"Your name is Ah Yin. You were originally a Hundred-Thousand-Year Blue Silver Emperor who took human form. Later, you sacrificed yourself, leaving behind a grass seed and a Soul Bone. After sprouting, you grew over the years to your current state, hmm..."
"You've just become a Ten-Year Soul Beast!"
"Right?"
Lin Kong's words laid all of Ah Yin's secrets bare, leaving her utterly speechless.
An awkward silence fell over the secret chamber.
Lin Kong continued, "You're very conspicuous in your current state. Any Soul Master who saw you would be interested. I'm only level eleven right now-oh, level nineteen now."
After absorbing the Hundred-Thousand-Year Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Soul Bone, Lin Kong had gained eight levels of Soul Power in one go, saving the equivalent of four or five years of cultivation. Moreover, a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone helped evolve one's Martial Soul and improve one's talent, so his future cultivation would be faster than before.
It truly deserved to be called a supreme treasure of the Soul Master World!
"I'm level nineteen now. If another Soul Master sets their sights on you, I definitely won't be able to protect you. I might even get myself dragged down with you. If you hate me for what I've done today before you die, you could tell them I have a Soul Bone."
"Tell me, why should I take you with me?"
Ah Yin's voice was timid. "I, I can..."
Lin Kong held up a finger and wagged it before her. "Leaving you here would be best for me. Hmm, if I were a little more ruthless, killing you outright would be the most appropriate choice."
Then why hadn't Lin Kong done that?
He wanted the Blue Silver Emperor Bloodline!
The Hundred-Thousand-Year Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Soul Bone was an enormous help to his Dark Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul, and the Blue Silver Emperor Bloodline would be just as helpful. With it right before his eyes, of course he had to strive for it.
Lin Kong's final, ruthless words frightened Ah Yin into trembling. She looked so delicate and frail that she inspired pity. Soon, she had an idea. "I can sacrifice myself!"
"Hmm?" Lin Kong's eyes lit up, but he asked in an indifferent tone, "What do you mean? Hmm... you're only a Ten-Year Soul Beast now. What would I want your sacrifice for? To get a white Ten-Year Soul Ring? To get a trash Soul Ring?"
"No! I, I've sacrificed myself once before, so I have experience. I can do it better this time."
"Explain in detail."
Ah Yin explained gently, "I'll sacrifice myself to you and return to being a grass seed. Then I'll absorb the Soul Bone's power to sprout and become a one-year Soul Beast. That way, I can stay by your side without being discovered by anyone else."
Lin Kong rubbed his chin and clenched his teeth, suppressing the joy in his heart as he asked without betraying anything, "You get the benefits, but what do I get? A Ten-Year Soul Ring? I don't want trash like that."
"No, my Soul Ring isn't trash! You, you big bully!" Anger tinged Ah Yin's voice. She propped up two leaves, looking as though she had planted her hands on her hips in anger.
Lin Kong burst out laughing. He reached over, placed his hand on the grass figure's head, and rubbed it. "Feels pretty nice," he praised.
"Don't touch me."
"What's wrong with a little touch? You're not a person now, just a stalk of grass."
"Stop touching me."
Ah Yin made her leaves slap Lin Kong's fingers, but she had very little strength and couldn't stop his fingers from continuing to stroke her head. It felt much like petting a cat.
"Ah! Do whatever you want!" Ah Yin gave up. Knowing she could do nothing about Lin Kong, she could only accept the situation and continue, "It's not a Ten-Year Soul Ring, but a Blue Silver Clan Soul Ring. Once the conditions are met, its age can increase until it becomes a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring."
Lin Kong understood as soon as he heard this. If he someday took Ah Yin to the Blue Silver Forest after taming her, she could give the word, and all the Blue Silver Grass Soul Beasts in the Blue Silver Forest would pour in power to increase the age of the Blue Silver Clan Soul Ring.
This was a benefit that would tie Lin Kong to her!
Ah Yin did have a few little schemes of her own.
"Tell me, isn't this Blue Silver Group Soul Ring powerful?" Ah Yin's voice carried a hint of smugness and pride.
Naturally, Lin Kong wouldn't be taken in by her. His eyes shifted, and he said disdainfully:
"It's just a Ten-Year Soul Ring!"
"It can improve later."
"It's a Ten-Year Soul Ring right now."
"It can improve to the hundred-thousand-year level."
"It's at the ten-year level right now."
Slap, slap, slap!
Ah Yin was nearly furious to death. Her leaves struck Lin Kong's hand again and again, making crisp sounds without inflicting any damage. Instead, she looked rather cute.
"Besides a Ten-Year Soul Ring, what other benefits do I get?" Lin Kong asked. Could he obtain the Blue Silver Emperor Bloodline he had been longing for?
Even a trace would do!
"That's still not enough?" Ah Yin asked in return.
Lin Kong didn't even answer. He simply stepped back and waved at Ah Yin. The Dark Blue Silver Grass beneath his feet grew, lifting his body upward as he made to leave and abandon Ah Yin here all alone as a person-no, as a stalk of grass.
"No, Lin Kong, don't leave me behind."
"Please, Lin Kong!"
"Please~"
Lin Kong stopped and turned around, looking down at her from above. His tone was very serious. "A Ten-Year Soul Ring that affects my present, with no telling whether it'll be useful in the future, isn't enough to tempt me."
"The Blue Silver Emperor Bloodline. I... I can give you the Blue Silver Emperor Bloodline through sacrifice." Ah Yin finally said those words.
The next second, Lin Kong was before Ah Yin. The distant, cold expression on his face was gone, and his voice softened as well. "All right, go ahead and sacrifice yourself! I'll take you out of here."
"?" Ah Yin felt muddleheaded, as though she had been tricked. But she wasn't in the mood to ponder it carefully. All she knew was that she could leave this place, this place without sunlight, this place with far too much moisture, this lonely, cold, silent place.
Poof!
Blue flames appeared on Ah Yin's body, their outer edges a pale gold, looking dazzling and brilliant. Within the flames, her leaves gradually grew insubstantial, turning into Soul Power that entered Lin Kong's body. Along with it, a Ten-Year Soul Ring flew above his body, spun a few times, then stabilized, proving that the sacrifice had ended.
Lin Kong reached over and picked up a grass seed from the stone table. It was the size of a thumb and resembled a sapphire. Without any golden markings, it looked beautiful and precious.
"The vitality of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Blue Silver Emperor is so outrageous!"
After that remark, he took out a strip of cloth as agreed and tied the grass seed to his left leg. A few seconds later, Lin Kong's brows twitched twice. He distinctly sensed the Soul Power in his body entering the Hundred-Thousand-Year Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Soul Bone, circulating once, then being absorbed by the grass seed.
"Take your time absorbing Soul Power! Who knows when you'll be able to sprout a second time!"
Lin Kong turned his gaze to his Dark Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul. After obtaining the Blue Silver Emperor Bloodline, its most prominent features were the extremely faint golden markings on it and the translucent quality of the outermost layer of its leaves, as though they had been coated in a layer of transparent glass.
The second benefit was that he had become a Soul Grandmaster, with one yellow Hundred-Year Soul Ring and one white Ten-Year Soul Ring-a Blue Silver Clan Soul Ring that had the chance to continue advancing to the hundred-thousand-year level.
His Soul Power settled at level twenty-one!
Lin Kong laughed. "Hahaha, from level eleven to level twenty-one in less than a day! Hahaha, I doubt anyone would dare believe it if I told them."