The youth in blue robes appeared abruptly in the middle of a bustling street. Pedestrians wove past him like a moving tapestry, yet not a single soul cast a surprised glance his way.
"I only stayed in that mysterious space for an hour..." Huo Yuhao exhaled slowly. "But to me, it feels like a lifetime has passed."
"Brother Skydream."
"Iâm here."
"This time, you and I will hold our fate in our own hands."
"Alright!"
This encounter had been too earth-shattering.
It allowed him to glimpse the futureâ
to understand that he had been nothing more than a puppet, manipulated by others.
"From now on, my fate is mine!"
As his emotions surged,
a gentle voice suddenly echoed within his sea of consciousness.
"Huo Yuhao, will you follow the predetermined trajectory, or return to your youth and choose a different life?"
The familiar voice made him tremble slightly.
"Li... Li Zhexian?!"
"You followed me to this world?!"
"The future you has scooped up a handful from the upper reaches of the River of Time and is speaking with you."
Those words left both Huo Yuhao and Skydream Ice Silkworm stunned.
Scooped up the River of Time?!
What kind of divine power was that?!
The shock in his heart gradually settled.
When it came to that monstrous youth who had once defeated him in a single move, even the most inconceivable feats somehow felt natural.
In the long silence that followed,
countless thoughts churned like a tide.
Huo Yuhao bowed toward the void in the manner of a disciple, his gaze firm as stone.
"The spirit of youth is something that cannot be reborn once lost."
"Only after seeing the future do I realize how absurd and laughable my past was."
"If you can send me back to childhood without harming your own cultivation foundation, I am willing to walk my path againâand carve a different road."
On the Divine Star,
Li Zhexian reclined lazily in a sandalwood chair. Watching the resolute youth, the corners of his lips lifted.
"A trivial matter."
"In this world, many people and events have already been gathered under my control. For instance, the traces of the Ice Empress and Snow Empress no longer remain upon youâbut I have left other contingencies in their place."
"Much will change. You may treat this world as a trial ground."
"When you ascend to the realm of God King, I will personally guide you back."
Reverence filled Huo Yuhaoâs face.
"Yes!"
"Hey, heyâwhat about me?!"
Within his sea of consciousness, Skydream Ice Silkworm hurriedly cried out,
"If Yuhao is reborn, what happens to me?"
"Brother Skydream, I originally intended to gather you into the True Realm as well. But Huo Yuhao still needs your guidance. The you in the True Realm has already become a god and has nothing to doâbetter that you return here to temper yourself once more."
"You will retain your memories and return to the underground of Star Dou, waiting quietly for Huo Yuhao to find you."
"Alright, alrightâBrother Zhexian, what kind of god am I, anywayâ"
Skydream Ice Silkwormâs voice still echoed faintly.
But Huo Yuhao already felt his entire body wrapped in a gentle power of time and space.
The galaxy reversed.
Time flowed backward.
Fragments of years drifted past him like fireflies.
...
Star Luo Empire.
The White Tiger Dukeâs residence.
"Iâve truly returned to my childhood!"
Huo Yuhao lowered his head, staring blankly at his tender young hands.
Turning to the mirrorâ
a gray-clad boy with delicate features and bright eyes stared back.
It was exactly how he remembered himself at eleven years old.
"Only..."
"It seems my memories are somewhat different?"
He carefully retraced them.
"The White Tiger Dukeâs ancestral line has become Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuyun."
"Mother still died from the Duchessâs jealousy. The Duke still ignored us, mother and son alike."
"So even if I live this life again..."
"I still bear my motherâs surname."
"My name is Huo Yuhao."
"From this day forward, I have nothing to do with the White Tiger Duke."
Huo Yuhao slung his pack over his shoulder
and left the Dukeâs residence without once looking back.
"That person said..."
"Brother Skydream is waiting for me in the Star Dou Forest, carrying his memories."
"My Spirit Power is already at Level Ten. Meeting Brother Skydream first was the correct path to begin withâthereâs no need to deliberately change it!"
The Star Dou Great Forest bordered the northern reaches of the Star Luo Empire, far from the Dukeâs estate.
But unlike the anxiety and unease of his previous life,
this lifetimeâs Huo Yuhao walked with firm resolve.
He reached the forestâs edge in just five days.
Stopping by a river,
he had originally intended to roast fish as he once had to fill his stomach.
But on second thought, he realized how lucky he had been back thenâthat the smell of roasted fish hadnât attracted soul beasts from the forestâs outskirts.
"In this life, I will not entangle myself with any faction."
"I only wish to cultivate in peace, take control of my own destiny, and ultimately leave this parallel world to be guided into the True Realm by that existence."
He simply ate the fish raw. The briny sweetness made him frown slightly.
Just then,
laughter drifted from downstream.
A young man and woman walked side by side. A trace of complicated emotion flickered through Huo Yuhaoâs eyes before he turned and slipped into the forest.
"Sister Tang Ya, Bei Bei... in this life, let us part for now."
Having glimpsed the future, he knew the hardships that awaited them.
If the opportunity arose, he would reveal the secrets of fate to them.
"Fate is mysterious. In this parallel world, I seem to be the starting point of many karmic threads."
"Perhaps without my involvement, Sister Tang Ya and Bei Bei might live more peacefully."
Stepping officially into the outer region of the Star Dou Great Forest,
Huo Yuhao gripped his short blade and scanned his surroundings warily.
Before long,
a Wind Baboon darted through the trees.
In his past life, he had fought it desperately for survival.
Now, he had no such intention.
"This should be the place."
He waited quietly for a while.
Yet nothing happened.
Facing the empty air, Huo Yuhao said,
"Brother Skydream, if you donât come out now, Iâm really leaving."
"Stop right there!"
Before he could even turn around,
that all-too-familiar voice echoed in his mind.
"Ah!"
"I was only a god for a few days, and now Iâm back to babysitting again!"
A vast aura flashed briefly, then transformed into a transparent stream of light that entered Huo Yuhaoâs brow.
The Wisdom Spirit Ring manifested beneath his feet.
"Alright, you know the process alreadyâI wonât waste words!"
"And that Brother Zhexian, honestly! Fine, he sent me back, but he even took away my powers. I really want to go punch those guys underground a couple of times!"
"Make Di Tian submit to me for once!"
Listening to Skydream Ice Silkworm vent in his sea of consciousness,
Huo Yuhao pondered.
"Brother Skydream... are you the one who followed that person?"
"To be precise, Brother Zhexian gathered this worldâs Skydream Ice Silkworm into the Divine Starâs True Realm. Then he sent back the one and only me from across all worlds."
"And the ferocious beasts beneath Star Douâwere they not gathered as well?"
Knowing the future trajectory, Huo Yuhao naturally understood the secrets hidden beneath Star Dou.
Skydream Ice Silkworm pouted.
"Brother Zhexian is sharp!"
"Those close to himâlike Ice Empress, Snow Empress, Qian Renxue, Zhu Zhuqing, Ning Rongrong, Xiao Wu, and so onâwere all guided into the Divine Starâs True Realm."
"In this world, from past to future, there are no traces of them anymore..."
Before he could finish,
Skydream suddenly cried out, clutching his head and rolling around in the sea of consciousness.
"Brother Zhexian is too monstrous!"
"He can even strike across time and space!"
"Ahem, what I mean isâthere are still some people and Spirit Beasts in this world who werenât gathered. Otherwise, the entire timeline would fall into chaos!"
"Brother Zhexian truly plans far ahead!"
...
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