In his previous life, Dai Huabin had happened to pass by the place where the mother and son lived. While hanging out the laundry, Huo Yuhao had accidentally bumped into him and a group of his servants.
For that simple reason, Dai Huabin had ordered his servants to beat him mercilessly.
To protect Huo Yuhao, Huo Yun'er had taken every punch and kick herself. Her health had steadily worsened, and she had died young.
In other words, this boy was the source of all Huo Yuhao's hatred.
Though he was only six, under his mother's influence, Dai Huabin was already beginning to show the arrogance and bullying streak he would have in the future.
Before Huo Yuhao, Dai Huabin had awakened an Evil Eye White Tiger Martial Soul with Innate Full Soul Power. At that moment, he was at his most proud and conceited.
Watching that dazzling light, Dai Huabin's expression twisted without him realizing it.
When Huo Yun'er had thanked Zhang Peng and tried to leave with Huo Yuhao, Dai Huabin stepped directly in front of the boy.
He said nothing, merely staring into Huo Yuhao's eyes with an indignant glare.
Huo Yuhao desperately wanted to punch him in the face, but forced himself to stay calm... Dai Huabin was indeed the enemy who had killed his mother, but Huo Yun'er was still alive and well.
If he lost his temper and acted rashly, he would put Huo Yun'er in danger. The Duchess might even seize the chance to make trouble, with consequences worse than before.
After weighing everything, Huo Yuhao chose to swallow his anger for now. As long as he could keep Huo Yun'er alive, he didn't care what humiliations he had to endure.
"Hey, stop."
Just then, Dai Huabin called out.
Huo Yuhao pretended not to hear and quickened his pace.
"I said stop!" Dai Huabin raised his voice, and the mother and son had no choice but to halt.
"Young master, we have no grudge against you. Why speak to us so harshly?" Huo Yun'er couldn't help addressing Dai Huabin. But he only walked closer to them, as if certain that her words had been spoken in a fit of anger and that, in the end, she would simply swallow the insult.
"No grudge? Heh..."
"A bastard son with Innate Full Soul Power... That makes me sick. You can hardly call that having no grudge." Dai Huabin waved his hand, and the servants from the White Tiger Duke Mansion closed in around the mother and son.
"Beat them."
Huo Yuhao drew a deep breath... and watched the servants draw closer.
If Dai Huabin had shown some restraint today and left them alone, Huo Yuhao wouldn't have done anything.
But since the other side had picked a fight... he was no longer the useless weakling who needed his mother to protect him.
Given another chance, how could Huo Yuhao repeat the same mistakes?
The servants surged forward at once, throwing punches and kicks. Some even drew sharp weapons.
Dai Huabin had expected this to frighten Huo Yuhao, but there wasn't the slightest trace of fear on the boy's face. He simply stared at the servants and took up a strange stance.
They were only a few ordinary people with no cultivation. The skills he had learned in his previous life were still fresh in his mind!
Several fists were about to slam into his head. In that instant, Huo Yuhao retreated with an extremely strange footwork, tangling the men's fists together and throwing them off balance.
The Tang Sect Secret Art, Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track!
But he wasn't finished. One man behind Huo Yuhao lifted his leg and chopped it down toward the boy's shoulder. So what if he had Innate Full Soul Power? He was still only six!
To his surprise, just before the leg came down, Huo Yuhao twisted around and caught it firmly between his arms. The man's world spun. A moment later, Huo Yuhao had thrown him several meters away.
The Tang Sect Secret Art, Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon!
The punches and kicks had come to nothing. Soon, several men carrying daggers charged together, but all they met was Huo Yuhao's cold gaze.
Whenever a blade point was about to touch Huo Yuhao, the distance would suddenly seem to stretch by a fraction. In that brief moment of misjudgment, the dagger would snap with a sharp crack, and the servant holding it would be knocked to the ground.
The Tang Sect Secret Art, Mysterious Jade Hand!
After the attack, Huo Yuhao was the only one still standing.
"I don't believe it, I don't believe it!" Dai Huabin screamed hysterically. How was it possible? How could so many adults lose to a six-year-old boy who had only just awakened his Martial Soul?
