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...God Realm, time flows endlessly.
For Divinities with eternal life, time is the least valuable yet most luxurious thing. Xuan Ming and Bibi Dong sat at the God Realm Core, sipping spirit tea from a certain Xianxia plane, watching the light and shadows of the Lower Realm shift.
A few months in the God Realm is sixty years in the Mortal Realm.
A full sixty years had passed.
The landscape of Douluo Star had undergone earth-shattering changes during these sixty years.
The era of reform, once filled with blood and war, was now written into textbooks, becoming an epic passed down by children.
Huo Yuhao—this name had become a symbol, a totem.
He was the Pagoda Master of the Spirit Pagoda, the Grand Elder of the Tang Sect, the only "Lifetime Honorary Chairman" of the Federation, and moreover, the number one person in the World, reverently called the "Spirit Ice Douluo."
Under his promotion, the Soul Spirit System became universally popular. Spirit Beasts were no longer the sole targets of hunting for Spirit Masters, but partners who could sign contracts and coexist symbiotically. The relationship between the Federation and major Spirit Beast gathering places had eased to an unprecedented degree.
Relying on the lingering prestige of those two Buddha's Fury Tang Lotuses and the subsequent series of civilian spirit tool technologies developed, the Tang Sect stood atop the continent once more, becoming a behemoth capable of rivaling the Federation Council.
Everything seemed so beautiful.
Order was established, and everything was being rebuilt.
However, through the water mirror reflecting the Mortal World, a hint of expected regret flickered in Bibi Dong's deep purple eyes.
"It seems your experiment has ended in failure after all."
Bibi Dong set down her teacup, pointing at the white-haired young man in the image who sat at the top of the Spirit Pagoda, looking indifferently at the sea of clouds outside the window.
"Look at his eyes."
"There is no longer any light there."
...Douluo Star, Spirit Pagoda Headquarters, top floor.
Huo Yuhao was now nearly ninety years old.
Although for a Limit Douluo, ninety was still the prime of life, and his appearance was maintained at around thirty years old thanks to his powerful cultivation, the trace of vicissitude and... weariness in the depths of his eyes could not be hidden.
On the desk, a mountain of documents flew in like snowflakes.
"Amendment to the 17th Federation and Star Dou Great Forest Spirit Beast Trade Agreement," "Application for Tariff Adjustment on Tang Sect spirit tool Exports," "Special Action Report on Combating Illegal Hunting of Spirit Beasts in Remote Areas," "Annual Statistics of spirit soul Adaptation Rates in various Elementary Spirit Master Academies"... Every document represented power, the livelihoods of countless people, and... endless trouble.
Huo Yuhao picked one up at random, glanced at it, and then threw it aside irritably.
"Why do they have to ask me about such things?"
He rubbed his temples, his voice carrying deep exhaustion. "I've already said, leave trade matters to the Ministry of Commerce and Spirit Beast hunting matters to the Law Enforcement Team. The Pagoda Master of the Spirit Pagoda is not a nanny; I shouldn't have to make the final call on every trivial matter!"
"But... Pagoda Master."
The young secretary standing by said tremulously, "The Federation side says these matters are of great importance, and they only dare to execute them if you sign. After all... your prestige is there."
"Prestige?"
Huo Yuhao let out a cold laugh, stood up, and walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window.
He Looking down at this bustling city.
Once, this place was a ruin. He had driven the "dark blood demon" and used blood and fire to forcibly snatch it back from that group of demigod Old freaks.
At that time, there was only a fire in his heart.
He wanted revenge, he wanted his mother's soul in heaven to rest in peace, he wanted Tang Ya to return to the Tang Sect, and he wanted this twisted World to change according to his will.
To survive, to avoid being killed as a Heretic, he had to fight, kill, and scheme.
But what about now?
His enemies were all dead.
The grass on the graves of the demigods who hunted him back then was already several meters high. The Federation Council had been purged again and again; the people sitting in the council now looked at him like mice seeing a cat, not even daring to speak loudly.
The Tang Sect had been revitalized, and Tang Ya had grown old. Although she was still beautiful, her heart was more focused on training the next generation of Disciples and researching new spirit tool delicacies.
All his former goals had been achieved.
