In a lush, verdant forest, a young man lay on the ground, looking as though he were sleeping peacefully.
Beside him stood a slightly older young man and a young woman. They seemed to be waiting for him to wake, while also plotting something between themselves.
What they didn't know was that the young man's consciousness had long since returned. He was trying to figure out how to turn them down.
"You want me to join the Tang Sect and become a disciple of that Great God King Tang? Then get dragged into that den of thieves, Shrek?"
A cold sneer curled in the young man's heart.
"Sorry, no way in hell. I'm not that gullible Huo Yuhao!"
That was right. The young man lying there had long since become someone else. The young man and young woman waiting for him to wake could never have imagined it.
The young man was actually a soul from Blue Star. His original name had been Hao Yuhuo, and his greatest hobby back on Blue Star had been reading all kinds of Huo Yuhao fanfiction set in Peerless Tang Sect.
There were stories about some gender-swapped Huo Yuhao being somebody's light, some Yuhao "maneuvering" between various factions, and some other Yuhao who started out by bolting to the Sun Moon Empire to develop technology...
As for Huo Yuhao, the protagonist of the original story, his strongest feeling was pity for his misfortune and anger at his lack of backbone!
How had a fine Child of Destiny ended up like this? Instead of crowning himself emperor and carving out an empire, he'd become the lowly son-in-law of the Tang family, Dai Yuhao?
And what was Tang Wutong supposed to be? In his eyes, she was just a monster created by Great God King Tang. What was there to find attractive about her?
But he had never dreamed that after reading countless Huo Yuhao fanfics, he'd transmigrate too—and become a Huo Yuhao in some other world!
He'd arrived right as the story was beginning, at the moment Huo Yuhao set out from the Duke's Mansion with his luggage on his back.
After familiarizing himself with this body and confirming that he'd transmigrated, Hao Yuhuo had been thrown into a panic.
After thinking it over, he'd decided to follow the original story to the letter, without missing a single step. He'd gone to the Star Dou Great Forest and, thankfully, had successfully obtained the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm and Elder Yi's possession.
After all, if he went off-script and somehow ruined Huo Yuhao's opportunities from the original story, he wouldn't even have anywhere to cry about it!
The original Huo Yuhao was this world's Child of Destiny. This transmigrator couldn't guarantee he was one too!
Of course, following the original story only went so far. No matter what, he didn't want to join Tang Ya's goddamn Tang Sect. What good would it do him to help her revive the Tang Sect?
That damn Mysterious Heaven Skill, the Tang Sect Secret Arts, the Hidden Weapons—in his eyes, they were outdated, or had long since been castrated by their founding ancestor Tang San and passed off to foolish descendants. He didn't think much of them.
He was also at a loss now. After rejecting the Tang Sect and Shrek, what was he supposed to do? He had no system, and no old master living inside a ring.
Tian Meng was useless too, and Elder Yi might be powerful, but he still couldn't wake up.
Should he go to the Sun Moon Empire to develop technology? Find a way to join the Body Sect? Or throw in his lot with some noble or sect?
He'd thought it over from every angle, but still couldn't decide. No matter what he chose, each path seemed to come with its own risks!
Just as Huo Yuhao was embroiled in an intense inner struggle, he suddenly heard Tang Ya and Bei Bei let out startled cries.
"Sky Screen, commenting on Huo Yuhaos from all the heavens and myriad realms, across parallel universes?"
Bei Bei read aloud, eyes wide.
"Huo Yuhao, Huo Yuhao... Didn't this young brother just say his name was Huo Yuhao?"
Tang Ya looked down at Huo Yuhao, who was still "sleeping peacefully," and could barely keep her composure.
So, had she just picked up some kind of big shot?
That Sky Screen hanging above them looked like a divine miracle. Something capable of such a feat had to be either a top-tier Soul Tool or the work of a Super Douluo or someone even stronger!
And what did "commenting on the lives of Huo Yuhaos from parallel universes" even mean?
"Holy crap!"
Huo Yuhao, who had still been pretending to sleep, leapt to his feet. Eyes wide, he stared fixedly at the wondrous light screen overhead, which looked like a projection cast from the void.
The screen hung in the air like a divine miracle. Golden characters shone brilliantly across it, and what they said made Huo Yuhao's pupils quake!
What did it mean, "commenting on the life paths of Huo Yuhaos from all the heavens and myriad realms, across parallel universes"?
He'd read plenty of Sky Screen stories back on Blue Star, so he knew what was happening. At that moment, all he could think was: So I transmigrated here without a system or a cheat, and the first thing waiting for me is a Sky Screen targeting me?
Well, that was just great. Right at the start, the name Huo Yuhao was about to become famous throughout the world!
In fact, the people seeing this Sky Screen weren't limited to those near the Star Dou Great Forest.
Under the power of some higher-dimensional force, every person and Soul Beast on the continent and even out at sea—as long as they were on this planet and looked up—would see this wondrous Sky Screen, vast and awe-inspiring!
"Huo Yuhao? Who's Huo Yuhao? Why are they commenting on his life?"
"Parallel universes? The heavens and myriad realms? What are those?"
"What's this light screen? Could it be some new kind of Soul Tool from the Sun Moon Empire?"
And at that very moment, the handful of people on the continent who knew Huo Yuhao were more than shocked. Their very souls were shaken.
"Huo Yuhao? Why does that name sound just like that bastard's? No, it can't be him."
In the White Tiger Duke Mansion, the Duchess had only recently received news that Huo Yuhao had gone missing. Holding a whip in her hand, she felt even her swallowed saliva turn bitter.
"Huo Yuhao? How could it be you? I don't believe it!"
Dai Huabin's eyes widened. Anger flared in his heart, along with a foreboding sense of unease. As far as he was concerned, Huo Yuhao was a nobody who should have died quietly in some corner. How could he suddenly make such a commotion?
If this "Huo Yuhao" really was that Huo Yuhao, then whatever the reason, it meant that some unfathomable being was watching him!
From this moment on, Huo Yuhao was no longer just the insignificant bastard son of a maid, no longer a speck of dust or a minor nobody they could handle however they pleased!
"Huo Yuhao, Huo Yuhao..."
At the border between the Sun Moon Empire and the Star Luo Empire, the White Tiger Duke, Dai Hao, stood in military uniform, gazing at the Sky Screen and turning the name over in his mind. It seemed familiar somehow. After a long while, he shook his head and decided he must have remembered wrong.
Meanwhile, in the Sun Moon Empire's Ming Capital, countless Soul Engineers stared at the Sky Screen, on the verge of madness!
"Second Detection Team, still no results?"
"Detection failed! No matter how we test it, the energy readings and Soul Power fluctuations are all zero. It's as if this Sky Screen is nothing but an illusion appearing on our retinas!"
"Impossible. Test it again! Switch instruments and run the tests again!"
"Yes!"...