Tang Hao, Who Loved to Fill in the Blanks

For some reason, the moment this person stepped through the door, Master's entire body tensed instinctively. Even his Soul Power spread throughout his body unconsciously.

"Who are you?"

Master's eyes sharpened at once, and his body tensed involuntarily as he asked in a low voice.

The newcomer did not rush to answer. He slowly removed his hood, revealing a rugged, resolute face beneath the lamplight. It was a face that seemed vaguely familiar to Master.

"Master, now that you mention it, it's been more than twenty years since we last met, hasn't it? It's no wonder you don't recognize me in my current state. I'm Tang Hao!" the gray-clothed man said indifferently.

"What did you say? You—you're Tang Hao!?" Master's expression changed drastically at once. His pupils focused instantly as he said incredulously:

"How did you become like this? You were the renowned Clear Sky..."

Before Master could finish speaking, Tang Hao waved his hand. His tone was cold, but a trace of weariness showed through. "There's no need to mention those past titles. I'm just an ordinary blacksmith now."

For a moment, the air seemed to freeze.

Master's expression was complicated, and turbulent emotions were already surging in his heart. After hesitating for a moment, he finally asked, "You came looking for me because of... Xiao San?"

Tang Hao nodded and slowly entered the room, casually closing the door behind him.

Master's expression eased slightly. After taking a deep breath, he said, "It seems my guess was right. You really are Xiao San's father. Xiao San just set off for Holy Spirit Village this morning. He said he wanted to see you. Why... are you here instead of in the village?"

Tang Hao raised his eyes slightly, his expression complicated. "It's precisely because Xiao San went home that I'm here. I know you've taken him as your disciple. As his father, I should have come to see you long ago."

As he spoke, he looked out the window and said in a low voice, "I came this time to tell you that I'll be leaving for a while. I intend to entrust Xiao San to you."

At those words, Master's expression changed immediately, and obvious displeasure and reproach appeared on his face.

"Leaving? Where are you going?"

"Tang San is only a few years old! As his father, you haven't stayed by his side, and now you actually intend to leave? Do you know what your departure means to him?"

Tang Hao's face remained expressionless, but his voice was so cold that it was unsettling. "There are things I have to do. I can't keep running away anymore."

"You make it sound so easy. You're shirking all your responsibilities. You're his father! But what you're doing now is nothing like what a father would do!" Master sneered at those words and slammed the book in his hand heavily onto the desk.

Tang Hao's brows creased slightly, and his eyes darkened, but in the end, he did not argue. Instead, he slowly said:

"Xiao San calls me his father because of our blood relation. But he once said that after becoming someone's disciple for a day, that person remains his father for life. From the moment he became your disciple, you, Yu Xiaogang, also became his father."

"That's why I dare entrust him to you."

As Tang Hao's voice faded, the room fell into deathly silence.

After a long while, Master pursed his lips and let out a heavy sigh. "You... you really are something... Don't worry. I'll take good care of Xiao San."

Seeing that Master had agreed to care for Tang San, Tang Hao turned to leave. But the former suddenly seemed to remember something. He raised his brows and added coldly:

"Wait, Tang Hao. I can agree to help you take care of Tang San, but I'm not responsible for your eldest son, Tang Chuan."

"Tang Chuan doesn't have much talent for cultivation, has no wisdom in his head, and is extremely stubborn. He's rebellious to the core. I don't have the spare time to teach him."

At those words, Tang Hao's footsteps paused slightly. He did not turn around, merely standing by the door as he replied in a distant voice, "You mean Xiao Chuan? That child really has always been like this."

His tone carried a trace of reminiscence and emotion:

"After he awakened his Martial Soul, I told him to stay in Holy Spirit Village and become a blacksmith. He refused no matter what and argued with me more than once. Once, he even secretly packed his things at night and intended to go to Nuoding City alone. Fortunately, I discovered him."

"I carefully observed him. Although Tang Chuan has poor talent and his Martial Soul is only Blue Silver Grass, with an Innate Soul Power of just Level One, the speed at which his Soul Power Level rose... was far too strange." Master nodded lightly at this, with none of his usual mockery on his face. Puzzled, he said, "Could it be... that his Blue Silver Grass isn't ordinary Blue Silver Grass?"

Although Tang Chuan had not revealed his true strength during this period, he had merely concealed his Soul Power Level at around Levels Seven, Eight, or Nine, rather than remaining steadily at Level One.

In just one semester, someone with an Innate Soul Power of Level One had managed to cultivate his Soul Power Level to around Level Seven or Eight. To Master, this was clearly abnormal.

His own Innate Soul Power had been only Half Level. He had consumed countless Heavenly Treasures from his clan before finally cultivating his Soul Power Level to Level Ten in his teens. What reason did Tang Chuan have to cultivate so quickly?

Could it really be that there were no useless Martial Souls, only useless Soul Masters?

The air suddenly fell silent.

With his head lowered, Tang Hao remained silent for a moment. In his mind appeared a gentle and beautiful woman in blue. Her eyes and brows were soft, and when she released her Martial Soul, blue light surged like waves of the sea.

"That's right... you're correct."

"Xiao Chuan's Blue Silver Grass Spirit isn't the ordinary Blue Silver Grass you see."

Tang Hao's pupils contracted slightly. His expression was indescribably complicated, and a suppressed note colored his voice as he continued, "So it's perfectly normal for him to cultivate a little faster."

Master's brows tightened at once. "What do you mean by that?"

Tang Hao shook his head, his expression somewhat downcast. "I can't explain this clearly to you in such a short time. Once Xiao San's Soul Power breaks through to Level Fifty in the future, you'll naturally understand. Because neither of their Blue Silver Grass Spirits is ordinary Blue Silver Grass."

After saying this, Tang Hao did not linger. He turned and walked toward the door.

Without slowing his steps, his gray robe billowing, he suddenly raised his right hand and waved it behind him.

"Clang!"

A token as black as ink flew from his sleeve and landed heavily on Master's desk, producing a deep, crisp sound.

The token was clearly identical to the one Master had presented when he took Tang San into the Soul Hunting Forest. The only difference was that this token bore a total of six designs.

"This is... the Pope..."

Master abruptly rose to his feet and stared toward the doorway in shock and uncertainty.

But the tall figure in gray robes had already vanished into the night, as though he had never appeared.

In fact, Tang Hao had noticed the abnormality in Tang Chuan's Soul Power some time ago.

Soul Power at Level One had instantly risen to Level Ten!

At that moment, even Tang Hao, who had experienced countless life-and-death battles, could not help but twitch his brows sharply.

"He followed Tang San and Master to the Soul Hunting Forest and came back? My eldest son's Soul Power actually shot straight from Level One to Level Ten? No matter how hard he trained, that doesn't make sense."

But in the next moment, he remembered that name he had never truly let go of over the years—Ah Yin.

His two sons' Martial Souls were Blue Silver Grass—in other words, Blue Silver Emperors!

That was also Ah Yin's Martial Soul.

Perhaps the problem lay there. In Tang Hao's view, it was very likely that, influenced by Ah Yin's Blue Silver Emperor bloodline, his eldest son's Blue Silver Grass had been able to cultivate so quickly.

Or perhaps the Spirit Hall testers had made a mistake when testing his Innate Soul Power Level back then? After all, in Tang Hao's view, no matter what, a Blue Silver Emperor Spirit could not possibly have an Innate Soul Power of Level One. These were all conclusions Tang Hao had reached by filling in the blanks himself.

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