And then?
What remained was this dull management, day after day, year after year.
"I'm tired."
Huo Yuhao looked at the blue sky outside the window and murmured to himself, "I'm really... tired."
From beginning to end, he was never someone with a grand narrative vision.
He didn't want to be a Saint, nor did he want to be some eternal role model. He Cultivated desperately back then just to stop being bullied, just to make the people around him live a little better.
Now, everyone was living quite well.
So why was he still trapped in this cage?
"Brother Tianmeng."
Huo Yuhao called out in his spiritual sea, "Tell me... what is the God Realm actually like?"
In the spiritual sea, the golden-haired youth who was usually grinning also seemed a bit silent now.
Tianmeng Ice Silkworm lay on a massive spiritual iceberg and sighed, "Yuhao, do you... want to leave?"
"Yes."
Huo Yuhao didn't deny it. "I feel like I've reached my limit. Not the limit of power, but... the limit of patience."
"Everything in this Mortal Realm no longer holds any attraction for me. Those battles that once made my blood boil now seem like children playing house; those schemes that once made me rack my brains seem even more ridiculous."
"I want to go to a broader World."
"I don't want to stay on this tiny Douluo Star anymore, guarding these boring rules and watching these Mortals fight until they bleed for some petty profit."
"I want to go see the Universe... that Senior Xuan Ming spoke of."
...God Realm Core.
Watching the impatient Huo Yuhao in the image, Bibi Dong turned her head to look at Xuan Ming.
"See, I was right."
"Huo Yuhao is not suitable to be the guardian god of Douluo Star."
"He doesn't have that heart."
"The position of guardian god sounds prestigious, but in reality, it's the most boring and torturous. It requires persistence for ten thousand years as if it were a single day; it requires a love for this land that is deep to the bone, or like Posey, absolute loyalty to faith."
"But Huo Yuhao..."
Bibi Dong shook her head. "His background determined his perspective."
"He's an illegitimate son who suffered cold shoulders and bullying from a young age. His motivation for struggle was resistance and survival, not responsibility and protection."
"When oppression disappears, when survival is no longer an issue, his motivation disappears as well."
"He is more like an adventurer, a pioneer."
"He can become a hero to break the old order, but he will never willingly become a cog to maintain the new order."
"Let him guard Douluo Star?"
Bibi Dong chuckled. "Within three hundred years, he would definitely go mad from boredom, and might even blow up Douluo Star himself just for fun."
Xuan Ming listened to Bibi Dong's analysis and remained silent for a long time.
"I overestimated him, or rather... I was too idealistic."
Xuan Ming leaned back on his divine throne, his gaze deep. "I thought that after experiencing such suffering, he would cherish the hard-won peace more and be more willing to guard this tranquility."
"But I forgot one thing."
"Human nature is inherently insatiable."
"Once tranquility is obtained, one will crave excitement; once power is obtained, one will crave freedom."
"He already stands at the peak of the Mortal Realm; that loneliness of being at the top is indeed not something an ordinary person can endure."
"Not everyone can be like Ning Fengzhi and the others, guarding for thousands of years just for a promise."
"So..."
Bibi Dong raised an eyebrow. "Your plan fell through? Do we still have to manage Douluo Star ourselves?"
"No."
Xuan Ming shook his head. "Since he doesn't want to be a nanny, then let him be a fighter."
"Isn't the God Realm expanding now? Isn't it short on manpower?"
A restless, ambitious, and powerful kid like Huo Yuhao is practically a natural-born candidate for the expeditionary force.
"Bring him up."
"Give him the chance to condense a God Position and throw him directly to the front lines of the Great God Circle."
"Let him explore unknown planes, fight those outer gods, and vent his nowhere-to-be-placed energy."
"As for Douluo Star..."
Xuan Ming's gaze fell back onto that azure planet, his eyes becoming somewhat indifferent.
"Children and grandchildren have their own fortunes."
"Since Huo Yuhao chose to leave, and since humanity chose to forget."
"Then let this planet... continue its Reincarnation."
"We have already given them opportunities, given them systems, and even given them a child of destiny."
"If they still can't hold onto it like this..."
"Then it shows that this civilization itself is not worthy of being eternally favored."