Under the gaze of billions of eyes across the continent, the giant heavenly screen suspended above the heavens finally showed some movement.
[Now playing Black World footage.]
[The scene shifts, and the first thing that comes into view is a majestic and magnificent mansion.]
[The vermilion gates and the two huge white tiger stone carvings looking majestic—it is none other than the famous White Tiger Dukes Mansion of the Star Luo Empire!]
[However, the camera did not linger on those magnificent halls, but instead turned to the most remote and dilapidated corner of the mansion.]
[There were several drafty wood sheds there, surrounded by overgrown weeds.]
[In one of these wood sheds, a thin woman was holding a baby in swaddling clothes, her eyes full of misery and love. That baby was precisely Huo Yuhao in his infancy.]
[The following scenes were like a fast-forwarding revolving lantern, yet every frame was like a knife stabbing into the hearts of all the viewers.]
[That was Huo Yuhao's childhood.]
[There were no fine clothes or gourmet food, and no fatherly protection. There was only endless labor, cold stares, and bullying.]
[The audience saw the young Huo Yuhao in the middle of winter, wearing thin clothes while helping his mother wash laundry, his small hands frozen red and even ulcerated;]
[They saw the Duchess's elegant yet extremely mean face as she ordered servants to withhold the mother and son's meager rations;]
[They saw the young masters of the Duke's Mansion, who were Huo Yuhao's half-brothers, punching and kicking him, calling him a "bastard."]
[The most heartbreaking moment was the day of the Spirit awakening.]
[Huo Yuhao hopefully awakened the mutated Spirit 'Spirit Eyes,' but because his innate soul power was only level one, he was completely labeled as 'trash' by the people of the Duke's Mansion. From then on, the bullying intensified.]
[Until that stormy night.]
[Huo Yuner, who had fallen ill from overwork, finally collapsed on her sickbed. Before she died, she still clutched Huo Yuhao's hand tightly, her eyes full of reluctance and... a trace of ridiculous attachment to that man.]
[Huo Yuhao knelt before his mother's body, crying heart-wrenchingly. At that moment, the light in the boy's eyes went out, replaced by a bone-deep hatred.]
...Black World, Reality.
A deathly silence enveloped the entire Douluo Continent.
Countless ordinary people watched with reddened eyes, and some had even begun to curse out loud.
"This... this is too tragic, isn't it?"
"This is the famous White Tiger Dukes Mansion? To treat their own flesh and blood so cruelly?!"
"That Duchess is simply a viper! And that White Tiger Duke, where is he? His wife and child were bullied to death, and he doesn't care?"
A storm of public opinion instantly swept across the entire continent.
Shrek Academy, on the plaza.
The students who were originally excitedly discussing the future were now all silent.
They looked to the side at Huo Yuhao, who was also watching the heavenly screen footage, and fell silent.
Who could have imagined that this usually gentle, polite, and hardworking Huo Yuhao was actually carrying such a heavy blood feud?
Wang Dong was completely stunned at this moment.
His beautiful pink-blue eyes were now filled with tears.
He looked at the thin figure in the footage struggling to survive in the mud, and then looked at the boy beside him who, though thin, had a straight back. A sense of unprecedented guilt welled up from deep within his heart.
"Yuhao..."
Wang Dong's voice was somewhat choked.
He remembered the scene of their first meeting.
Back then, relying on his good talent and family background, he had not only snatched Huo Yuhao's dormitory but also set those overbearing "roommate rules" and even fought him.
If Huo Yuhao hadn't fought back desperately, perhaps he would have become one of those people who bullied him?
"I'm sorry."
Wang Dong suddenly turned around and grabbed Huo Yuhao's arm, his tone sincere and urgent. "Yuhao, I really didn't know... I was too willful before, I shouldn't have treated you like that. I'm really sorry!"
Huo Yuhao took a deep breath, forcing the tears in his eyes back.
He looked up into Wang Dong's sincere eyes, and a trace of a smile managed to squeeze onto his face, though that smile looked more painful than crying.
"It's okay, Wang Dong." Huo Yuhao shook his head gently, his voice a bit raspy. "It's all in the past."
"Mm! From now on, if anyone dares to bully you, I, Wang Dong, will be the first to object!"
Wang Dong nodded vigorously, waving his small fist, his eyes full of determination... Star Luo Empire, Northwest Army Group Camp.
This was the base of the White Tiger Duke, Dai Hao.
At this moment, the atmosphere of the entire military camp was eerie to the extreme. Those soldiers who originally revered the Duke as a god now looked toward the main tent with eyes that were somewhat evasive and strange.
Although they didn't dare to say it explicitly, the meaning in their eyes was self-evident: Marshal, are you... really worthy of that mother and son? Is this your so-called way of managing a family?
Inside the commander's tent.
"Yun'er... Yuhao..."
The burly and handsome White Tiger Duke, Dai Hao, was now slumped in his tiger-skin chair, his face as pale as paper.
Looking at the tragic state of Huo Yuner before her death on the heavenly screen, and seeing the son he had barely even met wailing in despair on a rainy night, this iron-blooded commander who was decisive on the battlefield now felt a piercing pain.
"I... I really didn't know..."
Dai Hao's voice was trembling.
