Dai Hao took a deep breath, as if suppressing all emotion, leaving only a soldier's final fortitude and dignity.
He heavily patted Dai Yueheng's shoulder and said in a deep voice:
"The matter has come to this; more talk is useless. Since we are here, then... let's fight."
He straightened his blood-stained spine, his eyes like torches, scanning the surrounding enemies. His voice boomed like a tiger's roar, echoing across the battlefield:
"The Duke White Tiger's Estate has no cowards. Today, I, Dai Hao, along with my eldest son, Dai Yueheng, shall shed our last drop of blood here for my Star Luo Empire. Gentlemen, follow me to... fight to the death!"
"Fight to the death! Fight to the death! Fight to the death!"
The remaining Star Luo soldiers were infected by Dai Hao's resolve and erupted in their final roars, the tragic atmosphere soaring to the clouds.
However, no one present, including Ju Zi, noticed that—
In a shadowed area of twisted space not far from the battlefield, a figure shrouded in a black robe was silently watching everything unfold.
It was Huo Yuhao.
Through his Spiritual Detection, he clearly and thoroughly witnessed the "fatherly love and filial piety" between Dai Hao and Dai Yueheng, and the scene of them standing side-by-side to face death.
Dai Hao's courage and resolve to die for his country involuntarily brought forth an indescribable sense of pride deep within his heart—look, this is the source of his bloodline, an upright hero, a fearless commander.
But immediately, the jealousy and rage, like a venomous snake gnawing at his heart, surged up frantically, almost drowning his reason.
Why?
Why could Dai Yueheng stand openly beside him, fight alongside him, be scolded by him, and yet also be protected by him?
Why could Dai Hao be furious and anxious for Dai Yueheng's safety, yet ignore him, Huo Yuhao, and his poor mother, allowing them to be bullied endlessly in the estate until his mother died of grief?
The father-son affection that he had never received, and had never even dared to hope for, was now displayed before him so vividly and so glaringly.
The muscles on Huo Yuhao's face twitched uncontrollably. His hands, tightly clenched beneath the black robe, made a grinding sound as his knuckles cracked.
His eyes, hidden in the shadows, were filled with boundless rage, pain, and an almost distorted complex emotion.
He watched Dai Hao rush forward heedlessly to protect Dai Yueheng and his subordinates, and watched Dai Yueheng risk danger to save his father... This profoundly touching scene, in his eyes, became the sharpest satire and the most cruel punishment.
"What... a touching display of father and son deep affection…"
Huo Yuhao squeezed these words out from between his teeth. His voice was low and hoarse, filled with storm that had been suppressed to the extreme.
He might have had a slight hesitation before, but now, witnessing all this, the flame of "revenge" in his heart burned more fiercely than ever before.
He not only wanted to destroy the Duke White Tiger's faith and career, but he also wanted this "great" father to taste a despair deeper and more painful than his mother had years ago.
The death net meticulously woven by the Sun Moon Empire finally began to close ruthlessly.
Under Ju Zi's command, the Evil Monarch and Fire Phoenix Soul Engineering Legions, in conjunction with the Starry Sky Douluo Ye Yulin's Level 9 soul tools, launched the final annihilation against the besieged remnant Star Luo forces.
In the high altitude, countless detection soul tools, like cold eyes, clearly fed every subtle troop movement and every fluctuation of soul power in the Star Luo army back to Ju Zi's command network.
In the face of this technological advantage, which was almost an interdimensional strike, Duke White Tiger Dai Hao's prideful military talent seemed utterly pale and powerless.
"Break out to the left flank, Douluo Xuan Guang, I beg you!"
Dai Hao was covered in blood, and his White Tiger True Body was severely damaged, but he still roared commands.
"The Duke has my word."
Douluo Xuan Guang roared, unleashing his Xuan Guang Domain at full power, attempting to tear open a gap.
However, what awaited them was a synchronized soul tool array already set up by the Evil Monarch Soul Engineering Legion.
Countless gloomy rays intertwined into a net of death, instantly shattering the Xuan Guang Domain. Douluo Xuan Guang himself was hit simultaneously by several Level 9 soul tool rays from different angles. His protective soul power shattered like paper, and the powerful Titled Douluo was instantly reduced to ashes in the blinding light, unable to even let out a scream.
"Xuan Guang!!"
The Sunfire Douluo's eyes were splitting with rage. Flames surged violently around him, trying to fight to the death, but he was firmly bound by the Starry Sky Chains shot out by Starry Sky Douluo Ye Yulin. Immediately afterward, the concentrated attack of the Fire Phoenix Soul Engineering Legion completely drowned him in a sea of exploding fire.
