Northwestern Star Luo Empire, White Tiger Duke's Mansion.
Huo Yuhao looked at the magnificent complex of buildings, drew a deep breath, then left without looking back.
He silently swore that when he returned here, he would slaughter his way through the place and turn it upside down, just as the Martial Ancestor had upon returning to the Eastern Xuan Region.
Recalling the Martial Ancestor he had seen in his dreams, Huo Yuhao could not help clenching his fists.
Ever since his mother Huo Yun'er passed away, Huo Yuhao had dreamed every night of a place called the Tianxuan Continent.
It was a world utterly different from the Douluo Continent.
The people of the Tianxuan Continent did not cultivate Martial Souls, but Yuan Power and martial arts.
Steal yin and yang, seize creation, turn nirvana, grasp life and death, command reincarnation, shatter the heavens, and shake heaven and earth.
The Tianxuan Continent had shaken Huo Yuhao, who had been only ten at the time.
In his dreams, Huo Yuhao had watched as a bystander, witnessing firsthand over the course of a single year how a youth named Lin Dong fought his way step by step from Qingyang Town to beyond the nine heavens, becoming the supreme Martial Ancestor.
The Ancestor Realm was a realm Huo Yuhao could scarcely hope to reach in his lifetime.
Or rather, it was a realm that the Douluo Continent could scarcely glimpse even from behind.
After all, in the stories passed from mouth to mouth across the Douluo Continent, even the world's mightiest Titled Douluo merely possessed the ability to move mountains and fill seas.
Even the War God Ancestor whom the Dai Family took such pride in had never been said to possess power like that of the Otherworldly Demon Emperor or the Martial Ancestor.
"If I could cultivate those martial arts from my dreams..." Huo Yuhao took out a hand-drawn map and located the direction of the Star Dou Great Forest. "I could surely take my revenge on the White Tiger Duke's Mansion sooner, couldn't I?"
But he soon gave an easy smile. "Still, so what if I can't cultivate them? The experiences from those dreams are my greatest wealth."
Thanks to that year of experiences in his dreams, Huo Yuhao already possessed knowledge far beyond that of his peers, or even all Soul Masters.
"Since I already have such wealth, why keep fretting over anything else?"
Having understood what mattered, Huo Yuhao looked toward the Star Dou Great Forest with determination in his eyes.
At that moment, he seemed to have undergone a transformation, his entire being feeling utterly renewed.
"Fortunately, you can think that way. Otherwise, I would not have come to see you."
Just as Huo Yuhao was about to step forward, the imposing figure of a man suddenly appeared before him.
The man stood as deep and still as a vast pool, as steadfast as a towering mountain, his presence immense. Powers of different attributes-ice, seas of fire, lightning, darkness, and more-churned around him, incomparably profound.
He merely stood there with his hands behind his back, and in that instant, the entire world, even the entire universe, ceased to move.
The wind fell still. At that moment, only he and Huo Yuhao could still move in the universe.
Upon seeing the man's face clearly, Huo Yuhao's eyes flew wide.
He spoke in disbelief. "Martial Ancestor?!"
This man was actually Lin Dong, the Martial Ancestor he had seen in his dreams!
But hadn't the Martial Ancestor broken through the plane of the Tianxuan Continent and gone to an even more transcendent world?
Why had he suddenly appeared in the Douluo Continent, a world that, to him, was nothing more than a muddy puddle?
Was it because of his dreams over the past year?
As though seeing through Huo Yuhao's confusion, the Martial Ancestor said, "This is not my true body, but a wisp of a phantom."
"You accompanied that version of me as I grew on the Tianxuan Continent. Now that I have broken through beyond Sovereign, how could I not come to see you?"
That version of me?
Huo Yuhao did not understand what the Martial Ancestor meant.
The Martial Ancestor's realm was far too transcendent. Even after witnessing almost everything he had experienced on the Tianxuan Continent, Huo Yuhao, a mere rank-ten Soul Scholar, could not possibly comprehend it.
The Martial Ancestor's gaze appeared to rest on Huo Yuhao, but in truth, he had already seen through this universe's entire past and future in an instant.
"The White Tiger Duke's Mansion regards your life as worthless grass. What will you do?"
The Martial Ancestor brought his gaze back to the present.
