[Blue Silver Grass Little Blue (overwhelmed by the favor)]
[Huh?]
[N-not scary? It feels so warm instead...]
[Is this Auntie's approval? Is this my master's mother's approval?]
[I feel a dormant power awakening inside me...]
[It's like an immortal has stroked my head!]
[Thank you, Auntie! I'll work even harder to protect Master from now on!]
[I absolutely won't let any bad women near him!]
Watching this heartwarming interaction between "mother-in-law and daughter-in-law,"
in a corner of the Sea of Consciousness,
a certain hammer was so sour with jealousy that she was almost rusting.
If she had a physical body, she probably would have ground her back teeth to pieces by now.
[Little Iron Hammer (putting up a tough front)]
[Tch... what's so great about that?]
[It's just a meeting gift. You're making it look like she's passing on her power.]
[We clearly started at about the same level. Why does that useless weed get to pull so far ahead?]
[It's only because that idiot Tang Tian played favorites and chose to cultivate Blue Silver Grass first...]
[Hmph! I don't care at all... I really don't... sob...]
Just as jealousy bubbled up inside Little Iron Hammer,
Tang Tian did not favor one over the other.
Light flashed in his left hand.
The little black iron hammer with a bit of a temper was summoned as well.
"Mom, besides Little Blue, this little hammer is actually really impressive too."
Tang Tian stroked the hammer's handle.
Although he could feel the resistance and awkwardness coming from her body,
as though she were saying, "Keep your damn hands off me,"
his expression remained unchanged.
He switched into award-winning-actor-level sweet-talking mode:
"Little Iron Hammer might look ordinary, but she actually holds extraordinary brilliance within."
"When it comes to forging, she can be a tremendous help, and she feels excellent in the hand."
At this point, Tang Tian gave a deliberately regretful sigh.
A trace of guilt showed in his eyes:
"It's just a shame... your son really doesn't have much talent for forging."
"I'm the one holding her back. I haven't been able to bring out her true power, leaving her brilliance buried in dust."
After this round of self-criticism,
Little Iron Hammer, who had still been fuming, froze.
So that's what that idiot Tang Tian thought. Could I have misjudged him?
Immediately afterward,
Blue Silver Emperor Ah Yin extended another vine.
She gently stroked the hammer's hard body.
That gentle touch made Little Iron Hammer, who had never been treated this way, tremble all over.
[Little Iron Hammer (blushing and acting aloof)]
[I-is this what having a mom feels like?]
[Ten thousand times better than that old drunk...]
[Hmph! Since you're being so sincere, I won't hold it against you.]
[But...]
Although she was enjoying Ah Yin's caresses,
Little Iron Hammer had not completely shut down.
Her nonexistent eyes stared suspiciously at Tang Tian.
She caught the overlooked point.
[Wait, you said you have no talent for forging?]
[Who are you trying to fool?!]
[When you forged that ring for that useless weed the other day, your technique, the way you applied force, the fluidity...]
[You clearly have talent!]
[Putting yourself down just to coax me? Hmph, a man's mouth is a lying devil!]
[I'll remember this debt, and that damned ring! Don't think you've gotten away with it!]
[You'll have to make me an even better one later!]
Feeling Little Iron Hammer's emotional fluctuations blow hot and cold in his hand, Tang Tian's mouth twitched slightly.
This prickly hammer really had a good memory.
It looked like he would have to find a way to fill this pit later.
Otherwise, it would become a land mine sooner or later.
Once the parent-teacher conference was over,
after soothing both Martial Souls,
Tang Tian looked around at the dim surroundings, his brows tightly furrowed.
"The old man really did a sloppy job."
"He did open a hole overhead, but how is this faint bit of light supposed to be enough for Mom to photosynthesize and heal?"
"He's practically raising a plant like a mushroom."
Anyone who had gone through Nine-Year Compulsory Education knew
the importance of photosynthesis to plants.
All the more so for a Plant-type Soul Beast like the Blue Silver Emperor.
That brute Tang Hao had simply cut away most of one of the Blue Silver Emperor's major energy sources.
