Absorbing the Blue Silver Emperor Soul Bone

Late at night.

Countless stars lit up at the edge of the sky, clustering around the full moon and forming a dazzling Milky Way.

Clear moonlight poured down like flowing water, laying a layer of cold white frost over the earth.

Yao Yan had stayed hidden in a cave on the Back Mountain until most of the village lights had gone out and even the guard dogs had fallen asleep.

Only then did he quietly head home with a bamboo basket on his back.

As he neared his house, his steps grew even lighter. His gaze warily swept the surroundings, checking for any sign of people.

As though he were a thief.

Fortunately, everything was normal. Not even the village dogs were disturbed when he returned.

"Creak—"

After pushing open the front gate, he quickly slipped into the living room, shut all the windows tightly, then left through the back door and locked the front gate.

Creating the appearance that no one was home.

Once everything was arranged, he took the soul bone and Xiao Ying to his parents' room, opened the cellar door, and climbed inside.

The space inside was small, used specifically to store dried provisions.

Yao Yan casually found a place to sit and took a glowing stone from his pocket to light up the space.

He rubbed Xiao Ying's furry forehead and smiled. "Wait here until I wake up. Don't run around."

Xiao Ying let out an obedient low cry and went to curl up in a corner.

Yao Yan took a deep breath and slowly brought the crystalline soul bone, shimmering with blue light, toward his right leg.

"Buzz—"

A faint humming sound rang out, and Yao Yan felt his right leg tremble slightly.

Then, cool energy seeped into his leg from every direction. The crystalline blue soul bone silently vanished, transforming into countless streams of blue-gold airflow that spread through his right leg.

As time passed, the blue-gold currents spread through his whole body, wrapping around him.

Yao Yan felt as though he had fallen into a warm embrace. His eyelids grew heavier and heavier until he finally fell into a deep sleep.

At the same time, a powerful vitality spread throughout the entire cellar.

Seeds buried deep in the soil broke through the earth one after another, sprouting and growing... In the blink of an eye, the once-bare cellar had become lush and green, like a tiny jungle.

Xiao Ying watched the rapidly growing plants, its eyes rolling about with curiosity.

It looked toward Yao Yan, who was wrapped in blue-gold currents, and could not help drawing closer, raising a spider leg to touch the airflow.

The instant its spider leg made contact!

The blue-gold currents suddenly stirred violently and rushed into Xiao Ying's body all at once.

Its originally pitch-black carapace rapidly turned dark purple, while the golden patterns on its body became clearer and more dazzling.

As its body underwent drastic changes, Xiao Ying raised its front legs and clutched its head tightly. Its body convulsed slightly, as though it were reliving certain painful memories.

A long while later, when the color of its carapace had completely stabilized into a deep purple.

It took a deep look at the sleeping Yao Yan. An invisible force spread from within its body and traveled into the distance...

Five days later.

After a series of crackling sounds came from his body, Yao Yan slowly opened his eyes.

He instinctively looked around and froze.

The entire cellar had been completely overtaken by dense Vines. Xiao Ying was wrapped up tightly, unable to move, and could only make faint whimpering sounds.

Seeing the Little Fellow so bedraggled and aggrieved, Yao Yan could not help but laugh.

With a thought, his spiritual power spread out like a tide as he barked, "Retreat!"

Sensing his authority, the Vines gradually contracted and burrowed back into the ground.

"Thud!"

Xiao Ying fell to the ground without warning. It quickly scrambled up, darted to Yao Yan's feet, and waved its spider legs as it chattered about the grievances it had suffered over the past five days.

Still unable to vent its anger, it even grabbed a Vine that was shrinking too slowly, refusing to let it escape.

Yao Yan rubbed its head and smiled. "All right, didn't I avenge you?"

With the Vines returning underground, deprived of sunlight and rain, they would have to turn back into seeds or find a way to grow elsewhere.

That counted as avenging the Little Fellow indirectly.

Yao Yan picked Xiao Ying up and keenly sensed that it seemed somewhat different, though he could not tell exactly what had changed.

Xiao Ying had already returned to its black-and-gold appearance.

