Junior Huo Yuhao Greets Senior Grand Ancestor!

The moment he entered the Sea God Pavilion, the first thing Huo Yuhao marveled at was not its luxurious interior, but the dense Heaven and Earth Origin Power here.

Unfortunately, this place did not belong to Huo Yuhao for the time being.

Then Yan Shaozhe led Huo Yuhao and Bei Bei into a room on the top floor.

This room was not a formal meeting room, nor was it especially large. It looked more like a private room, giving off a somewhat cozy feeling.

Huo Yuhao's heart stirred slightly, and he thought to himself, Looks like Mu En wants to meet me alone. He doesn't intend to pull me directly into Shrek's core.

On the way here, Huo Yuhao had already considered the meaning behind Shrek's higher-ups summoning him.

Yan Shaozhe had personally come to pick him up. Perhaps Ma Xiaotao was part of the reason, but there had to be someone of even higher status ordering him as well.

Without question, that person was Mu En. Only Mu En had that kind of influence.

Huo Yuhao knew exactly what he might encounter after entering the Sea God Pavilion. It would be nothing more than one of two scenarios.

Either Shrek's higher-ups would appear together to welcome him, the possessor of an Ultimate Ice Martial Soul. That would mean he had officially entered Shrek's core circle and become a target Shrek would focus on nurturing.

Or Mu En would meet him alone. That would mean Shrek still wanted to test him a little, and would continue to watch his performance in the future. Translated, it meant they did not fully trust him yet and still wanted to PUA him.

As for doing nothing, letting Huo Yuhao go free, or acting against him...

As long as Mu En's brain had not been infected by Xuan Zi, he absolutely would not do something that stupid.

Leaving aside whether a certain God King would agree, if Shrek still wanted to grow bigger and stronger, it absolutely would not give up on Huo Yuhao.

An Ultimate Ice Martial Soul was Huo Yuhao's greatest source of confidence!

Without Huo Yuhao, Shrek might not necessarily decline, but it would be hard for it to shine again in the next few centuries.

Right now, Shrek was in the awkward predicament of lacking successors.

It was not that there were no good seedlings, but that all the good seedlings had grown a little crooked.

To put it nicely, Shrek valued talent. To put it plainly, Shrek believed only in innate ability.

For those with talent, everything else was negotiable. Anything could be forgiven.

For those without talent, no matter how noble your character was or how learned you were, Shrek would not look twice at you.

All that talk about upholding justice on Douluo Continent was nothing more than a community of shared interests made up of the strong, a "soul clique" similar to financial cliques or academic cliques.

Because what was justice on Douluo Continent?

The justice of Douluo Continent today was Shrek's justice!

Shrek's justice was Shrek's interests!

If Shrek wanted to protect its interests, it had to possess strength that surpassed every other power!

What Shrek wanted was not merely to remain undefeated, but to keep winning forever!

And to win big, again and again!

Huo Yuhao, the possessor of an Ultimate Martial Soul and a future Limit Douluo, was someone Shrek would absolutely never let go easily. It would inevitably think of every possible way to keep Huo Yuhao in Shrek.

Even if Huo Yuhao had some special identity, or some special purpose, as long as Huo Yuhao could stand with Shrek in the future, nothing else mattered.

It just so happened that Huo Yuhao was a child and looked extremely easy to trick... cough, to win over.

Of course, aside from the above scenarios, there was still one other possibility: a certain God King might notice that something had changed with Huo Yuhao, choose to personally enter the field, and take Huo Yuhao in as his dog...

There was a chance, but not a large one.

If a certain God King could truly cover the sky with one hand and act so brazenly, Douluo Continent would have changed surnames long ago. Why would he need to draw up some damn Ten Thousand Year Plan?

Even if the worst-case scenario really happened, Huo Yuhao would not be afraid.

After all, being afraid would not help.

Facts proved that Huo Yuhao's guess was correct.

Clearly, the current situation was the second scenario.

Mu En wanted to meet Huo Yuhao in private.

Golden light spilled in from outside the window, falling across the room and also onto an old man lying in a recliner.

He was a very ordinary-looking old man, and his figure was neither tall nor imposing. He wore gray cloth clothes, and the wrinkles on his face were deep enough to trap more than ten flies at once. His eyes were yellowed, his eyelids drooped, and he looked like a candle flickering in the wind.

