The Blue Silver Emperor's Fate

A Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring. A Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone.

She knew better than anyone how tempting they were to Soul Masters.

Even before taking human form to cultivate again, she had seen countless Soul Masters spend ages searching the forest for a suitable Soul Ring at the limit of what they could bear, risking everything to get it.

After hearing Lin Fan's analysis, Qian Xunji, Yue Guan, and Gui Mei exchanged glances.

Yue Guan sent a mental message. "Looks like Tang Hao might not love the Blue Silver Emperor as much as we thought. Nor is he as honorable as we imagined."

Gui Mei replied mentally, "A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast... Even those of us who are already Titled Douluo and no longer need Soul Rings still desperately want a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone. Imagine Tang Hao, stuck at level ninety and needing just one Soul Ring to become a Titled Douluo."

Qian Xunji answered mentally, "All the more reason to keep the Blue Silver Emperor in our hands. We can't let Spirit Hall repeat its mistake. Even if we make an enemy of the Clear Sky Sect later, without that Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring, Tang Hao will be much less of a threat."

"If Tang Hao had just broken through without a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring in the novel, there's no way he could have beaten me."

After a while, Ah Yin finally settled her turbulent thoughts.

She looked up at Lin Fan and asked in the same gentle voice, "So by your account, Tang Hao might not have been sincere toward the Blue Silver Emperor after all?"

Lin Fan scratched his head. "That's hard to say. But when a woman is eight or nine months pregnant... Tang Hao was in his forties then. Any normal adult with a bit of common sense would know better than to take his wife out wandering around."

"Unless Tang Hao really was an idiot who still didn't understand something so basic at his age."

"An expectant mother is especially vulnerable at eight or nine months. A fall or even a bump could break her waters, cause premature labor, and put her life at risk."

"That's why readers of the novel came up with this theory."

"Miss Xiao Lan, you study medicine. With travel so difficult from the village and your master being its only doctor, you must have helped him deliver quite a few babies. You should know that eight or nine months is when a pregnant woman has the most trouble getting around."

Yue Guan hurriedly added, "Right, exactly... As the village doctor, I've delivered plenty of babies."

"My apprentice is still young, though, only a few years older than the village chief's apprentice Dong'er. She doesn't have much experience yet and is still learning from me."

Lin Fan continued, "One thing's true, though. After the Blue Silver Emperor died, Tang Hao hid in a village and worked as a blacksmith, making farm tools for drinking money. He really did waste six years of his life. Who knows whether it was guilt or regret?"

Though Lin Fan couldn't see her, Ah Yin nodded slightly. "What if the Blue Silver Emperor had avoided Tang Hao from the start? What would have happened to her?"

"Hypothetically?" Lin Fan asked.

"Yes."

Lin Fan thought for a moment. "If the Blue Silver Emperor had never met Tang Hao, she probably would have kept doing good across the continent. Given her nature, she'd have reached maturity, cultivated to Titled Douluo, then grown old and died."

"After all, no one becomes a god without a stroke of fortune."

"Or she might have met someone else, married, had children, and lived an ordinary life."

"Of course, there's a third possibility. If the Blue Silver Emperor had found the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, she could have cultivated in that paradise for plants until she became a god and entered the Divine Realm."

"No one can say what would have happened in a future that never came to pass."

Ah Yin froze. "The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well? What kind of place is that?"

"I told the village chief and the others about it before," Lin Fan said. "It's where Immortal Herbs grow. For plants, it's a paradise. Cultivating there can be a hundred times more effective."

"It's perfect for a plant-type Soul Beast like the Blue Silver Emperor."

"A hundred times?" Qian Xunji, Yue Guan, and the others exclaimed.

Lin Fan said confidently, "That's right. It's that absurd."

Yue Guan sent a mental message. "Your Holiness, we must find the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well as soon as possible. Not just for the Immortal Herbs—even its effect on plant-type Soul Masters makes it worthwhile."

Qian Xunji nodded. "Yes, it's important. If it benefits plant-type Soul Beasts, it should also benefit Soul Masters with plant-type Martial Souls."

Unaware of their mental exchange, Ah Yin looked down at her hands.

A hundred times more effective.

If she could cultivate in a place like that, her chances of breaking through the limits of a Soul Beast and attaining a Divine Position would increase severalfold.

Ah Yin asked urgently, "If the Blue Silver Emperor really found this Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, how long would it take her to become a god?"

Lin Fan answered seriously, "I can't say for sure. The Blue Silver Emperor never took that path in the original novel, so there's nothing to go on. But logically, if she stayed there to cultivate, her hundred thousand years of accumulated power should let her reach Titled Douluo before long."

"And what about becoming a god?"

"Becoming a god..." Lin Fan thought for a moment. "That depends on opportunity. There are only a few Paths to Godhood on Douluo Continent: inheriting an existing Divine Position or creating one yourself. If the Blue Silver Emperor relies on cultivation alone instead of seeking an inheritance, creating her own Divine Position would be very difficult."

"But if she evolved her bloodline again while at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, she might catch the attention of a Deity in the Divine Realm. Then her chances of receiving a Divine Position inheritance would be much higher."

Realization dawned on Ah Yin. "So if the Blue Silver Emperor found the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well before she met Tang Hao, her fate could change completely?"

Lin Fan nodded. "In theory, yes. That's why no one can predict what hasn't happened yet. We're outside the novel, discussing its story as bystanders. Fate is a mysterious thing."

"Oh, I just remembered something. Speaking of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and the Blue Silver Emperor, I think the novel mentioned this. It said that although the Blue Silver Emperor sacrificed everything, her life force was so powerful that her original Blue Silver Grass body survived. Her son Tang San later placed it in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, and after about twenty years, she was able to cultivate back into human form."

"What did you say?" Her voice rose. "After sacrificing herself, the Blue Silver Emperor's original body survived? She could cultivate and take human form again?"

Lin Fan nodded. "Yes. That's how the original novel tells it. Though the Blue Silver Emperor sacrificed her Soul Ring, Soul Bone, and soul, her life force was too strong to vanish completely. With the spiritual energy of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, she slowly recovered."

"That's why I said the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well is a paradise for plants."

Ah Yin took a deep breath. "Thank you, Lin Fan. Your story was moving, and I'm glad I heard about the Blue Silver Emperor's fate. I liked it very much."

Lin Fan waved a hand. "No need to thank me, Miss Xiao Lan. It's all just a novel's premise, though. Don't take it too seriously. We were only chatting."

"It's late. I won't keep you any longer." With that, Ah Yin walked out.

To you, it may be nothing more than a story. To me, it's a chance to change my fate.

Blue Silver had nowhere to call home...

Now she did.