Chapter 433: Awaken, My Mother!
The ground trembled slightly, and the soil enveloping Ah Yin's root system began to part on its own, without damaging a single root hair.
Tang Chuan's movements were very gentle, as if afraid of disturbing the person in deep slumber.
The next second, blue silver emperor vines extended from his palm, gently lifting the Blue Silver Grass and the complete life root system beneath it.
In the soil, a faint blue life crystal core could be vaguely seen; it was the rudimentary form of the Origin that Ah Yin had re-condensed over these years.
Tang Chuan looked at that life crystal core, a hint of softness finally appearing in his eyes, and said, "Mother, endure a little longer."
"I am taking you to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well right now."
"Only there can I fully resurrect you!"
The Blue Silver Grass swayed gently, as if it understood his words.
Tang Chuan took out a life jade box he had prepared long ago.
This jade box was not made of ordinary jade, but crafted from life emerald gifted by Bi Ji of the Star Dou Great Forest, combined with ten-thousand-year warm jade collected by the Tiandou Royal Family and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
He carefully placed Ah Yin, along with her root system, into the jade box. Afterward, the cyan-gold blue silver emperor vines wrapped around the jade box, completely protecting Ah Yin's aura.
After doing all this, Tang Chuan slowly stood up.
Behind him, Ning Fengzhi, Dugu Bo, Sword Douluo, and the others had arrived outside the back garden at some unknown time.
They did not disturb him.
Until Tang Chuan put away the jade box, Dugu Bo softly asked, "Are you going now?"
Hearing this, Tang Chuan nodded.
Dugu Bo glanced at the jade box, his expression becoming uncharacteristically solemn: "I have already had people clear out the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well in advance. However, your mother is, after all, a Hundred Thousand Year Spirit Beast, a Blue Silver Emperor. To truly resurrect her, I fear the commotion will not be small."
Tang Chuan said, "I know."
Ning Fengzhi asked, "Do you need us to guard you?"
Tang Chuan shook his head. "Inside the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, it is best for no one else to approach, except for Senior Dugu."
"When Mother is resurrected, it will stir up a massive amount of Origin of life and trigger the Blue Silver Emperor Bloodline; having too many people present will only cause interference."
Sword Douluo asked, "What about here in Heaven Dou City?"
Tang Chuan said, "For now, let Sect Master Ning and Senior Dugu make the arrangements."
"Qian Renxue has already ceased hostilities."
"The Spirit Empire will not continue to lay siege to the city before Tang San is dead."
"As for Tang San, he should not be coming back for a short time."
Speaking of this, Tang Chuan paused. "This is the best time to resurrect Mother."
Everyone was silent. They all knew that Tang Chuan had endured too much to get to where he was today: Tang San's corruption, the Rakshasa slaughtering the city, the Spirit Empire pressing the border, the Ferocious beast alliance in the Star Dou Great Forest, and the interference of the Rakshasa God from the God Realm.
He had almost always been saving others—saving Heaven Dou, saving Star Luo, saving the Star Dou Great Forest, saving the residual life that could still be purified in those dead cities—and now, he was finally going to save his own mother.
Ning Fengzhi nodded gently. "Go. We have things covered here in Heaven Dou."
Dugu Bo grinned and said, "Then let's go, kid."
Tang Chuan did not decline. He put away the jade box and left Tianxing Academy with Dugu Bo.
Sunset Forest, the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. This place remained a rare treasure land in the world.
Deep in the valley, red and blue spring waters lay adjacent to each other. One side was as scorching as magma, emitting searing heat waves. The other was as cold as extreme ice, permeating with bone-chilling cold.
Two diametrically opposed Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi maintained an extremely delicate balance here.
Countless rare medicinal herbs grew around the springs; the scent of flowers, medicinal herbs, and Spiritual Qi intertwined, making the entire valley seem isolated from the mortal world.
When Tang Chuan stepped into the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, all the Blue Silver Grass in the valley began to tremble gently.
They sensed the aura of the Blue Silver Emperor, and they also sensed Ah Yin's sleeping yet pure Origin of life within the jade box.
