Douluo Continent: Little Huo Niang Taken Away by Di Tian

Mu En continued, "From then on, every ten years we would fulfill this cruel agreement until we both became Super Douluo at the age of one hundred."

Then, Xi Shui reappeared, leaving behind the words: "The decisive battle at the age of one hundred will be the final battle. Only one person can live, and the survivor can marry her. Otherwise, she will bring devastation upon the entire continent."

"By then, both Xiaoyao's and my wives had passed away." Mu En's voice carried a deep-seated weariness and desolation. "We never truly let go of our feelings for Xishui; instead, we sank deeper and deeper into this long entanglement and guilt..."

"Teacher," Huo Yutong asked softly, refilling Mu En's slightly cooled tea, "In that final battle... between you and Senior Long Xiaoyao, who won?"

Moon held the warm teacup for a long time before letting out a barely audible sigh.

"...There were no winners. That final battle never happened." He said slowly, "At that time, Poison Must Die of the Body Sect came to the Sea God Pavilion. He disagreed with my beliefs and we started fighting."

Although I won, I was severely injured. Then came the beast tide that swept through the academy… My injuries worsened during the tide, leaving me in this state. Since then, Xiaoyao and Xishui have never appeared again.

Huo Yutong's heart was filled with turmoil. After hesitating for a moment, she whispered, "Teacher, we have news from the Spirit Pagoda that... Senior Ye Xishui seems to be the... Supreme Leader of the Holy Spirit Sect."

Moon's hand holding the teacup trembled almost imperceptibly.

After a long silence, he let out a very soft and slow sigh: "Is that so... I suppose that's the only way it can be."

As night deepens, the aroma of tea in the Sea God Pavilion settles down along with memories of the past.

Huo Yutong bid farewell to Mu En and returned to her dormitory.

In her spiritual sea, discussions also unfolded regarding Moon's past.

"If you ask me, since Ye Xishui likes both of them, why doesn't she just marry Mu En and Long Xiaoyao at the same time? Why all this trouble later on!" Tianmeng's tone was full of confusion.

"Exactly! My dad married six wives!" Xie Lin's voice rang out immediately. "If you like someone, just be together. Why all the rules?"

Hyotei joined the discussion: "In human kingdoms, don't emperors also have three palaces and six courtyards with countless concubines? Given their strength and status at the time, why should they be bound by worldly norms?"

"Although our Silver Moon Wolf clan practices monogamy," Crescent Moon added, "in the world of soul beasts, polygamy, polyandry, and even looser forms of union are widespread. Survival, reproduction, and power are paramount; form is not important."

Electrolux seemed to want to say something.

"That's not entirely true..." He finally just sighed softly and didn't continue. His own love life didn't seem to be any better.

Huo Yutong listened quietly, but her thoughts drifted uncontrollably to the distant past, to the man she called "father".

Irresponsible.

The word weighed heavily on her heart. Because of that man's momentary indulgence and long-term absence, her mother, Huo Yun'er, suffered endless humiliation in the Duke's mansion, and her life was exhausted at a young age.

Although Aunt Hui and Luo Li did not suffer such severe abuse, they still lived in fear and oppression for many years, always trembling with anxiety.

Dai Hao's passion and indifference were the starting point of the tragedy for all of them.

This reminded her of the intricate web of marriages and inheritances within the Duke's mansion.

The Dai and Zhu families have been bound together for generations, ostensibly because of the powerful martial soul fusion skill "Netherworld White Tiger," but the deeper secret lies in the difficult continuation of divine beast bloodlines in mortal bodies.

Some scholars have speculated that there is a very small chance that the combination of the two could directly produce an inheritor of the "Netherworld White Tiger" martial soul.

However, how could a mortal body easily bear the power of the gods? The Duchess's young daughter, who died young, was a victim of this cruel inheritance.

In order to maintain this fragile bond and for the sake of political balance, the daughters of the Dai and Zhu families successively married into the Star Crown Royal Family.

It wasn't until the last hundred years, when the status of the White Tiger lineage rose again, that the balance of marriage alliances began to tilt slightly once more.

Dai Hao's father, the previous White Tiger Duke, died in a shipwreck due to an attack by a sea spirit beast.

The young Dai Hao hastily inherited the title. To appease and also to keep the emperor in check, the then-Emperor Xingguan betrothed his niece, the cousin of Crown Prince Xu Jiawei, the noble Princess Xingluo, to Dai Hao.

That was an era of constant warfare, and in order to quickly replenish the population, the law stipulated that one could marry at the age of fourteen.

Two young people, who were practically children at the time, were bound together by the interests of their families and the empire.

The Duchess loathed Huo Yun'er, and this loathing turned into a venomous hatred after Dai Hao left home for the front lines and had a one-night stand with Huo Yun'er.

But she didn't immediately harm Huo Yun'er, who was pregnant. "That bastard and that lowly servant have a long life ahead of them." She watched coldly, enjoying the power to control the lives of others, while carefully protecting her own unborn child, Dai Huabin.

Soon after, Dai Hao returned, but with another pregnant woman by his side, Hui Feier, a healing soul master in the army.

The Duchess's hatred, like fueled by new firewood, burned even more intensely and twistedly.

She imprisoned Huo Yun'er in a secluded courtyard, leaving her to give birth to a daughter in loneliness and hardship, whom she named "Yu Tong".

Torture became the norm in the Duchess's life. She not only wantonly abused Huo Yun'er and her daughter, but also made Hui Fei'er and young Dai Luoli watch helplessly, using their miserable state to torment their minds.

Only when Hui Feier begged and pleaded with tears in her eyes would she occasionally "show mercy" and let the terrified Dai Luoli leave temporarily.

Dai Hao's departure lasted for eleven years.

Huo Yun'er, tormented and suffering from illness day after day, passed away at the young age of twenty-seven when Huo Yutong was ten years old.

Huo Yutong buried her mother herself, and from then on, she only bore the surname Huo at her lonely grave overgrown with weeds.

Having witnessed all of this since childhood, Dai Luoli's soul had long been gnawed by fear, leaving her with nightmares every night and her temperament becoming increasingly timid and gloomy.

Hui Feier was heartbroken. She knew that she and her son might be next, and Yu Tong, who was growing up, was in even greater danger.

A bold and desperate plan took shape in her mind: the child had to be sent away.

Finally, she seized an opportunity and quietly sent Huo Yutong out of that lavish, man-eating cage.

As for Dai Yueheng, the Duchess's eldest son, he was not unaware of it.

He simply chose to ignore it, as if the unfortunate mother and daughter did not exist, and even often went to Xingluo City to stay during holidays, out of sight, out of mind.

Because of Dai Hao's "womanizing" and irresponsibility, Huo Yutong admitted that she loathed such a man.

But today, after hearing about Mu En's past and the completely different ideas of her soul beast companions in the Sea of ​​Spirit, something solid in her heart seemed to have cracked slightly.