Huo Yuhao Reborn, Claiming Subsidies at Spirit Hall (New Book Launch)

Star Dou Great Forest, outer region

The simply dressed boy struggled to his feet from the forest clearing, baring his teeth in pain.

Where was he?

Huo Yuhao looked at his slender hands and his clothes, completely bewildered.

Hadn't Tang San killed him? Why was he here?

His cultivation...

He raised his head and looked toward the tranquil forest ahead. Deep within the woods, vegetation cast mottled blue shadows. Ancient vines twisted between the trees, while a Wind Baboon ahead of him hopped from side to side in a fighting stance.

A Wind Baboon? Could it be that he—

A streak of gray light flew in from afar and struck Huo Yuhao squarely between the brows. The color instantly drained from his pupils.

Sea of Consciousness.

"Holding the Sun and Moon, plucking the stars; there is no one else in this world like me."

Huo Yuhao stared at the condensed gray bead within his Sea of Consciousness, and his eyes immediately reddened.

"Old Yi, you've finally returned." Huo Yuhao's voice choked up slightly.

"...You know me?" The weak voice carried a trace of confusion.

"Of course. My Undead Magic and Gate of the Undead were gifts from you." Huo Yuhao said excitedly.

"...Hao Chen?" The weak voice sounded doubtful.

"I'm Huo Yuhao." Huo Yuhao hurriedly wiped away his tears. "Old Yi, I can't explain everything right now, but please don't fall asleep yet. I'll find something to nourish your soul and repair your Divine Soul."

Electrolux fell silent, his consciousness peering through the gray mist at this unfamiliar, immature boy.

"In my current state, it won't be long before I fall into slumber on my own..."

"I won't make you wait long." Huo Yuhao's tone was exceptionally resolute.

Electrolux said nothing, which counted as silent consent.

The real world.

Color gradually returned to Huo Yuhao's pupils. He saw the Wind Baboon biting and clawing at him, yet it could not break through his defenses no matter what it did.

He immediately grabbed the Wind Baboon by the neck. He had intended to throw it aside, but nearly sprained his wrist instead.

Frightened, the Wind Baboon instantly fled.

Huo Yuhao looked at his thin, stick-like body and feeble strength. Soul Power Level ten, with no Soul Rings.

Had he been reborn?

Huo Yuhao clenched his fist, adjusting to this frail body.

He had originally been at max level, yet he had been thrown straight back to the starting point.

Fortunately, although he had lost his god-level power and physique, he had fortunately retained a trace of his Divine Soul, as well as his vast reserves of knowledge.

Moreover, Old Yi's return was simply a tremendous blessing to him.

But then, where was Brother Sky Dream?

Huo Yuhao looked around the forest.

By all rights, Brother Sky Dream should have appeared alongside Old Yi.

He waited there for an entire afternoon, but neither Brother Sky Dream, who should have come eagerly to fill his head with grand promises, nor Sister Xiaoya and Senior Brother appeared.

He watched the setting sun descend, its lingering glow painting the clouds crimson.

Grrrrumble.

Huo Yuhao covered his ravenously empty stomach.

He was very worried about Brother Sky Dream, but night was about to fall. In his current state, even dealing with a ten-year soul beast would be difficult...

"Brother Sky Dream, you'll just have to suffer a little longer. I'll come get you later." The simply dressed boy walked toward the edge of the forest with his back to the sunset.

Mountain wilderness.

Huo Yuhao caught several fish by a stream and simply set up a fire to roast them. There was no pepper salt seasoning or perilla to remove the fishy smell, but it was just right for the starving Huo Yuhao. Besides, he had never been picky about food.

He sat before the campfire, warming himself as he gazed at the bright moon overhead, then lowered his head and thought calmly.

He had once been a First-Grade God of the God Realm. Yet at the crucial moment when he was challenging the rank of God King, Tang San had stabbed him in the back, extracting the fortune of the Douluo Plane from his body and causing him to perish on the spot.

Tang Wutong had been present as well, but she had merely watched coldly without reacting.

At that moment, he finally understood that all of this had been Tang San's long-planned scheme.

From the very beginning, Tang San had been after him.

When he first entered the Star Dou Great Forest, he met Sister Xiaoya and Bei Bei, then joined the Tang Sect.

Afterward, he came into contact with Shrek Academy and happened to share a dormitory with Dong'er.

The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, the bond of the immortal herbs.

The trial arranged in Qiankun Love Question Valley had been intended to take his life. Had he not been fortunate enough to survive, his Divine Soul would have been destroyed back then.

It was also at that time that the hidden danger had been planted within him.

The real Dong'er had already died in Qiankun Love Question Valley.

Even Qiu'er's later death bore Tang San's shadow.

The Tang Wutong who appeared afterward had merely been a puppet Tang San pieced together from memories.

To seize his fortune and the fortune of Qiu'er as a soul beast, Tang San had not hesitated to split his own daughter's Divine Soul in two and forcibly interfere.

The laws of the God Realm dictated that, barring special circumstances, the gods of the God Realm were forbidden from interfering with the worldly evolution of lower planes.

Yet Tang San had ignored the God Realm's rules, personally descended to the lower realm, threatened Ju Zi with her child's life, forced her to withdraw her troops, and brutally strangled the rising powerhouse that was the Sun Moon Empire.

He had raised Huo Yuhao into a god, only to hunt him down and seize his fortune.

Tang San, was this your true purpose—

An icy gleam flashed in Huo Yuhao's eyes.

As for why he had been reborn, perhaps even heaven could no longer stand to watch.

Huo Yuhao looked at his palm and fell silent.

