Huo Yuhao's Changes

[Douluo II Period]

A hair's breadth away, yet worlds apart—heaven and hell.

Above on the Sky Screen, the magnificent carriage and the dilapidated woodshed formed a picture so ironic, so cruel.

Inside the carriage, there was indulgence and laughter.

Outside the carriage, there was hunger, cold, and brutal beatings.

Kneeling on the ground, Huo Yuhao had long since run dry of tears and blood.

His body no longer trembled; he simply stared fixedly at the sky.

Those eyes, which should have been clear, were now filled with a hatred so solidified and bottomless that it seemed to have no end.

The scene shifted abruptly.

It was inside a luxurious bedroom.

A woman dressed in finery, adorned with pearls and jade, was hysterically smashing everything in the room.

Her face was twisted, her eyes filled with malice and jealousy.

The Sky Screen revealed her identity: [Duchess White Tiger.]

[The Duchess had been slighted by other noblewomen outside, and not daring to vent her anger on the other lovers of Dai Hao, she poured all her fury onto the most humble and defenseless person in the estate: Huo Yun'er.]

The cold narration laid bare the tragic reality of the weak drawing their blades against the even weaker.

["Bring that slut to me!"]

The Duchess shrieked.

Soon, Huo Yun'er was dragged in by two burly servant women and thrown onto the floor.

Young Huo Yuhao followed behind, only to be ruthlessly blocked at the door.

He could only watch everything happening inside through the crack in the door, terrified.

["You vixen! You bitch! It was you who seduced the Duke and gave birth to that bastard, making me unable to hold my head up in public!"]

The Duchess kicked Huo Yun'er hard in the abdomen.

Huo Yun'er let out a muffled groan of pain, curling up on the floor, not daring to utter a single word of plea.

What followed was an inhumane beating.

The sound of a whip lashing against flesh, the woman's frantic curses, and the mother's suppressed, agonizing moans—

All of this passed clearly through the door crack into little Huo Yuhao's ears, turning into a nightmare he would never be able to erase for the rest of his life!

He pounded on the door frantically, crying and begging, but only received the scornful sneers of the servants.

After an unknown amount of time, the commotion inside finally ceased.

A middle-aged man, looking like a steward, hurried to where Dai Hao was handling military affairs in the study, bowing cautiously to report.

["Duke, the Duchess is... venting her anger on Huo Yun'er again. The beating... seems a bit heavy. She has already passed out."]

Dai Hao's gaze never left the military map on the table.

He simply replied calmly, even with a hint of impatience.

A sentence that made everyone across the entire continent feel a chill run down their spines.

["Go see if she still has breath."]

["If she's dead, find a place to dump her. Don't let her dirty the Duchess's place."]

When these words appeared on the Sky Screen.

Time seemed to stand still.

In Shrek Plaza, Huo Yuhao's eyes, filled with hatred, instantly lost all their luster, turning into a dead, ashen gray.

He slowly, slowly lowered his head, looking at his own blood-stained fists.

"Hah..."

A strange sound, like a broken bellows, escaped his throat.

He wanted to laugh.

To laugh at his mother's naivety, to laugh at his own stupidity.

So, in that man's eyes, the lives of the two of them were not even worth as much as the trash that dirtied the floor.

Utter grief, utter resentment, utter despair—

Countless dark emotions, at this moment, like a dam bursting, completely shattered all his reason and mental defenses!

"AH!!!"

Huo Yuhao suddenly threw his head back and let out a shrill roar that sounded inhuman!

In a place invisible to others, a few black spots appeared on the golden halo above his head.

A massive, unimaginable, pure black spiritual power erupted from his body like a volcanic explosion, shooting straight into the clouds!

Inside the Spirit Sea of Huo Yuhao.

The originally calm ocean was now churning with monstrous waves!

The entire spiritual world was shrouded in a viscous, ink-like negative emotion, filled with an aura of destruction and madness.

"Holy crap! Kid, what's wrong with you?! Stop! Your Spirit Sea is about to collapse!"

The voice of Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, distorted by terror, rang out amidst the violent ocean.

Its massive spiritual essence was like a lone leaf in a storm before this pure, negative energy!

"So—so terrifying, this resentment!"

The figure of Ice Empress also emerged, her stunningly beautiful face filled with shock and horror.

"This level of hatred—this is no longer just a simple emotion; it's almost on the verge of condensing into—a physical manifestation of resentment!"

"How is this possible?!"

They tried desperately to soothe Huo Yuhao's rampaging emotions, but it was completely futile.

Just as this Spirit Sea was on the verge of total collapse.

In the deepest part of the ocean, that gray bead which had always hung silently, suddenly flickered with a faint yet incredibly eerie light!

An ancient, weathered consciousness, filled with the aura of the undead, echoed throughout the entire Spirit Sea with a heavy sigh.

[Sigh—this child, he has reached this point after all.]

[I once warned you that hatred is a double-edged sword; it can grant you power, but it will eventually devour your mind!]

Electrolux was filled with regret and sorrow.

[Look at yourself now! If you sink into this, how are you any different from the person you hate?]

[If you turn into a demon, how could your mother rest in peace if she knew of this in the afterlife?!]

[Wake up!]

The final two words, like the tolling of a morning bell, carried an unquestionable, massive power that purified the soul, exploding with a thunderous roar!

A soft gray light spread out from that fragment of divine consciousness.

Wherever it passed, the violently surging black resentment began to melt away like snow under the scorching sun.

The power of Electrolux was forcibly suppressing Huo Yuhao's rampage, dragging him back from the brink of falling completely into darkness.

Outside, the discussions across the entire continent had already erupted into chaos.

"Beast! He's worse than a beast!"

"That was a human life! It was the mother of his own flesh and blood! And he just had her thrown out so casually?!"

"It's too tragic—this child Huo Yuhao, he's had it too rough! What kind of hell did he spend his childhood in?"

Countless people felt pity, their hearts filled with genuine anger and disdain for the actions of Dai Hao.

--

But there were also some different voices.

Within certain noble circles of the Star Luo Empire.

"Sigh, although the Duke is a bit cold-blooded, isn't this kind of thing normal in great families?

She was just a servant; if she wanted to climb the social ladder, she should have been prepared to pay the price."

"Exactly, the Duchess is the legal wife after all; dealing with a maid is only right and proper. The Duke ignoring it was just to maintain his wife's dignity."

However, this line of reasoning was quickly met with even fiercer rebuttals.

"Bullshit! Maintaining dignity? Why didn't she dare to maintain the dignity of those noble ladies who had affairs with Dai Hao?

It's a classic case of bullying the weak and fearing the strong!"

"That's right! The child is innocent! The source of all this tragedy is that hypocrite Dai Hao, who can't keep his pants on!"

A massive debate was raging fiercely all across the continent.

But the charge against Dai Hao of being "cold-blooded, heartless, and failing to raise his own offspring" was now set in stone, leaving no room for any defense.