Assimilation

After thinking it over for a long time, Huo Hai ultimately decided to pretend he had amnesia. It could not exactly be called an act, since the memories he had gained were incomplete to begin with. Fortunately, he still recognized the two relatives before him.

Striving to put on an innocent expression, Huo Hai pointed at his head and said softly, "Grandmother, Father, I... I seem to have forgotten many things." As he spoke, he clutched his head.

Inwardly, he kept blaming himself. He could not even put on a convincing act—honestly. He had never done anything bad before, and even speaking this way made his face burn. Fortunately, Huo Hai had always had a good reputation in the Huo Family and had never lied. His flushed face was taken as a sign of illness, and the two immediately became anxious.

"Xiao Hai, what is wrong? Don't scare Grandmother!" The two were so anxious they did not know what to do. They wanted to help Huo Hai, yet had no idea where to begin. His behavior just now had been far too abnormal. What exactly was happening?

"Right, hurry! Go call the Medical Spirit Master!" Seeing Huo Hai seemingly grow more and more pained, Huo Kai finally remembered and roared aloud. The servants did not dare delay. Before long, the Medical Spirit Master, who had been resting, was brought over.

The Medical Spirit Master had no complaints. He was the Huo Family's Medical Spirit Master, after all, and was expected to come whenever summoned. Besides, if he could cure the illness, the benefits he received would be considerable. Huo Hai's condition puzzled him. He kept pressing and kneading Huo Hai's body, and after a long while, he wore an incredulous expression. "Impossible. Your son is very healthy. What is going on?"

"Healthy? You call Xiao Hai like this healthy? He just said he has forgotten many things." The old lady was displeased and nearly raised her cane to strike him. If Huo Kai had not stopped her, this Medical Spirit Master would have been beaten out.

Huo Kai's expression was not much better, but he was still the head of the family. "Physician, please examine him carefully. What exactly is wrong with Xiao Hai? In his current state, there is no way he has recovered." The Medical Spirit Master also found it strange and carefully asked several questions.

"Young Master Huo, you said you have forgotten many things. Then what do you still remember? Right—do you know where this is? And, for instance, what did you do yesterday?" The Medical Spirit Master asked cautiously, not daring to be the slightest bit negligent.

Huo Hai knew it was about enough. If he kept pretending, he might expose himself. After thinking carefully, he said in a low voice, "I still remember my family. This is the Huo Family. And yesterday, I seem to have been struck by something electric. As for everything else, I have forgotten a great deal." His face was full of confusion. That was no act; with so many memories missing, there truly were many things he did not understand.

After asking several more questions, the Medical Spirit Master raised his head and shook it helplessly. "Old Madam, Patriarch, I believe the young master's brain was injured by the Thunderbolt Rat yesterday, which damaged his soul and caused him to lose part of his memories."

Huo Kai frowned. The soul was not something ordinary people could affect. The Thunderbolt Rat was a lightning-attributed Spirit Beast, and lightning seemed naturally capable of harming the soul. But cases where someone's soul had been injured and yet they survived were exceedingly rare. Could Xiao Hai become such a person?

Huo Kai's expression grew uglier and uglier as he asked quietly, "Is there any solution? So long as you can cure Xiao Hai, whatever resources you require, I will provide them."

Under the scrutiny of two people of such high standing, the Medical Spirit Master felt tremendous pressure. Still, he braced himself and said, "The two of you, no one can do anything about a soul injury. No matter how skilled a Medical Spirit Master may be, he can treat illness, but he cannot restore memories."

Seeing their expressions worsen, the Medical Spirit Master hurriedly added, "However, the young master is fine now. In other words, aside from losing some memories, he has suffered no other harm. As for the memories, they can be slowly rebuilt in the future."

Hearing this, the two finally breathed a sigh of relief. At the same time, Huo Hai relaxed as well. Good, good. I finally muddled through it. Even if they discovered later that he was different from the former Huo Hai, he could blame it on the missing memories. He really was too clever—he had blended into this world so easily.

After a long while, no one knew what the three had discussed, but they talked for ages. Huo Kai finally said, "Xiao Hai, rest well. If you need anything, just call someone. There are maidservants outside to attend to you. Do not worry. We will certainly find a way to solve your memory problem." With that, he took his mother and the Medical Spirit Master away.

Who knew what methods he would think of? Huo Hai did not believe they could truly restore those missing memories. His soul had already shattered completely—how could it be restored? Even if they could restore it, Huo Hai would not allow it.

He owed the original owner of this body a debt of gratitude, but he was not going to repay it with his own life. Having died once, Huo Hai treasured his life all the more. Even if everyone else died, he did not want to die.

"Damn it, I'm supposed to be a bad person. How can I remember favors?" Huo Hai suddenly cursed himself. Since he aspired to be a bad person, he had to be bad to the end. He had been a good person for too long, and it had become a kind of inertia. Suddenly wanting to become a villain truly was not easy. He really did not know how those villains trained themselves.

