Douluo: This time we will rewrite our destiny

When Huo Yuhao pushed open the door to the reception room, Ma Xiaotao stood up from the sofa. Huo Yuhao could tell at a glance that her cultivation had regressed to the level of a seven-ringed Soul Saint, and that was in addition to the contract with the Blazing Pheasant. However, she was in much better spirits than before, even better than when they first met at the competition.

Seeing her stand up, Huo Yuhao smiled politely and waved his hand as a greeting.

Ma Xiaotao didn't speak right away. She walked quickly forward, in front of Huo Yuhao, with an anxious look on her face. She opened her mouth but said nothing. She hesitated for a few seconds, stomped her feet, sighed as if blaming herself, and turned away again. Her red hair swayed in the sunlight, looking slightly brighter.

Finally she said: "You are Huo Yuhao...right?"

"It's me." Huo Yuhao nodded to her.

“You are—” She turned her gaze to the girl who had just closed the door behind Huo Yuhao, “Chi Qiu.”

"You should have a deep impression of me," Chi Qiu said, "Back then, there were not many people who could stop your flames."

"I didn't expect people like you to infiltrate the Holy Spirit Church."

Compared to Ma Xiaotao's awkwardness, Huo Yuhao and Chi Qiu found a comfortable place to sit down and poured themselves tea.

“What kind of people are we?”

Huo Yuhao made a “please” gesture to her, indicating that she should stop standing there.

Ma Xiaotao was silent for a long time, unable to give any comments. Perhaps she had learned to reflect on her own assumptions. She found a high stool and sat down: "I want to say...I'm sorry."

Huo Yuhao put down the teacup: "Which time?"

"That time at Poseidon Lake," Ma Xiaotao lowered her head and looked at the white sunlight outside the window, "and the time during the competition when I tried to kill your classmates, I'm sorry."

Huo Yuhao deliberately remained silent, watching Ma Xiaotao's hands change from being supported on the cushion to being placed on her legs and twisted together. It was not until he felt that the other party's emotions had become tense to a certain extent that he sighed slightly.

"Let's end this matter here." He said, "Now you know that I listened to your true feelings when we signed the contract. It has been many years, and I will not hold on to it. I just hope you remember that I have helped you a lot, and there are some things that Shrek can't help you with."

Seeing Ma Xiaotao nodded, he continued:

"You are eager to go back now, probably because of the prosperous Shrek in your memory; after you really go back this time, you may have some changes in your thinking."

"What does Shrek look like now?" Ma Xiaotao finally raised her head to look at him.

"You'll find out soon."

……

When Huo Yuhao, Chi Qiu and Ma Xiaotao landed at the gate of Shrek City, Zhang Lexuan and Shrek City Lord Shi Xing had been waiting for a long time.

This was the first time Huo Yuhao came to Shrek City and received such a reception. It was still quite new to him. Shi Feng had changed a lot since the last time they met. His hair was whiter and his face had more wrinkles, making the corners of his eyes look sad and droopy.

Zhang Lexuan looked the same as the last time we met, except that the ends of her long black hair were a little less well-maintained, and fluttered slightly like grass leaves. Her makeup covered the dark circles at the corners of her eyes.

“It’s nice to meet you.” Huo Yuhao spoke in a gentle and emotionless official language. “The demise of the Holy Spirit Church should be a great celebration for the entire soul master world. I have received the letter from the Acting Pavilion Master. Thank you for your concern about the progress of the Holy Spirit Church. Shrek is a place that soul masters yearn for, and we should also come to share the joy with you.”

Zhang Lexuan looked at Huo Yuhao, left and right, still finding it hard to imagine. The person who came was indeed Huo Yuhao, but he was completely different from the child she remembered. Although he was not very old, his every move and momentum were not inferior to those old men in the Sea God Pavilion. She even felt that it was presumptuous to describe him as a "child".

"Thank you for your visit." Shi Xing said, "Please come to Shrek Academy."

After entering the gate of Shrek Academy, Ma Xiaotao finally rushed over to hug Zhang Lexuan. Zhang Lexuan hugged her tightly and closed her eyes, fearing that her tears would smudge her makeup and reveal her true tired face.

"Big sister," Ma Xiaotao choked up, "what happened in these years?"

Of course, she also saw that Shrek was lacking in talent. As the trust in the Douluo Three Kingdoms decreased, the new generation of children turned to the Royal Academy in their own country, and Shrek was no longer their first choice.

