Chapter 12: Heavenly Soul Capital City.

Chapter 12: Heavenly Soul Capital City.

Hours passed by, and after that incident in the second town where they were supposed to rest, nothing happened and the journey continued smoothly.

As they neared [Heavenly Soul Capital City], [Great Sage] notified Yuhao, and he woke up from his slumber. He opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was his mother's beautiful face illuminated by the moonlight coming from the carriage window.

He stared at her in a daze until he finally came back to his senses.

'Focus, I have to lock in.' He sat up quickly and slapped his cheeks to wake himself up.

Yuhao began collecting their stuff and storing it in storage-type soul guidance tools. After packing up, he removed the security system that he had set up before sleeping.

After casting a new illusion on the carriage so that anybody who saw it would subconsciously ignore it, he thought about the incident at the second stop town. It would probably make news in [Heavenly Soul Capital City], and he did not want to be linked to it in any shape or form.

Was he being paranoid? Yes, he was. Was it necessary? Yes, it was. The city guards might visit all the people who had arrived in [Heavenly Soul Capital City] at night to check if any of them were evil soul masters.

Now that I think about it, [Heavenly Soul Empire] and [Dou Ling Empire] used to be one empire called [Heaven Dou Empire]. After the split, [Heavenly Soul Empire] occupied the west side and [Dou Ling Empire] naturally occupied the east side.

'The reason for the split wasn't mentioned in the original novel, but I can guess it was an internal war within the empire.'

'[Heavenly Soul Empire] was the first to be defeated when the [Sun Moon Empire] attacked all three empires that were originally on the [Douluo Continent],' Yuhao remembered several plot points in the novel as they neared the city wall.

'I also remember [Dou Ling Empire] escaping [Douluo Continent] and migrating to another undiscovered continent. They settled there and named it [Dou Ling Continent].'

'That begs the question, are there other undiscovered continents on this planet? It is the whole [Beginning After the End] plot all over again. But I think it is necessary.'

'A new continent that is unoccupied and not developed is full of resources and would accelerate the growth of my organization by a lot. If I wanted to create an organization under the watchful eyes of the three empires and Shrek, it would be a lot more difficult.'

'Nobody wants someone to rise in power and eat their cake. They would oppress the organization's growth. And if I wanted to create the organization on this continent, I would have to make it operate in the dark until it is strong enough.'

'Or better yet, I can try to find a way to create a realm for the organization. Away from all the power struggles and headaches, it would develop until they are strong enough to reach godhood.'

'The [Dragon God] created a realm on this planet to house all the fallen dragons in it, and it is filled with tons of resources. I will check that out as well, but that is in the future.' Yuhao recorded all his thoughts as he made his way toward his mother.

"Mom, it is time to wake up." Yuhao spoke gently as he started shaking Huo Yun'er gently to wake her up.

"Mhm ~" She released an unholy sound that caused Yuhao to blush a bit. Shaking off that feeling, he continued waking her up until she finally opened her beautiful eyes.

"Good morning, Hao'er. Is it time for the second stop?" She spoke gently to her son as she started stretching, causing her mountain peaks to tremble a bit.

Yuhao simply ignored it with sheer will and rational thinking.

"No, Mom. We missed it; we will reach [Heavenly Soul Empire] in a couple of minutes." He replied to her and watched her face change from sleepiness to shock.

"What? We missed it! No, I wanted to take you and visit a lot of places. I am sorry, Hao'er." She spoke to her son, her tone carrying a bit of self-blame.

'Ahhh, why did I sleep? I wanted to take Yuhao on a second date in that town and buy him a lot of cute clothes and tasty food.' Yun'er thought to herself, feeling quite disappointed that she missed her second date with her son.

"Don't worry, Mom. We arrived a bit earlier than expected, so we might even join the late-night market in [Heavenly Soul Capital City]. It should be beautiful." He tried to soothe his disappointed mother.

'Unfortunately, that town is now a ghost town. I buried all the fallen civilians there and annihilated the evil soul masters.' He muttered in his mind as he watched his mother's expression light up at the mention of the night market.

Oh, how wrong Yuhao's guess was.

'Late-night market. Night market. Night. Oh my god, I am going on a late-night date with Hao'er,' Huo Yun'er thought as her breathing started getting heavier and heavier, her eyes changing and having small hearts in them. Luckily, she regained her senses before Yuhao noticed.

They quickly passed the city gates with no troubles. Yuhao instructed the carriage driver to drive them to an inn. This was not the first time the carriage driver had set foot in the city, and he knew quite a bit about it. After all, even in his original world before reincarnation, taxi drivers had the best recommendations.

They quickly reached an inn. It was a two-story building made with a mixture of stone and wood, with soft, warm light decorations outside, making it look warm and cozy.

Yuhao stepped out of the carriage and helped his mother get out of the carriage, like the gentleman that he was, causing Yun'er to giggle a bit.

'My Hao'er is so cute,' she thought possessively as she grabbed her son's little hand and made their way inside the inn.

Huo Yuhao manipulated the illusion that he cast on the driver so that everything that happened on the journey seemed like a dream to him and he would forget it.

They entered the inn and were welcomed by a little girl in a maid outfit full of youthful energy standing behind a counter.

"Welcome to [Heavenly Soul Travelers' Inn], the best inn in the city." She spoke in an enthusiastic tone as she welcomed the duo.

Huo Yun'er was taken aback by the sudden welcome, but she got her bearings quickly and said, "Hi, young lady. How much would it cost to rent a room for the night?"

