"Court dismissed."
With those final, cold words, the Emperor of the Star Luo Empire rose from his seat. He did not wait for a response from the assembled officials. Surrounded by his loyal inner attendants, he turned and marched out of the Golden Throne Room, his heavy robes trailing behind him. The silence he left behind was thick, but it quickly broke as the officials let out a collective sigh of relief. It was as if they had all been granted a sudden amnesty from a death sentence. Without wasting a single second, they bowed deeply and retreated, their footsteps hurried and clattering against the polished floor as they scrambled to leave the hall. +4
Dai Mubai watched them go, a look of annoyance still lingering on his face. He turned and walked over to Ye Yin, leaning in to whisper so the retreating ears of the court wouldn't catch his words. "Yin-ge, I really owe you a lot for today. I honestly didn't expect those old geezers to still have the guts to jump out and cause trouble like that!" +4
Ye Yin didn't look surprised. He gave a faint, calm smile and looked toward the empty throne. "The tree desires calm, but the wind will not cease, Mubai. That is just how the world works." He paused, his expression turning a bit sharper as he looked at his friend. "You are the Crown Prince now. You are the future Emperor of Star Luo. For some people and some matters, when it is finally time to clean up the mess, you cannot afford to be soft-hearted. You must be firm." +4
His voice remained quiet and steady, but there was an undeniable killing intent hidden behind his words. It was a cold warning that hung in the air between them. Dai Mubai felt the weight of the advice and nodded his head heavily. "I understand. I won't forget what you've said." +4
The two of them walked out of the massive main hall side by side, their shadows stretching long across the stone tiles. However, just as they stepped through the palace gates and into the open air, a figure dressed in the robes of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School rushed toward them. The disciple looked urgent as he stopped before them and handed Ye Yin an encrypted intelligence report. +2
Ye Yin broke the seal and opened the parchment. As his eyes scanned the lines of text, his eyebrows rose slightly in amusement. +3
"Yin-ge, what's going on? Is there a problem?" Dai Mubai asked, noticing the change in his friend's expression. +3
Ye Yin handed the report over to Dai Mubai, a playful, mocking smile dancing on his lips. "It looks like the gift we sent to the theater is performing even better than we thought. The response has been exceptionally enthusiastic." +4
Dai Mubai grabbed the paper and began to read. The report detailed the chaos unfolding in the city:
The anonymous recording crystal titled "Spirit Hall Elite Law Enforcement Team's Passionate Tap Dance Performance in Star Dou Forest · Top Secret Footage" has been secretly screened in all the largest theaters and taverns within Star Luo City. Every single show is sold out. Tickets have become impossible to find, even for the wealthy. The footage is considered extremely explosive and hilarious. It is spreading like wildfire through high society and Spirit Master circles, causing a massive wave of ridicule and laughter at Spirit Hall's expense. The personnel at the Spirit Hall Star Luo branch are furious, but they can't find the source of the crystal. They have lost all their dignity. Reports say that Spirit Hall headquarters has already received the news, and the higher-ups are absolutely enraged. +3
"Hahaha!"
Dai Mubai couldn't hold it back anymore. He burst out into a loud, boisterous laugh that echoed near the palace gates. "Yin-ge, your move is just too brilliant! Spirit Hall has completely lost face this time. They are the laughingstock of the whole empire!" +4
Ye Yin smiled along with him, but the amusement didn't reach his eyes for long. A trace of solemnity flashed across his face as he looked at the horizon. "When an organization like that loses this much face, their next move won't be simple. They won't stick to just small assassinations or probes anymore." He turned his gaze toward the distant spire of the Spirit Hall branch building. "The storm is coming soon, and it's going to be a big one." +4
Ye Yin's instincts were perfectly correct.
Inside the Spirit Hall building in Star Luo City, the air felt heavy and thick. It was the kind of oppressive silence that happens right before a thunderstorm breaks. On the main seat of the high office sat an old man wearing a crimson bishop's robe. His face was twisted into a sinister scowl as he stared at the report in his hands. +4
This man was Mobius, the Hall Master of the Star Luo Empire's Spirit Hall. He was a powerful Spirit Douluo, a man of Rank 80 or higher, and his presence alone was enough to make the air vibrate. +1
Bang!
He slammed his fist onto the wooden table, the force of the blow nearly splitting the heavy desk in two. His chest heaved violently with every breath, and his face had turned a sickly ashen color from pure rage.
"What an utter disgrace! This is an absolute disgrace to our name!" He screamed, his voice shaking the walls. +4
Below him, a group of Spirit Hall deacons and lower bishops stood in a line. They remained perfectly silent, staring at the floor and barely daring to breathe. They knew that one wrong word could cost them their lives. +2
"Investigate this! I want you to thoroughly investigate every corner of this city!" Mobius roared like a wounded, cornered beast. "Find out who did this! I want names!" +4
One deacon, trembling with fear, bit the bullet and tried to speak up. "Your Eminence, we... we have tried. We can't find any clues. The crystal's source is anonymous, the people distributing it are hidden in the shadows, and whoever did this worked very cleanly. There's nothing to follow..." +4
"Useless! You are all useless!" +3
Mobius didn't even wait for the man to finish. He unleashed a sudden wave of golden spirit power. The invisible pressure slammed into the deacon, sending him flying across the room. The man hit the wall with a sickening thud and fell to the floor, spitting out a mouthful of blood. +4
"It's the Star Luo Imperial Family! It has to be! Dai Mubai! And that brat Ye Yin!" Mobius's eyes gleamed with a venomous, hateful light. "Especially that Ye Yin! He has repeatedly stood against my Spirit Hall. Now he has dragged our prestige through the mud! If this fiend is not eliminated once and for all, how can Spirit Hall ever stand tall again?!" +4
He took a few deep, ragged breaths, forcing himself to suppress the fire in his gut. His eyes turned from fiery red to a cold, hard stone. He had reached a decision. +3
"Issue the order immediately!" +3
"Activate the highest-level emergency plan! Bring in all our external forces. Consolidate everything. I want the Spirit Hall's defenses strengthened to the maximum!"
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