Douluo Continent: The True Self of Martial Soul, Infinite Awakening

Star City, White Tiger Duke's Mansion.

The autumn wind, carrying a biting chill, swept up the withered yellow leaves on the ground and slammed them heavily against the mottled red wall of the side courtyard.

Huo Yuhao lowered his head and trudged along the uneven cobblestone path.

His coarse linen coat was faded from washing, and the edges of the cuffs were frayed, offering no protection against the cold wind that was blowing straight into his collar.

He walked very slowly, his arms tightly wrapped around his chest, his hands gripping the hem of his clothes, his knuckles pale and bloodless from the excessive force.

The harsh pronouncement of the deacon during the awakening ceremony still echoed in his mind.

"Martial Soul: Eyes; Innate Soul Power: Level 1; Useless Martial Soul, next."

The laughter of the duke's direct descendants and the disdainful looks of the servants around him turned into invisible blades, shattering the last bit of hope in the heart of a six-year-old child.

The crooked wooden door of the courtyard was right in front of us.

Huo Yuhao stopped in his tracks, looked up at the faint candlelight shining through the crack in the door, and his eyes reddened.

He slowly loosened his clenched fists and rubbed his frozen cheeks vigorously, trying to make his expression look less desperate.

Mom is still sick. She coughed up blood this morning. If she knew she had only awakened level one soul power...

"Just because you have level one innate soul power, you think you're a piece of trash?"

Without warning, a voice without any inflection rang out at the end of the alley.

Huo Yuhao suddenly turned his head.

From the dark corner, a boy about his age emerged.

The boy was dressed in a black outfit of excellent quality, with intricate cloud patterns embroidered in silver thread on the cuffs and collar.

His hands were behind his back, his steps were steady, and his clear black and white eyes shone brightly in the dim alley.

Two steps behind the boy stood an extremely tall old man.

The old man had green hair and beard, his hands were tucked into his wide sleeves, and his eyes were slightly closed.

Despite not making any movement, Huo Yuhao felt the surrounding air become thick and heavy, making it extremely difficult to breathe, and the light in the area where the old man was located was slightly distorted.

These two people were Ye Yuan and Du Busi, who had crossed thousands of miles of territory to come to the Star Luo Empire, guided by the power of destiny.

"Who...who are you?" Huo Yuhao took a half step back, his back pressed against the cold courtyard wall.

Ye Yuan did not answer, but walked straight to Huo Yuhao. The two were about the same height. Ye Yuan lowered his eyelids slightly and looked at Huo Yuhao's clear eyes.

"Physical Martial Soul, Spirit Eye." Ye Yuan sized him up, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"To the blind men of the White Tiger Duke's Mansion who only know tigers, this is indeed a useless martial spirit. But to those who truly understand, it is a top-tier talent capable of causing bloodshed."

Huo Yuhao was stunned. He stared intently at Ye Yuan, his chest heaving violently: "You're lying... The deacon said my soul power is only level one, and my cultivation speed is extremely slow..."

"You're at the first level of the Innate Realm because your physical body is too weak, your qi and blood are depleted, and you can't withstand stronger spiritual energy feedback." Ye Yuan interrupted him, his gaze sharp as a knife.

"Join my Body Sect, cleanse your marrow and strengthen your foundation. Your spiritual eye will become the most terrifying control and mental hub on this continent."

"The Body Sect?" Huo Yuhao was extremely unfamiliar with this name.

"A sect that would make the White Tiger Duke's Mansion kneel and look up to you." Ye Yuan took a half step closer, looking directly into Huo Yuhao's eyes. "Are you content with that?"

Huo Yuhao's breath hitched.

"Are you willing to watch your mother wash those endless clothes in ice water every day? Are you willing to be beaten and scolded by the Duchess at will, and even have the gatekeepers shit on your heads? Are you willing to let that man named Dai Hao leave you and your mother in this dilapidated courtyard to die?"

Every word Ye Yuan uttered struck Huo Yuhao's deepest sore spot with pinpoint accuracy.

Hatred is a more effective catalyst than any inspirational quote.

