Bloodline Awakening
Three days later, Tang Feng left Spirit City with only a few silver coins to his name.
During those three days, Tang Feng had made a rough plan for his future.
For now, he would travel across the entire continent. Well... the Heaven Dou Empire's half of it.
"With the medicine and poison chapters of the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record, plus the Hashirama Cells, as long as I don't deliberately court death or follow that brain-dead theory that anyone who doesn't dare stir up trouble is a mediocrity..."
"My life probably won't be in danger."
Tang Feng had two main objectives for his journey across the continent. First, he would find the nameless forest where the Blue Silver King lived. Second, he would find his mother in this life, Ah Yin.
He loved moms and all that the most.
Half a year later.
Lanmai Mountain, Haagen-Dazs Kingdom.
"Fuck, ptui, ptui, ptui!"
Tang Feng, dressed in rags like a beggar and looking filthy and disheveled, jumped down from a tree and casually wiped the spiderwebs from his face. Then he launched a barrage of punches and kicks at the dead gray wolf beside the roots, a Yellow Soul Ring hovering above its body, cursing all the while:
"Still want to eat me?"
"Want to eat me?"
"Fuck!"
Having vented his anger, Tang Feng looked around.
Apart from the dense, towering, nameless trees that blocked out nearly all the sunlight, the most common sight was Blue Silver Grass glowing blue across the ground.
"Where the hell did I end up?"
Tang Feng gathered Soul Power beneath his feet and tried to climb up a giant tree.
He needed to get high up to see far. After being chased by that wild wolf for so long, he had long since lost his bearings.
"Wang! Wang! Wang! Wang!"
But a sudden burst of barking made him pause and go on guard again.
"Who's barking?"
Tang Feng slowed his breathing. The forest was exceptionally quiet; apart from the rustling of leaves in the breeze, there was hardly any other noise, much less barking.
So the barking wasn't coming from outside, but from... his spiritual world!
Tang Feng couldn't help freezing.
Have I turned into Ghost-Eyed Yang Jian?
That can't be, can it?
Puzzled, Tang Feng calmed himself as much as he could, extending his spiritual power outward and listening closely to the voice from his spiritual world.
Without realizing it, Tang Feng began to feel as though he had formed some kind of connection with the Blue Silver Grass on the ground around him. Through that faint connection, the range his spiritual power could perceive seemed to expand as well.
His God Tree Martial Soul emerged unbidden above his left palm.
The voice in Tang Feng's mind grew clearer. He could make it out now. The voice was saying...
"My king, this way!"
"The Blue Silver King!!!" Tang Feng instantly thought of the first objective of his travels across the continent.
The shift in his mood stirred his state of mind, breaking the already faint connection once more.
"Fuck!"
Tang Feng cursed under his breath, hurriedly sat down on the ground, emptied his mind, and listened in silence.
"My king! I'm here, this way!"
In that instant, Tang Feng's vision crossed several kilometers, and he saw the Blue Silver King deep in the forest: a plant some ten meters tall, formed from countless interwoven vines and emitting a faint blue glow.
Opening his eyes, Tang Feng did not withdraw the God Tree in his hand. The spiritual connection between the God Tree and the Blue Silver Grass on the ground guided him in a certain direction.
After passing through layer upon layer of dense forest at a brisk pace for about four hours, Tang Feng no longer had branches and leaves blocking the sunlight overhead. The world before him suddenly opened up.
A vast circular clearing lay ahead, with the Blue Silver King he had just seen in his spiritual world standing at its very center.
When the Blue Silver King saw Tang Feng, the center of his trunk slowly writhed and changed, forming a human face. Smiling, he looked at Tang Feng.
"Great king, you have finally come."
"My king?" Tang Feng showed a suitable amount of confusion and asked:
"Are you Blue Silver Grass? Why do you call me your king?"
"Because the bloodline of the Blue Silver Empress flows within you. You are the emperor of our Blue Silver Grass Clan," the Blue Silver King declared with fervor.
"I am merely the king of Blue Silver Grass."
"To reach your realm, I would need at least another ten thousand years of cultivation."
"The bloodline of the Blue Silver Grass Empress..." Tang Feng murmured. As though something had occurred to him, he asked:
"Do you mean my mother is the Blue Silver Grass Empress? Do you know where she is? I've never seen her since I was born. I miss her so much and want to see her..."
Tang Feng's voice grew quieter and quieter as he spoke, and he looked utterly alone and forlorn.
"Sigh..."
The Blue Silver King sighed softly. Tear-like liquid flowed from the face on his trunk as he said gently:
"Great king, I'm sorry, but I don't know where the Blue Silver Empress is either. I only know that the empress..."
The Blue Silver King opened and closed his mouth, but still couldn't bring himself to say that the Blue Silver Emperor had sacrificed herself. Instead, he said:
"The empress must be waiting for you somewhere on the continent. Great king, do not be sad or lose heart. Once you become one of the continent's top experts, the empress will surely hear of your fame and come looking for you."
"And what you must do before then is grow stronger, and stronger still!"
"The road to becoming an expert is long and fraught with obstacles. As your subjects, all we can do is awaken the Blue Silver Emperor Bloodline within you and bring your talent to the next level."
"Great king, Your Majesty, the great Blue Silver Emperor, feel your subjects' reverence for you."
All at once, the entire forest trembled.
A vast presence rose from the whole forest. Countless blades of Blue Silver Grass swayed, though there was no wind.
Specks of blue light emerged from their leaves and gathered into a blue sea, surging toward Tang Feng as he stood there.
At the very center, Tang Feng was like a whirlpool in the sea, constantly devouring and absorbing the blue lights around him.
His body felt no swelling, much less pain. All he felt was a warm current flowing through him.
A gentle presence brushed against his face, warm and peaceful.
Tang Feng gradually closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking deeper and deeper into this sea called gentleness.
By the time Tang Feng opened his eyes again, more than ten days had passed outside.
His body had changed noticeably since before the Awakening. His skin was smoother, fairer, and softer, and his appearance was different from before. With red lips and white teeth, he looked as though he had been carved from jade, so very pretty that anyone who didn't look closely would probably mistake him for a girl.
With his short black hair on top of that, even if Tang Feng stood before Tang Hao now, Tang Hao wouldn't recognize him.
Tang Feng summoned his God Tree Martial Soul. The God Tree as a whole hadn't changed much, except that strands of shimmering golden patterns had appeared in its branches and leaves.
Not only that, Tang Feng finally had his first Soul Ring: a yellow one.
Seeing Tang Feng wake up, the Blue Silver King explained the changes in him.
"Great Your Majesty, your Mutated Blue Silver Emperor is even more powerful than I expected. With the Awakening of the Blue Silver Emperor Bloodline within you as well..."
"Your talent is now among the very best on this continent."
"With it, you will surely become a top expert, and perhaps even glimpse that realm of legend."
"As for your Soul Ring, it came from you yourself and will change as your strength grows. Its current age, in human terms, is nine hundred years."
Tang Feng withdrew his Martial Soul and bowed deeply to the Blue Silver King.
Wasn't this Blue Silver King more useful than Tang Hao?
"Thank you. If I reach the pinnacle in the future, I'll be sure to save you a place."
"As for the empress, I'll bring her back to life."
Tang Feng left, leaving the still-bewildered Blue Silver King behind.