Several days later, the sun shone in a clear sky.
Following Yu Xiaogang's instructions, Tang San shouldered his pack and set off for Suotuo City with Xiao Wu, formally bidding farewell to Nuoding City, where he had lived for six years.
Xiao Xuan remained in the city. After hearing that Tang San and Xiao Wu had left and gone far away, he remained as steady as Mount Tai.
He did not rush to Holy Soul Village.
The closer he came to success, the more patient he needed to be.
For the next dozen or so days, Xiao Xuan stayed at his little courtyard on the outskirts of the city, taking time now and then to help look after the family shop, as though he were about to give up being a Soul Master.
His days passed at an easy pace, with nothing at all seeming amiss.
Only on the twentieth day, after making arrangements with his parents, did Xiao Xuan quietly leave Nuoding City and head for Holy Soul Village.
Holy Soul Village.
Xiao Xuan skirted the few low mud-brick houses at the village entrance and headed straight for the mountain behind Holy Soul Village.
The original work had given no precise, detailed description of the terrain around the place where Tang Hao had hidden Ah Yin.
Finding Ah Yin's location would naturally take a great deal of walking.
But compared with the rich rewards this trip might bring, spending another day or two searching the mountain was nothing.
For the next two days, Xiao Xuan kept his guard at its highest and patiently searched every ravine and shaded rock face on the mountain, checking them one by one.
Hard work paid off.
At last, at noon on the third day.
Xiao Xuan followed an unremarkable, clear mountain stream upstream. Beneath a slick rock face tightly blocked by vines and fallen rocks, he finally spotted a tiny, almost unnoticeable opening.
Xiao Xuan pulled aside the thick, tangled weeds and fallen dead branches, gradually revealing a natural crevice in the rock, just large enough for one person to pass through bent over and sideways.
"Finally found it."
A smile rose at the corner of Xiao Xuan's mouth, and he turned sideways and slipped into the cave.
The cave was not spacious, and it was dim and cramped, but two or three adults could still stand side by side inside.
A lone Blue Silver Grass grew in the very center of this cold, damp stone cave, which never saw daylight all year round.
This Blue Silver Grass looked much like the weeds found everywhere by the roadside.
The only difference was that its leaves were especially shriveled and curled, its vitality as faint as a candle flickering in the wind, as though it might wither and die at any moment.
But that was also the key to proving its identity.
There should be no other Blue Silver Grass besides the Blue Silver Emperor Ah Yin that could survive in such a dark, airless cavern without any light.
Xiao Xuan wasted no time, not even bothering to linger in front of the grass for another moment.
His primary objective was quite simple: the Hundred-Thousand-Year Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone!
His gaze sharp as a torch, Xiao Xuan began searching inch by inch along the protruding rock walls and the hollows in the cave floor.
Just as he bent down to search a crevice in the rock wall, the sickly Blue Silver Grass behind him seemed to sense a stranger's presence. A ring of extremely faint blue light suddenly spread over the surface of its leaves.
The next moment, a soft woman's voice, tinged with weakness, fear, and bewilderment, sounded in Xiao Xuan's mind without warning.
"You... who are you?"
Hearing the sudden mental transmission, Xiao Xuan did not even pause in his search for half a second, treating it as nothing more than a breeze passing by his ear.
Xiao Xuan had little desire to pay attention to this grass with a love-addled brain.
Besides, he had come to ransack her home. Was he supposed to exchange pleasantries with her-"Hello, I've come to take your bone"?
Xiao Xuan quickly continued along the rock wall, tapping it carefully as he went.
Before long, a dull, hollow knock sounded, and Xiao Xuan felt a hard, heavy, elongated object in a narrow crevice deep within the inner wall.
Xiao Xuan gripped it with two fingers and steadily pulled it out of the crevice.
It was a lead box with a subdued, dark gray sheen all over.
The lead casing was sealed tightly, blocking any Soul Power fluctuations that might have leaked from within.
Click!
Xiao Xuan flicked a fingertip, and the clasp sprang open.
A long, slender bone lay quietly inside the box, crystal clear throughout and radiating a rich blue glow and pure vitality.
