After sending Ah Yin to the intensive care unit, Fang Yuan searched the area again and felt around until he found a black, rod-shaped object.
After brushing away the dust, he could see that it was actually a black box, about one and a half meters long and roughly a foot wide.
When he lifted the lid open by a tiny crack, Fang Yuan could feel surging vitality rushing toward him.
Once he fully opened the box, its contents were revealed before Fang Yuan.
A blue-gold leg bone lay squarely in the center of the box. As his angle of view shifted, faint golden motes seemed to flicker within the bone, dazzling to behold, as though it possessed life.
"A Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone."
Fang Yuan's heart stirred slightly.
Although he had known beforehand, the scene before him once again reminded Fang Yuan just how high-grade this leg bone was.
This was the Hundred Thousand Year Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone produced after the Blue Silver Emperor Ah Yin sacrificed herself.
As Fang Yuan gazed at the Soul Bone, an urge to absorb it suddenly arose within him.
Such an impulse was only natural. Every single Soul Master on the continent would entertain such a thought when faced with a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone.
After all, a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone represented far too much.
Yet after his eyes flickered for a moment, Fang Yuan slowly closed the box.
Then, with a turn of his hand, he stored the black box inside his Immortal Aperture.
Fang Yuan did not absorb the Soul Bone.
This undoubtedly went against human nature, but for Fang Yuan, absorbing this Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone might not bring him the greatest benefit.
One crucial reason was that Tang San and his mother shared a mysterious, subtle connection.
If Fang Yuan absorbed the Soul Bone produced by his mother, it was difficult to say whether Tang San would discover it.
At that point, Tang San might well be persuaded by him and not care about it. But it was also possible that a trace of resentment would remain in his heart.
Tang San was tied to Fang Yuan's grand plan for immortality. If Fang Yuan could not become a god, then he would have to rely on Tang San to bring him to the Divine Realm.
And if Fang Yuan could attain godhood, then once he reached the Divine Realm, that cheat Tang San would also be one of his greatest assistants.
Compared to that, what a single Soul Bone could bring him was undoubtedly far less.
The relative weight of the two was obvious at a glance.
Only by casting a long line could one catch a big fish. Though he could understand that principle, not everyone could put it into practice.
With a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone laid before them, who could resist such temptation? Even if they knew that not absorbing it would benefit them, most people would likely be blinded by immediate gain.
Fortunately, Fang Yuan was not one of them.
I'll treat this Soul Bone as a long-term investment. Once the time is right, I'll have Tang San absorb it.
I believe the returns my disciple brings me will not be worth less than this Soul Bone.
Fang Yuan made his decision inwardly.
He focused his mind on the Immortal Aperture once more, confirmed the Soul Bone's location, then teased Ah Yin for a while. The Blue Silver Emperor swayed from side to side, and tiny crystalline droplets seeped from its blades of grass. Only then did he withdraw his mind and return to reality.
After leaving the cave, Fang Yuan stood beside the waterfall and waited for quite some time.
However, Tang Hao never came.
"Sure enough, there were no arrangements or contingencies here. I wonder whether that brute Tang Hao did not know such methods, or whether he simply did not care about this place."
Fang Yuan thought to himself.
According to his deductions, the first possibility was more likely.
On this continent, even Soul Masters who had cultivated to the rank of Title Douluo used Soul Power in ways that appeared crude in Fang Yuan's eyes.
In theory, it should have been possible to use Soul Power to set up barriers, marks, and similar things.
Yet despite the continent's long development, no comparable techniques had ever emerged.
However, Fang Yuan did not care much about that.
Since Tang Hao would not return, Fang Yuan did not linger any longer and set off back to Notting City.
Five years later.
Although Fang Yuan wanted time to slow down and stop making him grow old, that was clearly impossible.
He had to teach his two disciples, select people to build the Supreme Immortal Aperture, and personally lead research into Soul Tools.
Time was like sand slipping through one's fingers. By the time Fang Yuan came to his senses and tried to grasp it, much had already leaked away.
Without attaining immortality, all things in this world were ultimately illusory.
Even with cultivation that reached the heavens and enjoyment of every precious thing in the world, one would only have a few short centuries.
Compared to the endlessly flowing river of time, a hundred years was such a brief span.
Fang Yuan was a greedy man. What he wanted was forever.
The Balak Kingdom lay south of the Heaven Dou Empire and was one of the four great kingdoms subordinate to the Heaven Dou Empire.
Within the kingdom were two important cities: Balak City, the capital where the king resided, and Suotuo City, famed as the granary.
Suotuo City lay in the east of the Balak Kingdom. Beyond a mountain range farther east was the continent's most famous dangerous land, the Star Dou Great Forest.
Outside Balak City, the blazing sun hung overhead. At the city gate, orderly lines stood clearly separated as the guards meticulously checked the information of passing travelers.
Two children, both only in their teens, stood amid the unending crowds of Balak City, looking around for something.
"Senior Brother, which hotel should we choose? Teacher really is something else. Wouldn't it have been better to act together? Why did he send us ahead to find a hotel?"
Of the two, the girl wore a long scorpion braid. She raised a hand over her head to block the sun, dissatisfaction written across her pretty face.
The girl was naturally Xiao Wu. Beside her, Tang San kept examining the signs along the street.
Hearing Xiao Wu's complaint, Tang San casually replied:
"Teacher went to purchase supplies first. Splitting up is more efficient. After all, Teacher brought us to Balak City this time to obtain Soul Rings in the Star Dou Great Forest, so naturally we need to prepare thoroughly."
Five years had passed, and both Tang San and Xiao Wu had graduated from Notting Academy. They could now attend a higher-level academy.
However, Fang Yuan and Tang San had both reached the Soul Power Level where they needed to obtain Soul Rings, so they first came to Balak City, which was closer to the Star Dou Great Forest.
Xiao Wu glanced at Tang San beside her and giggled.
"You need to work harder. Teacher is already level eighty, and I've become a three-ring Soul Elder, but you're only level thirty with just two Soul Rings."
Tang San replied calmly, "That is because Teacher did not let me focus on increasing my Soul Power Level these past few years. Instead, he had me use the medicinal power of immortal herbs within my body to temper it. Otherwise, if I had focused solely on cultivating my level, I would already be in my thirties."
Xiao Wu stuck out her tongue and pointed at a hotel. "Let's go to that one. The Rose Hotel—it sounds like it has a nice atmosphere."
Tang San glanced in the direction Xiao Wu pointed and nodded. "This hotel looks well-decorated. Teacher should be satisfied. Let's choose this one."
Neither of them objected, so they headed toward the hotel.
The Rose Hotel stood three stories tall and did not look like a large business hotel. Its exterior was decorated in rose red, giving it an alluring atmosphere.
Before you continue