Chapter 156: Love-Brained Continent
Huo Yuhao strode down from the arena, Dai Huabin still unable to recover from his defeat behind him. His steps were steady, his expression indifferent, as though the clash just now had been nothing more than an ordinary sparring match.
Only when he was about to step off the final stair of the arena did he turn his head slightly. His voice was neither loud nor soft, yet pitched perfectly for the person behind him to hear clearly: "Once, in your eyes, I was no different from a dog."
He paused, his gaze settling on some distant point, his tone as if recounting a story long since turned to a closed page.
"And now, in my eyes... are you not the same—a wretched cur who has lost his home?"
Dai Huabin lay sprawled on the ground, his fists suddenly clenching so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
"If you wish to challenge me, I will oblige at any time." Huo Yuhao didn't look back, his voice still calm. "However, first, you'd do well to change your character and your attitude. Otherwise, you will never defeat me—not once in this entire lifetime."
His words fell. He lingered no more, descending the arena shoulder to shoulder with Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao, walking into the applause and cheers that belonged to them.
On the arena, Zhu Lu forced herself to support Dai Huabin and helped him to his feet. His chest heaved violently, fury and unwillingness churning in his eyes.
He had lost utterly and completely. Not even a shred of covering remained.
Change his character and attitude...
That thought merely flickered through his mind for an instant, like a shooting star—extinguished before he could even grasp it.
He drew a deep breath. Toward that retreating figure, not yet far, his voice came out hoarse yet forceful: "Lord Huo Yuhao—farewell!"
He was the son of the White Tiger Duke. A man of his word—this much, come what may, he could still do.
Huo Yuhao didn't look back. He simply nodded faintly, his retreating figure as if he had heard nothing at all.
And beside him, Furina, having taken in this whole scene, couldn't help chuckling inwardly.
Just kidding. Even if you did change, you still couldn't win. Who is Huo Yuhao? The Child of Destiny, the protagonist of an era, with more cheats stacked than anyone can count. How could you possibly compare? Unless you, too, got a system grafted onto you, or Tang San himself came down to personally stuff you with a plot armor hack.
But how could that ever happen? Giving the Holy Spirit Cult a cheat would be more realistic than giving you one. At least they understand Ring Detonation—that's Clear Sky Sect's exclusive secret technique. If someone told her Tang San had arranged that himself, she'd believe it.
Not long after regrouping with Huo Yuhao and the others, a familiar sound of laughter and chatter drifted over from not far away.
Bei Bei, Tang Ya, and Jiang Nannan had come upon hearing the news.
"Congratulations, congratulations!" Tang Ya waved from afar, her smile so wide that her brows and eyes curved into crescents. "Furina, you guys are just too amazing—wrapping up both the third-place and championship titles!"
Bei Bei also nodded with a smile: "Had you not voluntarily conceded in the semifinals, I'm afraid your Church of the Water God would have swept both the champion and runner-up spots as well."
But he also understood that Furina simply didn't care about this championship. She had conceded precisely to give Huo Yuhao the chance to exact his revenge with his own hands. Besides, the Church of the Water God now possessed such profound foundations—what did a mere freshman assessment reward matter? Win or lose, to her, it meant nothing. Thus he did not speak further on it.
Jiang Nannan likewise offered heartfelt congratulations: "Congratulations to you all. Truly, it's almost unbelievable—you broke through to Soul King so quickly, and as a food-type support soul master at that. Your soul skills are so powerful, your talent so extraordinary. It's simply incredible."
Furina curved her brows and eyes in a smile, radiant yet without the slightest trace of arrogance, as though merely stating the most ordinary of facts: "Naturally—I am the Pope of the Church of the Water God, the Water God herself. If I'd capsized in a fish-pond-bombing game like this, that would truly be a joke."
Tang Ya nodded repeatedly: "Exactly, exactly! Our Church of the Water God must have accumulated good fortune over many lifetimes to have you as our Pope."
Xiao Xiao also chimed in eagerly: "Yes, yes! It's our good fortune too."
Jiang Nannan added softly: "Thanks to your help and cultivation arts, my own training speed has also increased considerably lately."
Furina waved a dismissive hand, her manner relaxed: "A trifle. Since you all could enter Shrek, your innate talent is already no less than anyone else's. What's more, you're now members of my Church of the Water God. As long as you diligently practice without ceasing, reaching Titled Douluo is merely a matter of time."
She blinked, her tone taking on a playful note: "That said, rather than merely fixing your eyes on Titled Douluo, why not think bigger—like the first-generation Shrek Seven Devils—and directly achieve godhood?"
