Seven days later.
Huo Yuhao lay naked on the ground, gazing at the clear sky from which the darkness had been driven away. He could only smile bitterly.
It hurts like hell. I really can't move even a finger... If the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm weren't protecting me inside my Spiritual Sea, this kind of torment might have caused it to rupture.
Thinking of this, Huo Yuhao silently thanked the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, who had already fallen into a deep slumber.
Of course, the suffering hadn't been for nothing. The baptism of light and darkness had greatly improved Huo Yuhao's spiritual power. According to the realms of spiritual power that Baili Du had described, his spiritual power was now extremely close to the Spirit Abyss Realm.
After seven days of torment, day and night, he had finally gained a preliminary grasp of this powerful Martial Soul, which commanded the two attributes of ultimate light and ultimate darkness. Judging by its power alone, it was in no way inferior to the Deep Blue Glazed Dragon Martial Soul, which possessed the Dragon God Bloodline.
To commemorate the world he had once lived in, Electrolux named this Martial Soul the Holy Demon Angel.
Strictly speaking, this Martial Soul was made entirely from the power of another world, so it couldn't be given Soul Rings. But the three halos formed from the powers of the two mighty figures, the Demon Lord Alba and Electrolux, already encompassed their respective abilities. They looked like just three halos, but in truth, the number of skills they contained probably exceeded twenty.
Too exhausted to care about the embarrassment of being naked, Huo Yuhao closed his eyes and sank straight into a deep sleep.
Luckily, there weren't many Soul Masters in the Demon Sealing Forest. Otherwise, they would surely have mistaken Xiao Huo for a little pervert and hauled him away...
By sleeping, he perfectly missed an event that would shape his life.
With fate straying from its original course, how would the wheels of history turn?
Meanwhile, at the edge of the Star Dou Great Forest.
After leaving the Xuanming Sect by rather dishonorable means, Lan Xuanyu had trekked over mountains and rivers until he finally reached the Star Dou Great Forest, the place he had been dreaming of.
Using his intelligence and precise control over the elements, Lan Xuanyu successfully hunted a thousand-year-old Young Rock Dragon Lizard in the outer region. He used the Mysterious Heaven Skill to absorb its bloodline and gained control over the earth element.
His original plan had been to gain control over the wind element, but he hadn't found a suitable wind-attribute Soul Beast. Knowing that any further delay would make him miss Shrek Academy's admissions, he had no choice but to settle for earth...
More than one Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast passed by during that time, but Lan Xuanyu used the plant affinity of the Blue Silver King to conceal himself from them.
"Why hasn't he come yet?"
Standing by a small stream, Lan Xuanyu anxiously looked around.
He was waiting for someone: Huo Yuhao.
In his era, the federal news media focused more on promoting his grandfather, Tang San, and his father, Tang Wulin, and often deliberately belittled Huo Yuhao's life story. But the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy had kept a fairly accurate record of Huo Yuhao's life.
Those records said that Huo Yuhao had encountered the million-year Soul Beast Sky Dream Ice Silkworm in the outer region of the Star Dou Great Forest, and that he had met the then-leader of the Tang Sect here and joined the sect.
As the grandson of Tang San, the Tang Sect's founder, Lan Xuanyu naturally felt a powerful sense of belonging to the Tang Sect. He was bound to join it.
Of course, if possible, he also wanted to meet the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm.
Although it was a million-year Soul Beast with hardly any fighting ability, it could still provide a Martial Soul, and its store of knowledge was rich enough. Until he found Xiaobao—the parasite on the original Dragon God, Blue Salted Fish's huge cheat, the thing that had let him swagger through life—he'd make do with it for now.
After waiting several days without Huo Yuhao showing up, he was met instead by two students who had come to hunt Soul Beasts.
After talking with them, Lan Xuanyu was delighted to learn that they were members of the Tang Sect! And that the girl called Tang Ya was the current leader of the Tang Sect!
Although he was puzzled about why Huo Yuhao wasn't there, Lan Xuanyu couldn't possibly miss such a rare chance to join the Tang Sect.
More importantly, he didn't have a city lord's recommendation letter, so he needed a place through the Tang Sect to get into Shrek Academy.
When Beibei asked about his family, Lan Xuanyu answered honestly.
"There's no one left in my family now. I'm the only one."
That was right. There was no one now, but that didn't mean there wouldn't be anyone in the future.
At this point, Tang Ya began to demonstrate her gift for conversation...
Tang Ya was overjoyed and blurted out:
"That's wonderful!!!"
Lan Xuanyu was stunned, while Beibei looked utterly speechless. An eerie silence fell over the scene.
"!!!"
Indescribable fury surged in Lan Xuanyu's heart. His eyes slowly widened. What... He had no parents, and Tang Ya actually thought... that was wonderful?!
Was there something wrong with her brain? No, did she even have a brain?
With social skills like Tang Ya's, it was a miracle she'd survived this long... How had nobody beaten her to death in the street yet?
"Is that any way to talk?" Beibei said helplessly, tapping Tang Ya on the head. Then, with an apologetic smile, he turned to Lan Xuanyu. Just as he was about to offer a few polite words to smooth things over, Lan Xuanyu's furious shout rang out.
"If you don't know how to talk, you can shut your stinking mouth!!!"
Tang Ya and Beibei: "..."
Only then did Tang Ya realize she'd said the wrong thing. She stuck out her tongue in an ingratiating little gesture, hunched her shoulders, and muttered softly, "I didn't mean to..."
At this coy display, Lan Xuanyu angrily turned his head away, as if he didn't want to look at Tang Ya and Beibei. He took several deep breaths to calm his fury.
Beibei gave Tang Ya a helpless sidelong glance. In his eyes, Xiaoya was lively, adorable, and kind, practically flawless. But sometimes she spoke without thinking. That was why she hadn't managed to recruit a single disciple at Shrek Academy...
And now she'd offended Lan Xuanyu, the one person they'd finally managed to bring in.
Just as Tang Ya and Beibei thought their latest attempt to recruit talent for the Tang Sect was about to end in disaster, Lan Xuanyu spoke, his voice tight with anger. "...I can join the Tang Sect, and I'll do my part to help it rise again, but I won't become your disciple."
That was right. This was his absolute bottom line.
Become the disciple of an idiot like Tang Ya? Forget it... She wasn't worthy.
Of course, she wasn't worthy of being the leader of the Tang Sect, either.
Beibei awkwardly rubbed his nose. Tang Ya didn't seem to mind much. As long as someone joined the Tang Sect, that was enough for her.
Beibei tried to smooth things over. "Ahem... Xuanyu, I'm really sorry. Xiaoya's just like that, so I hope you'll forgive her. Oh, and here—this Soul Tool, modeled after the Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges once owned by the Tang Sect's ancestor, Tang San, is a welcome gift from your senior brother."
Lan Xuanyu's expression improved a little after Beibei presented him with the Soul Tool.
Fine, fine. I won't stoop to arguing with an idiot.
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