The students of Xingluo and Douling might still care about their soul beast resources in Xingdou. The Tianhun Empire borders the Xingdou Great Forest. With the vigorous promotion of the Tianhun Royal Academy, the number of Shrek students from the Tianhun Empire has dropped significantly.

"There's a lack of successors, Xiaotao," Zhang Lexuan said softly, "The old ones are still strong, but the fresh blood in the academy is cooling down. Maybe our time has passed."

"If I hadn't been taken away...!"

"It won't change anything. Ling Luochen will still leave. The Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect was not happy with our performance in the competition, and Ning Tian and Wu Feng also left after that. Now the only ones who can be regarded as the backbone of the new generation are Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi and Xiao Xiao."

Huo Yuhao listened and roughly understood some of the details. Jiang Nannan hated the cheating scandal so much that she left Shrek after the competition and never revealed her whereabouts again; Xu Sanshi wanted to follow her, but some of his background in the Douling Empire surfaced at this time, and under the pressure of the Douling, he had to stay temporarily. Although Xiao Xiao was still studying at Shrek, she did not plan to follow Shrek's arrangement to take up a position after graduation, but planned to go out on her own and start all over again.

Huo Yuhao believed that with the abilities of the people he had seen, they would be able to make their own way in the turbulent environment of the future without relying on Shrek.

“Sorry to make you laugh.” After a while, Zhang Lexuan arranged for Ma Xiaotao to return to her dormitory, which had never changed. Then she said to Huo Yuhao in a serious tone, “Now let’s talk business. Please come to the Sea God Pavilion. Everyone is waiting.”

Once again stepping onto the stairs of the golden tree, Huo Yuhao's mood was completely different from before. This time he was more relaxed than ever before. Zhang Lexuan opened the door for him, and he looked into the meeting room. All the elders were waiting. In addition to some familiar old faces and Elder Xuan who was lying in the main seat but drunk, he also saw Bei Bei sitting on the side seat.

When the young man saw him coming in, his dark eyes brightened up a bit. Bei Bei probably wanted to see through him and dig out all the information about Tang Ya in his mind.

Huo Yuhao remained calm, and did not give Beibei any hint of hope. He and Chi Qiu sat down at the guest seats one after another. Zhang Lexuan walked quickly to the seat next to Xuan Lao, took out the materials that had been prepared earlier, briefly read out the theme of today's meeting, and then made a "please" gesture to Huo Yuhao. This time, Huo Yuhao came out to negotiate with the identity of Sun and Moon National Master. Under the advice of the royal family, he also raised some content, mostly about the rare metal transaction and the sharing of ancient books and secret methods of soul master cultivation. Although these had to be discussed first, they were not that important. While Huo Yuhao was negotiating here, his mental power had already drifted outside the meeting room.

In a blink of an eye, the spirit power that flew away had condensed under the golden tree, and the half body that had not appeared for a long time appeared again. Because no other clothes were prepared temporarily, this half body was still wearing the school uniform of the Sun and Moon Royal Soul Instructor Academy. Standing under the golden tree, it was out of tune with the other students in the Shrek Inner Court.

However, the inner court students here were at most Soul Saints. In their eyes, Huo Yuhao's half-body cultivation was unfathomable, and no one was willing to provoke him.

Huo Yuhao stood under the golden tree, with the pupil of all spirits opening behind him. A silver-green line of life floated out from the pupil, gradually extending and flying towards the branches and leaves of the golden tree. His eyes gradually became clear, looking through the veins of the golden tree for tens of millions of years, through its layers of blurred annual rings, and looking at the soul of the tree.

This tree has a soul, and he saw it the moment it released its life force. From the moment it was planted, Extreme Douluo kept planting their souls in it, which turned into nutrients a hundred years later. Today, there is still a living soul here, from Moon.

“Hello,” he used his spiritual power to transmit to the old wood grain of the golden tree, “I am sorry for the offense.”

At a level that only he could see, the branches and leaves of the golden tree drooped, and golden rays of light converged, outlining the silhouette of an illusory old man in the air. The old man maintained the stiff and reclining posture he had in his lifetime, no different from any person with a damaged spine.

"No offense, I guessed this day would come since the second time I saw you." Moon's deep voice rang in his ears like thunder. Without the restraint of the flesh, his voice was more full of energy than when he was dying.

"how do I say this?"

"Most people, whether they are friends or enemies of Shrek, have a natural sense of awe when they come under this golden tree. If they hate Shrek to the core, at most they will be the other way around, wishing it would fall to the ground when they see it. But when you came, I saw that you were just completely curious."

