Chapter 195: The Snow Night Emperor

"In that case, no one should suspect me any longer. Moreover, after these two teams suffer a huge loss of strength, the chance for Canghui Academy to advance will increase dramatically."

"Heheh!" At this thought, Shi Nian's face broke into a sinister grin again. Although Lanba Academy had a powerful background that gave him pause, he still decided to take the risk.

His eyes glittered with greedy light, and he muttered, "Those little girls are far too tempting; I've never in my life seen such a perfect woman."

He thought to himself, "And even if someone does suspect me later, at worst I can flee far away, abandon this comfortable life. The Douluo Continent is so vast, I doubt anyone could find me."

……

Elsewhere! Back in the palace, the Snow Night Emperor sat on the ornate gilt throne, gently sipped the tea a palace maid had brought, then waved his hand to signal the maid to leave.

Then, he slightly lifted his eyes, looked at the Prince Snow Star and Crown Prince Snow Qinghe before him, and slowly asked, "Snow Star, do you know what Tang San's identity is?"

"Imperial brother, Tang San is the son of a blacksmith from Saint Soul Village in Noding City, Fasono Province…" Prince Snow Star's heart tightened sharply, but he hurriedly answered the Snow Night Emperor's question, adding at the end, "However, that Tang San was not recruited by me; he was recruited by Dream God Machine and the other two, and I only learned of it afterward."

After speaking, he cautiously lifted his head slightly to observe the Snow Night Emperor's expression, while his mind raced to anticipate the next questions the Snow Night Emperor might ask and how he should answer.

"Oh?" The Snow Night Emperor's eyes widened a bit, and he said calmly, "So it was the academy recruited by Dream God Machine and the other two."

The Snow Night Emperor's expression carried an inexplicable meaning, making Prince Snow Star even more nervous, fearing an unexpected disaster might fall upon him.

"If that's the case, then this reward is no longer yours, is it?"

"Uh…," Prince Snow Star's mind filled with a huge question mark, his face blank and full of doubt: What's going on? Shouldn't I be reprimanded? How did it become a reward? He felt he might have missed a small objective.

The Snow Night Emperor looked at Prince Snow Star's demeanor and sighed softly, "My younger brother is still as useless as ever! Fine, I won't tease him further."

Then, the Snow Night Emperor tossed a storage ring, saying, "Inside are all the rare treasures you like. Remember, do not provoke Tang San or the people who came with him, otherwise you know the consequences."

"Yes, imperial brother!" Snow Star quickly took the storage ring, and his previously tense emotions completely relaxed.

"You may step down first!" The Snow Night Emperor waved impatiently, feeling inexplicably annoyed upon seeing Snow Star. Sometimes, he even wondered whether Snow Avalanche might be his younger brother's son, as the two were so alike.

Prince Snow Star bowed and exited the great hall.

He found the Snow Night Emperor's attitude toward Tang San very odd and began to doubt Tang San's identity: "What makes Tang San so special to merit the imperial brother's attention? He's merely the son of a blacksmith from a tiny mountain village. His martial soul is the run‑of‑the‑mill Blue Silver Grass, only a bit special because he's Yu Yuanzhen's son."

"A blacksmith's son?" Suddenly, Prince Snow Star recalled something amiss. When he first saw Tang San's records, he had found his father's name odd, leaving a deep impression.

"Could his father Tang Hao really be that Haotian Douluo Tang Hao?"

But immediately, he fell into deeper doubt, his brows knitting together: "If he truly is the son of Haotian Douluo Tang Hao, why would his martial soul be Blue Silver Grass and not the mighty Haotian Hammer? Even if his mother's martial soul is Blue Silver Grass, could it be stronger than the Haotian Hammer?"

Although Prince Snow Star was the elderly version of Snow Avalanche, he still knew some basic Soul Master knowledge.

On the Douluo Continent, when a person awakens their martial soul at six, it is usually inherited from both parents or is a mutated martial soul.

Which parent's martial soul is inherited depends on the relative strength of the parents' martial souls.

Snow Star subconsciously believed that the Haotian Hammer martial soul is certainly stronger than the Blue Silver Grass martial soul.

"Could Tang San's Blue Silver Grass be a mutated martial soul? That doesn't make sense!"

Snow Star was somewhat confused, for he also knew that even mutated martial souls have patterns. Generally, a mutated martial soul relates to one parent's martial soul, or to both, and the side with the stronger parental martial soul has the greatest influence.

Therefore, he thought, if Tang San truly is Tang Hao's son, the martial soul mutation should have turned into some form of hammer, not into Blue Silver Grass.