Bei Bei, upon hearing this, let out a soft sigh: "Becoming a god... how easily said."
What he left unspoken was this: his great-grandfather, the Dragon God Douluo Mu En, recognized as the strongest man in the world, had spent his entire life without ever receiving the Divine Realm's favor, never even touching the threshold of a divine trial. What virtue or ability did he himself possess, to dare hope he could walk a path further than his great-grandfather's?
Tang Ya seemed to read his unfinished words. She, too, put away her smile and said softly: "Indeed... in these ten thousand years, aside from the first-generation Shrek Seven Devils, no one on the Douluo Continent has ever become a god. Let alone becoming a god—no one has even received a divine trial."
Furina did not pick up the thread.
She knew who the "true culprit" behind this was.
Tang San.
Who else could it be?
Ten thousand years ago, he and the Shrek Seven Devils ascended from this continent to the Divine Realm. From then on, this land seemed to have been covered by an invisible barrier. The peerless geniuses who came after, one by one, all halted at the limit, and never again did a single one knock open that door.
Reducing the number of newly ascended deities was, of course, advantageous to Tang San. One fewer god meant one fewer variable to interfere with his grand scheme.
The Qiankun Love Inquiry Valley—originally the God of Love's domain—yet he could meddle in it at will. Later, during the God of Emotions' divine trial, he could personally descend, under the guise of "tempering," to suppress Huo Yuhao through extreme means, forcing him to fuse with the divine seat on his own.
It was exactly like slapping someone across the face and then waiting for them to say "thank you."
Furina reeled in her drifting thoughts. She cleared her throat lightly, her tone composed yet absolute: "Rest assured, I will certainly become a god. It's only a matter of time. Give me ten years—no, I won't even need ten years—and I will become the divine being you all recognize."
She swept her gaze over the group, her smile faint yet firmly resolute: "When one attains the Dao, even the chickens and dogs ascend to heaven. Should I become a god, I naturally will not forget any of you."
Her gaze settled on Huo Yuhao, pausing slightly, her tone growing all the more certain: "And Huo Yuhao—in my eyes, he will have absolutely no problem either."
Never mind that the God of Destruction had already planted the seed of a divine trial within him. With Tianmeng and the Ice Emperor alone, plus the Snow Empress and other soul spirits who would later join, along with Electrolux and the cultivation arts and elixirs she herself had provided—Huo Yuhao's path to godhood in this lifetime would be ten thousand times easier than in the original story.
Unless Tang San personally intervened to obstruct him.
But at present, that Thousand-Hand Douluo could hardly even look after himself. The God of Destruction had his eyes fixed on him—where would he find the leisure to concern himself with the lower realm?
Within Huo Yuhao's spiritual sea, Tianmeng flopped lazily onto his other side: "That's for sure! With a lot of us helping out, little Yuhao becoming a god—isn't that just a matter of snatching it right out of the bag?"
"It's just..." The Ice Emperor, for once, didn't argue with him, but her voice carried a trace of melancholy. "It's just that I wish the Snow Empress were here too. Her time limit... she doesn't have many years left."
Tianmeng, uncharacteristically silent for a moment, shrugged. "That's something we can't help. Unless she, like me, became an intelligent soul ring and proved the Dao to godhood together with little Yuhao."
"This matter is not impossible." A calm, aged voice arose—Electrolux spoke slowly. "This old man has made some headway in researching the relevant methods."
The Ice Emperor's voice suddenly brightened: "Truly? That would be wonderful... but... would the Snow Empress be willing? And besides, if the Far North lost her, could the Titan Snow Demon King hold it alone?"
Tianmeng spread his hands: "Who can say for sure? We can barely manage our own affairs—how can we worry about things so far away?"
The Ice Emperor said no more, merely nodding in silence.
Huo Yuhao quieted the voices in his mind. He lifted his eyes toward Furina and said with the utmost seriousness: "I will work hard. I will definitely become a god—and keep up with you, Sister Furina."
Furina curved the corner of her lips and shifted her gaze onto Bei Bei: "Bei Bei, you now have the support of my Church of the Water God, plus the guidance of your great-grandfather, along with your own natural talent and diligence. Becoming a god is by no means a fool's fantasy."
She paused, her tone half-smiling: "I've done some asking around. Your martial soul is the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, but it's a variant. Should the right opportunity arrive, it's not impossible for it to evolve into the Bright Sacred Dragon. What the Dragon God Douluo couldn't accomplish—perhaps it may fall to you."
