Capítulo 2: Chapter 1 The Boy with Spirit Eyes
A grand palace-like edifice, its golden glazed tiles dazzling under the sunlight with blinding brilliance. Its golden roof and red doors—this antique style evoked a sense of solemnity.
From a distance, the fog and haze made it seem like the tiles were all but carved from a single block of brick. The expanse of its grounds seemed to have no end in sight. Atop the five-fathom-high main gate archway, the words "Duke's Mansion" were written in large characters.
This enormous estate, spanning over three thousand acres, did not belong to any city but stood alone fifty li northwest of the Xingluo Empire's capital, Xingluo City. From this, one could discern the esteemed status of the master of the estate within the Xingluo Empire.
At this moment, right at noon, the bright sunlight showered down on the golden tiles, casting a dazzling golden hue over the entire Duke's Mansion, which could be vaguely seen even from the battlements of Xingluo City.
The North side rear gate of the Duke's Mansion opened silently, and a slim figure slipped out quietly.
He appeared to be a boy of eleven or twelve. His body was proportionate and fit, and he was dressed in simple, clean, grey cloth. A small bundle was strapped to his back. His short black hair was neat and tidy. A look of determination beyond his years was evident on his handsome little face.
The boy gently closed the rear gate of the Duke's Mansion and quickly walked forward a few steps before stopping suddenly, turning back to look at the mansion. In his deep blue eyes, a thick sense of hatred gleamed.
"Mother, watch from the heavens. No matter how much effort it takes, one day I will return and trample everything here underfoot. From now on, I will take your surname and become Huo Yuhao."
After uttering these words, he took one more deep look at the Duke's Mansion, turned around, and left without looking back.
He did not head toward Xingluo City, which lay to the southeast of the mansion, but ran towards the north instead. His small figure gradually faded away under the intense noon sunlight, and despite his slender frame, there was not the slightest sense of helplessness in his departure.
From the Duke's Mansion, wide imperial roads stretched in all directions, and as Huo Yuhao ran forward, the corners of his eyes grew red.
"Mother..." The image of his mother's face at the time of her passing, filled with reluctance and dissatisfaction, flashed uncontrollably through Huo Yuhao's mind, causing him to clench his teeth without realizing it.
Be strong, I must be strong. Mother taught me that one can only rely on oneself, and only by being strong can one live better.
The scenes from his life since he could remember kept flickering through Huo Yuhao's mind.
Huo Yuhao's mother was the personal maid to the Duke, having grown up with him since childhood. A personal maid's existence was to serve her master. Twelve years ago, one quiet night, Huo Yuhao was quietly conceived within his mother.
After a ten-month pregnancy, he was born.
No matter what status Huo Yuhao's mother had, he was after all the Duke's son. Although life in the mansion wasn't great, it wasn't too bad either. His mother no longer served as a maid; a son elevated her status, and she had her own small courtyard.
All should have continued steadily, but who knew that disaster would strike so soon.
The Duke, representing the Xingluo Empire, went out to war, and all affairs within the Duke's Mansion were managed by the Duchess. The Duchess already had a son and a daughter, and anything that could potentially affect her children's future was suppressed within her domain. Things were better when the Duke was present, but once he left, the mansion became the undisputed territory of the Duchess. She was also the youngest daughter most favored by the current emperor of the Xingluo Empire.
Huo Yuhao's mother had grown up alongside the Duke and was dearly loved by him, which led to the constant jealousy of the Duchess, making her the primary target. The Duchess used the excuse that Huo Yuhao's mother had contracted a contagious disease to banish them to a woodshed behind the servants' area, cutting off all their financial resources. At that time, Huo Yuhao was only two years old.
The harsh living conditions caused Huo Yuhao's mother's already weak health to deteriorate steadily, worsened by the servants of the Duchess who suppressed them from time to time. Huo Yuhao's mother eventually fell gravely ill and passed away when he was ten years old.
