The Blue Silver Emperor
Packing was quick; there wasn't much to bring, mainly some sentimental items and things that Yan Hu Su Qing often used.
Yan Zu left most of the remaining Gold Soul Coin from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's profit sharing to his parents, keeping only a small portion for himself as a backup.
They hired a horse-drawn carriage, and with their family and simple luggage, they set off on their journey back to Five Souls Village.
Compared to riding Little Jade at breakneck speed, the carriage was much slower, but it gave Yan Zu and Xiao Wu more time to spend with their parents and enjoy this rare and heartwarming time.
A few days later, the carriage entered Five Souls Village.
Upon hearing the news, the villagers came out to greet them. Seeing the distinguished and noticeably younger-looking Yan Hu and Su Qing, as well as the increasingly handsome and charming Yan Zu and Xiao Wu, everyone gathered around, offering their greetings with envy and sincere blessings.
Yan Hu and Su Qing greeted the villagers with smiles and distributed some candy and fabric they had brought back from Nuoding City to the children, which drew cheers from them.
Returning to that simple yet memorable courtyard, Yan Hu and Su Qing both wore relieved and contented smiles.
There's no place like home; this is their own doghouse.
After settling down, Yan Hu and Su Qing didn't just relax and enjoy themselves. Now that their family was better off, they wanted to do something for the village. With his newly promoted Soul Ancestor strength and rich experience in Soul Hunting, Yan Hu began to spontaneously organize the young people in the village with Soul Master potential, teaching them some basic Dou Technique and knowledge about hunting low-level Soul Beast, thus improving the village's self-defense capabilities.
He was generous and righteous, and quickly won the respect of young people.
Su Qing returned to her old profession, but no longer for a living.
She used some of the money left by Yan Zu to open a small "Su Medical Clinic" in the village, providing free treatment for common injuries and illnesses to the villagers.
Her Golden-Veined Green Grain Martial Soul had excellent healing effects, and coupled with the medical skills she learned from the fragments of "Essential Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold," she quickly became famous, attracting people from nearby villages.
At the same time, she patiently guided the villagers on how to select seeds, cultivate seedlings, fertilize, and plant high-yield crops, based on the knowledge in the "Hundred Grains Manual" left by Yan Zu.
She also took out some simple civilian Soul Tool, such as soul-guided irrigation devices, and demonstrated their use to the villagers. Although the quantity was limited, it gave everyone hope for improving their lives.
Yan Zu and Xiao Wu felt gratified to see their parents quickly integrate into rural life and find new value and joy.
The Core Flame of civilization may be sown little by little from the people closest to us and the places we know best.
Yan Zu and Xiao Wu spent a few more days with their parents in Five Souls Village, enjoying the peaceful rural life.
However, considering the time, it has been more than ten days since they left Blue Tyrant Academy. Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing and the others should have almost fully adapted to their evolved martial Martial Soul. It's time to return to the academy and prepare for the next team Soul Hunting.
However, before that, Yan Zu had one more thing to deal with: severing Tang San's Blue Silver Emperor Bloodline awakening.
Standing in front of the fence of his own courtyard, Yan Zu at the distant mountains with a slight frown. In his hand was the [Gazetteer of Mountains and Rivers], a strange book that recorded the distribution and characteristics of almost all high-level Soul Beast on the continent.
The records about the "Blue Silver King" are clear and concise - located deep in an ancient forest on the southeastern border of the Heaven Dou Empire, it is a Plant-type Soul Beast with a cultivation of over 85,000 years, and also the king of the Blue Silver Grass Clan.
"The simplest way is to find and kill the Blue Silver King directly," Yan Zu muttered to himself, his fingers lightly tapping the pages of his book. "That way, Tang San will forever lose the possibility of awakening the Blue Silver Emperor Bloodline."
However, he quickly rejected this idea.
Yan Zu was not a bloodthirsty person. As the guardian of the Blue Silver Grass Clan, the Blue Silver King had never intentionally harmed humans. To kill him simply because he was the key to Tang San's bloodline awakening would go against Yan Zu's true nature.
"I promised Xiao Wu that I would try my best not to kill kind Soul Beast." Yan Zu recalled the promise he made to Xiao Wu. It was when they obtained their First Soul Ring in Sunset Forest, and Xiao Wu looked at the corpse of the Auspicious Cloud Deer and said those words to him with tears in her eyes.
Of course, Yan Zu was by no means a pedantic person. If Tang San really awakened the Blue Silver Emperor Bloodline in the future and his strength increased greatly, he would definitely pose a huge threat to Xiao Wu, himself, and the entire team.
In his past life, Tang San was ruthless and vindictive. If he were to become a god like in the original story, the consequences would be unimaginable.
"If there's truly no better way, killing the Blue Silver King will be the only last resort." A resolute glint flashed in Yan Zu's eyes. "But before that, perhaps we could first meet with the imprisoned Blue Silver Emperor."
Blue Silver Emperor Ah Yin, Tang San's mother and Tang Hao's wife, is now just a Blue Silver Grass growing in a dark, secret room.
Thinking of this pitiful woman, Yan Zu felt a mix of emotions.
In the original novel, Ah Yin was imprisoned by Tang Hao in a secret chamber behind a waterfall for more than ten years, never seeing the light of day. If Tang San hadn't later awakened his Blue Silver Emperor Bloodline, she probably would never have seen the light of day again.
