Resurrecting Ah Yin

Tang Sect's Tang Ling?!

Tang San's mind went blank, his ears ringing.

"Waa—waa—"

Tang San burst into uncontrollable tears.

"System!! System!! Didn't you say last time that this expert had no direct grudge against me, and that settling here had nothing to do with me? But he's Tang Ling!! He's from the Tang Sect!!!"

Tang Hao hurriedly and awkwardly patted his back. "Be good, Little San. Don't cry, don't cry. Dad's here."

[System Notification: Host need not worry excessively. If the Tang Sect possessed such an expert, the host would have been killed while still in the Tang Sect. This person is most likely a native expert of Soul Land and has no direct conflict of interest with the host.]

Tang San fell silent for a moment. The system had a point. If the Tang Sect had an expert of that level, he would have been dead beyond doubt when he secretly learned the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record. How could he possibly have lived until now?

Yet he still felt uneasy. He could neither explain nor identify that unease. It was as though something immensely important was slipping away from his side, little by little.

[Then... is there any way for me to become stronger too? I don't want to wait any longer.]

[System Notification: The host is currently an infant. Bodily functions are insufficient to support any form of cultivation. The host is advised to grow peacefully and begin cultivating the Mysterious Heaven Skill after being able to walk independently at the age of one. Once the host awakens a martial soul at age six, this system will provide the optimal cultivation plan. By then, the host will become the most dazzling genius of this era.]

Tang San took a deep breath and suppressed the unease in his heart.

Less than a year. He could wait.

In his previous life, he had endured humiliation and hardship for so many years. In this life, it was merely another year.

Tang Ling naturally heard Tang San crying and saw through his fear.

A nearly imperceptible smile tugged at his lips.

"That child seems to be feeling unwell," Tang Ling remarked casually.

Tang Hao lowered his head to look at Tang San in his arms and frowned.

Little San was usually very well-behaved and rarely cried. What was wrong with him today? Could he have been frightened yesterday?

"Maybe he was scared yesterday." Tang Hao gently patted his son's back, his tone full of concern.

Tang Ling said nothing. He lifted his teacup and took another sip.

After soothing his son, Tang Hao raised his head again and asked solemnly, "Mr. Tang, what is your relationship with Spirit Hall...?"

"None." Tang Ling answered decisively. "I acted yesterday only because they disturbed my tea."

Disturbed his tea.

Tang Hao's mouth twitched. He had never heard such a reason in his life.

But upon further thought, he felt relieved. With Tang Ling's strength, he truly had the right to say that.

Spirit Hall? In this man's eyes, they were probably no different from flies.

"Then you..." Tang Hao hesitated, seemingly wanting to ask about Tang Ling's identity, but swallowed the question before it left his mouth.

He fell silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed at himself and raised the jug of cloudy wine for a hard swig.

Perhaps he had repressed himself for too long, or perhaps Tang Ling's detached aura gave him an inexplicable sense of security. In any case, the words he had held back for so long somehow surged forth.

"Mr. Tang," Tang Hao said hoarsely, his eyes somewhat hollow, "I wasn't always like this. Back then, they called me the Clear Sky Douluo."

He no longer looked at Tang Ling and simply continued on his own.

He spoke of his high spirits in those days, of the woman he had met while traveling the continent—gentle and resilient like Blue Silver Grass. He spoke of how they had fallen in love, how they had hidden from place to place, and how Qian Xunji had hunted them down.

"She did it to protect Little San and me..."

Tang Hao's voice grew lower and lower. The wine cup in his hand once again failed to withstand his grip and crumbled into powder.

"She sacrificed herself and became my soul ring, allowing me to break through to the rank of Titled Douluo in one stroke. I used that power to severely wound Qian Xunji, but I... I could only watch as she lost her hundred-thousand-year cultivation and reverted to the seed of a Blue Silver Grass."

"I carefully planted it and guarded it day and night, hoping that she would awaken once more."

He abruptly raised his head. His eyes were bloodshot, yet there were no tears in them—only pain and self-reproach repressed to the extreme, almost bordering on madness.

He had never been a talkative man, but these words had been buried in his heart for so many years that they had long festered into pus and blood. Now that he had begun, he could no longer stop.

"I'm finished. This is all my life will ever be. But Little San..." He turned to look at the tiny infant. "I only want to raise him, let him live as an ordinary person. But Spirit Hall won't even give me that chance."

After saying it all in one breath, it was as if he had exhausted every ounce of strength in his body. His whole figure slumped.

Tang Ling listened quietly throughout without interrupting, his face devoid of any unnecessary expression.

Only after Tang Hao had finished did he set down his teacup and look at him calmly.

