Choosing the Greater Good Over Family?

The Far North.

Ice Empress has taken human form today, with long, ice-blue hair reaching her waist, and a faint chill emanating from her body.

Her expression was usually stern, but at this moment there was a hint of undisguised emotion in her eyes.

Beside her, Snow Empress was also dressed in white, her temperament as aloof as snow, but at this moment her lips were slightly pursed, clearly restraining some kind of emotion.

"His mother is a good person."

Ice Empress suddenly spoke, her voice cold and clear, as if stating a fact. "Even on her deathbed, she was still speaking up for that man, wanting her son to let go of his hatred. Such magnanimity is not easy to come by."

Snow Empress nodded slightly, her gaze falling on the sentence in the diary. "Both women are using love to resolve hatred."

She was silent for a moment before speaking, "Whether it's Huo Yuhao's mother or Ju Zi, they both understand one thing."

The grudges between adults are adults' business and children shouldn't have to bear them.

Huo Yuhao's mother tried to untangle the knot in her son's heart until her death, and Ju Zi didn't plant the seeds of hatred in her son because she hated Huo Yuhao. They were both good mothers.

"But Huo Yuhao is not a good father."

Ice Empress quickly responded, a hint of disdain in his voice. "He transferred his resentment towards Ju Zi onto the child. The child understands nothing and shouldn't have to bear anything, yet he made the child bear the burden of an empty father."

Snow Empress didn't speak, but simply turned another page of the Diary Copy in her mind.

She and Ice Empress had witnessed countless scenes of fathers and sons turning against each other, and brothers fighting amongst themselves; they had seen too many of these dramas and were no longer surprised.

But Huo Yuhao's case still made them feel particularly sad, not because it was so tragic, but because it was so ironic.

A man who was hurt by his father's absence his whole life ultimately chose to hurt his son in the same way.

"Xue'er, you say it."

Ice Empress suddenly turned to look at Snow Empress, a rare hint of confusion flashing in her icy blue eyes. "Does the future Huo Yuhao know what he's doing?"

Snow Empress thought for a moment and gently shook her head, "He probably feels he has a good reason. Ju Zi schemed against him, and the child is not what he wanted, so he doesn't acknowledge it."

He believed this logic to be self-consistent.

But he didn't realize that this logic was exactly the same as the logic behind his hatred for Dai Hao.

Dai Hao could also say, "I didn't know you existed, so I don't acknowledge you," but could Huo Yuhao accept that reason? Obviously not.

But he himself was using the same reasoning to treat Xu Yunhan."

"So Lin Ye is right."

Ice Empress turned his gaze back to the Diary Copy: "He became the very thing he hated most, but he didn't even realize it."

The two exchanged a glance, said nothing more, and continued reading.

What is Huo Yuhao's proudest identity in his life?

He is not the Spirit Ice Douluo, nor the God of Emotions, but the founder of the Spirit Pagoda.

He single-handedly established the Spirit Transference System, transforming humans and Soul Beast from millennia-old blood feuds into a symbiotic relationship.

This is his greatest achievement in life, without exception.

He changed the underlying rules of the entire Douluo Continent, allowing Soul Master to obtain Soul Ring without having to hunt Soul Beast, thus making it possible to resolve the hatred between humans and Soul Beast.

[How big of a deal is this? For ten thousand years, the blood feud between humans and Soul Beast has been an unsolvable knot.]

Before Huo Yuhao, countless Titled Douluo, Ultimate Douluo, and even Deity had tried to solve this problem, but none of them succeeded.

But Huo Yuhao succeeded.

He founded the Spirit Pagoda and established the Spirit Transference System, fundamentally changing the way Soul Master obtain Soul Ring.

Soul Beast no longer need to be hunted, and humans no longer need to commit murder; both sides can benefit from this system.

This achievement is not an exaggeration.

Although from a future perspective, the Spirit Pagoda is merely a stopgap measure, merits and demerits are separate matters, and we cannot use the sword of the future to condemn the people of today.

The Spirit Pagoda is still commendable, and I won't engage in any targeting or anything like that.

However, there is a contradiction here that makes people more and more conflicted: Huo Yuhao can understand the pain of Soul Beast, he can understand how pitiful those Soul Beast hunted by humans are, and he can understand how deep the resentment accumulated over thousands of years of blood feud is, so he does his best to resolve this resentment.

He did so much for the Soul Beast; you could even say he treated Soul Beast as part of his own life, protecting them as if they were his own.

This is an immense capacity for empathy; he can feel the suffering of another species and is willing to give everything for it.

[But at the same time, he couldn't feel his son's pain.]

Xu Yunhan grew up without a father and struggled to survive in the ruthless court of the Sun Moon Empire. Was his suffering any less than that of Soul Beast?

Huo Yuhao went to great lengths for a complete Soul Beast in the Star Dou Forest, so why couldn't he lift a finger for the piece of flesh that fell from his own body?

He was worthy of all the Soul Beast in the world, but unworthy of his own son.

He was worthy of every Soul Spirit in the Spirit Pagoda, but he failed Xu Yunhan's longing eyes.

What kind of behavior is this? Having great love for all people, but no love for one's own people.

He's a saint to outsiders, but a stranger to his family.

Huo Yuhao's empathy is like a switch; when the switch is on, he can save all living beings, but when the switch is off, he doesn't even care about his own son.

Who holds the control lever for this switch? He holds it himself. If he doesn't want to press it, no one can force him.

To put it more bluntly, establishing the Spirit Pagoda saved countless Soul Beast, which is a great merit that no one can erase.

But if a person doesn't even love their closest relatives, how much of their love for outsiders is genuine, and how much is merely self-gratification?

Was it because saving the world was easier than being a good father that he chose to save the world?

After all, the Soul Beast wouldn't question him about why he didn't go home, wouldn't cry in front of him, and wouldn't make him confront his most vulnerable side. Being a good father is much harder than saving the world.

Star Dou Forest, Lake of Life.

The lake was as calm as ever. Gu Yuena sat by the lake, her long silver hair falling onto the water and swaying gently in the breeze.

She saw Lin Ye's questioning.

"If a person doesn't even love their closest relatives, how much of their love for outsiders is genuine, and how much is merely self-gratification?"

A complex emotion flickered in Gu Yuena's silver eyes.

Gu Yuena is the Soul Beast Lord, and from the perspective of Soul Beast, she should be grateful to Huo Yuhao.

The establishment of the Spirit Transference System ended the endless hunting of Soul Beast by humans; this kindness is greater than the heavens.

But precisely because she is the Soul Beast Lord, she understands the weight of the word "responsibility" better than anyone else.