Dugu Bo stood to the side, watching Tang Chuan take out the jade box, his expression also becoming serious as he said, "The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well is one Yin and one Yang, one life and one death."
"For ordinary people, this place is a death trap if one is not careful. But for a plant-type Hundred Thousand Year Spirit Beast like your mother, it is the best place to reshape her Foundation."
Tang Chuan nodded, saying solemnly, "The balance of ice and fire, the intersection of Yin and Yang. Combined with the Blue Silver Emperor's vitality and the power of the Sea God. It is enough to allow Mother to re-condense her human form."
He walked to the central area of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, not the exact middle of the springs, but the place where the two extreme forces intersected most perfectly.
Tang Chuan waved his hand, and blue silver emperor vines grew from the ground, weaving into a cyan-gold life platform. On the life platform, the jade box slowly opened, and Ah Yin's Blue Silver Grass body gently emerged.
Upon appearing, the vegetation of the entire valley seemed to be summoned. Countless Blue Silver Grass sprouted from the ground, bending their leaves toward the direction of Ah Yin, as if welcoming their true Emperor.
Tang Chuan thrust the Sea God Trident in front of the life platform; the blue-gold power of the Sea God transformed into a soft light curtain, enveloping the entire Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
Afterward, he released his Blue Silver Emperor Martial Soul. Boom—the cyan-gold Life Domain instantly expanded.
With Tang Chuan as the center, the entire valley was covered by a gentle ocean of life. Ah Yin's Blue Silver Grass body swayed gently. The life crystal core began to emit a faint light.
Inside the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, the two distinct spring waters vibrated simultaneously. The crimson fire spring rose with scorching Spiritual Qi, and the ice-blue cold spring released extreme cold power.
Under Tang Chuan's control, the two forces slowly converged, finally transforming into two long rivers of Spiritual Qi—one red and one blue—slowly revolving around Ah Yin.
Dugu Bo stood in the distance, his eyes filled with shock. "This kid's control over the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well has already far exceeded my imagination."
Tang Chuan closed his eyes and formed hand seals; blue silver emperor vines spread from beneath his feet to the life platform, connecting Ah Yin's Bloodline with his own.
Immediately following, a drop of cyan-gold blood appeared from Tang Chuan's fingertip. It was his Blue Silver Emperor Origin essence blood.
Tang Chuan did not hesitate and dripped this essence blood onto Ah Yin's roots. Hum—
Ah Yin's Blue Silver Grass body suddenly lit up, and an extremely pure, extremely ancient Blue Silver Emperor aura awakened from that seemingly fragile Blue Silver Grass.
Tang Chuan said in a low voice, "With my Blue Silver Emperor Bloodline as the guide. With the Yin and Yang power of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well as the furnace. With the power of the Sea God to protect the Soul. With the Life Domain to reshape the Origin. Mother, awaken."
As his voice fell, the Sea God Trident suddenly lit up, blue-gold divine light shot into the sky, and the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well boiled simultaneously.
Above the entire Sunset Forest, a cyan-gold cloud of life suddenly appeared, and countless Blue Silver Grass swayed simultaneously at this moment.
Outside Heaven Dou City, in the Star Dou Great Forest, and even in places further away, all the Blue Silver Grass seemed to feel something at the same time and bowed gently toward the direction of the Sunset Forest.
Inside the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, Ah Yin's Blue Silver Grass body was wrapped in red and blue Spiritual Qi. The leaves unfurled bit by bit, and the root system regenerated bit by bit. The light in the life crystal core grew brighter and brighter, finally transforming into the rudimentary form of a soft, blue-gold human figure.
Tang Chuan opened his eyes, his gaze trembling slightly; the figure was very blurry, yet gentle, familiar, and carried an indescribable closeness. Ah Yin's consciousness was slowly awakening.
Meanwhile, at Holy Soul Village. The night was already deep.
The old locust tree at the village entrance swayed gently in the wind, its rough bark etched with the marks left by time. In the distance, between the field ridges, the chirping of insects was intermittent, and a few dim yellow oil lamps emitted faint light from the earthen houses in the village.
