The deep forest, Snake Demon Village.
The village was shrouded in mist, like a thick veil.
"So that's what happened!"
Lin Chen stood before the three large characters carved into the stone tablet at the entrance to Snake Demon Village. The weathered stone showed clear signs of age.
A playful smile curled at the corner of his mouth.
"I've been searching everywhere for you, you poisonous thing. I didn't expect you to be hiding in Snake Demon Village."
"It's right ahead."
Snake Demon pointed toward the yellow earth around them, where weeds had grown thickly.
"I told you, young man. Weren't you asking me to help you find a place to cultivate? You can't even find any decent plants in a place this old."
"Just follow me. It's right behind that hill."
Lin Chen laughed, then gestured for Snake Demon to lead the way.
The two of them walked along the familiar path through the mountain forest.
Soon, they arrived before a waterfall roaring like thunder.
The waterfall crashed down in torrents. Lin Chen's figure moved in a flash, like a swift swallow, piercing through the heavy curtain of water and slipping into the hidden mountain cave behind it.
"Rumble—!"
Snake Demon followed closely behind.
As the two stepped into the cave, the light dimmed at once.
"Hey?"
Snake Demon's body stiffened, and he stared in shock at the scene before him.
In a flash, he reached the center of the cave, where a small mound of bare earth had been piled up. A golden-blue plant with a faint glow grew atop it.
But—
The Blue Silver Grass that had once brimmed with vitality now looked pale and withered. Its leaves had turned white, and it seemed to be on the verge of dying.
"What the hell is going on?"
"Blue Silver Grass, weren't you supposed to thrive without sunlight? How did you end up like this?"
"Don't you know plants need light for photosynthesis? This one's practically turned into dried grass!"
Snake Demon was baffled.
What sort of idiot would do something like this?
In front of him, that withered Blue Silver Grass—
A pale soul bone floated slowly in the air, sinking into a deathly silence.
"..."
She, too, felt a little exhausted. Tang Hao had left her here to be sad for years, and it seemed he had truly forgotten to come back and see her.
"So he really had forgotten, or perhaps he simply didn't care..."
Over the years, she had often felt as though she were in a cage. If not for the persistent support of her husband, she would have long since become nothing more than a pile of ashes in this cave.
Her nearly transparent soul power settled over the young man who had suddenly appeared.
"He's that Lin Chen..."
A thousand emotions surged through her heart.
For a moment, she felt somewhat powerless. She hadn't expected the young man she'd once helped would actually come looking for her.
And he'd come to Snake Demon Village!
"He... what is he going to do?"
"Poisonous thing, while I'm taking this, go and pick up the other things."
"Take whatever you want!"
Lin Chen didn't hesitate.
He reached out with his right hand, and a gentle surge of soul power lifted the withered Blue Silver Grass from the ground.
Ah Yin: "???"
After putting Ah Yin away, Lin Chen's gaze swept over the stone tables and chairs, settling on a hidden box.
"Click."
The box opened, and a wave of potent life energy instantly filled the entire cave.
"Rumble—!"
A ball of light burst forth, revealing a soul bone glowing with a deep blue-gold radiance, lying quietly inside.
"Ten... ten-thousand-year soul bone?!"
Snake Demon was completely stunned. He rubbed his eyes, hardly believing what he was seeing.
"Holy shit, a ten-thousand-year soul bone?! Kid, did you rob some great ancestor or something?"
"If word gets out that this thing is here, every Spirit Hall master on the entire continent will go crazy!"
Even the sealed Dou Luo masters would scramble for it.
How many sealed Dou Luo masters were there, let alone anyone with a ten-thousand-year soul bone?!
"This is the biggest risk. We're leaving."
Lin Chen put the soul bone away, moving swiftly and without the slightest hesitation.
The two left Snake Demon Village before long.
After making sure they were completely safe, Lin Chen smiled and gathered his mental power, beginning to talk to himself.
[Guys, I'm seriously stunned.]
[Are you seriously asking? That old Tang Hao kept swearing he'd guard Ah Yin with his life. And what happened? He left Ah Yin here to rot.]
[He actually abandoned her in a cave deep in the mountains, where she couldn't see any sunlight.]
[He's such an idiot. Doesn't he know plants need light to grow? Even if he planted her in a small patch of woods, it would've been better than leaving her in that dead cave.]
[And Ah Yin was the dignified Blue Silver Empress, with a life tenacious enough to survive anything. But she looked even more yellow than Snake Demon. She'd completely withered away.]
[The thing that really made me laugh was that Tang Hao was honestly an idiot. He'd actually hidden a ten-thousand-year soul bone in the cave behind the waterfall near Snake Demon Village.]
[He could've given it to his son, or found somewhere safer to put it.]
[What a loving father, right?]
"A ten-thousand-year soul bone?!"
Qian Ling'er couldn't help blurting it out after hearing the phrase "ten-thousand-year soul bone."
She hadn't expected—
That there really was a ten-thousand-year soul bone, and that it was Ah Yin's soul bone.
Her golden eyes were filled with jealousy and longing.
"That soul bone... no matter what, I have to get my hands on it!"
Qian Ling'er's eyes burned with light.
A ten-thousand-year soul bone was enough to change the fate of anyone who obtained it!
"Uncle Tianqing, take me somewhere close to Snake Demon Village right now!"
She hurriedly spoke to the Snake Demon beside her.
"In the mountain cave behind the waterfall near Snake Demon Village, there's a ten-thousand-year soul bone Tang Hao left behind. We have to get it!"
Snake Demon's expression changed drastically.
A ten-thousand-year soul bone?!
Meanwhile, in Spirit City.
Bi Biyao had been in a rather gloomy mood, but when she heard those four words, she was stunned.
"Haha, Tang Hao, Tang Hao. So that's what you were guarding? You really are a first-rate fool."
"So ridiculous!"
The next instant, the warmth faded from Bi Biyao's eyes. She lowered her head and looked at the shadow behind her.
"Ghost, Ghost Dou Luo! Take some people with you and head straight to Snake Demon Village. If you run into Tang Hao, kill him without mercy!"
"Understood... I'll bring you that soul bone."
Suotuo City.
"I hope Uncle Tianqing can get there in time. Now that Lin Chen knows about it, will he have already taken action?"
Qian Ling'er stood in the streets of Suotuo City.
She could already sense it.
That bloodthirsty aura!
"I can sense it—the presence of my Seraphim martial spirit. It's not far away."
Qian Ling'er suddenly felt a little jealous.
She strolled leisurely through the streets of Suotuo City.
On the other side, Tang Hao was racing wildly through the forest.
A sudden, inexplicable feeling of unease came over him.
He had a premonition that if he didn't return to Snake Demon Village, something would happen...
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