Huo Yuhao's eyes instantly filled with blood. Images of his mother's swollen and cracked hands, the butler's fat, grinning face, and the aloof Duke of White Tiger who wouldn't even glance at them appeared in his mind.

His body trembled uncontrollably, not from the cold, but from extreme anger and a sudden urge to grasp at a straw.

"As long as it makes me stronger..." Huo Yuhao gritted his teeth, forcing out the words, "As long as it lets me trample them under my feet and give my mother a good life, I'm willing to do anything!"

"Very good." Ye Yuan took half a step back, clearing the way to the courtyard gate. "Lead the way, we're going to see your mother."

Without any hesitation, Huo Yuhao turned around and pushed open the rickety wooden door, almost stumbling as he ran into the courtyard.

The courtyard was filled with the pungent smell of cheap soapberries and a damp, musty odor.

By the dim candlelight, a huge wooden basin could be seen in the center of the courtyard.

A slender woman was kneeling in front of a wooden tub, her hands immersed in the icy water, laboriously rubbing several heavy animal skin coats.

Her face was a sickly sallow color, and she would occasionally turn her head away, cover her mouth with the back of her hand, and cough a few times in a suppressed manner.

"Mother!"

Huo Yuhao rushed over and grabbed the woman's hand. Her hands were icy cold, with large knuckles, and the back of her hands was covered with crisscrossing frostbite and cracks.

Huo Yun'er looked up and saw her son's face covered in tears. She hurriedly wiped her hands on her apron and pulled Huo Yuhao into her arms.

"Yuhao, what's wrong? Did someone bully you during the awakening ceremony? It's okay, no matter what you awaken, you'll always be Mommy's good child..."

Before she could finish speaking, she caught a glimpse of Ye Yuan and Du Busi walking into the courtyard out of the corner of her eye.

The gentle expression on Huo Yun'er's face vanished instantly. She stood up abruptly, shielding Huo Yuhao behind her, and warily watched the two uninvited guests.

Her years of experience working in the lower levels of the Duke's mansion gave her an almost instinctive sense of danger.

The oppressive aura emanating from that green-haired old man was a hundred times more terrifying than any Soul Master she had ever seen.

"My lords..." Huo Yun'er lowered her head, her voice trembling slightly, "This is the residence of the Duke's servants. May I ask what brings you two here so late at night?"

Ye Yuan stood a few steps away, his gaze sweeping over the basin full of icy dirty water, finally settling on Huo Yun'er's face, weathered yet still faintly revealing the beautiful features of her youth.

In the original work, countless people portrayed Huo Yun'er as a foolish woman who was willing to endure all torment for Dai Hao's kindness, but Ye Yuan, who had lived two lives, saw through her very clearly.

In this cannibalistic ducal mansion, a maid with no background or power, carrying an unloved illegitimate child, could be killed silently by the duchess if she dared to show the slightest sign of resistance or attempt to escape.

The so-called infatuation and forbearance are nothing more than the shackles that a mother from the lower class has to put on herself in order to give her son a chance to live.

"Mrs. Huo," Ye Yuan said, his tone devoid of the naivety of a six-year-old, carrying an undeniable penetrating force, "Stop pretending."

Huo Yun'er looked up abruptly, her face full of astonishment.

"You know very well that Dai Hao has forgotten you. You stay here, enduring the Duchess's harassment, washing these servants' clothes in ice water, not to wait for his return." Ye Yuan stared into her eyes.

"You're just scared. You're scared that if you run away with Yuhao, your legs will be broken by the Duke's pursuers within three days, and you'll be thrown into the mass grave in the back mountain."

Huo Yun'er's body swayed violently, her legs went weak, and she almost couldn't stand up.

She bit her lower lip hard, staring in horror at the boy who had exposed all her pretenses.

"You risked your life to give Yuhao time to grow up. But look at him now." Ye Yuan pointed to Huo Yuhao behind her.

"He's pale and thin, and his blood and qi are deficient. He awakened the most powerful original spirit in Douluo Continent, but due to long-term malnutrition, he was found to have only innate level one spirit power. Do you think you can outlive him until he grows up? With your physical condition, you can only last three more years at most. After you die, he won't live more than a month in the Duke's mansion."

