Tang Yi carefully examined the cave where his mother had taken refuge, and an inexplicable surge of rage rose within him.
The place was far too dark!
The entrance was concealed by a natural stone wall and a rushing waterfall; only a few feeble threads of light managed to penetrate with great difficulty, casting a dim, twilight-like haze across the interior.
For a plant—especially one such as the hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Empress, which required vast quantities of life energy merely to begin its rebirth—this constituted an almost fatal defect.
Even a three-year-old child understands that sunlight is the foremost requirement for plant growth!
Tang Yi bent down to closely inspect the blade of blue-gold grass.
He knew this was none other than his mother in this life—the Blue Silver Empress!
Sensing his arrival, the Blue Silver Empress extended a single leaf and gently brushed it across Tang Yi's cheek.
"Mother, I have come. I am your son—Tang Yi!"
Tang Yi called out softly.
Although the Blue Silver Empress still exuded an aura of nobility, close inspection revealed the truth: the blue-gold hue of the leaves was no longer as vibrant and full as it should have been; instead, it appeared somewhat dull, as though the plant were exerting every effort merely to preserve its luster.
The blades were not fully unfurled; even the edges exhibited a faint, almost imperceptible wilting and softening caused by prolonged deprivation of light.
For all these years, A Yin had relied solely on the accumulated life essence of her hundred-thousand-year cultivation to endure in this dim cavern, struggling slowly and painfully to regenerate.
Yet the environment—harsh, barren, and devoid of proper conditions—had undoubtedly subjected the Blue Silver Empress to unrelenting torment.
Although Tang Yi had already read the original work and seen descriptions of the place where Tang Hao concealed the Blue Silver Empress, actually standing here and experiencing the oppressive gloom firsthand still left him stunned.
"That beast Tang Hao!"
"He may ignore and neglect the two of us brothers, but Mother sacrificed herself for him! She gave her life to help him become a Title Douluo!"
"Plants require sunlight, water, and fresh air! Why did he leave Mother in this perpetually dark cave, sealed behind a waterfall? What place could possibly be less suitable for plant growth?"
Tang Yi's hatred burned even fiercer.
Were it not for the fact that his mother, A Yin, was the Blue Silver Empress—possessing an incomparably vast life essence far surpassing that of ordinary Blue Silver Grass—she would likely have withered and perished long ago!
If Tang Hao were present, he might attempt to justify himself, claiming the location provided concealment and protection from pursuit by the Spirit Hall.
Tang Yi would only curse him more vehemently: Get lost! Concealment from the Spirit Hall? The Blue Silver Empress now is nothing more than an ordinary, immobile, defenseless blade of grass!
Her soul ring has already been bestowed upon Tang Hao—what possible interest could the Spirit Hall have in attacking a mere plant?
As for interference from passersby picking herbs or soul beasts causing disturbance?
That notion is even more absurd. Even if Mother were placed outside the cave, the vicinity of Saint Spirit Village consists solely of ordinary villagers; soul masters are rare, and high-level soul beasts are virtually nonexistent.
Blue Silver Grass is the most common plant across the entire continent—who would pay it any attention?
Who would bother to pick it?
And how many times over all these years has Tang Hao even returned to this place?
Has he ever truly accompanied or cared for his mother?
Tang Yi's heart felt as though an icy hand had seized it, only to be scorched anew by blazing fury.
Surveying the dark, damp cavern once more, he imagined his mother carelessly buried here, then abandoned by Tang Hao to struggle alone day after day, year after year.
Tang Hao—the man once hailed as the youngest Title Douluo on the continent, the once-dominating Haotian Douluo!
After his wife sacrificed herself for him, what did he do?
He drowned himself in cheap wheat liquor, rotting away drunk in the blacksmith shop of Saint Spirit Village, utterly indifferent to his two sons, quick to strike and curse them whenever the mood struck.
The sudden burst of "fatherly love" he showed toward Tang San was nothing more than recognition of the value of twin martial souls and a tool for revenge.
But for his wife—A Yin—who had given her very life for him and who now existed in the frailest possible state, fighting desperately for survival—what had he done?
He left her in a pitch-black cavern that could not even guarantee the most basic sunlight, ignored her completely, and allowed her to fend for herself?
