In Douluo Continent, I am the mastermind behind the scenes.

"I said no, and that's final. Don't you, Yu Xiaogang, have any humanity? Couldn't you wait until tomorrow morning to discuss even the biggest issues?"

"Flander! I only call you Boss Flander because of our years of friendship. Can't you tell the difference between the big and small kings? Should I call over the third brother and have him give you orders?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Huo Yuhao heard two sets of slightly hurried footsteps gradually fading away. He quickly took off the Xiaowu three-piece outfit he was wearing, carefully opened the door of the tunnel, and carefully observed the surrounding situation. After confirming that there was no one else in the room, he climbed out of the tunnel.

Going back is definitely out of the question. Shrek Academy is too small. Whether he goes back to the infirmary or the dormitory, he can't guarantee that he won't give himself away. Once Yu Xiaogang notices something, what kind of punishment awaits him?

After a moment's thought, Huo Yuhao made a decision that went against his ancestors' wishes: if he couldn't cover up his flaws, then he would burn this place to the ground.

Thinking of this, Huo Yuhao gathered all the flammable items in the room together. With the help of his soul power, the pile of flammable items quickly reached their ignition point, and a burst of flames ignited the starry sky.

"Burn, burn! Let these raging flames consume your sins!"

Huo Yuhao's old habit relapsed. Seeing the burning houses in front of him, he could no longer control his emotions and became increasingly frantic. When he came to his senses, Shrek Academy was already engulfed in flames, and the scattered flames had spread to his body.

"Fire! Help! Fire!"

Huo Yuhao's voice was almost hoarse from shouting, but no one came to his aid. He let the flames engulf his body. In the moment before his consciousness faded, he vaguely saw... the original Shrek Seven Devils standing in a row, giving him an extremely eerie smile.

Congratulations to Huo Yuhao for achieving his goal—to trap himself in his own web.

……

"Xiao Yuhao, wake up, wake up!"

After an unknown amount of time, Huo Yuhao, still asleep, heard a voice calling his name. With the help of his body's self-protective mechanisms, he finally woke up and slowly opened his eyes.

"Is this... the valley where the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well was originally located? Have I returned to reality?"

Huo Yuhao murmured something, then began to examine his body inside and out, and found that... his body was actually intact, and all functions were still working.

Is this an illusion or reality?

"Xiao Yuhao, stop thinking nonsense. This is reality. I've recovered 30% of my strength and also helped you reshape your body."

Upon hearing Tianmeng Bingcan's words, Huo Yuhao felt no joy whatsoever; instead, a look of worry appeared on his face.

He truly can't distinguish between illusion and reality!

Under the tutelage of Director Tianmeng, Huo Yuhao has grown somewhat, but as a price for this growth, he has developed a disease called paranoia, which makes him unable to blindly obey Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's words.

He even began to doubt whether the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm was fake, and whether the entire world was fake.

There's no going back, there's no going back!

"My... cultivation level?"

Huo Yuhao seemed to realize something, and then with a thought, nine soul rings—blue, gold, red, red, red, red, red, red, red, red—slowly rose up and pulsed around his body.

If all of this is not an illusion, then his cultivation level must be the work of the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm.

A living being can survive in his spiritual sea of ​​consciousness and even help him improve his cultivation. Conversely... could the other party absorb his cultivation without his knowledge?

He knew that the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm would most likely not do that, but... humph, he absolutely would not allow such a hidden danger to exist in his body.

After the establishment of the Great God Circle, Tang San's cultivation had surpassed that of the Dragon God of yesteryear, but what was the end result? In the end, he followed in the footsteps of the Dragon God and turned into a pile of yellow earth.

Without Tang San's suppression, Gu Yuena was able to devour Tang Wulin in his sleep. If one day Gu Yuena re-forges the Dragon God's position, issues a soul beast rallying order, and launches a large-scale attack on human forces, what will Tianmeng Ice Silkworm do?

Even married couples can turn against each other, so how could his relationship with Tianmeng Bingcan be as intimate as that of a married couple who share a bed?

Of course, Huo Yuhao had no intention of killing Tianmeng Ice Silkworm; he simply wanted to separate it from his spiritual sea and take some necessary precautions.

He could think about it, but he definitely couldn't afford to fall out with Tianmeng Ice Silkworm right now. Huo Yuhao didn't want to do that, nor did he need to. Before his cultivation officially surpassed Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's, he was still the same little Yuhao who always obeyed Tianmeng-ge.

"Brother Tianmeng, who have I been for so long?"

Huo Yuhao asked a symbolic question, not believing that the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm could forcibly raise his cultivation to level 91 in just a few days; it must have taken a long time.

"It's been... a year and a half."

Tianmeng Bingcan sighed. In the past year and a half, he had not closed his eyes once, staying by Huo Yuhao's side every step of the way, and helping his little Yuhao increase the age of his soul rings.

This work was compiled and uploaded by [author's name].

Ultimately, it's all Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's fault!

It was all his fault. He didn't tell Huo Yuhao the truth beforehand and took it upon himself to create an illusion. When Huo Yuhao was engulfed in flames, his consciousness completely collapsed. If he hadn't intervened in time, perhaps... sigh!

"Has it been a year and a half?"

Huo Yuhao murmured something, then with a thought, a pair of ice-blue wings grew from his back and flew straight towards Shrek City.

Compared to the Shrek City of my memory, the current Shrek City is extremely deserted. According to conversations among passersby, there are fewer than two hundred new students in this year's Shrek Academy. This phenomenon indicates one fact: war is about to break out.

Upon returning to Shrek Academy, Huo Yuhao immediately headed to Seagod Island and went to the office on the top floor of the Seagod Pavilion to inquire about the current situation in Douluo Continent from Chen Yu.

Looking at Huo Yuhao, who had disappeared for a year and a half, Chen Yu couldn't help but tease him, "Huo Yuhao, it's been over a year since I last saw you, and you've changed a lot."

"With more experience, one will naturally grow a little. Of course, nothing is achieved overnight. With my meager abilities, I certainly can't compare to you, Miss Chen."

As he spoke, Huo Yuhao went to sit down on the sofa by himself.

Upon hearing this, Chen Yu's expression froze instantly. She had meant it as a joke, but it turned out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The Huo Yuhao of the past would never have openly admitted that he was inferior to others; he would only keep playing the victim, claiming that his childhood was tragic, that he hadn't received a good education, and that all the wrongdoings he had committed were justified. (End of Chapter)