The Inheritance Mark

Seeing that this devilish young man was about to play a new trick, Cui Lian finally broke down. Tears streamed down his face uncontrollably.

"I'll talk, I'll talk—it was Shrek."

"Keep going." Huo Yuhao frowned slightly, his voice cold.

Cui Lian shuddered, lips trembling.

"It was Steward Lu who noticed someone was investigating you, Third Young Master. Then he traced it back and found that the force behind it was from Shrek. He discovered your identity and your activities at Shrek, and reported it to the Madam. That's when she sent us to... to..."

He stopped speaking.

"To eliminate the root, huh?" Huo Yuhao sneered coldly. That steward Lu, how could he forget him? He was one of the Madam's trusted men from her maternal family and had contributed to his mother Huo Yun'er's death.

"Kill me... just kill me." Cui Lian lay curled up on the ground, trembling all over. Knowing Huo Yuhao wouldn't spare him, he didn't want to suffer anymore.

Huo Yuhao walked up and lightly pressed a palm against Cui Lian's chest. His soul power penetrated through the flesh, instantly shattering his heart meridian.

Cui Lian stopped breathing. At the moment of death, there was even a faint smile on his face, as if relieved to finally be freed.

"Senior, it's getting late. If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave."

Knowing the Dai family had learned of his identity made Huo Yuhao a bit uneasy. He feared they would send more assassins after him and decided to return to the academy quickly.

Though the academy couldn't guarantee absolute safety, such a blatant assassination like today wouldn't happen there. Shrek was now a major power, and no one wanted to provoke them—not even the Dai family. Besides, the Madam didn't represent the entire Duke's estate.

"Heh heh, then I won't keep you. Little guy, you're welcome to visit our Body Sect anytime." the elder said with a chuckle.

What? Body Sect?

Huo Yuhao's facial muscles couldn't help but twitch. No wonder he was so surprised—the Body Sect was as renowned as Shrek Academy. Along with Mingde Hall of the Sun and Moon Empire, the three were known as the three great forces of the continent—at least on the surface.

The Body Sect had only one requirement for entry: your martial soul had to be a part of your body—that's the origin of the term "body."

It was rumored they had a secret method to let people with body-type martial souls undergo a second awakening. Although risky, the martial soul would become significantly more powerful afterward.

In combat techniques, the Body Sect was said to be unmatched. Even Shrek Academy couldn't compare. This was their hallmark strength.

Also, Huo Yuhao remembered the original story mentioning the Body Sect had eleven titled Douluos, a testament to their incredible power.

The current sect master was a Level 98 Super Douluo, and his last three soul rings were all 100,000-year ones—a freakishly strong being.

Thinking back to how the blue-clad woman addressed this old man, Huo Yuhao broke into a cold sweat. He had just invited a Level 98 Super Douluo to roast lamb with him. No wonder even Snow Empress had commented on how powerful the old man was.

"Little guy, what's wrong?" The elder looked at Huo Yuhao, smiling faintly.

Snapping out of it, Huo Yuhao quickly said he was fine. After a few polite words, he summoned Bloodflame Thorn into a flying sword and fled swiftly.

As Huo Yuhao's figure disappeared into the distance, the elder's smile slowly faded. He glanced sideways at the blue-clad woman, who seemed about to speak.

"You're wondering why this old man is so interested in a three-ringed kid, aren't you?"

The blue-clad woman nodded.

"Yes, Sect Master. Even if that kid's strength is comparable to a Soul King, that still doesn't seem enough for your attention." That was something she couldn't wrap her head around—she hadn't asked earlier because Huo Yuhao had still been present.

The elder slowly uttered four words: "The Inheritance Mark."

"What?" The blue-clad woman was shocked.

"You mean that kid can accept the Inheritance Mark? He has a body-type martial soul?"

"Correct." The elder nodded, rare seriousness on his face.

"Not only that—the Inheritance Mark has already developed sentience. It seems to very much want to follow him."

The blue-clad woman was stunned again. What was going on? Even the sect master had only barely managed to make the Inheritance Mark acknowledge him back then.

"Go. Investigate his background thoroughly. And send Huang Yan to protect him in secret. Don't let the Dai family really succeed in killing him." the elder ordered.

"Yes." The blue-clad woman bowed respectfully and went off to make arrangements.

Huang Yan was the strongest person below titled Douluo in the sect, with a soul power of Level 89. If he got serious, even a titled Douluo would get a headache. Assigning him to protect a three-ringed kid might seem like overkill, but considering it involved the sect's legacy, it was absolutely necessary.

Meanwhile, Huo Yuhao had no idea he had just caught the attention of yet another faction—and even gotten himself a free Soul Douluo bodyguard.

Riding the flying sword, Huo Yuhao was uneasy. That old guy had only invited him to eat—Huo Yuhao didn't think he was worth that kind of attention. No matter how hard he thought, he couldn't figure out the reason.

His Spiritual Eye martial soul was, in fact, a body-type martial soul, but he was confident the old man didn't know that.

Normally, a soul master could gauge the soul power level of someone weaker than themselves, but they couldn't tell what the opponent's martial soul was—unless it was actively released.

Some martial souls had a certain resonance—like opposing ones such as fire and ice. Or if two people had extremely compatible martial souls, they might sense each other, which could lead to a martial soul fusion technique.

But none of these could reveal the exact martial soul form. The reason Huo Yuhao had left in such a hurry was that he feared the old man might ask about his martial soul. He could lie, but if the man got curious and asked to see it, that would be trouble.

Releasing his main martial soul was out of the question. That old man would definitely recruit him into the Body Sect. In the original story, even Dai Yueheng had encountered something like this.

Revealing his second martial soul would be suicide. With a 100,000-year soul ring? He wouldn't be surprised if they dissected him on the spot.

The Body Sect didn't exactly have the best reputation. They were morally ambiguous—neither good nor evil—and acted purely on personal whim. They were also notoriously domineering and protective.

Once, someone had killed a low-ranking Body Sect disciple over a personal grudge. The next day, the sect retaliated so ruthlessly that the perpetrator's entire clan was wiped out.

So whenever people mentioned the Body Sect, it sent chills down their spines.

Records say that over two thousand years ago, when the Body Sect emerged from seclusion, it caused a massive catastrophe. Even Shrek stood against them but couldn't win initially.

Eventually, Shrek issued a global summons, calling back elite alumni from across the continent. Only then did they barely manage to defeat the Body Sect.

[Note: The original novel doesn't explain the Body Sect in detail. The "seed of inheritance" was never clearly defined either. Probably another setting bug. It's like flying soul tools exist but people are still riding horse carriages—San Shao just writes whatever comes to mind.]

[The "Inheritance Mark" is something I added—it can be considered a cultivation accelerator. More on it later.]

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Complete PDF of this fan-fic on my Patreon shop if you want to support and own the full fan-fic in one go. Just grab the PDF and binge the entire story from start to finish!

(End of Chapter)