Soul Land enlarged its territory when it collided with the continent of Sun Moon Land, which drifted over from the western sea over four thousand years ago, leading to frequent wars.
There were originally just two countries on Soul Land ten thousand years ago, Tiandou and Xingluo. But today, ten thousand years later, Soul Land had become three countries. The Xingluo Empire still existed, though the royal family had changed; fortunately, they had unified all kingdoms within the country, making Xingluo the strongest force.
The Tiandou Empire, on the other hand, split into the Sky Soul Empire and the Douling Empire due to its inability to subdue several major kingdoms at that time.
The Sun Moon Land from the west had vast territory and rich resources, slightly smaller than Soul Land, but it consisted of only one country, named the Sun Moon Empire.
After the collision of the two continents, war broke out immediately. The three major countries of Soul Land, united in their opposition to a common enemy, deployed coalition forces and, after nearly twenty years of war, finally defeated the Sun Moon Empire, unifying the name of the continent as Soul Land. The name of Sun Moon Land ceased to exist, leaving only the Sun Moon Empire on Soul Land.
Although the Sun Moon Empire was defeated, it was not completely conquered. Relying on its own advantages and the conflicts between the three great empires of the original Soul Land, the situation gradually became a stalemate yet stable. However, wars occurred year after year.
As the Duke often marched to battlefields, he spent little time at his mansion. Huo Yuhao and his mother were gradually forgotten by him under the deliberate concealment of the Duchess. When the Duke asked about them, the Duchess would simply say Huo Yuhao's mother suffered from a foul disease.
Huo Yuhao's mother raised him with great hardship, and at the age of six, he underwent his Martial Soul Awakening within the mansion.
The Martial Soul was an ability that every person on Soul Land possessed, and although the development path of the Sun Moon Empire was different from the other three countries, the Martial Soul was still fundamental.
Everyone was born with a Martial Soul that could be awakened at the age of six. A Martial Soul could be anything, such as a tool, an animal, and so forth. Animal-type Martial Souls were generally called Beast Martial Souls, and other types of Martial Souls were collectively referred to as Tool Souls. Of course, there were exceptions with some special mutant Martial Souls.
After the awakening of the Martial Soul, only a small portion of people would possess a special power known as Soul Power. Only those individuals who possessed Soul Power at the time of awakening could cultivate to become Soul Masters, the most noble profession in Soul Land.
Soul Masters were divided into nine ranks, from low to high, they were: Soul Scholar, Soul Master, Grand Soul Master, Soul Venerable, Soul Ancestor, Soul King, Soul Emperor, Soul Sage, Soul Douluo, and Titled Douluo.
The higher the rank of a Soul Master, the more powerful their abilities. At the highest Titled Douluo level, they possessed near-terrifying strength, capable of moving mountains, filling seas, and altering the heavens.
Soul Power from level one to level ten all fell within the category of Soul Scholar. The stronger the innate Soul Power appeared during Martial Soul Awakening, the more talented one would be as a Soul Master, and the faster the cultivation speed. If the Soul Power during awakening was at level ten, that indicated the best innate full Soul Power, also known as a Genius Soul Master. As long as the Martial Soul itself was not too poor, they were bound to achieve great things.
Although Huo Yuhao was the son of a Duke, he didn't inherit the powerful Martial Soul that belonged to the Duke's lineage. Otherwise, even if the Duchess didn't like him, as long as he possessed the Duke's lineage Martial Soul, she would have had to report to the Duke, and from that moment on, the destinies of both Huo Yuhao and his mother would have changed.
Unfortunately, Huo Yuhao's Martial Soul was an extremely rare mutation.
Spiritual Eyes, that was Huo Yuhao's Martial Soul.
Within the categories of Martial Souls, there is a minute classification that belongs neither to Tool Souls nor to Beast Martial Souls: the self Martial Souls. These are Martial Souls that, upon awakening, become a part of the body, such as the hands, feet, and so on.
