"Mom! Dad!" Na Na wept as she looked at the spirits of her parents before her.
But unlike the eerie, green, and terrifying ghostly appearance they had for years from abuse of the evil soul masters. They all looked healthy and warm again, just like she remembered them in her childhood.
Though they were also transparent and radiating a golden glow, telling of purified souls.
They weren't the only ones having a heartfelt reunion. Other people, who had been forced to join the cult, also reunited with the spirits of their loved ones.
Huo Yuhao slightly smiled as he watched the scene unfold.
Annihilating a branch of the Holy Spirit Cult, managed merely by two Soul Emperors, was as simple and time consuming as breathing—especially with the prowess of Feng Ling or "Phoenix", that Huo Yuhao typically calls her.
After taking care of all high level members of the cult branch, Huo Yuhao, accompanied by Na Na, went and judged the rest of the survivors—to see if some were worth sparing.
All of them might've been forced at the beginning, but likely there would be some who would grow to become ambitious and vile or brainwashed from doing constant work under the evil soul masters. Indoctrination exists after all.
Before his Sharingan, no lies or deceit could hide from him!
As expected, there were some who had fallen into the wrong path. So Huo Yuhao had no choice but to either use Genjutsu to help solve their troubles or execute them.
After solving that problem, he then purified the souls that had been held captive as an incentive for Na Na and the others.
Unfortunately however, their spirits had been damaged too much to be able to receive resurrection. He could only keep them in this mortal realm for a short span before sending them off for the afterlife or the reincarnation cycle.
Now, as he witnessed such a heartfelt scene, he couldn't help but think in his heart. 'One day, when I reunite with my mother. Would I weep like them?'
As a Necromancer, Huo Yuhao is able to see spirits of any kind. So he was kinda surprised that he hadn't seen his mother's soul at her grave.
He didn't thought much about it at the time, thinking that she had simply went off to the afterlife. He could call upon her spirit when everything in his life is calmed down.
"Thinking about your mother?" Seeing Huo Yuhao standing still, Jianxin couldn't help but speak.
She wasn't one to pry into someone's business or get involved in matters that didn't concern her, which is one of the reasons why many don't find trouble with her.
But Huo Yuhao was obviously different. Leaving aside that he was her partner, he had also become her dear friend.
She'd become his spirit soul in just a year and a few months, a mere speck of her lifetime. Back when she was recuperating from her injuries, whenever she'd sleep, decades would pass.
But just this short time with him felt fuller, louder, and more vivid than a millennia of her quiet existence before.
He was reckless, cunning, infuriatingly smug at times. But he was also the one who had pulled her back from the brink, who treated her as more than a slave or a tool.
In his own way, Huo Yuhao had made her feel alive again.
That was why, when she caught that rare shadow of melancholy in his expression, she couldn't just ignore it.
Her voice softened. "I know you would reunite with your mother, Yuhao. Anyone else, I wouldn't believe them to be capable of changing the world and attaining Godhood... But you? I'm sure you'll find a way to go beyond Heaven's Will(divinity)."
Huo Yuhao chuckled under his breath, "Thank you, Jianxin. I appreciate you for comforting me."
"I will never waver in my path to supremacy, to hesitate means death. To advance and strive for Godhood, one must have a firm heart of gold and obsidian: mercy and ferocity." He clenched his hands and took a step forward.
The spirits that had been held captive for years dissipated into motes of golden light into the air. Na Na and the rest looked up, crying to finally see their loved ones finally move on from the mortal realm.
They then turned to Huo Yuhao, in their eyes held various emotions: gratitude, respect, and awe.
Some of them saw him as a savior who had shattered their chains in mere hours. Others, as an untouchable force; someone so far above them that even gratitude felt inadequate.
Na Na's eyes flickered with a strange gleam and she immediately went to her knees and said loudly, "Master!"
The others were taken aback by her actions, and some started to copy her.
Huo Yuhao shook his head and waved his hand, a strange force of wind brought them back to their feet—except for Na Na.
He then said, "Everyone, you don't owe anything to me. While I had a hand in exterminating those evil soul masters, I had only made a move because she had informed me about this den of devils." He pointed at Na Na. Her eyes widened.
"She only calls me master because I had initially wanted to recruit her for her unique set of skills, but who would've thought that she was an unwilling member of the Holy Spirit Cult. This was merely a transaction: I help her with her troubles then she joins me, helping the rest of you are merely collateral beneficiaries of that deal."
His gaze swept over the group, calm and steady. He didn't need to continue. Those who were here are no idiots.
They quickly began to realize from his words; about who they should be grateful towards would be Na Na!
Na Na realized this and opened her mouth, not wanting to take any credit, but then she heard Huo Yuhao's voice.
'Don't. If you want to work for me, to become my shadow, then you're going to get used to leading others.'
Huo Yuhao deliberately wanted Na Na to take the credit for saving them. For one thing, they've been used and abused by the evil soul masters by having them join the cult. If he let them join his, by force or not, they would just think that they've merely switched to a different master.
Such a mindset would no doubt fester some feelings of disloyalty.
But if they joined because they wanted to follow Na Na to repay her, they'd think that because they made the choice by their own will then it was different.
That difference, subtle as it might seem, was the foundation for true loyalty. Forced service bred resentment; chosen allegiance forged commitment.
Na Na understood this logic instantly. She shut her mouth, letting the murmurs around her swell as eyes began to turn toward her.
A few of the rescued Holy Servants even stepped forward, bowing to her. A young man, about a couple years older than her, spoke with a trembling voice, "If not for you, we'd still be in that nightmare. We owe you our lives."
Na Na's hands tightened at her sides. It was uncomfortable, she wasn't one for crowds and in the center of attention(she's an agility system soul king after all), but she didn't falter.
She forced herself to meet their gazes, her face and voice steady. "Then don't waste that life. Stay alive, live your lives the way you wanted. That's all I ask."
The young man and the others sniffed, after sharing a knowing glance with one another, almost simultaneously, they went down on one knee.
"We would like to follow you!"
Huo Yuhao watched quietly, a faint gleam of satisfaction in his eyes. She was stepping into the role exactly as he'd hoped.
"My lord, what shall we do with this building?" Phoenix asked, kneeling behind him as she returned from looting every loot the cult branch had.
"Burn it. We can't use it since the Holy Spirit Cult's hq would come and investigate, I'm not strong enough to handle two Limit Douluos and a powerful Transcendent Douluo like Zhongli Wu yet.
Plus, the others won't like working in the place where Evil Soul Masters had tortured and twisted people for years. The walls themselves reeks of blood and resentment."
Phoenix's lips curved in a cold smile. "Understood." A pair of purple-black feathery wings spread out of her back, various soul rings manifested around her: 3 purple, 5 black, 1 red.
She raised her hand, a faint purple-black flame sparking to life before tossing it at a corner of the wall.
In an instant, it engulfed the entire wall. It quickly started spreading across the entire building. Na Na and the others instinctively stepped back, the oppressive heat was simply overwhelming for them.
Huo Yuhao snapped his fingers, snowflakes fell upon them that quickly melted into a cool mist, shielding Na Na and the others from the suffocating heat. The sudden drop in temperature made the air crisp, almost refreshing, despite the inferno raging around them.
"Let's go." He said. His eyes momentarily shifted into Sharingan and silver lights enveloped everyone, they were all transported away in an instant.
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AN: Anyone here played mlbb? Hahaha. I just had a seven loss streak in rank and it's pissing me the fck off