"What if I insist on going after them?"
Lin Yue continued holding Ah Yin in his right hand and asked coldly, without a trace of mercy.
'If you insist, Master, Ah Yin will do whatever you say.'
There was not a hint of hesitation in Ah Yin's answer, but the sorrow and sadness in her voice were impossible to hide.
"I'll tell you the truth. Maybe then you won't have such a hard time deciding."
"The Tang San alive now isn't really your son anymore. Not long after he was born, someone else took over his body!"
Lin Yue was pleased by Ah Yin's answer, so he decided to reward her with a truth.
'What did you say?'
'Tang San isn't my son?'
Ah Yin was stunned by Lin Yue's words.
"That's right. Someone else's soul has been living inside your son's body for a long time."
"It's just like when a Soul Master fails to absorb a spirit ring, can't withstand a Soul Shock, and gets possessed by a Soul Beast's spirit."
Lin Yue continued.
'No... That can't be...'
'If that were true, why did Tang Hao never tell me?'
Ah Yin still refused to believe it.
"What's so impossible about it?"
"Starting at the age of one, Tang San began cultivating on his own, without anyone teaching him. Other than a mature soul already living inside his body, what other explanation could there be?"
"Tang Hao discovered it early on, too. That's why he ignored Tang San throughout his childhood. He didn't act like a father at all."
"And all these years, Tang Hao never took him to visit you, did he? He was afraid you'd figure out the truth from Tang San's behavior."
Lin Yue sneered and continued to tell Ah Yin the truth.
'Master... y-you're telling the truth?'
Ah Yin's voice trembled even more.
"You've already been successfully tamed by me. Do you think I have any reason to lie to you?"
Lin Yue chuckled.
*'...'*
Ah Yin fell silent. That was true—her master had no reason to lie to her.
At the thought that someone else had possessed her son long ago, Ah Yin's heart felt as if it were being twisted apart.
"Enough. I told you the truth so you'd have one less thing to cling to."
"That way, if I really do go after Tang San someday, you won't be so upset."
"Now answer my question. If I had every Blue Silver Grass offer you its life force, could you come back to life right away?"
Lin Yue waved a hand, putting aside the matter of Tang San and Tang Hao to ask about Ah Yin herself.
What interested him most was Ah Yin herself.
More specifically, Ah Yin after she'd been revived. He had no interest in the powerless Ah Yin before him, who couldn't even take human form.
'Master, I can no longer command the entire clan!'
'And doing that would hurt my subjects!'
Ah Yin answered Lin Yue quickly.
"So it's possible, right? You just can't do it yourself."
Lin Yue smiled at her response.
'Yes, Master.'
After answering, Ah Yin fell silent. She didn't want to hurt her subjects, but she also wouldn't go against her master's wishes.
If her master truly needed her to be revived, and could make it happen, she would accept it.
"Hahaha, good!"
Lin Yue laughed at her response.
"System, can you send a message to every Blue Silver Grass in the Containment Shelter?"
Lin Yue immediately asked the system.
[Beep~ Within the Containment Shelter, targeted messages can be sent, and images can also be broadcast to selected targets!]
The system answered Lin Yue at once.
"It can broadcast images too? Even better!"
"System, immediately broadcast what's happening here to every Blue Silver Grass."
Lin Yue promptly ordered the system to act.
As he spoke, Lin Yue replanted Ah Yin in the soil. "Ah Yin, just ask all the Blue Silver Grass to offer you their life force. They'll be able to hear you."
'Yes, Master!'
There was some reluctance in Ah Yin's voice, but also a hint of excitement.
[Beep~ Broadcasting the current image of Blue Silver Emperor seed Ah Yin. Broadcast targets: all Blue Silver Grass...]
[Beep~ Broadcast successful!]
Hearing the system's notification, Lin Yue closed his eyes and sensed the state of the entire Containment World. Sure enough, all the Blue Silver Grass had received the broadcast.
The other Soul Beasts couldn't see the images.
When the ordinary Blue Silver Grass Soul Beasts saw Ah Yin on the screen, they immediately prostrated themselves.
Even though Ah Yin was no longer the Blue Silver Emperor, but merely a seed carrying the Blue Silver Emperor Bloodline, her bloodline still suppressed them.
The powerful Blue Silver Kings were even more excited at the sight of Ah Yin.
"Our Emperor!!!"
At last, they felt their sovereign again. Even though Ah Yin's power was feeble now, she was still their emperor.
"Ah Yin, you can begin!"
From beyond the image, Lin Yue sent a private message to Ah Yin.
Newly replanted, Ah Yin swayed gently, blue halos radiating from her.
'My people...'
'At this moment, I call upon each and every one of you through our bloodline...'
'My power was nearly exhausted in a defeat many years ago. Now I am frail beyond measure, my leaves cannot unfurl and my roots cannot spread... I cannot even answer your worship, let alone protect you.'
'A nation cannot go a single day without its ruler. Our Blue Silver Grass Clan cannot remain without an emperor forever, either...'
'I need to regain my strength...'
'This will require... an immense source of life.'
'I beg you here...'
'I beg any of my subjects willing to contribute to my revival...'
'Offer me your life essence, your purest and most primal life force...'
'You don't have to give everything. You need only offer up part of your life force...'
'My beloved people... send me your strength... through the bond of our bloodline...'
Ah Yin's plantlike voice passed through the targeted broadcast, reaching the ears of every Blue Silver Grass Soul Beast.
'Our Emperor...'
'Our Emperor...'
'Our Emperor...'
From the weakest one-year-old Blue Silver Grass that had just awakened its Martial Soul to the mighty ten-thousand-year Blue Silver Kings, they all answered Ah Yin's call.
Her plight pierced their hearts.
They had never known that their emperor had fallen into such dire straits!
Buzz—
Buzz—
Then, every Blue Silver Grass freely offered up a portion of its life force.
Life force invisible to the naked eye rose from each plant, gathering into a vast sea before surging toward Ah Yin.
Squeak, squeak, squeak—
After absorbing a tremendous amount of life force, Ah Yin's body blazed with dazzling light. Beneath her, countless Blue Silver Grass leaves quickly sprouted. The leaves turned into vines, which eventually wrapped around her, forming a Blue Silver Grass cocoon.
"System, can I use this broadcast function to livestream what's happening outside to the Soul Beasts here?"
As he watched Ah Yin enter her transformation after absorbing the life force, Lin Yue asked the system again.
[Beep~ The system cannot capture images from outside. It can only broadcast images that the host sees!]
"I see... That's still pretty good..."
"When I broadcast the chaos among the Soul Masters outside to those Soul Beasts, it'll cheer them up, too, and make them easier to tame later!"
Lin Yue smiled at the thought.