Being away at war all year round, he knew almost nothing about the affairs at home.
He thought that as long as he provided material security, his family would treat them well.
But he was wrong, terribly wrong.
A sense of overwhelming shame almost drowned him.
He was not only a negligent husband but also a failed father... Just as the entire continent was sighing and lamenting over Huo Yuhao's tragic childhood, the scene on the heavenly screen shifted again.
[In the footage, Huo Yuhao buried his mother and, carrying a White Tiger Dagger, resolutely left that Duke's Mansion which had brought him endless pain.]
[His goal was the forbidden zone for all Spirit Masters—the Star Dou Great Forest!]
"Heavens, is he crazy?"
"An eleven-year-old child with only level ten soul power actually dares to go to the Star Dou Great Forest? That's a place where even Titled Douluos dare not go deep!"
The audience's hearts instantly jumped into their throats.
[Sure enough, in the footage, just after Huo Yuhao entered the outskirts, he encountered a ten-year Wind Baboon.]
[That thrilling scene made countless people cry out in alarm. Huo Yuhao survived several close calls and finally, relying on a burst of ruthlessness and luck, barely managed to kill that Wind Baboon.]
[However, just when everyone thought Huo Yuhao was going to absorb this ten-year spirit ring and become a bottom-tier Spirit Master, a sudden change occurred!]
[The earth cracked open, and ten thousand rays of golden light burst forth!]
[A spiritual fluctuation so terrifying it changed the color of the heavens and earth instantly swept across the entire Star Dou Great Forest.]
[Then, under the stunned gazes of everyone, a chubby, pure white worm as translucent as jade crawled out of the crack.]
[It spoke human language to Huo Yuhao: "Brother has finally encountered a human with the spiritual attribute! Brother is no longer a Spirit Beast! Brother is going to create a god!"]
[Subsequently, this strange Spirit Beast named "Heavenly Dream Ice Worm" actually took the initiative to sacrifice itself, turning into a stream of light and rushing into Huo Yuhao's body!]
[Four huge golden rings shone beneath Huo Yuhao, finally turning into a pure and flawless... white spirit ring due to energy compression.]
The heavenly screen narration timely displayed a row of large golden characters:
[Unprecedented! The first Million-year Wisdom Spirit Ring of the Douluo Continent!]
[First Spirit Skill: Spiritual Detection, Spiritual Sharing, Spiritual Interference, Soul Shock!]
"BOOM—!!!"
If the previous tragic childhood had made the entire continent feel anger and sympathy, then at this moment, the entire Douluo Continent was in a state of complete madness and shock!
A million years!
It was actually a million-year spirit ring?!
"My... oh my god!"
On the Shrek plaza, Wang Dong's expression at this moment was as if he had seen a ghost.
He stared fixedly at that spirit ring disguised as white in the footage, then suddenly turned his head to look at the "ten-year spirit ring" on Huo Yuhao that everyone had always laughed at.
"Yu... Yuhao..." Wang Dong pointed at Huo Yuhao, stammering, "Your... your first spirit ring... isn't ten years? It's a million years?!"
"You lied to me?! You actually lied to me?! I was wondering how you could possibly defeat me with a ten-year spirit ring! So those were million-year spirit skills!"
Huo Yuhao was also blushing furiously at this moment, so embarrassed he wished he could find a hole to crawl into.
His biggest secret had been exposed just like that!
"Wang Dong, let me explain... back then Brother Tianmeng told me to keep it a secret..." Huo Yuhao was at a loss.
"Fine! To think I was always worried you'd feel inferior! You guy... you're too much!" Although Wang Dong was complaining, the shock in his eyes had long been replaced by excitement.
His partner actually possessed a legendary million-year spirit ring? What kind of stroke of luck was this!
...[The heavenly screen continued to play.]
[Just after Huo Yuhao had finished merging with the Heavenly Dream Ice Worm and was in a state of unconsciousness, two figures, a male and a female, hurried over.]
[They were precisely the top students of Shrek Academy's inner courtyard, Bei Bei and Tang Ya.]
[In the footage, Bei Bei was gentle and refined, while Tang Ya was quirky and clever. They not only woke Huo Yuhao and tasted his grilled fish, but after learning that Huo Yuhao was an orphan, they proactively extended an olive branch.]
["Little Yuhao, why don't you join our Tang Sect?"]
["Also, come back to Shrek Academy with us!"]
[It was precisely this encounter that completely changed the trajectory of Huo Yuhao's fate, turning him from a wandering orphan into a student of the continent's number one academy.]
Seeing this scene, inside the Sea Gods Pavilion of the Black World, Xuan Zi, who was previously in a rage, suddenly seemed like a different person.
"Good! Good! Excellent!"
Xuan Zi suddenly jumped up from his chair, threw away the chicken bone in his hand, his face flushed with excitement, and slapped his thigh hard.
"Bei Bei! Tang Ya! These two little rascals did a great job!"
Xuan Zi stared at Huo Yuhao on the heavenly screen, the greed and excitement in his eyes almost impossible to hide. "A million-year spirit ring... although it's only of the spiritual attribute, this is absolutely an unprecedented super monster!"
"Who would have thought that such a piece of uncut jade was hidden within Shrek Academy!"
"Now our Shrek Academy really must nurture him well!"