"Help us..." A vague, ethereal voice echoed in his mind, now near, now far.
"It's happening again..."
"Please... please save... us..." The voice went on speaking to itself.
"Who are you? What do I have to do to save you?" Though he had lost count of how many times this had happened, Huo Yuhao still asked patiently.
There was no reply.
Before long, the voice sounded again, repeating the same words over and over without tiring.
"Ugh, how am I supposed to help you if you won't tell me anything..."
He opened his eyes to the same familiar wooden ceiling, a little worn and shabby.
Huo Yuhao slowly breathed out, muttering, "You won't tell me anything. Where am I supposed to go to save you?"
Dawn had just begun to break. He had woken at just the right time.
He walked slowly to the window and began breathing in and out as he gazed toward the pale, fish-belly-white horizon.
As a wisp of purple air flowed into his eyes with his inhalation, the little pool in his mental space rose by a fraction.
Six years had passed since he had returned to the Douluo Continent. Six years had been enough for him to go from feeling utterly lost to accepting his situation with calm.
His Martial Soul, Soul Power, Soul Bones—none of them had come with him when he was reborn. Only his level of spiritual power had.
Now he possessed an immense, boundless mental space, but the spiritual power within it was utterly depleted.
Simply put, the "quantity" was gone, but the "quality" remained. It was an unexpected blessing.
"Yuhao, breakfast is ready."
"Coming, Grandpa." Huo Yuhao washed up quickly and headed for the kitchen.
Breakfast was rice porridge and a hot sesame flatbread. His portion had a little minced meat tucked inside.
As Grandpa put it, "A child's still growing, so he needs to eat well."
"Yuhao, I don't have anything for you to help with today. Once you've eaten, go play with the other kids nearby. Don't spend all your time cooped up by yourself."
The old man sitting opposite Huo Yuhao drank his porridge without looking up as he spoke.
Huo Yuhao smiled wryly. "I know, Grandpa." He really couldn't fit in with the other children, so he could only give a vague, half-hearted answer.
"You're just too sensible, child." The old man knew Huo Yuhao hadn't taken his words to heart. He shook his head and said no more.
Indeed, the villagers summed up Huo Yuhao in two words: sensible.
He never went off to play. He knew to help his grandfather with the chores, and whenever a neighbor needed his help, he always handled things perfectly.
So whenever Grandpa went out, he would hear people praising him for having such a well-behaved grandson. Every time, he would grumble a couple of words in mock annoyance, but the pride in his eyes was impossible to conceal.
The old man who had taken him in was named Jack, and he was the village chief of Holy Soul Village.
Six years ago, he had found Huo Yuhao outside his own door one morning. He didn't know the details, but Old Jack treated him like his own grandson and couldn't have been kinder.
Though they were poor, life was far better than it had been in his previous life, when the Duchess had kept him under her thumb. Huo Yuhao's sturdy build was proof enough.
After breakfast, Huo Yuhao didn't cultivate. Ever since being reborn, he had practiced the Mysterious Heaven Skill from a very young age. His aptitude was as poor as it had been in his previous life, but through hard work, he had reached the tenth level of Soul Power two months ago.
His Martial Soul Awakening hadn't happened yet, so he couldn't obtain a Soul Ring and continue cultivating.
With nothing else to do, Huo Yuhao, who could never sit still, could only climb the mountain to train.
"Xiao San, morning! Where are you off to?"
Seeing a boy about his age approaching, Huo Yuhao greeted him.
It was naturally Tang San. He nodded with a smile. "I'm buying some wine for my dad. Are you going to train again, Yuhao?"
Huo Yuhao nodded. He and Tang San had met on the mountain. Naturally, two precocious children like them couldn't fit in with the other kids in the village.
It had been around two or three years ago. While climbing the mountain to train, Huo Yuhao had come across Tang San cultivating the Mysterious Heaven Skill. A storm had risen in his heart. He had actually been reborn into Tang San's childhood, becoming a boy of the same age!
The two gradually grew closer after that, often running into each other while training. At first, Huo Yuhao, still adjusting to the change, had felt awkward calling Tang San by name. Tang San had simply thought Huo Yuhao was shy and hadn't read anything into it. After all, who could have guessed that the person standing before him was his son-in-law from ten thousand years in the future?
Seeing Huo Yuhao nod, Tang San didn't keep him any longer. "Go on ahead. I'll join you after I buy the wine."
"Okay."
Huo Yuhao climbed the mountain quickly. After repeating the journey countless times, he knew every part of it by heart.
He swiftly reached the summit, took off his shirt, and revealed his bronze-colored skin.
He was still just a child, but his muscles had already begun to take shape—the result of training from a young age.
Just as Huo Yuhao had finished two warm-up exercises, a sudden boom rang out in the sky, like a peal of thunder.