Seeing the other party's appearance, Huo Yuhao sucked in a breath of cold air.

He was really fucking ugly.

Huo Yuhao's reaction was clearly somewhat offensive.

Yan Shaozhe, who had been secretly observing Huo Yuhao's behavior the whole time, immediately darkened in expression and was about to say something.

But Mu En took the initiative to speak, interrupting Yan Shaozhe's casting.

"Cough, cough. You're here."

Since Mu En had spoken, Yan Shaozhe had no choice but to stop. His impression of Huo Yuhao dropped somewhat, but not enough for him to dislike Huo Yuhao over it. He merely felt that Huo Yuhao was still not mature enough.

"Teacher!" Yan Shaozhe respectfully bowed to Mu En on the recliner.

"Grand Ancestor..." Bei Bei also spoke in a trembling voice. At some point, his eyes had already reddened.

It was not that Bei Bei was not strong. It was simply that he had suffered too many grievances during this period.

The moment he saw his only relative, the grievances hidden in Bei Bei's heart immediately burst out, impossible to suppress.

Tang Ya had gotten into trouble, he had been injured, yet the culprit had not received the punishment they deserved. Afterward, he met Huo Yuhao, saw hope, and even gained an opportunity in the Far North Land. But then they ran into the Titan Snow Demon King and suffered an accident, narrowly escaping death. If Huo Yuhao had not been there, his life might have ended there. Yet he had still lost the opportunity he obtained, his injuries worsened on top of the old ones, and he was temporarily unable to go pick the herbs. In the end, he could only helplessly withdraw from the Far North Land.

Mu En looked at Bei Bei, who seemed full of grievance, and his heart could not help tightening. He sighed softly and beckoned to Bei Bei.

"Bei Bei, you have suffered during this time. I have let you down."

Bei Bei hurried forward to Mu En's side, grabbed Mu En's aged, withered hand, and shook his head repeatedly. "Grand Ancestor, this isn't your fault."

Mu En sighed softly, then said in a gentle voice, "Bei Bei, for the greater righteousness of Shrek, we can only let you suffer this grievance for now. You must cultivate hard and keep growing stronger so that tragedies like this won't happen again."

"Mm, mm..." Bei Bei nodded repeatedly.

Huo Yuhao: "..."

What are you nodding for?!

Did Mu En say anything? Did he give you a solution? Did he compensate you? Did he punish the culprit?

No! Instead, he still wants you to suffer the grievance!

How did you just accept that?

Huo Yuhao turned his head and found a guilty expression appearing on Yan Shaozhe's face.

But...

Was this sincere guilt and remorse from the heart, or was it merely a superficial attitude put on for the occasion?

However, Mu En's voice seemed to possess a wondrous magic. Bei Bei's emotions and mood had indeed calmed down.

Only then did Mu En look at Huo Yuhao and reveal a kind smile.

To be honest, for Mu En in this state to show such a kind expression, Huo Yuhao very much suspected that Mu En had used some special soul skill.

"You must be Huo Yuhao, right? The young man who brought Bei Bei to the Far North Land?"

Huo Yuhao's eyes shifted slightly.

Oh? The one who "brought" Bei Bei to the Far North Land, not the one Bei Bei "followed" to the Far North Land?

Huo Yuhao really wanted to make Mu En straighten his back and listen to what he himself was saying.

Did I beg Bei Bei to go?

Unfortunately, Mu En could not straighten his back~

Because of the hostility in the Dragon Pill, Mu En could not straighten his waist. When standing, his waist was almost bent at a ninety-degree angle, and he needed to support his body with a cane, which was why he often lay on a recliner.

But there was no need to clash with Mu En over one or two sentences like this.

Huo Yuhao directly stepped forward and bowed.

"Junior Huo Yuhao greets Senior Grand Ancestor!"

Mu En: "???"

Bei Bei: "???"

Yan Shaozhe: "???"

After a few seconds of silence, the corners of Mu En's mouth twitched twice before he explained, "Huo Yuhao, my name is not Grand Ancestor..."

Sigh, I'm about to be discharged from the hospital...