A faint smile played on Gu Yue's lips. She tilted her head to glance at Di Tian beside her before shifting her gaze back to Huo Yuhao. "That's right. Di Tian indeed has to call me Young Lord."
The tense atmosphere from just a moment ago seemed to be gently pricked by these words, deflating instantly.
Gu Yue herself felt that this misunderstanding wasn't too bad; at least it was much easier to handle than having her true identity exposed directly.
However, her smile did not last long. Her gaze became serious again as she looked at Huo Yuhao and asked, "But you still haven't said where you got that Reverse Scale from."
Huo Yuhao was silent for a moment. Then, he reached out and took Gu Yue's hand. Her fingers were slender, and her skin felt slightly cool to the touch.
"Gu Yue," his voice lowered slightly, "can I trust you?"
Without the slightest hesitation, almost the instant Huo Yuhao finished speaking, Gu Yue replied, "Of course you can. No matter when, you can always trust me."
Hearing this, Huo Yuhao felt a bit more at ease.
He had originally planned to confess some things to Gu Yue after returning to the Spirit Pagoda, but now things had changed with Di Tian's sudden involvement.
He looked up at Di Tian, only to see the other's golden Dragon eyes staring intently at their clasped hands.
Huo Yuhao noticed a flash of hostility in Di Tian's eyes, causing his back to tense up slightly.
"Ahem."
Huo Yuhao cleared his throat softly and calmly withdrew his hand.
The fact that he possessed Di Tian's Reverse Scale had been caught red-handed by the owner himself. No matter how he tried to avoid it, Di Tian would not let this matter go easily.
Huo Yuhao quickly thought it over in his mind before speaking, "That Reverse Scale was given to me by Senior Di Tian."
Di Tian's gaze sharpened, his voice deepening, "You and I have only met twice. When did I ever give you my Reverse Scale?"
As he spoke, he extended his right hand, and a black scale materialized out of thin air above his palm.
A dark luster flowed across the surface of the scale, its edges rough and its patterns intricate.
It possessed the exact same aura, the same patterns, and even reflected light at the exact same angles as the one Huo Yuhao had just shown.
Huo Yuhao smiled. Looking at Di Tian, he said in an unhurried tone, "Senior Di Tian, please do not be anxious. This Reverse Scale was indeed not given to me by the current you."
He paused, then took a deep breath, "Rather, it was given to me by the Senior Di Tian of Ten Thousand Years ago."
After these words were spoken, the room fell silent for a moment.
Gu Yue's brow furrowed slightly. She did not speak, only watching him quietly.
Within Di Tian's golden Dragon eyes, the emotions churning were clearly far more complex than before.
Huo Yuhao's decision to say this was not an impulse; he had already weighed the pros and cons in his mind.
First, he trusted Gu Yue. From the time they met until now, she had never betrayed his trust.
Second, the current Di Tian no longer possessed such an overwhelming deterrent force.
With the development of Battle Armor technology, the overall combat power of human Spirit Masters was no longer what it used to be, completely overwhelming Spirit Beasts.
Since Di Tian was kicked out of the Spirit Pagoda, only the Core Circle of the Star Dou Great Forest remained.
The former King of Spirit Beasts could now only guard a tiny corner of land.
Third, and most importantly, after today's battle, his Spirit Power had officially crossed the threshold of rank eighty.
Logically speaking, the higher a Spirit Master's cultivation, the slower their cultivation speed should be.
But Huo Yuhao felt that he was quite the opposite.
The further he went, his cultivation speed not only did not slow down, but instead showed a vague trend of accelerating.
He couldn't explain the reason for that feeling, but his body wouldn't lie.
He estimated that in a little over a year, he would be able to touch the threshold of a Titled Douluo.
By then, with his combat strength, even if his secret of Transmigration through time was discovered, he should have enough ability to protect himself.
It was precisely based on these three considerations that he finally chose to speak out.
After a moment of silence, Di Tian asked in a deep voice, "The me from... Ten Thousand Years ago?!"
Looking at Di Tian's golden Dragon eyes, which were filled with disbelief, Huo Yuhao repeated with certainty, "That's right, the Senior Di Tian of Ten Thousand Years ago."
Di Tian stared at him, his brow furrowing even tighter, "How is that possible? You aren't a Spirit Beast. Let alone Ten Thousand Years ago, you weren't even born a hundred years ago!"
"Nothing is impossible."
Huo Yuhao replied quickly. He leaned forward slightly, meeting Di Tian's gaze directly as he asked, "Senior Di Tian, don't you find my appearance very familiar?"
Hearing this, Di Tian froze.
His heart sank suddenly, then pounded heavily as an idea instantly surfaced in his mind.
"What do you mean?"
Di Tian's voice lowered even further, carrying a tenseness he didn't even notice himself.
Huo Yuhao took a deep breath and said, "I am actually not someone from this era."
Di Tian's eyelid twitched.
"I came from Ten Thousand Years ago. I am the Spirit Ice Douluo whom Senior Di Tian mentioned earlier."
The moment those words fell, Di Tian suddenly stood up from his seat.
That violent aura, which had only recently calmed down, poured out of his body once again without reservation.
This time, it was even more violent than before.
The air in the hall was compressed to the point of being almost tangible, and the legs of the nearest tables and chairs trembled slightly.
Di Tian could no longer care about restraining his aura. This piece of information was simply too shocking to him.
His breathing grew noticeably heavier, and his golden Dragon eyes widened as he stared intently at Huo Yuhao's face, as if trying to dissect every single detail of it with his gaze.
His voice was somewhat hoarse. "You... you are really Spirit Ice?"
Deep down, he actually already believed it. Appearances could deceive, and temperament could be imitated, but some things could not be faked.
However, the Huo Yuhao in front of him was even stronger than the Spirit Ice Douluo in his memory.
The Spirit Ice Douluo was already the most talented human Di Tian had ever seen, yet he still paled in comparison to this youth.
Meanwhile, Gu Yue, who was sitting beside Huo Yuhao, also froze.
Her back straightened, and her fingers, which had been resting on her knees, unconsciously clenched slightly.
Within those purple eyes of hers, emotions even more complex than Di Tian's were churning.
Having once possessed Divine Rank power, she understood better than anyone what an incredible force it was to Transmigrate through Ten Thousand Years of time!
Taking in the changes in their expressions, Huo Yuhao said, "This is indeed hard to believe, but it is the truth."
"I don't know why I have the ability to Transmigrate through time either. The first time I transmigrated here, I was three years old."
"So, the current me is probably somewhat different from the Spirit Ice Douluo in Senior Di Tian's memory."
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A/N:
I hope all of you are enjoying this story so far. I would appreciate some Power Stones if you can spare any. Leave a review if you like the story. Thank you.