The Blue Silver Emperor's Curiosity

Qian Xunji had yet to say anything when Yue Guan spoke first.

"You two brothers are as impatient as ever. It's just one Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. Spirit Hall isn't short of them."

"Besides, this isn't just His Holiness the Pope's decision. The Grand Worshipper agrees."

Qian Jun and Jiang Mo exchanged a glance.

Qian Jun spoke first, unwillingness in his voice. "Elder Yue, that's a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. You could count the ones known across the entire continent on one hand. How can Spirit Hall not need her? If we let her go and she runs, finding her again won't be easy."

Jiang Mo nodded beside him. "Even if the Grand Worshipper gave the order, you should at least tell us what Spirit Hall plans to do with her."

"Enough." Qian Xunji raised a hand to stop them. "As I said, Spirit Hall's survival is at stake. One Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast isn't worth risking Spirit Hall over."

"Besides, this Blue Silver Emperor is a young woman. Even if she's a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, she hasn't spent long among humans. Like my disciple, she's bound to be curious."

"I mentioned Lin Fan to spark that curiosity. Girl or not, anyone who hears that someone knows them—and even knows their future—won't be able to resist coming to Spirit Hall."

"A fine retreat to advance. Your Holiness is wise," Yue Guan said with a smile.

Gui Mei, who had been silent for some time, asked, "Your Holiness, if she really comes, what do you plan to do?"

"Let her meet Lin Fan first," Qian Xunji said. "She wants to know her fate, so let her hear it for herself. After that, she can make her own choice."

"What if she runs after hearing it?" Yue Guan asked.

Qian Xunji smiled. "Then she'd rather choose that dead end than trust us. Someone like that can't be kept and isn't worth keeping. Let her go."

Yue Guan said no more.

Gui Mei asked in a low voice, "And if she leaves Spirit Hall..."

"Watch her." Qian Xunji's voice turned colder. "Lin Fan said Tang Hao is the key turning point in the Blue Silver Emperor's fate. If she comes to Spirit Hall and Tang Hao can't find her, their fates will be severed for good. If she doesn't come and Tang Hao finds her..."

"Then kill them. Leave no future trouble!"

"Yes!"

Qian Xunji and his party disappeared into the distance, truly returning to Spirit Hall.

In a wooden house in Small Town, Ah Yin sat at the table, staring at the Pope's Token in her hand. She did not sleep all night.

As dawn approached, she finally made her decision.

Taking her luggage, she went straight to the edge of the Star Dou Great Forest.

"I'm about to enter the forest, and they still haven't shown themselves. Is no one really following me?"

Ah Yin stood at the forest's edge. Morning mist drifted out between the trees and dampened the hem of her skirt.

She was only a Soul King, but the closer she came to the forest, the more Blue Silver Grass grew around her. As the Blue Silver Emperor, she could control it and have it relay information to her.

She was confident that even a Titled Douluo could not hide from her in a place full of Blue Silver Grass. Its shared information would give anyone away.

Yet after deliberately circling the forest's outskirts, she had noticed nothing unusual anywhere along the way.

"Hey, I'm really going in!" Ah Yin called out to the empty surroundings.

All she had to do was walk into the forest. Spirit Hall would never find her again, and she could vanish from then on.

"I really am going in."

Ah Yin took a step. Her foot pressed into the soft fallen leaves with a faint rustle.

She walked a few more steps, then stopped.

"He said I'd meet someone named Tang Hao, and that's when my tragic fate would begin." Ah Yin stood at the forest's edge, the wind stirring her blue hair.

She looked down at the Pope's Token in her hand. The angel pattern engraved on it glimmered faintly gold.

"If what he said is true, Tang Hao won't find me if I hide in the Star Dou Great Forest."

"But if it's false, hiding there would mean throwing away a chance to break past the limits of a Soul Beast."

Ah Yin crouched and stroked the Blue Silver Grass at her feet, murmuring to herself.