Looking into Huo Yuhao's azure eyes, he suddenly posed that question.
"A life as cheap as grass?"
Huo Yuhao recovered from the shock of first seeing the Martial Ancestor.
Hearing the Martial Ancestor's question, Huo Yuhao answered without hesitation, "A weed's life is the toughest thing in this world!"
"Unless you tear it out by the roots, no one can kill it! People trample it, and it stubbornly grows. Fire burns it, and it rises again from the ashes. Wind cannot topple it, and fire cannot kill it!"
"So what if, in their eyes, I, Huo Yuhao, am as lowly as dust, my life as cheap as grass? They don't know that this is the most precious thing about me! It's also what lets my heart fear nothing!"
"As long as I'm alive, I'll always stride forward!"
A rare smile appeared on the Martial Ancestor's face.
But his expression soon changed, and he asked solemnly, "Let me ask you another question. If someone used your mother's life to force you to become their dog, what would you do?"
Huo Yuhao froze.
Hadn't his mother already passed away? He had even carved the gravestone before her burial mound with his own hands.
Could it be...
Huo Yuhao abruptly realized something.
Could Mother still be alive?
Or was her soul in someone's hands?!
At that thought, a fierce light suddenly blazed in Huo Yuhao's eyes.
He spoke through almost gritted teeth. "My mother is a living person, not a bargaining chip anyone can dare use to make a deal with me!"
"If anyone dares use my mother as a bargaining chip, I'll rip out every tendon and bone in their body! I'll make sure they can never be reborn!"
The Martial Ancestor smiled with even greater satisfaction.
"Now you bear some resemblance to my younger self."
He reached out and rested his hand on top of Huo Yuhao's head.
In an instant, all the indistinct martial arts in Huo Yuhao's memories actually became within reach.
"The upper limit of this universe of yours is ultimately too low. On your own, you could spend your entire life and still have no possibility of breaking through it."
"I have modified the martial arts of the Tianxuan Continent. You need only cultivate them step by step, and one day, you will unlock their full power."
Sensing all the martial arts the Martial Ancestor had mastered on the Tianxuan Continent within his mind, Huo Yuhao could not help his eyes growing wet.
Without hesitation, Huo Yuhao dropped to his knees with a thud.
He knelt so hard that fine cracks actually appeared in his knees in that instant.
But Huo Yuhao paid no heed at all, slamming his forehead against the ground until traces of blood seeped out.
With all his strength, he choked out a low, hoarse cry. "I, Huo Yuhao, thank you for your great kindness, Martial Ancestor!"
The Martial Ancestor gently waved his sleeve, lifting Huo Yuhao to his feet.
Then the Martial Ancestor curled his right hand around empty air, as though crushing the barriers of time and space, and a great halberd appeared out of nowhere in his grasp.
The great halberd's shaft was straight, its handle covered in scale-like patterns, while small, vicious, toothlike scales grew along the tip of its blade.
One could imagine how astonishingly destructive a blow from this great halberd would be.
Huo Yuhao recognized the great halberd at once.
The Heavenly Scale Ancient Halberd.
An Intermediate Spirit Treasure the Martial Ancestor had obtained in the ancient tomb of a Nirvana Realm expert, later refined by Master Cheng into a High-grade Spirit Treasure.
"In this world, the Heavenly Scale Ancient Halberd will suffice for your current needs." The Martial Ancestor tossed the great halberd to Huo Yuhao.
Huo Yuhao hurriedly reached out and caught it.
"I have already removed the dragon bloodline within it. You can now regard it as a Martial Soul that cannot have Soul Rings attached to it."
"What you can evolve it into in this world through the secret methods of Talisman Masters will depend entirely on your own ability."
At the same time, this phantom of the Martial Ancestor gradually began to fade.
"I'll keep a meditation cushion for you in the Martial Realm."
Those were the phantom's final words before it dissipated.
Huo Yuhao drove the dragon-scale-covered Heavenly Scale Ancient Halberd into the earth and bowed deeply in the direction where the Martial Ancestor's phantom had vanished.
The wind whispered, stirring Huo Yuhao's gray cloth robes.
Only after a long while did Huo Yuhao slowly straighten.
A keen light flashed in his eyes. Holding the Heavenly Scale Ancient Halberd, he walked straight toward the Star Dou Great Forest.