detonated by his foster mother.

Xu Tiannan and the court ministers, however, assumed the explosions came from the same group—the earlier blasts were to lure the capital's elite defenders, and the final bomb was to erase all traces.

No one dared to object to Xu Tiannan's directives. As long as his orders didn't defy the empire's foundational principles, anyone who challenged him would become a prime suspect.

Even the other princes kept silent, cowering in fear.

Huo Yuhao sneered in contempt. No wonder the other princes couldn't compete with Xu Tiannan—this was the perfect opportunity to vie for power, and they all just gave it away.

That said, Huo Yuhao didn't compete either.

He had no interest in power. What he truly wanted was something else. Now with tens of thousands of souls at his disposal, it would be enough to cultivate the Third Prince into a Title Douluo.

During the emperor's unconscious spell, Huo Yuhao planned to "show filial piety" by frequenting the imperial harem to "comfort" the frightened concubines.

When the imperial machine began operating in full force, its momentum was overwhelming.

First, all exchange students from Shrek Academy were placed under protective house arrest. Though this sparked some resentment among them, no one dared to act rashly—none of them were fools. They knew better than to stand in the line of fire. Even Xian Lin'er stayed obediently within the academy.

Next, the White Lotus Sub-Division was fully exposed.

Long Xiaoyao traced it, but only managed to capture a few recently recruited pawns.

The core members had already evacuated Mingdu, going into hiding to bide their time and grow stronger. For now, Huo Yuhao had no reason to act further.

Still, both the Holy Spirit Cult and the Sun Moon Empire issued a wanted order for all members of the White Lotus Sub-Division—especially the Death God Envoy.

Both factions believed the bombing was their doing. After all, Beibei's disappearance was tied to them, and they vanished right after the explosion. If they weren't guilty, why run?

When Zhongli Wu received the news, he affirmed that the Death God Envoy was indeed a troublemaker—just one who'd managed to dump the mess onto the Holy Spirit Cult. He vowed to personally refine the Death God Envoy once captured.

Finally came the matter of the Alto Merchant Association.

The Alto Association had been completely discarded—used as scapegoats for the bombing. Only An Litong and four elders made it back safely to the military.

The military chose to protect them—not only because they brought back significant resources, but because all five had shown potential to break through to Title Douluo in the future.

Though the military lost a "black glove" (their covert arm), they regained five potential Title Douluo seeds. It was a fair trade. Another black glove could always be fostered later.

The resources they brought back were looted from various factions under the guise of searching for Beibei. An Litong and company had long planned their retreat, and they took full advantage of the chaos.

The spoils were split 50/50 with Huo Yuhao. The equal split was because An Litong's team needed to offer a generous "gift" to the military to ensure their safe reintegration.

No matter—whatever was lost now could always be skimmed back later.

After An Litong and the four elders disappeared, the remaining members of the Alto Association suffered devastating retaliation—from rival factions and from the empire itself, since they were now officially blamed for the attack.

Public outrage was also directed squarely at the Alto Association.

This time, it was mostly innocent civilians who suffered—not the powerful factions. To the ruling elite, the numbers of dead were just statistics—something to smooth over and move on from.

The only ones who truly cared about the people were the royal family, who still needed public support. So the people were given a convenient scapegoat to vent their rage on.

In the end, the once-mighty Alto Association—one of the three great underground powers of Mingdu—was wiped out. Most members died, and their assets were carved up by rival factions.

Earlier, Alto members had grown bold from An Litong's subtle encouragement and looted with abandon. When disaster struck, An Litong's group vanished, leaving the others to suffer brutal fates. Very few survived.

But the purges stopped there—the military itself was not targeted further.

The Xishui Alliance and the Common Alliance also gained some spoils, but couldn't escape the empire's scrutiny either.

They survived by surrendering some of their own assets—a lucky escape.

In the end, when they tallied it all up, they found they hadn't actually gained much.

Xishui Alliance was investigated not only as a matter of procedure, but also because leadership had passed from Nangong Wan to the Blue Silver Saintess—someone not affiliated with Ye Xishui.

Xu Tiannan showed no mercy.