"After a hundred thousand years of cultivation, I took human form and started over. What was it all for?"

She did need resources, a safe environment, and somewhere she could cultivate without worry.

Spirit Hall happened to have all of those things and could provide them.

"But why would Spirit Hall help me?" Ah Yin frowned.

Qian Xunji had said he was not after her Soul Ring or Soul Bone. So what did he want?

He had said Spirit Hall faced a crisis of survival. With so many powerful people there, what could she, a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, possibly do to help?

The more Ah Yin thought about it, the more she felt something was hidden here, something she could not see.

After thinking for a long time, it all came back to him.

That ordinary man Qian Xunji had spoken of knew everyone's fate. He knew hers, and he even knew there was a Soft Bone Rabbit named Ah Rou in the Star Dou Great Forest.

How could someone without even a Martial Soul know all that?

She could not figure it out.

"Fine. I'll stay here one more day. If no one from Spirit Hall follows me, I'll go there and meet him."

Ah Yin finally took a deep breath and made up her mind.

But she stayed at the edge of the Star Dou Great Forest until the next day and encountered only a few people whose Soul Power was weaker than hers. Nothing else seemed out of the ordinary.

The next day.

"Looks like Pope Qian Xunji was telling the truth," Ah Yin said helplessly. "He really doesn't care about my Soul Bone or Soul Ring!"

Ah Yin did not want to wait any longer. Taking the Pope's Token, she headed straight for Spirit Hall.

When she reached Spirit City, Ah Yin deliberately waited until midnight, when fewer people were about, before entering.

Gui Mei received word at once. "Your Holiness, Miss Blue Silver has entered the city."

Qian Xunji smiled. "She waited a whole day before coming. It must have taken her that long to make up her mind."

"Yue Guan, Gui Mei, prepare to welcome her."

"Yes!"

Qian Xunji took Yue Guan and Gui Mei to wait at Spirit Hall's main gate.

Ah Yin stopped before the gate and looked up at its towering stone doors.

The angel relief on the doors shone coldly in the moonlight, and ancient patterns covered the stone pillars on either side.

She had seen many human cities in her years outside the forest, but the grandeur of Spirit Hall still made her catch her breath.

Then her gaze settled on the three people standing before the gate.

"Welcome to Spirit City, Miss Blue Silver!" Qian Xunji stepped forward to greet her.

"Your Holiness." Ah Yin returned the greeting with due courtesy. "Spirit City is magnificent. It truly deserves to be called a sacred place for Soul Masters."

"Please, come in." Qian Xunji gestured toward the entrance. "This is your first visit to Spirit City, isn't it?"

"Yes. If Your Holiness hadn't invited me, I would never have dared come to a place with so many powerful people." Ah Yin gave a self-deprecating smile.

"Understandable." Qian Xunji nodded. "Please, come inside."

"Your Holiness, to be frank, I came to meet the man you spoke of." Ah Yin stopped hiding her purpose and said it outright.

"It's rather late. How about tomorrow?" Qian Xunji said.

"No. Now. Otherwise, I won't be able to rest easy." Ah Yin's voice was firm.

"All right. I'll take you to him and tell you about his situation on the way." Qian Xunji led the way, explaining to Ah Yin that Lin Fan did not know where he really was.

"I see. I'll say I'm from the village too." Ah Yin looked around, then fixed her gaze on Yue Guan. "When I meet him, I'll say I'm the village doctor's apprentice."

"My apprentice?" Yue Guan said in surprise. "That could work. We both have plant-type Martial Souls, after all."

Qian Xunji and the others brought Ah Yin to Lin Fan's residence.

"Who is it at this hour?" Lin Fan got up with a yawn. "Dong'er?"

Ah Yin stared in surprise. He was nothing like she had imagined. She had expected an inscrutable expert.

Instead, Lin Fan was a young man with messy hair, yawning and looking half-asleep.

Ordinary. He was far too ordinary!