You Are Human, and You Are Also a Star

Moonlight and starlight flowed down like water, quietly pouring over the land. A thin bluish mist rose, obscuring the road beneath Huo Yuhao's feet until he could no longer see it clearly.

Huo Yuhao had no idea how far the Starlight Unicorn had carried him, but through the bluish mist beneath his feet, he could just barely make out the Star Dou Forest below, seemingly sunk in slumber. He could even vaguely see a familiar little river—the one where he had caught Black Carp before.

Veiled by the bluish mist, all the scenery below became hazy and unreal. Moonlight cast a layer of silver gauze over the water, glimmering with gentle radiance. A cool breeze brushed across the river, and its surface rippled rhythmically like fish scales. The reflected starlight resembled countless gems and pearls, sparkling in the night sky.

"Where exactly are you taking me?"

Huo Yuhao swallowed. The scene before him was dreamlike, so unreal that he could hardly believe it. He had seen countless cruel, bloody, sorrowful sights, and he had seen buildings as magnificent, lavish, and imposing as the Duke's mansion. Yet he had never encountered anything so fantastical. Even when he had faced the Cherry Dragon, he had never experienced anything this wondrous.

So while Huo Yuhao seemed to be questioning the Starlight Unicorn, it was more as though he were questioning himself. He was giving himself a powerful psychological suggestion, trying to break free from this place.

"To a place that does not exist. A place neither humans nor Gods can reach."

The Starlight Unicorn's voice was gentle, yet faintly androgynous, making it impossible to tell whether it was male or female. The moment Huo Yuhao heard it, he jolted in shock.

"You can speak? You're a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast?"

The fact that Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts could speak was considered common knowledge among Soul Masters, but taken on its own, it was more than sensational enough for ordinary people. It was also widely circulated. Just how widespread was the rumor among the common folk? Even someone like Huo Yun'er, who rarely ever left home, had heard the shocking tale that Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts could speak human language.

As for another piece of Soul Master knowledge that was also widely spread among the common people, it was probably the story of Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts taking human form to cultivate. There were many storybooks across the Douluo Continent adapted from such tales.

Thus, the moment the Starlight Unicorn spoke, Huo Yuhao was startled and immediately guessed that it was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.

The Starlight Unicorn said nothing more, merely giving a slight nod.

Having received the Starlight Unicorn's confirmation, Huo Yuhao pondered for a moment. He did not know why this Hundred-Thousand-Year Starlight Unicorn was treating him so kindly, but it would probably continue cooperating with him for now. He had to use this chance to gather more information. That way, even if it later turned hostile, he would still have a chance to escape.

Next, Huo Yuhao analyzed its motives. A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast had come all the way to the Outer Zone to find him; it had to be plotting something, and likely something significant. Aside from his experiences in Ashina, Huo Yuhao truly could not think of anything else he possessed that was worth coveting. He had to quickly figure out what it was after.

"What is this nonexistent place? If neither humans nor Gods can reach it, how can I?"

As Huo Yuhao questioned it, his mind raced through everything he had brought back from Ashina Castle. Aside from the combat techniques, Ninja arts, and samurai Battle Skills branded deep into his mind, he had also brought back some consumables that had remained in his pack. With a mere thought, he could take them out. Most of them were ordinary healing medicine, medicinal powder, or items useful in battle, such as gunpowder, ash bundles, and Fire Oil.

Beyond that, there was the Buddha Candy made by the monks of Senpou Temple, as well as paper balloons used to pray to God for good fortune, ceramic shards to draw enemies' attention, medicines for suicide, and the like.

Wait.

Huo Yuhao's gaze suddenly froze. Aside from those items, there really were a few things in his pack that might attract the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast before him.

Jizo in the Cradle: A tiny child Jizo wrapped in red cloth. Worship it in one's palm to gain the power to return from death once.

What wrapped the Jizo was a parent's love. May the life in the cradle pass safely through its days.

God Eater: An ancient miraculous medicine that completely restored the consumer's vitality and cured all abnormal conditions.

Legend had it that plants growing in the ancient lands of Ashina drew the arrival of tiny nameless Gods. This medicine was refined from such plants, a secret medicine bearing the grace of the Gods—but ever since the Divine Dragon took root in that land, the tiny Gods had vanished without a trace...

Even a Soul Beast that had lived for a hundred thousand years and enjoyed a long life still sought immortality, even at the cost of sacrificing and plundering the lives of others?

Huo Yuhao's gaze turned cold. He could understand people's yearning for eternal life, but it absolutely could not be built upon taking the lives of others. Huo Yuhao guessed that whatever stood behind the Starlight Unicorn likely wanted more than temporary top-tier supplies like God Eater and Jizo in the Cradle. It wanted true immortality—the Dragon's immortality Huo Yuhao had once severed.

"We generally call that place the Spirit Realm. The human world generally calls it the Underworld, though they are actually the same place. It is a place between the human world and the God Realm, an illusory land with no physical form, where all ownerless souls ultimately drift and gather."

At that moment, the Starlight Unicorn's words overturned all of Huo Yuhao's previous guesses. A place where souls drifted and gathered—meaning it was a world after death. Those who had died could already live indefinitely in soul form, so they seemingly had no need for the power of immortality.

Although Huo Yuhao had never seen the world after death with his own eyes, he had faced opponents who had crawled out of the Underworld. Ashina Genichiro had once used the Black Immortal Severance Blade, Knock on the Gate, to open the Gates of the Underworld. At the cost of his own life, he had summoned Sword Saint Ashina Isshin from the Road to the Underworld.

"Why are we going to the Spirit Realm? I'm just an ordinary Soul Scholar. How can I reach the Spirit Realm? Didn't you say that the Spirit Realm is a place neither humans nor Gods can reach?"

Huo Yuhao's question was quickly answered by the Starlight Unicorn.

"You are correct, but you have overlooked one thing. Though you are human, that is not all you are. If it were anyone else, they could only enter the Spirit Realm through dreams, and the one who came to receive them would not be me, but the Nine-Tailed Sky Fox. Only she can send people from dreams into the Spirit Realm. But you are also a star. You are our star—and a Foreign Star."