Bone-Deep, Unforgettable Hatred

Time flashed back five years, to when Huo Yuhao was six years old.

Inside a magnificent, gold-adorned building, two children stood side by side.

One child had golden hair, wore bright and flashy clothes, was tall, and wore an expression of utter arrogance.

In contrast, the other child wore hempen clothes washed until they were white, patched in several places, looking quite wretched, and his frame was relatively thin and weak.

He kept his hands clasped together, appearing somewhat timid.

Standing before them was a beautiful woman in luxurious attire with a mean-spirited face; she was none other than the Duchess of the White Tiger Duke Mansion.

At this moment, the Duchess, dressed in palace robes, said to the tall child with a doting expression: "Bin'er, for this Spirit Awakening, you must not let Mother down. I will be waiting outside for your good news."

Dai Huabin replied with a proud look: "Don't worry, Mother, I will successfully awaken the White Tiger Martial Soul."

With that, he turned and walked into the room behind them.

After watching her son enter the room with doting eyes, the Duchess's gaze swept over to Huo Yuhao, who was standing to the side. Her face immediately shifted to an expression of disgust, and she let out a cold, undisguised snort: "Hmph, little bastard."

Six-year-old Huo Yuhao stood timidly in place, looking somewhat at a loss. Then, he remembered his mother's gentle smile before the Spirit Awakening: "Yuhao, regardless of whether you awaken Spirit Power or not, you are still Mother's good son. Go on, don't put too much pressure on yourself; Mother will always love you."

Thinking of his mother's body, which was often wracked by coughs, Huo Yuhao summoned his courage and turned to enter the room.

Inside the room, an elderly butler of the White Tiger Duke Mansion was performing the Spirit Awakening for Dai Huabin.

Dai Huabin stood before the butler, eyes tightly shut.

A moment later, a majestic tiger roar erupted from behind Dai Huabin, and a lifelike phantom of a white tiger appeared behind him.

The butler's face immediately lit up with joy, and he said excitedly: "Congratulations, Young Master! Congratulations on successfully awakening the White Tiger Martial Soul."

"Young Master, let us test your innate Spirit Power level."

Dai Huabin placed his hand on the Spirit Power testing orb, and a dazzling white light flashed.

The butler said excitedly: "Truly worthy of being the Young Master, innate Spirit Power level 8. You are absolutely a rare genius."

Dai Huabin held his head high: "That goes without saying."

After saying this, he walked to the side, staring at Huo Yuhao with a malicious expression.

Huo Yuhao stepped forward and bowed politely to the butler: "Grandpa Butler, please help me awaken my Martial Soul."

Seeing who it was, the butler's face remained indifferent. After a curt "Hmm," he signaled for Huo Yuhao to stand before him and placed his hand on Huo Yuhao's head: "Hold your breath, focus your mind, and carefully sense the Martial Soul within your body."

Huo Yuhao felt a warm current wandering through his body. Before long, his eyes felt itchy. Then, he opened his eyes; his already clean eyes now became exceptionally clear, and it seemed as if starlight were flickering within them.

Seeing this, the butler said with some surprise: "A Martial Soul mutation! It's actually a Body Martial Soul—eyes!"

Huo Yuhao felt quite disappointed in his heart; it wasn't the White Tiger Martial Soul.

But fortunately, judging by the butler's tone, this mutated eye Martial Soul seemed to be quite decent?

A glimmer of hope rose in his heart once more.

"Hmph." Dai Huabin, standing to the side, curled his lips in dissatisfaction.

"Test your innate Spirit Power now," the butler said in the same flat tone.

Huo Yuhao placed his palm on the Spirit Power testing orb. A scene that saddened him occurred: the light emitted by the orb was far dimmer than the one Dai Huabin had produced.

The light was faint, like a firefly.

Seeing this, the butler shook his head: "Innate Spirit Power level 1. It seems the Martial Soul mutated into a useless waste."

Huo Yuhao's face turned pale, as if struck by lightning, and he lowered his head in sorrow.

On the other side, Dai Huabin laughed unscrupulously at the sight: "A bastard is a bastard indeed. Even his Martial Soul is trash not even worth a scrap. It's hilarious."

Huo Yuhao left, feeling soul-crushed.

He didn't remember how he made it home, only that after returning, his mother, Huo Yun'er, was not disappointed at all. Instead, she said to him with joy: "Wow, my Yuhao is just too amazing! To have such beautiful eye-type Martial Soul—in the future, Yuhao will surely become a powerful Spirit Master and become Mother's eyes to protect her, right?"