Bei Bei was not surprised that his identity had been pointed out. It wasn't much of a secret to begin with. Besides, whenever Furina asked, Tang Ya could probably recount in detail even the age at which he'd wet the bed.
He laughed lightly and replied with humility: "Furina, you flatter me too much. Becoming a god isn't so simple... My great-grandfather's talent far exceeded my own, yet he..."
"Which is exactly why they say the waves behind drive the waves ahead." Furina raised a hand and clapped him on the shoulder, her expression relaxed. "If you don't even have the courage to surpass him, then you might as well contentedly live out your life as nothing more than a Titled Douluo."
Tang Ya immediately seized Bei Bei's sleeve, her voice carrying a coquettish lilt, yet her gaze was earnest: "Exactly, exactly! Bei Bei, you're my boyfriend—you're not allowed to be so spineless! You have to strive to become a god, and then take me with you to the Divine Realm."
She had a clear-eyed understanding of her own talent. The innate limitations of Bluesilver Grass lay stark before her. Even with the support of Furina's cultivation art, she knew full well that for her, let alone godhood, even reaching Hyper Douluo was a nearly insurmountable chasm.
But if she couldn't, Bei Bei could.
Bei Bei lowered his head and met her sparkling, luminous eyes. He fell silent for a moment, then finally nodded, heavy and resolute: "Alright. I will become a god, and bring you with me in ascending to the realm above."
He paused, then added in a low, deadly serious voice: "And then... I'll go deliver a slap to your esteemed family ancestor on your behalf."
Over these days and nights, he had chewed over Furina's words again and again. The more he chewed, the more he felt that that Thousand-Hand Douluo was, I'm afraid, truly no qualified founding ancestor.
The cultivation arts passed down were incomplete and fragmentary; the mightiest hidden weapons and soul bones were withheld, not a scrap left behind. And yet he had left behind an ancestral commandment: the Tang Sect's Master must be inherited by one who bore the Bluesilver Grass martial soul.
But he had never even explained that his own martial soul was the Bluesilver Emperor, nor had he given any guidance on how Bluesilver Grass could evolve into Bluesilver King or Bluesilver Emperor.
With such conduct—it would have been a miracle if the Tang Sect hadn't declined.
So, for Xiaoya's sake. Tang Sect's founding ancestor? So what. The leader of the first-generation Shrek Seven Devils? So what.
He would slap him all the same.
"Bei Bei!" Tang Ya's eyes reddened abruptly. She flung herself forward, threw her arms around his neck, and, right in front of everyone, planted a resounding kiss on his cheek. "I love you!"
Watching this scene, Furina couldn't help sighing inwardly: As expected of the Love-Brained Continent. For the sake of love, there's truly nothing they wouldn't do.
Jiang Nannan quietly watched the two embracing, her gaze darkening slightly before she swiftly reined it in.
If only she, too, back then, had met a truly good man. If only her mother had never suffered that cruel twist of fate. If only Xu Sanshi were a good man—a gentleman of upright character...
Perhaps she, too, could have a love like this—a love held nothing back.
On the other side, Wang Dong gazed at that lovely couple, and before he knew it, he had drifted into a bit of a daze.
As if compelled by some strange impulse, he turned his face and stole a furtive glance at Huo Yuhao.
That youth was standing quietly amidst the crowd. His features were fine and clear, his expression gentle. He wasn't particularly showy or flamboyant, yet somehow, one just couldn't tear their eyes away.
Wang Dong's heart gave a sudden, unexpected leap.
It was strange, now that he thought about it. His first martial soul, the Goddess of Light Butterfly, resonated with Huo Yuhao's Spirit Eyes. And those other two martial souls he'd never shown anyone—incredibly, they too faintly echoed with Huo Yuhao's aura.
It was as though... it was simply meant to be, as if destined to be this way.
Sure, this guy could be as dense as a block of wood sometimes, forever running around with "Sister Furina" on his lips. But his cooking was undeniably brilliant, his cultivation relentlessly hardworking, and he gave his all—heart and soul—to his friends.
A person like that... truly, it seemed, it was hard not to feel something stir.
He was utterly immersed in his own world now. Unbidden, an image surfaced in his mind: himself, back in women's clothing, standing side by side with Huo Yuhao. His cheeks grew faintly warm.
"Hey, Wang Dong, what do you say?"
Xiao Xiao's voice exploded right next to his ear without the slightest warning, and a poke landed on his shoulder at the same moment.
Wang Dong snapped back to reality with a violent start, like a cat whose tail had just been stomped on. His voice completely changed pitch:
"AH?! Say what?!"
He hadn't heard a single word of what Xiao Xiao had just asked.
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