Truth

Now let's compare Dai Hao and Huo Yuhao side by side.

Both had illegitimate children without their knowledge, but Dai Hao's reaction upon learning the truth was one of guilt and repentance. He acknowledged Huo Yuhao, knelt before his grave to repent, and spent the rest of his life atoning for his sins.

When Huo Yuhao learned the truth, his reaction was to distance himself from the situation. He chose to stand by and watch his son struggle in an environment devoid of fatherly love, just like his own experience back then.

Compared to Dai Hao, Huo Yuhao is indeed inferior.

At least Dai Hao acknowledged him as his illegitimate son, but Huo Yuhao was completely unwilling to admit his relationship with Xu Yunhan.

Dai Hao's mistake was negligence, while Huo Yuhao's mistake was indifference. Negligence can be remedied, but indifference is ingrained in one's bones.

Of course, Lin Ye wasn't an unreasonable person.

He acknowledged that there were indeed differences between the two matters, and objectively speaking, Huo Yuhao did have his own difficulties.

First of all, Huo Yuhao was unaware of the situation beforehand. The birth of the child was Ju Zi's private plan, and he did not actively participate in the process from beginning to end. In fact, it could be said that he was one of the victims.

Secondly, Huo Yuhao himself did not want this child and was forced to become a father.

This is indeed different from Dai Hao's situation. No matter what, Dai Hao's relationship with Huo Yuhao's mother was consensual.

Based on existing records, it appears that Ju Zi took advantage of Huo Yuhao's unconsciousness to unilaterally manipulate the situation between Huo Yuhao and Ju Zi.

From this perspective, it is understandable to some extent that Huo Yuhao harbors resentment towards Ju Zi and feels anger and resistance towards the child's arrival.

If anyone were suddenly told they had a child they had never met, and that the child was created without their knowledge or the ability to express their wishes, their first reaction would hardly be one of overwhelming joy.

The problem is that while he understands, that cannot be the sole reason for his cold shoulder towards Xu Yunhan.

He could hate Ju Zi, he could never forgive Ju Zi, and he could even never see Ju Zi again for the rest of his life.

But Xu Yunhan is his bloodline, a living, breathing person, a child who has done nothing wrong.

Huo Yuhao could choose to have nothing to do with Ju Zi, but he should at least fulfill the most basic responsibilities of a father to this child, even if it's just by meeting her once.

Even if it's just letting the child know who his father is, or even just protecting him secretly from being bullied.

But Huo Yuhao did nothing.

He chose the easiest way to handle it: deny it.

It seems that as long as he doesn't acknowledge the child, he has nothing to do with him, and he can continue to be the illustrious Spirit Ice Douluo with a clear conscience, continuing to write his legendary life.

As for that child struggling to survive amidst the harsh realities of the Sun Moon Imperial Family? Out of sight, out of mind.

This is why many people criticize Huo Yuhao for being shameless.

He kept saying he hated Dai Hao for not acknowledging him, but after becoming a father himself, he acted even more ruthlessly than Dai Hao.

Dai Hao didn't admit it because he didn't know; he would have known but still wouldn't have admitted it.

After the truth came out, Dai Hao tried his best to make amends, but after learning everything, he chose to stand by and do nothing.

The boy who slayed the dragon eventually grew dragon scales, and the man who hated his father eventually became a father even more indifferent than his own.

This is probably the most ironic dark humor in the entire history of the Douluo Continent.

Shrek Academy, Inner Court Training Room.

Flames danced at her fingertips as Ma Xiaotao leaned against the wall of the training room in the inner courtyard of Shrek City.

She's always been straightforward, her emotions written all over her face, and right now her expression screamed "displeasure."

"I really misjudged Huo Yuhao."

She gave a cold laugh, her fiery red ponytail flicking with her movement.

Ma Xiaotao is the leader of the Inner Court. She led Huo Yuhao's batch of freshmen back then, and she has always thought highly of this junior.

Diligent, intelligent, and loyal, he made outstanding contributions when Shrek was besieged by the Sun Moon Empire.

Judging from her diary, she always felt that Huo Yuhao was Shrek's pride and the most outstanding junior in the future.

But seeing these things now, she suddenly felt that something had changed.

No matter how talented or accomplished a person is, if they are unwilling to acknowledge their own son, then there is a serious problem with their character.

Having fought her way through so many Evil Soul Master over the years, what kind of villains hasn't Ma Xiaotao seen?

What she hates most are those guys who are cold and heartless to their own people.

Evil Soul Master may be evil, but at least they are evil in a righteous way. However, Huo Yuhao, who appears to be a gentle and refined hero praised by everyone, is actually indifferent to his own flesh and blood. This makes her feel even more disgusted than Evil Soul Master.

"Being ruthless to the enemy is not a skill."

Ma Xiaotao's voice was tinged with anger. "Only being good to one's own people counts."

They don't even care about their own son, yet they talk about protecting the continent and saving the people; it sounds like a joke.

She stood up, paced back and forth in the cultivation room a few times, then suddenly stopped, a complex look appearing in her eyes.

She thought of Huo Yuhao back then, the boy who walked out of the Star Dou Forest, covered in wounds but stubbornly refusing to bow his head.

At that time, Huo Yuhao's eyes shone with a light, a light that yearned to become stronger and change his destiny.

But Huo Yuhao now, or rather, Huo Yuhao in the future, seems to have changed.

They became powerful, but also indifferent.

Can people really become the very thing they hate most?

Ma Xiaotao asked herself softly, the flame flickering uncertainly at her fingertips.

She couldn't think of an answer, but she knew one thing: if she ever met Huo Yuhao in the future, she would definitely ask him face to face, "Do you still remember those words you said to Dai Hao back then?"

Will the dragon slayer become the dragon himself?

After finishing writing, Lin Ye picked up his teacup and took another sip.

Ultimately, Huo Yuhao's greatest enemy in his life was not Dai Hao, not the Holy Spirit Cult, not the Sun Moon Empire, but himself.

He spent twenty years hating an absent father, but after becoming a father himself, he chose to take the same position as that absent father.

Dai Hao's absence was unintentional; his absence was deliberate.

An unintentional mistake can be forgiven, but a deliberate act is a matter of character.

Of course, Lin Ye wasn't going to completely dismiss Huo Yuhao.

His achievements in establishing the Spirit Pagoda and ending the blood feud between humans and beasts cannot be erased by anyone.

His legendary ascension to godhood at the age of nineteen is truly unique in ten thousand years.

But merits are merits, and demerits are demerits; one thing at a time.

Merits cannot cover up flaws in one's character, just as flaws cannot erase merits.

In Lin Ye's view, however, a person's attitude toward their own bloodline is often the most direct standard for measuring their bottom line.

Faced with this standard, Huo Yuhao lost to the person he hated most in his life.

This is the cruelest and most realistic part of the whole story.