At Shrek Academy, while Huo Yuhao followed Bei Bei to register, a new segment had already begun in the Heavenly Screen.
[The Watcher's calm narration rang out: "The Guardian Mages he encountered in the Extreme North showed Huo Yuhao another side of this world. And by rapidly improving himself through the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion's Sacrifice, he glimpsed the hope of becoming a god in three years and saving his mother."
"Yet he didn't know... the hope he believed in had never existed in the first place..."]
The Watcher's words made countless people across the Douluo Continent turn pale.
After the three grand scenes previously shown in the Heavenly Screen, and seeing Huo Yuhao's perseverance, hard work, and painful sacrifices, people had already grown fond of the boy. More and more of them had begun to see things through Huo Yuhao's eyes and share his feelings.
Countless people were eagerly anticipating his gradual success, hoping he would be rewarded after enduring so much hardship and that mother and son would be reunited.
Just like the protagonists in those storybooks, he would gain friendship, love, and family on his legendary adventures, and finally enjoy a happy ending.
Yet the Watcher's calm statement in the Heavenly Screen mercilessly shattered their hopes and expectations.
But... why?
Could Huo Yuhao not become a god in three years because his body couldn't withstand the Soul Power from repeatedly absorbing Soul Rings at his limit, or was there some other reason?
As the questions rose in people's minds, the images in the Heavenly Screen explained everything.
[As the Watcher spoke, the images in the Heavenly Screen began shifting rapidly.
After leaving the Extreme North, Huo Yuhao followed Tian Meng's suggestion and headed for the Star Dou Great Forest. He planned to find a severely injured or dying high-year Spirit System Soul Beast, persuade it to offer its Sacrifice, and join the Ascension Plan.
By chance, Huo Yuhao had just found a dying Hundred-Thousand-Year Spirit System Soul Beast near the edge of the forest when he encountered Bei Bei and Tang Ya, battered and being hunted by a pack of group-dwelling Soul Beasts.
Huo Yuhao immediately rushed in to save them. After a fierce battle, he drove off the beasts, but when he went to look for the dying Soul Beast, he found that its injuries had already killed it.
Feeling guilty, Tang Ya mentioned a Treasure Land recorded in the Tang Sect's secret texts, where Immortal Herbs had grown ten thousand years earlier. She offered to take Huo Yuhao there.
The three then made their way to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, the Treasure Land recorded in the Tang Sect's secret texts. Using a method described in the records, they crossed the poisonous flowers surrounding the entire place and stepped inside.
At the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, Huo Yuhao once again risked his life. He passed the trial set by the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast Immortal Herb and successfully received the Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew Immortal Grass's Sacrifice.
Only after the Sacrifice ended did he discover that his Spiritual Power and Spirit Eyes Martial Soul had indeed improved greatly, but his Soul Power had increased by only one level.
The Immortal Herbs said it was to lay a solid foundation for him!
His Spiritual Eyes Two Rings were full, and his Soul Ring slot at level forty was reserved! Blood dripped from Huo Yuhao's clenched fist as anxiety spread through him like wildfire.
Fortunately, he obtained the complete Mysterious Heaven Skill from the Immortal Herbs, a version that made cultivation more efficient. Huo Yuhao began to train diligently in the unique environment of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
The scene shifted again. Having reached level forty, Huo Yuhao hoped to receive the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass's Sacrifice, but it refused, saying each person could receive only one Immortal Herb.
Unable to receive the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass's Sacrifice, and with Ice Bear Xiao Bai needed to guard the Extreme North as a top-tier combat force, Huo Yuhao had no choice but to set out for the Star Dou Great Forest in search of a suitable Soul Beast.
His luck was still good this time. Though he found no Ice Soul Beast, he came across a Golden Turtle that was dying after devouring Life Gold. It possessed auspicious fortune and a Water System Xuanwu Bloodline.
