A Living, Breathing World (Please Follow)

"Luoli, remember this: the Blood Tiger Martial Soul must control killing intent. Only with killing intent empowering it can your martial soul unleash its greatest strength at this stage."

Inside the five-hundred-square-meter Training Ground, upon the sturdy white stone floor, a child of around nine stood surrounded by blood-red soul power fluctuations. Before him rested an enormous beast skull.

The skull was massive and turtle-like, bluish-gray overall, its surface covered in scale-like patterns resembling countless cracks. Where its pupils should have been were a pair of blood-colored eyes. Though the creature that had once owned this skull was long dead, those eyes still brimmed with a terrifyingly cold and bloody aura.

Its maw was packed with countless sharp teeth, like blood spikes embedded within. When this creature had been alive, its offensive power must have been extraordinarily formidable.

Dai Luoli trembled as he stared at the beast skull. Behind him hovered the illusory silhouette of a Blood Tiger Martial Soul. Perhaps affected by Dai Luoli, the Blood Tiger was trembling as well before the skull, seeming deeply terrified of it.

Sweat soaked Dai Luoli's clothes, while the blood-red soul power fluctuations around him flickered without end.

To an outsider, everything might have seemed perfectly normal. It was nothing more than a boy standing before a massive beast skull.

But in Dai Luoli's vision, a gigantic and grotesque creature was crouching there, staring fixedly at him with those terrifying crimson eyes. Its lifeless gaze contained an incomparably intense killing intent, as though it could annihilate everything.

"This child's martial soul mutated just like yours, and just like yours, something went wrong with that mutation. You had Innate Soul Power of Rank One. His was even stranger—he started with Innate Soul Power of Rank Nine, but later inexplicably became Innate Soul Power of Rank Three." Old Chen watched Dai Luoli solemnly. In his hand was a special dark-blue stone, releasing an unusual gas that completely enveloped Dai Luoli and the beast skull.

Though Huo Yuhao did not know what Dai Luoli had experienced, he could sense that Dai Luoli's emotions were extremely unstable at the moment.

"Old Chen, are you planning to use this Soul Beast's skull to help Dai Luoli adapt to killing intent in advance?" Huo Yuhao asked.

Old Chen's gaze shifted, surprised by Huo Yuhao's question. "That is indeed my plan. This child is still young and cannot yet experience true slaughter, but using the Yin Demon Turtle's Head to let him sense genuine killing intent beforehand can lay a foundation for his future control over it."

"This stone is called a Bewildering Stone. As long as soul power is injected into it, it releases a hallucinogenic gas. Once someone is enveloped by that gas, it can alter their senses. At the same time, the gas can also stimulate the residual killing intent within the beast skull. Combined, the two produce a unique effect."

Hearing that, Huo Yuhao nodded in understanding.

Old Chen taught him very differently from how he taught Dai Luoli, after all. Their martial souls were different.

Perhaps Old Chen believed that it would be difficult for him to become a powerful Soul Master in the future, so he taught him mostly knowledge.

Knowledge about Soul Beasts, knowledge about humans, knowledge about special things in nature—there was simply a whole lot of it.

Huo Yuhao gladly committed all of it to memory. He understood that although he was a transmigrator with a god's-eye view, the Douluo Continent before him was no longer a world from a novel. It was a living, breathing world. Its people were not empty existences described in words, but real individuals of flesh and blood.

This knowledge would always prove immensely useful at some point.

If he thought himself different from everyone else, refused to integrate into this world, and insisted on standing out, he would eventually suffer for it.

Returning to the matter at hand, Huo Yuhao looked at Dai Luoli for a moment before saying, "Old Chen, have you considered whether the fluctuation between two levels of Innate Soul Power during Dai Luoli's martial soul awakening happened because the conventional awakening method was insufficient to support his talent?"

Old Chen's heart stirred. "Tell me what you think."

He was becoming increasingly amazed by Huo Yuhao. In his eyes, Huo Yuhao seemed exceptionally skilled at drawing inferences from one example.

