"Ice Spirit Demon King, give it up! Just hand over the True Mysterious Heaven Skill. That belongs to my glorious sect!"
"Old Huo, you robbed me of my family's precious cultivation resources by seducing our young miss! Don't you have any shame?! You're fucking ancient!"
"You demonic immortal deserve death! Killing tens of millions of people across three continents wasn't enough for you, but you even went as far as to cause the extinction of the Soul Beast race? You absolute monster!"
On a barren, blood-soaked battlefield, the earth itself had been shattered into a desolate wasteland. Craters still smoked from forbidden soul skills, and the sky hung heavy with lingering soul pressure.
Hundreds of elite powerhouses, each clad in sleek, futuristic battle armor embedded with soul tool arrays, formed a perfect encirclement. Colorful soul rings rose and fell around them like a storm of stars, their killing intent converging into a single, suffocating tide directed at one individual.
He stood at the center with long, flowing white hair cascading down his back, frost naturally forming and dissolving around his white robes. Eighteen soul rings rose behind him: sixteen golden-red, one deep-blue with a devouring golden edge, one pitch-black with golden thorns.
His face remained youthful and unblemished, as if time itself feared to leave marks upon it. Yet his dark-blue eyes, deep as abyssal ice, carried the weight of three thousand years of ruthless calculation.
No warmth.
No regret.
Only calm indifference, as though the scene before him was merely another trivial obstacle on an endless road.
"Hmm."
Huo Yuhao listened quietly, the corners of his lips curving into a faint, emotionless smile.
The accusations washed over him like wind across a frozen lake, meaningless noise from insects who still believed in "justice" and "karma".
Three thousand years.
It had been three thousand years since the events of that distant era, when he was still the young, naive Huo Yuhao of Shrek Academy.
Back then, Tang San had extended invisible threads of fate toward him by guiding him toward "friendship," "love," and eventual ascension as a God under his shadow.
A perfect pawn to whatever schemes he had.
Huo Yuhao had seen the shackles clearly.
He refused.
He severed every connection he had made, walked his own path, and chose eternal freedom over divine servitude.
Without Tang San's blessings, true godhood had remained forever out of reach.
But he had not needed it.
He had Life Gold, a rare treasure that contains vast amounts of life energy that even dwarfs the accumulation of a million year old soul beast. It was something he obtained early in his lifetime.
Then there was the Divine Law of Necromancy that contained numerous spells of Life and Death, and other things as well. There was easily hundreds of ways for him to live eternally.
But how could a long lifespan compare to a life without any shackles holding him down?
In this mortal plane, he was constantly suppressed by forces beyond his control.
That true freedom that he desperately craved was achieving Godhood.
But with the road to Godhood cut off by a spiteful God King, how could he have the opportunity?
Even if he could have the opportunity, the chances of him having the same authority as Tang San was pitifully small. Moreover, considering that man's scheming abilities, he wouldn't be surprised if he had befriended most of the God Kings.
So if he were to become a God King's successor, a friend of Tang San, who's to say that they wouldn't just put some restrictions on him because of their friendship with Tang San?
It was an overall lose-lose situation for him.
Huo Yuhao had long since accepted the situation.
But would he give up?
Ha! He would've killed himself long ago if he had surrendered his heart.
What was the point of cultivation? What is the path that soul masters walk upon?
That was to defy the heavens!
Huo Yuhao laughed loudly, the cold aura emanating from him intensified as an eerie grey-gold soul ring appeared around him.
He then spoke, his voice echoing across the land:
"Since ancient times, those that followed the will of heaven were favored by the heavens. but in truth they were merely insects!"
"My dao doesn't follow the will of heavens, I follow my heart to walk against the heavens!"
"I don't seek to be a God, I seek to get rid of my status as an insect."
"That is what it means to rebel!"
The group of soul masters was suddenly alerted and they all took a big step forward, their respective martial souls releasing killing intent.
The encirclement tightened. Soul tools primed, killing formations activated.
Huo Yuhao didn't care and his cold grey eyes gleamed, his skin showing cracks as his body emanated dangerous levels of energy.
He closed his eyes briefly, feeling the spatial ripples from the void, sensing a powerful realm coming near this planet.
He didn't care anymore.
His Necromancy spell, perfected over millennia, hummed in his spiritual sea.
Tier 13 Necromancy Spell - Return by Death!
"If the Tier 13 Necromancy Spell that I have just cultivated is effective, I shall still be a demon in my next life!" Huo Yuhao proclaimed with a crazed laugh.
"Wicked demon, what are you laughing about?"
"Be careful everyone, he's going to self-detonate!"
"Oh no, this much energy he's releasing is enough to blow up half the planet!!"
At this moment, with a loud bang that reached the void, Huo Yuhao was engulfed in a blinding surge of energy.
...
Shrek Academy, known as the number one soul master academy in the entire Douluo Continent. It stood as a symbol of glory and power, its name alone enough to make empires tremble.
It was founded by three famous soul masters but many people only cared about the first-generation Shrek Seven Monsters: Thousand Hand Douluo; Tang San, Soft Boned Douluo; Xiao Wu, White Tiger Douluo; Dai Mubai, Hell Douluo; Zhu Zhuqing, Food God Douluo; Oscar, Phoenix Douluo; Ma Hongjun, and Nine Colored Douluo; Ning Rongrong.
Their reputation had only grown over the millennia.
Shrek Academy was famous for cultivating countless genius students, with an extraordinarily high percentage of graduates becoming Titled Douluos. Many went on to found powerful sects, lead armies, or even becoming high-ranking officials in empires.
The academy's location in being near the Great Star Dou Great Forest granted it access to rich soul beast resources, while its strict yet "fair" traditions attracted the brightest talents from across the continent.
Their fame was unmatched. Shrek was not merely an academy, it was a legacy. A legacy built on the legends of the first generation Shrek Seven Monsters, the Seven Gods that saved the world ten thousand years ago.
Outer courtyard, male dorm.
In one of its modest rooms, a skinny boy stood by the window, looking out at the lush greenery and distant huge Sea God Lake of Shrek Academy.
He had short black hair that was slightly messy, framing a pale, delicate face that still carried the traces of malnutrition from his early years. His body was thin, almost frail for a boy his age, and his dark-blue eyes was cold and vacant.
He raised his hand and looked at it.
"It worked...." he muttered, clenching his fist.
His lips slowly curved into a faint, icy smile that did not belong on a child's face.
It was the smile of a man who had laughed madly in the face of death three thousand years later, proclaiming his demonic nature even as his body was consumed by the Tier 13 Necromancy Spell.
Huo Yuhao has returned to the beginning of his journey.
And this time, he will change the outcome of his story.
He will achieve his goal.
...
AN: Sup. Don't expect this to be an ongoing series yet, it's just an idea inspired from reading Reverend Insanity and Renegade Immortal.
I just wanna post a special chapter for April Fools.
I thought about posting a comedic "what-if, "stupid-shit" or another "face-slapping" sort of chapter, but eh. Welp, see y'all next time!