Scaring the Rabbit

Ye Tian dug out the soil around Ah Yin and transplanted her true body into a flowerpot.

The moment Ah Yin's roots touched the soil, she sent out several new shoots. Her condition instantly improved, and she was no longer half-dead as before.

After erasing every trace he had left behind, Ye Tian emerged from the waterfall and headed straight for Heaven Dou City.

The moment Ah Yin was taken away, Tang Hao, far away in the Soul Beast Forest, suddenly changed expression.

The barrier he had set up in Holy Soul Village had just shattered.

Something had happened to Ah Yin!

Tang Hao had barely taken a step when the corner of his eye caught sight of Tang San, still absorbing his Soul Ring. His body froze in place.

Little San was still absorbing his Soul Ring. He couldn't leave!

Ah Yin, I'm sorry. I have to protect our child!

Tang Hao's gaze swept over Yu Xiaogang, who lay unconscious beside Tang San. Disdain filled his eyes, and a trace of killing intent lurked beneath it.

If Yu Xiaogang hadn't been such a useless waste, how would he have left Holy Soul Village? And how would his wife have fallen prey to a thief?

Useless fool! He couldn't even deal with a single Hundred-Year Soul Beast!

Tang Hao was beside himself with rage. His patience wore thinner by the moment, but at last his precious eldest son opened his eyes. Tang Hao looked at the Hundred-Year Soul Ring behind Tang San and felt a flicker of relief.

After escorting Tang San out of the Soul Beast Forest, he immediately raced toward the waterfall outside Holy Soul Village.

Gone!

How could she be gone?

Tang Hao's savage eyes swept across the pitch-black cave.

Ah Yin's body had vanished from the cave, and her Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone was gone too. Yet he couldn't find even the slightest trace of the thief!

"No!"

"Ah Yin!"

Tang Hao searched within a ten-mile radius of the cave, but in the end, he found nothing. In his fury, he summoned his Clear Sky Hammer and brought it down. The earth cracked for a hundred meters in every direction, the forest vanished, and all that remained was a crater more than ten meters deep.

Holy Soul Village, ten miles away, seemed to have been struck by an earthquake. Countless houses collapsed, and the villagers' cries of agony echoed through the village.

No one knew how long it took before Tang Hao regained his senses. Within a thousand meters, countless craters had appeared; the mountain, forest, and waterfall were all gone.

Tang Hao heard the cries of agony from Holy Soul Village. His expression didn't change in the slightest.

A bunch of lowly commoners. Let them die.

But he had caused such a commotion that the people from Spirit City would definitely come to investigate. For his precious eldest son's safety, he had to leave this place.

Fortunately, Little San was now enrolled in an academy, and he had already obtained a Soul Ring. Tang Hao wouldn't need to worry about him for the time being.

Tang Hao looked around, hatred showing in his eyes.

The thief who had stolen his beloved wife—he would hunt him to the ends of the earth and tear him limb from limb!

Tang Hao soared into the sky, glanced toward Nuoding City in the distance, and flew south across the continent.

Two days after Tang Hao left, people from Spirit Hall arrived. Seeing the scene of utter devastation, they immediately reported what had happened.

The people from Spirit Hall investigated the area, but Tang Hao had erased every trace. In the end, they left without finding anything.

Ye Tian hurried along at full speed, using Soul Power to propel himself. A day and a night later, he was already more than three hundred miles from Holy Soul Village. He stopped to rest in a small town and placed the Blue Silver Grass in its flowerpot on a sunny windowsill.

A dozen or so leaves stretched lazily in the sunlight. Just looking at them, Ye Tian could feel the ease and comfort they conveyed.

He reached out and poked the Blue Silver Grass a few times. It seemed to know that Ye Tian had saved it and given it fertile soil to take root in. A tender shoot curled around his finger of its own accord, showing its affection.

"Even with only a little instinct, you're this clever."

Ye Tian stroked his chin, mulling over something. "Right, about that little rabbit you mentioned—should I give her a little spoiler?"

The Blue Silver Grass swayed its leaves, as if nodding gently.

"Fine. I'll write a letter right away."

Ye Tian quickly penned a letter and found someone to deliver it to the Soul Master Academy in Nuoding City. It would take three to five days to reach the academy. He wondered what expression the little rabbit he had never met would have when she read it.

Unfortunately, thanks to Tang Hao the lunatic, he wouldn't get to see it.

Ye Tian visited several pharmacies in town and asked for Whale Rubber. When the pharmacy apprentices heard the name of the medicinal ingredient, they all gave him much the same look.

You're so young, and you're already impotent?

At first, Ye Tian didn't notice. But by the time he reached the third pharmacy, he caught the apprentice's look and glared right back without hesitation.

"Kid, what were you just thinking?"

"N-nothing..."

"I won't ask a second time." Ye Tian released his aura and pressed it down on him.

The apprentice was an ordinary person. How could he withstand the pressure of a Soul Elder's aura? His face turned deathly pale, and he cast a pleading look toward the shopkeeper hurrying out to see what was happening.

The shopkeeper glared fiercely at the apprentice. He was an ordinary person too, so calling him over wouldn't help. The apprentice swallowed and stammered out the reason.

Ye Tian snorted, withdrew his aura, and tossed the apprentice a Silver Soul Coin.

"Keep your eyes to yourself. Do that again, and you won't have any left."

Ye Tian had the shopkeeper pack up all the thousand-year Whale Rubber, then vanished swiftly at the end of the street.

His good name was ruined! He never expected Whale Rubber to do it to him!

Back in his room, Ye Tian immediately shut the door and found a large tub to fill with water. Only after that did he take out the Whale Rubber he had bought that day.

As soon as he opened the wooden box, a stench hit him in the face. Fortunately, Ye Tian had long since learned to ignore the foul smell. He ignited the Whale Rubber with his Soul Power, and the stench instantly multiplied several times over.

Under the flames, the yellow impurities in the Whale Rubber quickly disappeared. The clump, which had been as big as a human head, shrank to a quarter of its original size. Once purified, the Whale Rubber became crystal clear and lost every trace of its foul smell.

Ye Tian purified all the Whale Rubber and swallowed it in one gulp.

A moment later, a sudden wave of heat rose within his body. Ye Tian didn't hesitate and immediately jumped into the tub. The cold well water cleared his head in an instant, suppressing the jumble of thoughts in his mind. He forced himself to focus on cultivating his Soul Power.

An hour later, the flush on Ye Tian's face gradually faded. He climbed out of the tub and immediately ran through a set of punches. To his delight, he discovered that his strength had increased by a tenth!

A stronger physique meant he could withstand more powerful Soul Rings.

This Whale Rubber truly was a treasure second only to Immortal Herbs in Douluo Continent.

Luckily, the people of Douluo Continent didn't know its true value. They used Whale Rubber only as an aphrodisiac, which let Ye Tian snap up plenty of it at a bargain.

Next, he could head to a nearby large city to buy more Whale Rubber. But there was one problem: he was running low on Gold Soul Coins.

He would have to hunt some Soul Beasts for money first.

While Ye Tian was busy hunting Soul Beasts in the Soul Beast Forest, the letter he had written made its way across the land. Five days later, it finally arrived in Nuoding City.