"Fine, never mind him; when I return, I must warn Snow Avalanche not to provoke those people." Prince Snow Star, still unable to grasp the reason, shook his head helplessly and walked toward the palace exit.

After Prince Snow Star left, the Snow Night Emperor's gaze shifted to Snow Qinghe, his eyes flickering slightly.

Regarding Snow Qinghe, his eldest son, his feelings were very complicated.

Prince Snow Star could perceive that the deaths of the second and third princes were linked to Snow Qinghe; how could he not know?

But now that he knows, what can he do? He has no choice! The remaining Snow Avalanche is a good‑for‑nothing playboy, utterly useless; as long as he causes fewer troubles for himself, he'll be grateful.

Therefore, he can only pass the Crown Prince title to Snow Qinghe.

In fact, his favorite was the third prince; he once planned to make the third prince Crown Prince when he grew up, but the third prince died prematurely.

As for Snow Qinghe, honestly, the Snow Night Emperor considered him a qualified imperial talent; even from a ruler's perspective, he thought Snow Qinghe wasn't ruthless enough and should secretly eliminate Snow Avalanche as well.

Yet from a father's viewpoint, he felt Snow Qinghe was too cruel, and he was somewhat relieved that Snow Avalanche was still alive, which was a small consolation.

If the Snow Night Emperor knew that the Snow Qinghe before him was actually Qian Renxue in disguise and that the real Snow Qinghe had long been dead, he wondered what he would think.

"Alas!" he sighed inwardly, and the Snow Night Emperor slowly said, "Qinghe, I am very pleased with what you've done these years."

"Father, your praise is mistaken; these are merely my duties as a son." Qian Renxue replied respectfully, her expression calm, showing no hint of pride from the Snow Night Emperor's commendation, perfectly matching her disguised persona.

"Hmm, not bad, neither arrogant nor impatient." The Snow Night Emperor smiled with satisfaction, "Just like your uncle's question, do you know Tang San's background?"

"My lord… what I know aligns with the uncle's." Qian Renxue was startled; she truly didn't know what made Tang San noteworthy, and her information was similar to Prince Snow Star's. In fact, after witnessing Yu Tianyun's talent, Qian Renxue had unconsciously stopped paying much attention to other geniuses.

Regarding those from Shilake, Qian Renxue only briefly noted the three with innate full soul power, ignoring the others.

In her view, those people, though talented, never caught her eye. Among the three with innate full soul power, she thought only Oscar was worth noting, as he was the first ever food‑type Soul Master with innate full soul power, whose battlefield impact far exceeded that of other types.

To that end, she once ordered the Snake Spear Douluo to personally go to the Spirit Hall's Soul Hall at Oscar's birthplace to investigate the records.

The investigation showed that Oscar indeed possessed innate full soul power, with no falsity.

Yet this made Qian Renxue not a bit happy; instead, she was furious.

In front of She Long and Ci Xue, she berated Bi Bi Dong as incompetent, accusing the Spirit Hall under his control of such corruption that it overlooked a true genius.

Qian Renxue couldn't help but lament that the Spirit Hall under Bi Bi Dong had become truly a gilded exterior with rotten interior.

As for Xiao Wu and Tang San, she mainly found them odd.

It was strange that their martial souls were Soft Bone Rabbit and Blue Silver Grass—one the weakest beast martial soul, the other the weakest plant martial soul—often synonymous with useless martial souls, yet they managed to achieve innate full soul power. This made her sigh at the boundless oddities of the world.

Beyond that, she lost all interest in Tang San and Xiao Wu. She thought that even if Blue Silver Grass and Soft Bone Rabbit could reach Title Douluo, how powerful could they become?

Rather than waste effort courting these two, she would rather focus all her attention on Yu Tianyun.

In her eyes, Yu Tianyun's talent was second only to her own, possessing the potential to become a god. She had imagined more than once that if she recruited Yu Tianyun, she would have a god‑level subordinate—how impressive that would be.

The Snow Night Emperor saw Qian Renxue's bewildered expression and did not get angry; after all, when Ning Fengzhi told him Tang San's identity, his first reaction was also disbelief. Indeed, it was too inconceivable—no one could have guessed that the son of the illustrious Haotian Douluo would have Blue Silver Grass as his martial soul! Nevertheless, he still believed Ning Fengzhi's words; who would use such a matter to deceive him without reason.

The Snow Night Emperor's aged face showed a faint smile, no longer teasing, "Tang San's identity is far from simple; his father was once the continent's recognized youngest Title Douluo—Haotian Douluo Tang Hao!"

