As Xia Die recounted her story, a faint smile appeared on her usually aloof and beautiful face.
Huo Yun'er could sense Xia Die's joy and sincerity.
From her words, Huo Yun'er could also see that busy yet warm home.
And indeed, perhaps only such a warm and harmonious home could raise such an excellent and gentle child as Xia Die, like a rising sun in the underworld, willing to treat all the dead with such tenderness.
Huo Yun'er also felt a pang of guilt. The warmth that Xia Die experienced, she couldn't give to young Huo Yuhao; instead, she let him experience all the darkness of the White Tiger Duke's mansion.
Beatings and cold stares were all that Huo Yuhao's childhood consisted of, and as his mother, she was powerless to change it, only able to provide him with the smoky warmth of that small woodshed.
"Hmm, it sounds like a warm and loving home."
"I didn't expect Yuhao to have two sons. It's a pity they can't come to the Underworld for me to meet."
"I wonder if they're handsome or not, and if they've found girlfriends."
"Yuhao has truly become a great figure on the continent, capable of supporting a world and protecting those he wants to protect."
"Unlike me, I'm just an ordinary maid without even soul power.
I couldn't even provide Yuhao with a stable living environment, causing him much pain and forcing him to face the malice of the White Tiger Duke's Mansion at a very young age."
"Yuhao's personality might be a bit stubborn; it must have caused you three children quite a bit of trouble, right?"
"I'm sorry, that's because of me. He wanted to temper himself through his personality to protect himself from being ridiculed by others."
Huo Yun'er gently stroked Xia Die's cheek, looking at her softly and saying,
"I'm an unqualified mother, almost failing in my responsibilities as a mother."
"I brought Yuhao into this world with wishful thinking, but failed to give him warmth and status; I gave him a martial soul, but failed to give him high-level innate soul power."
"He must have suffered a lot to become the legendary Super Douluo. He probably hates me, his mother, deep down, right?"
The first part was correct, but the latter part was somewhat different from the truth. Huo Yuhao didn't actually suffer much. As the saying goes,
"Only aliens are truly powerful," some people are born standing at the finish line of others.
Huo Yuhao was already standing at the finish line that the Dragon God dreamed of from birth.
If Huo Yun'er hadn't chosen to give birth to Huo Yuhao, the first one to be anxious would be the little planet spirit.
Her "color card" would be canceled, and she would probably have to consider whether to take matters into her own hands.
"I have never had such thoughts."
"I am the same no matter which one."
A clear voice suddenly rang out in this area, and a figure appeared beside Xia Die at some point.
The newcomer wore a black trench coat, the hem of which swayed slightly with the movement.
His black eyes were eight parts similar to Huo Yun'er's, seemingly containing stars, and a gentle smile was on his face.
Huo Yuhao had been able to hear their conversation the whole time.
Although he was at sea, he remained constantly concerned about Xia Die's condition.
The Underworld was only mentioned briefly in the original story, and with the existence of the former Dragon God Realm, this place of reincarnation for the dead was shrouded in too many unknowns.
No one knew if it had developed its own system, taking a completely different path from Douluo Continent.
Whether the power of death had mutated in this place of soul sedimentation was unknown, and whether the sleeping souls here had fallen was also unknown.
Fortunately, things were developing in a positive direction.
The Underworld couldn't support the souls, so those beings went into hibernation, waiting for the uncertain variables.
The Underworld, dominated by the God of Death, remained pure, unpolluted by the outside world, and hadn't given birth to anything abnormal.
Xia Die was connected to the [Imagination] Power, and the [Dream] Power had also left an insurance mark on her, making it easy for Huo Yuhao to reach her side through the mark.
As for hating Huo Yun'er, Huo Yuhao, regardless of which timeline he was in, would never have such thoughts.
"Long time no see, Mom."
Huo Yun'er's eyes were filled with longing as she suddenly hugged Huo Yuhao. Huo Yuhao didn't flinch, gently embracing her.
"So...so long time no see."
"You've grown up, and you've gotten taller."
"I heard about what happened over there from this child. I don't have any particular thoughts, I just hope you're doing well."
Die Bao's lips curved into a smile as she watched this scene, her face filled with joy, like a child waiting for praise from their parents.
Huo Yuhao hugged Huo Yun'er, looking at her with satisfaction, and said,
"I'm proud of you."
"Go to the Reincarnation Land deep in the Underworld."
"The God of Death is waiting to complete your final coronation, making you a true demigod."
Receiving the praise, Xiao Die's pointed elven ears turned slightly red, and she said softly,
"Mm."
"Then goodbye, Father."
"Polysia."
The purple dragon first affectionately nuzzled Huo Yuhao's cheek, then carried Xiao Die into the high skies of the Underworld, continuing along the River Styx towards the legendary Reincarnation Land.
The golden, shimmering River Styx, following the footsteps of Xia Die and Bolysia, gradually swallowed the purple River Styx.
Life began to spread; purple lawns and blue flower fields sprouted across the barren land of the Underworld, and countless souls accumulated in the Underworld regained their senses.
Centuries, millennia, tens of thousands of years—the Underworld can currently trace back to the time of the Spirit Hall's destruction; souls beyond that have already completed reincarnation.
The Underworld is actually very crowded; the number of souls accumulated over tens of thousands of years is terrifying, and its operation is extremely inefficient.
Consider this: a deceased soul needs to traverse the Underworld for tens of thousands of years to complete reincarnation—the efficiency is already quite low.
