Three travel-worn figures walked along a path at the edge of the forest. In the distance, they could already make out the silhouette of a magnificent city dozens of miles away.
"Ah, what a long journey this has been. We're finally almost there. When I get back, I'm definitely taking a bath and having a good, long rest! Pick up the pace, pick up the pace!" Tang Ya stretched and loosened up her limbs, her eyes full of anticipation.
"Xiao Ya... Teacher, we've already been walking for four days. There's no need to rush this last little bit. Yuhao's still weak, aren't you worried you'll tire him out?" Bei Bei said with a smile.
"It's okay. Actually, I'm looking forward to reaching the academy soon, too. After I finish registering, I can go back and bring my mother here. I'm not tired."
Huo Yuhao wore an innocent smile. Seeing it, Tang Ya and Bei Bei couldn't help but feel sorry for him, silently cursing the beasts at the White Tiger Duke Mansion for bullying such a kind child from the time he was little.
After placating Bei Bei and Tang Ya, Huo Yuhao gazed at the silhouette of the huge city on the distant horizon, his clear Ling Mou eyes narrowing slightly.
He was a Transmigrator, and before transmigrating, his name had also been Huo Yuhao.
That's right—the very Huo Yuhao from the Tang Sect, whose name had been bought for the protagonist of the second Douluo Continent novel at great expense. He'd hoped it would increase his Sense of Immersion, but after the Huang family's Three Ghosts wrote a whole load of utter nonsense, he'd been so furious he'd quit the internet.
Before transmigrating, he'd dodged three runaway dump trucks in a single day, relying on his quick reflexes.
Thinking he'd climb a mountain to clear his head after surviving that ordeal, he'd reached the summit only to see nine dragons pulling a Big Coffin, hurtling down from the sky with terrifying momentum.
This time, he hadn't managed to dodge. He'd become a speed bump for the Big Coffin.
In this life, he'd depended on his mother, living just the two of them together, until he awakened his Martial Soul at age six. Only then had his memories of his past life gradually returned over the following years.
With the memories of his past life, Huo Yuhao certainly hadn't wanted to keep suffering hardships and bullying at the Duke Mansion. But he had to admit, Love Continent had earned its name.
Even though Huo Yuhao had repeatedly dropped hints to his mother, both openly and subtly, Huo Yun'er was a Love Brain, like a gambler who'd lost everything and kept doubling down. She still firmly believed that Dai Hao was a good man who simply had no time to look after them because he was always guarding the frontier. As long as they waited for Dai Hao to return, she believed they'd be able to live a good life.
In those circumstances, Huo Yuhao couldn't abandon his mother and leave. He could only find ways to make money by selling grilled fish and improve their lives, while also staying away from home and avoiding contact with people from the Duke Mansion to reduce the chance of trouble.
With the mindset of an adult and relatively comfortable living conditions, Huo Yuhao had been able to improve his nutrition, and his cultivation had progressed faster than in the original story.
But to avoid an accident that might make him miss out on his first Golden Finger, Huo Yuhao hadn't gone Soul Hunting as soon as he reached level ten at age ten. Instead, he'd quietly cultivated for another year.
He'd used the Shrek Academy enrollment period to determine the Timeline, then successfully reached the Star Dou Great Forest at about the right time, gaining Tian Meng and Elder Yi as his angel investors.
Huo Yuhao had already prepared himself to tell Tian Meng and Elder Yi that he was a Transmigrator and explain God King Tang's plans for the future, then bring them together to fight the God King's tyranny.
But just as Tian Meng made his sacrifice, the Golden Finger that had been eleven years late finally arrived. It was called the Fantasy Manifestation System.
After getting the system and learning how it worked, Huo Yuhao had immediately thought of how to use it, drawing on all the wild ideas he'd encountered in countless novels. Without hesitation, he abandoned his original plan to come clean to Tian Meng and Elder Yi.