It was called rebirth, yet it differed from the beginning.

This time, he had not encountered Sister Xiaoya or Senior Brother, nor had he met Brother Sky Dream.

That had directly resulted in two changes.

First, his First Soul Ring remained vacant, and he had not awakened the ability to gain an additional Second Martial Soul.

Second, he had not joined the Tang Sect, so he naturally could not use a recommendation slot to enter Shrek Academy.

At the thought of the Tang Sect, he could not help but sneer.

He had never imagined that the ancestor who founded the Tang Sect, Tang Buddha who saved all living beings before others, was in truth the blood-drinking, flesh-devouring evil Asura behind their backs.

The tragedy of his previous life had clearly been fated from the moment he joined the Tang Sect.

In this life, he would still treat Senior Brother and Sister Xiaoya well, but he would never join the Tang Sect again.

As for medicine to repair Old Yi's Divine Soul, there was some, but those things were located at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

Those immortal herbs had all gained sentience and possessed cultivation at the hundred-thousand-year level.

With his current cultivation, forcing his way in would still be difficult.

If he borrowed some of Old Yi's power, however, there was a slight possibility he could force his way through.

And so, Huo Yuhao slept through the night amid the cold mountain wind.

Perhaps when he woke up, the dream would be over...

The next morning.

Huo Yuhao casually picked some berries in the forest, wrapped them in the cloth bag on him, and headed outside.

He followed the winding road beyond the mountains, walking from dawn until the blazing sun hung overhead. After traveling roughly twenty kilometers, he finally saw a city.

Clear Water City.

His brows lifted slightly.

Naturally, he had never heard of this city. Still, its architectural style felt strangely odd, though he could not say what exactly was wrong.

Never mind that for now. He needed to determine his location first.

On the street.

"Hello, may I ask roughly how far Shrek Academy is from here?" Huo Yuhao politely asked a passerby.

"Shrek Academy? What kind of dump is that? Some Soul Master Academy?" The passerby's tone was quite irritable.

Huo Yuhao: ???

Shrek Academy, a dump?

Could he have been reborn on the Sun Moon Continent? Wasn't that the Star Dou Great Forest just now?

No, even on the Sun Moon Continent, it was impossible for someone not to have heard of Shrek Academy.

"Are you sure?" Huo Yuhao asked skeptically.

"Are you an idiot? I said I've never heard of it. Can't you understand?" the passerby snapped fiercely.

Huo Yuhao leaned back awkwardly and said sorry for bothering him.

"What a lunatic..." The passerby cursed as he walked away.

Huo Yuhao wiped away a bead of sweat in embarrassment, while a question surfaced in his heart.

Where exactly was this place? Why did no one know about Shrek Academy?

"Hello, miss, have you heard of Shrek Academy?" Huo Yuhao stopped a Black Skirt Girl on the street.

The Black Skirt Girl shook her head slightly. "I'm not sure. If you need help, you can ask at the Spirit Hall up ahead."

Huo Yuhao froze.

Spirit Hall?

"Na'er, let's go." Two young men accompanying the Black Skirt Girl spoke. One of them, a red-haired young man, glanced at Huo Yuhao with an arrogant expression.

Only then did Huo Yuhao notice the two young men beside her. Judging from the auras they emitted, both were Soul Masters, though their cultivation was not particularly high. They were likely only Four Ring Soul Elders.

"Oh, all right." The Black Skirt Girl answered and followed them.

"Little brother, I have something to do, so I'll be going now. If you run into any problems, you can seek help from Spirit Hall." the Black Skirt Girl said.

"All right, thank you, older sister." Huo Yuhao replied obediently.

As he watched the three figures depart, he vaguely heard the red-haired youth say, "Why bother with that little brat?" The Black Skirt Girl replied, "He's a Soul Master too, even if he's still weak."

Huo Yuhao did not pay much attention to their words. Following the route the girl had pointed out, he arrived at the center of the city, where there stood a building resembling a church. The sign outside bore the words Spirit Hall.

With doubt lingering in his mind, he stepped into Spirit Hall. Under a staff member's guidance, he arrived at the front desk.

"Hello, have you registered your personal information?" the woman at the front desk asked with a smile.

Huo Yuhao shook his head. If this really was ten thousand years in the past, then he was most likely an unregistered person with no identity.

"I understand. I'll register you now. Please fill out your personal information on this form. Rest assured, this information will be kept confidential in your records." The front desk attendant smiled and handed him a form.

Huo Yuhao filled it out truthfully. In the hometown address section, he silently wrote "orphan," and for Soul Power Level, "ten."

After receiving the form and carefully checking it, the receptionist's attitude grew increasingly respectful.

"This is your subsidy for this month, totaling three Silver Soul Coins. Please keep it safe. From now on, you may collect a subsidy once each month at any Spirit Hall."

"This is your Soul Master Identity Certificate. Please keep it safe." The receptionist presented it with both hands.

Huo Yuhao took a small booklet from her. It listed his registration information and the Martial Soul Branch Hall that had issued the document. In the subsidy column for the current month was a red stamp reading "Claimed."

"I wish you an early acquisition of a Soul Ring and that you may become a true Soul Master powerhouse." The gentle young woman smiled.

Huo Yuhao walked out of Spirit Hall holding his Soul Master subsidy, feeling as though he were in a dream.

Had he returned to ten thousand years ago?

The setup had changed. Huo Yuhao had been harmed while challenging the rank of God King. He knew the secret of the Dragon God War and knew that the Silver Dragon King had escaped, but he did not know she was hiding in the Star Dou Great Forest.