Fortunately, the souls of the past were mostly in a daze, without a sense of time; a day and tens of thousands of years made no difference to them.
Now it won't work. The spirits of the underworld have regained their sanity, so the underworld must operate more efficiently.
A soulless being with reason can endure a journey of ten thousand years.
Reincarnation is also highly random; humans aren't necessarily reincarnated as humans, they could be soul beasts.
If they're unlucky enough to be reincarnated as insects, they might return to the underworld in less than a year.
A true ten thousand-year journey results in only one year of life.
Reincarnation washes away past imprints; otherwise, even the most good-tempered soul would curse and swear after experiencing this.
After Xia Die becomes the ruler of the underworld, she must modify the reincarnation mechanism, otherwise the underworld will inevitably descend into chaos.
After the purple dragon carried the elven girl away, Huo Yun'er released Huo Yuhao, gently touching his cheek and saying,
"As expected of my child, you're so handsome."
"But what's with these clothes? Why do they look so ugly?"
Huo Yun'er frowned, looking at Huo Yuhao's black trench coat, purple top, and black trousers.
Huo Yuhao shrugged and said,
"People like to dress like this now, it's all about following the trend."
This was a lie. While there was indeed a trend towards "eccentric" fashion in the Tiandou Plain before, with black trench coats even becoming a specialty of the area,
Aglaia appeared later, sweeping across the Tiandou Plain with a series of gorgeous and fashionable clothes, launching a massive crackdown on Huo Yuhao's "eccentric" style.
Aglaia vowed to expel every single piece of clothing that polluted romantic ideals from the world!
Two major figures in this movement, Huo Yuhao and Bai E, were involved.
Bai E was cruelly suppressed by Aglaia in the name of a school principal, while Huo Yuhao left the Douluo Continent.
Without its leader, the "eccentric" fashion movement was surrounded and suppressed by Aglaia, gradually dissipating in the Tiandou Plain.
Only a few remnants remained near the Star Luo Empire's Disaster Mountain System.
Huo Yun'er looked at Huo Yuhao with suspicion, but seeing his confident demeanor, she didn't say anything. If he liked it, that was fine.
"By the way, how did the Duchess of the White Tiger treat you after I died?"
"Did they still bully you? Dai Hao, he..."
Huo Yuhao interrupted her, saying,
"Mom, just as you told Diebao."
"I'm a very stubborn person, even a bit egotistical."
"So I want to tell you, I can never forgive the White Tiger Duke's Mansion, and I can never forgive those people with the surname Dai."
"Whether it's Dai Huabin or Dai Hao, I will slowly torture them."
Looking at Huo Yuhao's serious expression, Huo Yun'er pursed her lips and said softly,
"I know you won't forgive them. I have a flaw in my personality; I easily place my hopes on others."
"The White Tiger Duke's Mansion brought you a lot of suffering, and I won't let you forgive them. That would be irresponsible to you."
"Those who have truly experienced suffering never praise it. Suffering is suffering; there's no glamorous inner world. That's the dark side of the world."
"Can you promise me one thing?
Don't let too many people be affected, like Dai Luoli and his mother who gave us clothes and food.
Give them a way out, okay?"
Huo Yuhao gently hugged her and said.
"Of course."
Or rather, Huo Yuhao never intended to do anything excessive to Dai Luoli and her son. He would ensure his mother lived a comfortable life until her death.
As for Dai Luoli himself, after the new continent was opened, he would be sent there to explore.
For a Soul Master, the opportunities in a completely unknown continent far outweighed the risks.
Many resources on the Douluo Continent had already been fully developed.
Five thousand years ago, spirit herbs could still be found on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest, and some continental secret realms even contained immortal herbs.
Now, however, large areas of spirit herbs could only be found in the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well and the Thunderous Hell Vine Canyon.
A single spirit herb was enough to make a small force fight tooth and nail.
For example, the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile School, if they knew about the other two continents, would send people there regardless of the cost, just to find if there were any Qiluo Tulips.
If they found just one, their Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda wouldn't be the Nine Gates Martial Soul they were imprisoned on the Magic Network.
Although they were reluctant to admit it, the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile School actually knew that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda was indeed imprisoned beyond measure.
They couldn't enjoy any of the benefits of the Soul Core Era!
The core disciples of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile School didn't worry about condensing Soul Cores at all, because they simply couldn't reach that level of cultivation.
In the Soul Spirit Era, if they couldn't find the Qiluo Tulip, they wouldn't get any of the era's benefits either, as Soul Tools were about to squeeze out their survival.
The Soul Tool Revolution erupted, and the liberation of Soul Tool thinking gave birth to a large number of Soul Tools with special functions, not specializing in attack, but in amplification, similar to a pure Soul Tool version of Battle Armor.
Currently, they certainly can't compare to the amplification of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda; who knows what the future holds?
As for stopping the development of such Soul Tools? That's simply unrealistic.
The Nine Treasure Glazed Tile School is no longer one of the top three sects it was ten thousand years ago.
In the eyes of top powers, the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile School is no different from a speed bump; it's only out of respect for the gods that no one takes action.
Like the Poison Undying of the Body Sect, ever since experiencing the extent of the amplification that high-level Soul Tools could provide to Body Soul Masters during the Star Luo City battle, he's been desperately seeking such amplifying Soul Tools.
He forcibly forced the disciples of the Body Sect to learn about Soul Tools.
(End of this chapter)
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