Huo Yuhao crept quietly toward the back gate of the White Tiger Duke's Mansion. It was exactly noon—many servants were busy working inside the estate.
To avoid anyone noticing his departure, he activated his Spirit Eyes: Mangekyō and cast illusions, causing the servants' perception to simply skip over his existence.
These illusions were innate to the Mangekyō Sharingan.
And since the Mangekyō had fused with his Spirit Eyes Martial Soul, all its ocular techniques had become part of his new Martial Soul's inheritance.
The principles behind illusion here weren't quite the same as in the Naruto world.
In Naruto, Genjutsu disrupted chakra.
In this world, Huo Yuhao used his Spirit Eyes to convert spiritual power into a special spiritual power, then nail it directly into a target's spiritual sea to disrupt their senses.
Just like in the original novel, the back gate of the White Tiger Duke's Mansion had no guards.
In the original story, the Rank 10 Huo Yuhao simply slipped out the back gate of the Duke's mansion without being discovered.
Sure enough, when he arrived, there truly wasn't a single guard in sight.
Sometimes, Huo Yuhao really wanted to complain about how absurd this world was.
This was the residence of a emperial Duke, one who held immense military authority—
And yet the security level was this pathetic.
Star Luo's so-called "God of War," Duke Dai Hao, couldn't even guard his own home properly—
how was he supposed to guard an empire?
If the Sun Moon Empire sent a few stealth-type Spirit Masters, they could blow the entire mansion sky-high without anyone realizing.
They could wipe Dai Hao's household registry clean in one night.
Huo Yuhao pushed open the imposing red door and darted straight toward the Star Luo Empire's main highway.
The White Tiger Duke's Mansion was about 250 kilometers southeast of Star Luo City. But Huo Yuhao had no intention of going there.
He planned to head north, toward the Heavenly Soul Empire.
Many things there were extremely valuable for his current situation.
For example—
the Xuanwu Sect's Mystic Water Pill and the stronger Xuanwu Divine Pill.
These pills could cleanse the body and expand the meridians—something Huo Yuhao desperately needed. His meridians were thin, narrow, and even disorderly in some areas, severely limiting his cultivation speed.
The Mystic Water Pill could fix these problems without side effects.
And beneath the Dragon Gate of Dragon City lay the Ten-thousand-year Mysterious Ice Marrow—a priceless treasure with immense cultivation benefits.
If he were still the old Huo Yuhao, he wouldn't even dare think about obtaining these items.
His only reasonable path would have been joining the Body Sect, whose strength and stubborn tenacity could have sheltered him through his growth period.
But things were different now.
With his Mangekyō fully awakened,
his Spirit Eyes granted him powerful illusion abilities capable of handling low-level Spirit Masters easily.
And for high-level threats—Spirit Sages or above—
his Mangekyō's true ocular techniques would undoubtedly grant unexpected trump cards.
Now, Huo Yuhao finally had enough confidence to acquire some cultivation resources on his own.
If one can walk freely under the sky—
why choose to live under someone else's roof?
As for the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and Shrek Academy, he had no intention of approaching either.
The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well was Tang San's private garden.
Without a map, it was impossible to find.
As for Shrek Academy—
that was a heavyweight he absolutely could not afford to touch.
His past life had been painful enough; he wasn't about to suffer Shrek's 400-people-one-toilet, super-runner military training, or constant ambushes from Holy Spirit Cult elders.
Not to mention that Tang San's dog leash was waiting for him there.
There was no chance Tang San hadn't left traps for him.
How could Eyes and Butterfly form a Martial Soul Fusion Skill—
and a 100% fusion at that—unless someone deliberately engineered it?
It was obviously a setup for Huo Yuhao.
Tang San had even said in the original story:
"Everything Huo Yuhao has, Tang Wutong will have."
They even forcibly split off part of his spiritual core to give to Tang Wutong—almost crippling his spiritual cultivation.
Then there was the utterly broken Love Query Valley (Yin Yang Love Querying Valley).
He gained almost nothing and suffered countless emotional tortures.
Before that event, the original Huo Yuhao still had some spine.