Yao Yan did not dwell on it. The urgent matter was to check whether his appearance had changed. If he ended up looking like Ah Yin, that would be terrible!

Holding Xiao Ying, he hurriedly climbed out of the cellar and walked over to the mirror.

A blue-haired youth appeared before him, with delicate features, fair skin, and a straight, upright figure.

Yao Yan breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, only his hair had turned blue and grown a little longer, making him look like he had not had a haircut in three months.

He found a razor and neatly trimmed the overly long hair.

After finishing up, he came out through the back door with a bundle on his back, reopened the main door, and threw all the doors and windows open.

He created the impression that he had just returned home.

After doing all that, he slung his herb-gathering basket over his back again and headed toward the Back Mountain.

He stopped in an area thick with grass and trees and released his Martial Soul.

The Blue Silver Grass in his palm had already transformed into a noble blue-gold color. Its stems were thicker and tougher than before, faintly flowing with the radiance of life.

"Sure enough, marry a woman three years older and you'll be holding a golden brick!"

Yao Yan was highly satisfied as he looked at the changes in his Martial Soul.

After absorbing her Soul Bone, not only had his Martial Soul evolved, but his Conception and Governor Vessels had also been opened, increasing his cultivation speed.

As for Soul Power, Yao Yan examined it and found that it did not seem to have increased much. He was now around level eighteen.

But those were not his greatest gains.

His greatest gain was the sense of pressure he now exerted over all plant-type Spirit Beasts, a pressure that came from deep within his bloodline. His control had also reached an entirely new level.

Yao Yan's first Soul Ring suddenly lit up.

"First Soul Skill, Blue Silver: Tree Realm Birth."

Blue Silver Grass seeds scattered in every direction. Blue-gold Vines, eight meters long and five meters wide, burst from the ground and instantly covered the surrounding area, transforming it into a miniature primordial forest.

Yao Yan's spiritual power spread outward. The ordinary plants around him swayed one after another, releasing faint points of starlight as they bowed in submission to their king.

With a thought, he pressed his palms together. The surrounding Vines softened, intertwined, and took shape...

Before long, the figure of a youth woven from Vines, carrying a Heavy Xuan Ruler on his back, appeared before him.

Yao Yan stroked his chin as he studied the "Youth," and a bold idea arose regarding his Second Soul Skill.

"If I combine it with a Simulation-type skill and make it look no different from a real person, then use Heart Separation Control... wouldn't that be the same as having a clone?"

The thought excited him, and he decided that once he returned, he would gather information on Spirit Beasts with Simulation abilities.

He dismissed the vine youth, changed his hand seal again, and shouted in a low voice, "Blue Silver: Tree Realm Entanglement!"

Spiritual power and Soul Power intertwined, guiding the Blue Silver Grass on the ground to form intricate patterns. More blades of grass grew wildly, while roots tangled and coiled together in layer upon layer!

Boom!

In the blink of an eye, a sturdy cage formed from countless Blue Silver Grass stalks rose from the ground, sharp Thorns protruding from its inner walls.

If an enemy were trapped inside, the cage could contract and instantly pierce them into a pincushion.

"It is somewhat similar to Tang San's Blue Silver Prison." Yao Yan examined his handiwork.

The difference was that Tang San relied on a fixed Soul Skill, while he relied solely on his spiritual power and his deep control over Blue Silver Grass.

"It seems the plasticity of Blue Silver Grass is even greater than I imagined."

This made Yao Yan think of techniques from Naruto—True Several Thousand Hands, Wood Dragon Technique, Thorn Kill Technique...

All of them were closely tied to the wood element and were undoubtedly the most suitable directions for Blue Silver Grass's future development.

"Disperse." Yao Yan lightly snapped his fingers.

The Vines and cage filling the area dissolved at once, shrinking back into the ground like a receding tide and vanishing, leaving behind only the grassland restored to its original state.

He cleaned away all traces at the scene, shouldered his herb basket again, and began gathering herbs as usual.

A performance had to look convincing, after all.

While Yao Yan was putting on his act, the invisible force released by Xiao Ying had already crossed countless mountains and rivers, arriving at the place it was destined to reach...

PS: What place is it? Everyone, take a guess.