This Successor Is Righteous to a Frightening Degree!

"At last, I've caught myself a human with the Mental Attribute! The heavens have eyes! Awooo!"

A cheeky voice burst beside Huo Yuhao's ear, brimming with glee. His face darkened.

It could have shown up at any other time, but no. It waited until he had killed the Wind Baboon and was half-dead with exhaustion. Was this some melodramatic play?!

"Don't worry, mine's huge. Just bear with it a little~"

Huo Yuhao: "..."

"What kind of dirty line is that?!" Huo Yuhao blurted out. "Even the trashy movies from my past life weren't this cringe!"

The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm missed his disgust entirely, taking it for an ordinary human's nerves. Warm yet domineering golden light wrapped around Huo Yuhao in an instant.

The next moment, boundless Soul Power and mental energy surged into his body like floodwaters through a broken dam, swelling his meridians almost to bursting.

"Oh? Interesting."

A calm voice, majestic enough to pierce his soul, suddenly rang through his mind. "Boy, circulate the Nine-Turn Origin Art."

Huo Yuhao obeyed instinctively. The art raced through his body, and Soul Power washed over every limb and bone like a tide. Dark brown, sticky impurities seeped from his skin, sending a stench straight up his nose.

Huo Yuhao turned green and barely kept himself from vomiting.

So this was the legendary cleansing of marrow and meridians? Did it have to smell this soul-stirring?!

Meanwhile, in the Sea of Consciousness.

The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's golden mental energy dyed the entire Sea of Consciousness a shimmering gold.

As Huo Yuhao circulated the Nine-Turn Origin Art, a pitch-black vortex abruptly formed at the center of the sea. Its terrifying pull devoured the golden mental energy!

"Hey? What the hell! Where's my mental energy?!" The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's cheeky voice shot up, cracking with shock before turning heartbroken. "That was the 'dowry' I saved for Bingbing! How did it sprout legs and run off?!"

"Quiet."

The calm voice sounded again, carrying an authority that brooked no argument.

The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm froze and looked toward the voice. The figure before him left him speechless with shock.

The man was handsome and refined, as beautiful as Pan An, with earlobes that reached his shoulders and eyes bright as stars. An austere immortal air surrounded him.

He wore the Three-Mountain Flying Phoenix Hat, its pearls and jade gleaming; a pale goose-yellow robe embroidered with dark-gold dragons; gilded boots over dragon-patterned socks; and a jade belt adorned with clustered flowers and eight treasures. A crescent Slingshot hung at his waist, while the Three-Pointed Double-Edged Spear rested in his hand. Proud and domineering, he seemed a Deity looking down on all living things.

"Who... who are you?" The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm shrank back, though he was only a spirit now. Wariness edged his voice—

This presence was more terrifying than any Soul Beast he had ever encountered!

"I?" The newcomer raised a brow and snorted. He swept a glance over the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, his disdain undisguised. "An ant like you dares ask my name? I am Erlang, the Holy Manifestation True Lord—Yang Jian."

"Yang Jian? Erlang, the Holy Manifestation True Lord?" The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm scratched at a head he no longer had, looking utterly lost. "Is there someone like you in the Divine Realm? Did you wander into the wrong story?"

The disdain in Yang Jian's eyes deepened. "Only a wisp of my divine consciousness has descended here. The 'Divine Realm' you speak of is but the confines of a minor world. Those so-called God Kings are no different from cultivators at the Mahayana stage in the mortal realm. All are ants to me."

Huo Yuhao was stunned even as he listened in his mind. What the hell? Yang Jian? The actual Erlang Shen from myth and legend? Did getting transported into a book come with a crossover, too?

He, Erlang, the Holy Manifestation True Lord, had every right to say that!

"Hmm? Boy, you've heard my name?" Yang Jian turned his gaze on Huo Yuhao. A trace of curiosity entered his eyes, though his tone remained calm.

Huo Yuhao took a deep breath to steady himself and bowed. "Junior has long heard of True Lord Erlang's great renown. Your name rings like thunder in my ears."

"Passable." Yang Jian nodded and lightly touched the Heavenly Eye on Huo Yuhao's brow. "The Heavenly Eye has acknowledged you as its master. You have the potential to inherit my legacy, but you must still undergo a test."

The Heavenly Eye could pierce illusions, discern transformations, perceive good and evil, and observe the flow of fate. Yang Jian used it to expose falsehoods, recognize changes, and strike down foes. Huo Yuhao's innate Soul Skill, Annihilation, was the first manifestation of its offensive power, far surpassing anything at his level.

