Life Planning System

Star Luo Empire, White Tiger Duke's Mansion.

A boy of eleven or twelve years old slipped out quietly from the northern back door of the White Tiger Duke's Mansion. Gently closing the back door, the boy walked forward a few steps before stopping abruptly, his eyes filled with intense hatred as he looked back at the White Tiger Duke's Mansion.

Mother, watch over this from heaven. No matter how much effort it takes, one day I will return and trample everything here underfoot. From now on, I will take your surname, and from this day forward, my name is Huo Yuhao.

After saying this, he glanced at the White Tiger Duke's Mansion once more, turned around, and walked away without looking back.

Rank 1 innate soul power, and his mother's death.

Clearly, I tried so hard, yet I still watched my mother die right before my eyes.

I couldn't do a thing!

Heading north, Huo Yuhao pulled a book from his bosom, and as memories of his mother's voice and smile surfaced, a voice echoed in his mind.

[Please establish a schedule.]

[Remember to completely tailor your life goals to your own circumstances and needs, in order to cultivate self-disciplined habits.]

[The Life Planning System will help the host complete their life goals at any cost.]

It truly provided whatever was lacking. Huo Yuhao felt a mix of joy and sorrow in his heart. He was joyful that his golden finger had arrived, perhaps allowing him to walk a different path.

He was sorrowful that the golden finger had arrived far too late, as nothing in the White Tiger Duke's Mansion could be changed.

With only rank 1 innate soul power, he had tried with all his might and still taken nearly six years just to barely reach level 10.

After taking a moment to understand the system's functions, Huo Yuhao entered his plans for the future.

[1. Become a powerful Soul Master.]

[2. Flatten the White Tiger Duke's Mansion to avenge my mother.]

[3. Strive to resurrect my mother.]

After writing three consecutive items, Huo Yuhao hesitated as he was about to write the fourth, suddenly speaking out to ask, "Can these things I write down really be achieved? After all, my innate soul power is only rank 1."

[The Life Planning System will customize a plan based on the host's goals, and complete the plan formulated by the host at any cost.]

[The system will execute them in order from easiest to hardest.]

Hesitating for a while and recalling his experiences in the White Tiger Duke's Mansion, Huo Yuhao thought for a long time before filling in the fourth item.

[4. Hope to decide my own life.]

Having finished filling it out, Huo Yuhao closed the system log, and the system began customizing the plan.

Based on scans of Douluo Continent and Huo Yuhao's memories, the planning system began to customize the plan.

[The host's life planning, ordered from easiest to hardest: Become a powerful Soul Master - Flatten the Duke's Mansion - Decide my own life - Resurrect my mother.]

[Start customizing the plan.]

[To become a powerful Soul Master, the host needs to meet the following conditions: possess a top-tier martial soul, ultra-high soul power rank, good combat literacy, more soul skills, and soul bones.]

[Detecting host conditions...]

[Martial soul quality: High grade.]

[Soul power: Level 10. (Poor)]

[Combat literacy: Poor.]

[Soul skills and soul bones: None.]

[Difficulty: Hell tier.]

Looking at the bloody characters for "Hell tier", Huo Yuhao felt a wave of suffocation wash over him.

Just as he wanted to change the contents of the plan, the planning system had already begun execution.

[Execution begins.]

[Please have the host obtain a first soul ring as soon as possible.]

[The host's physical fitness is extremely low, and the meridians are fragile; they need to be improved.]

[It is recommended to run and exercise daily to increase physical fitness.]

"I want to improve too, but even getting enough to eat is a problem for me..."

"Let's just get the first soul ring first... A one-ring Soul Master can do far more than a zero-ring Soul Apprentice."

The road was straight. Huo Yuhao walked unceasingly along the path planned by the system. When thirsty, he drank the stream water by the road; when hungry, he found food right where he was. After spending nearly four days, he finally saw a wooden sign.

"Fifty miles ahead you will enter the territory of the Star Dou Great Forest. Soul beasts roam about, please exercise caution."

As he was about to reach his destination, Huo Yuhao was both excited and somewhat nervous. He pulled the White Tiger Dagger from behind his waist, suppressed the unease in his heart, and marched forward with determination.

As he walked forward, a strange sensation appeared in his mind, and Huo Yuhao subconsciously urged his soul power into his Spirit Eye.

Subconsciously jumping backward, a baboon about a meter tall, covered in brownish-yellow fur with brown eyes, pounced toward the spot where Huo Yuhao had just been.

Missing its strike, it instantly emitted a low roar and lunged at Huo Yuhao once again.

Griping the White Tiger Dagger tightly, Huo Yuhao narrowed his eyes slightly and actually lunged straight toward the Wind Baboon.

