As the scenes of Huo Yuhao's experiences over the past three years flashed rapidly across the Heavenly Screen, the hearts of people across Douluo Continent beat with every twist and turn of his fate.
Their eyes followed Huo Yuhao as he crossed high mountains and deep valleys, traversed deserts and snowy plains, and swept past towns and villages.
Throughout it all, their hearts remained in suspense, weighed down by a sense of sorrow.
Because before this sequence began, The Watcher's narration had already explained that Huo Yuhao's three-year plan to become a god and save his mother could never succeed.
However, only after the Heavenly Screen showed every detail of Huo Yuhao's journey from the Extreme North to the Star Dou Great Forest to obtain a Soul Ring did people understand why The Watcher had said that the hope Huo Yuhao believed in had never existed in the first place.
Because Sea God Tang San had meddled!
Just like the chance encounter between Huo Yuhao, Tang Ya, and Bei Bei in the Star Dou Great Forest, these two had appeared again just as Huo Yuhao was about to accept the Sacrifice of a dying Spirit System Soul Beast!
And this time, they had appeared while being hunted, forcing Huo Yuhao to stop what he was doing and rescue his two "friends" in danger first!
By the time the danger had passed and the Soul Beast horde retreated, the severely wounded Spirit System Soul Beast had already died.
Then Tang Ya brought up a secret record from the Tang Sect mentioning the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, where Immortal Herbs could increase Soul Power and improve one's aptitude. She offered it as compensation.
It all seemed like a coincidence, but the people of Douluo Continent who had watched the whole thing knew that Sea God Tang San had to be behind it!
Otherwise, how could anything in the world be so coincidental? Huo Yuhao had just encountered a dying Hundred-Thousand-Year Spirit System Soul Beast perfectly suited to him, and Tang Ya and Bei Bei had immediately appeared, pursued by enemies.
It was obviously meant to force Huo Yuhao to save them and ruin his opportunity!
And what happened afterward only further proved the point!
Immortal Herbs recorded in the Tang Sect's secret texts that could improve one's aptitude, increase Soul Power, and even trigger Martial Soul Evolution?
Just how far had the Tang Sect fallen? They'd been wiped out, and in all these thousands of years, they'd never once found Immortal Herbs to restore the sect!
This so-called Tang Sect secret had never surfaced before or since. It had only been discovered at this exact moment. It was far too much of a coincidence—almost as if someone had arranged it all!
From that moment on, the audience's already anxious hearts rose into their throats.
Because these so-called Immortal Herbs and the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well were clearly a trap Tang San had laid for Huo Yuhao!
And sure enough, the story that followed confirmed their suspicions.
Huo Yuhao had fought desperately to pass the so-called trial at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. Yet after using Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew to strengthen Ling Mou and accepting the Sacrifice of Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew Immortal Grass, he had only advanced by one level.
It was plain that someone didn't want Huo Yuhao to grow too quickly.
Then, right afterward, both occasions when he was about to obtain a Soul Ring had been disrupted by unexpected events.
Once, Di Tian and Xuan Zi had ended up fighting fiercely. The other time was even more absurd: the Emperor Rui Beast had charged over and forced a Sacrifice on him!
Many people had noticed the flash of Sea Blue light at the Emperor Rui Beast's brow in that scene.
They couldn't help but suspect that the so-called accident in which Wang Dong and the others had injured the Emperor Rui Beast was actually Tang San secretly attacking it through Wang Dong!
And after Tang San had tampered with the Emperor Rui Beast, it had suddenly charged in to offer itself as a Sacrifice just when Huo Yuhao was about to obtain a high-year Ferocious Beast Soul Ring!
The Emperor Rui Beast's Soul Ring was certainly powerful and had many wondrous effects, but what Huo Yuhao needed at the time was a higher Soul Power Level.
And the Sacrifice of the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, with a cultivation of only fifteen thousand years, clearly wasn't enough to raise his Soul Power Level by much.
Then there was the time Di Tian and Xuan Zi had fought. In the end, Huo Yuhao had coincidentally obtained a Soul Beast with a cultivation of twenty thousand years, yet it was still dull-witted and lacking in Spiritual Intelligence, making it impossible for him to absorb its Soul Power perfectly...
By then, everything was abundantly clear.
This Sea God, who stood high above and looked down upon the Mortal World, had no intention of letting Huo Yuhao ally with truly powerful Ferocious Beasts and grow rapidly!
He wanted to sever every potential source of powerful support the boy had, using the most insidious and ruthless methods to extinguish all hope of his rapid advancement!
As he extinguished that hope, he also wanted to break the boy's pride, crush his defiance, and shatter his spirit and resolve, until this iron-willed young man was completely beaten down!
Then, like a tamed beast, he would put on the dog collar he had painstakingly forged!
Someone shook their head and sighed. "What kind of Sea God is he...? He's clearly an Evil God! Even the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger isn't as wicked as him!"
Others were baffled and furious. "Why on earth did the Sea God and Asura God from ten thousand years ago choose someone like that to inherit their godhood? He has none of a god's honor and is utterly vile and shameless! Were they blind?!"
When they saw Huo Yuhao finally awaken from his coma and learn that only three days remained until the three-year mark—and his mother's death—his heart turning to ashes as tears soaked his clothes, countless sighs rose across the continent.
And no one knew how many people had sympathized with Huo Yuhao's tragic fate in that moment and silently cursed Tang San.
Of course, many people also blamed the God of Destruction, who had appeared on the Heavenly Screen and seemed to be at odds with Tang San.
You said you'd keep an eye on Tang San. Well, look at what you've been watching! Tang San's slapped your face black and blue! He's never stopped stirring up trouble in the lower realm!
You can't even see that? Are you blind, or just nearsighted?
The Divine Realm is so fortunate to have an Enforcer like you, with eyes in the back of his head!
Most of the audience were seething by this point.
Only a tiny minority, who disliked Huo Yuhao no matter what, along with some equally devious and ruthless Evil Soul Masters, cackled gleefully and cheered Sea God Tang San on.
Fortunately, the story took a sudden turn at the end.
Huo Yuhao had traveled across the entire continent and searched countless times, yet failed to find the Sacred Hall. But at the very moment when he was nearly crushed by despair, he wandered aimlessly into the very Sacred Hall he had sought in vain.
When the shopkeeper sat down across from Huo Yuhao and welcomed him to the Sacred Hall, it wasn't just Huo Yuhao who froze. Countless viewers across Douluo Continent were stunned too.
In that instant, it wasn't only Huo Yuhao who stood rooted to the spot! Across all Douluo Continent, the hearts of countless millions watching with bated breath seemed to be gripped tight by an invisible hand, before an inaudible roar burst forth!
He'd found it?!
After searching everywhere, he'd stumbled upon it without even trying?!
When all seemed lost, had a new path appeared after all?!
Could there still be hope?!
But the very next second, as their blood surged with excitement, the cold reality drenched them like icy water.
Only three days remained until the three-year deadline and Huo Yuhao's mother's death!
Three days! Even if another god took a liking to him now and gave him the easiest God Trial possible... how could he possibly attain godhood in a mere three days?!
Before you continue