The sky abruptly darkened. A stream of gray air appeared in the space around him and shot toward Huo Yuhao's forehead in the blink of an eye.
A sudden voice appeared in his mind.
"What a profound level of spiritual power, young man. Six years ago, a fragment of my divine soul sensed my aura and came to this world. I've finally found you. Can you tell me why my aura is on you?"
Huo Yuhao's eyes widened, filled with joy and longing.
"Silly child, silly child... Remember, never go to extremes in anything you do. If your heart is upright, so will you be... If one day you truly make it that far... perhaps you'll find another fragment of my divine consciousness somewhere else... Your teacher will be waiting for that day..."
Elder Yi's words from his previous life echoed in his ears, tearing down Huo Yuhao's defenses.
His teacher, who had given everything for him, had appeared before him again. How could he not be overwhelmed?
Crystal-clear tears welled in his eyes. His lips trembled, but he couldn't utter a word.
"From the look of you, you know me? Could we have met somewhere? No... I'm certain we've never met. How strange..."
Electrolux grew even more confused. He also realized that his relationship with this young man was far from ordinary, and instinctively began to examine Huo Yuhao's memories. The old man had no defenses against a God King's spiritual power.
"Ugh..."
After a long while, whether from shock or emotion, a gray bead in Huo Yuhao's mental space wavered and transformed into an old man in a gray robe. He looked just as Huo Yuhao remembered him from his previous life.
Looking at Huo Yuhao, who was now just a child, he raised a hand and rested it on his head, gently stroking his hair. His eyes were filled with warmth and approval.
"So much has happened... Child... You've held on all these years."
Huo Yuhao seemed to come alive all at once. Tears burst from his eyes, streaming down in great drops as he shook his head again and again, his words indistinct.
"I'm sorry... Teacher... I'm so sorry... I searched everywhere afterward, but I couldn't find any of the other fragments... I missed you so much. I really did..."
"Child, I saw everything you did. The choice I made back then was the right one."
Electrolux nodded with a smile. "All right, you've become a god and you're still crying. People will laugh if they see you."
Huo Yuhao flushed with embarrassment and wiped away his tears. He remembered that, after being reborn, his circumstances had made him revert to a child's temperament, and he couldn't help feeling a little sheepish.
Elder Yi seemed to notice his embarrassment. He smiled and shook his head before speaking.
"You've been a god for so long, yet you can still hold on to this kind of sincerity. I'm sure the big bug and Little Scorpion would be very happy to see it too. You're still the Yuhao we know."
Huo Yuhao shook his head.
"They don't know me yet. I plan to meet them again after I become a god."
With his experience from his previous life, and with Godhood Inheritance still available in this era, he was confident he could become a god even without Tian Meng and the others' help.
If he explained everything to them after becoming a god, they would be more likely to believe him.
Electrolux shook his head. "When you first came to this world six years ago, I'm sure I wasn't the only one who sensed your aura."
"That aura came from you. It was as dazzling as the sun. How could they not notice it? They just couldn't come to you because they were Soul Beasts."
"Don't worry. They chose you in your previous life. Why would they leave you alone in this one?"
"The aura on you faded quickly after that moment. Otherwise, I wouldn't have had to search for so long."
"They don't have my abilities. They're too far away to sense you anymore. Just go near them, and I'm sure they'll come looking for you."
Electrolux nodded as he watched Huo Yuhao's eyes light up. He had seen Huo Yuhao's memories from the past six years. Though he had trained hard, deep down he had been lost.
Become a god? Huo Yuhao had already achieved that in his previous life!
Even without their help this time, Huo Yuhao was all but certain to become a god. Electrolux didn't know why he had come to this era.
The first time Huo Yuhao's outlook had changed was when he first met Tang San. He had been ecstatic.
He could stand on the same starting line as Tang San and compete for the God King position, take one more step forward, and control his own fate.
Instead of being a useful tool and an obedient dog, as he had been in his previous life. Qiu'er's sacrifice was still etched in his memory, and the two people he had loved most had ultimately become Tang Wutong... the shackle that controlled him.
Huo Yuhao would never forget everything from his previous life. Reborn in this golden age, with an opportunity laid right before him, how could he not seize it?
And now Elder Yi had found him, bringing him an even greater surprise.
"My friends are all waiting for me!"
At the thought, Huo Yuhao could hardly wait to go to the Star Dou Great Forest and find Brother Sky Dream.
"By the way, Teacher, do you know what that voice I hear in my dreams is?"
Since Elder Yi had already seen his memories, he naturally knew about the voice Huo Yuhao had dreamed of from time to time since being reborn. He hoped to get an answer from him.
Electrolux shook his head. "I don't know. But in my view, it must have a lot to do with your ability to be reborn into this era."
Huo Yuhao was a little disappointed. He could only keep the question to himself and see whether he found any clues later.