Douluo Continent: Who says evil soul masters can't achieve sainthood through merit?

Before dawn, the morning mist was like a veil.

As soon as the gates of Shrek City opened, an inconspicuous black carriage quietly drove out, rolling over the cobblestone road and speeding off in the southeast direction.

Inside the carriage, Ye Guyi and Li Qing sat side by side, while Huo Yuhao, who appeared somewhat reserved, sat opposite them.

After a night's rest, the three of them had recovered quite a bit, but the morning's bumpy ride still made the atmosphere somewhat somber.

Ye Guyi looked at the boy opposite her who had his head down, and suddenly remembered something. She asked softly, "Yuhao, do you want to tell your family? So they won't worry."

As soon as she finished speaking, she saw Huo Yuhao's body stiffen noticeably.

The boy lowered his head even further, his voice so soft it was almost inaudible: "My mother... has passed away."

Ye Guyi choked on her words, her face showing embarrassment and apology: "I'm sorry, I didn't know..."

"It's okay."

Huo Yuhao shook his head, but the undisguised sadness in his voice plunged the entire carriage into a deeper silence.

"That's all in the past. Now, all I want to do is cultivate diligently and strive to become a strong person as soon as possible."

Ye Guyi opened her mouth, wanting to say something comforting, but found herself too clumsy to know how to begin.

She looked at Li Qing beside her, hoping he would say something, but Li Qing just looked at Huo Yuhao quietly, a thoughtful look flashing in his eyes.

How did your mother die?

Li Qing suddenly spoke, his voice calm: "If I'm not mistaken, this isn't a simple reason. Because you're quite young, your mother shouldn't be more than forty years old."

Ye Guyi realized what was going on when she heard this.

Her own mother died from hunting evil spirit masters, and Li Qing's situation was even more complicated—their relatives all died unnatural deaths.

It's indeed unusual that Huo Yuhao's mother passed away when she was only in her thirties.

Huo Yuhao clenched his fist, his knuckles turning white from the force.

Anger, pain, and resentment flashed in his eyes, but in the end, he just bit his lip and remained silent.

Seeing his reaction, Li Qing already understood.

In the original novel, although Huo Yun'er's death was directly caused by her injuries, the root cause was the indifference and neglect of the White Tiger Duke's Mansion.

Dai Hao was away fighting battles for many years and neglected the mother and son. Huo Yun'er suffered all kinds of humiliation in the Duke's mansion and eventually fell ill from overwork, passing away when Huo Yuhao was ten years old.

"Since you're willing to come with us..."

Li Qing said slowly, "Then I think you can talk to us about it. After all, in the end, we wouldn't mind giving you a hand. What do you think?"

His voice was calm, yet carried an undeniable power.

Although Huo Yuhao was a bit... off later on, he was quite normal in the early stages.

That cannot be changed.

Ye Guyi looked at Li Qing in surprise—she had never seen Li Qing so proactive in offering to help others.

Huo Yuhao also raised his head, his eyes flashing with a complex light.

The boy stared at Li Qing for a long time, seemingly trying to determine the truth or falsehood of his words.

Li Qing simply met his gaze calmly; there was no pity or sympathy in his deep black eyes, only an almost cold honesty.

Finally, Huo Yuhao took a deep breath and squeezed out two words through gritted teeth:

"Dai Hao".

The air inside the carriage seemed to freeze.

Ye Guyi frowned slightly. She recognized the name, but couldn't quite place where she had heard it before.

She tried hard to search her memory, but she was always just a little short.

"Dai Hao killed your mother?"

Li Qing's tone remained calm as he asked, "What did your mother do wrong?"

Huo Yuhao shook his head, his eyes burning with suppressed anger: "My mother didn't do anything wrong. It was he who failed to do what he was supposed to do, which led to my mother's injuries and illnesses, and ultimately her demise."

His voice trembled, a tremor born of extreme anger and extreme sorrow.

Li Qing nodded, not pressing for details, but instead uttered a conjecture that utterly shocked Ye Guyi:

"So, you're Dai Hao's son?"

Huo Yuhao did not answer, but his clenched fists, the pain in his eyes, and his tacit silence had already given the answer.

"Dai Hao... Dai Hao..."

Ye Guyi murmured the name repeatedly, then suddenly her pupils contracted sharply, and she exclaimed, "Wait, Dai Hao... that White Tiger Duke Dai Hao from the Star Luo Empire?!"

Huo Yuhao remained silent, but Ye Guyi had already gotten the answer from his reaction.

She gasped, and the way she looked at Huo Yuhao completely changed.

The Duke of White Tiger is the highest-ranking military commander of the Star Luo Empire, a hereditary dukedom whose status is second only to the royal family.

The Dai family of the White Tiger Duke's Mansion is an ancient family with a history of ten thousand years, and every generation has produced powerful figures who are famous throughout the continent.

At its peak, it even produced deities.

That is, Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing from ten thousand years ago.

"That's not right!"

Ye Guyi quickly noticed the problem and asked, "Since you are the son of the White Tiger Duke, how come your martial soul is the Spirit Eye? Also, given your status and talent..."

It doesn't look like the White Tiger Duke's mansion at all.

Huo Yuhao opened his mouth, but didn't know where to begin.

Those humiliating years in the Duke's mansion, the days of being bullied by the servants, my mother's increasingly emaciated appearance on her sickbed...

All the memories cut into his heart like knives.

"What else could it be...?"

Li Qing answered for him: "Of course it's because his mother's identity isn't good enough. Plus, his martial soul mutated, resulting in terrible talent. Am I right?"

He looked at Huo Yuhao, his eyes eerily calm.

That wasn't sympathy or pity, but a near-cruel understanding.

Huo Yuhao nodded emphatically, finally speaking in a hoarse voice: "My mother was a maid in the Duke's mansion, of low status. The day I awakened my martial soul, my innate soul power was only level one, and it was of the mental attribute, completely different from the Dai family's White Tiger martial soul. From then on, we..."

He paused, seemingly gathering his emotions, before beginning to recount that painful past:

How his mother suffered endless humiliation, how she was suppressed by the first wife, how she was neglected by the servants, and how she was denied proper medical treatment while ill. How he was ridiculed as a "good-for-nothing" by his peers, how he struggled to cultivate himself under the constraints of limited resources, and how he left that cold home with his last shred of dignity after his mother's death.

"So you ran away all by yourself, hoping to acquire a spirit ring and become a spirit master?"

Upon hearing this, Ye Guyi's eyes flashed with anger as she spoke out indignantly, "Those bastards! And that Dai Hao, they're not even human!"

Huo Yuhao smiled bitterly: "My mother told me before she died not to hate him, that he had his own difficulties. But I... can't do it."

Silence fell over the carriage again. The only sounds were the wheels rolling over the road and the occasional chirping of birds in the distance.

Ye Guyi looked at Li Qing, her eyes asking – Are you going to make a move?

She knew very well that with Li Qing's potential and talent, he was destined to be a figure at the pinnacle of the mainland in the future.

Given his connection with Xiao Hongchen, dealing with a White Tiger Duke is not impossible.

But Li Qing did not respond to her gaze, nor did he make any promises.

He simply watched the scenery rushing past the window, as if deep in thought.

A week passed in a bumpy journey.

The carriage traversed plains, crossed hills, and forded rivers, finally reaching the border of the Sun and Moon Empire on the evening of the seventh day.

Three days later, the iconic metal walls of Mingdu appeared on the horizon.

When the carriage finally entered this city of soul-guided technology, Huo Yuhao was completely shocked by the scene before him.