Innate Full Soul Power, the Duchess's Murderous Intent

"Phew, finally done. I'm exhausted."

Only after improving Huo Yuhao's potential did Huo Yun breathe a sigh of relief. Now, she felt utterly drained.

The Douluo Consciousness's knowledge base contained memories of how to improve a person's potential. Huo Yun had used precisely this, devoting over eighty percent of the energy she could currently draw on to improving the potential of Huo Yuhao's martial soul, upgrading its original foundation while ensuring his innate soul power and cultivation speed.

In her eyes, as long as she could safeguard Huo Yuhao's development during these first few years, it was all worth it.

As Huo Yuhao's martial soul awakening ended, the warmth in his body gradually dispersed. He slowly opened his eyes. His originally deep-blue eyes had now turned pale gold, and the light within them even made the old man helping him awaken his martial soul briefly fall into a daze.

At that moment, he felt that his vision had become much clearer. He could even see the dust in the air with perfect clarity. Everything around him seemed to move in slow motion, playing out at half speed before his eyes.

A stream of information entered his mind at that moment as well.

"My martial soul is called Spirit Eyes!" Although Huo Yuhao was young, he knew what he was doing, and the moment he received that information, he immediately connected the dots.

Spirit Eyes, a rare spirit-type body martial soul.

Although he had yet to study any knowledge about martial souls, that information in his mind had already told him how rare his martial soul was: a top-tier spirit-type body martial soul.

"A body martial soul? That certainly is very rare." Hearing Huo Yuhao's words, the old man came back to his senses. Huo Yuhao might not understand how powerful a body martial soul was, but he knew very well.

In his eyes, it was unquestionably a martial soul on the same level as the Duke's Mansion's inherited martial soul, the White Tiger.

Its quality was extremely high. If he had good innate soul power, his future prospects would be limitless.

Although it was not the Duke's Mansion's inherited martial soul, if his prospects were good enough, then even if he could not inherit the duke's title in the future, he was still one of the Duke's Mansion's people and worth reporting to the duke.

Thinking this, the old man's attitude toward Huo Yuhao improved considerably. His initial indifference was gone, and even his voice softened. Producing a blue crystal ball from somewhere, he said, "Come, let's test your soul power level. An eye-type body martial soul is very high quality. I'm sure you must have very high innate soul power too."

Hearing this, Huo Yuhao placed his hand on it. Then he felt as though part of a force within him had been drawn away. The blue crystal before him gradually brightened, its final radiance even making the entire room a little brighter.

"Innate full soul power! It's actually innate full soul power! To think that two children with innate full soul power would appear in the mansion within two years, and both of them are the duke's blood!" The old man had handled martial soul awakenings for many years, so of course he knew what this meant. Delight overflowed from his dry, wrinkled face, and even his wrinkles folded together.

He knew all too well what innate full soul power meant. As long as nothing went wrong in the future, a child like this was absolutely a promising seedling for becoming a Titled Douluo.

It did not matter that his martial soul was not the inherited White Tiger martial soul. After all, he was also the White Tiger Duke's biological child and could likewise be raised as a direct descendant of the family. At most, he would be unable to inherit the title in the future, but nurturing him to the standard of the family's Grand Elder would still strengthen the White Tiger Duke's foundations. This had to be reported to the duke.

They could no longer let the duchess bully this child as she pleased, either.

"I have innate full soul power?" Huo Yuhao felt as though he were dreaming. Of course he understood what innate full soul power meant.

Originally, all he had wanted was to awaken soul power and become a Soul Master, so that he and his mother would no longer be bullied at will in the Duke's Mansion.

"Yes, you have innate full soul power. Yuhao, your future prospects are limitless. You can absolutely become a pillar of the Duke's Mansion, a powerful Titled Douluo." If discovering that Huo Yuhao possessed a high-grade martial soul like a body martial soul had only improved the old man's attitude a little, learning that he had innate full soul power had now turned his attitude a full one hundred and eighty degrees.

"Mm. Then... um, my martial soul awakening is finished, so I won't disturb everyone else's awakenings. I'll head back first." Huo Yuhao nodded lightly. He did not care whether he could become a powerful Titled Douluo. Right now, he had only one thought: to share this good news with his mother.

"Mm, go on." The old man nodded lightly and did not stop Huo Yuhao.