The Hundred-Thousand-Year Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone!
He had it!
Xiao Xuan's heart leaped with joy.
System, can this Soul Bone be used as an auxiliary material the next time my Martial Soul rises in star rank?
[Ding! The system has detected that the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone's star rank far exceeds the host's Martial Soul's current star rank. This item cannot be used in the next synthesis.]
Hearing the system's mechanical notification, Xiao Xuan showed no sign of disappointment. Instead, he shrugged in relief.
It was only to be expected.
After all, this was a genuine Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone. It would have been strange if its star rank were low.
Since he could not use it to advance to five stars right now, he could simply put it safely away in his storage bag for later.
Once his Martial Soul's star rank rose in the future, he would be able to use this Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone eventually.
Xiao Xuan closed the lead box and put it into his storage soul tool bag.
Seeing Xiao Xuan take the Soul Bone, Ah Yin grew anxious at once.
"You... who exactly are you? How did you know my Soul Bone was sealed away here?!"
After hesitating for a moment, Ah Yin seemed to grasp at her last straw, and she pressed him in a trembling voice:
"Could it... could it be that Brother Hao sent you here?"
"Brother Hao?"
Hearing that form of address, Xiao Xuan turned around and could not help letting out a chuckle.
"You've held on for more than ten years in this place without a ray of sunlight, and your body is so weak you're nearly at your last breath. Yet you still call him Brother Hao?"
"Ask yourself honestly: has Tang Hao ever thought about letting you recover?"
Those calm words, sharp as knives, abruptly silenced Ah Yin. For a moment, she was at a loss for words.
Xiao Xuan crouched down, studying the dull, thin blades of grass before him, barely clinging to life, and continued:
"Now that you've ended up half-dead like this, have you really never stopped to think why Tang Hao hid you in this dead cave without a single ray of light?"
Ah Yin's leaves softened slightly, but she still tried to defend the illusion in her heart:
"Brother Hao... Brother Hao has always acted with care. He must have had his reasons and considerations for doing this. Whatever he did, his original intention must have been to protect me..."
"To protect you?"
Xiao Xuan shook his head.
"Do you believe that yourself? Anyone with a little common sense knows that plants need plenty of sunlight to grow normally."
"Tang Hao is a Titled Douluo who has roamed the continent and seen much of the world. Could he really not know that plants can't live long without light?"
At this, Xiao Xuan paused briefly.
"You probably don't know this yet, do you? Your own son, Tang San, also awakened Blue Silver Grass as an inherited Martial Soul."
"And only one emperor of the Blue Silver Clan can exist in the world at a time."
"Think carefully. Did he leave you here in the hope that you would be reborn, or did he want you to quietly exhaust your remnant soul and clear a broad road for Tang San's future?"
His words fell.
Silence returned to the cave.
Ah Yin's leaves drooped completely, and not another word of rebuttal came from her mind.
Clearly, those words had utterly shattered the self-deceiving illusion she had woven over the years.
Xiao Xuan smiled, casually extended his index finger, and nudged the shriveled, withered blue-green stem:
"Why so quiet? Are you still going to keep calling him Brother Hao?"
And yet!
Just as Xiao Xuan's fingertip accidentally touched the body of the seemingly frail Blue Silver Grass,
A system notification suddenly rang out in Xiao Xuan's mind.
[Ding! A special plant origin has been detected-[Degenerated Remnant Body of the Blue Silver Emperor]] [Quality assessment: five-star auxiliary material!]
Hearing the system's notification, Xiao Xuan froze for a moment, his gaze snapping back to the Blue Silver Grass he had nudged with his fingertip.
He had originally focused all his attention on the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone and had never expected this half-dead Blue Silver Emperor to provide him with any benefit.
Who would have thought that Ah Yin's remnant body actually qualified as a "five-star auxiliary material"!
The Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone's rank was too high for him to use it for now, but Ah Yin's degenerated body was precisely the five-star advancement material that had come knocking at his door!
Xiao Xuan took a deep breath, wild joy appearing in his eyes.
He had worn through iron shoes searching in vain, only to find it without the slightest effort!
Xiao Xuan then took out a container and began transplanting Ah Yin's body.