Sitting atop the white-scaled horse, Huo Yuhao felt the gentle morning breeze brushing across his cheeks. The fresh, earthy scent unique to early dawn revived his nearly exhausted spiritual power.
The pale complexion beneath his Faceless Mask also began to regain some color.
After surviving the Evil Spirit Masters' ambush, the convoy had clearly increased its pace. Everyone urgently needed the comfort of a warm room and a soft bed to soothe their shaken bodies and spirits.
Some people were seriously wounded and required medical treatment as soon as they reached Xuanfeng City.
Because of that, a journey originally planned to take a full day was compressed into half; they would likely arrive by noon.
Now, riding on horseback, Huo Yuhao finally had the time to check his gains from killing "Old Second."
"Name: Huo Yuhao"
"Race: Human (God?)"
"Spirit Power: 15 (Rank 9)"
"Spiritual Power: 950"
"Martial Soul: Spirit Eye—Mangekyō"
"Abilities: Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, Izanagi, Kamui, Root Kingdom, Heavenly Sun Arrow, Susanoo."
"Authorities:
[Dream]: Life's unique phantasms (Mastery 2%)
[Understanding]: Dominion over the unknown (Mastery 4%)
[Fantasize]: Distortion of reality (Mastery 1.5%)"
"Lottery: Random Manifestation based on Delusion (Attempts ×1)"
"Items: Essence Forest Concentrate Potion (Douluo Special Supply), One Piece of Information (Incomplete)."
Compared with last time, his spiritual power had increased again.
Huo Yuhao had been able to feel it rising slowly all along, without showing any sign of stopping—likely a result of his Martial Soul's evolution.
What surprised him most was that the mastery of [Understanding] had reached 4%.
Just as he was about to use the lottery draw, the item "One Piece of Information" in his inventory caught his eye.
He accessed the mysterious item.
The moment his consciousness touched the interface, a line of text appeared directly in his mind.
The message wasn't long, but its content instantly piqued his interest.
"Bloodline sustains power; genes conceal all."
"Martial Souls are manifestations of bloodline, carved into the evolutionary blueprint of humankind."
"What is the true nature of a Martial Soul? These questions appear related to a certain pair of chromosomes…"
"Note: Acquiring more genetic information from different humans will unlock further content."
After reading it, Huo Yuhao raised an eyebrow.
"Isn't Douluo Continent supposed to be a fantasy world? Since when does it link to genetics?"
"In my past life I was an engineer, not a biologist. This stuff is way out of my field."
"Collecting human genetic information… Blood might be the easiest route."
He rubbed his temples and lifted his gaze toward the distant city walls, now faintly visible.
Even from dozens of li away, they radiated a heavy, ancient aura.
Since there was still some time before they reached the city, he decided to use the lottery draw.
A dazzling golden light rippled before his eyes.
As the light gradually faded, the information of the newly acquired ability appeared.
"Reversal Technique (Local Adaptation):
Negative becomes positive.
Water and fire. Wind and earth. Light and darkness. Life and destruction. Spirit and flesh."
Seeing this, Huo Yuhao's eyes brightened.
Just from the description alone, this was undoubtedly a gold-grade ability—one that reversed attributes to obtain their opposing properties.
If he gained the ice element, he could obtain fire.
With both, he could manipulate water…
Huo Yuhao focused his thoughts, and all information related to the Reversal Technique appeared in his mind.
This ability—or rather, this technique—was essentially the utilization of the mutual counteraction and interdependence of elements. By using a special technique to concentrate an element and accelerate its circulation, it would eventually reach the point of "when things reach an extreme, they reverse."
There was also one fundamental rule: conversion by difference, quality unchanged.
For example, turning Ultimate Ice into its opposite must yield Ultimate Fire.
But during the concentration and cycling process, there would inevitably be losses.
It might require ten units of Ultimate Ice Spirit Power to convert into one unit of Ultimate Fire.
The loss was huge, yet it didn't change the fact that this was an immensely powerful technique.
Given the current quality of Huo Yuhao's spiritual-type Spirit Power, activating the Reversal Technique could potentially grant him extremely strong physical regeneration and formidable strength.
After processingthis new technique, Huo Yuhao suddenly realized—
Once he entered Xuanfeng City, he could set up a small stall to treat wounds and heal people.
Not only could he practice the Reversal Technique, but he could also collect human blood to obtain genetic information.
Most importantly—
he could make money.
Huo Yuhao had been poor for two lifetimes; he was truly traumatized by poverty.
A perfect plan hitting three birds with one stone.
He just wasn't sure whether the Douluo Continent had something like medical licenses.
...
At noon, the sun hung high overhead.
The scorching sunlight licked the dry earth, draining away every trace of moisture.
Cicada-type Spirit Beasts shrieked loudly from the ancient trees flanking Xuanfeng City's gates, their sharp cries fighting against the oppressive heat.
Huo Yuhao's convoy lined up neatly along the path before the city, waiting for inspection by the guards.
Calling it "inspection," though, was an overstatement—
they simply flipped through things casually without checking much at all.
Xiao Dingyuan chatted freely with the gate captain; judging from their familiarity, the Dingyi Merchant Association clearly traded here often.
"President Xiao, how come so many people in your caravan are injured this time?"
The gate captain pointed at the convoy with confusion.
Xiao Dingyuan sighed helplessly.
"General Qin, I was lucky to escape with my life this time."
"A few hundred miles away from Xuanfeng City, we ran into Evil Spirit Masters.
If they hadn't suddenly turned on each other, not a single one of us would've made it out."
Hearing the words Evil Spirit Masters, General Qin's eyes narrowed.
"Evil Spirit Masters?" he said in a low voice.
Seeing his reaction, Xiao Dingyuan quickly asked,
"General Qin, do you know something?"
General Qin didn't keep him in suspense.
"President Xiao, you may not know this, but recently, people from Shrek Academy came to this region."
"They destroyed an Evil Spirit Master stronghold not long ago, but unexpectedly allowed many to escape."
"The fugitives scattered in all directions. They couldn't eliminate them all in time, so they warned us to be cautious."
Xiao Dingyuan sighed.
"What a disaster out of nowhere…"
General Qin nodded in agreement, then added:
"President Xiao, once you settle in, head to the City Lord's Mansion to file a report."
He paused before continuing:
"This is required by the Shrek Inspection Team."
"You know how the Shrek Inspectors are. We can't afford to disobey."
Xiao Dingyuan cupped his hands.
"Of course. I won't forget."
General Qin nodded, then shouted to the gate guards:
"What are you standing there for? Let President Xiao's caravan pass!"
The guards immediately lifted their weapons and stood aside to guide the convoy into the city.
They were led to a large open space on the outskirts of Xuanfeng City.
Xiao Dingyuan instructed the able-bodied members of the merchant group to arrange the goods and help the injured disembark.
Then he walked to Lang Shan's stretcher and said:
"Captain Lang, I've already sent someone to contact Xuanfeng City's medical hall. I'll make sure your brothers recover."
"We owe you a great deal this time."
Lang Shan waved dismissively.
"The mercenary group does what it's paid for. If anything, it's us who failed to protect you properly."
While the two were speaking, Huo Yuhao walked over.