Almost all self Martial Souls are very powerful, but they appear with an extremely small probability, and can be considered to be above Beast Martial Souls and Tool Souls. Therefore, once they appear, they receive a great deal of attention.
Unfortunately, Huo Yuhao's Martial Soul was an exception.
The Spiritual Eyes Martial Soul manifested in his eyes, which was an even rarer spiritual attribute Martial Soul. Under normal circumstances, Huo Yuhao should have received a great deal of attention. Sadly, two factors restricted his development. His innate soul power was merely at level one when his Martial Soul awakened, which could be described as extremely poor talent, ensuring his cultivation speed would be exceptionally slow. The second and more fatal point was that spiritual attribute soul beasts were just as rare as the spiritual attribute Martial Souls themselves. And every Soul Master, when advancing to bottlenecks at increments of ten soul levels, must kill a soul beast that shares their attributes to obtain a Soul Ring and achieve a breakthrough.
Soul Rings are not only necessary for breaking through bottlenecks but also provide Soul Masters with a skill, which is the root of a Soul Master's growing strength.
These two restrictions almost guaranteed that Huo Yuhao wouldn't accomplish much in his lifetime.
Still, no matter what, he was the Duke's son; he ultimately received the simplest method of Soul Power cultivation. And the long time that followed proved that his talent in cultivation was indeed very poor.
Within the Duke's Mansion, even the children of some servants, as long as they awakened their Martial Soul innately, could reach soul power level ten in at most three years, graduating from the lowest rank of Soul Scholar to challenge the Soul Master rank.
Yet this year, Huo Yuhao, at eleven years old and after five long years, had barely managed to achieve soul power level ten. Moreover, the effort he put in over these five years was almost three times that of his peers!
After his mother's death, Huo Yuhao stayed in the Duke's Mansion for another year. Being so young and hastily leaving the Duke's Mansion meant he had no means of livelihood, thus he was forced to suppress all his resentment and grievances in his heart. Due to the pressures of life, he matured much faster than his peers.
His mother told Huo Yuhao that the only way to make something of himself was to become a Soul Master. Even a very ordinary Soul Master held a much higher status on the continent than the average person.
It was just yesterday that Huo Yuhao, through five years of hard work and perseverance, had managed to cultivate his soul power to level ten despite his poor talent. And this was also the day he had agreed with himself to leave the Duke's Mansion.
He needed a Soul Ring, even if it was the lowest ten-year soul ring. With that, he could become a true Soul Master and have a skill of his own.
On the Soul Land continent, the level of soul beasts is differentiated by their years of existence, and the ability of a Soul Ring is closely related to both the age and inherent abilities of the soul beast.
Generally, soul beasts are classified into ten-year, centennial, thousand-year, ten-thousand-year, and hundred-thousand-year soul beasts.
A Soul Master must personally hunt and kill a soul beast to obtain a Soul Ring from it after its death.
Remaining at the Duke's Mansion, Huo Yuhao knew, he simply couldn't possibly get a Soul Ring. There, no one would help him. Therefore, even though he knew that going alone to find a spirit-class soul beast was practically a suicidal task, he left the Duke's Mansion, spurred by the boldness that comes with the naivety of youth.
Heading northward, he soon stepped onto the official road. Although young, Huo Yuhao had long been preparing to achieve his goal of obtaining a Soul Ring. In his small backpack, apart from a set of clothes for changing, he also had some dry food, the little money his mother had saved up from the manual labor at the mansion over the years, and a Short knife. Most importantly, he had with him a simple map of the continent.
The Duke's Mansion and Xingluo City were both located in the north-central part of the Xingluo Empire, and the place Huo Yuhao chose to hunt for soul beasts was the vast Xingdou Forest in the northern part of the Xingluo Empire, bordering the Sky Soul Empire. In this forest, nearly the size of a province, lived a multitude of soul beasts, including some incredibly powerful ones.