With no Title Douluo or Holy Spirit Cult affiliation to protect her, the Blue Silver Saintess had to swallow the loss. Luckily, Tang Ya, leveraging her Title Douluo status, was able to cow the Xishui Alliance into submission.

In short, everyone involved—whether perpetrators, the empire, or factions like the Holy Spirit Cult—gained something.

The only ones who truly lost…

…were the innocent civilians.

It took over half a month before the incident finally settled, and Mingdu barely returned to normal.

Yet the aftershocks of the event would continue to ripple for a long time before fading into history.

Such was unavoidable.

The number of casualties was simply too high—the pain was felt deeply by the people of Mingdu.

Xu Tiannan looked over the report from his subordinates and nodded in satisfaction. The capital had stabilized, and he had solidified his grip on the court. Using the purge of the Alto Association, he had also removed several officials who opposed him and suppressed rival princes.

Even his Third Brother, who had recently grown bold, had gone quiet. Now, he only visited the palace to check on their unconscious father.

Did he really think that would earn their father's affection? Or that their father would wake and support him?

Heh. If their father had fainted—better that he never wake again. Once Xu Tiannan fully controlled the court, it would be time for the emperor… to meet his end.

Lately, the Third Prince appeared to be just like the other princes—having been thoroughly "disciplined" by Crown Prince Xu Tianran, they all seemed to have calmed down.

But in reality, Huo Yuhao had been very busy!

Of course, the other princes weren't all useless either; they were also searching for new opportunities. Even if the princes couldn't see the bigger picture clearly, the advisors by their sides would always include a few capable individuals.

And as long as the princes made any moves with a bit of influence behind them, it was often possible to uncover some of their actions. After all, much of the competition among the princes was out in the open.

Huo Yuhao didn't even need to give any instructions—Qingci Douluo and Moying Douluo had already submitted reports detailing the recent activities of the other princes. Huo Yuhao wasn't particularly interested, though.

The Fourth Prince had gone to the military under the pretense of training, but in truth, he was trying to win over the high-ranking officers. Having lost the backing of the Aodu Chamber of Commerce, he clearly needed new external support.

Black-glove operatives were easy to arrange, but something as vast as the Aodu Chamber wasn't easy to replace. A military force that had once tasted power wouldn't be so quick to rein in its ambitions.

It remained to be seen whether the Fourth Prince had enough leverage—and how many people in the military he could actually win over.

In the original timeline, the Aodu Chamber remained intact, so the military didn't get involved in the succession struggle. But now, things were different. Perhaps a single chamber wouldn't sway the entire military leadership, but even if just a few high-level figures had their interests influenced, it might be enough for the Fourth Prince to stir up some real trouble.

Huo Yuhao was honestly looking forward to it.

The Fifth Prince, taking advantage of the chaos, recruited more wanderers. After the underground forces had been purged, many unaffiliated soul masters lacked a sense of security and were eager to find a powerful figure to cling to. Later, the Fifth Prince secretly sent his subordinates out of the capital—though their goal remained unknown.

While a growing band of freelance warriors was indeed a notable force, in the world of Douluo, their power was too scattered. Out of many soul masters, only a rare few could be considered true talents.

So in Huo Yuhao's eyes, the Fifth Prince had the least potential.

The Sixth Prince continued to curry favor with various noble families through their younger generations. It wasn't a novel approach, nor was it especially effective. But by aligning with the Fourth Prince, he did help gradually build up the Fourth Prince's faction.

As for all these princely maneuvers, Huo Yuhao had no intention of interfering. The more the Sun Moon Empire was thrown into turmoil, the happier he became.

In the original timeline, Xu Tianran's smooth rise to the throne was not only due to his own strength and influence but also because the empire was stable and the other princes had no chance to expand their own power.

Otherwise, any rational minister would balk at letting someone as arrogant, ruthless, gloomy, suspicious, and crippled as Xu Tianran take the throne.

No one wants a ticking time bomb as their boss!

As for the Third Prince, all that could be discovered by the various powers' investigations was that he often visited the palace to pay respects to the comatose emperor. Sometimes, in the name of filial piety, he even stayed overnight in the palace.

The ministers could only sigh—this was a risky gamble.

If the emperor recovered and could suppress the Crown Prince, then the Third Prince might really have a shot at victory.

