Tang Hao, Borrowing Your Wife for a Moment

Three days had passed since Yu Mingfei was expelled from the family.

In the Back Mountain Forest, two Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect disciples patrolled with impatient expressions.

"Why is Yu Mingfei so damn good at running? He made us patrol in the middle of the night." The Sturdy Disciple yawned and casually complained. "He's just level-nine Soul Power trash. So what if he ran? Why bother looking for him?"

"How would I know? Maybe he's already dead. Didn't Soul Beasts used to appear in the back mountain?" the Narrow-Faced Disciple replied quietly.

"Yu Mingfei really knows how to cause trouble. When he awakened with level-nine Soul Power back then, I thought our Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect was getting another genius. Who would've thought... tsk, tsk." The Sturdy Disciple wore a mocking expression.

"His martial soul mutated. Though our sect's Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon martial soul is incredibly powerful, how many mutated ones ever turn out well?"

The Narrow-Faced Disciple seemed to know some secret history. As the topic came up, he spoke with a mysterious look on his face.

"I heard Yu Mingfei's branch of the family has had Mutated Martial Souls since his grandfather's generation! They might originally have had a chance to correct it and return to the main family, but they listened to the Clan Leader's Youngest Son's nonsense and believed that Martial Soul Mutations could complement one another. His son then married a distant relative with a mutated martial soul, and that's how a freak like Yu Mingfei came about."

The Sturdy Disciple looked astonished. "That really happened?"

The Narrow-Faced Disciple nodded knowingly, gossip written all over his face. "Of course. Didn't the Clan Leader's Youngest Son used to associate with some major power's young master? He was always spouting strange theories every other day. I heard he later found himself a partner with a mutated martial soul too."

The two had long grown used to slacking off. After casually making a round, they chatted as they headed back toward the sect.

Beneath a clump of bushes not far away.

Half of Yu Mingfei's face was exposed, his right eye half-open.

He had not left. He was still in the forest, buried there for three days.

He allowed insects and ants to crawl over and gnaw at him without moving a single inch.

During the first two days, disciples had frequently come out to patrol.

By the third day, perhaps because Dugu Bo had already left the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect, both the number and frequency of patrols had greatly decreased.

And Yu Mingfei had reached his limit.

It's time to go. This patrol round just ended. Even if there's another, it won't begin for at least two hours.

Yu Mingfei moved his stiff neck and used his hands to slowly scrape away the soil, pulling the half of his face that had been buried for three days out of the dirt.

The left half of his face, which had been buried in the soil, was now visibly a different color from the right.

It looked absurdly ridiculous, making him resemble a clown.

Just then, a chime sounded beside Yu Mingfei's ear, followed by a drumbeat.

[Although the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon mutated into a useless martial soul, your intelligence led you to bury yourself in the earth, sense the aura of the land, and trigger the Earth Dragon mutation within your bloodline.]

[Congratulations, you have invented the Earth Meditation Method. Bury your body in the earth and absorb earthly energy to strengthen your body.]

Huh?

Yu Mingfei froze for a moment. A cool current flowed from the surrounding soil and seeped into his body, instantly sweeping away the stiffness and numbness caused by remaining motionless for three days.

He even felt a certain affinity with the earth.

Yet his Soul Power remained unchanged, still at level nine.

This system... how does it work?

Do I need to keep experimenting to invent new things?

Like this Earth Meditation Method that can strengthen my body?

I should leave first and study it slowly afterward.

Yu Mingfei gathered his thoughts and slowly pulled himself out of the ground.

After restoring the soil and closing up the bushes, Yu Mingfei gave the direction of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect one final look.

Then he turned away without looking back and left the forest.

Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect, I will return.

A week later, in Holy Spirit Village in the southwest of the Heaven Dou Empire.

Yu Mingfei wore a tattered cloak and looked toward the entrance of the village from afar.

He changed direction and headed toward the village's back mountain.

This year is Douluo Calendar 2643. Tang San... is twelve years old.

Yu Mingfei recalled the youth he had encountered while passing through Suotuo City earlier, strutting through the streets with a pair of beautiful sisters in his arms, and began calculating in his mind.

Shrek Academy's enrollment hasn't ended yet. When I passed by, there were only three students: Dai Mubai, Oscar, and Ma Hongjun.

The other four should still be on their way to Suotuo City, or perhaps they've already arrived.

But no matter what, Tang Hao must be following Tang San at this time!

