Parting Is for a Better Reunion

Spirit City.

When the towering city appeared on the horizon, Huo Yuhao pressed himself against the carriage window and stared at it for a long time.

It was a city far larger than he had imagined. Its walls soared into the clouds, built entirely from enormous white stones that gleamed with holy light beneath the sun. Watchtowers stood every hundred paces along the walls, and the flags of Spirit Hall flew from their spires—black fields emblazoned with golden scepters, snapping loudly in the wind.

The city gates stood wide open, with an endless stream of people passing through. There were nobles dressed in lavish robes, Soul Masters carrying weapons, hunters leading soul beasts, and merchants bearing shoulder poles. They poured in from every direction and scattered toward every direction, like countless streams flowing into the sea.

The carriage slowed at the city gates. The Spirit Hall guards on duty glanced at the emblem on the carriage and immediately stepped aside with respect.

For the first time, Huo Yuhao understood what the three words "Spirit Hall" truly meant.

The carriage passed through long streets and headed toward the deepest part of the city. There stood an even more majestic structure, pure white from top to bottom, tier upon tier like an enormous white mountain. Its peak nearly pierced the clouds, refracting a rainbow halo in the sunlight.

"That is Spirit Hall," Qian Renxue's voice sounded beside him. "The real Spirit Hall."

Huo Yuhao said nothing. He merely stared at the building without blinking.

The carriage stopped before the hall.

Qian Renxue stepped down first, and Huo Yuhao followed behind her. As he stepped onto the white jade stairs, he looked up at the magnificent hall before him and suddenly felt as tiny as a speck of dust.

The hall doors slowly opened.

"Come with me," Qian Renxue said.

She led him through long corridors and across courtyard after courtyard before finally stopping before a massive stone door.

"Grandfather," she said to the stone door, "I have brought someone. Someone very important."

The stone door slid open without a sound.

Beyond it was an empty Main Hall. Sunlight poured in through the skylight overhead, illuminating the entire hall. At its very depths, a white-haired old man sat cross-legged beneath the sunlight, like a statue.

The moment Huo Yuhao saw him, he knew this man was different from the Soul Masters outside.

The old man sat there doing nothing, not even sparing them a glance, yet the air throughout the entire hall seemed to freeze. It was not pressure, nor was it killing intent. It was something more fundamental—as though he were the center of this space, and all things revolved around him.

"Grandfather." Qian Renxue walked up to the old man and bowed respectfully. "I have something to report."

The old man opened his eyes.

They were very old eyes, deeply sunken, their pupils cloudy as though veiled in mist. Yet when those eyes turned toward Huo Yuhao, he suddenly felt that everything about him had been seen through. Inside and out, from head to toe, there was not the slightest thing he could conceal.

Within the Sea of Spirit, Skydream Iceworm let out a low cry of alarm.

Ice Empress said nothing, but Huo Yuhao felt her presence tighten instantly.

Only that vertical eye remained suspended high above, utterly motionless.

"Xue'er," the old man said. His voice was aged, yet carried unquestionable authority. "Who is this child?"

Qian Renxue stepped forward and whispered into the old man's ear for a long time.

Huo Yuhao could not hear what she was saying. He only saw the old man's brow furrow slightly, then gradually relax. Those cloudy eyes turned toward him from time to time, flickers of complicated emotion passing through them.

At last, Qian Renxue took a step back and spoke a single sentence.

Huo Yuhao heard this one clearly.

"Huo Yuhao is also a God-Favored One." She paused. "And that god has invested even more in him."

The Main Hall fell silent for a moment.

The old man's gaze settled on Huo Yuhao and lingered for a long time.

Then he smiled.

The smile was faint, so faint it was almost impossible to notice, but Huo Yuhao saw it.

"Come here, child," the old man said.

Huo Yuhao glanced at Qian Renxue. She nodded.

He walked over and stopped in front of the old man.

The old man reached out and placed a hand atop his head.

That hand was dry and thin, like a dead branch. Yet the instant it touched Huo Yuhao's head, he felt a warm current flow from it into his body, spreading through every limb and bone. Wherever that current passed, everything became warm, tranquil, and peaceful.

Within the Sea of Spirit, Skydream Iceworm and Ice Empress fell silent at the same time.

That vertical eye remained motionless.

The old man withdrew his hand and looked at Huo Yuhao, his gaze carrying a little more depth.

"Good child," he said. "From now on, stay in Spirit Hall. This will be your home."

Huo Yuhao raised his head and looked at him.

Home.

He had not thought of that word in a long time. Since that day, home had become those ruins, that corpse pinned beneath a beam, that bloodied flesh he could no longer recognize.

Yet this old man said that this place would be his home.

He did not know what to say, so he simply nodded.

The old man seemed to understand his silence and said no more. He turned toward Qian Renxue and waved a hand.