After experiencing Douluo's ultimate humiliation inside the valley,
he fully became the Tang Family's well-trained dog.
He could visit Shrek City someday—one of the most prosperous cities on Douluo Continent—
but the valley itself? Never.
Clear Sky Sect? Also better avoided.
Huo Yuhao sprinted along the Star Luo Empire's official road.
The road was surprisingly well maintained—wide, straight, and free of potholes.
Looks like Xu Jiawei actually put effort into infrastructure.
He traveled from day into night, occasionally stopping to admire the landscape or observe unfamiliar creatures he couldn't see in his past life.
Spirit Beasts were rare near the road—only the occasional ten-year ground mole or tricolor cat. Such beasts were so weak that even an ordinary person with a kitchen knife could kill them, so nobody bothered to manage them.
By the time the moon rose, Huo Yuhao had walked roughly 100 kilometers
With his Spirit Power strengthening his body, he could easily cover 150 kilometers in a day if he wished.
Fortunately, he wouldn't be sleeping outdoors tonight.
A city was visible not far ahead.
Many cities surrounded the White Tiger Duke's Mansion, forming a large urban ring.
Their city lords frequently sent treasures to curry favor with Duke Dai Hao.
Of course, Dai Hao had no idea—
his dear wife pocketed everything herself.
If Emperor Xu Jiawei ever learned this, who knew what he'd think.
Huo Yuhao passed the city gate's "inspection"—
which was more like a casual glance.
They didn't even ask for his name.
This country truly radiated the same relaxed chaos as France in his past life…
He headed straight for the bustling city center, where every direction was lit with dazzling storefronts.
Merchants shouted, crowds chatted, drunk men staggered through the streets bragging loudly.
Even at his current Spirit Power Rank, Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Sea–level spiritual power allowed him to sense that this city hosted a surprisingly large number of Spirit Masters.
Most were low-level—around Rank 20.
Hardly any Spirit Elders, let alone Spirit Elders above Rank 30.
Huo Yuhao frowned.
Having Spirit Masters in a city was normal.
But this many was unusual.
They were far from Star Luo City, and besides the White Tiger Duke's Mansion, there were no major forces nearby.
He found a restaurant and spent ten copper soul coins on a cup of tea and a bowl of clear noodle soup.
He originally wanted meat,
but prices here were so high that buying meat meant sleeping under a bridge tonight.
Looking at his pathetic meal, Huo Yuhao shed metaphorical tears of poverty.
Outwardly, he ate slowly.
In reality, he spread his Spiritual Detection to eavesdrop on nearby conversations.
He chose this restaurant because the Spirit Master density here was highest.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have entered this expensive-looking place at all.
"Ghost Bear, I heard you took a big contract—escorting a young master of the Wang Clan to the Star Dou Forest to hunt his first Spirit Ring?"
"Haha, that's right! One of the Battlefang Soul Hunting Group died in a duel, and my Martial Soul fits their lineup, so they recruited me."
"They received a commission to help that young master obtain his first ring."
"Ah, first Spirit Ring huh? He looks pretty young. Easy job though—just kill a hundred-year beast in the outskirts and we earn a fortune!"
"Steel Fang, you're wrong there. It's still the Star Dou Forest. Even in the outskirts, you can run into thousand-year beasts. Bloodshed is inevitable."
"Yes, yes, Brother Ghost Bear is right… Our line of work is heads tied to belts, living on the edge of the blade…"
Huo Yuhao ate slowly, gathering information.
From the conversations, he learned that this city was actually a base for Soul Hunting Groups and mercenary teams.
After all, it sat directly on the route to the Star Dou Forest.
The strongest person here was the leader of the Mighty Dragon Soul Hunting Group, a Spirit King with the Martial Soul Armored Earth Dragon.
Another important detail:
at the east gate every morning, teams recruited members and posted commissions.
Most smaller teams would also form temporary parties with strangers to fill gaps in combat power—risky but efficient.
After finishing his meal, Huo Yuhao left the restaurant.
Tomorrow morning, he would head to the east gate.
Maybe he could find a commission heading toward the Heavenly Soul Empire.