...
The next morning.
A hundred miles away from Holy Soul Village lies a pristine valley rarely visited by humans.
A massive waterfall cascades down a cliff hundreds of meters high, the water crashing into the deep pool below, creating a deafening roar and sending up a cloud of mist.
"This place... is truly a blessed land."
Xuan Hao stood by the pool below the waterfall, letting the splashing water droplets wet the hem of his clothes, a hint of admiration flashing in his eyes.
The location here is secluded, surrounded by mountains and shrouded in mist all year round.
Not to mention ordinary people, even soul masters would find it difficult to discover this paradise unless they deliberately search for it.
More importantly, within this area spanning dozens of miles, there are many ancient soul beasts lurking, clearly serving as a natural barrier to protect the secrets of this place.
"If it weren't for my ability to sense the wind element, I might not have been able to find it."
Xuan Hao withdrew his gaze and looked up at the enormous waterfall that resembled an inverted Milky Way.
The water flow was swift and powerful, making it impossible to pinpoint the extremely hidden cave entrance behind such a curtain of water, hundreds of meters wide and hundreds of meters high.
It was like finding a needle in a haystack.
"Luckily, bro, I have a cheat code."
Xuan Hao closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and began to activate the Silver Dragon Martial Soul within his body.
Although it has no spirit rings, the silver dragon, as the master of the elements, has an innate ability to perceive all the elements in the world.
"water..."
His spiritual power probed into the waterfall like tentacles, following the millions of splashing water droplets, carefully sensing the texture of every rock wall and the echo of the water flow.
Time passed second by second.
One hour later.
Fine beads of sweat appeared on Xuan Hao's forehead, and his face was somewhat pale.
Maintaining high-precision elemental perception under such a massive water flow consumes a great deal of soul power and mental energy.
"Found it!"
Suddenly, he opened his eyes wide and stared intently at a spot slightly to the right of the middle section of the waterfall.
There, the sound of the water crashing was extremely subtle, as if... it was empty.
"About 150 meters off the ground." Xuan Hao estimated the distance.
"Two teleports should be enough."
"Buzz—"
With a flash of silver light, Xuan Hao's figure vanished from the spot in an instant.
The next second, he appeared out of thin air, with no footholds and surrounded by roaring water and hard rock walls.
Without any pause, he teleported again.
"Again!"
This time, his figure passed directly through the thick water curtain, and even through the huge rock used for disguise, appearing out of thin air in a dark passage.
"call..."
Xuan Hao landed steadily, patted the water droplets off his body, and looked at the tunnel in front of him, which was full of traces of artificial excavation, with a hint of excitement in his eyes.
"It really is here."
Following the passageway forward for about a hundred meters, the space in front of you suddenly opens up.
This is a stone chamber that is not very large. Although it is simple, it does not appear dark or damp.
An extremely delicate hole was carved into the top of the stone chamber, through which the midday sun shone and fell directly onto a small mound of earth in the center of the chamber.
On that mound of earth grew a very special blue silver grass.
Its leaves are not as thin as those of ordinary blue silver grass, but rather thick and full of vitality.
The veins of the leaves are a noble pale gold.
Under the sunlight, the whole grass seems to be shrouded in a light golden halo, exuding a refreshing and invigorating life.
The 100,000-year-old Blue Silver Emperor, Ah Yin.
"I sympathize with you, but... a thief never leaves empty-handed."
Xuan Hao did not touch A Yin immediately, but turned around and scanned the surrounding stone walls with his eyes.
"If I remember correctly, that thing should be hidden in..."
Xuanhao walked up to the stone wall above, stretched out his fingers, and tapped on several seemingly ordinary rocks.
"Knock knock".
Solid.
"Knock knock".
It's solid.
Until he struck a slightly protruding rock—
"Knock knock".
Empty sound!
Xuan Hao's eyes lit up, and he exerted force with his fingers, pressing down slightly.
"Click".
As if some mechanism had been triggered, the stone slab above suddenly sprang open, and a heavy lead box fell from it.
Xuan Hao reacted quickly and caught it.
Upon opening the box, a rich yet gentle life force instantly wafted out, and a blue-gold light illuminated the entire stone chamber.
Lying in the box was a crystal-clear right leg bone, its entire body displaying a perfect sapphire color, with countless stars seemingly flowing within it, and golden veins densely covering it like blood vessels.
The right leg bone of the 100,000-year-old Blue Silver Emperor!
Moreover, it is a top-tier soul bone with the abnormal regenerative ability of "wildfire cannot burn it out, and the spring breeze will bring it back to life"!
As long as your head isn't chopped off or your heart isn't ripped out, even if you lose an arm or a leg, it can slowly grow back thanks to this soul bone!