But if the emperor couldn't recover—or even if he did, but failed to suppress the Crown Prince—then the Third Prince would surely go down with the ship.

Still, considering that the Third Prince had the support of the royal clan, it wasn't that surprising. Even if he failed, he could always retire to the clan and become a royal duke.

If he lost, he wouldn't lose much. But if he won, it would be a massive gain.

The other princes, if they lost, wouldn't be so lucky. The best-case scenario for them would be to live out their days as powerless idle princes. The Third Prince, however, would still wield some authority within the clan.

Thus, interest in the Third Prince's actions gradually waned.

After all, the explosion incident and the scramble for the spoils of the Aodu Chamber had sucked up much of everyone's attention—including the factions behind the other princes.

So no one was watching what Huo Yuhao was really doing in the palace. No one even questioned it.

Of course, to keep up appearances, Huo Yuhao had the prince he controlled issue orders in the Third Prince's name, directing the Pingfan Alliance to take part in the current power struggles.

Even if it was just a show of strength, it made people believe the Third Prince was making his move.

As for the imperial clan, Huo Yuhao hadn't taken action yet. Instead, he was focused on exploring a new map.

Outside of paying respects to the emperor, what no one knew was that he was also helping the old emperor... by pacifying the harem!

One had to admit, the imperial harem, handpicked by the emperor himself, was of extraordinary quality. Even the less attractive concubines carried strong karmic fortune, often a sign of noble birth. Even the palace maids were graced with good fortune and beauty.

The harem wasn't without powerful protectors, so Huo Yuhao opted for stealthy infiltration.

And honestly? That made it even more exciting~

More thrilling than sneaking into Shrek Academy back in the day.

The Sun Moon Empire's harem was massive and strictly hierarchical.

The ranks from lowest to highest were:

 Empress, Imperial Noble Consort, Noble Consort, Consort, and Concubine. Below them were palace maids, ranked across sixteen tiers.

There was one Empress, one Imperial Noble Consort, four Noble Consorts, eight Consorts, and sixteen Concubines.

That's right—only five official tiers, and the numbers differ from those seen in the dramas Huo used to watch. Selection wasn't based solely on birth or contributions—there were also strength requirements.

The Empress and the Imperial Noble Consort both had to be Title Douluo. Noble Consorts had to be at least Soul Douluo. These standards were absolute—if no one qualified, the positions would remain vacant.

Consorts needed to be Soul Sages but could be promoted through exceptional means. Concubines typically had to be at least Soul Kings.

A thousand years ago, on the original Douluo Continent, such strength requirements would've been impossible. But in this era—and especially in the Sun Moon Empire—they were reasonable.

With decent talent and the right resources, even reaching Title Douluo by relying on spirit medicines wasn't out of the question. Competing for the positions of Imperial Noble Consort or even Empress was within reach.

That's just how it is in a fantasy world. Even in the underworld, being the emperor's woman wasn't easy.

As for what happened if multiple women reached similar strength levels—Huo Yuhao didn't know. But if the harem could produce that many strong individuals, the empire must be truly formidable.

Of course, it was also possible for no one to meet the requirements, but the odds were slim. The Sun Moon Emperor had made these standards knowing he had the means to fill the ranks.

Currently, the harem didn't have that many top-tier experts—but it was still impressive. The old emperor had left Huo Yuhao a fully-loaded harem!

There were at least two Title Douluo, four Soul Douluo, and eight Soul Sages.

And it wasn't just the noble ladies—even among the palace maids, there were many with solid strength, talent, and good fortune.

The old emperor had long since been incapacitated, but that didn't stop him from continuing the selection process. The Sun Moon Empire's beauty selection occurred every few years. But the next one was likely far off.

So after Huo Yuhao's first visit to see the old emperor, he secretly slipped into one of the Concubines' chambers.

And he didn't spare the palace maids either.

A wave of dual cultivation didn't just enhance the Third Prince's soul power and talent—it deepened his foundation substantially.

After spending more than half a month "visiting" all of the Concubines' residences, Huo Yuhao's accumulated gains finally pushed the Third Prince's innate soul power up to Level 9, and his soul power level to 88!