Chapter 74: Tang Hao's Wild Assumptions
Tang Hao was currently very troubled.
Years ago, he had encountered someone—someone he both knew and didn't know. That person was the brat from neighboring Dihun Village back when he was still hiding out in Saint Soul Village—Zu Zong.
Seven years ago, Zu Zong came over to play with Tang San. Tang Hao hadn't thought much of it, just assuming it was normal play between kids. But for some reason, Tang San didn't seem to like being around Zu Zong, and after that, the two stopped interacting entirely.
Six years ago, Tang San awakened his martial soul. Tang Hao was overjoyed when he learned his son had awakened twin martial souls. Later, Old Jack mentioned that the brat from Dihun Village had awakened a mutated Blue Silver Grass, also with innate full soul power.
Tang Hao had only found that mildly surprising. Mutated martial souls were rare, but not impossible. In his mind, no genius could compare to his son, a twin martial soul prodigy.
Until three years ago—when, like he did every year, Tang Hao secretly visited Tang San at Nuoding.
By coincidence, he saw Zu Zong passing by Tang San with Xiao Wu at his side.
For a moment, he genuinely thought Ah Yin had come back to life. The girl looked far too similar—same hair color, similar facial features.
If Tang San hadn't been standing right there, he would have assumed his son had undergone a second martial soul awakening into the Blue Silver Emperor.
Tang Hao couldn't help but wonder:
"That brat isn't a Blue Silver Grass spirit beast, right? Could it be... Ah Yin gave birth to twins? To avoid danger, she secretly hid one of them? And when Qian Xunji came hunting, she didn't have time to tell me?"
Later, Tang Hao learned that the person who looked so much like his deceased wife was actually that long-forgotten brat from Dihun Village.
After asking around, Tang Hao discovered Zu Zong was picked up by the Dihun Village chief from the ruins nine years ago—exactly when he had his fateful battle with Qian Xunji. This made him even more suspicious that Zu Zong was related to Ah Yin.
([Author's note: The only person who knows Zu Zong's real name is Old Tom. Everyone else is either dead or fled. Old Tom keeps lying that Zu Zong was picked up to avoid bringing disaster from the ones who caused the calamity back then.])
As he continued to observe, Tang Hao eventually confirmed that Zu Zong's martial soul was indeed the Blue Silver Emperor. At one point, he even secretly took some Blue Silver Emperor remnants left behind during Zu Zong's cultivation and showed them to young Ah Yin.
Her reaction was filled with sorrow and, more than that, tenderness—like she was touching the remains of her own child.
This solidified Tang Hao's belief: Zu Zong probably wasn't his real name. It should be Tang Zong—his son.
He knew all too well how difficult it was to awaken the Blue Silver Emperor. It couldn't be achieved by simple mutation alone. Martial souls could lie. Appearances could lie. But bloodlines couldn't.
Ah Yin had genuinely sensed her own bloodline in Zu Zong's martial soul—there was a very high chance he was her son.
Zu Zong (rolling his eyes): What the f*ck, Tang Hao. The Blue Silver Emperor bloodline was something I damn well stole—stole, I tell you.
After months of observation, Tang Hao noticed Zu Zong's cultivation was monstrous—so fast it stunned even him. By the age of eleven, he had already reached Soul Elder rank.
His perception was sharp, too—he could already use the Blue Silver Domain to control nearby Blue Silver Grass. On several occasions, Zu Zong nearly discovered him.
At those moments, Tang Hao was filled with the urge to rush up and shout: "I'm your father!"
But he couldn't. The Spirit Hall was still hunting them. The less Zu Zong knew, the safer he would be.
What did give Tang Hao some comfort was that Zu Zong wasn't just exceptionally gifted—he also had great romantic luck. Not only had he raised a little loli, but he also gained a young wife during his third spirit ring hunt—completely free of charge.
But now, Tang Hao was in distress again—because he realized that his son, Tang San, seemed to strongly dislike Zu Zong. Perhaps even jealous of him.
That wouldn't do.
Their relationship was like fire and water. As a father, Tang Hao knew he needed to find a way to talk to Tang San and guide him properly.
—
In the Soto City Great Spirit Arena, a month had passed since Shrek Academy's victory over the Berserker Team.
As in the original story, even without Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing's "Nether White Tiger" fusion skill, the Shrek Seven Devils still managed to win Silver Spirit Fighter status in their team matches.
It was worth noting that Zhu Zhuqing had been the standout performer during this time. She demonstrated outstanding spirit power control and powerful physical techniques.
More than that, in the four months since arriving at Shrek, with Zu Zong's support, she had raised her spirit power by two full ranks—reaching Rank 29.
Her rapid growth allowed her to surpass Ma Hongjun and rise to fifth place in the Shrek Seven Devils by spirit rank. This astonished many, and Flender could be heard scolding Ma Hongjun daily for his lack of progress—as his own personally taught disciple was being overtaken by someone who joined later.
Inside VIP Room No. 7, the Shrek group had gathered together.
The atmosphere was heavy. Everyone felt uneasy, because they were about to face the most terrifying opponents they had ever encountered—the Huangdou Battle Team.
"Master, are we really going to fight Huangdou?" Ma Hongjun asked nervously.
Yu Xiaogang nodded, his eyes burning with fighting spirit. The Huangdou captain, Yu Tianheng, was his nephew—the heir apparent of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon clan. Yu Xiaogang himself had been cast aside by that very clan due to poor talent.
If the disciples he trained could defeat the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, it would be his long-awaited chance to vent that grievance.
"We can win."
Just as morale sank and everyone fell into silence, Tang San suddenly raised his voice, speaking words that struck like thunder—clearly hoping to draw everyone's attention to himself.
If this were the original story, his encouragement might have boosted everyone's spirits. But after personally witnessing Zu Zong's overwhelming power, no one had much confidence left.
Tang San suddenly felt awkward—it seemed his moment had flopped.
Oscar raised his hand and spoke solemnly, "Uh… I just want to say this—sure, we shouldn't fear our opponents. But if they're overwhelmingly strong… well, Zhuqing's boyfriend's strength—we all saw it last time. Boss Dai especially knows it firsthand. Just that devastating second spirit skill—Blue Silver Blades—was already hard enough to deal with."
"Careless, and you'll be turned into a sieve. Who among us could take that head-on? And don't forget, he hasn't even used his first or third spirit skills yet!"
Dai Mubai nodded heavily. Ever since his injury, his personality had begun to change.
Had he been forcefully castrated by someone else, he might have become another Gao Yao and walked the path of vengeance. But because he believed it was the result of his own actions, it gradually developed into something more like Dongfang Bubai's twisted serenity—Heaven and Man in Harmony, All Things Blooming.
In his mind, "Yu Xiaogang" had slowly become his own version of Yang Lian-ting.
"Ma~ster… though I also hate that man, I have to admit, he gives me a kind of unstoppable pressure," Dai Mubai said in a strangely androgynous voice.
Yu Xiaogang's sharp gaze swept across the group. He could clearly see most of them were afraid.
But he had a way to counter that fear.
A strange smile crept across his stiff face.
"Tell me—have you ever heard… of martial soul attribute suppression?"
(End of Chapter)
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