Douluo Continent, Huo Yuhao who returned from Sekiro

Chapter 21 Dancing in the Cracks

The old man's phantom slowly approached Huo Yuhao, extending a large, illusory hand and touching Huo Yuhao's brow. Instantly, Huo Yuhao felt a sense of clarity and enlightenment. A sixth sense, completely different from the five senses, flowed slowly from between his brows, like a finely crafted net imprinting everything nearby onto his mind. In Huo Yuhao's senses, it was as if an illusory eye had split open between his brows. Under this sensory mode, he was finally able to distinguish the differences between the various pale, ghostly figures.

Take the old man in front of us as an example. To the naked eye, he is only more transparent than the other pale shadows. But in the perspective of the Illusionary Eye, he looks like a huge and blazing golden flame, waiting to be unleashed.

"What is this?"

Huo Yuhao spoke softly. This illusory eye seemed to have the ability to see the essence of things. Not only could it observe everything from 360 degrees without blind spots, but it also seemed to have the ability to penetrate certain objects. However, this was the spirit world, and there were not enough external objects to help him carefully comprehend this ability.

"It is an eye, a real eye. Compared to the world perceived through the five senses, this vertical eye that grows from between your eyebrows, although it does not exist in the real world, can help you observe the real world better, just like the spirit world. It is because everyone's soul will eventually come to this place of drifting and gathering that people realize from here that almost all the struggles in the world are meaningless, whether between people or between soul masters and soul beasts."

The old man's voice was kind, but his aura still carried the majesty of someone in a high position. In him, Huo Yuhao saw the shadow of Isshin Ashina, the aura of a fallen monarch of the old era. Although his glory was still recorded in the annals of history, the new era had no ship to carry him.

"Child, you've seen quite a few spirit beasts with spiritual attributes here. Now I'd like to ask you a question."

The old man turned his gaze back to Huo Yuhao and slowly said, "Dajiao should have told you that you are a star chosen by the Mother of All Spirits. You are our star, but also an outsider. Therefore, you have two paths to choose from."

The old man turned his back and slowly pointed to the nearby spirit beasts, saying, "The Spirit Eye Martial Soul is the most top-tier spirit-type Martial Soul. If you wish, all the spirit-type spirit beasts here are willing to become your partners. They will take the direction your sword points as their sole objective and act as your support, helping you step by step on the path to godhood until the day you directly confront that alien star."

"If you choose this path, you will never have to worry about your spirit rings again. Your first spirit ring can be a red 100,000-year spirit ring. Including Da Jiao, they don't mind burning themselves for you. You will become the most powerful spirit master in Douluo Continent, perhaps even the first spirit-type spirit master in history. Don't be sad for them. They are just passing on their power to you. Everyone will eventually return to this place where wanderers gather."

"If that's the case, why do you need to prepare a second path? Tell me what the second path is."

Huo Yuhao understood the unspoken meaning in the old man's words. He seemed to have been suddenly drawn into a storm brewing in the shadows. Huo Yuhao lowered his head, seemingly listening carefully to what the old man was saying, just like a student showing a thirst for knowledge from his teacher.

But in reality, those who know Huo Yuhao know that this is Huo Yuhao's way of quickly analyzing the other party's words. Huo Yuhao's adoptive father, Kui Ren Xiao, once chattered on and on in front of Huo Yuhao with this expression, hoping to make Huo Yuhao give up the Divine Child and become a killing machine in his hands again. But shortly afterward, Huo Yuhao, after analyzing the whole story, cut off his adoptive father's hand without any expression.

"Yes, child, you are very smart. I have seen that alien star before, and you are even smarter than that alien star."

The old man gave Huo Yuhao an approving look and said, "Even the most powerful spirit-type soul master can only reach a ceiling that is inferior to the second path. However, this is an extremely arduous path, and the hardships you will experience along the way are many times greater than those of the first path. But the only advantage of this path is that it will allow you to have the strength to rival another star from the moment you ignite the divine fire."

"By taking this path, you will be completely exposed to the other party's vision. But precisely because of this, you can destroy everything that the other star has left behind on the Douluo Continent without any scruples. For the next twenty years, the two of you will play white pieces and black pieces respectively, attacking each other. The more pieces you make, the more attention the other party will have to pay off, making it easier for the Mother of All Spirits. And this, in turn, will help you."

The old man stretched out his illusory large hand and straightened Huo Yuhao's somewhat disheveled clothes. His large hand was strong and warm, as if trying to convey some burning belief to him: "Anyone who cannot bear to see others do well or be successful has no heart to tolerate others. All they see is their own wealth. They want to hoard all the good things in the world for themselves, and they will surely be defeated. This is the truth that evil cannot prevail over good."

"From now on, you must face one challenge after another, relying on your last breath and lighting a lamp. Remember that what you hold dear will surely resonate. I have waited for ten thousand years and finally found you. I hope you can be like me, relying on the last breath in your heart, and walk all the way up to the highest place, and tell me about the scenery there."

The old man stretched out his index finger and slowly pointed it toward the sky, but soon looked at the sky with a hint of melancholy: "My granddaughter once walked this path, but she failed, and even her soul was taken to the realm of gods. If you can really win, I have only one request: bring my granddaughter's soul back here and send her to be reincarnated."

"Now, tell me your choice." The old man's eyes seemed to shoot out two golden beams, his sharp gaze fixed on Huo Yuhao, waiting for Huo Yuhao to give his final answer.

"I chose to take the second path, to bear greater suffering, which was exactly what I expected."

Huo Yuhao's voice wasn't loud, but it gave people a sense of reliability, as if he were a man of his word. As soon as he said this, the surrounding spirit-type soul beasts looked at him in surprise.

Huo Yuhao's choice was not an impulsive one, but the result of careful consideration. If the second path was to fight "another star" head-on, then the first path was to hide himself in the shadows and minimize his presence as much as possible.

In this way, although "the other star" will not take the initiative to attack me in order to avoid attracting my attention, I will not be able to thwart the other party's plan. What can I do if the other party sets its target on my mother?

Is it better to abandon all previous efforts and expose oneself to the other party again, or to sit idly by and become a coward, allowing one's mother's soul to be taken away by the other party as a bargaining chip to control oneself in the future?

Of course, Huo Yuhao could prepare in advance to prevent all of this, but without Huo Yuhao's actions in the real world, could the efforts of these soul beasts in the spirit world stop a god's scheme?

Therefore, rather than hoping to hide in the shadows for a lifetime, it's better to step into the limelight openly. As long as the opponent can't make a direct and blatant move due to the Mother of All Spirits' obstruction, Huo Yuhao is confident that he can rise from the cracks.

(End of this chapter)