Time flies like a shuttle, and shadows move like arrows; another year has passed.
Inside the small courtyard of the firewood shed at the White Tiger Duke estate.
"Cultivation is not for winning fights, nor is it to gain the praise of girls. Rather, it is to use cultivation to make the body and mind healthy, and to make life more fulfilling and meaningful."
"Becoming stronger is also not for defeating others, but for conquering yourself. If you lose yourself because of the opponent's strength or your own power, you will never be able to reach maturity."
Sitting on a small stool, little Yuhao blinked his eyes with a look of half-understanding.
Mister Baili Du smiled at him and said: "Are you wondering why I don't teach you how to cultivate, but instead teach you these things that seem to be useless?"
Little Yuhao hesitated for a moment before nodding silently.
Over the past year, Mister Baili Du had not taken him to obtain a soul ring. Instead, he imparted vast amounts of knowledge, told many stories, visited several fun places, and taught him a cultivation technique called the "Spirit Ice Formula". Then, at night, he let Yuhao control his own soul power and explore cultivation on his own.
To be honest, although listening to Mister Baili Du's lectures wasn't exactly boring, little Huo Yuhao still felt a bit of anxiety in his heart since his soul power showed no signs of breaking through.
Obtaining a soul ring meant he could become a true soul master and possess powerful strength to seek justice for himself and his mother!
"You must always remember one thing: to cultivate the Dao, you must first cultivate the heart," Mister Baili Du said calmly. "If you do not have a proper understanding of your own power, then in the future when you become strong, you will only fail the power you possess and bring disaster to this world."
His words were very earnest, as if he weren't just speaking to Huo Yuhao, but more to his past self.
Huo Yuhao looked at his small hands in confusion; he didn't understand what these words meant.
Truthfully, let alone a six-year-old child, how many adults could truly grasp such principles?
"It's fine if you can't grasp it yet. Just remember it for now, and when the time is right, you will naturally understand. Now, I will tell you about the historical Martial Soul Hall and the Tang Sect; and of course, the Rakshasa God and the Angel God."
Little Yuhao immediately sat up straight. He knew that Uncle Baili Du's knowledge was incredibly vast—he truly knew the heavens above and the geography below, and was well-versed in both ancient and modern times.
Children, after all, always love listening to stories.
"Martial Soul Hall was created roughly twenty thousand years ago. It was established by the first-generation Angel God with the purpose of..."
"And this Tang Sect was created by that Sea God Tang San. I believe your mother has told you many stories about him, so I won't say much more. The establishment of the Tang Sect was..."
After Mister Baili Du finished his narration, little Yuhao wore a contemplative expression.
Looking at his appearance, a hint of satisfaction flashed in Mister Baili Du's eyes. He could naturally see that this little fellow had already etched what he said into his heart.
"In your view, for the peace of the entire continent and the common people, was the role of the Tang Sect greater, or the role of Martial Soul Hall?"
Huo Yuhao did not hesitate and said loudly: "It was Martial Soul Hall!"
"Why?"
"Because they awakened martial souls for commoners for free and gave subsidies to soul masters; but the Tang Sect sold those hidden weapons to nobles and soul masters. One could say it was meaningless to the development of humanity."
Mister Baili Du nodded silently: "Then in your view, why did both the Tang Sect and Martial Soul Hall exit the stage of history?"
This question stumped Huo Yuhao, and for a moment, he didn't know how to answer.
Mister Baili Du simply smiled: "Your talent is the same as the former Angel God, Qian Renxue—both are innate level twenty. But you've seen what her result was."
"I'm not saying Qian Renxue did the wrong thing; she simply lost. Because she lost, the history of the Douluo Continent judged her as wrong. Along with that, the contributions Martial Soul Hall made for humanity were completely denied as well."
"Justice lies in the hearts of the people. Whoever is good to the people, the people's hearts will naturally lean toward them. What the Tang Sect did can't really be called fair or just to begin with, and its development held no meaning for society, so it naturally vanished under the wheels of history."
Mister Baili Du firmly believed that in this era, a Tang Sect without Huo Yuhao could never rise again!
Just like Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect ten thousand years later; on the surface, they were destroyed by the Holy Spirit Cult using level twelve God-Slaying shells, but in reality, it was a multi-faceted alliance of the Douluo Federation high-ranking officials and the Spirit Transmission Pagoda's God of War Hall, who spared no expense just to destroy them.
Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect should be phased out of the historical stage.
Let the one hailed as the "Restoration Master of the Tang Sect and Shrek," the Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao, drive the final nail into their coffin!
Little Yuhao nodded thoughtfully: "Uncle Baili, are you telling me that there is no so-called good or evil in this world, and that the side that loses is the 'evil' one?"
Mister Baili Du nodded slightly in approval: "Very good! As long as you understand this point, you can look at all things in the world dialectically."
Truly worthy of being me! I can't help but admire my own cleverness.
Before Mister Baili Du could continue his explanation, an extremely unpleasant barking sound came from the doorway.
"Bastards, are you blind? Don't you know the Young Master has returned? Get out here and welcome him!"
The dilapidated firewood shed door was kicked into pieces. From the doorway, one could see eight physically strong White Tiger Guards with white tiger patterns embroidered on their chests standing on both sides of the corridor—obviously very loyal lackeys.
Huo Yuhao looked toward the door. He had almost forgotten that the Duke's Mansion required the servants to kneel on both sides of the road to welcome masters like Dai Huabin or Dai Yueheng when they returned.
No matter the place, people were always divided into different ranks...
And today, Mister Baili Du had been guiding his cultivation, so he had naturally forgotten about such things.
Of course, after meeting Mister Baili Du, Huo Yuhao had never done such a thing a second time.
Mister Baili Du had taught him that a person must not have arrogance, but must have strength of character; one must live with self-respect and pride.
This sentence was firmly engraved in little Huo Yuhao's mind.
A youth in luxurious clothes embroidered with a white python pattern happened to walk to the door of the firewood shed.
One could see that his appearance was very handsome, with twin pupils in his eyes. His entire aura was that of high-ranking, overbearing nobility, and his gaze was cold.
"Hmm?" The youth in luxurious clothes stopped in his tracks and glanced into the firewood shed with disgust: "No sense of rules at all... beat them."
After saying this, he walked away quickly as if afraid of dirtying his eyes.
Among the eight White Tiger Guards, four immediately lunged into the shed with fierce expressions, as if they had some irreconcilable blood feud with Huo Yuhao.
Mister Baili Du smiled and shook his head, then patted Huo Yuhao's shoulder: "The use of power is not just for conquering yourself; more importantly, it is for protecting yourself."
"Go, Yuhao, let them see your power!"
Little Huo Yuhao hesitated for a split second, then immediately became decisive and nodded heavily.
"...Come on!"
With thick soul power surging around him, little Yuhao's small body grew slightly taller. His hands transformed into sharp blue dragon claws, and four pairs—eight in total—of deep blue dragon wings spread out from his back. That illusory, thick dragon tail lashed out somewhat violently behind him.
In particular, those eyes turned into cyan-gold vertical pupils, releasing an indescribably terrifying pressure.
Deep blue water light and black-purple lightning snakes traveled across his dragon claws. With a casual wave, purple light flashed through the air, carrying a scorched smell. The four White Tiger Guards who rushed in suddenly felt a sense of paralysis and were unable to move for a moment.