"Since when is it any of your business? Do you know more about love and marriage than I do?" Meng Hongchen ignored her brother, who was getting worked up.
"H-ha! I'm the greatest genius in the Sun Moon Empire, Xiao Hongchen! What don't I know? Nobody knows more about love and marriage than I do!" Xiao Hongchen insisted.
"Meng, listen to me. Your feelings for Huo Yuhao right now are just admiration. You saw how wonderful he was and were swept up in the moment."
"Admiration is the furthest thing from understanding. You don't know him at all, and you can't understand what's in his heart!"
Meng Hongchen gazed at Huo Yuhao's face on the Heavenly Screen, utterly unmoved. "Of course I don't know what's in his heart, but knowing he's wonderful and handsome is enough for me. We can get to know each other better once we're together!"
"Besides, if Yuhao and I really end up together, Grandpa will be thrilled! Yuhao's going to become a god someday! And he cares so deeply about the people he loves. I'll definitely be happy with him!"
"Xiao, don't you want a god for a brother-in-law? Don't you want me to ascend to the Divine Realm and live forever?"
Xiao Hongchen was speechless. Was she after a god and eternal life? Just look at that lovestruck expression. He couldn't even be bothered to call her out on it... And his face was every bit as handsome as Huo Yuhao's. Why didn't she look at him?
At the Star Luo Zhu Family, the current Patriarch stared at Huo Yuhao on the Heavenly Screen. He looked like a Blood Ice Sculpture, ready to shatter at any moment. The Patriarch sighed, shaken and moved.
"I never thought that a child like this could come from the White Tiger Duke lineage, a family known for its cold-heartedness and brothers turning against one another..."
"If this child had been born ten thousand years ago, perhaps the Dai Family could have ended its legacy of fratricide several thousand years earlier."
After a moment's thought, the Zhu Family Patriarch instructed someone nearby, "As for Zhu Lu, have her find a way to get closer to this child. Our family has a long tradition of marriage alliances with the Dai Family."
"Yuhao may have taken his mother's surname, but he still has Dai blood. If Zhu Lu could marry him, that would make a wonderful story."
The current Sect Master of the Nine Treasure Glazed Sect felt the same way.
The Nine Treasure Glazed Sect had carried on for ten thousand years since changing its name. It had once enjoyed a period of prosperity thanks to the Nine Treasure Glazed Pagoda Ning Rongrong bestowed upon it after becoming a god ten thousand years ago, but the gift had also come with certain restrictions.
After Ning Rongrong became a god, she used divine power to transform the Seven Treasure Glazed Pagodas of several of her brothers into Nine Treasure Glazed Pagodas. But just like the Nine Heart Begonia's restriction, only one person in each generation of each branch could awaken a Nine Treasure Glazed Pagoda. Everyone else still awakened either a Seven Treasure Glazed Pagoda or an Eight Treasure Glazed Pagoda.
As time passed, the owners of the Nine Treasure Glazed Pagoda inevitably met with danger and died. Then, several thousand years ago, during the war between the Sun Moon Empire and the Douluo Three Kingdoms, the last person to possess a Nine Treasure Glazed Pagoda died before having any children.
Since then, nobody in the Nine Treasure Glazed Sect had awakened a Nine Treasure Glazed Pagoda, and the sect had inevitably begun to decline.
Now, Ning Tian, the current Young Sect Master, was the only person in the entire sect who possessed even an Eight Treasure Glazed Pagoda. Compared with its former glory, the sect had fallen to its lowest point.
In these circumstances, one of the main reasons the Nine Treasure Glazed Sect had sent Ning Tian to Shrek Academy was so she could make connections with talented people. Ideally, she would win the heart of a future Prodigy and take him as her husband, bringing powerful new blood into the sect.
Huo Yuhao was undoubtedly the best target!
If Ning Tian developed feelings for this future god and bore his children, then the Nine Treasure Glazed Sect would have two gods backing it!
