"There's no better place than this—the Blue Silver Emperor has got to be here."
At this moment, Ignaz, wearing a mask and wrapped in a black robe, swept out his tremendous spiritual power. Suddenly, a cave appeared in his mind—hidden by thick vines near the waterfall. Inside the cave, in a spot where light filtered through, stood a light blue four-leaf clover about two feet tall. When it sensed the unfamiliar spiritual probe, it actually trembled a few times, as if terrified.
"Aha, found you—my beloved Blue Silver Emperor."
Just as Ignaz was about to cut through the vines at the cave entrance, he suddenly stopped. His mind raced—what if Tang Hao had left some kind of spirit device or hidden weapon at the entrance to detect intruders? That would blow his cover completely.
But then again, knowing Tang Hao—that muscle-brained brute—he probably wouldn't bother with special precautions for a Blue Silver Emperor that might not regain human form for who knows how many years.
After a moment's consideration, Ignaz decided to show at least some respect. He raised both hands, and as spirit power flowed in, the two golden circular devices on his left and right arms began their mechanical rotation. A pair of cannon barrels extended out, and two red energy spheres gathered at their tips.
"Bang—"
The red energy beam blasted through the vines at the cave entrance, even knocking down a layer of stone from inside the cave.
"Thud, thud, thud—"
The sound of a wooden box tumbling came from inside the cave, crisp and clear to the ear.
Ignaz immediately rushed in and picked up the fallen wooden box. Opening it, he found a completely blue spirit bone with golden spiral patterns.
"So this is that 100,000-year Blue Silver Emperor spirit bone! Tang Hao really didn't take it with him!"
But even in his excitement, Ignaz noticed an unfamiliar spirit power fluctuation on both the wooden box and the Blue Silver Emperor spirit bone. No doubt it was Tang Hao's lingering trace—he probably often used this spirit bone to remember his lost love.
Ignaz sneered at the Tang family's behavior. The whole family had a thing for spirit beasts—the father loved grass, the son loved rabbits, and ironically, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were natural enemies by nature.
Though the transformed Blue Silver Emperor gave him a very special feeling, honestly, Ignaz found it hard to approve of this particular fetish for human-beast romance.
Ignaz immediately channeled the blood-killing aura within his Blood Thunder War Spear to completely erase all traces of spirit power from both the wooden box and the spirit bone.
Then he walked with great interest to the Blue Silver Emperor, which had no instinctive consciousness and was no different from any ordinary Blue Silver Grass.
"Sorry about this, but I've got to fleece the Tang family for everything they're worth."
Ignaz pulled up the Blue Silver Emperor by its roots and stored it in his storage pouch.
At that very moment, Tang San, who was strolling through a city with Xiao Wu, suddenly froze.
"Thump—"
His heart felt like it had been struck by something, a sudden sharp pain.
Xiao Wu, who was munching on a carrot, saw Tang San's condition and looked at him with concern.
"Little San, what's wrong? Is that punk from after graduation talking trash about you again? I can't believe he still hasn't learned his lesson after I taught him one back then. Let's go back right now—I'll make him experience the terror of the academy's big sister again and get revenge for you."
"No need, Xiao Wu. We've got places to be."
After the sharp pain subsided, Tang San suddenly felt much better. He quickly grabbed Xiao Wu's hand to stop her.
Though he didn't know why his heart had hurt, maybe Xiao Wu was right on the money—someone was badmouthing him behind his back.
"Xiao Wu, eating nothing but carrots isn't good for you. Teacher said we're still growing and should eat some spirit beast meat. I see that stall has some pretty decent spirit beast meat. How about I buy some and cook something delicious for you?"
Xiao Wu looked at the meat from 20-30 year spirit beasts displayed on the vendor's stall and found it quite cruel, especially the Soft Bone Rabbit meat in the corner, which immediately made her feel sick.
"Xiao Wu, what's wrong with you? You're usually the most eager one when it comes to eating meat. Why are you acting like this today?"
Seeing Xiao Wu's distressed reaction, Tang San couldn't understand the reason. Maybe Xiao Wu just found selling raw meat too cruel.
"Little San, can you promise me not to eat them? This spirit beast meat comes from weak 20-30 year spirit beasts. These weak spirit beasts are innocent."
Xiao Wu looked at Tang San with watery eyes, her hands nervously gripping his, hoping he wouldn't buy these things.
Tang San gently stroked Xiao Wu's head, and her rabbit ears shyly drooped down.
"Alright, Xiao Wu, I promise you. In this lifetime, I'll only hunt evil spirit beasts that attack me first. If I eat spirit beast meat, I'll never hunt spirit beasts under a hundred years old."
"Big Brother San, you're the best to me."
Xiao Wu's emotions were soothed again, but looking at Tang San, she pulled his hand and said sweetly, "Little San, I'm tired. I want you to carry me."
"Can't be helped. Hop on."
Tang San sighed, then carried Xiao Wu on his back as they walked forward.
Meanwhile, a black-robed man hidden in the shadows was very satisfied with the behavior of the two.
"Ah Yin, did you see? This is our child. He's destined to become the most brilliant Spirit Master on the entire continent."
"Spirit Hall, it's time to settle our score."
...
At this very moment, Ignaz had already exited the cave and looked back at the waterfall.
"Such beautiful scenery! What a shame."
Ignaz immediately erased all traces of his spirit power from the area. After more than a dozen spirit device shots, the entire cave collapsed with a thunderous crash. Then he took out a dagger and carved a few characters on the cliff face.
Ignaz quickly departed, heading south. After running over 200 miles, night fell, and he found a cave to rest in. He took out the Blue Silver Emperor spirit bone.
He carefully examined the spirit bone. Originally, he hadn't planned to absorb this 100,000-year spirit bone with incompatible attributes, but it could not only boost his spirit power—those two skills were genuinely impressive: flight, plus the "wildfire burns endlessly, spring breeze brings new growth" bone regeneration and rapid spirit power recovery abilities.
Even if he found a compatible 100,000-year-old right leg bone later, he could just cut off his own leg and replace it. As long as it wasn't a torso or head spirit bone, they could be removed and reinstalled.
Having thought it through, Ignaz sat cross-legged and guided the Blue Silver Emperor spirit bone to his right leg. The gentle aura emanating from the 100,000-year Blue Silver Emperor began repairing his body and expanding his meridians.
At dawn the next day, as the first dewdrop fell to the earth, Ignaz opened his eyes with ease. His spirit power had jumped three levels—he was now a level 56 Spirit King.
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~ Push the story forward with your Power Stones