As countless people across the Douluo Continent worried over the fate that awaited Huo Yuhao and Huo Yun'er, everything continued to unfold unhurriedly beneath the Heavenly Screen.
"You said this place is... the Sacred Hall?" A faint glimmer lit Huo Yuhao's dazed eyes, but quickly faded. He picked up the wine glass and took a large gulp, choking and coughing repeatedly.
"Everyone who comes to the Sacred Hall has a story they'll never forget." The man raised an eyebrow and spoke gently. "For people like us, the Sacred Hall is a place of redemption, where miracles are made."
"Protecting others and redeeming ourselves—that is the purpose of the Sacred Hall."
"Can the Sacred Hall redeem someone who's already dead?" Huo Yuhao asked.
His eyes were bloodshot. He couldn't tell whether it was the alcohol or his grief.
"That depends." The man spoke calmly. "Bringing the dead back to life isn't simple."
"Reviving someone who's only just died is easiest, but even the simplest resurrection spell is beyond the abilities of an ordinary Mage."
Huo Yuhao's hand shook around the wine glass, splashing the liquor left inside.
Hope flared in his eyes once more. He looked at the man with an intensity almost hot enough to burn.
"Sir... no, Master, can you help me? I'm willing to pay any price!" Huo Yuhao begged earnestly.
"Actually, there's no need..." The man smiled faintly. "The fact that you've entered the Sacred Hall means you're qualified to become one of us."
"But I have to tell you that my abilities are limited. I can help you once, for the sake of a future companion."
"On the condition that the person you want to revive has been dead for no more than seven days, and that there's only one of them."
"Seven days..." Huo Yuhao stood frozen as overwhelming disappointment and pain engulfed him.
The man saw it easily and shook his head slightly. "I'm sorry. I told you, my abilities are limited."
"Wait!" Huo Yuhao suddenly remembered something and looked up sharply. "I met some members of the Sacred Hall in the Extreme North before..."
"You're the boy who was in the Extreme North two years ago?" A trace of understanding flashed in the man's eyes. Then he continued, "There aren't many members of the Sacred Hall compared to the regions we have to protect."
"Our members are spread across Sacred Halls throughout the star domain. Unless there's a special mission, we don't usually gather together."
"If you choose to join, you'll go to the Core Sacred Hall as a newcomer for training, where you'll be able to meet Mages of a higher rank. But to revive someone who's been dead for more than seven days, you'd need the Masters to intervene."
"However, the Masters would never agree, no matter what price you were willing to pay."
"Why?!" Huo Yuhao pressed urgently.
"Because our purpose—or rather, the purpose of the Sacred Hall—is to protect the order of the Universe, not to destroy it," the man replied evenly.
"Someone who's been dead for more than seven days will have entered the Kingdom of the Dead and become part of the Universe's natural cycle. The Masters won't break the rules and set foot in the Kingdom of the Dead just to save one person."
"I understand." Huo Yuhao didn't show any further sign of dejection.
The man glanced at him, slightly surprised. He seemed to have guessed what Huo Yuhao was thinking and opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end, he said nothing. Instead, he stood and said, "Come on. I'll show you around the Sacred Hall."
The man led Huo Yuhao through the small house and opened a short wooden door at the back. Beyond it lay a cluster of buildings, steeped in an ancient, elegant atmosphere and built in a style unlike anything on the Douluo Continent.
After looking around the not particularly large Sacred Hall, the man took Huo Yuhao to its largest Main Hall.
An ancient, mysterious air filled the place. A phantom of a blue planet floated in the center of the Main Hall, surrounded by a faint golden shield.
"This is the Douluo Star Dimensional Defense Core, one of the nodes of the Agomotto Dimensional Array. Our usual duty is to guard it and prevent Outer Dimensional Beings from invading reality."
"I'm the resident Mage of the Douluo Star Sacred Hall. You can call me Master Mordo."
Huo Yuyao perked up and asked, "Do you mean the monsters that appeared in the Extreme North before, when you say Outer Dimensional Beings? And what is the Agomotto Dimensional Array?"
"You'll learn about those things gradually once you reach the Core Sacred Hall." Mordo smiled warmly. "For now, you should get some rest. Once you've fully calmed down, you can decide whether you want to become one of us."
After speaking, Master Mordo summoned a Mage who looked to be in his thirties and wore a similar robe, then took Huo Yuhao to his quarters.
Only after Huo Yuhao was alone did Tian Meng and Ice Empress, who had been silent within his Sea of Consciousness, finally relax a little.
"Yuhao, are you going to join this Sacred Hall?" Tian Meng asked.
"Of course." Huo Yuhao sighed softly. "My original plan has already failed. The Sacred Hall is my only hope now."
"Even if Master Mordo said the Masters wouldn't help, I believe that if I work hard enough, I can reach their level myself..."
Ice Empress said worriedly, "But didn't Elder Yi say that after three years, not even a god could bring someone back to life? Yuhao, you..."
Tian Meng chimed in, "Yuhao, life has to move forward. Don't put so much pressure on yourself."
"I've seen how hard you've worked and everything you've sacrificed over the past few years. I'm sure that even if your mother is watching over you from heaven, she wouldn't want you to keep obsessing over this..."
Huo Yuhao interrupted them. His gaze passed through the window lattice and fell on the distant edge of the starry river as he asked quietly, "Ice Empress, Brother Sky Dream, do you remember the little girl we met when we first left the Extreme North?"
"The little girl surnamed Mo?" Ice Empress remembered.
"Yes." A trace of reminiscence appeared in Huo Yuhao's eyes. "Back then, she asked me, 'Without Innate Soul Power, does that really mean you can't become a Soul Master?'"
"Back then, I wanted to ask the same thing: without divine power, does that really mean you can't reverse life and death?"
In the silence, something began to grow within the depths of his soul. "Back then, I told that girl that you could still become a Soul Master without Innate Soul Power! The Mysterious Heaven Skill could open the door to cultivation."
"And now, I've found the answer I wanted... Without divine authority, the Guardian Mages' power can bring the dead back to life!"
"That means there's no dead end in this world! Even a life lost three years ago might still be brought back!"
"As long as I become good enough, strong enough, then one day, I'll surely be able to undo this regret!"
"I'll reclaim my mother's dawn from the torrent of the Laws with my own hands!"
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