Huo Yuhao recalled the circumstances in the Original Work and said gravely, "The Blood Tiger Martial Soul originated from the White Tiger Martial Soul. According to the Martial Soul Encyclopedia you gave me, this martial soul also possesses abilities related to Spiritual Power. Yet from what I have seen, Dai Luoli does not seem to have awakened any Spiritual Power-related attributes."

"Continue." Old Chen did not answer, merely prompting Huo Yuhao to go on.

Huo Yuhao paused, then continued, "If Dai Luoli is to truly unleash the powerful aspects of the Blood Tiger Martial Soul, he needs to undergo an extreme level of mental stimulation."

Old Chen smiled as he stroked his beard. "In truth, everyone among the Duke's Mansion's upper ranks knows what you have said. That is why I brought out the Yin Demon Turtle's Head to stimulate Luoli. This can not only help him adapt to killing intent in advance, but also stimulate his martial soul into developing Spiritual Power attributes. Yet clearly, it has produced no results. Luoli can only use part of the White Tiger Martial Soul's abilities."

Old Chen greatly appreciated Huo Yuhao's insight. Huo Yuhao had not even become a Soul Master, yet he had spotted a problem that even ordinary Soul Kings found difficult to discern.

But Dai Luoli's martial soul issue would not be so easily resolved. After all, Spiritual Power attributes involved the soul.

"I think that is because the stimulation still is not intense enough," Huo Yuhao said softly. "Because Spiritual Power involves the soul, you and the other powerhouses of the Duke's Mansion may be worried about that, so you have not chosen more severe methods, correct?"

Old Chen's pupils contracted as he looked at Huo Yuhao in disbelief.

Huo Yuhao watched Dai Luoli and said solemnly, "Actually, you can give Dai Luoli the choice. Ask whether he intends to remain beneath the two brothers he despises for the rest of his life, enduring the scorn and ridicule of others, or whether he wants to take a gamble, even if it means gambling with his life."

Old Chen fell silent. All along, what he had feared most was that Dai Luoli would be unable to withstand stronger mental stimulation and suffer soul damage. If that happened, the consequences would be severe.

Yet he had never asked Dai Luoli what he himself wanted.

He turned to look at Dai Luoli, who was still gritting his teeth and holding on. His expression grew stern as he recalled the aspiration this child had once declared before him: to become a Titled Douluo.

How difficult was it to become a Titled Douluo? There might be shortcuts on the Soul Master's path, but only a very small number of people could take them. Most still had to keep their feet on the ground and strive forward without ceasing.

Perhaps it is time to ask this child what he wants.

Old Chen murmured inwardly.

"What training methods do you have?" Old Chen asked. On this matter, he was treating Huo Yuhao as an adult.

Even Old Chen himself found that rather unbelievable.

But ultimately, he could only assume that Huo Yun'er had taught Huo Yuhao these things.

Huo Yuhao knew that Old Chen still hoped Dai Luoli would choose to risk his life. He said, "For example, fly him a thousand meters into the air and throw him down. Or toss him into a boundless sea. Or put him into a cage holding Soul Beasts and make him fight them, and so on."

After taking a deep breath, Old Chen gave Huo Yuhao several strange looks.

Where had this boy learned such methods, let alone how to use them?

He really did not hold back when it came to risking lives.

Some things involve spoilers, so I do not know how to explain them to everyone. For example, why the plot is still at the Duke's Mansion. All I can say is that what I am writing now is not random.

Also, although the male lead starts out on the Shrek Academy route, that would be far too monotonous. Many fanfics are written that way. I will definitely make changes later on, so everyone can rest assured.

The regrets from my previous book—I plan to write all of them into this one.

I expect this Celestial Eye Yuhao novel to be around two million words long.

PS: Although Shrek Academy can be annoying, such as with its double standards, it cannot truly be denied that once you control it, the powerful resources it can provide are genuinely substantial.

In closing, I hope all of you readers can be understanding. Thank you all for your support.

I have been reading the comments these past few days, and my Dao Heart nearly collapsed...