"From Now On, the Sky Is Boundless for Birds to Fly—I Will No Longer Be Bound"

Huo Yuhao crept quietly to the rear gate of the White Tiger Duke's Mansion. Since it was noon, quite a few servants were working inside the mansion.

As for those servants who might expose his whereabouts, he directly used the Spiritual Eye Kaleidoscope to cast illusions, making them completely overlook his presence.

These illusions came naturally with the Mangekyo Sharingan. After all, genjutsu was practically an innate instinct of the Mangekyo Sharingan, and after merging with the Spiritual Eye, it had been passed on to his new Martial Soul as well.

The principles behind these illusions differed somewhat from those in the world of Naruto. They had likely been locally adapted.

In Naruto, genjutsu interfered with an opponent's chakra.

In this world, Huo Yuhao mainly used the Spiritual Eye to drive transformed special Spiritual Power directly into the target's Sea of Consciousness, disrupting their perception.

The rear gate of the White Tiger Duke's Mansion was generally unguarded, something that could also be seen in the original work.

The level-ten Huo Yuhao from the original work had slipped right out through the mansion's rear gate without anyone noticing him.

Sure enough, when he reached the rear gate, he found that it really was unguarded.

Sometimes, Huo Yuhao truly wanted to complain about how absurd this world was. This was the estate of a duke of an empire, and one who held immense military authority at that.

Yet the defenses of his ducal mansion were this lax.

And this was the Star Luo Military God? He could not even guard his own home properly, yet he claimed he would protect a vast empire.

If the Sun Moon Empire sent a few Soul Masters skilled at infiltration, they could blow the entire ducal mansion into the sky without anyone noticing.

Dai Hao's family register would suffer devastating losses on the spot.

Gently pushing open the imposing vermilion gate, Huo Yuhao dashed straight toward the Official Road of the Star Luo Empire.

The White Tiger Duke's Mansion was not far from Star Luo City, located roughly five hundred li to the southeast.

However, Huo Yuhao did not intend to go to Star Luo City this time.

Instead, he planned to head north all the way to the Heaven Dou Empire.

There were many things in the Heaven Dou Empire that would be of great use to Huo Yuhao right now.

For example, the Mysterious Water Pills refined by the Xuan Ming Sect, as well as the even more powerful Mysterious Turtle Divine Pills.

These pills could help him cleanse his meridians and marrow and expand his meridians.

Thin and narrow meridians, with some areas even showing signs of disorder—these were important factors restricting Huo Yuhao's cultivation speed.

The Mysterious Water Pill could resolve these problems without side effects.

The Ten Thousand Year Mysterious Ice Marrow beneath the Earth Dragon Gate in Dragon City was an even rarer treasure, offering immense benefits to cultivation.

If he were the Huo Yuhao from before, he would not have dared to set his sights on such things.

The only thing he could have done by going to the Heaven Dou Empire would have been to seek refuge with the Body Sect. The Body Sect's formidable strength and Du Busi's personality would have been enough to let Huo Yuhao safely weather his growth period.

But things were different now that the Mangekyo had successfully awakened.

The Spiritual Eye Kaleidoscope had granted Huo Yuhao powerful illusion abilities, enough to deal with low-level Soul Masters.

If he encountered a threat from a Soul Saint or stronger, the Mangekyo's ocular techniques would surely give him a pleasant surprise.

The current Huo Yuhao had enough confidence to obtain some cultivation resources.

If one could live freely, who would choose to depend on others?

As for the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and Shrek Academy, Huo Yuhao had no plans for them at the moment.

The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well was Tang San's Back Garden. Without a map, there was no way to find it.

Shrek Academy was an even heavier matter. Huo Yuhao absolutely did not dare join Shrek lightly.

His previous life had been hard enough. He did not want to go there and fight four hundred people for one toilet, experience Shrek's absurd running drills, and constantly guard against the schemes of the Holy Spirit Cult's Supreme Elder.

Not to mention Buddha Tang's dog leash waiting for him there.

He absolutely did not believe Tang San had not tampered with anything.

No matter how he thought about it, eyes and butterflies should never have been able to produce a Martial Soul Fusion Skill, much less one with perfect compatibility!

Was that not obviously a trap laid for Huo Yuhao?

Tang San had said in the original work that whatever Huo Yuhao possessed, Tang Wutong would possess as well. Huo Yuhao's spiritual soul core had even been directly stripped away, practically crippling his Spiritual Power cultivation.

And then there was that outrageous Qiankun Love Valley. He had not gained many opportunities there, but he had suffered plenty.

Before Qiankun Love Valley, Huo Yuhao had retained at least some backbone. After undergoing Douluo-style Ultimate Insult within it, he had completely become a good dog of the Tang Family.

As for those two places, if he did not join Shrek, he could still visit Shrek City. After all, it was one of the most prosperous cities on the Douluo Continent.

Qiankun Love Valley was something he absolutely could not touch, and the Clear Sky Sect was much the same.