His mother's love lifted Huo Yuhao's spirits again, and he said firmly: "Yes, in the future, Yuhao will definitely become a powerful Spirit Master to protect Mother."

The mother and son lived in harmony, continuing their life of hardship.

However, ever since the day of Huo Yuhao's Spirit Awakening, the lives of the Huo family became increasingly difficult.

Originally, the White Tiger Duke Mansion provided the mother and son with a few copper spirit coins as a monthly subsidy. Although not much, it was at least enough to maintain their most basic living needs.

But after the Spirit Awakening, the Duchess began to suppress them without any pretense, and the mother and son were even cut off from their only source of income.

The two could only rely on Huo Yun'er helping others mend clothes to earn the bare minimum for survival.

The price was that Huo Yun'er's already poor health grew increasingly fragile.

Although life was harder, as the two relied on each other, the young Huo Yuhao felt there was still hope.

But tragedy struck on that day.

That day, Huo Yuhao, who was fetching water, happened to run into Dai Huabin, who was playing with a group of servants.

When Dai Huabin saw Huo Yuhao, a sinister light flashed in his eyes.

He immediately led several servants to surround Huo Yuhao.

"Hmph, little bastard, didn't I tell you not to let me see you again? You still dare to bump into me in a place like this today? Beat him!" A cruel smile curled at the corners of Dai Huabin's mouth.

"I didn't!" Huo Yuhao argued, standing his ground.

The servants paid no heed to Huo Yuhao's explanation, beating him until he collapsed to the ground in just a few strikes.

At only six years old, the frail Huo Yuhao had no strength to resist and could only endure their punches and kicks.

"No, don't hit my Yuhao." Before Huo Yuhao lost consciousness, those were the only frantic cries he heard from his mother.

He did not know how much time had passed when Huo Yuhao slowly drifted back to wakefulness. He was lying in his mother's arms, while Huo Yun'er was covered in wounds, having already been beaten into a coma.

It was precisely that beating that caused Huo Yun'er, already weak and sickly, to suffer further complications.

Exacerbated by heavy labor, her illness worsened until she passed away not long after.

Returning to the present.

The moment he saw Dai Huabin, Huo Yuhao's mind involuntarily recalled Huo Yun'er's gentle voice and smile, as well as the humiliation he had endured over the past decade.

If not for the mother and son of the Dai Family, Huo Yun'er would never have died so young!

Huo Yuhao's gaze brimmed with intense killing intent.

It was surging enough to drown Dai Huabin.

But a moment later, Huo Yuhao slowly exhaled, forcibly suppressing the hatred in his heart and calming himself down once more.

I cannot be impulsive. There are too many eyes here; killing him now would make it too easy to be exposed. Besides, Shrek Academy has just started the term. If a student death occurs now, it will easily alert the higher-ups of Shrek.

It is not yet time. Huo Yuhao shook his head calmly.

But a moment later, as if thinking of something, a faint smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.

But collecting a little interest shouldn't be a problem, right?

Following that, Huo Yuhao's figure gradually sank into the shadows and vanished.

Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu rode their horses down the street.

"Huabin, why are these lowly commoners looking at us like that?" the hot-bodied girl in the black dress said with dissatisfaction.

"Lulu, why bother with these commoners? Ignore them. The most important thing for us now is to find a suitable hotel." Dai Huabin looked at the pedestrians on the street and let out a disdainful snort, then turned his gaze toward Zhu Lu, his eyes revealing a hint of lewdness.

The girl in the black dress blushed in embarrassment and said, "You're so bad. We've only just met, and you're already thinking about that."

Dai Huabin became even less restrained as he said, "This is also for our Martial Soul Fusion Skill. Don't forget, the more familiar we are with each other, the higher our martial soul fusion rate will be, right?"

Zhu Lu covered her face with one hand: "What are you saying? I didn't say no, but we're still on the main street. You're so bad."

The two rode their horses, searching for a suitable hotel along the way.

"How about we stay here?" Dai Huabin suddenly stopped his horse and said.

Zhu Lu looked up at the building in front of them. It was a three-story hotel-style structure. The hotel's entrance was quite grand, and above the gate was a flashing neon sign with the four large characters: "Rose Hotel."

"Ugh, I'll listen to whatever you say." Zhu Lu gave a coquettish huff and followed Dai Huabin as they vaulted off their horses.

After handing the horses over to the attendant at the entrance, the two walked inside together.

No one noticed that less than a minute after the two entered the hotel, a black shadow, like a ghost lurking in the dark of night, flashed past the entrance of the Rose Hotel and disappeared.