If anyone knew that the eleven-year-old Huo Yuhao dared to venture into the Xingdou Forest alone, without any mentors, they would be shocked by his recklessness. With not a single soul skill to his name, he would struggle to prevail even against a ten-year soul beast!
The road was straight; Huo Yuhao strode quickly along the side of the road. Despite his young age, he was already a Level 10 Soul Scholar, and his physical strength far surpassed that of an average adult.
As he walked, Huo Yuhao looked far into the distance. If one looked carefully, they would notice that his deep blue eyes suddenly became even more lucid, with a hint of a halo flowing faintly within them.
Ever since the awakening of his Spiritual Eyes Martial Soul, Huo Yuhao found that his vision surpassed that of ordinary people—seeing fine details up close that others could not and, at a distance, able to see more than twice as far as the average person.
And with the improvement of his Soul Power, his vision was continuously getting better. It was precisely because of the changes in his body as his cultivation increased that he became even more resolute in what his mother had told him, he must become a Soul Master.
"Mom said, if I can have a Soul Ring, then I will be a control-class Battle Soul Master. My Martial Soul is not bad, and if my talent is lacking, I will just work harder and cultivate for more time than others."
With this firm conviction, Huo Yuhao continued to walk and cultivate. Thirsty, he would drink some mountain spring water; hungry, he would eat some coarse bread he carried. Apart from traveling and meditating, for someone his age to cover three hundred li in a day was nothing short of miraculous.
He only had seven silver soul coins and five copper soul coins on him, and he was extremely frugal with his money.
Since the end of the war between the Soul Land and the Sun Moon Land, after several millennia, the currency had been completely unified across the continent: one gold soul coin was equal to ten silver soul coins, which in turn was equal to one hundred copper soul coins.
When he was younger, his mother, in order to let him eat better, would occasionally sneak him out of the Duke's Mansion to find some fruits and wild vegetables to eat in the forests outside. Thus, Little Yuhao knew quite a few types of plants. Often, he would not even buy the cheapest coarse bread, preferring to find something to eat from the roadside forests while on the move.
Huo Yuhao was, after all, leaving home for the first time. Despite having a map to guide him, he still inevitably took wrong turns a few times. It was only by continuously asking passersby that he was able to find the correct path again.
As the saying goes, traveling thousands of miles is better than reading thousands of books. Over the past few days, he felt that he had learned a lot. Free from the suppression and constraints of the Duke's Mansion, he felt much happier. The new and intriguing things he encountered along the way excited him immensely. Despite his young age and fast physical recovery, he didn't feel fatigued from traveling; instead, he felt like a bird released from its cage, experiencing happiness for the first time since his mother's death.
"It's been six days now; I must be close." Huo Yuhao carefully examined the simple map in his hands and then the direction pointed by the tree shadows on both sides of the road. He was sure that he was very close to the Xingdou Forest.
Wiping the sweat off his forehead, Huo Yuhao entered the woods beside the road, looking for a shady place to sit down and meditate to regain his strength. Suddenly, the sound of flowing water reached his ears, and he excitedly jumped up from where he was about to sit.
Having water means being able to improve life!
With eyes closed, Huo Yuhao quietly listened for the direction from which the sound of flowing water came. As the possessor of a Spirit Martial Soul, his six senses were much stronger than those of ordinary people. Especially when he closed his eyes, his other five senses would become more enhanced.
Soon, he had determined the direction and carefully made his way through the forest. His caution was not because of the uneven forest ground, but rather he feared that his clothes would be torn by thorns. These clothes were hand-made by his mother.
It wasn't more than two hundred meters before he found his target a stream about three meters wide. The crystal-clear water was refreshing and cool.
Huo Yuhao cheered and quickly stripped off his clothes, jumping into the stream that was less than two feet deep. His last bath had been two days ago, and two days of travel had left him covered in sweat. Bathing in the refreshing water now was an incredibly comfortable pleasure.
After a satisfying bath, when he climbed back to shore, he felt completely renewed. He thought to himself that since he was almost at Xingdou Forest, he might as well take a good rest here.