One after another, military Titled Douluo and powerful noble experts loyal to the White Tiger lineage fell like candles in the wind, overwhelmed by the absolute disparity in strength and technological crushing.
They fought desperately, retreating as they battled, moving dozens of miles, scattering the blood and corpses of Star Luo soldiers along the way, but they could never break through the iron-tight encirclement.
"Father, look out!"
Dai Yueheng violently shoved the exhausted Dai Hao away, and a treacherous soul tool ray pierced his own chest.
The White Tiger Armor on his body shattered like porcelain, and blood gushed out like a fountain.
"Yueheng!!"
Dai Hao embraced his son's collapsing body. His entire frame shook violently, and his voice was hoarse with despair.
Blood continuously spilled from Dai Yueheng's mouth. He looked at his father, his eyes full of unwillingness and attachment, before his head slumped, and his life expired.
The sight of his son's death and the continuous fall of his subordinates nearly shattered Dai Hao's spirit.
He let out a mournful howl like a wounded beast. His last remaining personal guards fell one by one around him.
Finally, he was left alone, standing amidst a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, surrounded by countless Sun Moon Empire soul engineers and cold cannon barrels.
The phantom of the White Tiger behind him could no longer be maintained and dissipated, revealing his real body, which was covered in scars and smeared with blood.
He leaned on his battle saber, which was now cracked, barely managing to stand. He glanced around at the enemies whose gazes were either cold or mocking.
With a tragic laugh, a look of grim determination appeared on Dai Hao's face.
He knew that the Duke White Tiger of the Star Luo Empire could never become an enemy captive. That would deal a devastating blow to the empire's morale.
"Your Majesty... your subject has done his best..."
He murmured softly, then abruptly raised the battle saber in his hand and, without hesitation, brought it toward his neck.
The sharp edge had already nicked the skin of his neck, drawing beads of blood.
On the high platform, Ju Zi watched this scene indifferently. Her heart was calm, perhaps even with a hint of relief.
She did not give the order to stop him. Capturing him alive would have been better, but deep down, she preferred to see this "enemy" who had tangled with her for half her life bleed out on the spot, putting an end to the vague hatred of her childhood.
However, in this split second—
The unexpected happened again.
Without any warning, a bizarre black shadow, as if capable of devouring all light, swept across the center of the battlefield at a speed faster than perception.
The next moment, the space surrounding Dai Hao, within a few hundred meters, suddenly twisted and shifted.
All soul engineers, soldiers, and even the powerful Starry Sky Douluo Ye Yulin, who were within this range, felt a flicker before their eyes. Their consciousness seemed to plummet into a boundless, dark abyss, and they heard countless strange whispers and experienced hallucinations.
They saw their deepest fears, their most desired objects, their most painful memories... The entire elite encirclement instantly fell into a collective spiritual illusion.
"Nonsense! What demon dares to disturb my army's morale?! Break!"
Starry Sky Douluo Ye Yulin, after all, had profound cultivation. After losing focus for less than three seconds, he abruptly woke up. He roared, and the starlight surrounding him flared brilliantly. A powerful soul power shock wave swept out like a storm, forcibly dispelling the spiritual illusions surrounding him.
Following his roar, other soul engineers and soldiers also slowly regained consciousness from their stupor.
However, in that brief moment of extreme confusion—
Duke White Tiger Dai Hao, who had been standing at the center of the encirclement and about to commit suicide, along with the bizarre black shadow, had vanished without a trace.
The only things left were his broken battle saber, which was half-stuck in the ground, and a few drops of blood that had not yet dried.
"Where is he?!"
Ye Yulin was both surprised and angry. His powerful spiritual force swept over the entire battlefield like flowing mercury, but he could no longer detect any trace of Dai Hao's aura.
Ju Zi, standing on the command platform, saw her expression truly change for the first time.
Her meticulously planned killing scheme had failed at the very last moment.
Who could possess such means to save a person in such a strange way, right under the noses of a Titled Douluo and two Soul Engineering Legions?
Her mind rapidly scanned through all possible forces:
Star Luo Imperial Family? Impossible. Xu Jiawei and Xu Jiujiu had already reached an understanding with Lu Jingming. The White Tiger lineage and its affiliated forces were abandoned pawns. They would be happy to use the Sun Moon Empire's hand to eliminate Dai Hao and would never send anyone to rescue him.
Heaven Soul Empire? They were barely holding their own, nearly annihilated at the Emerald Plains. How could they have the energy to cross borders to save another nation's duke?