This is a perfect opportunity!

Yu Mingfei plunged into Holy Spirit Village's back mountain and began searching through the woods.

After wandering for several months, his Soul Power had remained unchanged, but his wilderness survival skills had improved considerably.

Ever since the [Invention System] came online, he had studied it every day, exploring its uses and limits.

Inspired by the [Earth Meditation Method] he had created while escaping the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect.

He spent every night in the wilderness. Whenever he came across rivers or lakes, he slept in the water; when there was no body of water, he buried himself in the ground to sleep; when the ground was dangerous, he slept in trees.

Other than not daring to sleep in a bonfire, he dared to sleep anywhere.

The results were gratifying. A few months later, his body's strength, flexibility, and coordination had all far surpassed what they had once been.

And aside from the [Earth Meditation Method], the meditation method series had gained the [Flowing Water Meditation Method] and the [Whirlwind Meditation Method].

They corresponded to earth, water, and wind respectively.

After repeated experimentation, Yu Mingfei figured out how to use the [Invention System].

It was called invention, but it was actually closer to making things up.

The process behind his several successful inventions made that obvious.

Burying himself in dirt let him absorb earth energy to strengthen his body? Lying in water let him absorb water energy to increase flexibility? Sleeping in a tree while the wind blew over him increased coordination?

That was a bit ridiculous.

But he liked it, because the system said he was very smart and could invent anything.

Two days later, Yu Mingfei found a valley. Beside the pool within it stood a waterfall.

The scenery was beautiful, the water vapor abundant, and blue grass carpeted the ground.

Blue Silver Grass grew everywhere, without the slightest trace of green in sight.

There's only this one waterfall nearby. This must be it—the place where the Hundred-Thousand-Year Blue Silver Emperor is!

Yu Mingfei had no mind to admire the scenery. He plunged alone into the waterfall, braced himself against the rushing water, gripped the protrusions and cracks in the rock, and began to climb.

If not for the three meditation methods continuously strengthening his physique over the past few months, even if he had found this waterfall, he would have had no way to do anything.

As he climbed, he tapped against the rock wall.

Hollow, hollow—

After several attempts, he pressed down on a section of rock that produced an unusual sound when struck.

A doorway appeared within the waterfall.

Yu Mingfei was overjoyed. Using both hands and feet, he leaped inside in a flash.

The cave was extremely damp, with dense droplets of water hanging from the stone walls.

Yu Mingfei was very cautious. He first removed his cloak and tore it in half, wrapping each piece around one foot. Then he tightened his clothes and made sure he would not leave any other traces before feeling his way forward through the darkness.

The passage was narrow, only about two meters wide, pitch-black without a trace of light.

Only when Yu Mingfei reached its depths did a beam of daylight shine down from above, illuminating the slender Blue Silver Grass in the center of the stone chamber.

Its blades were long and thin, marked with delicate golden veins, swaying gently in the current of air.

That's it! The Hundred-Thousand-Year—Blue Silver Emperor!

Dense life energy permeated the soil beneath the Blue Silver Emperor.

Yu Mingfei could even feel a surge of vitality with every breath, strengthening and nourishing his body.

Perhaps it was merely an illusion brought about by psychology.

But the Blue Silver Grass before him had sprouted anew from the grass seed left after the Hundred-Thousand-Year Blue Silver Emperor's sacrifice.

Even if all of its former cultivation and Soul Power had been sacrificed.

Its essence as a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast remained unchanged.

It could even be said that the grass seed was the Blue Silver Emperor's most fundamental essence of life.

What else was there to say?

Dig!

I want both the Soul Bone and the Blue Silver Emperor!

No matter what it invents, no matter whether it can make up for the defects of my Mutated Martial Soul, I'll dig it up first!

At worst, Tang Hao will come after me and I'll die! What's there to be afraid of?!

Tang Hao! I'll be borrowing your wife!

Soul Power flooded into his hands as Yu Mingfei moved swiftly, with a proficiency painful to watch.

Outside Suotuo City, Tang Hao stood atop a rooftop, suddenly seized by panic.

It was as though something had departed from his life.

His gaze turned toward the distant Shrek Academy.

In the open space, Tang San, whose assessment had ended, was vomiting blood by the mouthful while the instructor Zhao Wuji lectured him.

Tang Hao's eyes turned cold.

Zhao Wuji! Hmph! I'll deal with you after nightfall!