Watching Huo Yuhao leave, the old man walked out of the house and told someone nearby, "Go notify Old Lin and have him handle the remaining martial soul awakenings for me. I have something important to report to the duchess."

After giving these instructions, the old man left without looking back.

Huo Yuhao's home was called a home, but it would be more accurate to call it a woodshed. The dignified son of a duke lived in a woodshed.

A mother's standing should have risen with her son's. Given his status, the two of them could actually have lived in a small courtyard in the Duke's Mansion. Although it would not have been large, it would have been quite spacious for the two of them.

Unfortunately, the White Tiger Duke was away fighting on behalf of the Star Luo Empire, and all affairs within the mansion were managed by the duchess.

The duchess had two sons, and anything that might affect her children in the future fell within the scope of her suppression. Things were better when the duke was home, but once he left, the mansion became the duchess's domain.

Huo Yuhao's mother had grown up alongside the duke since childhood and was greatly favored by him, so the duchess had always envied her. She immediately became the primary target. Using the excuse that Huo Yuhao's mother suffered from a serious infectious disease, the duchess drove mother and son into the woodshed behind the Servant District and cut off all their sources of income. Huo Yuhao had only been two years old then.

A large part of the reason his physical condition had been so poor during his martial soul awakening was the malnutrition he had suffered as a child.

But all of this would soon end. Huo Yuhao ran home excitedly. Although he had now awakened soul power, he was only six, after all, and running all the way back was still a little too much for his body. By the time he reached the door, he was panting, bracing himself against the doorframe. The good news stuck in his throat, and for a long while, he could only gasp for breath.

"What's wrong, Yuhao? Why are you in such a hurry? Did something happen during your martial soul awakening? Are you all right?" A concerned voice rang out from inside the house. Looking up, he saw a woman within. Though dressed in coarse cloth with a twig hairpin, she was stunningly beautiful, with a delicate, fragile beauty that made her especially endearing.

She was Huo Yuhao's mother, Huo Yun'er!

She was sitting on a small stool, with a huge wooden basin in front of her and a good many clothes floating in its water.

Over the years, she had supported Huo Yuhao by washing clothes for others, doing sewing, and similar work.

Otherwise, with their household's sources of income cut off long ago, Huo Yuhao could never have survived to his current age.

"I'm fine, Mom." Huo Yuhao took several deep breaths and shook his head. "I'm just a little excited. I awakened my martial soul, and I have innate full soul power."

That short sentence froze Huo Yun'er in place just as she stood up. Although she was not a Soul Master, she knew what innate full soul power meant.

After all, she had grown up as a maid beside the former eldest young master of the Duke's Mansion. She did have some knowledge.

"Then that's wonderful! My Yuhao is the best," Huo Yun'er said happily, her face full of joy.

"Yes! With soul power, I can become a Soul Master. From now on, I'll protect you, Mom. No one will ever bully you again." Huo Yuhao hurried forward, hugged Huo Yun'er, and spoke joyfully.

"Mm. Then from now on, little Yuhao, you'll be protecting Mommy. We happen to have a little white flour left at home. I'll make you some baked flatbread later, and we'll have a proper celebration tonight." Huo Yun'er smiled and nodded, gently stroking Huo Yuhao's head, her tone very tender.

Elsewhere, in the most luxurious courtyard in the entire Duke's Mansion, the duchess reclined on her side on a cushioned couch. Before her stood the old man who had helped Huo Yuhao awaken his martial soul, reporting to her with great respect.

"Eyes, a body martial soul, innate full soul power... That little bitch actually gave birth to such a genius?" When the duchess heard that Huo Yuhao had awakened innate full soul power, a trace of astonishment flashed across her face. Then she raised a hand, signaling the maid beside her to give the old man a bag of Gold Soul Coins.

Currency on the Douluo Continent consisted of Gold Soul Coins, Silver Soul Coins, and Copper Soul Coins, with an exchange rate of one to ten between each denomination. In other words, one Gold Soul Coin could be exchanged for ten Silver Soul Coins, and one Silver Soul Coin could be exchanged for ten Copper Soul Coins.

"You may leave. I will report this to the duke, so there is no need for you to trouble yourself."

