Holy Soul Village's back mountain.
A hundred-meter-tall waterfall roared down like a silver dragon.
Its thunderous roar drowned out everything.
The water crashed against the boulders at the bottom of the pool, sending mist billowing into the air.
Sunlight refracted through the mist, forming half a rainbow. The scenery was so magnificent it could have been painted.
Xiao Chenyu stood beneath the waterfall, gazing up at the natural barrier.
Spray hit his face, stinging like needles. He hadn't been there long before his clothes were soaked through.
He wiped the water from his face, took a deep breath, and sent a message to the Chat Group to confirm the information.
[Xiao Chenyu]: @Will of Douluo Planet, you're sure the Soul Bone is up there?
[Will of Douluo Planet]: That's right, that's right. There's a cave behind the waterfall. Go through it, and you'll reach the little valley where Tang Hao hid the Soul Bone.
[Will of Douluo Planet]: This baby's intel is absolutely accurate—no cheating old folks or children! Charge! ٩(๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧
"This is a hundred-meter waterfall..."
Xiao Chenyu narrowed his eyes and looked up.
The torrent was fierce, with tons of water pouring down from overhead every second.
If he tried to climb up by sheer strength, even ten of him wouldn't be enough to withstand the force.
What was more, the rock face was covered in moss, as slippery as if it had been greased.
But Xiao Chenyu wasn't the useless little weakling he'd been four years ago.
Soul Power surged through his meridians, and a dark purple phantom slowly emerged behind him.
Destruction Demon Wolf King Martial Soul, Possession!
"Awooo—"
A deep wolf howl echoed through the valley.
His body instantly grew taller. Thick, dark purple fur covered his limbs, his hands turned into sharp wolf claws, and ghostly purple flames burned in his pupils.
Next, his First Soul Ring lit up.
Dark Gold Demon Wolf Transformation!
Shing!
Dark golden patterns spread from his claws across his body. His muscles swelled further, and his bones crackled.
At that moment, Xiao Chenyu looked every bit the premium-grade werewolf.
Literally. No metaphor intended.
"Here I go!"
He kicked off hard, cracking the rocks beneath his feet, and shot upward like a cannonball, straight toward the middle of the waterfall.
"Shhk—"
His claws sank into the rock face behind the waterfall, sending fragments flying.
The force of the torrent was even stronger than he'd imagined. Every second felt like dozens of hands were desperately dragging him down.
Grimacing, Xiao Chenyu clung to the slippery rock and climbed like a gecko.
Each swipe of his claws left several deep gouges in the stone.
[Man Faced Demon Spider]: Climb! Climb! Climb!
[Xiao Chenyu]: ...
[Xiao Chenyu]: Could you stop talking like you're ordering a pet around? I'm your Avenger, at least show me a little respect.
[Man Faced Demon Spider]: Keep it up! Keep it up! Keep it up!
[Xiao Chenyu]: That's more like it.
He caught his breath and kept climbing.
The roar of the water filled his ears until he couldn't even hear himself breathe.
His claws scraped sparks from the rock. Every meter he climbed tested his strength and resolve.
It wasn't long before—
[Will of Douluo Planet]: Stop, stop, stop! This is it! Look to the right! Behind the waterfall! (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧
Xiao Chenyu stopped and turned his head. Beyond the waterfall's thick curtain of water, he could just make out a dark cave entrance.
If you weren't looking carefully, you'd never spot the natural cave hidden behind the waterfall.
"Tang Hao really knew how to pick a spot. This place is even better hidden than my dad's secret stash."
Without hesitation, he kicked hard against the rock face.
His whole body shot sideways, straight through the thick curtain of water.
He landed with a heavy thud on a slick stone ledge.
"Thud!"
Water splashed everywhere.
Xiao Chenyu sprawled on the ground in an extremely undignified pose.
"Cough, cough... If anyone saw me land like that, my image as the young lord would be ruined."
He got up and wrung out his clothes, squeezing out a small puddle.
There wasn't a dry spot on him.
His werewolf fur clung to his body, making him look like a drowned rat just hauled out of a river.
He dispelled Martial Soul Possession and returned to human form.
He lit the fire starter he'd brought with him and began looking around.
A deep cave entrance yawned before him, pitch-black inside, with a chilly, gloomy draft seeping out.
Moss covered the cave walls, and the air was thick with the smell of stale earth.
"Textbook treasure cave atmosphere."
Dark, damp, and filled with a cold wind. All that was missing was a sign by the entrance saying, "Brave adventurers, enter here."
Holding up the fire starter, Xiao Chenyu walked into the narrow passage.
The cave walls were slick, and the floor was uneven.
Every so often, a drop of water fell from overhead and struck his neck, raising goosebumps.
After about half an incense stick's time, the passage opened up before him.
It was a small, enclosed valley surrounded by mountains.
Steep rock walls enclosed it on all sides, and not a ray of light reached the place.
The valley was dark and damp, with barely any vegetation. Jagged rocks and thick moss covered the ground.
The air was filled with a stale, indefinable odor.
"This is where Tang Hao hid his wife and the Soul Bone?"
Xiao Chenyu looked around and couldn't help frowning.
"This place is way too shabby. There isn't even a proper grave. In a place like this, forget Blue Silver Grass Seedlings— even the weeds would look half-dead."
He felt his way along the rock wall, the fire starter's faint glow wavering in the darkness.
Soon, his fingertips touched something cold and hard.
He looked down. It was a stone box!
It was crudely made, without a single decoration, and its surface was covered in dust and moss.
It sat all alone in a hollow in the rock wall.
"Found it!"
Xiao Chenyu's heart began to race.
The 100,000-Year Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone was inside this unassuming stone box.
Just then, something blue caught his eye in the deepest part of the valley.
He raised the fire starter and walked closer, seeing what it was.
A Blue Silver Grass Seedling.
Its slender leaves curled inward in the darkness, drooping and wilted.
Its color was a lifeless grayish blue, and the tips of its leaves had already yellowed.
It looked like ordinary roadside grass, the kind someone might crush underfoot at any moment.
Ah Yin!
Tang San's mother, Tang Hao's wife, had transformed into a human from the Hundred-Thousand-Year Blue Silver Emperor. To save her husband and unborn child, she had been forced to sacrifice herself.
All that remained was this reincarnated seedling, grown from a seed.
[Goddess of Life]: Is this Ah Yin's reincarnated seedling?
[Goddess of Life]: I have a question. Ah Yin was Tang Hao's wife, and since Tang Hao kept the seedling she reincarnated into, that means he cared for her.
[Goddess of Life]: But if that's the case, why put his wife's reincarnated seedling somewhere with no sunlight and no access to the energy of heaven and earth?
[Goddess of Life]: For a plant, an environment like this is no different from a slow death.
[Xiao Chenyu]: Godmother, you've hit the nail on the head.
[Goddess of Life]: Oh? Is there some untold story behind this?
[Xiao Chenyu]: It's a long story.
[Will of Douluo Planet]: I know! I know!
To put it simply, Tang Hao was rotten to the core and dumb as a rock, just like Tang San—cut from the same cloth!