He put on the clean clothes from his bundle and washed his dirty ones in the stream, hanging them on a tree branch. Then, he snapped off a three-foot-long tree branch.
He withdrew a sheathed short blade from behind his waist. The short blade was about one foot and two inches long, with a dark green sheath made of tough leather, although Huo Yuhao didn't know from which soul beast or animal. All he knew was that this short blade was the only gift his father had given to his mother, always treasured by her, until she passed it to Huo Yuhao in her final moments.
The hilt was about five inches long, devoid of any fancy decorations, but had an ancient feel to it. Holding it felt not only fitting but also extremely comfortable.
Unsheathing the blade, no sound was made, and the seven-inch blade glistened like autumn water. The slender blade, seemingly transparent, radiated a coldness that made even the accustomed Huo Yuhao shiver.
White Tiger Dagger, that was the name his mother had told him.
As Huo Yuhao looked at the White Tiger Dagger, the excitement in his eyes turned into deep melancholy, as if he could see his mother's figure reflected in the gleaming blade.
He took the tree branch he had just broken off, and the White Tiger Dagger carved into the tip. The blade, emitting a faint bluish glow, sliced through the wood as if it were tofu, sharpening the tip of the branch swiftly.
Huo Yuhao placed the White Tiger Dagger back into its sheath and reattached it to the back of his waist, then took the branch in hand and approached the stream.
He took a deep breath, and his eyes suddenly brightened. Instantly, every detail in the clear water was magnified in his eyes. The minute changes in the water's flow, even the tiny shrimps hiding in the crevices at the riverbed, couldn't escape the gaze of his spirit eyes. And all of these details seemed to slow down before him.
Suddenly, Huo Yuhao's hands moved like lightning, thrusting the tree branch swiftly into the stream.
"Plop—" With a lift of his hand and a twist of his wrist, a half-foot-long green fish was impaled on the branch.
Fishing with a spear was definitely a skill for ordinary people. But for Huo Yuhao, with his Spirit Eyes providing precise targeting, it was no challenge at all. This was also the reason why he was so excited upon hearing the sound of flowing water. Besides catching his own fish, he hadn't eaten any other meat in the past six days.
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A single small fish certainly wasn't enough for him to eat, and in just a short while, Huo Yuhao had speared over a dozen green fish from the river, ranging from half a foot to a foot in length.
"Great, this should be enough for two days at least. Grilled fish won't go bad easily either."
Huo Yuhao squatted beside the stream, high-spirited, and with the assistance of the White Tiger Dagger, he cleaned all the green fish thoroughly. Whether it was scaling or gutting, the sharp White Tiger Dagger made the task effortless. For Huo Yuhao, who had helped his mother with chores since he was young, this kind of work was no challenge at all, and in a quarter of an hour, he had processed all the fish.
He gathered some large leaves from the woods, washed them in the stream, placed the cleaned fish on them, then collected some dry twigs to use as firewood; soon enough, a small campfire had been lit by the streamside.
Huo Yuhao's only seasoning was salt, but it was enough for grilling fish. He fashioned several small stands with thick branches, then skewered the cleaned fish with thin twigs, rubbed salt inside the bellies of the green fish, and tore up some perilla leaves he had picked in the woods a few days earlier, stuffing them into the fish as well before finally setting the prepared fish on the stands made from thick branches to grill them.
It didn't take long for a unique aroma to begin wafting above the fire. The scent was rich and carried a distinct allure of its own. As Huo Yuhao slowly turned them, the green fish gradually turned golden, and with the strong fragrance, they were particularly tempting.
The first time Huo Yuhao grilled only two fish and processed the others. If he grilled too many at once, it was easy to mishandle the cooking.
"It smells so good!"
Just then, a surprised and joyful exclamation rang out—a crisp, pleasant voice that gave Huo Yuhao a start.