The old man glanced at the bag of Gold Soul Coins, then cupped his hands and bowed to the duchess. "Please be sure to report this to the duke. Although Young Master Yuhao did not awaken the family's inherited martial soul, the potential of innate full soul power is there for all to see. In the future, he could also become an asset to Young Master Yueheng and Young Master Huabin."

Hearing this, the duchess's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly. As someone who could preside over martial soul awakenings, the old man held a fairly high position in the Duke's Mansion. At the very least, even she, the duchess, would show him some courtesy.

But it was only a little courtesy. It did not mean he could climb onto her face just because she had let him step on her nose. The meaning behind her words and the Gold Soul Coins had been simple: he was to swallow those words back into his stomach.

Moreover, he had already begun addressing that child as "young master" to her face, clearly treating that little bitch's child as a young master of the Duke's Mansion.

She was already deeply jealous of Huo Yun'er. Otherwise, she would not have targeted her so much over the years. Now that woman's standing might truly rise with her son's. How could she possibly accept that?

The less she could accept it, the deeper her jealousy grew. Without her noticing, a glimmer of blue-gold light flashed through her originally black eyes. In the end, she seemed to make some sort of decision.

But however displeased she was, she still had to show the old man before her a little respect. "I understand. I'll write a letter right now and have someone deliver it to the duke."

"Then I'm sorry for the trouble, Your Grace." Hearing this, the old man once again raised his hands and bowed to the duchess before taking his leave.

In his view, Huo Yuhao was not qualified to compete for the title of White Tiger Duke and posed no danger whatsoever to either of the duchess's children. She could even choose to win him over. With a genius like this, as long as they established good relations, he could absolutely become an asset to those two.

He was merely doing her a favor that cost him nothing, letting the duchess tell the duke about this while also giving her a chance to win him over.

But he did not know what this duchess of theirs was thinking.

Watching the old man leave, the duchess turned to the maid beside her and drew a hand across her throat. "Send someone to handle it cleanly and neatly."

"Understood." Having served beside the duchess for years, the maid naturally understood her meaning. Upon receiving the order, she immediately withdrew.

The duchess remained in her original position, reclining on her side on the cushioned couch. Watching the maid leave, she murmured in an icy voice, "A bastard should know its place as a bastard. Wouldn't it have been better to stay obediently in the mud? Then I could have shown great mercy and left you a little room to live. Instead, you just had to come out and seek death.

"I already told the duke you were dead. Now you spring this on me-that you and your son are still alive, and your son even has innate full soul power. If I told the duke, wouldn't I be in trouble?"

"Achoo! What's going on? I'm the planetary will now. I can still catch a cold?" Huo Yun suddenly sneezed for no apparent reason, and a bad feeling spread through her heart.

With a careful probe, everything happening on the land of Douluo Star fell within her perception, and she instantly knew what had happened.

"Damn! That's vicious. If I'd known, I should have quietly concealed Yuhao's cultivation first."

Huo Yun truly had not expected that, faced with Huo Yuhao's innate full soul power, the duchess would choose not to win him over but instead prepare to act and kill them both outright.

All she could say was that the woman was truly ruthless. The moment she saw a threat on the other side, she had no intention of leaving anyone alive. She was certainly decisive when it came to killing.

Since that was the case, there was no time to develop slowly. She had to get Yuhao out of here immediately. Originally, she had wanted to find a suitable opportunity to speak with him and display the imposing grandeur of her planetary consciousness.

But now she could not worry about all that. Otherwise, this Child of Destiny she had only just managed to nurture would be gone before things even began to look up.

At that moment, Huo Yuhao was helping his mother, Huo Yun'er, knead dough. This was some white flour Huo Yun'er had obtained with great difficulty, and she planned to make baked flatbread today to celebrate.

For mother and son, even this baked flatbread was a rare delicacy. Only an occasion this good warranted bringing it out for a celebration.

"Stop working. Someone is after both your lives. Hurry, pack your things and run." No longer caring whether she might frighten Huo Yuhao, Huo Yun transmitted her voice directly into his mind.

Huo Yun's voice was very peculiar. It was a woman's and a man's, an elder's and a child's, both ethereal and majestic, as though the sea were embracing a hundred rivers, all manner of voices overlapping.

The planetary consciousness represented both the entire planet and the entire world. The voices of all things were her voice.