What angered Yan Zu the most was that Tang Hao's feelings for Ah Yin were not as deep as they seemed on the surface.
It is highly likely that Ah Yin's sacrifice was orchestrated by Tang Hao, who used the lives of his wife and unborn child as a price to achieve a breakthrough in his strength and become the youngest Titled Douluo on the continent.
"If we can help Ah Yin see the truth, perhaps—" A bold plan gradually took shape in Yan Zu's mind.
The next morning, Yan Zu told his parents and Xiao Wu that he was going out.
"Father, Mother, Xiao Wu, I have some errands to run today, I'll probably be back tonight." Yan Zu packed his simple belongings.
Xiao Wu asked curiously, "A-Zu, where are you going? Do you need me to come with you?"
Yan Zu shook his head. "No need, it's easier for me to handle this myself. Sister Xiao Wu, you stay home with Mom and Dad, I'll be back soon."
Yan Hu patted his son on the shoulder. "Be careful, come back soon."
Su Qing carefully packed some dry food and water into Yan Zu's Soul Tool: "Be careful on the road, don't go hungry."
After bidding farewell to his family, Yan Zu mounted Little Jade and sped off towards Holy Soul Village. Little Jade was incredibly fast, and in less than half a day, the outline of Holy Soul Village came into view.
Yan Zu concealed his aura and quietly sneaked into Holy Soul Village.
Holy Soul Village remained as peaceful and serene as ever. Yan Zu secretly found Tang Hao's blacksmith shop. The shop door was tightly closed, and the furnace in front of it had long since cooled down, covered with a thick layer of ash. Clearly, Tang Hao had been gone for quite some time.
"It seems Tang Hao is still near the Shrek Academy, secretly protecting Tang San." Yan Zu understood.
After confirming that Tang Hao was not in the village, Yan Zu did not delay any longer and quickly left Holy Soul Village, heading towards the back mountain outside the village.
According to the records in [Gazetteer of Mountains and Rivers], the waterfall where the Blue Silver Emperor is located should be deep in the back mountain.
After passing through a dense forest and crossing several mountain streams, the roar of water came from ahead. Yan Zu followed the sound and suddenly the view opened up before him.
A waterfall about 20 meters wide cascades down a cliff 100 meters high, like an inverted Milky Way, splashing and refracting seven colors of light under the sunlight.
Below the waterfall is a bottomless pool, where steam rises and forms a thin mist on the surface.
The scene was almost exactly as described in the original work.
Yan Zu stood in front of the waterfall, observing it carefully. According to the original story, there should be a cave hidden behind the waterfall, and the Blue Silver Emperor should be imprisoned in a secret chamber deep inside the cave.
"To get in, we have to cross this waterfall." Yan Zu took a deep breath, circulated his Soul Power to protect himself, and with a light touch of his toes, his figure shot towards the waterfall like an arrow.
Protected by his Soul Power, Yan Zu easily passed through the waterfall's water curtain.
Sure enough, behind the waterfall lay a hidden paradise—a deep cave appeared before us. The cave entrance was small, allowing only one person to pass at a time, and the cave walls were covered with damp moss.
Yan Zu cautiously entered the cave. The cave was dimly lit, but that was not a problem for him. As he went deeper, the cave gradually opened up, and a heavy stone door appeared in front of him.
Yan pushed open the stone door, behind which was a secret room about ten square meters in size. In the center of the secret room was a small patch of land on which a peculiar Blue Silver Grass grew.
This is it.
Yan Zu entered the secret chamber, his gaze falling on the Blue Silver Grass. Unlike ordinary Blue Silver Grass, this Blue Silver Grass had faint golden patterns on its leaves, and its stem was crystal clear, emitting a faint but pure life aura.
However, it didn't look well; the leaves were slightly yellow, and the stems were somewhat wilted, clearly indicating that it wasn't thriving in this dark and damp environment.
This is the Blue Silver Emperor, Ah Yin, Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast who transformed and rebuilt his soul. Now, only a wisp of his soul remains attached to this Blue Silver Grass, trapped in this dark and secluded chamber for twelve years.
Yan Zu squatted down and carefully examined the Blue Silver Grass. He already had a guess in his mind, but he remained expressionless.
"How strange this Blue Silver Grass. Its leaves even have golden veins," he muttered to himself, gently stroking the leaves. "Its vitality is so weak, is it about to die?"
The Blue Silver Grass trembled slightly at his touch, seemingly surprised and wary of the human who had suddenly appeared.
With a thought, Yan Zu sent Little Jade leap down from his shoulder, transforming into a tiny form and landing beside the Blue Silver Grass. A soft, jade-colored light emanated from Little Jade, and an auspicious aura flowed like warm spring water, enveloping the entire Blue Silver Grass.
"Little Jade, this Blue Silver Grass seems to be dying. Can you help it?" Yan Zu said casually.
Little Jade let out a soft hum, and the auspicious aura became even stronger.
Nourished by it, the originally yellowed leaves of the Blue Silver Grass turned emerald green at a visible speed, and the grass stems gradually stood up, exuding an even richer vitality. The Blue Silver Grass swayed gently, and its leaves brushed against Little Jade's body, as if to express its gratitude.