He looked in the direction from which the voice had come and saw two people walking along the stream. Leading the way was a young girl, about fifteen or sixteen, with long black hair tied in a ponytail behind her. She was dressed in light blue tough clothes that outlined her youthful vitality.
Phoenix eyes, large and bright, her nose was high and perky, and her nearly perfect oval face was beautiful with a hint of excitement as she stared straight at Huo Yuhao's grilled fish.
Following the girl was a boy who appeared to be her age, with a tall and straight figure, and deep blue short hair that glistened in the sunlight like a precious gemstone. Despite his young age, he had an air of refined gentleness and an attractive, laid-back smile. He held his hands behind his head, also looking interestedly in Huo Yuhao's direction, but unlike the girl, he was looking at the person, not the grilled fish.
The girl in the lead had already bounded over to Huo Yuhao with large, eager strides and, drooling over the smell, said, "Little brother, are you selling this grilled fish—it smells so good, how did you make it?"
Huo Yuhao had indeed seen beautiful girls before. In the Duke's Mansion, there were many attractive maidens, but he had never interacted with them so closely. Moreover, not a single one of those women in the Duke's Mansion could compare to the girl before him. This girl was not flawlessly stunning, but she had an air of natural grace about her.
Huo Yuhao blushed slightly and said, "I, I'll treat you to it."
The girl giggled and replied, "Little brother, you're so shy. Well, I won't be polite then." As she spoke, she took the grilled fish Huo Yuhao offered and sat down nearby. She exclaimed "Hot!" as she carefully began to eat.
The boy who had come with the girl had now approached, raising his hand to greet Huo Yuhao with a resigned look before turning to the girl, "Xiao Ya, our little brother here hasn't eaten yet, and there you go starting to eat first."
Xiao Ya's eyes widened in indignation, "What did you call me?"
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The young boy immediately raised both hands in surrender, "Alright, Teacher Xiao Ya, that's enough, okay?"
Xiao Ya glared at him and said, "That's more like it, remember your status." Although she was young, her glance was filled with allure, causing the boy to be momentarily stunned. Huo Yuhao beside him didn't dare to look again, handing over the other well-grilled fish to the boy and saying, "Big brother, please have some too."
The boy smiled slightly, "A gentleman does not take what others fancy. Little brother, you haven't eaten yet. Did you catch these fish from the river?"
Huo Yuhao nodded and said, "It's no problem, I can grill more." As he spoke, he stood up, handed the grilled fish to the boy, and skillfully placed two other prepared fish on the rack to continue grilling.
The boy smiled warmly, "My name is Bei Bei, she's Tang Ya, little brother, what's your name?"
"My name is Huo Yuhao." Huo Yuhao replied attentively as he grilled the fish. Along his journey, he had camped outdoors more than once and had encountered travelers, receiving their help. So when Tang Ya asked for his grilled fish, Huo Yuhao did not hesitate to hand it to her. These days taught him that when you're out and about, it's important to help each other.
Bei Bei sat down next to Tang Ya, his movements when eating the grilled fish were much more graceful than Tang Ya's, at least he didn't end up with his hands covered in grease.
When the second round of fish was ready, Tang Ya had long been eagerly waiting, and under Bei Bei's helpless gaze, she still snagged one.
This time, however, Bei Bei refused to eat anymore, gesturing for Huo Yuhao to eat first. Already hungry, Huo Yuhao continued to grill fish while eating one himself.
Although the only seasoning was simple perilla and salt, the taste of the grilled fish was incredibly delicious. Despite the fish's small size, the three of them managed to eat quite a lot in total.
"That was so delicious, I've never had such good grilled fish before. Little Brother Huo Yuhao, how about I hire you as a chef? How about it?" Tang Ya lay down on the grass contentedly, stretching languorously, her curves clearly outlined but she was completely unaware. Bei Bei watched her and scratched his head, at a loss for what to do.
"Do you have money? Teacher Xiao Ya?" Bei Bei tossed a wet blanket on her.