“I still feel a little offended when I talk about this,” Huo Yuhao smiled sheepishly, “but maybe it’s because I knew about the existence of more realms too early. I’m in awe of everything in this world, but I also treat them equally.”

"Do you believe in the existence of the divine world?"

“More than just believing it,” Huo Yuhao said, “I am convinced.”

"That's no wonder." Moon sighed, "If you believe that there is a realm in the world that can break through human nature and ascend to the level of God, then every blade of grass and every tree in the world, no matter how sacred it is, is still a mortal thing, and it is not the ultimate goal after all."

"I thought you would be somewhat hostile to me."

"Why should I?" Moon laughed twice. "I can see at a glance that you have the talent to go there in the future. There are gods above us. Shrek was protected by the gods of the Shrek Seven Devils ten thousand years ago. Logically, it should have no worries, but the changes in these years seem to prove that even the heavens cannot shake the wheel of history."

"That thing on your arm, is it the scales that were removed by the lightning when Emperor Tian survived the 800,000-year catastrophe? It's a good thing. It has the power of the Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King and the baptism of the Heavenly Thunder of Discipline. You have it, so why should I let Shrek go against you just for a moment of pleasure?"

It turned out that this was the armor that Emperor Tian shed when he was overcoming the tribulation. Huo Yuhao was also secretly surprised. No wonder he could resonate with the time and space power of his other self. The thunder of overcoming the tribulation was essentially the commandment of the world, and the reversal and collapse of time and space, according to Yi Lao's thinking, was also an iron law of the world.

“Trying to rely on the protection of gods to achieve ten thousand years of prosperity is itself a form of trickery.” Huo Yuhao said, “Think about it, ten thousand years ago, the seven monsters of your school became gods, but they did not rely on any gods’ power, but achieved it on their own.”

“Really?” Moon smiled, but Huo Yuhao felt that his smile was meaningful. “They did it themselves. Is that so?”

"Is there some hidden secret that is not recorded in history books?"

"Well, is there? I don't know." Moon said slowly, "But people always say that when the Sea God was young, he was very good at martial arts, such as the Purple Demon Eye, the Mysterious Jade Hand, and the Ghost Shadow Step. The whole continent has never heard of such skills, as if he went to some unknown place to steal the skills."

“Isn’t this the Tang Sect’s technique?” Huo Yuhao asked, “Even the history books of the Sun and Moon say that this is the foundation of the Tang Sect’s founding.”

"Yes," Moon said, "that's it."

Huo Yuhao was silent for a while, thinking. Although he could not come to any conclusion for the time being, these words still left a mark in his heart.

"Are you telling me too much?" he asked cautiously.

In the air, Moon's shadow flickered. The old voice sounded again slowly:

"Sometimes, the older you get, the more things you find yourself confused about. Living in a tree, looking at the world from a tree's perspective rather than human eyes, you can see more things you can't understand. Child, when I became the eldest disciple of Shrek's inner courtyard, I was only seventeen years old: the same age as you. When I heard you greet me at the door of the dormitory building many years ago, I thought it was the inheritance of Shrek's destiny, but everything didn't go as planned."

"Now I feel that it is a huge pity that Shrek let you leave."

“There’s no need to talk about the past,” Huo Yuhao shook his head. “We are no longer on the same path. Ultimately, this was my own choice. Senior, I believe that success depends on human effort.”

"We are fellow travelers. Child, think about it, all the soul masters on the road to the God Realm are actually fellow travelers. You are a good child. If you were someone with a bad temper, we wouldn't be able to talk so much today. The wheel of history has already rolled over us, Shrek, and I don't intend to resist stubbornly; therefore, as long as you don't take everything from Shrek, I don't mind helping you on your path."

"What can you help me with?"

"The power of the golden tree you want."

Huo Yuhao took a deep breath.

"You see."

“Haha, I’m curious about this tree on my way to becoming a god. It’s impossible for me to say I don’t want it. However, this requires your guarantee to take effect. You are very smart and understand what I mean.”

“That’s what I had planned,” Huo Yuhao blinked in relief. “The future I have always envisioned will never be a bloody war that damages the foundation of the continent. If possible, I will minimize the losses and unify the Sun-Moon Empire. I’m just afraid that your academy will not accept becoming a part of the empire.”

"If they don't accept it, that's their business. I've done everything I can for Shrek. But I believe that this time I can finally fulfill my wish. Then you can come and get the agreed chips." (End of this chapter)