Chapter 5: Devouring the Blue Silver Emperor.
The cave was dark and damp, with a lingering earthy smell in the air.
The only source of light came from an inconspicuous little hole in the cave ceiling, from which a weak beam of sunlight slanted down and landed right on the blue silver grass with its golden veins.
It is the Blue Silver Emperor, Ah Yin.
At this moment, she is not in a good state.
Although the stems and leaves still stand upright, the golden veins on the leaves appear somewhat dim, lacking the brilliance that a king should have.
Ye Xuanming stood quietly a few steps away, a sense of suppression emanating from the depths of his bloodline rushed towards him, causing even his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul to tremble.
Even in such a weakened state, a king is still a king.
This powerful aura of bloodline did not frighten Ye Xuanming; instead, it fueled the fire in his chest.
Ye Xuanming surveyed the simple cave, then glanced at the Blue Silver Emperor tree bathed in a solitary beam of light, a hint of unspeakable sarcasm appearing on his lips.
"Tang Hao, Tang Hao, you are really hypocritical."
Ye Xuanming's voice was very soft, yet it sounded exceptionally clear in the empty cave.
"Don't you know that the best growing environment for Blue Silver Grass is the Blue Silver Forest?"
There, she could absorb the life force of countless people, allowing her to recover at a rate more than ten times faster.
"Yet you hide her here, only allowing her this pitiful little bit of sunlight each day. Is it true love, or...?"
"Well, this can be considered a great gift from you to me."
As if it understood his words, the stems and leaves of the Blue Silver Emperor plant swayed gently without any wind, seemingly expressing some kind of emotion.
Ye Xuanming's expression instantly turned cold.
"As the emperor of the Blue Silver Grass clan, he has fallen to such an end, becoming an appendage to the emotions of others. It is truly pitiful."
"In that case, let it become nourishment for me to become stronger!"
The moment the words left his mouth, Ye Xuanming hesitated for the second.
With a flick of his right hand, a deep purple vine suddenly shot out from his palm, carrying an ominous, predatory aura, like a venomous snake lurking in wait, and fiercely coiled around the golden-veined blue silver grass.
Deep purple and pale gold, the eerie and the sacred, collided at this moment.
Just as the Dark Blue Silver Grass entangled the Blue Silver Emperor, a sudden change occurred!
An unimaginably vast torrent of memories surged fiercely into Ye Xuanming's mind, following the deep purple vines.
That was a woman's memory.
From a clueless blue silver grass to the joy of transforming into human form after cultivating for 100,000 years.
While traveling in the human world, she met, got to know, and fell in love with a man wielding the Haotian Hammer.
The resolute determination and sorrow of sacrificing oneself to protect one's loved ones and children.
Countless fragments of images and complex emotions surged wildly through his mind, tearing at his consciousness.
Ye Xuanming groaned, his face turning deathly pale, and his body swayed uncontrollably.
The impact was so violent that it almost tore his soul apart.
After an unknown amount of time, when the raging torrent of memories finally subsided, Ye Xuanming slowly opened his eyes.
Ye Xuanming's eyes were somewhat dazed, but they quickly regained their clarity.
He looked at his palm, which was empty.
On the ground before them, the Blue Silver Emperor, which once represented the highest honor of the Blue Silver Grass clan, had vanished without a trace, leaving not even a speck of ash.
It was as if Ah Yin had never existed.
Just then, a soft, weak, and somewhat confused female voice suddenly rang out from the depths of his mind.
"Who...who are you?"
The sound lasted only a moment before abruptly ceasing, as if it had exhausted all its strength and fallen into a deeper slumber.
Is it A-Yin's remaining consciousness?
Ye Xuanming's heart skipped a beat, but now was not the time to delve into this.
He could clearly feel that the Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul within his body had undergone earth-shattering changes.
The azure blades of grass were now tinged with a faint golden halo, and the life force they contained was more than ten times greater than before.
Bloodline, evolved!
Suppressing his excitement, Ye Xuanming remembered something else of utmost importance.
He immediately began a thorough search of the place where Mr. Ayin had lived.
Soon, he found a lead box under a loose rock.
Upon opening the lead box, a crystal-clear, life-giving bone lay quietly inside.
The right leg bone of the 100,000-year-old Blue Silver Emperor!
A rich life force emanated from it, and just holding it in his hand made Ye Xuanming feel all his fatigue disappear.
He put it into his soul guide ring without hesitation.
The purpose of this trip has been fully achieved, and the gains have far exceeded expectations.
Ye Xuanming dared not linger here, for no one knew if Tang Hao might suddenly return.
He took one last look at the empty cave, then turned and walked across the waterfall without looking back, disappearing into the forest.
Instead of taking the same route he came by, Ye Xuanming took a long detour and quietly slipped back into Notting City from another direction, returning to his own small courtyard on the outskirts of the city.
...
Soul Hunter's Forest.
The sunlight dappled through the woods, and the damp, decaying leaves mingled with the stench of blood, creating a nauseating atmosphere.
In the shadow of a boulder, Tang Hao's burly body trembled without warning.
An indescribable emptiness gripped his heart, as if something most important in his life had been forcibly ripped away.
Tang Hao instinctively clutched his chest, where it felt empty, as if a large hole had been torn open, and cold wind was howling in.
What's going on?
Tang Hao forcibly suppressed the pounding in his heart and turned his attention back to the battlefield not far away.
Yu Xiaogang had already collapsed to the ground, while his son Tang San was being driven to a sorry state by a monstrous serpent that was over three meters long and entirely green.
Tang Hao clenched his fists, ready to strike.
However, what happened the next second made his hand, which was about to be raised, freeze in mid-air.
Tang San nimbly rolled away, dodging the Mandala Snake's deadly tail whip. At the same time, he flicked his wrist, and several beams of cold light shot out from his sleeve.
"Puff puff puff!"
Those were several thin iron needles that precisely pierced the datura snake's most vulnerable mouth and eyes.
The excruciating pain caused the datura snake to writhe wildly, its gaping maw spewing out a foul-smelling venom.
Tang San seized this fleeting opportunity.
He sprang into the air, the short blade in his hand drawing a cold arc as it pierced the mandala serpent's jaw.
A fatal blow.
The enormous snake body crashed to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Tang Hao's pupils contracted as he stared intently at the inconspicuous object on his son's wrist.
That's definitely not a soul skill.
This child seems to harbor a secret even deeper than twin martial souls.
The murderous intent in his eyes slowly faded, replaced by a complex emotion.
(End of this Chapter)