"For one night, if you want a room only, it would cost 5 gold coins. If you choose a set that includes dinner and breakfast in the morning, it would cost 7 gold coins," replied the energetic girl in a natural tone.

Huo Yun'er felt like she was struck by lightning when she heard the prices and thought, 'So expensive! But if I can have Yuhao sleep in a good, clean room and hug him all night, it is worth it.' She started imagining unholy things as she started drooling.

"Is everything okay, customer?" the maid asked in a worried tone as she did not receive a reply from the lady in front of her.

Yun'er snapped back to reality, wiped the drool coming out of her mouth with her sleeve, and replied, "No, everything is fine, and we will take the room with dinner and breakfast." Yun'er said as she took 7 gold coins from the leather pouch and handed them to the maid.

"Thank you. And here is your key. It is the furthest room on the left upstairs. Dinner will be served in the dining area on the right and is available until 9 o'clock. Breakfast is in the same area, and we start serving it at 7 o'clock," the maid replied as she received the payment and handed Yun'er the key.

"Please, enjoy your stay at [Heavenly Soul Travelers' Inn]. And if there are any issues, please visit the front desk at any time," she added and made a small bow gesture to the duo.

Huo Yun'er thanked the maid as she made her way upstairs with Yuhao following behind her, holding her hand. They quickly arrived at the room and opened the door.

What greeted them was a simple, clean-looking room with one bed, a desk, a dresser, a couch, and a small coffee table. The bathroom was on the left.

"Hmm, not bad," commented Yuhao as he walked to the couch and made himself comfortable. He brought out the clothes they bought at their first stop from the storage soul guidance tool and handed them to his mom.

"Mom, let's wash up and visit the night market and ask around to see where I can awaken my martial soul. You go in first," he said as he lay on the couch in a sleeping position.

Huo Yun'er took the bags of clothes in a daze. She started imagining herself bathing with Yuhao, and things got out of control. Her head started steaming, and her face blushed. She was about to suggest that they bathe together but stopped when she saw Yuhao napping on the couch.

She lowered her head in disappointment and made her way to the bathroom with a new set of clothes.

It did not take long before both of them got washed and dressed in a new set of clothes and started heading toward the night market.

The city was bustling with activity. Soul masters with musical instruments as martial souls played beautiful melodies in the streets.

Kids ran around playing near the fountain in the plaza, and the mouthwatering smell of food from the stalls seduced people with empty stomachs.

'It is a lot better than expected. I at least expected one or two young masters harassing the civilians or something. But this looks peaceful,' Yuhao thought as he held his mother's hand. She zoomed from one stall to another, feeding Yuhao all kinds of snacks that her beautiful eyes noticed.

They kept wandering around and enjoying the lively atmosphere. This could be considered their first official outing after escaping from [White Tiger Mansion], and it felt liberating, especially for Huo Yun'er.

She watched the warm scenery with dazed eyes. For the first time in a long time, she felt at peace with herself, and with Yuhao's presence beside her, she felt that her decision to escape was the best decision she had made in her entire life.

The slightly cold air brushed against her skin and ruffled her golden hair to the side, and with the gentle lighting from the street lamps on her, she looked breathtaking.

Luckily, no one saw it; only Yuhao watched her. He cast an illusion on them so people would subconsciously ignore them.

Why, you might ask? Well, simple really, Huo Yun'er looked very beautiful, and with the constant nourishment from the nanobots, her appearance was getting better and better. So how do you think an overly beautiful woman would fare if she suddenly appeared in the crowds? Think about it.

While it is true that girls are more beautiful in cultivation worlds, Yun'er was in a class of her own. So Yuhao cast the illusion so they could enjoy the market in peace.

They kept wandering around until they finally found a place that awakens martial souls for civilians at a price.

They made their way toward the temple-like building and were greeted by an elderly man with salt-and-pepper hair and an elegant-looking trimmed mustache.

"Welcome. How can I help you?" the man asked as he looked at the duo (Yun'er appeared normal in their eyes).

"Hello, we are here to awaken my son's martial soul," Yun'er stated as she grew nervous for her son.

Hearing this, the man nodded and gestured for them to follow him into another area.

The area had an array engraved into the marble floor, with a person standing in it and a soul master wearing the same priest-looking uniform in front of him.

How did Yuhao know that he is a soul master? Well, it is simple really: the man had a little illusionary wolf floating in the air behind him and two yellow soul rings floating around him, indicating his rank as a spirit grandmaster.

"For children's martial soul awakening ceremony, it would cost 10 gold coins, and it is paid in advance before the ceremony begins," the man with the elegant-looking mustache said to the duo of mother and son.

Huo Yun'er nodded and handed him the money, signaling to Yuhao with her eyes to go to the spirit grandmaster to awaken his martial spirit.

'Well, let's see what upgrades Ellie did to my martial soul. I am excited,' Yuhao thought as he made his way to the spirit grandmaster.

(Chapter 12 finished.)

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An:

Oh boy, this chapter is 2.2k words without Author's note.

It contained some background information about Douluo Continent that you might not be familiar with. It also contained several routes that Yuhao can follow when he marked his organization, which are:

- Looking for another unoccupied continent.

- Finding/making a secret realm.

- Developing in the shadows.

- Making his base of operation in another world.

Martial soul awakening ceremony is tomorrow, boys. I will try to update two chapters tomorrow, but no promises, though.

Anyways, do not forget to comment on memes, your thoughts, and most importantly, waifu pics.

That is all for now.

Bye.