The Soul Land 2
Chapter 1
The golden golden tile on top of the huge building like a palace shone with a dazzling light due to the sunlight. The ancient craftsmanship that had been used to create the golden roof of the palace and the red door caused people to involuntarily feel a sense of seriousness when they saw it.
When gazing from afar, fog seemed to roam around the palace. The buildings surrounding the palace were lined up neatly, just like the pattern of brick walls. The area they occupied looked limitless to the naked eye. Two words ‘Duke’s Mansion’ is carved in a fifty foot tall gate that stands in front of the entrance.
This mansion that occupied an area of more than 2 kilometers did not belong to the city. Instead, it was a single building located fifty meters northwest of the capital of the Star Luo Empire, Star Luo City. From this you can see that the owner of this large mansion holds an esteemed position within the Star Luo Empire.
During the time of the day, bright and beautiful sunlight would shine on the glistening roof tiles, causing a dazzling golden layer to cover the entirety of the Duke House. You can even vaguely see this scene above the city walls of Star Luo City.
The back door of the northern area of Duke’s Mansion opened without a sound, and a thin figure came out.
The figure was a young man who seemed to be around eleven or twelve years old. His stature was well-proportioned, and he wore a simple yet clean grey cloth shirt. He also had a small piece of cloth on his back. His short black hair looked neat and tidy. A stern look, which was filled with intensity that surpassed all of his peers of the same age, was present on his handsome face.
After gently closing the back door of the Duke’s Mansion behind him, the young man quickly ran a few steps forward. However, he suddenly stopped to look back at the Duke's house, his dark blue eyes filled with hatred.
“Mother, watch over me from the land of the deceased. No matter how hard I have to work, there will be a day when I return, and trample everything that is here under my feet. Therefore, I will honor you by changing my surname to yours — Huo. From now on, my name is Huo Yuhao. ”
After finishing his sentence, he turned to face the Duke’s Mansion, and looked at her deeply. Then, he turned around and left without a second thought.
He did not head towards Star Luo City, which was located southwest of Duke’s Mansion. Instead, he went north. Her petite figure gradually disappeared into the distance as a strong daylight illuminated her. Although his body was thin, the way he left behind did not cause any feelings of helplessness at all.
There is a wide road on all sides of Duke’s Mansion. Huo Yuhao continued to run forward, his eyes slowly turning increasingly red.
“Mother ...” The unwilling and unwanted expression that her mother had when she died involuntarily surfaced in Huo Yuhao's mind, causing him to clench his teeth tightly.
I need to get stronger! My mother taught me that one can only rely on oneself. One can only live a better life if they are strong.
Scenes from Huo Yuhao's memories endlessly flashed through his mind.
Huo Yuhao's mother had become one of the Duke's personal servants, and had grown up with the Duke. A personal servant only existed for the sake of serving his master, but Huo Yuhao secretly appeared inside his mother's stomach one night, twelve years ago.
She was pregnant for ten months, before finally giving birth one day.
Regardless of what identity Huo Yuhao's mother previously had, he was still the Duke's son. Therefore, even though his treatment within the palace could not be described as a good thing, it was still not too bad. Her mother no longer remained a maid, and relied on her son's glory to get a yard for herself.
The Duke went to war as a representative of the Star Luo Empire, leaving all the internal affairs of the Palace to the Duke's wife. The Duke's wife already had two sons and a daughter, and she treated anything that could affect her children as things that needed to be suppressed. Things were pretty good for Huo Yuhao and his mother while the Duke was at the Mansion, but when he left, the Mansion became the Duke's wife's world. Moreover, she was the favorite daughter of the current Star Luo emperor.
Huo Yuhao's mother grew up next to Duke, which made her very dear to him. Therefore, she had always been envious of the Duke's wife. After the Duke left, he immediately became the main target for the Duke's wife. On the grounds that Huo Yuhao's mother had contracted an infectious disease, he chased them to the butler's log warehouse, which was located at the back of the mansion. Moreover, he cut all their current sources of income. Huo Yuhao was only two years old when this happened.
Huo Yuhao's mother didn't have a healthy body from the start, so the difficult lifestyle they had to live with caused her body to gradually collapse. Moreover, the servants under the control of the Duke's wife would often suppress her, causing her to suddenly die from her illness when Huo Yuhao was ten years old.
Four thousand years ago, the Douluo Continent collided with the Sun Moon Continent, which drifted as a result of the Western Ocean. This resulted in the landmass of the Douluo Continent being greatly expanded, but it also caused the frequency of wars in the Douluo Continent to increase.
The Douluo Continent was originally divided into two countries ten thousand years ago — Dou Heaven Country, and the Luo Star Country. However, the Douluo Continent had now been split into three countries. Of the two, the Luo Star Empire still existed, but the royal family had changed. Fortunately they had calmed all of their kingdoms at that moment, allowing the entire Star Luo Empire to remain united, and thus resulting in them becoming the strongest force of the three.
However, the Heaven Dou Empire was split due to the discord among the powerful empires. In the end, it was divided into the Heavenly Soul Empire and the Dou Spirit Empire.
The Sun Moon Continent that had drifted from the west had a vast surface area and abundant resources. It was slightly smaller than the Douluo Continent, but it only had one country, namely the Sun Moon Empire.
War broke out between the two continents almost as soon as they collided. The three countries in the Douluo Continent all sent allied forces to fight against their common enemy. After nearly twenty years of war, they had finally managed to defeat the Sun Moon Empire. From then on, they united the two continents under the name Douluo. The Sun Moon Continent no longer existed, only the Sun Moon Empire within the Douluo Continent remained.
However, the Sun Moon Empire was not completely attacked despite being defeated. They relied on their natural advantages, as well as the conflicting views of the three empires in the Douluo Continent, to gradually form a stable and deadlocked situation between the four parties. However, wars still occur every year.
Due to the frequent wars that the Duke had to follow, he spent very little time inside the mansion. Since the Duke's wife had purposely hidden the matter, Huo Yuhao's mother was gradually forgotten by the Duke. When the Duke asked about him, his wife simply said that Huo Yuhao's mother had fallen ill.
Huo Yuhao's mother had suffered a lot of bitter hardships when she raised him. When he was six years old, he performed a martial soul awakening within the Mansion.
Martial soul was something that everyone in the Douluo Continent possessed. Although the Sun Moon Empire had developed in a different way compared to the other three empires, martial souls were still one of their basic concepts.
Everyone naturally had a martial soul that could be awakened at the age of six. Martial souls can be anything, from tools to animals. Animal-type martial souls are referred to as ‘Beast Souls’, while all other martial souls who are not Beast Souls are collectively known as ‘Tool Souls’. However, there were naturally some martial souls that had mutations. So, they are the exception to this rule.
After the awakening of one's martial soul, a small number of people would possess special powers along with their martial souls. This power is called ‘soul power’. Only people who have soul power have the ability to cultivate, and to become the noblest profession in the Douluo Continent — a soul teacher.
The soul master was separated into nine different ranks. From lowest to highest, they were: Soul Scholars, Soul Rulers, Soul Rulers, Soul Elders, Soul Ancestors, Spirit Kings, Soul Emperors, Soul Sages, Soul Douluos, and Douluo Titles.
Soul rulers would increase in strength as their soul rank increased. If one managed to reach the highest level of the titled Douluo rank, one would have a frightening ability to move mountains and oceans, as well as shift the stars.