Perhaps it might even catch the eye of their Ancestor Ning Rongrong, who had long since stopped paying attention to the Lower Realm, and prompt her to bestow the Nine Treasure Glazed Pagoda Martial Soul once more!
Given Huo Yuhao's deep devotion, the fact that he was willing to lay down his life for his mother showed he wouldn't hold back when it came to his children. He might even bestow a God-Bestowed Martial Soul that could be passed down!
Then the Nine Treasure Glazed Sect would possess the strongest support Martial Soul and the strongest attack or control Martial Soul. Together, they would complement one another perfectly. Becoming the greatest sect on the continent would be just around the corner!
Just thinking about it made them giddy with excitement!
In the Star Luo Imperial Palace, Emperor Xu Jiawei suddenly recalled something. He summoned a Secret Guard in charge of intelligence and asked, "I remember Dai Yueheng confessed his feelings to Jiujiu a few years ago, didn't he?"
"That's correct, Your Majesty. Three years ago, the Eldest Young Master of the White Tiger Duke Mansion, Dai Yueheng, told Princess Jiujiu that he admired her. Princess Jiujiu rejected him on the spot."
Xu Jiawei waved for the Secret Guard to leave. Stroking his beard, he murmured thoughtfully, "I wonder if Huo Yuhao likes older women..."
"Hmm, perhaps I could have Jiujiu transfer to Shrek Academy. We could find a chance to let Huo Yuhao know that Dai Yueheng confessed to her, then have her get close to the boy right in front of Dai Yueheng. That would help him get back at the people of the White Tiger Duke Mansion, wouldn't it?"
"But the boy seems kind-hearted. He might not like that sort of revenge... I'll have to think it over."
"It's a pity that such a kind and filial boy belongs to someone else. If only my several rebellious sons had a little less cunning and were even a tenth as filial as he is..."
"Huo Yuhao would do anything to bring his mother back to life. But if I died right now, those rebellious sons of mine wouldn't even try to revive me. They'd probably burst out laughing on the spot... The Imperial Throne is just too tempting."
The continent's various great powers saw Huo Yuhao on the Heavenly Screen, nearly giving his life for his mother, and raised their estimation of him. They considered how they might win over this Son of Destiny, whose character and resolve alone made him exceptional.
But the far more numerous Middle-low level Soul Masters and ordinary people on the continent weren't thinking about any of that.
Calculations about sects rising again or empires reclaiming their former glory were far too distant from them.
All they knew was that this boy, who had suffered so much since childhood, had only just left the White Tiger Duke Mansion and met teachers who cared for and nurtured him, along with kind classmates. Then a single rotten apple had ruined it all!
Even the Sea God had said he was the Son of Destiny. Yet he had spent his life amid hardship, and just when he had finally glimpsed a little light and hadn't even had time to savor it, his mother's death shattered the small happiness he had found once more.
He had longed for freedom and happiness more than anything. Yet to let his mother look upon this world one more time, he had resolutely stepped into even greater suffering, ready to challenge, to struggle, and to stake his life on winning a sliver of hope!
He had said he would give anything to bring his mother back to life.
When people first heard those words, they had been touched, but most had thought it was merely youthful bravado. They thought the boy didn't understand the weight of a promise or the gravity of an oath.
Some had even sneered and mocked him, laughing at the boy for reaching beyond his means and knowing nothing of life's hardships.
But in the end, they saw that he had meant every word—and acted on them.
Though the boy was thin and frail, he hadn't let his promise fall empty. He had proven through his actions that Huo Yuhao meant what he said!
When the boy on the Heavenly Screen could no longer stand and collapsed onto the ground, lifting his head as blood-red ice crystals covered his body,
that thin, weakened figure looked so noble and powerful!
The light reflected off the blood-red ice crystals was so dazzling that countless people's vision blurred in an instant.
From that moment on, whether they had once dismissed his "boastful words" or mocked and ridiculed him for one reason or another, they were all struck silent.
As people gazed at the boy, all that remained in their hearts was awe and emotion!
Before you continue