"I already know everything you just said." His tone was flat, as though he were stating the simplest fact. "And I can even help you."

Tang Hao raised his head and looked at him blankly.

"I can also help you resurrect Ah Yin."

The little house fell into terrifying silence.

Tang Hao froze as though he had been struck by lightning, his breathing stopping in that instant.

His lips trembled, while ecstasy, disbelief, fear, and hope tangled in his eyes. It was too complicated—so complicated that even he could not sort it out.

He opened his mouth, his voice hoarse as though scraped by sandpaper. "You... what did you say?"

"I can help you revive Ah Yin." Tang Ling repeated himself.

Tang Hao's pupils contracted sharply, then dilated. His body began to tremble uncontrollably.

He had experienced too many ups and downs in this life—the glory of the Clear Sky Douluo, Spirit Hall's pursuit, the sacrifice of his beloved—but never had any moment thrown him so completely off balance as this one.

His wife. Whenever the night grew quiet, Ah Yin's face would appear before him, tormenting him beyond measure.

These past few days, he had never imagined that he might see her again.

Yet now, this unfathomable man was telling him, in such an offhand tone, that he could revive Ah Yin.

"What's the price?" Tang Hao took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. "What price do I need to pay? As long as it's something I, Tang Hao, possess, even my life is yours."

Seeing the blazing light in his eyes, Tang Ling sighed softly to himself.

"I don't need your life."

Tang Ling shook his head without offering any further explanation.

Afraid of losing this hard-won opportunity, Tang Hao brought Tang Ling to a secluded valley near Holy Soul Village. He had chosen this place partly because it was convenient for him to guard nearby, and partly because the environment was hidden and safe.

When Tang Ling saw the Blue Silver Grass, he nodded to Tang Hao and began setting up an array. Once the array was complete, he drove piece after piece of rare heavenly treasure into the ground around the Blue Silver Grass.

After making all the preparations, Tang Ling sent Tang Hao out of the valley to stand guard.

Tang Hao was quite reassured as well. With Tang Ling's strength, if he truly wanted to do anything to them, there was no need for such trouble—he could simply act directly. He immediately left the valley and stood guard for Tang Ling.

After Tang Hao left, Tang Ling raised a hand, and a palm-sized jade box appeared in his palm.

The jade box was entirely dark green, its surface covered in fine natural patterns. The moment it appeared, a rich fragrance of vegetation spread throughout the valley—mellow and fresh, as though the scent of an entire primeval forest had been compressed into a tiny jade box.

He opened the jade box.

Inside lay a pill the size of a longan, quietly resting there. It was emerald green and translucent, with faint wisps of green air currents slowly circulating within it as though it were alive.

This was a Creation Pill. It could bring the dead back to life and regrow flesh from bone. As long as the soul had not completely dissipated, it could reassemble consciousness and reconstruct the body.

Tang Ling walked over to the Blue Silver Grass in the corner and crouched down. Forming a hand seal with his right hand, he gently pressed the pill into the soil at the grass's roots with his left.

The instant the pill entered the earth, it triggered a chain reaction with the heavenly treasures placed earlier, under the influence of the array.

The entire Blue Silver Grass suddenly shuddered.

Then, an immense life force so powerful it made one's heart tremble erupted from its roots. The silver patterns on its leaves abruptly lit up, as though molten silver were flowing through them. Its stalks rapidly lengthened and branched at a visible rate, while its leaves unfurled wildly. The entire valley was enveloped in a gentle emerald glow.

Wisps of deep blue light drifted from the leaf tips, swirling and gathering in the air. There were more and more of them, growing denser and denser, until they finally condensed into a translucent human silhouette.

Her long hair cascaded like a waterfall, and her brows and eyes were gentle. It was Ah Yin.

The phantom was far more solid than before. Focus gradually returned to her vacant eyes, as though she were slowly awakening from a long slumber.

Tang Ling formed a hand seal with his left hand while a gentle mass of green spiritual energy flowed from his right palm. It wrapped around all the vitality and energy transformed from the pill and heavenly treasures within the array, guiding them strand by strand toward Ah Yin's phantom.

At a visible rate, the phantom changed from translucent to solid. Color returned to her skin, luster returned to her hair, and the hazy mist between her brows and eyes gradually faded away inch by inch.

The pill's aura rapidly drained away. The emerald pill and heavenly treasures turned to dust in the soil. Nearly ninety percent of their pure life essence and immense energy was drawn out by the Blue Silver Grass, while all that remained fused into Ah Yin's body as it was reconstructed.

The entire process took less than the time it took to drink half a cup of tea.

Ah Yin's feet touched the ground. Solid and real, they stepped onto the earth.