Chapter 36: Existential Crisis at the Age of six.
"I love money. No, let me rephrase that—I love being rich and wealthy,"
Huo Yuhao said as he sat in the backyard of the sage's house. He had been managing and tidying up his inventory for the past two hours or so.
After all, nobody likes messy inventories, and those who leave their inventories unsorted are true psychopaths that you ought not to associate yourself with.
"Well, I kind of noticed after 0.01 seconds of meeting you in person, Yuhao."
Kiana spoke in his Stigma space, bored out of her mind as she had also been watching him manage his [Item Box] inventory.
"So, what is your plan for the seal on the forest? Do you really want to replicate a version of the house barrier on the entirety of the forest?"
Kiana asked in a somewhat bewildered tone. She knew that he was super stingy and did not want to share any of his stuff with anyone.
So why the sudden change of heart? Did he suffer from an incurable disease without her knowledge or, on a brighter note, did his stinginess and greed start to decrease a little?
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. My dear Kiana, I would never share anything that is mine with others. Skills, equipment, or knowledge—I would never share anything with anyone other than my mother."
Yuhao tsked at the tuna, utterly disappointed in her naivety. Him? Sharing? That was an oxymoron.
"I will use this world's knowledge base to create the barrier on the [Great Devil's Den] forest."
"I will not use the power of [Herrscher of the Void] or create a skill by my essence to form the barrier. And that is for several reasons."
He said to the tuna in his head while closing his [Item Box] as he finished organizing it into compartments.
Raw materials, organic materials, drop items, and monster blood essences were all classified and stored into different compartments.
The materials would be used in his blacksmith training; organic materials were going to be used in his alchemy training.
Drop items were going to be analyzed by his [All of Creation] subskill, and the data would be stored in his [Nanomancer] Data Bank to be used in nanomachine creations.
And finally, monster blood essence would be used to develop something that he could capitalize on when he returned to Douluo Dalu.
'Ahn⁓ truly beautiful.'
He was having too much fun hoarding resources—maybe too much fun—and we need to keep an eye on him in the future.
(An: Ma boi is acting SUS.)
"And why is that, huh? Why are you not using the power that I taught you? You could literally wrap this whole forest—or even the kingdoms—in a barrier made of imaginary energy. But nooooo, you have to do it in a different manner."
Kiana snarled at him for the first time in a while. Why was this blond boy creating problems out of nothing?
Wasn't the main point of gaining power to make things easier for himself and those around him? Then why?
Huo Yuhao straightened his back subconsciously when he heard Kiana snap at him.
An angry Kiana—while very cute and adorable—was also super dangerous. He needed to give her 200% of his undivided attention; otherwise, his training difficulty would increase again, and he did not want that at all—not one bit.
"Sighhhhh..."
He thought for a bit, and in the end, he sighed.
"I am afraid,"
he said, surprising the tuna in the Stigma space.
"I am afraid that someone or something could analyze my key abilities, reverse-engineer them, and start using them against me."
"The omniverse is infinite and endless. I am 100% certain that there exists a person out there who can counter me in every way possible. I would be a fish on a cutting board, ready for him or her to take my head with ease."
"There is a guy out there who can create contingency plans that perfectly counter literal gods just by having an in-depth understanding of their abilities."
He said while creating an illusion of the Caped Crusader in his [Hell Bat Armor] in front of him.
He gazed at it for a second, expressing both his admiration and fear, before dismissing the illusion and continuing.
"Who's to say there isn't someone who is more extreme than him?"
"Maybe someone who can analyze my Honkai energy through my barriers, or analyze my nanomachines through my creations, and create—I don't know—anti-Honkai-attributed attacks? Or attacks that can instantly disintegrate my nanomachine creations, putting me at a disadvantage?"
"I don't want to leave anything that can be used against me out there at all."
He paused for a second as he sat down on his rocking chair. He spread his arms, welcoming the cute white furry missile that came toward him carrying his favorite brush in its mouth. Fou liked his brush very much.
"I will use the world's power system (whether it is Douluo Dalu or the world of Argena) to create something beyond their current level."
"I would be a dozen steps ahead of them but only show that I am 'within' reach—a false sense of security."
"So, when someone wants to target me with a knife, I will have already pressed my gun barrel into the back of his or her head, ending him or her instantly."
"No revenge plots, no escaping—nothing of those sorts, just an ending."
He did not realize it, but his authority over [Nihility] had started taking shape, and his connection with the [Realm of Nihility] had become more stable.