Closing his eyes, Huo Hai began sorting through the memories in his mind. While unconscious, he had received part of the memories, but he had never organized them. After all, they were not his own, and Huo Hai did not know what they contained.

As he recalled them, Huo Hai gradually gained a deeper understanding of this world. Strictly speaking, it was a Spirit Master world where the strong were revered. This world advocated cultivating one's own strength rather than developing external things such as Earth's technology. In his memories, truly powerful Spirit Masters seemed to possess terrifying might capable of destroying heaven and earth, though he had never seen one himself.

There were many kinds of Spirit Masters. For example, the Medical Spirit Master from before was a Spirit Master who specialized in using his own spirit energy to heal others. Those who became dedicated Medical Spirit Masters either lacked exceptional Medical Spirit Master talent or had no talent for other kinds of Spirit Masters.

Huo Hai himself possessed decent talent as well. As a middle-ranked Lineage in the Southern Cloud Kingdom, the Huo Family had its own Spirit Art. Spirit Arts were the cultivation methods used by Spirit Masters, divided into Heaven, Earth, Mystic, and Yellow Grades, with each grade further divided into upper, middle, and lower ranks.

Ordinary people found it difficult even to encounter a Spirit Art. The Spirit Arts found outside were generally only Foundational Spirit Arts, namely Yellow Grade. Such Spirit Arts could only allow one to cultivate to the Spirit Bone Realm; further breakthroughs were impossible.

The Huo Family, however, possessed its own Mystic-grade Spirit Art. It seemed his father was a master at the Spirit Adept level, already truly capable of using his own spirit power to unleash all kinds of Battle Spirit Arts. In his remaining memories, Huo Hai seemed never to have seen his father fight, so he did not know how strong Huo Kai truly was. Still, he ought to be very powerful.

Without strength, one could not take a single step on the Spirit Realm Continent, much less support a Lineage. "Even to be a bad person, I need capital. First, I'll cultivate the Spirit Art. No matter what, without strength, I'm nothing."

After thinking for a while, Huo Hai opened his eyes and sat cross-legged. After the Medical Spirit Master's treatment, his body no longer hurt at all. He even felt quite comfortable. No one was there to disturb him, so this was the perfect chance to test it out.

Following the Spirit Art in his memories, Huo Hai began drawing upon the surrounding spirit energy. This Spirit Art was something deeply branded into Huo Hai's soul. Even when his soul had been on the verge of collapse, it had still preserved the Spirit Art intact. Otherwise, if he had to learn it anew, Huo Hai truly would not have known where to start. This body had already undergone a certain degree of cultivation.

Perhaps it was because he had not put enough effort into it, but he had only just crossed the threshold of the Spirit Body Realm. The Spirit Body Realm was the lowest realm among Spirit Masters, with the Blood Spirit Realm and Spirit Bone Realm above it.

The so-called Spirit Body Realm was a stage where one absorbed the surrounding spirit energy to strengthen the body and make it more compatible with spirit energy. Cultivation at this stage could gradually make one's body stronger. A few ordinary people would be no match for such a cultivator.

As the Spirit Art circulated, Huo Hai gradually felt as though his entire body had been immersed in water. No, it was not water. This was an ocean of spirit energy. The Spirit Realm Continent was filled everywhere with boundless spirit energy. At the lower stages of cultivation, there was no need to seek out especially favorable places. Any location would do, so long as it was quiet enough for cultivation.

Gradually, a faint layer of light began to radiate from Huo Hai's body. He was like a lightbulb, with specks of fluorescent light filling the surroundings. From time to time, motes of light entered his body. These motes were particles of spirit energy absorbed by Huo Hai.

"I really don't know what this body's previous owner was doing. At this speed, wouldn't he reach Spirit Body Great Perfection in just a few months, then charge into the Blood Spirit Realm? How was he already this old, yet his cultivation had only just entered the threshold of the Spirit Body Realm?"

As Huo Hai cursed inwardly, he had no idea that after entering this body, his cultivation speed was already far beyond what it had once been. Judging by this body's original cultivation speed, there should be many experts in this world. It seemed he would have to keep a lower profile whenever he went outside. Do not refrain from doing good because it is small; do not refrain from doing evil because it is small.

If he lacked the ability to commit a heaven-shaking act of evil, then he would start with what lay before him, start with small things, and strive to become a true wastrel. Good people did not live long; scourges lived for a thousand years. Grandfather, I will certainly follow your advice and become a true scourge.

As Huo Hai cultivated, he secretly swore this oath in his heart. If Huo Kai had known of these thoughts, who knew what expression he would have worn? From this moment onward, a true scourge seemed to rise slowly like a red star ascending into the sky.

And the father and grandmother of this scourge still knew nothing. They were worrying over his body.