Douluo Continent, Huo Yuhao who returned from Sekiro

Chapter 19 You are a person, and also a star

The starlight and moonlight poured down like flowing water, silently cascading over the land. A thin mist rose, obscuring the path beneath Huo Yuhao's feet, making it difficult to see clearly.

Huo Yuhao didn't know how far he had been carried by the Starlight Unicorn, but he could barely see through the green mist below the Star Dou Forest, which seemed to be asleep. Huo Yuhao could even vaguely see a familiar stream, the same stream where he had caught the blue fish before.

Under the veil of mist, everything below became indistinct. Moonlight cast a silver veil on the water, shimmering with a gentle glow. A cool breeze blew across the river, causing the water to ripple rhythmically like fish scales. The reflected starlight shone like gems and pearls in the night sky.

"Where are you taking me?"

Huo Yuhao swallowed hard. The scene before him was like a dream, making him feel unreal. He had seen many cruel, bloody, and tragic scenes, as well as magnificent, grand, and majestic buildings like the Duke's Mansion, but he had never encountered anything so fantastical. Even when he met Yinglong, he had never had such a wonderful experience.

Therefore, Huo Yuhao's words, seemingly directed at the Starlight Unicorn, were actually a question to himself. He was giving himself a powerful psychological suggestion, wanting to break free from this situation.

"Go to a place that doesn't exist, a place that neither man nor god can reach."

The Starlight Unicorn's voice was gentle, but it also had a somewhat androgynous quality, making it difficult to tell whether it was male or female at first glance. However, Huo Yuhao was startled when he heard the voice.

"You can talk? You're a 100,000-year-old soul beast??"

The fact that 100,000-year-old soul beasts can talk may seem like a piece of knowledge within the soul master community, but the sheer curiosity of this statement is incredibly stimulating for the general public, and it's widely circulated. How widespread is this story? Well, even someone like Huo Yun'er, who spends most of her time indoors, has heard the astonishing rumor that 100,000-year-old soul beasts can speak human language.

As for another piece of knowledge about Soul Masters that is widely circulated among the common people, it is roughly the story of a 100,000-year-old Soul Beast being able to transform into human form and cultivate. There are many similar stories adapted into folk tales in the Douluo Continent.

Therefore, when the Starlight Unicorn spoke, Huo Yuhao was immediately startled and guessed its identity as a 100,000-year-old soul beast.

The Starlight Unicorn didn't say anything more, but simply nodded slightly.

Having received a positive response from the Starlight Unicorn, Huo Yuhao pondered for a moment. Although he didn't know why this 100,000-year-old Starlight Unicorn was so amiable towards him, he figured it was highly likely that the other party would continue to cooperate with him for the time being. Therefore, he had to take advantage of this opportunity to obtain more information, so that even if the other party turned its back on him later, he would still have a chance to escape.

Secondly, Huo Yuhao analyzed the other party's motives. A 100,000-year-old soul beast coming to the outer area to find him must have some ulterior motive, and probably something very big. Apart from his experience in Ashina, Huo Yuhao really didn't know what else about him was worth coveting. Therefore, he had to quickly figure out what the other party was after.

"What kind of place is a place that doesn't exist? How can I possibly reach a place that neither humans nor gods can reach?"

As Huo Yuhao asked questions, his mind raced, recalling everything he had brought back from Ashina Castle. Besides the combat skills, ninja techniques, and samurai combat skills imprinted deep in his mind, he had also brought back some consumables that he had kept in his pack. He could retrieve them with a thought. Most of these consumables were common healing medicines, powders, or things like gunpowder, ash balls, and oil that were useful in combat.

In addition, there were Buddhist candies made by the monks of Senpou Temple, paper balloons used to pray to the gods for good luck, ceramic shards to attract the attention of enemies, and drugs used for suicide.

and many more.

Huo Yuhao's eyes suddenly widened in surprise, because he realized that besides these things, there were actually a few items in his pack that might attract the 100,000-year-old soul beast in front of him.

[Infant Ksitigarbha: A tiny child Ksitigarbha wrapped in red cloth. Offering this to the palm of your hand while worshipping grants the power to bring the dead back to life once.]

The swaddling cloth contains the love of parents; may the life in swaddling clothes live a peaceful life.

[God-Eating Elixir: An ancient and miraculous elixir that fully restores the user's life, and also restores all abnormal states.]

[Legend has it that the plants growing in the distant lands of Ashina attract nameless minor deities, and this medicine is a secret elixir made from these plants, imbued with the blessings of the gods—but ever since the divine dragon took root here, the minor deities have vanished without a trace…]

Even if a soul beast has lived for 100,000 years and is immortal, does it still want to pursue immortality, even at the cost of sacrificing and plundering the lives of others?

Huo Yuhao's eyes turned cold. He could understand people's desire for immortality, but all of this must never be based on plundering the lives of others. Huo Yuhao guessed that the being hiding behind the Starlight Unicorn probably wanted more than just temporary top-tier supplies like Devouring God and Swaddling Earth Treasury; it wanted true immortality, the dragon's immortality that Huo Yuhao had once severed.

"We usually call that place the spirit world, while people in the human world usually call it the underworld. But in fact, they are all the same place, a place between the human world and the divine world, a virtual place without a physical body, a place where all the wandering souls finally gather."

Just then, the Starlight Unicorn's words overturned all of Huo Yuhao's previous guesses. The place where souls drift and converge means that it is the afterlife. People who have died can live forever in the form of souls, so it seems that they really do not need the so-called power of immortality.

Although Huo Yuhao had never personally witnessed the afterlife, he had faced opponents who had crawled out of the underworld. Genichiro Ashina had once used the Black Mortal Blade "Knock" to open the gates of the underworld, sacrificing his own life to bring out the sword saint Isshin Ashina from the underworld.

"Why go to the Spirit Realm? I'm just an ordinary soul cultivator, how can I reach the Spirit Realm? Didn't you say the Spirit Realm is a place that neither humans nor gods can reach?"

Huo Yuhao's question quickly received a response from Starlight Unicorn.

"You are right, but you have overlooked one thing. Although you are human, your identity is not limited to that. If it were someone else, they could only enter the spirit world through the means of entering a dream. The one who would come to greet them would not be me, but the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox. Only she has the ability to send people into the spirit world through dreams. But you are still a star, our star, and also a star from outside."

(End of this chapter)