Now that he had a system, who'd bother with the whole slow-and-steady cultivation routine of growing stronger and becoming a god? I'll flip the table instead!
The Fantasy Manifestation System used Spiritual Essence as its fuel, turning fantasy into reality. There were two ways to obtain Spiritual Essence. The first was to kill and plunder: when a life was killed, it released a large amount of Spiritual Essence in an instant.
The other way was to gain the belief, worship, shock, and other emotions of the masses. That could also provide Spiritual Essence, and the supply would keep coming.
There wasn't much to say about the first method. Killing to grow stronger was simple and brutal. As for the second, it seemed very familiar.
In his past life, Huo Yuhao had read many novels where the protagonist gained a similar system. They gathered power by showing off in public or making up stories about myths returning, then gradually expanded the scope of their deception... This was the so-called Deception Manifestation Style.
Clearly, that was a method especially suited to the Fantasy Manifestation System.
But then Huo Yuhao thought of another style of novel he'd read in his past life.
<Transfer to Dark Summoner: I'm Both Top and Bottom, and the Heavenly Screen Exposes Me>
<Heavenly Screen: The Immortal Slaughtering Sword Formation Is Helpless, Bang Geng's Indestructible Golden Body Shocks the Heavens>
<Pangu's Urban Rebirth: I Dominate the NBA, Only to Be Exposed by the Heavenly Screen>
Compared with the traditional Deception Manifestation Style, the Heavenly Screen Exposure Style was clearly more straightforward. It skipped the early development stage of the Deception Manifestation Style and caused the biggest sensation in the shortest time.
Huo Yuhao's idea was to combine the two styles and directly fabricate the future, then broadcast it through the Heavenly Screen. He figured this would be the fastest way to gather Spiritual Essence.
In Douluo, where there'd been no modern information explosion, where even cutting off a grain route could be called an unparalleled stratagem, and where a Transmigrator who'd been a wandering assassin could be revered as the God of Wisdom in the Divine Realm, this approach was sure to stun most people!
It didn't matter if a few people doubted him and refused to believe.
Believe it or not. Plenty of others would.
With a system and newfound confidence, Huo Yuhao didn't refuse when Tang Ya and Bei Bei invited him to join the Tang Sect.
To quote a famous line from Three-Body: this was all part of the plan. With the system, he didn't need to fear God King Tang setting him up, and besides, even if he joined, he wouldn't stay in the Tang Sect for long.
Over the following days on the way to Shrek City, Huo Yuhao casually shared stories about his background to gain sympathy and used a few tricks from his past life. He successfully raised Tang Ya and Bei Bei's opinion of him quite high.
When Shrek City finally came into view, Huo Yuhao took a deep breath and began the plan he'd been preparing for a long time.
First, he summoned the System Panel, which only he could see, and expanded it without limit until it covered the entire Douluo Star.
Then he projected the [Future Scene] he'd created by wagering all the system's initial energy onto the System Panel. Finally, he made the System Panel visible to everyone and started the playback.
"Eleven years! A whole eleven years! Does anyone know what I've been through for all these years? From today onward, fate will be rewritten completely! Screw you, God King Tang!"
"Friends in the mountains, friends in the waters, friends on Douluo Star—lend me your Spiritual Essence! I'm going to humiliate that God King Tang! Yeah!"
Just as Huo Yuhao was losing it inside at the thought of the wonderful future awaiting him,
the sky across Douluo Star was covered by a magnificent Heavenly Screen that suddenly appeared.
A vast, grand voice rang out from the Heavenly Screen and echoed across the world, accompanied by shifting images.
["Time, space, and reality—they aren't arranged in a linear relationship. They're a prism with infinite possibilities!"
"One choice can give rise to countless realities, creating completely different Parallel Worlds..."
"I am The Watcher. I will guide you through the vast Multiverse."
"Follow me, and let us contemplate the infinite possibilities of every question..."]
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