"Junior is willing to take the test." No sooner had Huo Yuhao spoken than an ancient, aged voice rang through the Sea of Consciousness:

"With my hand, I could pluck the stars. None beneath heaven are quite like me."

Huo Yuhao: "..."

The corner of his mouth twitched hard enough to hang an oil bottle. So they're all showing up together? They couldn't gather earlier or later—they had to pile in now and stir up trouble? Fine. Just fine!

The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm huddled in a corner of the Sea of Consciousness, hardly daring to breathe.

On one side stood Yang Jian, whose presence crushed all opposition. On the other was an old man who had arrived with an imposing declaration. The million-year-old Ice Silkworm suddenly felt like he was there just to make up the numbers.

Yang Jian narrowed his eyes at the elderly, illusory figure. His voice carried unquestionable authority. "Sir, why not appear and pay your respects?" He already regarded Huo Yuhao as a candidate to succeed him as the Judicial God, so he would naturally ensure his safety and learn this newcomer's background. Perhaps, one day, he could even have this successor stir up the muddy waters of the Heavenly Court and force the Heavenly Emperor to yield a step. That would be amusing.

"Thank you, senior, for allowing me to take refuge here." The figure solidified, revealing Electrolux. His expression was calm as he spoke frankly. "I am Electrolux, from the Saint-Demon Continent. The world calls me the Undead Calamity." Faced with Yang Jian's pressure, he knew the gap between them and could only tell the truth.

"The Undead Calamity. You count among the strongest in this lower world." Yang Jian sized him up and went straight to the point. "I will allow you to reside in Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness. In exchange, you will protect him on his path. What say you?"

"Agreed." Electrolux nodded. The bargain offered him benefits without a single drawback.

"When Yuhao inherits my position, I will grant you a Divine Position." Yang Jian never made empty promises. What he said, he would do.

"Thank you, senior." Electrolux bowed, a trace of gravity flashing through his eyes—

Yang Jian's vision far exceeded that of the God Kings of the Douluo God Realm.

"No need for ceremony. It is merely the cycle of cause and effect." Yang Jian waved a hand and touched Huo Yuhao again. "Yuhao, receive your test."

The golden Heavenly Eye erupted with dazzling light, enveloping Huo Yuhao. His consciousness was pulled into darkness in an instant.

Though he knew it was a test of his consciousness, Huo Yuhao could not help feeling nervous. The next moment, a scene unfolded:

He had never crossed over. He was still the Huo Yuhao anyone could push around. Electrolux had died, body and soul, and Tang San had berated him until he was like a homeless dog, stripped of all dignity.

The scene shifted. He stood atop mountains of corpses amid seas of blood, surrounded by countless bodies, some familiar and some strange. Ahead, a figure with long, water-blue hair stood high above him, gazing down with the disdain of a Deity.

That figure stood amid waves of blood, a Trident in one hand. In the other, he held the corpse of a woman with disheveled hair and no trace of life—

Her features bore a striking resemblance to Huo Yuhao's. She was his birth mother, Huo Yun'er!

"No—!!!"

Huo Yuhao's eyes turned blood-red. Rage fierce enough to destroy heaven and earth surged in his chest.

To him, Huo Yun'er was a stranger, yet their bond was carved into his soul. Since he had become Huo Yuhao, he would never let anyone harm a hair on her head!

"What will you do?" Yang Jian's calm voice pierced his rage and struck straight at his mind.

"What will I do?" Huo Yuhao threw back his head and laughed wildly, his laughter brimming with icy killing intent. "My mother's murder is a hatred that cannot share the same sky! I'll destroy all of this and overturn this filthy world!"

"He is the culprit. The living beings of this world had nothing to do with it."

"When an avalanche falls, not one snowflake is innocent." Huo Yuhao's gaze turned cold, yet his voice was remarkably measured. "The chief culprit must die, and accomplices must be punished severely. Those are a god's rules. But to me, she is my mother. Whoever hurts her, I'll kill, whether they're god or demon, heaven or earth!"

Divinity demanded that he set aside personal love for the greater good?

He refused!

If attaining a Divine Position meant abandoning his humanity and forgetting his mother's kindness, then he, Huo Yuhao, wanted no part of it!

He wanted power not to stand above all living things and look down on them, but to protect those he wished to protect, live freely, and never let anyone bully him!