Huo Yun'er's defenses completely crumbled, and tears welled up in her eyes, rolling down her pale cheeks in large drops.

She knew, of course, that her body was on the verge of collapse, and every night she prayed in fear that she could live a little longer, just a little longer.

"Come with us."

Ye Yuan extended his right hand.

"If you join the Body Sect, I will use the best spiritual medicines in the entire continent to regulate your bodies, and I will provide Yuhao with the most top-notch resources for his upbringing. In less than twenty years, he will become a Title Douluo. At that time, you and your son can walk into the White Tiger Duke's Mansion with dignity through the main gate, and make all those who bullied you kneel at your feet."

Huo Yun'er stood there, her vision blurred. She turned her head and looked at Huo Yuhao, who was clutching the hem of her clothes tightly.

A fire she had never seen before burned in the boy's eyes—an intense thirst for power.

"thump."

Huo Yun'er's knees buckled, and she knelt heavily in the muddy courtyard.

She didn't look at the ethereal gods, nor at the distant White Tiger Duke, but instead bowed deeply to the six-year-old boy before her.

"As long as Yuhao can be saved... Yun'er's life belongs to the sect."

Poison Undying, who had been standing silently at the back, finally grinned and let out a deafening laugh.

"Great! That felt good!"

Poison Undying strode forward, and as he walked, the space around the courtyard began to distort violently. He didn't even glance at the dilapidated belongings, and with a wave of his sleeve, he left.

A rich, dark green light instantly enveloped Ye Yuan, Huo Yuhao, and Huo Yun'er.

"I can't stand the stench of this wretched place any longer!"

With a light touch of his toes, Du Busi rose into the air without alerting any of the Duke's guards or triggering any warning soul-guiding arrays. The four figures, along with the ball of green light, instantly disappeared into the dark night sky.

Only the wooden basin filled with ice water remained, gleaming with a chilling light in the cold wind.

Three days later, at the main peak of the Body Sect in the Heavenly Soul Empire.

Sunlight pierces through the clouds and shines on a secluded courtyard halfway up the mountain. The temperature here is like spring all year round, and the rich spiritual energy of heaven and earth makes every breath a pleasure.

Inside the main room of the villa, Huo Yun'er lay on the soft bed, her originally sallow complexion regaining some of its rosy hue.

Several elders of the Body Sect, who were well-versed in pharmacology, personally took action and used a gentle method to strengthen her constitution, forcibly removing most of the cold energy and hidden injuries that had accumulated in her body for many years.

Huo Yuhao carefully walked to the bedside, carrying a bowl of steaming medicinal soup.

He changed into a smart gray outfit. Although he was still thin, the gloom in his eyes had been swept away and replaced by an unprecedented brightness.

"Mom, it's time for your medicine." Huo Yuhao blew on the medicine and fed it to his mother with a spoon.

Huo Yun'er drank the medicine, reached out and touched her son's cheek. Even now, she still felt like it was a dream she dared not wake up from.

There were no insults, no ice water, only dignity and hope.

On the bluestone steps outside the villa, Ye Yuan stood with his hands behind his back, quietly listening to the faint sounds of conversation coming from inside the house.

The massive body of the Poison Immortal appeared silently beside him, followed his gaze, glanced into the room, and raised an eyebrow slightly:

"Kid, that woman's foundation is too weak. Even with spiritual medicine to keep her going, she'll never go far on the path of a Soul Master. As for that kid, his Spirit Eye Martial Soul is indeed rare, but he missed the best time to build his foundation. His meridians are blocked, and it will take a lot of rare and precious materials to make up for it. Are you sure he's worth the sect investing so much in?"

Ye Yuan withdrew his gaze and turned to look at the rolling sea of ​​clouds in the sky.

The flow of fortune was clearly visible to him. As Huo Yuhao stepped into the mountain gate of the Body Sect, a vast and immeasurable fortune of heaven and earth, which was originally outside the continent, was converging towards the Body Sect at a visible speed, creating a strong resonance with his own Martial Soul.

That is the destiny of the chosen ones of the era.

"Sect Master," Ye Yuan said calmly, yet with a confident air of control.

"He will earn back tenfold or even a hundredfold in the future those rare and precious materials he invested in."