Submission and Companionship, Stealing Huo Yuhao's Opportunity

That home in the Divine Realm was a cannibalistic den of devils. Those so-called elders of the Haotian Sect were nothing more than guards Tang San had stationed at her side.

The only real thing she could be certain of now was the utterly unfeeling back before her.

"Wait for me!"

Wang Dong'er hurriedly wiped the tears and mud from her face, then scrambled to her feet.

No longer caring about the image she had always taken pride in, she stumbled through the stream and desperately chased after Yu Chen like a stray cat terrified of being abandoned.

She did not dare get too close, only trailing half a step behind Yu Chen as she followed him cautiously.

Yu Chen neither drove her away nor glanced back at her.

The two of them moved one after the other through the shadows of the Star Dou Great Forest.

It was quiet all around.

Quiet in a way that felt strange.

Logically, this was the edge of the mixed zone, where ten-year and hundred-year soul beasts could appear at any moment.

Yet Wang Dong'er was astonished to find that wherever Yu Chen passed, the venomous snakes lurking in the shadows—even the low-level soul beasts hiding in tree hollows—frantically retreated.

It was as though something about Yu Chen gave off an aura so terrifying that they feared even looking at him.

"Y-you... why did you help me undo that seal?"

After walking for a long time, Wang Dong'er finally gathered the courage to softly voice the question in her heart.

Yu Chen pushed aside a vine blocking his path, his tone as calm as if he were discussing something trivial.

"I wasn't helping you."

"I just don't like that guy hiding above and playing chess."

"Since he likes treating others as chess pieces, I'll smash his board and crush his pieces."

Wang Dong'er's breath caught.

In Yu Chen's placid tone, she heard an arrogance that looked down upon the world.

It was not the bluster of someone ignorant of his own limits, but the indifference of one who truly stood above the clouds and gazed down upon all living things.

She bit her pale lips and said quietly, "I have nowhere left to go... Can I follow you?"

Yu Chen stopped.

He turned his head slightly and cast Wang Dong'er a glance from the corner of his eye.

"I don't keep trash around me."

Wang Dong'er panicked. She straightened her slender chest and eagerly tried to prove her worth.

"I'm not trash! I have twin martial souls. I have the Light Goddess Butterfly. I was born with full soul power. I'll become very strong in the future. I can fight for you, I can—"

"That was all given to you by Tang San."

Yu Chen cut her off directly.

"Everything you're proud of is nothing more than a toy Tang San bestowed upon you."

"If you want to follow me, then put away that ridiculous young master temperament of yours and forget everything Tang San gave you."

"Your life belongs to me now."

His words were utterly domineering, leaving no room for compromise.

Yet after hearing them, Wang Dong'er did not feel humiliated. Instead, she felt an immense sense of relief.

That was right.

Tang Wutong was already dead, killed in that hypocritical secret chamber.

The one still alive now was merely a shadow following behind this boy.

"I understand."

Wang Dong'er lowered her head. Her voice was soft, yet filled with a firmness unlike anything before.

Yu Chen withdrew his gaze and continued onward.

An obedient chess piece was always somewhat more useful than an annoying piece of trash.

The two continued walking.

A sudden, violent rustling came from the bushes ahead.

Amid heavy panting, a figure stumbled out of grass as tall as a person.

It was a boy who looked no older than eleven or twelve.

He wore coarse cloth clothes that had been washed nearly white, and his body was covered in bloody cuts from thorns.

He tightly gripped a small dagger in his hand. His eyes were filled with terror, but deep within them was the ferocity of a lone wolf.

It was Huo Yuhao, who had just entered the Star Dou Great Forest, prepared to risk his life for a chance at a future.

His greatest opportunity, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, had already been forcibly devoured by Yu Chen.

Now, he was merely an ordinary child with soul power at level ten and a useless Spirit Eye martial soul.

Behind him, a ten-year Wind Baboon the size of a large dog, covered from head to toe in blue-green fur, lunged at him with sharp fangs bared.

Huo Yuhao heard the wind behind him and instinctively turned around.

He shut his eyes and let out a desperate roar, wildly slashing the White Tiger Dagger in his hand.

The Wind Baboon nimbly twisted its body in midair, evading the completely unstructured strike.

Just as it was about to bite through the human child's neck in one bite—

It suddenly stopped.

The Wind Baboon's muddy yellow eyes rolled as its gaze passed over Huo Yuhao and landed on Yu Chen and Wang Dong'er, who were approaching from nearby.

Low-level soul beasts possessed little intelligence.

It could not sense the supremely restrained, transcendent dragon pressure within Yu Chen.

It only felt that the black-clothed child carried an extraordinarily enticing scent.

The Wind Baboon immediately abandoned the scrawny Huo Yuhao. Its hind legs kicked off the ground, and it became a blue-green blur as it shot straight for Yu Chen's throat.

Huo Yuhao opened his eyes and stared blankly at the scene.

He wanted to warn them, but it felt as though his throat were stuffed with dry straw. He could not make a sound.

Facing the foul wind rushing toward him, Yu Chen's steps did not pause in the slightest.

He could not even be bothered to raise a hand.

He merely lifted his eyelids slightly.

The index finger of his left hand flicked lightly at his side.

At his fingertip, a streak of black lightning deeper than the night flashed and vanished.

There was no thunder and no explosion.

The moment that wisp of dark lightning touched the Wind Baboon's fur, it spread through its entire body like ink dropped into clear water.

The Wind Baboon's savage expression froze on its face.

Still suspended in midair, it turned into a skyful of black ash before it could even let out a scream.

When the wind blew, nothing remained.

The hand holding Huo Yuhao's dagger began to tremble violently.

His eyes widened as he watched the black-clothed boy calmly walk through the ashes without so much as staining a corner of his clothes.

He was too strong.

They were both children, so why was the gap between them so immense?

The soul beast Huo Yuhao could not defeat even by risking his life was less than an ant in the other boy's eyes.

Huo Yuhao opened his mouth. He wanted to ask the other boy's name and ask whether he could teach him.

But Yu Chen merely walked past him coldly.

He did not even spare him a glance.

As though he had passed a lifeless stone by the roadside.

Wang Dong'er followed closely behind Yu Chen. She saw the longing and inferiority in Huo Yuhao's eyes.

But she said nothing, only quickening her pace for fear of being left behind by Yu Chen.

Huo Yuhao stood where he was, watching their backs gradually disappear into the distance. A cold wind swept past, and he hugged his thin shoulders.

The immense sense of disparity cut viciously into his sensitive, insecure heart like a dull blade.

Without the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, the course of his life had completely slid into an abyss with no hope in sight.