Bei Bei's Deduction, the Tang Sect's Shackles!

The mountain wind at the outskirts of Star Dou Forest streamed through gaps in the trees, stirring the black hair by Yun Yi's ears.

Sensing that the disturbance in his Sea of Spirit had finally subsided, and that Electrolux had been preserved by the Goddess of Light and granted divine power to nourish his remnant soul, Yun Yi let out a long breath.

He had not expected the Fire God Mark to be so aggressive.

If not for the Goddess of Light's meticulous foresight and her timely descent of a golden barrier to forcefully save the situation, the old man Yun Yi had just intercepted with the Aurora Origin would likely have been burned into nothingness on the spot by that crimson fire dragon's heaven-scorching, sea-boiling strike.

Yun Yi had always held the great expert from another world, Electrolux, in the highest respect.

When he had read the original work in his previous life, this weathered old man, both teacher and father figure, had nearly always appeared to save the protagonist from danger. He had been an excellent guide.

Tragically, such a brilliant demigod could not escape the schemes of fate. In the end, to stabilize Snow Empress's Soul Core, he burned away the last drop of his spiritual consciousness origin and met the miserable end of having his soul scattered.

And what about Huo Yuhao, who constantly called him "Old Electrolux" and had received so much of his grace?

Or rather, the God of Emotion who had been thoroughly tamed and renamed Dai Yuhao.

After ascending to the Divine Realm, grasping divine authority, and possessing an endless lifespan, had he ever thought of searching the vast universe for the scattered remnants of his mentor's soul?

Had he ever made even the slightest effort to use divine power to revive Electrolux?

That stubborn youth who had once sworn in the Duke's Estate to avenge his mother, whose eyes had been resolute and unyielding, had long since had his spine completely broken by Poseidon Tang San's outrageous chain of suppression and brainwashing, and by the tender embrace of Tang Wutong, that forcibly stitched-together monstrosity of a wife. He had lost the bloody spirit and original heart he once possessed.

However, now that the threads of fate had shifted in this life and Electrolux had entered his Sea of Spirit, such a tragedy would never be repeated.

Noticing that Electrolux was wholly immersed in the transformation and recuperation brought by the divine power of light, Yun Yi abandoned the thought of speaking with him immediately.

He would let Old Electrolux's battle-worn remnant soul first adapt to this new world. Once his realm had fully stabilized, they would have plenty of time to sit together and talk.

"Rustle, rustle, rustle—"

Hasty footsteps approached.

Bei Bei and Tang Ya, one after the other, pushed through the dense thorny undergrowth and charged into the clearing with wary expressions.

Both of them looked abnormally pale. Beads of cold sweat the size of soybeans covered their temples, and their breaths came as urgently as bellows. Clearly, they had not yet fully recovered from the soul-shaking mental shock from earlier.

The sleeve on Bei Bei's right arm had exploded entirely. Blue-violet arcs of lightning danced wildly over the surface of dark-blue dragon scales, crackling explosively.

He held his arm horizontally before his chest in a standard defensive posture, his sharp gaze sweeping rapidly across the area.

Yun Yi stood with his hands behind his back. His moon-white fitted outfit embroidered with golden patterns was spotless, and his expression was calm.

Several steps ahead of him, amid muddy ground covered in rotting leaves, lay the corpse of a beast with a gaping hole in its forehead, along with the frail youth who had treated them to grilled fish by the stream not long ago.

The air was thick with the scent of blood and lingering fluctuations of Soul Power.

"What happened here?" Bei Bei withdrew the lightning from his right arm and quickly stepped forward to ask.

Yun Yi slightly raised his chin and pointed at Huo Yuhao, who lay on the ground with his eyes shut. His answer was concise. "I had just found this place when I saw him lying here."

After saying that, Yun Yi did not mention anything else.

Bei Bei's dark-blue eyes narrowed slightly, but he did not doubt his grand martial granduncle's answer.

He strode over to inspect the beast corpse.

"A Wind Baboon. Judging from its build, skeleton, and the sheen of its fur, its cultivation had only just reached ten years."

Then he walked steadily around the unconscious Huo Yuhao in a full circle.

His right hand unconsciously pinched his chin, wisdom gleaming in his eyes as he assumed the confident air of someone who had seen through the mystery.

"That terrifying mental energy fluctuation was most likely the aftershock of an intense clash between two peerless ferocious beasts deep within Star Dou Forest. It has nothing to do with what happened here." Bei Bei's gaze was profound as he delivered what he considered a flawless deduction. "As for this little brother, he must have rashly entered the forest alone and unfortunately encountered this naturally vicious Wind Baboon. The two then engaged in close combat.

"This little brother gave it everything he had and, with the blade in his hand, narrowly pierced the baboon's skull and killed it instead. Right now, he is at the crucial stage of absorbing this ten-year Wind Baboon soul ring and breaking through to become a one-ring Soul Master!"

The reasoning was seamless, its logic perfectly complete.