He grabbed the pendant around his neck. A faint glimmer flashed, and a burly man dressed in black appeared beside him.
He was a bodyguard the Duchess had specially hired for her son, a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor. The pendant was actually a Soul Tool that could send out a signal. As soon as the bodyguard received it, he would come to Dai Huabin's side and clear away any obstacles.
"Move!" Dai Huabin waved his hand, but unlike the servants, the bodyguard didn't budge.
"I said move!" Dai Huabin kicked him hard, but he remained where he was. Looking conflicted, he leaned close to Dai Huabin's ear, about to explain something, when he felt a wave of pressure sweep over him and bear down heavily.
Huo Yuhao, who had been preparing to keep fighting, was stunned too. But he soon found the source of the strange pressure.
Zhang Peng walked slowly up to Dai Huabin. He glanced at Huo Yuhao, then looked down at the boy from above.
"This isn't the White Tiger Duke Mansion, where you can throw your weight around. This is Spirit Hall's Awakening Hall."
"Article Seven of the Martial Soul Law: the Awakening Hall is supreme, and Soul Masters are absolutely forbidden from engaging in any form of violence here. Let alone malicious violence intended solely to humiliate someone."
Dai Huabin strained to look up, only to see something that left him utterly stunned: Zhang Peng had eight Soul Rings, arranged in the top configuration of two yellow, two purple, and four black.
In other words, this unremarkable-looking Martial Soul Envoy might be on par with his father, the White Tiger Duke—or even stronger!
He had heard that Spirit Hall was full of powerful experts, but no one had told him that a low-ranking employee stationed at an Awakening Hall could be an Eight-Ring Soul Douluo!
"Ha, sorry. I must have scared you. Ma'am, and you too, young man." Zhang Peng lifted the pressure of his Soul Power and walked over to Huo Yun'er and Huo Yuhao, then continued:
He handed Huo Yuhao a plain gray card, printed with a silver six-pointed star.
"To Spirit Hall, children with Innate Full Soul Power are extremely valuable talent."
"Normally, you'd need to register as a One-Ring Soul Master to receive this card, but... consider it a little reward for protecting your mother."
With that, Zhang Peng escorted Huo Yuhao and his mother out the door, then turned to everyone in the Awakening Hall. "Sorry, we had a little interruption. Does anyone else need to awaken their Martial Soul? If not, it's time to clock out and call it a day."
When no one replied, he walked back to Dai Huabin and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Sorry, young master. These are the rules laid down by the Martial Soul Law. Every citizen has a duty to uphold it, and I'm sure you and everyone here understand that."
Dai Huabin knocked Zhang Peng's hand away and glared at him before storming out the door without looking back, followed by his servants, who had suffered varying degrees of injury. The bodyguard vanished with them. Zhang Peng didn't mind. There was no need to get worked up over a six-year-old.
"Thank you so much for what you did, Lord Zhang Peng," Zhu Shan said as he walked up to him. If he wanted to keep helping the mother and son in secret, he'd had no choice but to stand by and watch just now.
"Think nothing of it, old sir. I simply punished those who broke the Martial Soul Law and rewarded those who obeyed it."
"I have work tomorrow, so I'll leave it there. If you'd like to help the mother and son, tell the boy what the card is for."
"Of course."
With a few sighs, Zhu Shan also left the Awakening Hall. Zhang Peng was the only one left inside.
He thought back over Huo Yuhao's movements, comparing them carefully until he finally confirmed that the boy had used three secret techniques from the Crafting Bureau.
Legend had it that several hundred years ago, there had been a sect called the Tang Sect. As it neared its decline, Spirit Hall had absorbed it, and it had become the Crafting Bureau of today.
Since the boy came from the White Tiger Duke Mansion, why did he know those three secret techniques?
"I only meant to see how much grit this boy had... But now he's shown Innate Full Soul Power, a top-tier Body Martial Soul, and secret techniques from the Crafting Bureau whose origins are unknown... The people higher up will definitely be interested in him."
Before you continue