People Have Their Paths, Beasts Have Their Ways

"Soul Hunting Forest..."

"Tang San, you really are stupid! Yu Xiaogang actually talked you into becoming like this!"

"First Soul Skill: Mother's Entanglement!"

"Second Soul Skill: Parasite!"

"Third Soul Skill: Spider Web Restraint!"

"Fourth Soul Skill: Blue Silver Cage!"

Thinking of Tang San's future Soul Skills, Jiang Ming wore an expression of barely concealed gloating.

"Still, this gives me an opportunity."

Jiang Ming turned and looked in the direction of Holy Soul Village.

That was the village where Tang San had grown up, and where Tang Hao lived in seclusion.

Tang San was now heading to the Soul Hunting Forest to obtain his first Soul Ring.

Yu Xiaogang was also unquestionably useless.

To keep his son from dying halfway there, Tang Hao would certainly follow in secret to protect him.

At this moment, Holy Soul Village was like a beautiful woman with no clothes on!

The early morning air carried a trace of damp chill, while the wild grass along the roadside swayed gently in the breeze.

Jiang Ming crossed field after field and spotted the outline of Holy Soul Village's mountains in the distance.

The houses were scattered in neat order, cooking smoke curled upward, and the scene was peaceful and idyllic.

Jiang Ming did not approach the village. Instead, he took a detour and climbed up the slope east of it.

The trees on the mountain were denser than he had expected, and there was barely even a formed path.

Before long, the sound of flowing water reached his ears.

Jiang Ming's spirits lifted, and he quickened his pace as he followed the sound.

After passing through a patch of low brush, he saw the waterfall.

The waterfall poured down from a cliff seven or eight meters high, carving out a small pool below.

The pool was so clear that its bottom could be seen, pebbles covered the bed, and shimmering ripples danced across the surface.

Jiang Ming did not approach in haste. Instead, he stood at the edge of the brush and carefully examined every detail around the waterfall.

Sure enough...

An invisible Soul Power barrier enveloped the entire waterfall, completely sealing off the entrance to the cave.

The energy level of this barrier was extremely high. It had most likely been set by Tang Hao, a Titled Douluo.

"As expected of a Titled Douluo. The barrier he set is truly exquisite."

Jiang Ming slowly circled the outer edge of the waterfall.

Near the cliff face, the interference from the rocks caused faint fluctuations in the barrier's density.

Those fluctuations were incredibly slight, but they were still beyond Jiang Ming's ability to break at present.

"If I can't break the barrier, can't I break through the earth?"

Jiang Ming took a deep breath and slowly activated the Soul Power within his body.

Silver light gradually gathered, enveloping his entire right arm.

"Pass through."

Jiang Ming aimed at the wall beside the barrier and suddenly stepped forward.

Space instantly twisted in a strange manner.

His body seemed to stretch in an instant, pulled from one point to another.

His senses blurred at that moment, and his vision held nothing but chaotic streams of light.

In no more than a single breath, Jiang Ming passed through the barrier Tang Hao had set.

The cave was dim and gloomy, in stark contrast to the bright sunlight outside.

Damp air rushed toward him, carrying the distinctive scent of rock and soil. The temperature was far lower than outside.

Jiang Ming took out a fire starter from his robes.

The faint flame illuminated the path ahead.

The cave was more winding than he had imagined, and the ground beneath his feet was wet and slippery.

Jiang Ming proceeded cautiously, planting every step firmly.

As he went deeper, a strange sensation grew clearer and clearer.

It was an incomparably rich aura of life, like the first gentle warm breeze of spring, making one instinctively want to draw close.

"People have their own ways, and beasts have their own paths."

"No matter how pure the aura, it cannot change a beast's nature."

Jiang Ming's expression was utterly cold.

He was a thoroughgoing species supremacist!

Humans were humans, and beasts were beasts!

For humans and beasts to mingle was worse than pigs and dogs!

Jiang Ming looked up and saw a stone chamber before him.

There was a natural circular opening in the stone ceiling overhead.

Sunlight poured through it, forming a golden pillar that shone precisely upon the mound of earth in the center of the chamber.

A ring of broken stones surrounded the mound, clearly arranged by someone deliberately.

A stalk of Blue Silver Grass grew atop it.

A stalk of Blue Silver Grass unlike any other.

Its leaves were more slender than ordinary Blue Silver Grass, faint golden veins ran over its branches and leaves, and it glowed with a soft light beneath the sun.

But the noon sun only lasted for a short while.

There was not much water here either.

The Blue Silver Emperor was in an extremely poor condition!

"Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, Blue Silver Emperor!"

Jiang Ming's gaze settled on the Blue Silver Grass, and an unreadable smile curled at the corner of his lips.

After sacrificing herself, the Blue Silver Emperor had fallen into such a state.

She lived in a cave that never saw daylight, relying only on that small patch of sunlight overhead to sustain her life.

"Love between humans and beasts was already an act against heaven."

"You sacrificed yourself for love and left behind a seed, only to be trapped in this pitch-black cave."

"If nothing unexpected happens, you'll have to remain locked up here for another ten years!"

"To put it nicely, he was thinking of your safety. To put it bluntly, he merely treated you as an inheritance to leave for his precious son."

Jiang Ming's tone carried a hint of mockery.

The leaves of the Blue Silver Grass trembled violently.

That trembling was not born of fear, but because those words had indeed struck something.

"You still have consciousness?"

Jiang Ming frowned, surprise flashing through his eyes.

A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast truly was extraordinary. Even the Seed of Life left behind after its sacrifice could retain part of its consciousness.

That meant Ah Yin was not completely unaware.

She could hear what he said, understand the meaning behind his words, and even sense his attitude toward her.

"You are a beast, and I am a human."

"Humans have human paths, and beasts have beastly fates."

"I won't treat you as a human just because you can shake a few leaves."

Without haste, Jiang Ming took a small flowerpot from his pack, then pulled out a small shovel.

The flowerpot was filled with soil he had prepared in advance, more than enough to keep a stalk of Blue Silver Grass alive.

Jiang Ming directly dug up the Blue Silver Emperor with the shovel.

When the Blue Silver Emperor was pulled out by the roots, her leaves shook even more violently.

Those golden veins flickered between light and dark, as if desperately sending some kind of signal, or making one final stubborn struggle at the brink of death.

But she was simply too weak, so weak that she could not even resist.

She could only let Jiang Ming stuff her into that cold little flowerpot.

"I could have used you directly today."

"But looking at how half-dead you are, eating you probably wouldn't have much effect."

"I'll raise you for a few days first. Once you recover some vitality, we'll talk."

Jiang Ming swept his gaze over the Blue Silver Grass's withered yellow leaves.

The Hundred-Thousand-Year Blue Silver Emperor was certainly precious, but a malnourished stalk of Blue Silver Grass with dwindling vitality would be worth far less.

Jiang Ming was not an impatient man.

Since he had decided to make use of this thing, he would obtain the greatest possible benefit.

The Blue Silver Grass in the flowerpot continued to tremble faintly, its leaves curling tighter, as though trying to hide itself.