When Ah Yin heard that her son had endured the agony of being burned alive, tears streamed uncontrollably down her face.
As Blue Silver Grass, she feared fire more than anything.
She couldn't begin to imagine the pain of being engulfed in flames with no way to escape.
"Xiao'er... my poor child..."
Ah Yin wept as if her heart were breaking.
Tang Xiao merely comforted her gently.
"Mother, it's all right. It's in the past now."
"But that fire wasn't the most dangerous thing I faced."
A profound look flashed in Tang Xiao's eyes.
"When I was a little over a year old, a hundred-year-old Datura Snake sensed that I was no ordinary plant and tried to devour me to evolve."
"Its venom was incredibly potent. The moment it dripped onto my leaves, it began to corrode my very essence."
"The agony of that deadly poison entering my body and my essence collapsing was a hundred times worse than being burned."
"To survive, I had no choice but to cut off the leaves contaminated by the venom. I even severed half my roots."
"I nearly perished in that battle. I slept beneath the soil for a full year before I barely managed to wake."
Tang Xiao's words plunged the entire temple into a tense, oppressive silence.
Zhong Lingyue's eyes reddened, too.
Looking at the man before her, she finally understood the terrible price he had paid for the strength he possessed.
Ah Yin was already sobbing uncontrollably.
She threw her arms around Tang Xiao. Though he was only a phantom of a soul, she poured all her strength into the embrace, hoping to give her son a little warmth.
"It's all Mother's fault... I was useless..."
"If I hadn't sacrificed myself back then, if I could have stayed by your side, you never would have suffered so much..."
Ah Yin's voice was filled with guilt and regret.
She hated Tang Hao for his heartlessness, and hated herself even more for her helplessness.
Tang Xiao gently wrapped his arms around his mother and spoke softly.
"Mother, don't blame yourself. It was all fate."
"Besides, those hardships made my will unbreakable."
"And it was those brushes with death that awakened the Blue Silver Emperor Bloodline within me, allowing me to gradually awaken as the Supreme Blue Silver Emperor."
Tang Xiao looked at Ah Yin, his eyes earnest.
"So you don't need to blame yourself."
"I'm strong now. From here on, I'll protect you. No one will ever hurt you again."
Hearing Tang Xiao's tender yet powerful words, Ah Yin's heart filled with warmth and pride.
She wiped the tears from the corner of her eye and gave Tang Xiao a firm nod.
"All right. I'll listen to you."
"Xiao'er, you've truly grown up. You've become a man who can hold up the heavens."
Seeing this, Zhong Lingyue stepped forward and offered Ah Yin a silk handkerchief, speaking gently to comfort her.
"Mother, His Majesty is right. After surviving a great calamity, good fortune is sure to follow."
"His Majesty is a God King now. No one on this continent can match him."
"You should be happy."
Ah Yin took the handkerchief and wiped the tear stains from her face. Looking at Zhong Lingyue, she was full of affection.
"You're a good girl. Thank you."
"These past years, you've stayed by Xiao'er's side and helped him govern this empire. We owe you so much."
Inside the Blue Silver Temple, the oppressive atmosphere slowly eased under Tang Xiao's gentle comfort.
Ah Yin leaned against the blue crystal chair, looking at her eldest son, who had grown into the ruler of an empire. The tears in her eyes had not yet dried, but her pain had been eclipsed by overwhelming pride.
A deep, thunderous rumble suddenly rolled across the sky outside the temple.
After falling silent for a moment, the enormous golden Sky Screen burst into a dazzling radiance. The list, which had been completely still, began rippling like water.
"Look! The Sky Screen is changing again!"
Outside the temple, countless soldiers and citizens of the Blue Silver Empire looked up at the golden curtain of light that blotted out the sky.
The golden characters bearing Tang Hao's name slowly faded from the Sky Screen. In their place appeared a vast, crystal-clear scene.
The Heavenly Dao Gold List was showing the world the past deeds and greatest moments of the person whose name had appeared on it.
The scene showed an ancient, densely wooded forest. Towering trees blotted out the sky, and a taut, murderous tension hung in the air.
"Is that... the Star Dou Great Forest?"
Ah Yin stared at the scene on the Sky Screen. Her body jolted, and her hands gripped the armrests of the crystal chair.
She would never forget that place for as long as she lived.
It was where her nightmare began.
In the scene, a young man in a tattered black robe, his face brimming with arrogance, clutched an enormous black iron hammer. He shielded a woman in blue as they fled through the forest.
The young man was Tang Hao as he had been back then, and the woman in blue was Ah Yin.
Behind them, space tore open again and again as figure after figure radiating tremendous pressure pursued them relentlessly.
At the head of the group was a man dressed in resplendent golden robes and wearing a papal crown. His golden hair streamed in the wind, and a noble, sacred radiance surrounded him.
Qian Xunji, the former pope of Spirit Hall!
Several other Titled Douluo of unfathomable strength followed at Qian Xunji's side, including Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan and Ghost Douluo Gui Mei, now of the Spirit Hall Empire.
"Tang Hao, you dare consort with Soul Beasts? You're a disgrace to the Soul Master World!"
Qian Xunji's voice pierced through time and space, echoing across the Sky Screen with the weight of a judgment delivered from on high.
"Hand over that Hundred-Thousand-Year Blue Silver Emperor. For the sake of the Clear Sky Sect, I might leave your corpse intact!"
Tang Hao spat out a mouthful of bloodied saliva. His eyes blazed with fury as he raised the black hammer in front of him.
"Qian Xunji, if you want Ah Yin's Soul Ring, you'll have to get past the Clear Sky Hammer in my hands!"
The battle erupted in an instant.
It was a brutally savage fight.
The gap between the two sides was as vast as a chasm.
In the scene, Tang Hao fought for his life, driving the Great Sumeru Hammer Technique to its limits, yet he still fell back step by step under the assault of several Titled Douluo.
Deep wounds, some exposing bone, appeared across his body. Blood stained his black robe a dark red.
"Know your place."
Qian Xunji sneered. Behind him, the Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul blazed with light. A gigantic golden holy sword took shape in the air, its might enough to judge all creation, and slashed down at the exhausted Tang Hao.
There was nowhere to dodge that strike.
Just as Tang Hao was about to be annihilated, body and soul, Ah Yin's eyes filled with resolve and sorrow.
She glanced at the newborn infant in her arms, then at Tang Hao, drenched in blood. At last, she made the decision that would change everyone's fate.
"Hao, live on..."
Ah Yin smiled. Her body transformed into a blazing mass of blue flames, and she charged straight at the golden holy sword.
It wasn't an ordinary attempt to block the attack. It was the sacrifice of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast!
The blue flames of life melted Qian Xunji's holy sword, and a surging tide of life energy poured into Tang Hao's body.
A blood-red ninth Soul Ring slowly rose beneath Tang Hao's feet.
With the ninth Soul Ring fused, Tang Hao's strength surged. Using the divine skill Ring Detonation, he managed to gravely wound Qian Xunji and fight his way out.
The scene finally froze on Qian Xunji retreating, spitting blood, while Tang Hao stood amid the ruins, holding the infant and laughing.
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