Seeming not to expect that the frail bipedal beast before it would dare to launch the initial attack, the Wind Baboon froze for a moment.

A flash of white blade-light swept past, and a white halo condensed above the Wind Baboon.

"Is this a soul ring? I am a rank 10 Soul Apprentice right now; can I absorb this soul ring to advance to a Soul Master?"

Looking at the white halo before him, Huo Yuhao instinctively stretched out his palm to touch this circle of white light...

[Host is detected to be veering off the planned route. Punishment is now being administered.]

"What veering off the planned route?"

While Huo Yuhao was still in a daze, violent electric currents appeared out of nowhere. The pain accompanied by instinctive convulsions made Huo Yuhao's eyes widen, and a scream pierced the sky.

"Ahhhhhhh!!!"

By all rights, every soul master's resistance to negative effects was extraordinary, but this surge of current seemed to erupt from the depths of his soul, and his entire body's soul power failed to play even the slightest role.

Huo Yuhao's mind went completely blank, but his body's instincts already drove him to step back twice, and the eyes looking at the Wind Baboon's soul ring were already tinged with deep terror.

At this moment, a voice suddenly appeared in Huo Yuhao's mind.

"To finally let me encounter a human with mental attributes! It's a pity brother doesn't cry, otherwise I'd surely be bathed in tears!"

The sudden voice caused Huo Yuhao to grip the White Tiger Dagger in his hand and look ahead in strict readiness.

The ground in front began to show a fissure, and the fissure rapidly grew larger as a pale golden light shone from within.

Just as Huo Yuhao wanted to run away, that voice sounded once more.

"Don't run, don't run. Brother won't hurt you."

How could Huo Yuhao possibly listen to it, yet he couldn't move his body no matter what.

Accompanying the surrounding temperature beginning to drop, a chubby silkworm with a diameter of over a meter crawled out from this fissure.

This was a silkworm many times larger. Its whole body was of a white jade color, crystal clear, with halos rippling across its skin, and it had a pair of golden eyes on its head.

Starting from half a meter down its head, there was a ring of golden patterns at regular intervals, and from head to tail, there were as many as ten golden rings in total.

"Let me solemnly introduce myself to you: I am a million-year soul beast, the longest-living soul beast on the Douluo Continent, the Skydream Iceworm!"

"Listen, brother is going to become your soul ring, letting you possess the unprecedented first million-year soul ring on the Douluo Continent, and also the first Wisdom Soul Ring!"

The Skydream Iceworm's words exploded in Huo Yuhao's mind like a thunderclap. The hand with which he gripped the White Tiger Dagger tightened abruptly, his eyes filled with disbelief.

A million-year soul beast? Wanting to become his own soul ring? This was simply an Arabian Night! "Y-You... what did you say?" Huo Yuhao's voice trembled from shock, his Spirit Eye martial soul instinctively activating as he tried to see through this chubby creature before him. Yet no matter how he gazed, the Skydream Iceworm was wreathed in a layer of faint golden light,

seemingly concealing endless secrets. The Skydream Iceworm shook its round, plump body, a trace of complexity flashing through its golden eyes: "Little fellow, don't be afraid. Brother has lived for a million years and has long since grown weary of it. Rather than continuing to live in a daze, I might as well take a gamble and become your soul ring. With your spiritual power talent, you might just be able to bear brother's power."

Huo Yuhao bit his teeth, and the system prompt tone in his mind suddenly rang out: [Special soul ring adaptation opportunity detected. Complies with the "Become a powerful soul master" plan. Acceptance is recommended.]

The excruciating pain of the current still lingered in his bone marrow, and the system's punishment made him understand how heavy the price of veering off the plan was. Yet a million-year soul ring... this was simply something never heard of!

Common sense in the soul master world told him that ten-year soul beasts produced white rings, hundred-year yellow rings, thousand-year purple rings, ten-thousand-year black rings, and over one hundred thousand years was even the legendary red. As for a million years, it was fundamentally a concept that had never existed before.

"Why did you choose me?" Huo Yuhao forcefully suppressed the agitation in his heart, asking with vigilance. He could not forget his encounters at the duke's estate; in this world, there was no such thing as causeless goodwill.

The Skydream Iceworm emitted a low chuckle, rattling the surrounding leaves into rustling sounds: "Because you are the first human who could resonate under my Spiritual Detection. And... brother can sense the obsession in your heart, that unwillingness and yearning, much like brother when I was young."

It paused, a trace of slyness flashing through its golden eyes: "Besides, do you think brother can just leave whenever I want? Deep within this Star Dou Great Forest, the old monsters eyeing brother are not few. Rather than being carved up and eaten by them, I might as well take a gamble on a little fellow with potential."

