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Chapter 4: You're Not Worthy
"Indeed."
Huo Yuhao nodded slightly, but then his tone changed abruptly.
"But I have returned. And I now stand here once more."
He had been given another chance—a chance to live again. This time, everything would be different.
Huo Yuhao's gaze was calm as he met Yu Ming's frenzied eyes. He studied the man's hysterical expression as though observing a deranged Evil Soul Master who, upon discovering a trace of power within himself, suddenly believed he was superior to all others. No matter how splendidly such people disguised themselves, they could never conceal the ugliness of their nature.
"You are different from Dai Huabin," Huo Yuhao said evenly. "Even after reading through your memories, I still can't understand where your self-righteous sense of superiority comes from—what gives you the illusion that you're qualified to judge me."
"Even if I hadn't been reborn, you would never have been able to follow the path I once walked. Your will is weak. The only end awaiting you is death—devoured by the agony of fusing with the Ice Empress, your very soul consumed by the pain."
As he spoke, Huo Yuhao's lips curved slightly, but that faint smile quickly faded.
"Still, thanks to you, I've found the first meaning of my rebirth—"
His expression turned cold and hard as steel. Looking down at Yu Ming from above, his voice carried the solemn weight of a king's declaration—each word sharp and deliberate.
"—to eradicate pests like you who run rampant without restraint."
A flash of chilling light erupted—chi!—and the White Tiger Dagger silently pierced Yu Ming's left shoulder. No blood seeped out, yet the moment it struck, a terrifying chain reaction ignited. Yu Ming's body, and even his soul, began disintegrating at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Feeling his life force slipping away, Yu Ming's eyes widened in horror. He screamed in pain, his voice ragged and desperate. But no matter how violently he struggled, he could not slow the process in the slightest.
"You… you butcher! You've killed so many people—you'll go to hell for this!"
Huo Yuhao pressed his lips together, then nodded calmly.
"Perhaps you're right," he said softly. "Perhaps one day, someone will come to judge me… to send me to hell. But that person—"
He slowly bent down, meeting the dying man's gaze. Only Yu Ming's head remained intact, his consciousness flickering. Huo Yuhao's voice was quiet, almost a whisper, yet it pierced directly into Yu Ming's mind.
"—will not be you."
"Because you are not worthy."
Crack.
As Yu Ming's remains completely dissolved into fine ash and scattered into the air, a crystal-clear sound echoed—clink!—as an orb the size of a baby's fist fell to the ground. The orb shimmered with an icy-blue light.
"…So this counts as a monster drop, huh?"
Huo Yuhao's expression turned strange. Through the man's memories, he instantly recognized what the orb was—an evolvable ice-attribute martial soul. He bent down to pick it up. The sphere felt cool to the touch, though not painfully cold. Within its depths, a mysterious whirlpool of energy slowly rotated.
He tucked it into his robes, thinking to himself that he should find an opportunity to absorb it later. After all, it was the spoils of battle—it would be a waste to leave it unused.
Although the fusion with Skydream Iceworm could provide him with a semi-complete martial soul, this evolvable one was clearly superior.
Back then, before merging with the Ice Empress, his semi-complete martial soul had been unusable. But with this orb, the moment he fused with Brother Skydream, his ice-attribute martial soul should be able to activate immediately. After all, this orb evolved by absorbing ice energy—it didn't require a spirit ring to strengthen itself.
And the semi-complete martial soul that Skydream Iceworm constructed was precisely made from condensed ice energy, wasn't it?
As for what form his martial soul would take after merging with Skydream—he wasn't sure.
Perhaps it would resemble an Iceworm. Or maybe, like Ling Luochen's, it would manifest as pure ice-elemental energy. Either way, once he later absorbed the Ice Empress's power, it could continue to evolve further.
Even if the martial soul's combat power wouldn't yet match that of his past life before merging with the Ice Empress, it would at least grant him additional means of battle.
When everything was done, Huo Yuhao glanced briefly at Dai Huabin, who lay unconscious nearby. The deep azure glow that had surrounded him gradually faded. Pain lanced through every bone and muscle, and an overwhelming weakness made his body sway slightly.
This ability, after all, came from the power he had just unlocked—the Origin of Pride.
As one of the Seven Original Sin Gods of the Divine Realm, its nature and effect had already become clear to him.
It possessed two forms—both of which could be described with a single phrase: breaking through one's limits.