This is what he calls protection? This is what he calls longing? This is nothing less than the utmost indifference and irresponsibility!
"A complete dereliction… a thoroughgoing coward and failure, Tang Hao!"
Tang Yi clenched his teeth and muttered the curse under his breath.
"You wallow in your own pain and alcohol, and on that basis you feel entitled to shirk every responsibility? You allow the person who sacrificed everything for you to continue suffering silently in darkness?"
Tang Yi recalled the perpetually reeking, foul-tempered "father" of Saint Spirit Village, remembered his indifference and brutality toward both himself and Tang San.
At this moment, the image of the struggling Blue Silver Empress in the gloom overlapped with the memory of Tang Hao's slouched, dissipated back, forming the most bitterly ironic and chilling tableau imaginable.
Tang Yi drew a deep breath and gently supported one of the Blue Silver Empress's leaves:
"Mother, your son will soon take you away from this place!"
With that, he produced a shovel and began digging nearby.
In the original storyline, Tang Hao had buried the hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Empress right leg bone in the vicinity.
Sure enough, after the time it takes to burn one stick of incense, Tang Yi unearthed a black rectangular case.
Opening it revealed a crystalline, translucent right leg soul bone lying within.
Tang Yi immediately began the absorption process. Possessing Blue Silver Empress bloodline, his body was naturally compatible with the bone.
This right leg soul bone was of hundred-thousand-year quality—the pinnacle treasure on the Douluo Continent, coveted by countless soul masters!
To avoid any unforeseen variables, Tang Yi sat cross-legged at once and commenced absorption.
The process proceeded with exceptional smoothness; the soul bone exhibited no rejection whatsoever.
Very soon, the torrential power bestowed by the hundred-thousand-year soul bone began surging continuously throughout Tang Yi's body.
In the original story, Tang San absorbed it at the fifty-eighth-rank Soul King stage, and his soul power directly advanced to level 60, Soul Emperor.
In reality, the amplification provided by a soul bone far exceeds this; Tang San was merely unfortunate in that level 60 marked a major boundary, requiring a soul ring to continue progression.
Under normal circumstances, a hundred-thousand-year soul bone is sufficient to elevate a Soul King by approximately ten full ranks!
As for Tang Yi, his current cultivation stood at only thirteenth-rank soul master!
The surge in soul power was akin to riding a rocket!
Feeling the vast, ocean-like influx of soul power within his body, Tang Yi immediately began circulating the [Yan Huang Soul Canon]!
Under this revolutionary new cultivation system:
Tang Yi's soul power began to skyrocket!
"Fourteenth rank!"
"Fifteenth rank!"
...…
"Twentieth rank!"
Upon reaching twentieth rank, an ordinary soul master would be unable to advance further without obtaining a soul ring.
Even Tang San, relying on the Mysterious Heaven Skill, would face the same limitation. Yet the true brilliance of the [Yan Huang Soul Canon] lies in its ability to shatter this restriction!
Within the [Yan Huang Soul Canon] system, levels 1–29 constitute a single phase!
During this phase, soul power may continue to accumulate and rise even without acquiring a soul ring!
"Hu—!"
"Ka—!"
After twentieth rank, bolstered by the amplification of the hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Empress right leg bone, Tang Yi's cultivation advanced unimpeded!
"Twenty-first rank!"
"Twenty-second… twenty-sixth… twenty-eighth rank!"
"Twenty-ninth rank!"
His soul power continued to climb. This time, following the methodology of the [Yan Huang Soul Canon], Tang Yi began the compression phase!
"Boom!"
In an instant, the Governor Vessel among his eight extraordinary meridians was forcibly opened!
His soul power regressed to level 1, yet the growth did not cease!
From level 1, in merely half a day, it surged back to twenty-ninth rank once more!
Then came the third cycle—regression once again to level 1 soul master!
"The amplification provided by a hundred-thousand-year soul bone is truly astonishing! It has directly propelled me through two full cycles of the first phase of the [Yan Huang Soul Canon]!"
Tang Yi clenched his fists tightly. Though outwardly he appeared to be only a first-rank soul master, in reality his soul power had already far surpassed that of an ordinary twenty-ninth-rank Great Soul Master. Even many thirty-ninth-rank Soul Venerables could not match the sheer "quality" of Tang Yi's soul power!