Huo Yuner had just turned around when her movements stiffened; she clearly had not expected her six-year-old son to suddenly ask such a... heavy question. She fell silent for a moment, gently placing the rag on the corner of the table without continuing to wipe. Instead, she slowly walked back to the table and sat down across from Dai Yuhao again.
Looking into Dai Yuhao's clear eyes, she said softly, "Yuhao, Mama has let you suffer."
"Life is hard now, but if we leave here, where can we go?"
"Aside from washing and mending or doing manual labor in this manor, Mama has no other skills."
"Outside... is not like the manor. In the manor, at least we have a place to live, and we can always earn a bite to eat every day."
"But if we leave, Mama wouldn't even dare to think about how I would support you..."
Seeing the almost humble look of guilt on his mother's face, Dai Yuhao's heart felt a sharp, dense pain, as if pricked by needles. Seeing her son's silence, Huo Yuner leaned forward and took Dai Yuhao's small hand resting on the table.
Her voice rose slightly with anticipation, carrying a hint of a tremor: "If you can awaken a spirit with spirit power tomorrow, our lives might change."
Listening to his mother's words, Dai Yuhao felt a mix of emotions in his heart. Leng Yaozhu's words echoed in his mind; he felt his mother was thinking too simply. But looking at the bright hope in his mother's eyes, all his words got stuck in his throat. He could not bear to shatter his mother's last remaining fantasy, even if it was as fragile as a bubble.
He lowered his gaze, his thick eyelashes concealing the complex emotions in his eyes. He simply nodded obediently and replied in a low voice, "Mhm... Mama, I understand."
Huo Yuner cleared the dishes and carefully wiped the only small table clean. She looked back at her dazed son and said softly, "Yuhao, Mama is going to work. You... stay safe at home."
With that, she turned and pushed open the creaking old wooden door, her figure soon disappearing outside the small courtyard, heading toward the laundry room in the Duke's Mansion that was forever filled with dirty clothes and murky water. Her back was slightly hunched, yet she did not dare slow her pace in the slightest. After all, this was the only source of livelihood for the mother and son in this cold residence; even if she were sick, she would not dare rest for a single day.
Dai Yuhao watched his mother's figure vanish until the dilapidated courtyard gate closed again, isolating them from everything outside. He returned to the hard wooden bed, gently took off his shoes, and sat cross-legged on the bed. With his back straight, hands naturally placed on his knees, and eyes slightly closed, he focused intently, following the spirit power meditation method Han Tianyi had taught him.
Just as he had calmed his mind and was guiding his spirit power to slowly circulate according to the established route... the voice of the Evil Eye spirit soul rang out deep in his mind once again without warning.
"Where on earth is this place? It is definitely no longer Shrek City where the Spirit Pagoda is located!"
This time, Dai Yuhao did not choose to remain silent or ignore it. With a slight thought, his consciousness instantly sank, descending once more into his spiritual sea. That giant eyeball, over three meters in diameter, floated quietly. But unlike its previous silence, the Evil Eye spirit soul was clearly in an "unsettled" state.
Within its giant silver-white eye, the pupil that was originally deep as a vortex was now vibrating and contracting minutely but violently at a high frequency. The complex patterns around the pupil also flickered with light. Seeing its agitated state and remembering how it had been aloof and ignored his previous attempts to be friendly, Dai Yuhao could not help but snort. "Hmph! I didn't expect a thousand-year spirit soul like you to be so knowledgeable as to know about Shrek City."
Hearing this, the vibration of the Evil Eye spirit soul's giant pupil slowed slightly. The sixteen silver-white tentacles behind it rose slightly in unison, their tips flowing with light, adopting an almost instinctive posture of arrogance.
"I am naturally not comparable to those muddled, ordinary thousand-year spirit souls."
But this arrogance lasted only for a brief moment before it immediately asked another question, its voice filled with obvious urgency and even a trace of... undetectable unease?
"You haven't answered my question yet! The aura and energy level here are completely different from before!"
"It's as if... we are no longer in the same world!"
"What on earth is going on?! What did you do?!"
Hearing this, a flash of surprise crossed Dai Yuhao's face. He had not expected the Evil Eye he had fused with to have such keen perception, almost touching the edge of the truth. This also allowed him to truly experience for the first time the essential difference between an unyielding soul spirit and an ordinary spirit soul.