As if on cue, the moment Bei Bei finished speaking, Huo Yuhao's eyelids fluttered violently twice. He suddenly sucked in a cold breath and sat bolt upright from the mud.

His exchange of consciousness with Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had already ended.

At this moment, Huo Yuhao's eyes were filled with the terror and dazed disbelief of surviving a disaster, his chest heaving violently.

As he awoke, a soul ring emitting a faint white glow slowly rose from beneath his mud-caked shoes. It encircled his thin body, pulsing up and down in accordance with an enigmatic rhythm.

Seeing that pearly-white piece of irrefutable evidence, Bei Bei lifted his chin slightly, straightened his chest, and curled his lips into a proud smile.

He turned to Tang Ya beside him, his eyes plainly saying, See? I was exactly right.

Tang Ya rolled her eyes hard, utterly speechless at Bei Bei's smug display.

Without another word, she stretched out her fair right hand and precisely pinched the softest patch of flesh at Bei Bei's waist. Then she suddenly twisted her wrist, viciously wrenching it around a full circle.

"Hiss—!" Bei Bei sucked in a pained breath, his features instantly twisting into a mask of agony. The pride of the great detective shattered on the spot.

After teaching Bei Bei a lesson, Tang Ya immediately put on a gentle, concerned smile and hurried over to crouch in front of Huo Yuhao.

"Little brother, you're finally awake! Are you hurt anywhere?" Tang Ya reached out and brushed the dead leaves from Huo Yuhao's shoulder, her gaze moving back and forth over him. "Star Dou Forest is full of unknown dangers. How could you dare enter even the outskirts alone without bringing a single guard? If we hadn't run into you just now, your little body might have been gnawed clean to the bone by some passing soul beast! Since we ate your delicious grilled fish, we certainly can't stand by and watch you die."

Huo Yuhao had only just opened his eyes, and his mind was still a tangled mess.

The information about a million-year intelligent soul ring, something far beyond the limits of his understanding, left him at a complete loss.

Now, hearing Tang Ya's concerned questions and recalling Bei Bei's resounding deduction before he awoke, Huo Yuhao felt as though he had grasped a lifeline while drowning.

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's instructions still echoed in his ears. He carried a heaven-shaking secret and could not reveal it to anyone.

He hurriedly went along with the story and clung tightly to the ready-made excuse Bei Bei had provided.

"I... I really did have the misfortune of encountering this Wind Baboon." Huo Yuhao lowered his head, deliberately putting on a lingeringly frightened expression, his voice trembling faintly. "It suddenly leaped down from a tree and attacked me. I fought back desperately, and in my panic, I stabbed its vital spot with my dagger. That was the only reason I survived by luck. It just happened to produce a soul ring, so I gathered my courage and absorbed it directly."

Tang Ya reached out and rubbed Huo Yuhao's messy black short hair, softly comforting him for a few moments before getting straight to the point.

"Little brother, where are the adults in your family? How could they allow a prospective Soul Master who had not even obtained a soul ring to enter such a dangerous place alone?"

Huo Yuhao's eyes immediately dimmed. His eye sockets reddened slightly as his hands clenched the corners of his faded clothes so tightly that his knuckles protruded. "I... I'm all alone now. My mother passed away from illness not long ago. I have no family left in this world."

The moment he said this, intense sympathy burst forth in Tang Ya's eyes, mixed with a trace of shared sorrow.

Was she not also alone, carrying the blood-deep vengeance and burden of reviving her entire sect?

"Then what is your martial soul?" Tang Ya continued asking, her tone growing gentler.

"Spirit Eyes martial soul." Huo Yuhao answered truthfully. There was no need to conceal this.

Since Huo Yuhao was alone and possessed a body martial soul like Spirit Eyes with decent potential for development, an idea immediately came to Tang Ya.

Tang Ya then bent down and firmly grasped Huo Yuhao's thin shoulders with both hands. Her expression was solemn, and her voice rang out with conviction. "Since you have no one to rely on, why not join our Tang Sect! I am the current Sect Master of the Tang Sect. As long as you agree, the sect will be your home, sheltering you from wind and rain. I, the Sect Master, will personally look after you, teach you our cultivation methods, and never let anyone bully you!"

Faced with this sudden, enthusiastic invitation, Huo Yuhao froze.

But then he thought of the legends of the Tang Sect he had heard before.

Huo Yuhao nodded heavily, his voice crisp and decisive without the slightest hesitation. "Alright! I'm willing to join the Tang Sect!"

From beginning to end, Yun Yi stood with his arms folded, lazily leaning against a thick tree trunk.

He silently watched this reenactment of history, his expression unruffled.

The Tang Sect—the heavy shackle that bound Huo Yuhao for his entire life, the vampiric mire that drained away all his life's efforts—had ultimately still been placed around his neck at this moment.

Yun Yi did not speak to stop him, nor did he interfere.

Huo Yuhao had chosen this path himself.

As long as the youth could still grit his teeth and never regret it when he later faced the calculations of the entire sect, the endless humiliation and taming of the Divine Realm, then Yun Yi would let him smash himself bloody against it.