Battle Spirit Empire, Spirit Battle City.
Lan Xuanyu looked at the magnificent mansion before him with a complex expression.
"The Xuanming Sect, one of the prominent great sects in Spirit Battle City... By joining here as a servant for a few years, they will awaken my martial soul for free."
He, Lan Xuanyu, the dignified reincarnation of the Dragon God and a Supreme God King, actually had to become a servant for such a sect. It was an utter humiliation!
But currently, Lan Xuanyu truly had no other choice. He had spent over a year struggling to survive by picking through trash in Spirit Battle City. He was already over six years old; if he delayed any longer, he would miss the window to begin cultivation.
Born into the slums with such a disastrous start, how could he possibly have a way to earn money?
Although he had lived in an era twenty thousand years in the future where technology was highly developed, he personally didn't understand much about soul guidance technology. The sub-profession he mastered was forging, but at his current age, he simply didn't have the strength to utilize it.
If he wanted to earn money, he needed to forge; if he wanted to forge, he first needed to awaken a martial soul to gain strength.
It was a complete catch-22.
Thus, he was truly at his wit's end and had to resort to this inferior plan.
In this era, the Martial Soul Hall and the Spirit Transmission Pagoda no longer existed. The ancient ritual of martial soul awakening was controlled by the soul master noble class. How could those high-and-mighty soul master lords pass up a bite of such a large cake?
You either paid ten gold spirit coins for awakening, joined a powerful clan to provide free labor for several years, or you simply didn't awaken at all—living your life as an ordinary person with no way out.
"It is merely the path I must walk," he believed. With his wisdom and ability, he would surely find a way to reach the pinnacle!
Lan Xuanyu clenched his fists and walked into the gates of the Xuanming Sect without looking back.
...
Three days later, the northern suburbs of Star Net.
"This should be the place!"
Baili Du stood before a duplex three-story villa. He clapped his hands in satisfaction and gestured for an exceptionally clean-looking child and a gentle, beautiful woman to enter.
This was their new home.
If one were to ask which cities had the best security, it would be the capitals of the various nations and Shrek City.
In Heavenly Dipper City, they might encounter remnants of the Tang Sect, and since that place was near the Clear Sky Sect, there was no guarantee they wouldn't run into a hidden trap left by Tang San. He didn't want to be exposed to Tang San just yet. Shrek City was also off-limits for now; Tang San's mother was right there in the Golden Tree. Mingdu was even worse, and as for Spirit Battle City... it was better not to prematurely provoke the "Holy Grandson" of Tang.
After all, he was also a very important chess piece.
As the saying goes, the most dangerous place is the safest. No matter how clever the Duchess was, she would never imagine that Huo Yuhao and Huo Yun'er were living right under her nose.
Moreover, with him there, let alone the Duchess's spies, even Tang Hao and Ah Yin—who had now replaced the Plane Master and the Life Core—wouldn't be able to find them.
Baili Du smiled at them: "M... Madam Huo, and little Yuhao, this will be our new home from now on."
Huo Yun'er took a worried step forward and suggested cautiously: "Mr. Baili, perhaps we should go back. I believe Brother Hao won't give up on us..."
After a moment of hesitation, Huo Yun'er added: "If all else fails, we can go back and apologize to the First Madam. We will accept whatever punishment she gives. We are a family; there's no need to make things like this..."
"..."
Baili Du's brow couldn't help but twitch as a surge of anger began to spread from his heart.
Endless concessions and compromises, always prioritizing the needs of others...
This was exactly what Huo Yun'er had taught Huo Yuhao during his childhood. In this world where the strong prey on the weak, these "excellent qualities" were utterly useless.
It wasn't that Huo Yun'er had protected Huo Yuhao too well; it was that she hadn't protected Huo Yuhao at all.
But looking at his mother's haggard yet radiant face, he forced himself to swallow the sharp retort. As a mother, Huo Yun'er had already given everything that flesh and blood could provide. As a son, he had no right to criticize her further.
"Madam Huo," Baili Du suppressed his anger and smiled at her. "I ask you to use your brain—which hasn't been entirely occupied by romance cells—to think for a moment. Who gives a Dagger as a token of love? And if that White Tiger Duke truly had you in his heart, how could Yuhao suddenly have a younger brother who is a year younger than him?"
Huo Yun'er was stunned. She subconsciously gripped little Huo Yuhao's hand, her body trembling slightly.
It wasn't that she didn't understand these truths, but on this Douluo Continent, which was allegedly created by the God of Love, the power of love was still too overwhelming.
As the former Emotion God King, although he had lost his Divine Position, his perception of emotions was unmatched in the entire God Realm. Baili Du immediately sensed that the emotion of "love" for Dai Hao in his mother's heart was beginning to weaken.
Now was the chance!
"Or rather..." Baili Du struck while the iron was hot. He subtly manipulated the power of emotion to influence Huo Yun'er's feelings for Dai Hao. Looking at little Huo Yuhao, whose expression had also turned quite ugly, he sneered: "Do you want to drag your only son to hell right now? I should remind you that after that day, the attendants who brought Dai Huabin back were executed by the Duchess on charges of failing to protect him."
"I don't need to tell you what your consequences would be, do I? If you want to go back and walk into a trap now, I won't stop you." He then kicked the door open with some violence, stepped aside, and pointed outside. "Be my guest."
...
Baili Du's overly harsh criticism made Huo Yun'er's eyes turn red. She looked at her son's hopeful face in a daze.
Huo Yuhao just held Huo Yun'er's hand tightly. From his expression, it was clear he agreed more with Baili Du's words.
As a mother, she could endure suffering for her son's future life, and she wouldn't even mind dying. But she had to consider what would happen to her son after she was gone. Could he truly face this cruel world?
That "husband" who said he would come back to take her to enjoy a good life after the war—why would he rather father another child than come back to see her even once? He wouldn't even... even give her a formal title?
On one side were reality and the child she had raised; on the other were ethereal promises and love. For a mother, this was not a difficult choice.
For now, letting little Huo Yuhao stay by this Baili Du's side was undoubtedly the best option.
Without needing to think much longer, Huo Yun'er gripped little Huo Yuhao's hand and bowed deeply toward Baili Du. "I'll have to trouble you, Mr. Baili." She then resolutely led little Huo Yuhao into the villa.
...
Once the mother and son had entered their room, a smile of relief appeared on Baili Du's face. He lowered his head, covered his mouth, and stifled the urge to cry.
In his past life, he could only watch helplessly as his mother's body withered day by day until she passed away while longing for Dai Hao. After death, she was snatched by Tang San to the God Realm, where she was used as a vital tool of coercion and manipulation...
Now, he had finally... finally changed everything and brought his mother out of that cage!
He understood his mother too well, so he had to resort to such harsh methods.
People are driven by necessity. Although his methods weren't exactly kind, he had no choice. He didn't want his mother's past tragedy to repeat before his eyes. He didn't want her to become a bargaining chip for Tang San to threaten Huo Yuhao again, and he certainly didn't want her to suffer through that undeserved misery ever again.