Tang San grabbed the Blue Silver Grass and pulled hard. The sapling didn't budge.
Instead, the Blue Silver Grass snapped in half with a crack.
Tang San: "..."
Was this the resilience his teacher had talked about?
A Hundred-Year Soul Skill shouldn't be this useless, right? Could his Soul Ring really have mutated and degraded into a Ten-Year Soul Ring?
The sight before him hit Tang San like a bolt from the blue, leaving him utterly stunned.
"What happened? Why did it turn out... like this..."
Tang San murmured to himself, his expression unbearably dejected.
For a moment, he seemed completely crushed.
"It seems my teacher's theory was wrong. Plant-type Martial Souls can't absorb animal Soul Rings..."
After thinking it over, Tang San finally reached that conclusion.
Tang San wasn't the only one in a terrible mood.
Tang Hao was, too.
When he saw Tang San's white Soul Ring, Tang Hao was just as dumbfounded. He couldn't understand how a perfectly good Hundred-Year Soul Ring had turned white.
With his keen eye, he could tell at a glance that Tang San's really was a Ten-Year Soul Ring! It hadn't merely changed color.
Could it really have undergone some kind of mutation?
As for plant-type Martial Souls being unable to absorb animal Soul Rings, that was complete nonsense. Plenty of people absorbed animal Soul Rings. Tang Hao had no idea why Yu Xiaogang had come up with such a bizarre theory.
Tang Hao's gaze fell on Yu Xiaogang, and he couldn't help cursing inwardly. That useless piece of trash had shamelessly made himself Xiao San's teacher, and now Xiao San had to protect him. Damn it.
Tang Hao had no idea that something bad was happening. Someone had set their sights on his wife—or, more accurately, on what she had left behind.
Lin Ye and the others hurried on.
The next day.
"This is the place you were looking for?" Ice Empress asked Lin Ye, who was studying the map beside her.
Before them stretched a range of towering mountains, their peaks disappearing into the clouds.
The cliffs were incredibly steep, almost vertical.
Lin Ye put away the map and gazed up at the mountains before him, his eyes bright with anticipation at the thought of what he was about to find.
"It's definitely here. Let's keep going."
Snow Empress said nothing, merely taking hold of Lin Ye's arm.
The next moment, the two shot into the sky, passed through the clouds, and flew into the mountain range.
Ice Empress followed close behind with Xiao Wu and Lin Qiu'er.
As time passed, they flew over one peak after another, venturing deeper and deeper into the rarely visited mountains.
Half an hour later, Lin Ye finally spotted their destination.
What appeared before them was a truly beautiful landscape.
A waterfall more than twenty meters wide poured down, crashing against the cliff and the pool below with a deafening roar.
Beneath it lay a crystal-clear pool, tranquil and deep. From above, it looked like a flawless blue gemstone.
The waterfall plunged into the pool, sending water spraying into the air. In the sunlight, a brilliant rainbow appeared and disappeared, lending the scene a dreamlike beauty.
Trees stood lush and green all around, while Blue Silver Grass covered the ground, swaying gently in the breeze. The whole place teemed with life.
"What a beautiful place!"
Lin Ye exclaimed. The view before him evoked the verse, "The torrent plunges three thousand feet, as if the Milky Way had fallen from the ninth heaven."
"Snow Empress, could you check whether there's a cave behind the waterfall?" Lin Ye asked, pointing toward the cascading water.
Snow Empress released a trace of Mental Power, and immediately sensed everything in the surrounding area.
Just as Lin Ye had said, there was a cave in the cliff behind the waterfall—and what lay inside was extraordinary.
Once Lin Ye said he wanted to go in, Ice Empress got to work.
A green light shone out, bathing the entire sky in emerald.
The temperature plunged. The waterfall froze solid, and the twenty-meter-wide cascade turned into a giant Ice Lolly in the blink of an eye.
It was an impressive sight.
"Awesome!"
Lin Ye gave Ice Empress a thumbs-up. She folded her arms, looking very pleased with herself.
But why make such a huge spectacle of it?
And now that you've frozen the whole thing, how are we supposed to get inside?
As the saying went, the one who tied the bell had to untie it.
"Ice Empress, clear the way."
Ice Empress widened her eyes, about to ask why she should listen to him, when Lin Ye tossed her a small pouch.
She opened it to find several dozen Gold Soul Coins inside.
Ice Empress's haughty expression instantly melted into a beaming smile. As if she'd thought of something delicious, she unconsciously licked her lips.
"Stop dawdling. Hurry up," Lin Ye urged, wondering why she was becoming more and more of a little miser. He'd never kept food from her before.
Ice Empress happily tucked the Gold Soul Coins into her pocket, then patted the little pouch, enjoying the clink of the coins.
Having secured her Little Money, Ice Empress stopped wasting time. She flashed over to the waterfall and punched it.
Crack... Boom...
The frozen waterfall split apart in an instant, breaking into countless chunks of ice that came crashing down.
As ice shards flew everywhere, the cliff behind the waterfall was revealed.
The cliff was uneven, but otherwise looked perfectly ordinary—at least to Lin Ye.
But just because he couldn't see anything unusual didn't mean Ice Empress couldn't.
She raised her hand and punched a spot on the cliff again.
Boom! Another thunderous crash rang out. Rocks flew everywhere, and the boulder before Ice Empress shattered, revealing a doorway.
"Gulp!"
Lin Ye watched, his Adam's apple bobbing.
Ice Empress looked like a tiny little girl, yet she could smash a boulder to pieces with her bare hands...
Lin Ye wondered if one punch from her would leave him bruised all over.
No, no. It'd probably leave him in pieces.
He shook his head, tossing those ridiculous thoughts aside, and turned his attention back to the cave, his eyes gleaming with eagerness.
Tang Hao, your wife is gone!
Passing through the stone door, Lin Ye entered a cave three meters high and two meters wide. Because of the waterfall, the inside was very damp.
The cave stretched inward. There was some light near the entrance, but farther in, it was pitch-black.
They followed the cave all the way to the end.
They arrived at a Stone Room of about ten square meters, where at last there was a little light.
A small opening in the ceiling let the light shine in.
Directly beneath it was a little mound of earth, and growing on the mound was a slender Blue Silver Grass. Unlike ordinary Blue Silver Grass, this plant's leaves were marked with fine golden lines.
"Blue Silver Emperor, planted in a wretched place like this. It's a wonder you survived."
Lin Ye couldn't help finding it ironic. Tang Hao claimed to love Ah Yin so much, yet he'd planted her in this wretched place.
Plants needed sunlight for photosynthesis. This Stone Room was dark, damp, and cold, and the opening above let in sunlight only around noon.
Even the village farmers knew to give their vegetables plenty of light. Did Tang Hao not know even that much?
Lin Ye had reason to suspect Tang Hao had done this hoping the Blue Silver Emperor would fend for itself.
Before you continue