Dou Spirit Empire? Even more impossible. They might not even have any decent strong experts, let alone such elusive, ghostly methods?
"Who exactly is it?!"
Ju Zi frowned, murmuring to herself.
But soon, a highly confidential intelligence report shared from Sea Abyss City regarding the new Holy Spirit Cult Master surfaced in her mind.
"It turns out... it's him."
Ju Zi understood instantly, but the confusion in her eyes deepened.
"According to the intelligence, doesn't he also hate Dai Hao? Why would he save him?"
She couldn't figure out Huo Yuhao's motivation.
But regardless, the mission was not completely finished.
"Give the order."
Ju Zi suppressed the distracting thoughts in her mind, her voice returning to its icy tone.
"The Evil Monarch Soul Engineering Legion, immediately launch a fan-shaped search towards the southeast. All high-altitude detection soul tools, full power, search for all suspicious spiritual fluctuations and energy traces. We must find him, alive or dead."
"Yes."
Watching the Soul Engineering Legion quickly spring into action, Ju Zi felt a sense of weariness.
She turned around and waved her hand at the Fire Phoenix Soul Engineering Legion.
"Let's go."
Had her revenge been exacted?
Dai Hao's fate was uncertain, but the foundation of the White Tiger lineage was broken, Dai Yueheng was killed in battle, and the military forces loyal to him were virtually uprooted.
The nightmare that had once stifled her seemed to have dissipated.
But why was her heart empty, with none of the expected exhilaration of revenge? Only endless exhaustion and... a void.
She boarded her vehicle, no longer looking back at the scorched earth soaked with blood.
Her war seemed to have ended.
Consciousness struggled to surface from boundless darkness and chaos, like a drowning person finally breaking through the water.
Dai Hao abruptly opened his eyes, panting heavily. The final images in his mind flashed repeatedly like a nightmare—the battlefield littered with flesh and blood, the desperate roars of his subordinates, Douluo Xuanji's broken umbrella, the Sunfire Douluo's extinguished flames... and the scalding sensation of blood spraying on his face when Dai Yueheng shoved him away, his chest pierced by a ray, and his son's final, unwilling yet attached gaze.
"Yueheng...!"
He groaned in agony, subconsciously touching his neck. There was only a shallow, already congealed blood mark there.
The memory was last fixed on him raising his saber to commit suicide, and then... a ghost-like black shadow approached, followed by bizarre hallucinations and space distortion.
Who? Who saved me?
He suddenly rolled over and sat up, vigilantly scanning his surroundings.
It was a barren hillside. The gloomy sky hung low, and the air was filled with the scent of earth and vegetation.
His gaze was instantly drawn to a figure not far away.
A figure shrouded in a large black robe stood silently with his back to him, in front of a solitary grave.
That grave... Dai Hao's pupils contracted violently, and his heart felt as if it was fiercely gripped by an invisible hand.
How could he not recognize it? It was the grave he had personally erected many years ago—the memorial tomb for the woman he had deeply loved but betrayed—Huo Yun'er—made with endless guilt and sorrow.
Why did you bring me here?! A great sense of astonishment and a hint of ominous premonition surged in his heart.
"Who are you?"
Dai Hao struggled to his feet despite his wounded body, his voice hoarse and full of vigilance.
"Why did you save me? And why did you bring me here?"
The black-robed figure slowly turned around.
Hidden under the shadow of the hood, his face was obscured, but a chillingly cold gaze fell upon him.
Without answering his question, the black-robed man simply lifted his hood and extended a pale hand, clutching an antique-styled dagger that shimmered with a bone-white cold light.
Seeing that dagger, Dai Hao was struck by lightning, and his expression instantly changed drastically.
"White Tiger Dagger?!"
He cried out in surprise. This was the token of the Duke White Tiger lineage; he would never mistake it.
"Why... why is it in your hands?!"
But as the words left his mouth, he abruptly paused. An unbelievable thought pierced his mind like a flash of lightning.
He spun his head violently, staring intently at the solitary grave, then looking back at the black-robed man's faintly familiar face. He instantly recalled the identity of the person before him: Shrek Academy disciple, Huo Yuhao, and his Spirit Eyes Martial Soul.
He clearly remembered that Huo Yun'er's martial soul was the Spirit Eyes.
He had felt uneasy when he saw Huo Yuhao's Spirit Eyes Martial Soul during the Great Soul Master Tournament, but then Huo Yuhao revealed his ultimate ice second Martial Soul, which led him to suppress the absurd speculation, thinking it was just a coincidence.