"Go. I will make arrangements for this child."

Qian Renxue bowed, then looked toward Huo Yuhao.

"Come with me."

She led him out of the Main Hall, through the corridors, and into a small courtyard. It was not large, but it was refined, with flowers, trees, a stone table, and several stone stools. Sunlight filtered through the shade of the trees, casting dappled patterns across the ground.

"You will live here from now on," Qian Renxue said. "Someone will come to take care of your meals and daily needs. As for cultivation, Grandfather will personally arrange it."

Huo Yuhao nodded.

Qian Renxue looked at him in silence for a moment.

"That old man just now is my grandfather," she said. "The chief worshiper of Spirit Hall, a rank ninety-nine Limit Douluo, one of the strongest people on this continent. You can trust him—absolutely trust him."

She paused, and her tone turned serious.

"I only told him about you. Remember, before you have enough strength to protect yourself, the fewer people who know your secret, the better."

Huo Yuhao looked at her and nodded.

Qian Renxue seemed as though she wanted to say something more, but suddenly stopped.

She raised her head and glanced at the sky. The sun had begun to set, dyeing the clouds at the horizon orange-red.

"I should go," she said.

Huo Yuhao froze for a moment.

"Go?"

"I have a mission." Qian Renxue's voice was soft, revealing no emotion. "A very important mission that only I can complete. I may not be able to return for a long time."

She lowered her head and looked at Huo Yuhao.

Several complicated emotions flickered in those golden eyes. There was reluctance, concern, anticipation, and something else—something Huo Yuhao could not understand.

"You must live well," she said. "Cultivate diligently. Listen to Grandfather."

Huo Yuhao looked at her without speaking.

"When I return—" Qian Renxue paused.

Huo Yuhao suddenly spoke, interrupting her.

"When we meet again, I will definitely be very strong."

His voice was quiet, but earnest. The fire in his black eyes burned once more.

Qian Renxue was stunned for a moment.

Then she smiled.

That smile was different from before. It was neither smug nor proud, but pure and heartfelt, like the moment she saw a seed she had planted finally break through the earth.

"Alright," she said. "I'll wait."

She reached out and rubbed his head.

"Goodbye, little Yuhao."

Then she turned and walked out of the courtyard.

Huo Yuhao stood where he was and watched her retreating figure.

She left decisively, without looking back. The lingering glow of the sunset fell across her, gilding her outline in gold. That gold grew farther and fainter until it finally vanished into the shadows beyond the courtyard gate.

Huo Yuhao stood alone in the courtyard for a long time.

The wind blew past, rustling the leaves. A bird chirped a few times from the branches, then fluttered away.

Within the Sea of Spirit, Skydream Iceworm's voice sounded.

"Can't bear to see her go?"

Huo Yuhao said nothing.

"That little girl is good," Skydream Iceworm said. "Really good."

Huo Yuhao still said nothing.

He turned and entered the small room. Its furnishings were simple but clean and neat. There was a bed, a table, a chair, and a wardrobe. Sunlight shone in through the window, falling across the bed and warming the quilt.

Huo Yuhao sat by the bed, braced his hands against it, leaned back, and stared at the ceiling.

He clenched his fists.

"I will," he said to the empty room. "I will become very strong."

Very strong.

Strong enough to take revenge.

Strong enough to protect the people he wanted to protect.

At last, the sun set.

Night shrouded Spirit City, the small courtyard, and the little room. Someone brought dinner, and Huo Yuhao ate. Someone brought him a change of clothes, and Huo Yuhao accepted them. Someone told him that tomorrow, someone would take him to see the chief worshiper, and Huo Yuhao remembered it.

Late at night.

Huo Yuhao lay in bed, looking at the moon outside the window.

The moonlight was bright, illuminating everything clearly. But when he closed his eyes, what appeared before him was not this moonlight, but another light—

The light above those ruins.

That corpse pinned beneath the beam.

That hand reaching toward him.

He opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling.

"Mom," he called softly.

No one answered.

He pulled the blanket over himself, covered his head, and curled into a ball.

Within the Sea of Spirit, Skydream Iceworm and Ice Empress remained silent.

That vertical eye was still suspended high above, utterly motionless.

After a long time, a small voice emerged from beneath the blanket.

"I will."

He was saying it to himself.

And also to the person who could never hear him again.

The night deepened. Spirit City slept.

Only within the highest hall, Qian Daoliu still sat cross-legged, gazing at the moonlight outside the window. His gaze passed through layer upon layer of halls and fell upon that distant little courtyard, upon that small bed where a child lay curled up.

"God-Favored One..." he murmured.

He smiled.

"Interesting."

Moonlight poured down through the skylight, falling across his aged face. Something flickered in those cloudy eyes.

Anticipation.

Or something else?

No one knew.

The night flowed quietly onward, burying everything in darkness.