Return

At dawn, sunlight spilled over the earth, bestowing its favor equally upon every inch of land and every living creature. In an utterly unremarkable, abandoned area, a solitary burial mound looked somewhat out of place. Its only headstone was a broken wooden board, and a filthy little boy lay sprawled over the grave.

Suddenly, the little boy's eyes fluttered open.

"I should have died completely, shouldn't I?" the little boy murmured, looking down at himself. His tattered clothes had been washed pale, and dirt covered his hands, filled his fingernails, and even coated his body, with a little dew clinging to him as well. He quickly scanned his surroundings, assessing where he was.

A little dirt slope? No, this is a grave. He saw the headstone.

Suddenly, the boy froze, as though struck without warning by a bolt of psychic lightning. Familiar yet unfamiliar memories battered his mind. As though drained of all strength, he sank helplessly to his knees, tears unconsciously streaming down his cheeks. Five crooked characters on the headstone read "Grave of Huo Yun'er." The boy was Huo Yuhao.

"Impossible! This is a trick!" Grief, rage, longing-all these emotions tangled together in his heart as he bellowed and roared! Huo Yuhao knew this was the softest, most vulnerable place within him. The dark gods must have been exploiting it to corrupt him!

Soon, Huo Yuhao brought his emotions under control and prepared to shatter the illusion. His psychic power possessed the ability to pierce falsehoods. He had once wondered whether this was connected to his former Martial Soul-Spirit Eyes-a beneficial mutation arising between his own soul and warp essence.

"Hm?" Huo Yuhao discovered, to his surprise, that he could not summon his psychic power. Instead, an unfamiliar power flowed through his body. Is this... Soul Power? Huo Yuhao wondered in confusion. This was not psychic power from the Warp, but a power of the material world. He finally realized that this did not seem to be false.

Father and the dark gods should all have been gravely wounded in that battle. They wouldn't have the strength left to plot against someone who should be dead. No, I didn't die! It was that Warp Storm! Huo Yuhao remembered. As his consciousness faded, a peculiar Warp Storm had swept in, drawing the last remnants of his consciousness into it. He had not died completely, but had returned to the Douluo Continent.

Huo Yuhao was finally certain that he had truly returned. He knelt on one knee before the headstone, stroking it with one hand while making the aquila salute with the other. His face was solemn, his gaze resolute. The vows of yesterday's boy and today's Huo Yuhao seemed to overlap. "Mother, I will avenge you! I will bring final judgment upon the White Tiger Duke's Mansion!"

Fortunately, this world had no Warp. Huo Yuhao knew that his mother had vanished completely. Perhaps this, too, was a blessing of this world! From this moment on, Huo Yuhao would be only Huo Yuhao, Huo Yun'er's son. Everything from before had become the past when he dissipated from the Golden Throne. He was no longer a Primarch of the Imperium. He would begin a new life!

"But Rogal Dorn, Roboute Guilliman, Vulkan... and Sanguinius, and... Horus. They were all wonderful people, too!" Huo Yuhao gave a self-mocking smile. Thinking of what had befallen them, he found tears slipping down his face. "And my sons! And that rather inadequate father!"

Upon the Golden Throne, Huo Yuhao had frantically devoured the energies of the Warp to maintain the Webway's stability and suppress the fiends of the Warp. At that time, his power had nearly rivaled the Emperor's! His psychic power could even inflict permanent harm upon daemons! His projection in the Warp had gradually transformed from an eye into a small sun. At the same time, that eye had "seen" the schemes of the Empyrean, schemes aimed at the Emperor and his plans.

Horus had been nothing more than a pitiful sacrifice! He had served as cover for Magnus, with the ultimate goal of making Huo Yuhao temporarily take his seat upon the Golden Throne and destroying him through it! They had even spared Uncle Malcador!

Originally, Magnus had been the one intended to deal with the Webway running out of control, but the dark gods had long since secretly corrupted and plotted against him. He could never return to Terra. To ensure that Huo Yuhao had to be the one to take that seat, the four gods had even acted together. The power carried by that psychic communication had been far too great, and the destruction it caused had been unimaginable. Even if Magnus had truly returned, it would have been of no use.

Huo Yuhao possessed the technology of the Old Ones. That was why the dark gods would never permit his existence. Otherwise, this great game could not continue!

"Then what should I do?" Huo Yuhao began recalling the past. Strangely enough, though so much time had passed, his memories of the Douluo Continent remained clear. However, he discovered that his knowledge of the Douluo Continent was limited to his mother's accounts and scattered remarks from the servants of the Duke's Mansion. It had been a long time since he had found himself groping in utter darkness like this.

The Douluo Continent was entirely a world where the strong reigned supreme. With enough strength, one had enough say. With enough strength, one could destroy the White Tiger Duke's Mansion! This was Huo Yuhao's first thought. And to become stronger, he would have to hunt Soul Beasts and absorb Soul Rings. At this thought, Huo Yuhao suddenly frowned. He would not accept gaining power by hunting others. That was the way of the dark gods' followers!

Still, he decided to take a look. After all, only yesterday, he had intended to head to the Star Dou Great Forest to obtain a Soul Ring. He decided to follow his own wishes.

Huo Yuhao did not move particularly quickly. He was in no hurry to travel, instead lingering longer in crowded places. This allowed him to hear many strange and interesting tales. Most were useless information, but there was also plenty of useful intelligence.

"Shrek Academy has started its new term recently."

"Is it time for Shrek Academy to recruit students again?"

"What is it, Old Zhang? That boy of yours is a genius too, isn't he? Are you planning to send him to Shrek Academy?"

"Forget it! Shrek Academy's requirements are so high. I'd have to scrimp and save for years just to afford the registration fee, never mind the recommendation letter from a major city. Where would I get one of those?"

"But have you heard? The young master of our White Tiger Duke's Mansion is enrolling at Shrek Academy this year too."

"Isn't that obvious? What a towering figure the White Tiger Duke is! How could his son possibly be a good-for-nothing?"

Listening to the passersby's discussion, Huo Yuhao could not help but grow cold inside. Dai Huabin, the man directly responsible for Mother's death! It seems a trip to Shrek Academy is necessary! As the continent's center and foremost city, Shrek City ought to have a wealth of information about Planet Douluo. Huo Yuhao had already intended to visit, and now the news that the Dai Family's young master was at Shrek Academy only strengthened his resolve.

"Fifty kilometers ahead lies the territory of the Star Dou Great Forest. Soul Beasts roam there. Exercise caution."

Several days later, Huo Yuhao finally reached the Star Dou Great Forest. Though his clothes were still tattered, they were clean and tidy. Worn by Huo Yuhao, they even gave him an air of transcendence beyond the mundane.