After writing Mysterious Heaven Skill into the blank manual, Tang San, filled with unwillingness, handed the book to Ye Yu.
"Here. Can you give my father back to me now?"
"Of course."
Ye Yu smiled faintly, reached out with a grasp into the void, and hauled Tang Hao up, then casually tossed him toward Tang San.
"Father!"
Tang San quickly leapt up, catching Tang Hao in his arms before landing on the ground.
"Xiao San!"
Seeing his son before him, Tang Hao's heart was overwhelmed with emotion; his eyes turned red and his throat tightened.
Although he didn't know what Mysterious Heaven Skill was, the fact that this monstrous Ye Yu coveted it meant it was without doubt extremely precious.
"Father, I'll take you back to the Sect right now!"
Thinking that the deal was over, Tang San hoisted Tang Hao onto his back, preparing to leave for the Clear Sky Sect.
But at that moment, Ye Yu's lips curled into a playful smile. With a thought, he summoned his Blue Silver Spirit Jade Tree Martial Soul.
In an instant, a dazzling blue-silver light flared.
Before their eyes appeared a towering giant tree, its trunk and branches crystalline as if carved from pure sapphire, its vast canopy seeming to uphold a starry sky — the Blue Silver Spirit Jade Tree.
The next moment, one of its massive roots burst up from the ground, lashing straight toward Tang San.
"This is—!"
Seeing the incoming crystal-blue root, Tang San's expression changed drastically.
Wasn't this the detestable Blue Silver Spirit Jade Tree Martial Soul of Ye Yu, the one who had taken Xiao Wu away?!
Carrying Tang Hao on his back, even though Tang San displayed Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, his speed was hindered.
Within moments, the root wrapped firmly around him.
The Blue Silver Spirit Jade Tree's root deliberately avoided Tang Hao, binding Tang San tightly like a blue-silver crystal python and lifting him high into the air.
Tang Hao, meanwhile, tumbled from Tang San's back, landing hard with a muffled groan of pain.
"You… you're Ye Yu?!"
Tang San finally recognized him and was filled with fury. After all, no one else on the entire continent possessed the Blue Silver Spirit Jade Tree Martial Soul.
Ye Yu's current appearance was greatly changed from before, making him unrecognizable without knowing beforehand — but as a disciple of the Tang Sect, Tang San was well-versed in disguise techniques, and could accept the truth faster than most.
"Ye Yu! You're shameless! We agreed that if I handed over Mysterious Heaven Skill, you'd give my father back to me. You've broken your promise!""
"I broke my promise?"
Ye Yu chuckled, his tone dripping with amusement.
"When did I ever break my promise? I've already given Tang Hao to you — have I laid a hand on him? No. Right now, I'm grabbing you. I never promised not to touch you, did I?"
"You—!"
At that moment, Tang San realized the truth. Tang Hao was still lying on the ground untouched. Ye Yu's target was himself, not his father.
By the strictest meaning, the promise hadn't been broken — but this was still utterly despicable.
"Tang Hao,"
Ye Yu turned his gaze to the man on the ground, his voice calm.
"Just now, your son handed over Mysterious Heaven Skill to save you. Now the same choice is before you. As long as you hand over your Clear Sky Sect's inheritance secret technique — the Great Sumeru Hammer — I'll give Tang San back to you intact so you can both leave safely.
If you refuse…"
Ye Yu's smile deepened, carrying a hint of cold menace.
"…then I can still give your son to you — only in several pieces."
"Let me see how deep the bond between father and son truly runs."
Saying this, the corner of his lips lifted higher, and he almost wanted to cackle like a villain.
Indeed, his current actions were utterly villainous — but so what?
From the age of six, he had risked his life again and again, seizing opportunities far beyond his level at the time — all to grow stronger, to seize control of his own fate, and to do whatever he pleased.
Now, his strength was unmatched on the Douluo Continent. The only ones worth caution were the gods of the Divine Realm.
As long as he didn't go too far, even the gods had their rules — at least in Douluo I, the gods still cared about appearances. They wouldn't descend to personally deal with mortals the way God King Tang San would tens of thousands of years later.
For now, Ye Yu had no plans to kill Tang San or Tang Hao.
Partly, he still felt wary of the Asura God behind Tang San. In the original story, the Asura God was willing to bend the rules for Tang San, making the Seven-Colored Goddess and the God of Food to choose Oscar and Ning Rongrong, allowing them to use a Martial Soul Fusion Ability to resurrect Tang San, and even letting him achieve a dual-god body — crippling the God of Destruction in the process.
If Ye Yu killed Tang San outright, who knew if that god might directly intervene?
Though confident against gods, Ye Yu preferred caution.
Besides, he had already spread the sub-bodies of the Blue Silver Spirit Jade Tree across the entire continent. With time, they would grow in strength and intelligence, producing more and more Spirit Power to feed back to him.
Before long, he might receive over a million years' worth of Spirit Power feedback in a single day — enough to condense a Spirit Core daily.
In a few years, he could have a Spirit Core in every acupoint, completing his Celestial Star Dou Spirit Core Grand Formation.
At that point, he alone could smash the Divine Realm.
Time, to him, was power.
As for sparing Tang San — it was also to use him to pressure Xiao Wu into sacrificing herself to his third Martial Soul, the Ice Jade Emperor Dragon Scorpion.
Her Invincible Golden Body and Nullity ability were far too tempting.
Letting Tang Hao go, on the other hand, was because Ye Yu had already struck a deal with Ah Yin: if he released Tang Hao, she would become his Blue Silver Impress, devoting herself solely to the Blue Silver Grass clan and Ye Yu, with no one else in her heart.
"You… vile… shameless!!"
Never had Tang Hao imagined Ye Yu would demand the Clear Sky Sect's most powerful technique—the Great Sumeru Hammer—in exchange for Tang San's life.
His eyes nearly split with rage. His loyalty to the Sect was as constant as the sun and moon; even under previous torment, Ye Yu had never managed to extract the Great Sumeru Hammer – Ring Detonation Secret from him.
But now, with his son's life on the line, Tang Hao roared in fury—
And in the end… he yielded