Tang Hao stopped in his tracks. Now that his two children had grown older, he really should take them to pay their respects to Ah Yin.
Seeing how gifted her children were, Ah Yin's spirit in heaven would surely feel comforted.
After a moment's thought, he sat back down at the table. "Finish eating first. I'll take you to pay your respects to your mother afterward."
After all, it was already dark. A little earlier or later made no difference.
Now that Tang Hao had decided to change how his children saw him, he naturally would no longer treat them with his former roughness and indifference.
Hearing this, Tang San Niang turned toward her brother in delight.
Tang Yin smiled. "Let's eat first."
Young Tang San Niang craved familial affection far more than most people.
Even though Tang Hao was an old drunk who had once given her a resounding slap, she still retained a measure of respect for him. The thinking of a feudal society had truly seeped into her very bones.
As for the mother she had never met, she clearly held an even higher place in Tang San Niang's heart.
After all, between a drunken father and a mother who had died in childbirth-as Tang Hao claimed to outsiders-which deserved more respect? The answer was obvious.
After dinner, Tang Hao led his son and daughter toward the largest waterfall near Holy Soul Village.
After walking for nearly an hour, the three reached the waterfall.
The bright moonlight draped the land in a veil of gauze, while an enormous silver dragon roared as it plunged down, scattering shattered silver across the sky.
This waterfall was the widest in the area, and its waters rushed with tremendous force.
Ordinary people would never dare approach it lightly, much less discover the cave hidden behind it.
No wonder Tang Hao had planted Ah Yin inside that cave. For the dead, it was undoubtedly a peaceful place where no one would disturb them.
"Your mother is buried behind the waterfall. Let Daddy carry you inside." Tang Hao tried hard to show his fatherly affection.
Holding his sister's hand, Tang Yin put on a surprised expression at the same time she did, then nodded.
With the waterfall rushing so fiercely, they could not even approach it, let alone pass through it.
Tang Hao felt a surge of joy. He had finally found an opportunity to grow closer to his children.
Without another word, he gathered them into his embrace with one large hand. Raising his left hand, he swung the three-meter-long Clear Sky Hammer, and his vast Soul Power instantly forced the rushing waters to surge upstream.
Tang Hao leaped up and pressed his left hand against a protruding section of rock behind the waterfall. A seemingly seamless slab of stone instantly sank inward, revealing a pitch-black opening.
In a flash, Tang Hao carried his son and daughter into the cave.
Throughout the entire process, not a single drop of water touched Tang Yin or Tang San Niang, proof of how exquisite Tang Hao's control over his Soul Power was.
The cave was thick with moisture and utterly dark.
Tang Hao set the children down, then took a pale golden stone from his Soul Tool, illuminating their surroundings.
When they reached the innermost part, a stone chamber of about ten square meters came into view. A small opening overhead let in the moonlight, which spilled down like a silver ribbon.
Directly beneath the opening stood a small mound of earth. Atop it, a slender Blue Silver Emperor with golden markings on her leaves swayed gently.
"Brother, this Blue Silver Grass looks exactly like my blue silver emperor martial soul," Tang San Niang said in surprise.
Tang Yin's lips twitched. Apparently, the mother looked like her daughter.
Gazing at the slender Blue Silver Emperor before him, Tang Hao's eyes grew incomparably tender. He pointed to the space before the little mound. "Little Yin, Little San Niang, come kneel and pay your respects to your mother."
The debt owed to the mother who gave one life was greater than the heavens, especially a mother as gentle and kind as Ah Yin. Without hesitation, Tang Yin took Little San Niang with him and knelt before the Blue Silver Emperor.
At the sight, Tang Hao's eyes reddened, and he was just about to say something.
Tang Yin and Tang San Niang suddenly felt their minds shudder in unison. Their Blue Silver Emperor Martial Soul and Spirit Veins Martial Soul manifested of their own accord.
The blue silver emperor martial soul grew rapidly from Tang San Niang's palm, filling the entire stone chamber in an instant.
An azure light shone between Tang Yin's brows. It instantly flowed along the meridians throughout his body, filling him from head to toe and turning the whole chamber into an azure ocean.
