Dad, it feels so dark here

Qian Renxue nearly choked on her own saliva. "...What?"

Cheng Ran said, "Just changing skins in a game. Don't make such a fuss."

Qian Renxue said, "No, I mean... who would believe a Soul Master with a duck Martial Soul was the Tang Sect's Law Enforcement Elder?"

Cheng Ran said, "Xiao Xue, the more ridiculous the Martial Soul, the less likely anyone is to associate it with Spirit Hall. When Tang Hao sees that the visitor's Martial Soul is a duck, his first reaction will be, 'What kind of weirdo is this?'"

"Fiiine, you seem to have a point." Qian Renxue had no rebuttal.

Cheng Ran said, "As for cultivation, a Titled Douluo, of course. Duck King Douluo. Just stand there with nine Soul Rings, and even Tang Hao will have to think twice. Relax. Only someone at least above Bibi Dong's level could possibly see through Angel Disguise. Tang Hao can't. We'll also have Cao Thief Douluo stand guard nearby when the time comes. Nothing can go wrong."

Qian Renxue could only choose to trust him unconditionally.

Next came dealing with the spoils.

Cheng Ran guided her in planting the Blue Silver Emperor's true body in the Medicine Garden behind the Worship Hall.

Once its roots had settled, they could sustainably extract life origin and produce an endless supply of Life-Prolonging Pills.

After planting the Blue Silver Emperor, Qian Renxue sat cross-legged and pressed the Hundred-Thousand-Year Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone against her right leg.

"Next is today's main event for you: absorbing the Soul Bone."

A deep blue light instantly enveloped her entire right leg, and energy surged into her body like a tide.

Qian Renxue let out a muffled grunt, beads of sweat forming on her forehead.

But her body, tempered by ice and fire, was far tougher than an ordinary person's. After a brief spell of swelling pain, her meridians quickly adapted to this power.

Her meridians expanded inch by inch, her bones grew denser, and even her skin gained a faint sheen.

With the infusion of the Soul Bone's energy, her Soul Power began to climb, finally settling at level fifty-nine.

A quarter of an hour later, Qian Renxue opened her eyes and tested the Flight Skill first.

Her body floated lightly off the ground. She felt no Soul Power being consumed; it was as natural as breathing.

She tested the second skill as well, drawing the Angel Blade across her left arm. The wound healed visibly, returning to its original state within a few breaths without even leaving a scar.

Qian Renxue sucked in a breath. "Lord Evil God, these two Soul Skills are so powerful!"

Cheng Ran sounded smug. "Stay calm. This was all part of my plan. Next, we're heading to Slaughter City. Soul Skills aren't allowed in the Hell Slaughter Arena, so you can only fight using Basic Physical Techniques and your Martial Soul Basic Form.

"Everyone else goes in half-crippled. You have Flight to fly, Self-Healing to take hits, and the Angel Blade to fight. You'll be outright invincible."

Qian Renxue: *Wow (*╹▽╹*).*

Qian Renxue finished cultivating and stood up, her gaze calm and resolute, filled with anticipation for the journey to Slaughter City.

Cheng Ran yawned. "Quite a haul today. From level fifty-six to fifty-nine, two extra lifesaving skills, and a Hundred-Thousand-Year Blue Silver Emperor planted in the Medicine Garden as a perpetual motion machine. Next, we collect the Tang Sect's cultivation techniques in three days, then enter Slaughter City to grind levels, and wait for Xiao Wu to enroll in September."

Everything was progressing according to plan.

Time easily left people behind, darkening cherries and softening banana leaves. Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

In the valley behind Holy Soul Village, inside the waterfall cave.

Tang Hao set out early that morning, taking Tang San through the curtain of water and into the depths of the cave.

The stone walls on either side of the passage were wet and slippery. Water droplets slowly trickled down them, and a cold, damp chill filled the air.

Tang San followed behind Tang Hao. This was his first time entering this cave.

His gaze wandered over the stone walls, his brows drawing tighter and tighter.

The cave was dimly lit. There was only a tiny opening overhead, through which a beam of sunlight barely shone, falling in the very center of the stone chamber.

Apart from that, damp rock walls surrounded them, and there were even several puddles on the floor.

An empty stone planter sat in a corner of the chamber. That was where his mother's true body, the Blue Silver Emperor, had once grown.

Now the planter was empty, with only a handful of shallow soil remaining.

Tang San stopped and looked around.

Dark, damp, cramped.

Was this where Father had planted Mother all these years?

Tang San's heart sank little by little.

He knew the Blue Silver Emperor's true body needed soil, water, and sunlight to survive.

But only when he actually stood in this stone chamber did he realize that the beam of light overhead could illuminate no more than a patch the size of the stone planter.

The rest of the chamber never saw daylight all year round.

The water stains on the stone walls never dried, and the air carried a moldy, earthy smell.

This did not look like a good place to grow flowers at all. It looked more like a cage for prisoners.

Many things suddenly came back to Tang San.

Father spent his days drinking himself into a stupor. How much care could he spare for Mother's true body?

In all six years since I was born, why had he never brought me to see Mother?

Why wasn't there even a single spiritual herb planted in the stone chamber to help her grow?

With Tang Hao's knowledge and abilities, finding a few low-grade spiritual herbs to place here and nourish the Blue Silver Emperor's true body would have been a trivial task, yet he had not done it.

A terrifying thought suddenly sprouted in Tang San's mind.

Had Father really planted Mother here to keep her alive?

Or was he simply storing her here like a personal possession?

If Father truly loved Mother, why hadn't he given her a better environment?

If Father truly cared about the possibility of Mother's resurrection, why had he done nothing all these years?

Unless...

Father had never intended to let Mother come back to life, or Mother served some other purpose for him.

Tang San did not dare think any further and could only bury all of this deep in his heart.

Noticing that Tang San had stopped, Tang Hao glanced back at him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Tang San withdrew his gaze. "Dad, it feels so dark here."

Tang Hao frowned slightly and said with displeasure, "There's light."

Tang San turned those words over in his mind and said nothing more.

He followed Tang Hao to one side of the stone chamber and stood with his back against the rock wall.

Tang Hao took the six sheets of paper out of his Storage Soul Tool and laid them neatly beside the stone planter.

These were the cultivation techniques Tang San had written out again from memory over the past three days, the complete version without a single word missing.

Father and son stood in the stone chamber like that, waiting. Neither spoke again.

Outside the valley, in the crown of an ancient pine three li away, Azure Luan Douluo sat cross-legged.

He had restrained his aura as a level ninety-seven Super Douluo to the utmost.

The Young Master had ordered him to stand guard in secret three li away and intervene immediately if negotiations in the cave broke down.

Meanwhile, at the entrance to the valley.

Qian Renxue stopped.

The Angel Head Soul Bone's disguise skill activated, transforming her from a beautiful woman into Yanzu.

The Eight Wings Angel's aura was completely concealed, replaced by the phantom of a duck Martial Soul with a snow-white body, a flat yellow bill, and short wings. It stood there with its head tilted, looking utterly innocent.

Nine Soul Rings slowly emerged around Cheng Ran (Qian Renxue).

Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, purple, black, black, black, black.

A standard Titled Douluo configuration. The four black ten-thousand-year rings radiated a heavy sense of pressure.

The instant those nine Soul Rings appeared, I even scared myself, Qian Renxue muttered in her mind.