It was very quiet here. So quiet that it seemed to have long been forgotten by the storms on the continent.
The God battle outside Heaven Dou City, the Spirit Empire's army, Tang San slaughtering the city and devouring Souls, the rampant Rakshasa Divine Court, and the fake beast tide war in the Star Dou Great Forest—all seemed to have no major connection to this remote little village.
But no matter how far away the wind was, it would eventually blow here.
At the end of the village, in a dilapidated blacksmith shop. The furnace fire had not yet gone out; the bright red charcoal flickered in the furnace, occasionally bursting with sparks, illuminating a row of iron tools hanging on the wall.
Hoes, sickles, kitchen knives, iron pots, horseshoes. These were all things ordinary villagers would use. There were no spirit tools. There were no weapons.
Nor was there the domineering and unparalleled sharpness of the Clear Sky Hammer of the past; there was only a rough iron hammer and a slovenly man sitting by the furnace... Tang Hao.
The former Clear Sky Douluo. Now, he was merely an old blacksmith in Holy Soul Village.
His hair was messier than before and had turned much whiter. His beard hung messily on his chin, his eye sockets were deeply sunken, his complexion was sallow, and he wore a gray-washed coarse cloth garment.
If not for the fact that a few glimmers of his former sharpness still occasionally flashed in those eyes, perhaps no one would be able to connect this taciturn blacksmith before them with the Clear Sky Douluo who had once shaken the continent.
Since his cultivation was crippled by Tang Chuan, Tang Hao had returned to Holy Soul Village. He had not gone back to the Clear Sky Sect, nor had he gone to find Tang San. He had certainly not gone to the battlefields of Heaven Dou, Star Luo, or the Spirit Empire.
At first, it was because he was unwilling. Later, it was because he could not; his Meridians were destroyed, his Soul Power was completely dissipated, and although his Martial Soul, the Clear Sky Hammer, was still there, it could never again unleash that earth-shaking strike of the past.
Everything he had once been proud of was gone. What remained was only this dilapidated blacksmith shop and the dull sound of the hammer falling, strike by strike, every day.
Clang. Clang. Clang. The iron hammer landed on the red-hot iron billet, the sound appearing exceptionally clear in the night.
Tang Hao kept his head down, hammering mechanically; the firelight reflected on his face, revealing the repressed shadows deep within his eyes.
These days, although Holy Soul Village was remote, it was not completely isolated from the world. Merchant caravans passed by. Refugees had come. Soul Masters had also brought news from the outside world.
Tang San fell into Rakshasa. Tang San slaughtered cities and devoured Souls. Tang San resurrected Xiao Wu, Bibi Dong, Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, and others as undead Puppets.
Tang San sneaked back to Shrek, killed Flender, Liu Erlong, Zhao Wuji, and Qin Ming, and refined them into undead as well.
Later on, the news spread became even more outrageous and even more terrifying. Tang San had actually not spared even the dead of the Clear Sky Sect. Tang Xiao, the Five Elders of the Clear Sky Sect. They were all refined into undead by him using evil arts.
When Tang Hao first heard this news, the iron hammer in his hand struck off-center on the spot, beating the entire iron billet into a twisted and deformed shape.
That day, he remained silent in the blacksmith shop for a long time. A long time later, he cursed in a low voice, "Beast."
That was no one else. Tang Xiao was his own elder brother.
Although the Five Elders of the Clear Sky Sect had had grievances with him in the past and had even forced him to take responsibility, no matter what, they were people of the Clear Sky Sect, elders of the Clear Sky Hammer lineage.
Yet Tang San had actually refined them into undead. Not letting them rest in peace after death, letting the Clear Sky Hammer be stained with Rakshasa Death Qi, becoming a weapon of evil.
This was forgetting one's ancestors. This was trampling the last bit of the Clear Sky Sect's dignity into the mud.