"Smack!"
After closing the lid, Xuan Hao quickly stored the soul bone in his storage ring.
He didn't rush to absorb it.
Absorbing a 100,000-year-old soul bone would take at least several days and nights.
Although this place is secluded, it is still Tang Hao's territory.
If that old guy suddenly decides to come back to see his wife, he would be trapped like a turtle in a jar, and wouldn't even know how he died.
"We've got the goods, now..."
Xuan Hao glanced at the solitary Blue Silver Emperor plant, his eyes flickering for a moment.
Then he took out a medicine shovel and a large flowerpot that he had prepared beforehand from his storage ring.
"Since you're already here, I can't just leave you all alone, feeling lonely and cold, can I?"
"Now that I've taken your soul bone, I'll do a good deed and take you out to bask in the sun.
By the way... I'll find you a good place to stay."
Xuan Hao deftly wielded his shovel, carefully digging out the Blue Silver Emperor plant, roots and all, and transplanting it into a flowerpot.
"Unfortunately, I don't have a top-tier soul tool that can hold living beings."
Xuan Hao looked at the large flowerpot in his hand and sighed helplessly, "I'm afraid you'll have to make do with it for now."
After doing all this, Xuan Hao, holding the flowerpot, moved with lightning speed, using teleportation to rush out of the stone chamber, pass through the waterfall, and then plunged into the vast mountains without looking back.
...
He ran for dozens of miles until he was sure he was completely away from the valley, then stopped by a scenic stream.
"I'm exhausted..."
Xuan Hao carefully placed the flowerpot containing the Blue Silver Emperor on a sunny rock and thoughtfully watered it.
He rubbed his rumbling stomach, plopped down on the grass by the river, and began to contemplate life.
Now that we have the goods, where do we go next?
Back to Wuhun City?
Definitely not. Bibi Dong is furious right now. If he goes back now, even if he offers up this soul bone, he'll probably still suffer a beating. Besides, although this soul bone is precious, it's not a necessity for Bibi Dong.
Bibi Dong already possesses the "immortality" of the Death Spider Queen, making the "self-repair" function of the Blue Silver Emperor Soul Bone somewhat useless to her.
Moreover, she is missing her left leg bone, while this one is her right leg bone.
Find a secluded mountain valley to hide away and cultivate?
No, it's easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality.
These past few years in the Papal Palace, living a life of luxury, with servants attending to his every need, have spoiled him.
To expect him to live like a savage, eating dry rations and sleeping in caves in the mountains?
Wouldn't he become a complete idiot like Tang Hao?
Go to Tiandou City to find Qian Renxue?
That's a good choice, after all, that "Crown Prince" is currently at the height of his power, and he doesn't get along with Bibi Dong.
But Qian Renxue is no pushover either, and if he went to her place, Bibi Dong would probably be even angrier, feeling that he had been completely betrayed.
"Gurgle—"
Just as Xuan Hao was racking his brains over this, his stomach growled in protest.
"Never mind, nothing is more important than eating."
Xuan Hao took out a complete barbecue setup from his storage ring: rack, charcoal, seasonings, everything was there.
He walked to the stream and released a little bit of his dragon power.
"Splash—"
Several plump fish that were swimming happily suddenly turned belly up, terrified and fainted.
Skilled at killing, marinating, starting a fire, and grilling fish.
Soon, an enticing aroma filled the air along the stream.
"Sizzle sizzle..."
The fish skin was roasted until golden and crispy, and the oil dripped onto the charcoal fire, making a pleasant sound.
Just as Xuan Hao sprinkled the last pinch of cumin and was about to enjoy his meal, a faint yet undeniable sense of sight made him pause.
He suddenly turned his head and looked behind a large tree not far away.
There, a small figure was standing.
She was a little girl who looked only five or six years old.
She was wearing an ill-fitting, faded coarse cloth dress, which made her look exceptionally thin, as if a gust of wind could blow her over.
But what is impossible to ignore is her appearance.
Her rare short silver hair shimmered softly in the sunlight, her skin was so white it was almost translucent, and her features were so delicate that she looked like an elf from a fairy tale.
Especially her large eyes, with pupils that were a clear, pale purple, like two amethyst crystals, so pure that one dared not look directly at them.
At this moment, she stood there timidly, her two small hands clasped together, her amethyst-like eyes fixed on the grilled fish in Xuan Hao's hand, her throat bobbing slightly, clearly drooling with desire.
"..."
Xuan Hao frowned slightly as he looked at the little girl who had suddenly appeared.
His vigilance did not diminish in the slightest because of her cute appearance.
Alone in the desolate wilderness, with silver hair and purple eyes, and so beautiful...
This is definitely not normal!
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