Yet disaster struck again. Wang Dong and several Shrek Students had entered the Star Dou Great Forest with Xuan Zi to hunt Soul Beasts. They accidentally injured the Emperor Rui Beast Three-Eyed Golden Lion, drawing out Di Tian, leader of the Ten Great Fierce Beasts, who then fought Xuan Zi.
Xuan Zi was defeated and fled with Wang Dong, the only one left alive. Huo Yuhao and the Golden Turtle were taken back to the Star Dou Great Forest Core Area.
In the end, thanks to the Three-Eyed Golden Lion pleading for him and the testimony of Ice Empress Tian Meng, Huo Yuhao was spared. But Di Tian personally executed the Golden Turtle for stealing Life Gold.
In the end, Huo Yuhao obtained a severely injured, twenty-thousand-year-old Ice Soul Beast. After absorbing its Soul Ring and proving that Wisdom Soul Rings were real, he was released.
But because the Ice Soul Beast had no Spiritual Intelligence and couldn't help him with the absorption, he only reached level forty-four.
Yet a year had already passed out of the three.
Huo Yuhao grew more and more anxious. He cultivated as he traveled across the continent, hoping to find other opportunities.
Afterward, although he had several fortuitous encounters and obtained treasures that strengthened his body and Soul Power, as well as fragments of Life Gold, Elder Yi helped improve his aptitude and Martial Soul Quality.
Over the course of a year, he crossed snow and wind, trudged through sandstorms, descended into valleys, and climbed mountains. He also wandered aimlessly through city after city and village after village.
The Sacred Hall? Fortuitous encounters? He hadn't even glimpsed a trace of the legends!
When only one year remained of his three-year deadline, he reached level sixty.
That year, Huo Yuhao was not yet fourteen.
He had become unkempt and filthy, devoting every spare moment to cultivation and searching. He had no time to pay attention to his appearance.
Throughout this time, he had grown increasingly taciturn. Only the clear light in his eyes had become more resolute.
Even knowing that his goal was slipping further away, he never wavered.
He measured the earth with his own two feet, running faster than even a galloping horse, all the way to the Star Dou Great Forest.
"Now my body is strong enough, and I have Life Gold to help me recover. I want to see whether I can reach level eighty in one go while receiving a Sacrifice!"
A faint light shimmered in Huo Yuhao's Spirit Eyes. "Brother Sky Dream, Ice Empress, Elder Yi, Autumn Dew, help me!"
"I think it's possible if I give up the second and third Soul Rings I'd gain afterward and use more of the energy to increase my level!"
Yet disaster struck once again.
The Emperor Rui Beast Three-Eyed Golden Lion, which had inexplicably appeared near the edge of the Star Dou Great Forest, flashed a sea-blue light across its forehead and offered its Sacrifice to Huo Yuhao without warning.
Di Tian arrived a step too late and flew into a rage. In the end, Elder Yi, who had recovered some of his strength, drove him back, while Tian Meng used his trump card to take Huo Yuhao away.
Even so, the impact of being forced to absorb the Soul Ring injured Huo Yuhao's soul and left him unconscious.
When he woke again, his Soul Power had reached level sixty-nine, but only three days remained until his deadline.
The blow finally brought tears to Huo Yuhao's eyes once more. He had always been as stubborn and unyielding as stone.
He stumbled along like a walking corpse into a little shop in the night, pulled out the last of his Copper Soul Coins, and wanted to drink himself senseless.
Wine mixed with bloody tears slid down his throat, and the coins clinked against the counter.
In the dim, flickering lamplight, the owner, dressed in strange robes, sat down on the other side of the counter and pushed a glass of amber-colored liquor toward Huo Yuhao's trembling fingers. He asked gently:
"Would you like to tell me your story, young man?"
Huo Yuhao's vacant eyes shifted. The man smiled faintly.
"Ordinary people can't just walk into the Sacred Hall."
Before you continue