Tang Hao was so angry that his whole body trembled, and he nearly picked up his hammer to rush out of Holy Soul Village, but as soon as he took a step, he collapsed to the ground. His Meridians were in excruciating pain, and his chest felt stifled. His crippled Soul Power could no longer support his rage.
He lay on the ground, his fingers digging desperately into the mud, and in the end, he could only let out a repressed and painful low roar, like an old beast that had lost its fangs.
He hated Tang San, and he also hated himself. If he had been able to teach Tang San well back then, if he hadn't just dumped all the hatred, endurance, and the grudges of the Clear Sky Sect onto Tang San all at once.
If he hadn't pinned everything on Tang San back then, telling him to remember Spirit Hall, to remember the hatred, to remember the glory of the Clear Sky Hammer. Would Tang San not have ended up at this point today?
Tang Hao did not know; he only knew that the Tang San of now was no longer his son. Or rather, it was he who had personally pushed Tang San into this state.
The iron hammer fell again. Clang! Sparks splattered. Tang Hao suddenly stopped his movements. His hand froze in mid-air.
Just a moment ago, it was as if he had sensed something. Very faint. Very far. Like a breeze coming from the deepest part of his Soul, gentle, familiar, carrying an aura he would never be able to forget in this lifetime.
"Ah Yin?" Tang Hao raised his head abruptly, and those eyes, which had been murky for a long time, trembled violently at this moment.
The iron hammer slipped from his hand, hitting the ground with a dull thud. But Tang Hao seemed not to hear it at all; he staggered to his feet, pushed open the wooden door of the blacksmith shop, and rushed into the courtyard.
The night wind blew, and a few ordinary Blue Silver Grass in the corner of the courtyard swayed gently; these Blue Silver Grass were originally common everywhere, so ordinary that no one paid them any mind. But at this moment, they were all bowing gently toward the same direction. The Sunset Forest, the direction of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
Tang Hao stared blankly at those Blue Silver Grass. His lips began to tremble. "Ah Yin..." His voice was as hoarse as if it had been ground by sandpaper. "Is it you?"
The Blue Silver Grass in the courtyard swayed gently, and a faint, extremely pale blue-gold light vaguely emerged on its leaves. The light was very weak, yet it was like a blade, fiercely stabbing into Tang Hao's heart.
He fell to his knees abruptly. His hands braced against the soil, and his whole body began to tremble. It was Ah Yin's aura. There was no mistake.
He had once embraced her, once watched her smile in the sunlight, once heard her say softly that all vegetation in this world had life, and even the most ordinary Blue Silver Grass had its own meaning for existing.
He had also watched with his own eyes as she sacrificed herself for him. The Hundred Thousand Year Blue Silver Emperor. His wife. Tang San's mother. She had burned up everything for him and their child.
And what about him? What had he done all these years? Tang Hao knelt on the ground and suddenly let out a laugh. The laughter was uglier than crying.
"Ah Yin..." "I was wrong." "I was truly wrong." In the night, Tang Hao's voice grew lower and lower, but also more and more painful.
"Back then, I shouldn't have been so arrogant." "I shouldn't have brought you back to the Clear Sky Sect knowing your identity was sensitive." "I shouldn't have thought about making the Sect acknowledge you, thinking about letting everyone know, and even more, I shouldn't have..."
All the tragedies began with that one wrong step of his. Tang Hao lowered his head, his fingers digging deep into the soil.
"If I had taken you into seclusion back then, if I hadn't returned to the Sect." "If I hadn't thought about the face of the Clear Sky Sect, or the dignity of the Young Lord? Perhaps you wouldn't have died." "Perhaps Little San wouldn't have turned into what he is now. And the Clear Sky Sect wouldn't have ended up being refined into undead by him after death."
His voice choked up. A man who had once been unrivaled across the continent, who had dared to stand against Spirit Hall with his own strength, was now like an old man who had lost everything, kneeling before a few stalks of Blue Silver Grass, sobbing uncontrollably.
"Ah Yin. I have failed you, I have also failed Big Brother, I have failed the Clear Sky Sect, and I have failed that child even more." The child he was referring to was not Tang San, but Tang Chuan.