Six years later (1 / 2)

"Bro, why does this Blue Silver Emperor feel so familiar?"

"Because she's the Blue Silver Emperor who sacrificed herself to Tang Hao six years ago. She's also his wife and Tang San's mother."

"Sacrificed herself?!"

Xiao Wu's eyes instantly widened, as though she had heard something terrifying.

Within a few breaths, she remembered that her aura had already vanished and she wouldn't be discovered. Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief.

But her gaze toward the Blue Silver Emperor was filled with sympathy.

"Since she's Tang Hao's wife, why did he leave her in that pitch-black cave? Shouldn't he have taken good care of her?"

Chen Yang shrugged indifferently.

"Why else? Tang Hao was deceiving her from the start. Once she gave birth to Tang San and sacrificed herself, he'd squeezed every last drop of value out of her. Naturally, he stopped caring."

"It was only that tiny scrap of guilt left in his heart that made him plant the Blue Silver Grass seed again instead of tossing it aside."

Xiao Wu's face immediately filled with disgust, which extended to Tang San as well. Like father, like son.

Judging by how Tang San had acted before, he was no decent fellow either.

"Humans really are all deceitful."

Thump!

"Ow!"

Xiao Wu crouched on the ground, clutching the bump on her head and baring her teeth in pain.

Seeing Chen Yang raise his fist to knock her on the head again, Xiao Wu hurriedly hugged his arm and wheedled.

"I was wrong~ You're the exception, bro. I love you the most~"

(◔◡◔)

"At least you know what's good for you."

Chen Yang pinched Xiao Wu's cheek, a smile curling his lips.

Pulling his arm out of Xiao Wu's embrace, Chen Yang crouched beside the Blue Silver Emperor and placed a Pokéblock on the ground.

"I'll call you Ah Yin from now on. Have a Pokéblock to get some nutrients."

(Ah... Yin... likes... it.)

The Blue Silver Emperor extended several slender roots, gently winding them around the Pokéblock and slowly drawing out its nutrients.

As the Pokéblock gradually shrank, her previously wilted, listless body visibly regained its vitality.

"Xiao Wu, take Ah Yin along whenever you fight from now on. Help her gain some levels."

"Huh? No problem!"

Xiao Wu thumped her chest loudly. Fighting was the easiest thing in the world.

"Bro, now that we've caught Ah Yin, where are we going next? Are we still going to school?"

"What school? We're heading straight back to the Star Dou Forest to level up. Wouldn't it be better to gain a few more levels than waste time playing house with them?"

Hearing Chen Yang's decision, Xiao Wu's eyes instantly lit up!

Back to the forest to level up? Great! Finally, I won't have to listen to all that headache-inducing stuff!

Chen Yang took out the Master Ball and recalled the contented Ah Yin into it, preparing to take a carriage to the Star Dou Forest with Xiao Wu.

As for the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well in the Sunset Forest, he would leave it alone for now. He still had no way to counter the poison, and it wasn't going anywhere. He could deal with it later.

Six years passed in the blink of an eye.

At the outskirts of the Star Dou Forest, Chen Yang was resting leisurely in a hammock woven by the Blue Silver Emperor.

He had to admit, Soul Power's ability to nourish the body was truly astounding.

Though Chen Yang was only twelve now, he had already shot up to 1.85 meters tall. His figure was straight and well-proportioned, his features increasingly defined. Handsome and striking, he carried himself with a presence far beyond his peers.

Beside him, Xiao Wu had also shed all her childhood immaturity, blossoming into a graceful young girl with a slender, lovely figure, lively and beautiful.

Chen Yang comfortably opened his mouth to accept the sweet, fresh fruit Xiao Wu offered, his gaze settling on the figure wreathed in flowing golden light on the ground.

"Ah Yin, stop playing around. Finish this quickly."

(Understood...)

A gentle, soft thought sounded in Chen Yang's mind.

The Blue Silver Emperor, shimmering with golden light, instantly stopped fooling around. Several thick, tough blue-gold vines burst from the soil, precisely wrapping around four ten-thousand-year Netherworld Tigers.

Each of these four Netherworld Tigers had nearly forty thousand years of cultivation and was exceptionally ferocious, but before the Blue Silver Emperor, they had no room to struggle at all.

The vines abruptly tightened, unleashing a terrifying binding force!

Blue Silver Strangulation!

The four Netherworld Tigers' bones snapped, their paws dangling limply.

(Oh dear, I think I used a little too much force. Sorry, sorry.)

Ah Yin gently lowered the four Netherworld Tigers to the ground. A layer of soft blue-gold light rose from the surface of her vines and shone upon them.

Within moments, the Netherworld Tigers whose bones had just been crushed all regained their vitality, standing firmly on all four legs.

"Roar! Roar!"

The four Netherworld Tigers pawed at the Blue Silver Emperor in displeasure, then raised their heads and growled softly at Chen Yang in the hammock, as though demanding payment.

"I know, I know. Same as always, ten Pokéblocks per tiger. You'll get every last one."

Chen Yang casually took out forty Premium Life Energy Pokéblocks and used the Blue Silver Emperor's vines to deliver them, stacking them neatly on the ground.

At the sight, the four Netherworld Tigers immediately crowded around and buried their heads in the sweet Pokéblocks. Their eyes were clear and innocent, without the slightest trace of a tiger's ferocity.

[Ding, ding, ding~ The Blue Silver Emperor leveled up~ Learned the move Solar Beam]

[Species: Blue Silver Emperor

Types: Grass, Fairy

Level: 65 (152/16089)

Talent: High

Moves: Entanglement, Blue Silver Strangulation, Razor Leaf, Sleep Powder, Stun Spore, Synthesis...

Ability 1: Overgrow (HP continuously recovers in a suitable environment. When HP falls below 10%, recovery increases by 100%, and Grass-type moves are boosted by 1.5 times.)

...]

Chen Yang stretched contentedly.

Over these six years of settling in the Star Dou Forest, he had relied on Pokéblocks and his Affinity Aura to keep attracting all kinds of Soul Beasts for battles and level grinding. His own cultivation had steadily climbed to level seventy-eight, making him a Soul Saint.

Ah Yin had even evolved twice and awakened the Fairy type, her strength already pulling far ahead.

As for Xiao Wu...

This little rabbit was simply too lazy. She spent all day in the Distortion World fiddling with various Berries and had no interest whatsoever in battling Soul Beasts to level up.

After six years, she had only just reached level sixty-two, not even matching Ah Yin's level.

"All right, head back once you're done eating. That's it for today."

"Roar!"

The four Netherworld Tigers let out a low roar and ran toward the depths of the forest.

Lying in Chen Yang's arms, Xiao Wu watched their retreating figures and pouted in displeasure.

"Hmph! They eat forty Pokéblocks every time they come. Next time, I'm lowering the Berry content and adding more ordinary fruit."

Somewhat amused, Chen Yang patted her pert bottom.

"You really are a crooked merchant. They come here to help you level up despite getting hurt, and you dock their pay like this?

"Back where I'm from, you'd be strung up from a lamppost for that."

Xiao Wu's face immediately fell, and she nuzzled Chen Yang's neck indignantly.

"Bro~ You don't run the household, so you don't know how much rice, oil, and salt cost. I grew those Berries myself!

"A single standard Pokéblock takes two or three Berries! If they keep eating like this, what am I supposed to eat?!"

Patting Xiao Wu's back, Chen Yang raised an eyebrow and whispered into her ear.

"You could eat the Energy Bar I prepared for you~"

"Bro~ You're teasing me again~"

(/ω＼)