The first was the explosive state he had used just now, akin to the God of Pride's divine empowerment—temporarily amplifying one's spirit power and physical strength to extraordinary levels.
That was precisely how he had managed to defeat four guards despite having only first-rank spirit power. Especially when he used King's Descent, a technique that required soul power as a medium; without it, pure spiritual force alone would never have been enough.
A faint trace of relief crossed Huo Yuhao's mind.
Fortunately, Dai Huabin had been wandering near the Duke's Mansion—a relatively safe area—so the guards accompanying him weren't particularly strong. If they had been Spirit Elders or Spirit Kings, even with the power of the Original Sin of Pride, Huo Yuhao would have stood no chance of resistance.
After all, his spirit power was only at rank one. His physical condition, weakened by long-term malnutrition, was even worse—one of the frailest among children his age. No amount of battle experience could bridge a gap of pure power.
If the first effect of Pride was a burst of power, then the second was a subtle transformation.
From the very moment he had unlocked the Origin of Pride, his body had begun to change. Both the quality and total amount of his spirit power had permanently surpassed their natural limits.
It was just like in his previous life, when he had managed to condense a Spirit Core while still at the Spirit Sage level—a feat that even Title Douluo struggled to achieve. That same kind of breakthrough now defined his very foundation.
This meant that at every future stage, his spirit power's density and total amount would far exceed that of his peers.
At lower levels, the difference might seem negligible. But as cultivation progressed, the gap would become terrifying.
The benefits of such improved spirit power were not limited to energy alone.
After all, the Douluo Continent lacked any true body-refinement methods. From one-ring Spirit Masters to nine-ring Title Douluo, physical strength could only be nurtured through the tempering of spirit power.
Thus, Huo Yuhao's enhanced spirit power naturally meant his physical constitution—his bones, muscles, internal organs, and even meridians—were all far sturdier than others of his level.
Of course, there were drawbacks as well.
First, the power of Pride itself could easily make one arrogant. But to Huo Yuhao, that was hardly an issue.
In his previous life, he had been the God of Emotion, a being inherently capable of mastering and suppressing such impulses. Though he didn't yet know how unlocking more of the Original Sins would affect him, for now, it posed no threat.
Second, with his increased spirit power capacity, cultivation would naturally require far more time. Yet compared to the benefits of Pride's origin, this disadvantage was insignificant. He could always find other ways to hasten his progress later.
Huo Yuhao's faint smile vanished as he turned his gaze toward the forest behind him.
"Have you watched enough? Come out."
A startled rustle came from behind a large tree. Moments later, a slender figure with long black hair stepped out, head lowered, clutching the hem of her dress nervously.
Even though she looked somewhat different from how she had appeared when they first entered the academy in his past life, Huo Yuhao recognized her at a glance.
Who else could it be but Zhu Lu?
Though she was trying her best to appear calm, her trembling body and tear-filled eyes betrayed her fear and confusion.
Huo Yuhao's eyelid twitched slightly as he looked at her. To come out so obediently without even testing whether he was bluffing—how naïve. But then again, she was only six years old. No matter how early children matured in this world, that age was still an age of innocence.
As for why she was here, Huo Yuhao could guess easily enough.
Most likely, she had been brought by her clan elders to meet with Dai Huabin. He was well aware of the close ties between the Duke's Mansion and the Zhu Clan. With Dai Huabin's talent, his innate spirit power was surely high—naturally, some within the Zhu family would wish to invest in him early.
"All right, enough crying."
Huo Yuhao softened his aura slightly, rubbing his temples to ease the headache caused by excessive mental strain. Since she hadn't provoked him, he saw no reason to harm her.
"Stay here quietly until someone comes to find you. Can you do that?"
Seeing that Huo Yuhao didn't intend to kill her, Zhu Lu froze for a moment. The fear on her face eased slightly, and she nodded timidly before whispering,
"Are… are you leaving the Duke's Mansion?"
Given the situation, it wasn't hard for her to guess that he intended to buy time, delaying the Duke's people from discovering what had happened here and escaping in the meantime.
But Huo Yuhao merely raised an eyebrow, his tone turning faintly cold.
"And what exactly do you plan to do?"
"I-I'm not…"
Zhu Lu waved her hands frantically, then hastily removed the storage ring from her wrist and held it out with both hands.
"There's… some money in here. It might help you."
(End of Chapter)