With Snow Empress and the others flying at full speed, they reached their destination in half a day, like meteors streaking across the sky.
They would have arrived even sooner if they hadn't detoured around the cities and border garrisons of the two great empires along the way.
Fifty miles northwest of Star Luo City, in the Star Luo Empire.
A magnificent palace complex spanning more than three thousand mu sprawled across the ground. With its golden roofs and red doors, its antique elegance inspired a sense of solemnity.
Five characters—White Tiger Duke's Mansion—were inscribed on the gate tower, which stood five zhang tall.
Yet for all its outward splendor, the Duke's Mansion concealed a dark side so vile it was hard to believe.
Deep within the Duke's Mansion, in the rundown area where the servants lived, a wooden door stood shut over one of the woodsheds.
Sunlight filtered through a narrow window, dimly illuminating the shed. A hunched woman lay on a crude plank bed.
Her eyes were closed, and her face was pale and haggard, utterly drained of color. Only her faint, barely audible breathing proved she was still alive. She seemed to be drawing in more breath than she could breathe out, and likely wouldn't last much longer.
Suddenly, the shed flooded with light as the wooden door was flung open from outside. A boy rushed in.
"Mom, I'm a One-Ring Soul Master now!" Huo Yuhao shouted, his face alight with excitement.
But the moment he saw the woman on the bed, his expression changed. He hurried to her side, his voice urgent. "Mom, what's wrong? I'll go find someone to treat you right now. I'm a Soul Master now—they'll treat you. They have to."
Huo Yuhao started to leave, but suddenly stopped and looked back. The