Blue Silver King
"Your mother was a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast."
Tang Hao said it as though it were nothing. Han Yu cursed him inwardly for taking so long to get to the point, but a look of shock appeared on his face.
"It was my first time learning something like that, too. I was just as shocked then, but I didn't give up. I still loved Ah Yin deeply."
Tang Hao caught sight of Han Yu's expression and chuckled, a faint blush spreading across the iron-blooded man's face.
"Later..."
Tang Hao was still searching his memories, but the finer details seemed to have been wiped from his mind. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't recall them. The strange state of affairs made him knit his brows tightly, and only after a moment did he slowly speak.
"Later, Spirit Hall somehow learned of it. The previous Pope of Spirit Hall, Qian Xunji, led a group of Soul Masters to the Clear Sky Sect to search for Ah Yin and me, while also sending people to intercept us on the way. Fortunately, my elder brother had already become a Titled Douluo by the time he returned to the Clear Sky Sect. Spirit Hall gained no advantage and found no trace of me, so they left. But my father learned of the matter too. He was already gravely ill, and he couldn't find me. Before long, he passed away."
Recalling how he had wandered outside all that time and hadn't even seen his father one last time before his death, Tang Hao shed a tear.
"After that, we had you, and we kept evading Spirit Hall's pursuit. But in the end, Qian Xunji found us on the day you were born. To protect my life and yours, your mother sacrificed herself to me, who had just cultivated to Level 90. Only then did we escape."
Tang Hao tilted his head back and looked at the azure sky, as though trying to keep his tears from falling.
Han Yu watched Tang Hao's actions, his expression shifting. His fists were clenched, as though he were holding back his anger, but he still had doubts about the matter.
There really was no need to scrutinize the matter. First, why had no one discovered them during all those years they spent roaming the continent together, only for Spirit Hall's people to find out after Tang Xiao left?
Then there was the timing of Tang Hao reaching Level 90, which was far too convenient. It happened just as Ah Yin was weakened from giving birth. If Qian Xunji hadn't arrived then, could the weakened Ah Yin have withstood a blow from Tang Hao's hammer?
Besides, just as Ah Yin had said, without her consent, no one could obtain her Soul Ring and Soul Bone.
But if, in her despair, she were told that her husband had reached Level 90 and needed only one Soul Ring to become a Titled Douluo and escape with their child...
But what did any of that have to do with Han Yu? A vigorous Blue Silver Emperor was still growing in his spiritual space. He didn't know when she would be able to take human form, or whether she would look like Ah Yin once she did. If she did, then...
The thoughts passed through Han Yu's mind in an instant. Then he noticed Tang Hao staring at him, his eyes vacant.
"Your mother once told me that if one day she died and was no longer here, I should bring our child to the forest where she grew up and cultivated, when the opportunity was right, for the final Martial Soul Awakening. She was a hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor who had taken human form, so I'm not surprised you came here."
Tang Hao finally waved Han Yu off, indicating that he could go on his own. Tang Hao sat on a rock with his head lowered, seemingly lost in memories.
Han Yu turned and left, a peculiar light flashing in his eyes. It seemed the Blue Silver Emperor's death wasn't so simple. Or perhaps the Blue Silver Emperor Ah Yin had anticipated her own death long ago. But she had also said that without her consent, she wouldn't die.
Everything seemed to be getting more interesting.
As he got farther and farther from Tang Hao, Han Yu's lips curved upward. Then he placed the Blue Silver Emperor growing in his spiritual space in his hand.
The instant the Blue Silver Emperor was released, every blade of Blue Silver Grass in sight bent slightly toward Han Yu. A ripple invisible to the naked eye spread out in all directions, centered on the Blue Silver Emperor in his hand.
Tang Hao seemed to sense that something was amiss. He raised his head and glanced at Han Yu's retreating figure, already some distance away, then lowered it again.
As Han Yu walked deeper, he saw that the Blue Silver Emperor in his hand was pointing the way, just like a person stretching out a hand. The breath of life in that direction was extraordinarily vigorous. The moment he stepped into the area, he had already felt a sense of peace, and even his somewhat restless mood had calmed.
The Blue Silver Emperor noticed Han Yu standing still with his eyes closed, breathing in the breath of nature through his mouth and nose. Growing a little anxious, she extended a vine and poked his cheek.
"Oh, you've got intelligence now?"
The Blue Silver Emperor's gentle poke brought Han Yu back to his senses. It felt like a foxtail brushing his cheek, a little ticklish. He opened his eyes to see what she was doing and was somewhat surprised. He raised her up and examined her carefully, but found nothing unusual. He chuckled and spoke.
Seeing that Han Yu had come to his senses, the Blue Silver Emperor stretched out a vine and pointed in that direction again, as if she wished she could grow two legs and walk there herself on the spot.
Han Yu watched it all, then chuckled and strode into the forest. With the Blue Silver Emperor guiding him, he wasn't worried about what the Blue Silver King with eighty-five thousand years of cultivation might do.
Once they entered the forest, the Blue Silver Emperor in his hand grew even more excited. One vine kept pointing the way while two others swayed incessantly, unusually cheerful.
After walking for about an hour, Han Yu was growing impatient. He irritably flicked the Blue Silver Emperor in his hand and said, "How much farther?"
Unfortunately, the Blue Silver Emperor couldn't communicate with him at the moment. Looking aggrieved, she pointed in that direction.
With no other choice, Han Yu suppressed his impatience and continued deeper inside.
Not a single Soul Beast had stood in his way along the journey. After he passed through a thicket, a plant ahead caught his attention. Slender vines climbed upward, countless tendrils entwined together, their entire length a clear blue. Their surface shimmered with a peculiar crystalline luster, and the Blue Silver Grass around the plant grew especially thick and lush.
Each vine was as thick as an ordinary person's waist, more than a foot in diameter. The moment Han Yu stepped inside, the vines had sealed off his retreat. The vines within sight lashed about frantically, as though they meant to entangle him, but they also seemed to be worried about something.
A human face had formed at the center where the vines converged. Its features were tangled together, making it look especially furious.
"What have you done to the king?"
The furious face actually spoke human words, while the vines swept through the air like a great net.
"Oh, you mean her."
Han Yu slapped his forehead and, grinning cheekily, flicked the thickest vine of the Blue Silver Emperor in his hand twice.
"You! How dare you treat the king like that!"
The Blue Silver King was furious, the eyes on his human face seeming ready to spit fire.
After Han Yu flicked her twice, the Blue Silver Emperor pressed two vines against her main stem, just like a person planting her hands on her hips.