Chapter 230 Returning to the Valley of Love and Destiny, Tang San Makes an Appearance?
The sandstorms on the wasteland gradually subsided, but the sense of divine manipulation in the air grew ever stronger.
Duke Dai Hao of the White Tiger stood beside the thick ice shield, looking at the back of the white-haired boy with a scrutinizing gaze that seemed to hold the wisdom of someone who had survived a calamity.
Dai Hao straightened his slightly disheveled robe. He glanced at Huo Yuhao's trembling shoulders and the murderous intent in his words, but showed no anger befitting an imperial commander.
In his view, this young man with the ultimate ice martial soul might be a genius from some hidden sect, and that his hatred towards him stemmed from some personal grudge.
"Although I don't know what grudge you have against me, I will remember your kindness today," Dai Hao said calmly, with the composure and magnanimity characteristic of someone in a position of power.
"If you ever change your mind in the future, you can come to the White Tiger Duke's mansion to find me at any time. Whatever compensation you desire, as long as it is within my authority, I will grant it."
"Get out!" Huo Yuhao whirled around, his double pupils bloodshot.
He stared intently at Dai Hao's righteous face, a nausea rising in his stomach from the thought of saving his enemy.
He didn't want to stay here a moment longer. His soul power erupted beneath his feet, transforming into a streak of icy blue light that vanished instantly at the edge of the wasteland.
[The scene shifts, and Huo Yuhao returns to the pink divine power barrier.]
Wang Dong'er remained trapped in mid-air, the energy chains continuously draining her life force.
"Cupid! Dai Hao has survived! I... I did as you asked!" Huo Yuhao knelt on one knee, panting heavily, his voice hoarse with an almost desperate intensity. "Now, release her immediately!"
The crystal ball in the sky spun slightly, and Cupid's mocking voice fell again: "Hehehe, I see it clearly. Although your actions in saving her were filled with reluctance, the result did indeed meet the requirements. Since you are willing to sacrifice your bottom line of revenge for this woman, then I will naturally keep my promise."
The pink chains shattered in an instant.
Wang Dong'er lost her footing and fell from the sky.
Huo Yuhao rushed forward and caught her. Wang Dong'er weakly opened her eyes, looking at Huo Yuhao's face, which was filled with humiliation and pain, and tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.
"Yuhao... I'm sorry, I've dragged you down." Wang Dong'er's voice was extremely weak.
Huo Yuhao held her tightly, his body trembling uncontrollably.
He saved his lover's life, yet deep down he felt like a rotting corpse. The guilt of saving the man who killed his mother gnawed at his soul like a venomous snake.
On the other side...
The soul masters of the underworld stared intently at the sky, their long-suppressed anger finally erupting at this moment.
"This god of love is truly disgusting. I have never seen such a dark deity." A titled Douluo from the underworld said with a gloomy face, slamming his wine glass heavily on the ground.
"He doesn't care about true feelings at all; he's just enjoying the thrill of forcing a genius to mutilate his own soul. Making Huo Yuhao save Dai Hao is a crueler form of torture than killing him."
"Is this what they call a 'divine opportunity'?" another Soul Master sneered, his words filled with mockery of divine authority.
"The White God of the White World can stand against tyranny to protect the common people, while the God of our Black World demonstrates his authority by tormenting the common people and manipulating their emotions. Does such a God truly deserve our worship?"
The commoners in the underworld were also talking about it. Looking at Huo Yuhao's miserable state, their initial disgust for him turned into sympathy.
"Although Huo Yuhao did wrong in Mingdu, he is now just a pathetic wretch whose dignity can be arbitrarily crushed by the gods," an old man sighed.
"The laughter that Cupid let out when he released Wang Dong'er really made me feel physically uncomfortable. He was mocking how cheap human emotions are, that people can abandon all principles for survival."
This extreme aversion to the gods is like a plague, spreading rapidly throughout the dark world.
[In the scene depicting the sky.]
Before Huo Yuhao could comfort Wang Dong'er in his arms, the surrounding wasteland began to rapidly collapse and reform.
A thick pink fog enveloped their vision once more.
When Huo Yuhao opened his eyes again, he found himself back on the stone platform in Qiankun Wenqing Valley.
But this time, the situation took a strange turn.
Wang Dong'er, who had been clinging to him, was gone. The entire stone platform was empty, and he stood alone in the center.
"Dong'er? Dong'er, where are you!" Huo Yuhao suddenly stood up, his bright eyes frantically scanning his surroundings. He kept calling Wang Dong'er's name, but there was no response in the thick fog.
This unknown, deathly silence made him even more uneasy than the intense adventure he had just experienced. He frantically activated his mental detection, only to find that his mental energy was compressed to a range of less than three meters around him.
Just as Huo Yuhao was about to descend into madness, a faint sound of footsteps suddenly came from within the mist.
The footsteps were neither hurried nor slow, but very steady.
Immediately afterwards, a blurry figure slowly emerged from the depths of the mist. As the figure gradually became clearer, Huo Yuhao, who had been tense, was completely stunned.
That was a man.
He wore a simple robe, his long hair casually draped behind his head. Completely different from the sharp, arrogant, and violent aura of the previous Cupid, this man exuded an extremely peaceful aura, even radiating a gentle warmth.
"Huo Yuhao, stop calling out. That girl is in another dimension, and you can't see her for now." The man's voice rang out, clear and gentle, carrying a soothing magic.
Huo Yuhao stared intently at him, his double pupils filled with wariness: "And who are you? Are you also a trial officer sent by Cupid?"
The man smiled slightly, a smile that appeared extremely sincere, even carrying a hint of the kindness of an elder looking at a younger person. He shook his head and said softly, "I am not a question for the third test."
"However," the man's tone shifted slightly, a barely perceptible depth flashing in his eyes, "if you want to proceed to the third trial to find your lover, you must first pass my test. Only with my approval will you be qualified to continue."
Huo Yuhao felt the gentle yet unfathomable power emanating from the other person, and his fists clenched involuntarily.
He could sense that the danger posed by the man before him far surpassed that of the previous Cupid.
(End of chapter)