Only You Can Face That Star Directly

Huo Yuhao could sense that the Starlight Unicorn before him was trying hard to explain everything, but its words still resembled a forest shrouded in morning mist—hazy and indistinct, like flowers seen through fog.

"We're here."

The Starlight Unicorn's gentle voice rang out, snapping Huo Yuhao from his daze. The green mist had grown so dense that, even straining his eyes into the distance, he could barely see ten meters ahead. Hidden behind the green fog seemed to be a gate formed from the mist itself. Above it, three pale blue flames burned in succession, looking ethereal and dreamlike.

Huo Yuhao slid down from the Starlight Unicorn's broad back and slowly stepped forward, placing his right hand into the gate of green mist. The next moment, the misty gate began to dissolve. Clumps of fog slithered upward from Huo Yuhao's right hand like spiritual snakes until they completely enveloped him.

When he opened his eyes again, Huo Yuhao looked around in surprise. The green mist was gone, replaced by a space where blue and green intermingled, its color closer to what might be called indigo. Countless pale phantoms appeared from the sky, from beneath his feet, and from all directions, only to vanish again moments later. Many giant elk with enormous indigo antlers wandered leisurely through the area.

At that moment, the Starlight Unicorn from before passed through the mist gate as well and came to Huo Yuhao's side. As it accompanied him forward, it slowly explained everything to him.

"Do you know? This is the place closest to the Mother of All Souls. Whether humans, Soul Beasts, or even wild beasts without self-awareness, all will drift for a long time after death before returning here. Unless a god interferes with the process, everyone will eventually gather here as time passes, becoming pale phantoms and meeting each other with complete honesty."

Huo Yuhao froze for a moment as he looked at those naked pale phantoms. At least in this situation, there was really nothing wrong with the phrase "meeting with complete honesty."

"Who is the Mother of All Souls? Or rather, what is the Mother of All Souls?"

Huo Yuhao asked the question he cared about most.

The Starlight Unicorn was clearly confused by Huo Yuhao's question. It pondered for a while before answering, "The Mother of All Souls is the Mother of All Souls. She is not someone, nor is she a certain existence. You are the Mother of All Souls, and so am I. Everyone is the Mother of All Souls. Only when everyone is together do we become the true Mother of All Souls."

Huo Yuhao was somewhat confused by the Starlight Unicorn's answer, but he did not press further. Instead, he silently committed its words to memory before asking the second question that concerned him.

"Why did you bring me here?"

"To help you," the Starlight Unicorn said. "Your growth has exceeded the Mother of All Souls' expectations, so you deserve greater help. According to the Mother of All Souls' projected pace, you should have first set foot in the Star Dou Forest three years from now. At that time, we would only have been able to offer you very little assistance, such as a Big Worm that could make up for your innate deficiency. But that would have been all."

"Why help me?"

Huo Yuhao felt even deeper confusion and incomprehension. Every gift from fate came with a price secretly marked upon it. To Huo Yuhao, this blessing delivered right to his door felt more like a Fixed Soul Guidance Cannon Shell wrapped in candy.

"Because you are our star. Of course, ever since a certain day three years ago, you have not merely been our star. You are also a Foreign Star."

Huo Yuhao suppressed the irritation rising in his heart. The other party seemed to be speaking in riddles the entire time, but he still kept his patience and continued, "Is it really that simple? Helping me should only be your means. What is your goal?"

"Drive away the Foreign Star. The Foreign Star wants to turn the Mother of All Souls into its own possession. We need our own star to resist it."

Huo Yuhao vaguely felt that he understood what they wanted, but he was still just short of grasping it, as though a thin layer of window paper remained between them.

"Didn't you say that I'm also a Foreign Star?"

Huo Yuhao followed the Starlight Unicorn's line of thought.

"Yes, but you are first our star, and only then a Foreign Star. But 'it' is a purely Foreign Star. Only you can face that star directly."

Without giving Huo Yuhao the chance to ask more questions, the Starlight Unicorn had already led him to an open clearing. All kinds of unicorns had gathered beside it. Apart from Starlight Unicorns, there were also Light Unicorns and Flame Unicorns. In addition, a great number of Spirit Attribute Soul Beasts had gathered here as well, though the unicorns' massive bodies obscured them from view—such as Nine-Tailed Sky Foxes, Dream Eaters, and so on.

No wonder Spirit Attribute Soul Beasts were so hard to find.

Huo Yuhao could not help but smile bitterly at the sight. So Spirit Attribute Soul Beasts these days were not in the Star Dou Forest at all—they were all clustered in the Spirit Realm. Finding even one Spirit Attribute Soul Beast in the Star Dou Forest was probably harder than walking outside and picking up ten thousand Gold Soul Coins.

As Huo Yuhao and the Starlight Unicorn arrived, the other Soul Beasts unconsciously made way for them. At the center of the gathered Soul Beasts stood an aged phantom so transparent that it seemed ready to disperse into heaven and earth at any moment.

"Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough. I truly didn't expect it, Da Jiao. You actually managed to bring this child in before my soul completely dispersed. Good. In that case, my ten thousand years of waiting were not in vain after all. Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough."

The pale phantom slowly rose and drifted before Huo Yuhao at an extremely slow pace. It carefully examined him, paying particular attention to Huo Yuhao's blue eyes. Huo Yuhao was utterly unafraid of that scrutinizing gaze and returned it with one of his own.

Though the phantom before him was insubstantial, traces of its former heroic bearing could still be seen. He was tall but not brawny, clothed in a simple gray robe condensed around his body. His golden hair fell loose behind his back, neatly groomed. Although his clothes were so plain, merely standing there gave others the urge to bow in worship.

Suddenly, the aged phantom before him burst into three hearty laughs.

"Hahaha! Good, good, good! I never imagined that before my soul scattered, I would truly encounter a Soul Master with the Spirit Eye Martial Soul. If it had been even one year later, this remnant soul of mine would likely have completely dissipated. Now, all that waiting was worth it. I only wonder whether I will have the chance in this life to see the Seraphim's true divine form."