Huo Yuhao fell silent. He thought of his mother's final gaze, thought of his six years of bitter cultivation as one day, and thought of the system's cold prompt tones. So what if he had rank 1 innate soul power? As long as he could grow stronger, take revenge, and resurrect his mother, even if there were a mountain of blades and a sea of fire ahead, he was willing to charge through it!

"Alright, I accept you." Huo Yuhao took a deep breath, his gaze turning incomparably firm. "But I have one condition: after becoming my soul ring, you cannot interfere with my will." The Skydream Iceworm started slightly, then burst into hearty laughter: "Interesting! Rest assured, brother keeps his word. From now on, you are brother's host. But ugly words first: absorbing brother's power is not all that easy, and if you don't handle it well, you'll explode and die."

Huo Yuhao did not retreat in the slightest. He sat cross-legged, placed the White Tiger Dagger aside, and closed his eyes: "Begin."

[System prompt: Host is detected to be about to absorb a million-year soul ring. Risk is extremely high. Initiating auxiliary absorption program, consuming host's entire soul power reserve to transform into a protective barrier.]

A gentle power suddenly welled up from within his body, forming a faint layer of halo on his skin's surface. At the same time, the Skydream Iceworm's body began to emit dazzling golden light, its chubby physique gradually turning transparent and ultimately transforming into a stream of golden light that sank into Huo Yuhao's forehead.

"Urgh-ah—" Unimaginable, excruciating pain instantly swept through his entire body, as though countless steel needles were simultaneously piercing his meridians. Huo Yuhao's skin turned crimson at a speed visible to the naked eye, and sweat instantly soaked his clothes.

Yet he bit his teeth tightly, not letting out a single sound of plea. He knew this was his only chance; he must never give up!

The Skydream Iceworm's power rushed into his body like a galloping river. Under the impact of this power, his originally fragile meridians continuously shattered and regenerated; every single cycle brought heart-rending pain, but it also made his meridians grow much tougher.

His soul power was growing at a terrifying speed: rank 10, rank 11, rank 12... In merely half an hour, he broke through the barrier of rank 20. The Spirit Eye martial soul manifested above his head, and his originally pale blue eyes were now flickering with golden light at this moment, looking mystical and majestic.

Right at this moment, the previously clear and cloudless sky suddenly darkened. The sun's light was actually completely blocked by darkness, and a breath-stifling pressure descended from the heavens.

A stream of gray Qi quietly drilled in from the back of Huo Yuhao's head, and a blurred figure manifested behind Huo Yuhao.

"Holding sun and moon in hand to pluck the stars, there is no one like me in this world. I never expected that this old man could still have a wisp of residual soul survive."

[System prompt: Special spirit body detected. Identity is Electrolux, formerly a powerhouse of a different world whose soul later shattered due to unknown reasons. He will be of immense help to the host; fusing with him is recommended.]

The stream of gray Qi entered Huo Yuhao's Sea of Spirit and transformed into a gray pearl only the size of a soybean. An unfathomable power radiated out, gradually expanding Huo Yuhao's Sea of Spirit.

I do not know how much time passed, but when the last shred of golden power merged into his body, Huo Yuhao abruptly opened his eyes, and two beams of golden light shot out from them, cutting a large tree in front of him straight across the middle.

[System prompt: First soul ring successfully absorbed. Host soul power rank upgraded to rank 25. Obtained first soul skill: Spiritual Detection Sharing. Obtained second soul skill: Spiritual Interference. Obtained third soul skill: Simulation. Obtained fourth soul skill: Spiritual Link.]

[Host strength detected to have increased vastly. Updating schedule plan: 1. Head to Shrek Academy to register and elevate soul master strength. 2. Hunt a suitable soul beast to complete the second soul ring. 3. Study basic soul master knowledge and elevate combat literacy.]

Huo Yuhao felt the surging power within his body, a trace of excitement flashing through his eyes. He stood up and stretched his muscles, producing crackling sounds. Merely a single soul ring had caused him to leap from a good-for-nothing with rank 1 innate soul power directly into a rank 25 Great Soul Master!

"Skydream Iceworm..." Huo Yuhao silently recited in his heart. "Don't call me brother; from now on, brother is your first soul ring." The Skydream Iceworm's voice rang out in his mind, carrying a trace of exhaustion: "Kid, brother has staked all my life savings on you, so don't let brother down."

The corners of Huo Yuhao's mouth lifted slightly as he gripped the White Tiger Dagger in his hand: "Rest assured, I won't let you down." He raised his head to look toward the north, where the direction of Shrek Academy lay. A new journey had begun.