"Behind the waterfall?"
Hearing this, Tang Yin pretended to look surprised. After a moment's thought, he said, "Come on, let's go take a look!"
Then the brothers made their way to the mountain where the waterfall was.
Along the way, they pulled down a great many vines.
Tang Yin suggested tying one end of a vine to a tree and the other around their waists, then lowering themselves from the top of the waterfall to search behind it. Maybe they would find a hidden chamber or something.
Since that familiar feeling was coming from behind the waterfall, there had to be either another world hidden there or a secret chamber!
"Sounds good, Big Brother! Let's give it a try!"
Tang San nodded earnestly at his big brother Tang Yin's suggestion, trusting him completely.
Then the brothers tied one end of their respective twisted vines to an old tree above the waterfall and the other around their waists. They slowly lowered themselves from the top, feeling around as they went.
As they searched, Tang Yin and Tang San each activated their Purple Demon Eyes.
Of course, Tang Yin activated both his Purple Demon Eye Martial Soul and the Tang Sect Secret Art, the Purple Demon Eye.
Soon, halfway down the waterfall, Tang Yin used his Purple Demon Eyes, enhanced to the Micro-Perception Level, to spot a rock that seemed a little different from the others behind the waterfall.
He used his Mysterious Jade Hand Martial Soul to shove it hard.
The rock was pushed inward.
"Xiao San, there really is a secret chamber in here!"
Tang Yin grinned and went in first.
Tang San followed close behind.
Once inside, they found a dim, damp chamber. Stone walls surrounded them, and the space wasn't very large.
At the back lay a mound of soil.
A shaft of sunlight shone through a crack in the ceiling, falling on a plant as translucent as blue crystal, its surface wrapped in fine golden lines. It looked very much like Blue Silver Grass.
The moment they saw the plant, both Tang Yin and Tang San felt a deep, blood-bound sense of familiarity.
Instinct told them that this was their mother!
"Mo... Mother..."
Seeing the Blue Silver Emperor, Tang San could hardly believe his eyes.
He had never imagined that his mother would be a blade of grass!
At that moment, Ah Yin seemed to sense Tang Yin and Tang San as well. She burst into dazzling blue-silver light, sending out slender tendrils that wound around the brothers' wrists and gently caressed them.
She couldn't speak, but waves of tender longing washed over them, making Tang Yin and Tang San's noses sting.
"Mother, are you really our mother?"
Tang Yin, too, pretended to be overwhelmed with emotion as he asked.
The slender tendrils lifted and nodded, then gently stroked Tang Yin's hair.
"But, Mother, why are you like this?"
"What happened to you?"
Ah Yin controlled her slender tendrils, but seemed unsure how to answer.
After a long silence, she traced a few words into Tang Yin and Tang San's palms: It's a long story!
After that, Ah Yin said nothing more. Instead, she pointed in one direction with her tendrils.
"Mother, are you telling us to go over there?"
Tang Yin pretended to look puzzled and walked over.
Using his Purple Demon Eye Martial Soul, he quickly spotted a hidden compartment in the stone wall above them.
Inside sat a pitch-black lead box.
He leaped up and took it down.
Within lay a right leg bone as translucent as blue crystal, dotted with star-like lights and brimming with life force.
Tang Yin knew it was the Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone.
"What's this?" Tang San asked, full of curiosity and confusion.
This time, it was Tang Yin's turn to make up a story.
"This must be... a Soul Bone!" Tang Yin said slowly, his expression suddenly grave.
"Xiao San, you know how I used to go to the back mountain and set snares for rabbits, pick wild vegetables, weave vine baskets, and catch little fish and shrimp in the river."
"I'd take whatever I gathered into Nuoding City on the village uncles' ox carts and sell it at a stall."
"Every time I went to Nuoding City, after packing up my stall, I'd visit the library open to the public at the Spirit Hall Branch and read."
"That's where I learned a few things about Soul Masters."
"One of them was about Soul Bones."
"I heard they're incredible treasures."
"When you hunt a Soul Beast, you always get a Soul Ring."
"But a Soul Bone is an extremely rare find."
"These Soul Bones can fuse with the corresponding parts of the body. After fusion, they not only improve your physical constitution and cultivation, but also grant a Soul Bone Skill, much like a Soul Skill!"
"Mother has a Soul Bone here. Maybe she was the legendary Hundred-Thousand-Year Transformed Soul Beast!"
"A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast transformed into a human?" Tang San was even more bewildered.
Tang Yin gave him a brief explanation.
"You know what Soul Beasts are."
"Depending on their cultivation, they're divided into Hundred-Year Soul Beasts, Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, and Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts."
"A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast can choose to transform into a human."
"Mother must have been a Hundred-Thousand-Year Transformed Soul Beast. That's how she was able to give birth to us."
"Otherwise, we'd have been grass!"
Tang San nodded in sudden understanding.
Though they had obtained the Hundred-Thousand-Year Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone, Tang Yin's Martial Souls were the Mysterious Jade Hand and Purple Demon Eye, so he planned to give the Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone to his little brother, Tang San, to fuse with.
"Xiao San, you should fuse with this Soul Bone!"
"Mother looks a bit like Blue Silver Grass."
"You inherited Mother's Martial Soul, so you should get the best results from fusing with this Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone!"
Tang Yin handed the Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone to Tang San with a smile.
"Big Brother!"
Tang San hadn't expected his big brother Tang Yin to hand over such a precious Soul Bone without a second thought. His eyes reddened, and his heart swelled with gratitude.
But even though Big Brother's reasoning made sense, Tang San remembered what he'd said: fusing with a Soul Bone could not only raise one's cultivation, but also strengthen the body.
Looking at Tang Yin's eyes, still in the Purple Demon Eye state, and his hands, Tang San couldn't help thinking that if Big Brother fused with the Soul Bone, the boost to his body might also enhance his Purple Demon Eye and Mysterious Jade Hand!
So Tang San pushed the Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone back and said earnestly, "Big Brother, you should fuse with this Soul Bone!"
"You said that fusing with a Soul Bone not only raises your cultivation, but also strengthens your body."
"Your Martial Souls are the Mysterious Jade Body and Purple Demon Eye. They're both parts of the body."
"If fusing with a Soul Bone strengthens your body, maybe it'll improve your Purple Demon Eye and Mysterious Jade Hand too!"
"Xiao San, you should take it!"
"You'll get more out of it!"
Tang Yin was deeply moved by his little brother Tang San's refusal.
This little brother might be cursed by everyone ten thousand years later, but when it came to family, he really was something else!
But Tang San remained just as insistent, even as Tang Yin tried to give way.
Big Brother's Martial Souls were the Purple Demon Eye and Mysterious Jade Hand. They were the hope of the Tang Sect, and the hope of the true Tang San!
A treasure like this was surely better in Big Brother's hands!
The stronger Big Brother became, the faster his cultivation would rise.
Only then could he establish the Tang Sect sooner and spread its name throughout this world!
Then Tang San would finally be able to hold his head high and say to anyone, "I, Tang San, am the true successor of the Tang Sect!"
Before you continue