Snow fell outside Imperial Dragon Pass on the Holy Demon Continent.
Imperial Dragon Pass had been built in ancient times to ward off the dragon race. Magnificent in scale, it ranked first among humanity's six great strongholds.
The entire pass was built against a mountain range, but the Knight Temple stood not on the mountain, but within it.
Imperial Dragon Pass lay at the northernmost end of the Holy Demon Continent, where it was bitterly cold all year round and storms comparable to forbidden spells struck from time to time. For safety's sake, the Knight Temple had hollowed out the mountain range and built its headquarters inside.
With this natural refrigerator, the only thing that could happen to food was that it would be eaten. It would never spoil in storage.
To guard against shortages, the Knight Temple headquarters always kept more than three years' worth of supplies in storage, enough to withstand a massive war.
Though it was summer, heavy snow blanketed the entire pass. Dozens of li farther north of Imperial Dragon Pass, lightning suddenly flashed and thunder roared as storms sprang up in every direction. Spatial rifts appeared from time to time as well.
Of course, ordinary knights could not see those spatial rifts.
At that moment, two figures stood side by side in the air above Imperial Dragon Pass.
Both men were tall and powerfully built. Standing above Imperial Dragon Pass, they seemed to be the center of the entire world.
The two were none other than Long Tianyin and Yang Haoyu.
"Brother Yang, I may need you to take a look over there. I really can't get away."
Long Tianyin frowned as he looked north at the tremendous phenomenon unfolding across heaven and earth.
As commander of the three armies at Imperial Dragon Pass, and more importantly, with his son Long Xingyu currently undergoing the trial of the Divine Throne of Doom and Slaughter, he could not get away.
"Brother Long, leave it to me. Haohan asked me to come out of seclusion precisely to deal with emergencies like this."
Yang Haoyu was considerably older than Long Tianyin. Even his younger brother, Yang Haohan, was older than Long Tianyin.
He had been in seclusion all this time, but his younger brother Yang Haohan had gone to the Holy City to oversee the Demon Hunt Squad selection, while Long Xingyu was about to undergo a Divine Throne trial here at Imperial Dragon Pass. As a result, he had no choice but to come out of seclusion.
After the two exchanged a few words, Yang Haoyu moved and vanished.
Long Tianyin watched Yang Haoyu's departing figure, astonished.
Even though he was a Divine Seal Knight, the gap between him and Yang Haoyu was enormous.
Just how far has this Starry Sky Divine Knight come?
Deep in the Far North of the Holy Demon Continent.
A green-gold short blade emerged from a spatial rift and entered the Holy Demon Continent.
After arriving on the Holy Demon Continent, the golden short blade began frantically absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth around it, releasing a powerful aura of life.
In the blink of an eye, a baby appeared in midair. He continued to grow slowly, soon reaching the appearance of a two- or three-year-old.
As for the golden short blade, it transformed into a palm-sized jade token that hung around the baby's neck.
Three large characters were engraved on the token: Huo Yuhao.
A heartbeat, breathing, and hair gradually appeared on the baby as well.
His chubby hands moved slightly, as if he wanted to grab something.
Then his eyes slowly opened.
A flash of golden light passed through them, and his eyes began to move, giving him some understanding of his surroundings.
I... have I come to the world where Teacher lives?
This place looks a lot like the Far North of the Douluo Continent!
Huo Yuhao looked around curiously. He had exhausted all his divine power to reach the world where his teacher, Electrolux, lived.
Even his divine soul had been mostly depleted when he broke through space, and only after arriving in this world had he begun to form a physical body.
But as long as he had reached this world, everything was fine.
Although he now looked like a baby, he could just barely use his spiritual power.
He found himself at the center of a gigantic tornado, which seemed to have formed when he had absorbed the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
Huo Yuhao could not help but smile wryly.
Seriously? I've only just arrived in this world, and I'm already facing this? I'm still a baby! Even if my body was born an Elemental Body, a fall from this height would probably leave pieces of me scattered everywhere!
Just as Huo Yuhao was about to withdraw his spiritual power, he suddenly sensed a powerful aura approaching him rapidly.
The strength the newcomer radiated was so formidable that even all the humans on the Douluo Continent probably could not defeat him.
With that, he could only withdraw all his spiritual power and pretend to be a baby.
But he also understood that a baby in such surroundings would be even more likely to arouse suspicion.
Still, there was nothing else he could do now. He could only hope the newcomer was a good person.
If he was not, then as long as Huo Yuhao could get out of the tornado, he could use his remaining God King Rank spiritual power to protect himself.
In the distance, Yang Haoyu, who had come to investigate, looked at the blizzard covering dozens of li before him, his expression unusually grave.
"This tornado and blizzard are probably much stronger than ordinary ninth-level forbidden spells, aren't they? It's best not to alter a display of heaven's might like this!"
Yang Haoyu had only come to investigate. As long as the tornado did not affect the Knight Temple, he did not need to go to the trouble of doing anything.
He then circled the enormous tornado to examine it. Though he found no signs of the demon race having acted, the more he looked, the more something seemed amiss.
"When has a tornado this huge ever appeared near Imperial Dragon Pass? Forget it. As long as it's not the demon race's doing, that's enough!"
Yang Haoyu made a circuit and found nothing unusual. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly sensed a faint fluctuation of life.
He peered carefully into the depths of the tornado.
Suddenly, he seemed to see something, and the shock and doubt on his face grew more pronounced.
"Is that a child? Hm? How could there be a child anywhere around here?"
Thinking he had seen wrong, Yang Haoyu took another careful look around.
That was right. This was the northernmost end of the Holy Demon Continent, a lifeless world of ice and snow.
How could a child have appeared here?
Though he was puzzled, the child was clearly still alive.
As long as he was alive, there was hope!
Yang Haoyu hesitated no longer. He spread his arms, and a vast power of the stars surged from within him.
In an instant, the sky for several li around him abruptly darkened.
A deep starry sky replaced the gray-white heavens. Stars appeared all around, turning the surroundings into a starry expanse.
This was his domain: Star Domain.
It was his signature domain as the Starry Sky Divine Knight. Using the power of the stars, he created an independent space, and within this starry sky, he was the absolute master.
He took a step forward, and his figure vanished from where he stood.
The next instant, he appeared at the very center of the tornado and saw the baby with his own eyes.
The baby looked two or three years old and was completely naked. His skin was translucent and crystalline, glowing with a faint icy-blue light.
He was floating at the center of the tornado, held aloft by some kind of power. He neither cried nor fussed, and his eyes were tightly shut, as though he were asleep.
The only thing on the baby was a golden jade token, which caught Yang Haoyu's attention.
He leaned close and looked down, softly reading the characters on it.
"Huo Yuhao?"