Since the Evil Eye spirit soul would be traveling with him through these two time-spaces separated by ten thousand years from now on, there was naturally no need to hide anything. Dai Yuhao had decided to reveal this secret entirely to this special "partner."
"You're right, this place and the previous one are indeed not the same world."
Dai Yuhao's voice echoed clearly in the spiritual sea: "To put it simply, I possess a special ability that allows me to transmigrate between two different eras..."
Dai Yuhao immediately revealed that he could transmigrate through ten thousand years of time and that he was the founder of the Spirit Pagoda! This information was clearly too shocking; the Evil Eye spirit soul's massive body seemed to sway slightly, and its silver-white light flickered unstably.
Once Dai Yuhao finished speaking, he clearly felt the mental force of the Evil Eye spirit soul, which had been trying to maintain its composure, suddenly surge like a tsunami! Within its giant silver-white eye, the vibration of the pupil reached an unprecedented level. It was a mixture of extreme shock, disbelief, and even a trace of... trembling and thumping from the depths of its soul!
"You... You are... Spirit Ice Douluo?!"
"That spirit master from ten thousand years ago... who became a god?!"
Dai Yuhao could clearly hear the shock contained in the voice, and he nodded solemnly.
"Mhm! Aunt Leng... is the Vice Tower Master of the Spirit Pagoda ten thousand years from now, and also my teacher. That's what she told me. Based on historical records and everything that has happened to me... it should be correct."
The Evil Eye spirit soul fell into a deathly silence, but the intense mental agitation did not subside; instead, an even more unspeakable emotion was brewing within the silence. The reason the Evil Eye spirit soul's emotions changed so drastically was not just because it learned Dai Yuhao's identity, but also because of something in its legacy memory!
Ten thousand years ago, the Evil Eye clan had a supreme existence. That supreme monarch of the Evil Eye clan, whose cultivation reached eight hundred thousand years and who once ruled the Evil Demon Forest and intimidated the continent—the Evil Eye Tyrant Dominator! And this most powerful existence in the history of the Evil Eye clan had fallen at the hands of the Spirit Ice Douluo, becoming his spirit ring!
When the Evil Eye spirit soul focused its gaze on Dai Yuhao again, its attitude had undergone an earth-shattering change. If before it had treated Dai Yuhao with a condescending and indifferent attitude... then at this moment, the light emanating from that massive eye was a mixture of shock, realization, reverence, and an almost urgent... fawning!
To this three-thousand-year Evil Eye with talent surpassing its peers, becoming a spirit soul had made it feel like its life as a beast was over and there was nothing left to look forward to. But it was different now. It had become Dai Yuhao's spirit soul—the future Spirit Ice Douluo, an existence destined to become a god!
This meant its status as a "spirit soul" would no longer be the end! As long as it followed this host closely, witnessed his growth, and accompanied him in battle, at the moment he ascended to the God Realm, it was highly possible for it to live a second life and even obtain eternal life!
What a heaven-defying opportunity was this?! In the ten thousand years of history on the continent, there was only one such person to become a god, and now it had actually encountered him ten thousand years later!
The massive surprise completely crushed its remaining pride and reserve. Compared to the ultimate temptation of becoming a god, what did that bit of face matter? Thus, Dai Yuhao saw that the giant silver-white eyeball, which had been floating in the center of the spiritual sea, instantly dropped in height. It was now almost level with his consciousness incarnation, even slightly lowered, showing an almost humble posture.
The cold voice rang out again, but the tone was completely different, filled with urgency, flattery, and even a hint of caution.
"My attitude was bad before! I hope you can forgive me!"
"From now on, as long as it's an order you give, I will execute it without the slightest hesitation! No questions asked!"
Seeing the giant eyeball's attitude change so quickly, Dai Yuhao was momentarily stunned. This contrast was too great! However, he was just a six-year-old child after all, with a simple mind, at an age where he did not hold grudges. Although he was a bit depressed when the Evil Eye ignored him, it was not a deep-seated resentment.
Now seeing the other party apologize and state its position so sincerely, that little bit of unhappiness had long since vanished. He blinked and waved his hand like a "little adult," saying generously, "Then I'll see how you perform from now on."
Hearing that Dai Yuhao seemed to have forgiven it, the light in the Evil Eye spirit soul's giant silver-white eye seemed to brighten even more. It nodded hurriedly, its entire spherical body shaking up and down, its fawning intent even stronger.
"Yes! Yes! I will definitely perform well! I won't let you down!"
"Um... you can just call me 'Little Silver' from now on!"
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