"Err…, I will have some in the future." Tang Ya sat up somewhat embarrassedly, glared at Bei Bei, seemingly very dissatisfied with his negative response.
Huo Yuhao stood up and said, "Big Brother Bei, Sister Tang, I should be going now."
Bei Bei said, "Little Brother Huo, this place is desolate, and we are not far from Xingdou Forest, where soul beasts roam. Where are you heading to?"
Huo Yuhao shook his head, took down the almost dry clothes from the branch, packed them away in his backpack, smiled at them, waved goodbye, and left, under Tang Ya's somewhat surprised gaze.
"He's not going to Xingdou Forest, is he?" Tang Ya pondered as she watched Huo Yuhao's retreating figure.
Bei Bei shook his head and said, "It's hard to say. I can vaguely sense that he has soul power, but it's very weak. Yet his demeanor seems to be that of someone who is alone. It's quite strange indeed."
Tang Ya stuck out her tongue and said, "He has soul power, huh? How about we recruit him into the Tang Sect?"
Bei Bei replied irritably, "You're not wanting to recruit him just because he's good at grilling fish, are you?"
Tang Ya's face reddened as she hit the nail on the head, and she stuck out her tongue at Bei Bei.
Bei Bei said, "This Little Brother Huo must have gone through some experiences; you can see a maturity in his eyes that far exceeds his peers. It's just that his talent is unknown."
A look of joy appeared on Tang Ya's face, "So you agree?"
Bei Bei gave a bitter smile and said, "Great Tang Sect Master Tang Ya, before you took me as your disciple, the Tang Sect had only you as a sole commander. Your aspiration is to expand the Tang Sect, so naturally we should recruit suitable people. This Little Brother Huo seems quite steady. If his talent is also passable, he could be a choice. From his clothing, it's apparent that his family circumstances might not be so good. Right now, our Tang Sect can only recruit disciples like him."
Looking at Bei Bei curiously, Tang Ya said, "I didn't realize you were so cunning."
Bei Bei stood up, dusted off his clothes, and said, "It's called being smart, or you can call it wisdom, and I would accept that too. Let's go. After eating so many of his grilled fish, whether or not we recruit him into the Tang Sect, we should at least protect him for a distance to prevent any encounters with soul beasts putting him in danger."
Tang Ya also stood up, giggling, "That's indeed smart since you and I think alike. I'll clean up and then we can go."
Unaware of Bei Bei and Tang Ya's conversation after he left, Huo Yuhao had originally planned to take some grilled fish with him, but now that wasn't possible. He didn't want to reveal that he was a Soul Scholar, which is why he didn't catch more fish. His mother had taught him to speak only a part of his mind to strangers, to never reveal his whole heart. Although he had a good impression of Bei Bei and Tang Ya, he chose to part ways with them after the meal.
Though young, Huo Yuhao was quite thoughtful. He could tell that Tang Ya and Bei Bei were not ordinary people; as Bei Bei had said, this place was desolate, and yet they didn't have any belongings with them. So, he decided it was best to separate from them as soon as possible.
Having had a good meal, Huo Yuhao's tiredness had completely faded. He marked the location of the stream he had found previously on the map; who knows, it might come in handy on his return.
Not long after, a wooden sign by the road caught Huo Yuhao's attention.
"Notice: Xingdou Forest ahead within fifty li, soul beasts may appear, proceed with caution."
He was indeed on the right path and was finally about to reach his destination. At this moment, aside from excitement, Huo Yuhao also felt a tinge of nervousness. He touched the White Tiger Dagger at his waist, suppressed the unease in his heart, and walked forward with resolute steps.
Becoming a Soul Master was the only way out; this was the unyielding belief in Huo Yuhao's heart, and he had no regrets about his decision.
The air gradually became cooler, and beyond the coolness, there also seemed to be a special heaviness. Xingdou Forest was like a soul beast with its mouth wide open, waiting for the entry of a young life. Opportunity or... Devouring!
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