Lingdou City

Huo Yuhao ultimately bought two pieces of iron and a small hammer at the blacksmith's shop, spending a total of five Silver Soul Coins. She packed them away, slung on her backpack, and prepared to leave the city. Huo Yuhao's body was now far stronger than before. With her current physical condition and mental power, she could remove the impurities from the iron, but seeing a little girl of just over six carrying a hammer to work iron and remove impurities would attract a bit too much attention. So Huo Yuhao decided to find somewhere deserted and try forging by herself.

Huo Yuhao walked along the street. The buildings on either side felt both familiar and strange. She still stood on this very land, but neither the land nor she herself was the same anymore.

"Will you take it at this price?" A gentle voice reached Huo Yuhao's ears. She looked toward it and saw a girl, a little taller than Huo Yuhao, talking to two adults in a nearby alley. Huo Yuhao's gaze also caught the attention of the two men. One of them said something to the other, then hurried over to Huo Yuhao.

"Little girl, would you like a job that pays well and fast?"

Huo Yuhao showed no interest and turned to leave.

"Don't reject me so quickly. I won't hide it from you: this job has to do with the Xu Family in Lingdou City. You look quite pretty, and if you went, you might even get into the Xu Family and leave your commoner status behind. What do you think? Won't you consider it?"

Hearing the man mention the Douling Xu Family and describe the job, along with what the girl had said earlier, Huo Yuhao remembered Xu Sanshi and Jiang Nannan's relationship from the past. She turned and ran toward the girl in the alley.

"Are you selling yourself?" Huo Yuhao asked as she ran up beside the girl.

The girl was rather thin. She wore a tattered dress and only a pair of straw sandals, but her face was still pretty and delicate. Sadness lingered in her brows and eyes, and her thin cheeks made her look even more fragile, like a willow in the wind. At Huo Yuhao's question, the girl nodded.

The man in front started to shoo Huo Yuhao away, but the one who had just spoken to her stopped him. "Little girl, you should talk it over with her too and hear how good the terms we're offering are." Then the man walked away with the other one.

"We're just going to leave like this?"

"It's fine. They're just two commoners. Even if that girl has Soul Power, she won't be more than one or two levels. Just look at what that white-haired girl is wearing. She's not even from a wealthy family, let alone a noble one. What kind of talent could a commoner have? Who in this world doesn't want to be a noble? Just say there's a chance to leave their commoner status behind, and countless people will try to squeeze their way in. But how could that possibly be true? It's just a way for the people above us to amuse themselves. Besides, we don't need to work so hard either. What does it matter if that girl doesn't come? There are plenty of others. There's also Spirit Hall in this city, so don't make things too conspicuous." The other man nodded in agreement when he heard this.

Only after the two men had gone some distance did the girl turn to Huo Yuhao and say, "They'll give me ten Gold Soul Coins if I go. If I'm lucky enough to catch the Xu Family's eye, I'll never have to be a commoner again. I can stay on as a concubine. If you have Soul Power, I don't recommend going."

"What about you? Is it because you need the money? If that's the case, I can help you." As she spoke, Huo Yuhao took out her money pouch.

The girl looked at the pouch in Huo Yuhao's hand. "Are you a young lady from some family? If not, put that away quickly, before someone else steals it. Your money can't help me. I didn't awaken any Soul Power, so I'm destined to be a commoner. Even if a commoner has this much money, they can't hold on to it. With all the different taxes every year, we'll end up unable to survive anyway. All I have is this face. Rather than end up sold to a brothel later, I might as well give this a try."

"Why? Couldn't you take the money and go somewhere else with your family?" Huo Yuhao didn't put the pouch away. She thought of Jiang Nannan's situation. The girl before her was in even greater difficulty than Jiang Nannan had been. At least Jiang Nannan had been a Soul Master, while this girl had nothing at all.

"If you're neither a Soul Master nor a noble, where can a commoner go to live? In uninhabited places, there are wild beasts. Without Soul Power, how can you protect yourself? Wherever there are people, there are all kinds of taxes. In prosperous places, you might be able to work under some noble, but how many such places are there in the whole world? So it's the same wherever you go. Have you awakened Soul Power?"

Huo Yuhao nodded. She still wanted to persuade the girl not to go, but the girl interrupted her.

"You're so lucky. If only I could awaken even a trace of Soul Power. All right, I can see you're even younger than me. Hurry home, and don't end up like me. Whatever you do, don't go with people like them. You'll become a Soul Master, and your future will be brighter than mine." The girl patted Huo Yuhao's head. A trace of longing was in her eyes as she looked at Huo Yuhao, but it was as if she were looking through Huo Yuhao at someone else. Then she walked in the direction the men had gone.

Huo Yuhao didn't go after her. She knew the girl had already made up her mind. Watching the girl's retreating figure, Huo Yuhao wondered whether Jiang Nannan had also taken that path for the same reason back then. The direction the girl had gone filled Huo Yuhao with a nameless sorrow. In her previous life, Huo Yuhao had lived at Shrek Academy, the mainland's top academy at the time, in an ivory-tower environment. Even though the hardships of her youth remained vivid in her memory, they had still lasted only a short time for the Huo Yuhao of later years. Back then, "he" had thought about revenge and the promises he had made, then immersed himself in cultivation, competitions, and time with his friends at Shrek Academy, fighting for Shrek's honor and to keep the Original Douluo Three Kingdoms from being annexed.

Why was Huo Yuhao so concerned about this unfamiliar girl now, when the two of them hadn't even asked each other's names before parting? Maybe, in Huo Yuhao's eyes, the girl's choice resembled that of someone she had once known. Or maybe Huo Yuhao was simply overflowing with compassion. Huo Yuhao herself couldn't figure it out. She didn't know whether the things she had protected in the past had been right, or whether she had truly accomplished anything at all.

In the past, Huo Yuhao had been stubborn and extreme because of her experiences in youth. It was her teachers and companions who stayed by her and guided her, gradually improving her temperament. Now, reborn with the memories of her previous life, the insights she had gained from cultivating into a god, and the support of her companions, Huo Yuhao still didn't know how to persuade that girl. She wanted to give the girl money, but that wouldn't solve the problem. "Is it because of Soul Power?" Huo Yuhao didn't know. She felt that wasn't the only issue, but even her memories couldn't help her figure out where the problem really lay.

Those mixed emotions appeared in Huo Yuhao again, just as they had during Martial Soul Awakening. A sea of feelings poured into Huo Yuhao's mind, and a silent lament rang out in her head once more. Slowly, the sensation faded. Huo Yuhao didn't know how to explain what had happened, and she felt confused by it.

Huo Yuhao put the money pouch away and started walking toward the city gate. She hadn't found an answer in what had just happened. She still had to head north to the Far North, and her companions were waiting for her. She didn't linger in the city; Huo Yuhao left Lingdou City.