No wonder his mother had looked in mediocre condition when he first came in.
She had even seemed a little wilted.
Without another word, Tang Tian directed Little Iron Hammer to get to work.
"Little Iron Hammer, it's up to you. Smash that spot!"
"Let's open a skylight for Mom!"
[Little Iron Hammer (full of drive)]
[It still takes me to get things done!]
[Watch me settle this with one strike!]
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
Without compromising the cave's concealment,
Tang Tian precisely smashed several holes high in the stone wall.
Shafts of bright yet gentle sunlight poured down.
The entire stone chamber instantly lit up.
Bathed in abundant sunlight, Ah Yin
stretched her golden-blue leaves to their fullest.
She seemed very comfortable and gently patted Tang Tian's shoulder.
She signaled that it was enough.
She would not let Tang Tian tire himself out any further.
Seeing his mother's condition improve noticeably,
Tang Tian wiped the sweat from his forehead in satisfaction.
A pure smile spread across his face.
"Now that's more like it."
"A home needs some light!"
Just then,
Ah Yin seemed to make a decision.
One of her vines slowly rose.
Blue-gold light gathered around it.
Then it struck a nondescript protrusion on the stone wall at the side of the chamber hard.
"Ding-"
The crisp sound of a mechanism rang out.
Immediately afterward, a hidden compartment in the ceiling of the stone chamber opened.
A heavy, long black box dropped from above, falling straight down.
With Ah Yin's vines helping support it from the side,
Tang Tian reacted swiftly and caught it.
It was extremely heavy in his hands.
Had he not been a Soul Master, an ordinary child probably would not have been able to catch it.
It weighed well over two hundred jin!
"This is..."
Although Tang Tian knew what was inside,
he had not expected Ah Yin to take the initiative to bring it out for him.
He had originally thought he would need to hint at it or search for it himself.
He had not expected a mother's love to be so direct.
She did not even need Tang Tian to ask before wanting to leave the best thing for him.
That feeling of being favored
warmed Tang Tian's heart.
His nose stung slightly.
After all, Tang Hao had previously shown extreme favoritism toward Little San.
Although, after awakening his memories, he no longer cared what that drunk thought,
the feeling of being favored really was warm.
"Click."
Tang Tian opened the box.
There was no dazzling burst of light as imagined.
Only a soft blue glow flowed within.
At the center of the box lay a crystalline, translucent blue-gold right leg bone.
It was like the finest work of art, with what seemed to be specks of starlight twinkling inside.
Even more wondrously, this Soul Bone did not seem like a lifeless object.
Instead, it radiated an incredibly rich aura of life, like a beating heart.
The Hundred-Thousand-Year Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone!
One of the finest Soul Bones on the entire continent!
Ah Yin extended a slender blade of grass.
She gently tapped the right leg bone.
Then she tapped Tang Tian's right leg.
Her movements were firm yet gentle.
As though she were saying:
"My child, take it. This is the best thing Mom can give you!"
"It can protect you in Mom's place!"
Tang Tian took a deep breath and did not refuse.
He looked at Ah Yin with determination in his eyes:
"Mom, thank you."
"I swear I'll use this power to turn you back into a human."
After hearing this, Ah Yin paused.
In truth, she held no hope for that.
In her view, that was the domain of gods.
But she could not bear to undermine her son's confidence.
She merely nuzzled Tang Tian's cheek gently.
Tang Tian hesitated no longer and picked up the crystalline, translucent blue-gold Soul Bone.
The moment the Soul Bone touched Tang Tian's right leg,
it did not produce the intense rejection or pain that accompanied absorbing other Soul Bones.
Instead, it was like a drop of water merging into the sea.
It was the cheering of a bloodline from the same source.
"Humm-"
The hundred-thousand-year Soul Bone turned into an exceptionally soothing, cool current.
It seeped through the pores into the leg, instantly coursing through the entire body.
There was no pain that tore at the heart and lungs.
There was only the comfort of soaking in a hot spring.
This was a gift from a mother, the tenderness of a bond of blood.
No matter how immense this power was, how could a mother ever hurt her own child?
Before you continue