"His deeds are also quite legendary, especially after he broke through Title Douluo, he smashed the previous generation's Pope of the Spirit Hall—Qian Xun Ji, and thereafter his might shook the continent, unrivaled!"

Qian Renxue clenched her fists, the murderous intent in her eyes nearly overwhelming.

After all, only Bi Bi Dong, the murderer, and Qian Daoliu, who knows the inside story, understand the true cause of Qian Xun Ji's death. Oh, and the seer Yu Tianyun also knows.

But in the eyes of onlookers, Qian Xunji was killed by Tang Hao.

Of course, pinning this crime on Tang Hao is not unjust. If Qian Xunji had not been seriously injured by him, Bi Bi Dong would not have taken advantage of the situation, so the cause of Qian Xunji's death is inevitably closely linked to Tang Hao.

If Qian Renxue wants to avenge Tang Hao, she cannot say she has chosen the wrong target.

"Hmm? Qing He, what's wrong?" Snow Night Emperor looked at the slightly trembling Qian Renxue and felt a bit strange. He only knew that Tang San is Tang Hao's son, but was he really that agitated?

In fact, Snow Night Emperor never imagined that mentioning Qian Xunji unintentionally was like rubbing salt into Qian Renxue's wound, almost exposing her true identity.

"Father Emperor, forgive me; I was simply too excited upon hearing the news," Qian Renxue said, and immediately restrained her emotions, returning to her usual composure.

But her heart could not settle for a long time; the only relatives she recognized were two: her grandfather Qian Daoliu and her father Qian Xunji.

As for her mother Bi Bi Dong, she never gave her motherly love; instead she despised her, even forbidding her to call her "mother" and only allowing her to call her "sister".

Hearing from Snow Night Emperor at this moment news related to her most missed father—and it was negative—how could she not be agitated? She truly wanted to let her martial soul possess her, swing a sword to chop off Snow Night Emperor's head, and then cut off Tang San's dog head.

But she did not lose her mind; after regaining her composure, Qian Renxue put on a surprised expression and asked, "Father Emperor, how is this possible? Tang San's martial soul is the Lan Yin Cao Martial Soul, while the Heavenly Sky Douluo's martial soul is the Heavenly Sky Hammer; how could they be father and son?"

Snow Night Emperor, unaware of Qian Renxue's thoughts, smiled and said, "When Ning Fengzhi told me this news, I was also surprised. But Ning Fengzhi wouldn't deceive me on such a matter; Tang San should indeed be Tang Hao's son. As for why his martial soul is Lan Yin Cao, I'm not quite sure; perhaps he has two martial souls, who knows."

Dual Birth Martial Soul!

A thought suddenly sprang in Qian Renxue's mind: if this were true, then Tang San might indeed be Tang Hao's son.

But…

Outsiders may not understand Dual Birth Martial Soul, but Qian Renxue is well aware.

When she was young, to please the indifferent Bi Bi Dong, Qian Renxue went to great lengths to learn everything about Bi Bi Dong.

Except for some more private matters, such as Bi Bi Dong's first‑love relationship with Yu Xiao Gang, Bi Bi Dong's killing of Qian Xunji, etc., Qian Renxue knew almost all other information.

Naturally, this also included Bi Bi Dong's two martial souls; for this she consulted a large amount of information, learning that the condition for a Dual Birth Martial Soul is that the parents' martial soul strengths must be comparable, allowing a Dual Birth Martial Soul to be born.

Perhaps Tang San's Lan Yin Cao Martial Soul is not ordinary; its quality may be comparable to the Heavenly Sky Hammer? Qian Renxue couldn't help but speculate, but she was still uncertain, because she had never heard of any Lan Yin Cao Martial Soul that could match a top‑tier martial soul like the Heavenly Sky Hammer.

Nevertheless, this does not affect Qian Renxue's subsequent investigation; hatred flares in her heart, and she plans, after returning, to start investigating from Tang San's background and, following that thread, probe Tang Hao's information.

In the end, she intends to, in front of Tang San, slice off Tang Hao's dog head sword by sword, so that Tang San can also experience the ultimate pain of losing a father.

Then her expression became solemn, and looking at Snow Night Emperor, she asked, "Father Emperor, do you mean to contact Tang Hao through Tang San? And then bring Tang Hao and even the Clear Sky Sect into our camp?"

Snow Night Emperor, hearing this, shook his head and said, "Being able to win over Tang Hao and the Clear Sky Sect would of course be best, but I, as a father, know that this is impossible."

(End of chapter)