At last, Baili Du had found someone he could confide in. He no longer had to pretend to be strong, and he cried his heart out before Electrolux, his revered teacher.
In the Douluo God Realm, he had been the pillar holding up his family. Apart from the occasional few words with his mother, he had no one he could trust.
Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing had said that living together as ancestors of the family would make things livelier. In truth, Tang San had sent them to keep an eye on him.
His two children? The troubles of the older generation were no burden to place on the young...
Was he supposed to pour out his grief to Dai Hao? That bastard was Tang San's lapdog. No matter what conflict arose between Baili Du and Tang San, even when Baili Du was not at fault, Dai Hao told him to apologize to Tang San and kneel...
As for Tang Wutong... he would have been better off without her. His teacher Rong Nianbing had stood by him, but even an upright judge struggled to settle family affairs. There was little Rong Nianbing could say.
Electrolux did not interrupt or blame Baili Du. He knew his disciple had already done all he could.
But in his heart, Tang San had gone onto his list of people who had to die.
Tang San had bullied his disciple like this and even plotted to kill Electrolux himself. Did he truly think the Holy Necromancer had such a mild temper?
Once Baili Du had finished crying, the two of them sat down wherever they pleased within young Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Sea.
"Put simply, Yuhao, you want me to help raise this other you to become a god?"
Baili Du nodded earnestly. "Yes, but there's one difference. This time around, I refuse to let this version of me live as a dog for the Tang Family. When he meets Tang Wutong, please stop Tang San's divine consciousness from interfering. Use force if you have to! The point is, I don't want this version of me to have any relationship with Tang Wutong beyond that of strangers!"
Electrolux nodded silently, then gave a melancholy sigh. "...Ah. So you, too, ended up falling out with the woman you loved?"
"Too? Teacher, did you...?" Baili Du was startled. He had spent only a short time with Electrolux before Tang San had plotted his death at the Clear Sky Sect, and Electrolux had rarely spoken of his past.
Electrolux gazed into the sky above the Spiritual Sea, his eyes deep. "As I've recuperated lately, I've remembered quite a bit of the past. I'll tell you about it."
Electrolux then gave Baili Du a brief account of his time on the Holy Demon Continent, including the betrayal of a woman named Fuluo...
Electrolux could look back on it calmly. After so many years, he had long since let it go.
Baili Du gave a bleak, self-mocking smile. "The two of us really are alike. No wonder we're teacher and disciple..."
Tang San had pushed him and Tang Wutong together. Though they had eventually married and had children, all manner of conflicts had resurfaced in the years after Tang San's death.
Tang Wutong's high-handedness, her refusal to listen to reason, the trouble she stirred up over nothing... Baili Du could endure all of it. What he could not bear was that she had never once spoken up for him.
Whenever he clashed with anyone else in the Tang Family, no matter how small the matter, Tang Wutong expected him to give way without limit. After he yielded again and again, anyone watching might have thought he was not the Tang Family's son-in-law, but a dog they kept.
[In real life, a major reason couples divorce is exactly this: either the man always listens to his parents, or the woman always sides with her birth family.]
Baili Du changed the subject before they went any further. "Teacher, my injuries are still too severe. I can't stay on the Douluo Continent indefinitely. I'll tell you my whole plan now. Of course, more than seeing the plan through, I want this version of me to live happily instead of being as exhausted as I am. So I'm sorry for the trouble, but please guide him through it."
Electrolux immediately caught the crucial words. "Your injuries are too severe? What happened?"
Baili Du smiled and waved a hand, entirely unconcerned. "Don't worry, Teacher. I know my limits. I was lucky enough to make it to this timeline alive. I won't ask for more than that."
Then he laid out his entire plan for Electrolux.
From what he had discovered, the Samsara Hurricane had likely brought several outsiders he barely knew back from the dead as well... So on the Douluo Continent, letting young Huo Yuhao, who knew nothing about them, deal with those people was the best choice.
That included the two greatest problems: how to deal with Tang San's interference and how to handle Lan Xuanyu.
Electrolux pressed his lips together after hearing it all. For a long time, he said nothing.
Only after a long pause did he speak, his expression conflicted.
"Yuhao, you... you've made yourself a piece on the board too..."
Baili Du's plan was nothing like Tang San's vague Ten Thousand Year Plan, with its heavy toll of deaths. In the end, the person who would suffer most was Baili Du himself.
"That's what you call a strategist entering the game himself to win by half a move against heaven. I'll take that as praise."
Then his expression turned solemn. "All I want is for things to be as they should have been. For that hope, I'm willing to make myself a piece on the board."
Electrolux grew solemn too and clapped Baili Du firmly on the shoulder. "Say no more. Your teacher is with you!"
"Good! Teacher, tomorrow we'll go to the Star Dou Great Forest and find Brother Sky Dream!"
When the sun was already high, young Huo Yuhao stretched in comfort.
"Mmm..."
Then a familiar, gentle voice sounded beside him. "Awake?"
The sleepiness vanished from young Huo Yuhao's eyes. He stared in surprise at Baili Du, who sat beside his bed.
"Uncle Baili!"
Baili Du rubbed his head and smiled. "Go wash up. Today I'm taking you to the Star Dou Great Forest to get your Soul Ring."
Young Huo Yuhao sprang out of bed and cried out in delight, "Huh? Really?!"
His Soul Power had been held at a bottleneck for over a year. At last, he could become a true Soul Master. How could he not be excited?
Every Soul Master longed to grow stronger!
Baili Du said calmly, "How's your practice controlling water and lightning coming along? If you haven't met my standards, I'm not taking you."
"Um..." Young Huo Yuhao scratched his head sheepishly. "I think I should be able to."
He held out his hands. A vortex of water appeared above one, a darting serpent of lightning above the other. Then he brought his hands together, and the water and lightning blended into a dark purple vortex. Streaks of lightning flashed across it from time to time, without the slightest sign that the two forces repelled each other.
Baili Du's eyelids twitched twice. Huo Yuhao controlled lightning—the most violent of the elements—as though it were flowing water... Such control at his age was absurd!
His spiritual power is already close to the Spirit Sea Realm? Well, that's normal enough.
Why didn't I have talent like that back then...?
Still, he put on an unruffled expression. "Mm... passable. Eat breakfast and let your mother know. Then I'll take you to get your Soul Ring."
"Yay!" Young Huo Yuhao hopped off the bed and dashed into the bathroom.
Watching the child's cheerful retreating figure, Baili Du could not help smiling too.
I wish he could stay this happy forever...
Before you continue