Following the Official Road of the Star Luo Empire, Huo Yuhao sprinted all the way.

The roads of the Star Luo Empire were quite well built—broad, straight, and free of potholes. It seemed Xu Jiawei had put real effort into this area.

He traveled from day into night, occasionally stopping to admire the unique scenery he had never seen in his previous life or observe the local creatures.

Soul Beasts were rarely seen around the Star Luo Empire's Official Roads. Even when one did appear, it was only a ten-year Ground Rat or Three-Colored Cat.

Such Soul Beasts possessed virtually no combat ability. Even an ordinary person with a kitchen knife could easily kill one, which was why no one bothered with them.

Walking and observing as he went, Huo Yuhao covered roughly two hundred li by the time the moon rose.

With Soul Power supporting him, Huo Yuhao could easily cover three hundred li in a day if he wished.

Fortunately, Huo Yuhao did not need to sleep in the wilderness tonight. There was a city not far ahead.

There were quite a few cities around the White Tiger Duke's Mansion. These cities surrounded and protected the mansion, forming a large urban cluster.

The lords of these cities often sent all manner of rare treasures to the White Tiger Duke's Mansion to curry favor with the White Tiger Duke.

Of course, Dai Hao knew nothing about this, because the White Tiger Duchess had pocketed everything for herself.

He just did not know whether the current Star Luo Emperor, Xu Jiawei, knew about this, or what he would think if he did.

After a simple inspection at the city gate, Huo Yuhao successfully entered the city.

Calling it an inspection was generous. They merely gave him a cursory glance and did not even ask his name.

How should he put it? This country gave him the same relaxed feeling as France in his previous life.

Huo Yuhao did not linger. He headed straight for the bustling district of the city, where brilliant, fiery shopfronts filled every direction his eyes could see.

Merchants calling out their wares and crowds chatting among themselves intermingled, filling the entire street.

Many people walked in groups, drunk beyond measure, staggering down the road as they loudly boasted to their companions.

Huo Yuhao was, at the very least, a Soul Master with Spiritual Power at the Spirit Sea Realm. Using his Spiritual Power, he could easily sense that there were quite a few Soul Masters here.

Though their levels were generally not high, compared with the auras he had sensed back at the White Tiger Duke's Mansion, the Soul Masters here were mostly around level twenty. There were no Soul Elders.

Huo Yuhao furrowed his brow. Soul Masters in a city were perfectly normal, but this many was somewhat unusual.

This place was still some distance from Star Luo City, and aside from the White Tiger Duke's Mansion, there were no major powers nearby.

Huo Yuhao found a restaurant and spent ten Copper Soul Coins on a cup of tea and a bowl of plain noodle soup.

He had originally wanted some meat, but found that prices here were rather high. If he ordered meat dishes, he would probably be sleeping under a bridge tonight.

Looking at the meager food before him, Huo Yuhao could not help shedding tears of poverty.

On the surface, Huo Yuhao wolfed down the food before him as if in revenge. In truth, he used his Spiritual Power to listen in on the conversations around him.

The reason he had come to this restaurant was because he had sensed the greatest concentration of Soul Masters here. Otherwise, he would never have entered such an obviously expensive place to eat.

"Ghost Bear, I heard you recently took on a major job—accompanying Young Master Wang of Star Luo City into the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt a Soul Ring?"

"Haha, that's right. One member of the War Fang Soul Hunting Group died unexpectedly during a soul battle, and since my Martial Soul was suitable, they recruited me as a replacement."

"They just happened to receive a commission to help that Young Master Wang obtain his first Soul Ring."

"His first Soul Ring? That young master doesn't seem very old. Still, this job sounds easy. Hunt a Hundred-Year Soul Beast in the outer region, and you'll earn a large sum of money!"

"Brother Steel Fang, you're mistaken. That's the Star Dou Great Forest. Even in the outer region, we might encounter a Thousand-Year Soul Beast. Bloodshed will be hard to avoid then."

"Yes, yes, Brother Ghost Bear is right to teach me. In our line of work, we hang our heads from our belts and live by licking blood off blades..."

Huo Yuhao ate slowly, mainly because he was gathering information.

By eavesdropping on the conversations around him, Huo Yuhao learned that this was actually a city where Soul Hunting Groups and Mercenary Groups were stationed.

After all, this city lay along the Official Road leading to the Star Dou Great Forest, and many people stopped here to restock their supplies.

According to the people here, the strongest person in the city was the leader of the Mighty Dragon Soul Hunting Group, a Soul King whose Martial Soul was the Plate Armor Earth Dragon.

Another important piece of information was that teams recruited new members, replenished their ranks, and accepted commissions every morning at the city's East Gate.

However, most small teams chose to temporarily join up with strangers to carry out commissions.

Though that carried a certain degree of risk, it allowed them to quickly fill gaps in their combat strength.

After finishing his meal, Huo Yuhao walked straight out of the restaurant. He decided to visit the East Gate tomorrow and see whether he could find a commission heading to the Heaven Dou Empire.