Worth Sacrificing Yourself for Him?

The cave was deep and silent, with footsteps echoing heavily between the rock walls.

Tang Chuan narrowed his eyes as he adjusted to the darkness inside the cave. Then he pulled a Fire Starter from his robes, one he had prepared long ago.

He blew on it gently.

"Hiss—"

The Fire Starter instantly kindled a faint flame. Its pale-yellow glow flickered softly, casting overlapping shadows of varying depth across his face.

The cave was damp and cold. Although the flame was surrounded by mist, it continued to burn steadily.

Holding up the Fire Starter, Tang Chuan slowly walked toward the depths of the cave.

The stone ground beneath his feet was occasionally covered with raised moss and small pools formed by dripping water. He carefully walked around them without making much noise. The farther in he went, the richer that faint Life Aura became, as though the air itself were gradually turning warm and gentle.

At last, the firelight illuminated a stone door ahead.

It was the entrance to a naturally formed Stone Chamber. The surrounding Rock Wall was rough, but the upper section bore traces of artificial carving. It seemed to be the work Tang Hao had left behind when he personally opened up this place years ago.

Tang Chuan pushed the door open.

"Click—"

The inside of the Stone Chamber suddenly opened up, its space larger than he had expected. The moment Tang Chuan stepped inside, a beam of light suddenly shone down from above, spilling into the center of the room.

He looked up and saw that a round opening had been broken through the ceiling of the Stone Chamber. Sunlight slanted in from outside, forming a Golden Light Pillar inside the cave, like the Gate of Apocalypse.

His gaze slowly moved forward, and Tang Chuan discovered a small mound of earth, roughly half a meter across, right in the center of the Stone Chamber. On top of that tiny mound, a single Blue Silver Grass grew in lonely isolation.

The Blue Silver Grass was entirely emerald green, slender, and upright. At first glance, it seemed no different from ordinary wild Grass, but Tang Chuan's gaze suddenly froze on its leaves.

The blades of Grass were slightly longer than those of ordinary Blue Silver Grass. Their edges trembled faintly, while countless faint golden lines unmistakably covered the leaves.

In that instant.

Tang Chuan recognized its identity without the slightest hesitation.

Ah Yin, his mother in this life, as well as Tang San's birth mother—the true origin of the Blue Silver Grass bloodline.

Tang Chuan quickly walked over, then slowly knelt before the small mound and examined it closely with his head lowered.

From up close, the Blue Silver Grass still carried a pure and vibrant Life Force.

But Tang Chuan soon noticed something unusual.

The edges of the Blue Silver Grass that Ah Yin had transformed into were slightly yellowed. Although the Grass remained upright, it was clearly not full and lush enough, and the color of its stem was somewhat dull.

This was not how a healthy plant should look.

It certainly should not have been the appearance of the Seed of Life of a 100,000-Year Soul Beast, the Blue Silver Emperor.

"Why is this happening?"

Mother doesn't seem to have been doing well here.

Frowning slightly, Tang Chuan slowly raised his head and looked toward the opening in the ceiling of the Stone Chamber.

Sunlight poured through the round opening, and the Golden Light Pillar it formed was breathtakingly beautiful as it fell directly onto Ah Yin.

But at that very moment.

Tang Chuan's eyes sharpened as he instantly deduced the logic behind everything:

"The opening faces east, while the sun rises in the east and sets in the west."

"The sunlight can only shine vertically into this spot for a brief moment at noon."

"In other words, the time Mother can receive sunlight each day is probably less than an hour. That is precisely what caused her leaves to wither."

At that thought, his heart sank slightly, and his gaze returned to the faintly trembling Blue Silver Grass.

The fine golden lines still shimmered faintly, but this was not the surge of vigorous growth. It was the feeble rhythm of a life barely holding on. At that moment, Ah Yin was on the verge of death, yet she was still stubbornly alive.

His throat tightened slightly. Tang Chuan moved his lips and murmured softly:

"As a Plant-Type Spirit Beast, your most fundamental dependence is photosynthesis."

"Tang Hao planted you in this cave, where you can barely see the sky, and only lets you receive a sliver of sunlight each day... This isn't protection at all. It's torture."

Tang Chuan did not roar or curse. At that moment, he suppressed a sorrow and irony that came from the depths of his soul.

"You sacrificed yourself for him, giving up your body and transforming into Grass, yet he abandoned you in a mountain cave where no light could reach. Really. Was it worth it?"

Tang Chuan lowered his head and stared at the weak Blue Silver Grass, his chest filled with a jumble of emotions. As his words fell, the air inside the Stone Chamber instantly solidified.

Every word he had spoken landed with absolute stillness.

Yet they pierced the depths of Ah Yin's hidden consciousness like countless fine needles.

At that moment, the Blue Silver Grass standing silently atop the mound trembled faintly.

Its leaves, which had originally swayed in the wind, suddenly paused, as though it had fallen into deep thought and... shock. There was even a trace of regret within it.

Even though she had transformed into a plant, as a Soul Beast with 100,000 years of cultivation, Ah Yin's consciousness had never completely vanished. Naturally, she could hear everything Tang Chuan had just said.

At that moment, ripples spread across Ah Yin's consciousness like Lake Water, and fragments of memory slowly surfaced.

She remembered clearly that on the day she sacrificed herself to Tang Hao, her body had disintegrated.

When she woke again, she was lying in this silent, Ice Cold soil. Darkness surrounded her, and the only sound by her ears was the echo of dripping water, day after day, year after year...

Six years had passed, and Tang Hao had not come even once.

"Brother Hao... where did you go..."

"Brother Hao, why did you plant me in such a lightless cave? I remember that when we were together, I taught you so much about growing flowers and Grass, so why did you still make such a huge mistake in the end?"

"Even if you thought bringing me along while fleeing would be a burden, I'm only an ordinary Blue Silver Grass now. You could have planted me by the roadside, and no one would have noticed me. After all, Blue Silver Grass is the most common plant in the world."

"Back then... did you truly love me? Or... did you have another motive?"

Just then, Tang Chuan slowly raised his right hand. A faint light swirled across his palm, and immediately afterward, Blue Silver Grass quietly emerged from his hand, swaying gently.

And at that very moment.

A strange change suddenly occurred.

The Blue Silver Grass in his palm seemed to be drawn by some mysterious force. It shuddered violently, and in the next instant, the Blue Silver Grass atop the small mound trembled as well. The golden lines suddenly flared brightly!

A resonance formed between the two stalks of Blue Silver Grass.

A faint, visible pattern of light spread from the Blue Silver Grass in Tang Chuan's palm, quietly connecting to the Blue Silver Grass atop the mound.

In that brief instant, Ah Yin sensed this familiar and unique aura.

"This is..."

"My child..."

Ah Yin's consciousness surged like a mountain flood, as though all her years of waiting had been for this very moment.

She recognized Tang Chuan.

He was her flesh and blood, her child.

The next second, the Blue Silver Grass atop the small mound suddenly began to grow. Its leaves rapidly unfurled, while the golden lines pulsed like a heartbeat, swiftly rising and spreading.

One blade after another of Blue Silver Grass extended quietly from the small mound like gentle threads, slowly moving toward Tang Chuan.