So Little San Niang had inherited the Blue Silver Emperor's branches and leaves, while he had inherited her roots. His awakening of the Spirit Veins Martial Soul had been no accident.
Tang Yin could feel the Blue Silver Emperor's life force filling his meridians, making them extraordinarily supple and resilient.
If an ordinary person's meridians were like delicate, fragile porcelain-
Then Tang Yin's Spirit Veins were now like resilient vines, possessing tremendous flexibility and vitality. To a Soul Master, this was priceless.
Tang Yin could almost say for certain that the age of the first soul ring he could now absorb exceeded a thousand years.
He was completely different from an ordinary six-year-old child. Not only was his physique powerful, but his meridians were also strong and resilient, and he had no fear of them rupturing.
Under these conditions, he could absorb a Thousand-Year Soul Ring without fearing the risks at all!
Within the Blue Silver Domain jointly formed by the mother and her two children, the siblings' eyes and hair turned azure. Tang Yin's dark skin and rough hands were nourished by the abundant vitality, becoming fair, smooth, and delicate.
The Blue Silver Emperor before them changed even more dramatically. The golden lines on her leaves seemed to come alive, winding and shifting, while her once exceedingly slender leaves grew at a rate visible to the naked eye.
In the blink of an eye, they grew from one foot long to roughly four feet.
The Blue Silver Emperor's aura filled the entire stone chamber.
Tang Hao was stunned. He murmured, "Ah Yin! Are you still alive? Ah Yin?!"
"Daddy, what are you saying? Is this Mommy?" At some point, two trails of clear tears had slipped down Tang San Niang's face, and she choked out her questions.
Before them, the Blue Silver Emperor slowly extended her leaves. Three leaves wound around the hands of the father and his two children, conveying the feeling of their shared bloodline.
At that moment, even Tang Yin, who had lived two lives, could not help feeling his eyes grow damp.
Unfortunately, Ah Yin possessed only instinctive awareness at this point. She was still far from regaining her mind.
So no matter how Tang Hao wept and called to her, Ah Yin gave no response.
Afterward, Tang Hao told the siblings what had happened all those years ago, allowing Tang San Niang to understand her own origins.
"As a man, I couldn't protect my own wife, and I even dragged down the sect that raised me."
"I knew that with my own abilities, I would never be able to take revenge on Spirit Hall in this lifetime, so I spent every day in a drunken haze."
"Only when you awakened the Blue Silver Emperor and the clear sky hammer martial soul did I finally come to my senses. All these years, you've been the ones taking care of me. As a father, I've undoubtedly been a failure. I'm sorry, my children. Please forgive my cowardice and incompetence."
Before Ah Yin, Tang Hao knelt and bowed to the ground, sincerely repenting to his son and daughter.
Tears streamed down Tang Hao's face, and his eyes were filled with guilt and self-reproach. He truly had not taken good care of Ah Yin's children or fulfilled his responsibilities as a father. There was no denying that.
At that moment, Tang Hao made an unshakable decision: he would do everything in his power to safeguard his children as they grew, making up for all the years he had failed them as a father. Even if it cost him his life, he would not hesitate!
"Brother, our mother was actually a hundred-thousand-year-old Blue Silver Emperor. Daddy and Mommy had such a tragic past." Tang San Niang buried her head in Tang Yin's arms and sobbed, her small body trembling pitifully.
People's allegiances had always revolved around their own interests.
And one's origins could not be changed, so Tang Yin naturally found himself affected by the atmosphere as well, his mood turning somewhat sorrowful.
Yet his mind remained perfectly clear. He spoke up. "Old man, as the saying goes, wildfire cannot burn it all away; when the spring breeze blows, it grows again."
"Blue Silver Grass is one of the Soul Beasts with the most tenacious vitality. Since Mother is the Blue Silver Emperor, perhaps she really can come back to life once this seed grows."
"But as a plant Soul Beast, she needs three essential conditions to grow. Not one can be missing."
Hearing this, Tang Hao shuddered and said excitedly, "Little Yin, you're right. Perhaps Ah Yin really can come back to life."
"I happen to know a place that would be perfect for the Blue Silver Emperor to grow!" A fierce light of hope shone in Tang Hao's eyes, sweeping away his earlier dejection.
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