Yuhao thought of all kinds of explanations, but he couldn't reach a conclusion.
"Can meditation and training from early childhood really increase the innate soul power?" He muttered to himself.
"No, it can't."
The answer resounded directly inside his mind.
"Why not?" he asked reflexively.
He was just talking to himself and wasn't really expecting a reply.
Then, he suddenly paused.
"Huh?",
"Who was that? "
He sat up with a jerk, then looked around.
Nothing.
The room stayed empty; no one was here.
He then looked outside, but nothing was there as well.
He looked up, lost in thought, then slapped his cheeks lightly and finally lay back on bed.
'…I'm hallucinating,' he muttered, nodding as if he had solved a great mystery.
"No, you are not."
The voice returned. This time, much clearer.
"…I'm really not?" Yuhao asked cautiously. Still doubtful.
"No, you're not. And you should already know where I am."
Now it was certain. This wasn't his imagination.
The voice wasn't coming from outside—it was coming from within him.
There really was someone present. And that someone was most likely inside him.
"Who are you?" Yuhao asked the most important question.
And then, as if remembering to act normal, pretended to look around, trying to find the intruder.
"Where are you speaking from?" He asked in a questioning tone.
Of course, he already knew the answer. The intruder was in his Sea of Consciousness. He was just pretending not to understand.
'It should be a conscious spirit soul,' He thought.
'But there should not be anyone in my sea of consciousness at this point.'
He knew that something like this could happen because in his future, it did happen to him, so it was not difficult to connect the dots.
But in the scenario, he intentionally acted clueless.
"Don't pretend," the voice said calmly.
"As I said, you already know where I am. So why are you pretending to look around — Reincarnator Huo Yuhao."
'Tch', Yuhao clicked his tongue.
Now he could no longer even pretend; it even knew about his reincarnation.
But it caused him to have even more questions than before.
'How long has this thing been inside me?'
'When did he invade?'
This was another variable, that too on the same day.
But instead of panicking, Yuhao relaxed. He lay back on the bed and folded his arms behind his head.
This entity can now be the source for the answers. And he decided to continue the conversation from where it had begun.
"Let's go back to the important part," he said casually. "What do you mean meditation doesn't help increase soul power? I'm living proof that it does."
There was a brief pause.
"…Shouldn't you first ask about my identity?" the voice said. It sounded a little surprised as it had expected him to ask about its identity first.
"Tell me that too," Yuhao replied nonchalantly. "But answer this first."
The voice was already in his body, so he had all the time to get all the answers. He just wanted to start where they had left off.
Understanding Yuhao's carefree attitude towards itself, the voice sighed but decided to continue the conversation.
But instead of really answering, it asked a question of its own.
"Didn't people tell you that cultivation should only begin after the age of six?"
Of course they had. Yuhao knew about that rule. What he didn't know and what no one had ever explained was why.
But after coming to the world as a reincarnator, his first instinct was to cultivate in advance.
If he really starts with everyone, then what's the point of reincarnation and having memories?
He should be as far ahead of his peers as possible.
Though he still took the warning seriously and at first only meditated a little, but when nothing bad happened, he started to cultivate diligently.
"I am a man of science and reason," Yuhao said, "And nothing bad happened, right?" He explained his reason to the voice
A thud sound came from inside as if someone hitting their hand on their head.
"This," the voice said, "is what we call half-knowledge being more dangerous than ignorance."
"Just because you didn't get immediately punished doesn't mean there are no bad effects."
"And you should really respect other people. Not everyone lives their lives wasting time. There is great wisdom in ancestral teachings."
Yuhao snorted.
"I am a reincarnator. We tend to look down on natives." He even sounded a little proud.
"My soul power increased anyway. Doesn't that prove cultivating early was the correct choice?"
He said with confidence may far too much confidence.
"You are wrong," the voice said sternly. "There is a reason people decided to avoid cultivating early. Do you really think other people can't think such a simple thing?"
Then it explained, as if educating a misguided child.
"In childhood, the meridians in the body are still developing, and they are very fragile. Cultivation at this stage will completely destroy them. So instead of becoming stronger, you will end up becoming ordinary with no soul power at all."
"The only reason you were fine," the voice continued, "is because I intervened."
"…You did?" Yuhao frowned. "How?"
He truly didn't know about it. He hadn't even realized he was ever in danger.
When he started to cultivate, he succeeded in flowing his soul power, but every time he tried to make full circulation, all the accumulated power just vanished.
He thought maybe it was just his cultivation that was slow.
According to his future knowledge, His talant was really bad before he met Tian Meng. It took him six long years to reach level ten. One of his goals in this life was to reduce this time and reach level ten a few years earlier.
That's why he tried meditation at a very early age, but he never felt that the soul power was getting absorbed in his body. It seemed to just vanish in thin air, and he couldn't understand why.
After a year of trying, He gave up thinking that cultivation might really be impossible before the martial soul awakening.
Now it seems that it was not due to that; someone else was responsible.
He waited for the voice's answer. And it was really straightforward.
"I absorbed all the soul power you cultivated." The voice answered calmly.
"If I didn't take away all that soul power, it would have wrecked your body. Your situation would have been catastrophic."
"Then, I thank you for your help," Yuhao said.
However, there was a hint of strain in his voice. Anyone would feel a little wronged, knowing a year of their hard work had been for nothing, even if it was for his own good.
He couldn't even blame anyone. He could only console himself with the fact that he learnt to do meditation during that time.
"If you could absorb the soul power, why didn't you just warn me?"
"I would have if I could, but before today, I just couldn't."
What more could Yuhao say after this? In the end, he just went silent, and the voice also stopped talking.
Some time later, when he settled down, Yuhao was the one who broke the silence and said
"How long are you going to keep me waiting? You know everything about me, aren't you going to tell me about yourself?"
He had other questions, but the most essential of all those questions was still the other party's identity and their intention towards him.
Yuhao didn't say anything after, waiting for the other party to answer.
"Aren't I just waiting for you to calm down, but do you really trust me? "
"You are already inside me. If you had bad intentions, then I am already screwed." He replied.
"…Fair point."
"And don't worry," the voice continued, "I have no ill intentions towards you; it can even be said that I am of utmost benefit to you."
"So who are you?" Yuhao interrupted, Why do these people keep talking in circles, always saying grandiose quotes before getting to the point.
The voice went silent. But after some time, it spoke again, its tone ethereal, vast, carrying an indescribable authority.
"I am the Plane Spirit of the Douluo World." The voice announced
"I am the one who brought you into this world.
—<>—
A/N: Yuhao's cheat finally has arrived. More details about his reincarnation in the next chapter.
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