Douluo Continent, Huo Yuhao who returned from Sekiro

Chapter 6 The Star of Destruction Shines

The soft glow, like a mother's hand, gently caressed the delicate skin of the clouds, giving the ethereal space an exceptionally moving sense of reality. In the distance, faintly visible, seemed to be a majestic palace, both illusory and real under the touch of this gentle light.

A figure stood quietly amidst the clouds, gazing into the endless distance, seemingly looking at something.

The figure had long, flowing, azure hair that cascaded down to his feet. If it weren't for his imposing stature and broad shoulders, one might mistake him for a woman from behind. His magnificent blue robe seemed to ripple with water, suggesting the wearer's extraordinary status.

In the night sky of the divine realm, countless stars hang high, shining brightly. The brightness and clarity of the stars are unparalleled. The starry sky forms a huge star map, seemingly foreshadowing something. The changes in the stars are a mystery that only stargazers are qualified to glimpse in the human world, but in the divine realm, all mysteries are laid bare without any concealment.

"Ah—" The man sighed softly, a faint sadness appearing between his brows. His eyes were slightly closed, as if he were contemplating the ultimate truths of the universe.

"Third Brother." A soft call rang out. A figure stepped out of the illusion and came to the side of the man in blue.

She was a woman wearing a pink dress, her long hair styled into a long scorpion braid that hung down gently. From the side and back, one could see her delicate and slender white neck. The waist of the dress was so slender that it could be encircled with one hand, perfectly outlining her captivating figure.

"What's wrong, Third Brother? You seem worried. Is it about good and evil?"

"Perhaps."

The figure did not answer the woman's question directly, but instead looked up at the starry sky. Among the eternally rotating stars, three D-class stars were attracting each other and hovering in a certain pattern.

Those were three ominous stars among the Class D stars. One of them, the most dazzling star, seemed to be blinking slowly, which made the man feel a little worried.

The slowly twinkling star is the Heavenly Fiend Star, one of the three evil stars, or the Heavenly Killing Star. It represents the calamities sent down by heaven. Even the star that caused the first Asura God to twinkle was just one of the other two evil stars, not the Heavenly Fiend Star.

This was the day the man was embarking on his grand plan for the Douluo Continent, a plan spanning ten thousand years, and also the year the chosen one's martial soul awakened. At such a crucial juncture, the flashing of the Heavenly Fiend Star was by no means a good thing for the man, but even the gods could not change the changes in the stars.

"Let's hope all of this has nothing to do with the chosen one."

The man muttered to himself, somewhat resentful, completely forgetting that the woman beside him was still there.

"Unrelated? Third Brother, what do you mean it's unrelated to the Chosen One?"

The woman scratched her head curiously and asked.

The woman's words made the man's heart tighten. After confirming that there was no one else behind him besides the woman, the man relaxed slightly: "It's nothing. The Douluo Continent has become somewhat chaotic after these ten thousand years of changes. In particular, the continental collision caused by the tectonic shift more than four thousand years ago not only increased the area of ​​the Douluo Continent by more than double, but also brought many variables."

"Recently, a new star seems to have emerged in Douluo Continent. I tried to see his destiny clearly, but it is shrouded in mystery. Moreover, it is possible that the changes in the stars are related to this child. But I hope that all of this has nothing to do with that child."

"A person who can influence the changes in the stars has too much to bear, not to mention that the other party is also a chosen one. With these two factors combined, I'm afraid all the forces in the world would want to place their bets on him. This child doesn't need to bear too much pressure."

The man's words seemed somewhat insincere, and the woman wasn't sure if she had noticed the awkwardness in his tone. After all, it was clear from his words that he coveted the so-called Chosen One, or at least paid attention to it. However, it was obvious that he only wanted to receive this attention himself, not that everyone was paying attention to the Chosen One.

Xingluo City, a shop on Trit Street, inside the second floor of the shop.

"This is evidence that Viscount Jack's wife remotely manipulated the results of the Star Luo Division preliminary round of the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Competition."

"The Viscountess Jack's wife received a considerable sum of money from Earl Ansel and bribed a senior official in the Star Luo Division. In their private dealings, she even developed the official into her lover. As a result, the matter proceeded as smoothly as a hot knife through butter."

A short dwarf, whose entire body was wrapped in a linen robe, spoke as he placed a recording bead on the table.

The dwarf's hoarse voice rang out again: "I looked up that Earl Ansel while I was at it. His second son is the captain of the Kassel Academy this year. But I have to say, this year's Kassel team is a complete mess. There are only three Soul Masters in the team, and the rest are Great Soul Masters. If they don't resort to some underhanded tricks, it will be really difficult for them to qualify for the All-Continent Soul Master Tournament."

Across the table sat a chubby middle-aged man. He seemed to be in a good mood, and with his greasy hand, he took the recording bead the dwarf had pushed towards him, saying:

"That's natural. Even if those strong teams have already secured their spots after achieving rankings in the previous All-Continent Soul Master Tournament, the remaining spots are still highly sought after. This kind of thing happens in the preliminary rounds before every All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Tournament, so it's not unusual at all."

The middle-aged man stood up, pulled a drawer from the cabinet behind him, and took out a small linen bag. The linen bag was bulging and seemed to be stuffed with a lot of things. Then he faced the dwarf, a look of emotion flashing in his eyes.

"The Ansel family has truly fallen on hard times. When their patriarch's generation first rose to prominence, they wielded immense power. The Earl of Loyalty and Valor—what a glorious title!"

"But fortunes change, and the Ansel family's power has declined year by year. Now they only have the title of Earl. Nowadays, a fallen phoenix is ​​worse than a chicken. Otherwise, even if Earl Ansel couldn't get a letter of recommendation to send his son to Shrek Academy to gain prestige, he wouldn't be in such a sorry state, having to send his son to an unknown and trashy academy."

At this point, the middle-aged man clicked his tongue in amazement as he placed the flax bag on the table and pushed it toward the dwarf: "This is what you wanted. It's a dark green herb that has a pungent smell and looks like small lumps of mud. For this bag of herbs, the team I sent to Star Dou Forest to help the guest hunt for spirit rings spent half a month in the Star Dou Forest and even lost one member, before finally managing to snatch this bag from the mouth of a plant-type spirit beast."

(End of this chapter)