Kiana noticed those changes, but she did not give voice to that fact, as she was still absorbed in Yuhao's mini rant.
She originally thought that her student was a masochist who enjoyed torturing himself when he had the means to make things easier for himself.
She never would have imagined that he was carrying all this baggage within him. Her student was having an existential crisis at the age of six.
'Maybe we should lessen his training for a bit. I don't like this psychological development.'
Kiana thought to herself as she gazed deeply at her blond disciple, who was enjoying brushing Fou's tail with a magical brush.
She understood what he was afraid of, and somehow that fear also became her fear.
(An: Ma boi sharing trauma like candy.)
While this version of Kiana was different from the 'canon' happy-go-lucky Kiana—having suffered more brutalities than her 'canon' counterpart—she had never thought of things like that before.
For her, the [50,000-year time loop] and the [Cocoon of Finality] were her greatest sources of trauma.
But surely, there exists someone beyond the level of the Cocoon in other universes, right?
And if true, what would you do against someone who can counter you perfectly? Would you run? Would you abandon everything and accept death? Or would you fight to the death?
(An: Food for thought.)
"Hao'er, I am back."
While both the teacher and disciple were having their own existential crises, the charming, velvety-smooth voice of Huo Yun'er reached them.
Huo Yuhao looked toward the back door, ready to receive Yun'er with his best boy smile—only for that smile to falter when he saw her instantly possess her martial soul and prepare to raise hell on earth with her [Destruction Flames].
"Hao'er, throw that thing out of your arms right now and get behind me!"
Huo Yun'er commanded in an authoritative tone, like a general about to face the greatest battle of his life.
"Hurry up!"
She screamed, maintaining eye contact with the violet eyes of the white creature lying in her son's arms.
'How can this vile creature sneak up on Hao'er like that? Is he being manipulated?'
If she had thought for a moment, she would have realized how ridiculous her line of thought was. Him? Being mind-controlled? The owner of the one and only [Eyes of Heaven]—being mind-controlled?
But none of that registered in her mind. What she needed to do now was protect her cute boy from the paws of this vile creature.
"Don't worry, my baby—Mommy is here to save the day."
Yun'er exclaimed as her flames grew hotter and hotter by the millisecond.
Kiana and Yuhao stared at Yun'er—or, more specifically, they were staring at the destruction caused by Yun'er's [Destruction Flames].
'Well, this is going to be a long night.'
Both the teacher and disciple thought the same thing.
(Chapter 36 finished.)
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Author's Note:
Long time no see! How have you guys been?
I don't know if anyone is still interested in the story, as it's been collecting dust in your library for nearly six months. If you are, then—firstly—thank you for your interest and time; and secondly, please support it with Power Stones.
Honestly, I'm kind of sick of the current Douluo Dalu fanfics. Most of them are translated, and a lot are garbage—filled with overused Chinese tropes and word padding that just drains your energy while reading.
Anyway, this chapter is 1.5K words without the Author's Note. This length is more manageable than the 2K–3.5K word chapters you were used to. But oh well—it is what it is.
Oh, on a separate note—we've finally reached 90K words for this story. Yatta!
Anyhow, don't forget to comment on memes, share your thoughts, and, most importantly, post waifu pics.
That's all for now.
Bye.
(AN: Italic bold text represents new additions and updates to his status, so you don't have to read everything.)
『...』
『Huo Yuhao』
『Class: Nanomancer』
『Class Ranking: Tier 3』
『Race: Ascended Human, White Dragon, White Tiger』
『Soul Power: 29』
『Martial Souls: [Eyes of Heaven], [White Dragon of Nihility] 『1+』, [Monster Slime] 『2+』』
『Skill Points: 811,000.』
『Unique Skills: [Great Sage], [Golden Rule], [True Martial Art: 7], [Super-Growth B], [Increased Skill Point Generation: B], [Honkai Circuits], [Honkai Resistance], [Honkai Energy Manipulation], [Honkai Rotation] 』
『Other Skills: [Appraisal], [Endurance], [Item Box], [Language Comprehension], [Fast Reading], [Thread Manipulation], [Illusion Manipulation], [Pain Resistance], [Check Status], [Cooking: 5], [Taunt C], [Weakness Detection], [Presence Detection], [Environment Assimilation] 』
『Titles: [Master of the Door], [Master of the House], [Otherworlder], [First [Class Holder] to Appear in the World], [The One Who Perplexed the World's Consciousness], [The One Who Gained the Interest of the Entire World], [Slaughterer]』
『...』