Keeping Vigil for Three Days

After hearing Xu Jiujiu's words, Xu Jiawei sighed. "It seems that even a powerful figure like Dean Yan can make a mistake."

"Console the Duke of White Tiger. Also, prepare some healing pills and send them to the future Sea God Pavilion Master. We must make sure no hidden injuries remain."

Xu Jiawei called over two guards and sent them to pass the word down, telling them to prepare a gift for Huo Yuhao.

"Brother, that excuse is obviously something you just came up with. Do we really need to go out of our way to send him something?"

"Jiujiu, the Sun Moon Empire is developing faster and faster, and the pressure on the Star Luo Empire is mounting. We need Shrek Academy very badly, and Huo Yuhao is a citizen of the Star Luo Empire. Whatever we do for him won't be too much."

After explaining, Xu Jiawei rubbed his brow. He could already sense the first signs of war. At a time like this, they had to do everything in their power to win Shrek Academy over.

"What about the Duchess? After all, she has ties to our Imperial Family. Will Dai Huabin's death drive her out of her mind?"

Xu Jiujiu considered how the Duchess's background was linked to the Imperial Family and reminded Xu Jiawei.

"That is a problem. If she attacks Huo Yuhao, people might think the Imperial Family gave her permission. That wouldn't be good. Have the Heavenly Fiend Douluo go there in a while."

"I remember the Duke of White Tiger has another son called Dai Luoli, doesn't he? Tell the Duchess that if Dai Yueheng and Huo Yuhao can't become friends, then Dai Luoli will be the next Duke of White Tiger."

Xu Jiawei spoke with a serious expression.

"Understood, brother. I'll take care of it right away."

Watching Xu Jiujiu leave, Xu Jiawei sighed. "Dai Hao, Dai Hao, how could you drive away a genius with such incredible talent?"

Xu Jiawei lamented with some regret.

Inside the Duke of White Tiger's Estate, the Duchess was furiously smashing every kind of porcelain object.

"He's just a servant's son! How dare he kill my son? How dare he!"

"Send everyone we can mobilize to Shrek Academy! I want him dead! I want him to die in some forgotten corner, just like his mother, and join my son in the grave!"

The guard beside her was about to try to stop her when a deep male voice rang out.

"Duchess, you'd better abandon that idea. You can't touch Huo Yuhao. His Majesty has already ordered you to kneel before his mother's grave for three days and apologize properly to her."

The Heavenly Fiend Douluo had just arrived at the Duke of White Tiger's Estate when he heard the Duchess's hysterical roar.

"You want me to kneel and apologize to that servant Huo Yun'er? Impossible! I'd rather die than apologize to her. I will kill Huo Yuhao and avenge my son!"

The Duchess had always looked down on Huo Yun'er. How could she accept such an order?

"This old man is a Titled Douluo. My coming here in person already represents His Majesty's position. Don't forget, you still have another son. Or will you only calm down after both your sons are dead?"

The Heavenly Fiend Douluo was, after all, a Titled Douluo. The Duchess's words had shown him no respect at all, and his tone turned cold.

Hearing this, a chill shot down the Duchess's spine. She asked in anguish, "Has the Star Luo Imperial Family truly forgotten all ties of the past? My mother was once a member of the Imperial Family..."

"His Majesty has already shown great regard for old ties. He has merely ordered you to keep vigil for Huo Yun'er for three days. If this old man hadn't come in person to make His Majesty's intent clear, do you think you'd still be sitting in the Duchess's seat?"

The Heavenly Fiend Douluo cut the Duchess off. After that final reply, he left without looking back.

Outside the Duke's Mansion, the low gravestone Huo Yuhao had erected for Huo Yun'er had long since vanished. In its place stood a tall stone monument engraved with the words: "Tomb of My Loving Mother, Huo Yun'er."

The Duchess staggered over to Huo Yun'er's grave and fell to her knees with a thump. Her eyes had lost their light, just like Huo Yun'er's once had.

Just like Huo Yun'er before her, she had no choice but to kneel for these three days—for Dai Yueheng's sake.

Dai Hao had already resented her because of what happened to Huo Yun'er. Now Huo Yuhao had become one of Shrek Academy's successors. Forget about revenge—before long, she might be the one mocked by the servants.

The three days of keeping vigil passed, but Dai Hao never returned even once. At last, the Duchess lost the final shred of hope she had clung to. She took to her bed and fell gravely ill.

When Huo Yuhao heard about it, his emotions barely stirred. If the Duchess died of her illness, it would be a fitting repayment for what she had done. If she survived, he could always make another trip later.

After reaching the peak of the Spirit Domain Realm in spiritual power, Huo Yuhao's ability to manipulate fate had improved once more. He could now slowly strip the fate of those with extremely low luck, even from a great distance.

Most of the servants who had once harmed Huo Yuhao and Huo Yun'er were ordinary people or Soul Masters with little Soul Power. Huo Yuhao had now marked every one of them for fate stripping.

In just one month, they would reach the end of their lives.

Comparing them against the memories in his mind, Huo Yuhao stripped away their fates one by one, leaving not a single person out.

Day by day, they would feel the world rejecting them more and more, until they died in despair and agony.

He stopped thinking about those who were doomed to die and focused his attention on the metal before him.

Of all the knowledge related to Battle Armor, design was the easiest part to master. With Divine Abyss's help, Huo Yuhao had already gained perfect command of everything related to design.

But forging the metal and crafting Battle Armor were not so simple.

Forging had clear thresholds. Huo Yuhao had only used one ring, so it was naturally impossible to raise both his forging and crafting abilities to the level required to make Battle Armor.

Thus, this improvement had mostly been in the realm of knowledge.

Now that he had learned all the theory, it was time to put it into practice.

The first piece of Battle Armor Huo Yuhao designed was for his right arm. He chose Deep Silver and Blue Pregnancy Copper, along with several rare metals with ice attributes.

Deep Silver was the easiest metal to forge and the easiest to fuse with other metals, so it would undoubtedly serve as the main material for his early Battle Armor.

One-Word and Two-Word Battle Armor laid the groundwork for future Battle Armor. Later, Huo Yuhao planned to use Ice Extreme Divine Crystal as the main material and incorporate it into his Battle Armor to create Three-Word Battle Armor.

That made the metals' ability to fuse with others especially important for the One-Word and Two-Word Battle Armor.

Huo Yuhao took out a piece of Deep Silver and began forging it according to the methods in his mind. Relying on his powerful spiritual strength, he found the precise angle for every strike of the Forging Hammer.

Soon, as Huo Yuhao's forging progressed, the Deep Silver grew smaller and smaller. Hundred Refinement had long since been completed, and now it was steadily approaching Thousand Refinement.

Thousand Refinement did not require especially advanced forging skills. As long as the forging method was sound, it could be achieved; it did not involve reaching the stage where metal gained a spirit.

Thus, as Huo Yuhao brought down his final hammer, a piece of Thousand Refinement Deep Silver lay quietly on the forging table.