Author: I've got a fever and a runny nose, so I'm late uploading today's chapter.
That aside, I'm honestly heartbroken to see that only one or two people are consistently supporting me. My fanfic also dropped out of the monthly Top 200 rankings.
Please gimme power stones. Your comments and power stones are what let me know that someone's still interested in my writing.
Now, onto the next thing...
Someone recently asked me to become a chess coach at their school. I'm not planning to decline the offer, since it's well paid. So from now on, I won't be uploading chapters daily. Instead, I'll be uploading a total of 5 chapters every Sunday.
Of course, if my fanfic manages to rank in the Top 50 in either the monthly or any category rankings, I'll upload 5 bonus chapters the following week.
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Nearly three months later...
A moist cave behind a waterfall, near Holy Soul Village.
Pressing on a section of the wall, Salas easily opened the hidden entrance.
"Hello, Ah Yin," Salas greeted the Blue Silver Emperor with great enthusiasm.
Although he knew that the current Blue Silver Emperor had little spirituality left, it didn't stop Salas from enjoying the moment—playing with it as if it were a person.
Sensing the presence of someone unknown, the blue leaves with golden lines shook violently, as if warning him not to come closer.
Who knew what made Salas interested in this mere grass? When he saw the leaves shake, he inexplicably felt like he was violating another man's wife.
Then again... wasn't that the truth? Ah Yin was Tang Hao's wife.
Bending down, Salas curiously touched the Blue Silver Emperor.
Touching a leaf in the middle section, he asked, "Will this leaf turn into your mangoes when you transform?"
He then slid his hand a little lower down the grass. "Will this part turn into your... that place?" Salas spoke lewdly as he kneaded the area a few more times.
He traced his fingers along all parts of the Blue Silver Emperor, thoroughly enjoying himself.
All the while, the Blue Silver Emperor shook violently, unwilling to be touched or violated.
If Salas could see its hidden spirituality, he would've seen a little girl curled up, shedding tears in humiliation... the pain of being violated, yet unable to resist. A truly pitiful sight.
After a while, Salas lost interest.
"Why are you so afraid of me? I'm not going to eat you," he said casually, giving the little Blue Silver Emperor one last touch before standing up.
Releasing his spiritual power, Salas immediately sensed the container that held the Blue Silver Emperor's leg bone.
With just a wave of his hand, the box fell from above and landed in his grasp.
"I must say... it was quite heavy."
Opening the box, the aura of a hundred-thousand-year-old soul bone spread out. But unlike Salas's two arm bones, which exuded a tyrannical aura, the energy from the Blue Silver Emperor's soul bone was gentle and full of life.
Salas calmly placed the container and the soul bone into his storage ring.
Turning his attention back to the little Blue Silver Emperor, Salas's eyes softened with pity.
"I didn't plan on picking you initially... but you see, it's better to not leave any evidence behind." Speaking gently, Salas enveloped the grass with his soul power and carefully uprooted it without damaging the roots.
Storing the beautiful grass in his Wishful Hundred Treasure Pouch, Salas quietly left the cave.
He wasn't someone who liked to leave his name after doing good deeds, so erasing all traces had become a habit.
---
Somewhere near Shrek Academy.
A middle-aged man, who looked to be in his fifties, watched the twelve- or thirteen-year-old children running through the village with rocks strapped to their backs.
The man had a large and stalwart build, his patched, dirty robes looking sloppy on his frame. His hair was unkempt like a bird's nest, and he had a ragged beard.
He was Tang Hao—known to the world as the Haotian Douluo.
He silently watched his son Tang San and his companions running laps, his somewhat bright eyes full of silent emotion.
"Little San, I hope you'll grow up faster," Tang Hao thought to himself.
Just as he was about to shift his gaze toward his son's sweetheart, his heart suddenly skipped a beat.
"Someone dear to me is in danger..." The thought surfaced in his mind as his heart pounded heavily.
Letting his spirit power envelop the entire village, he found no lurking danger nearby.
Yet, an image suddenly appeared in his mind.
"My Ah Yin..." he muttered, letting out a low cry as he turned and ran north, flustered and panicked.
As someone with high spiritual power and deep emotional ties to his wife, his instincts told him she was in danger.
But unfortunately... such spiritual intuition often came too late.
---
Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
Arriving at this paradise of treasures—also the safest place he could think of—Salas sat cross-legged and took out the little Blue Silver Grass.
The translucent, sapphire-like leaves trembled violently, as if protesting.
"A grass nearly on the level of immortal herbs..." Salas muttered as he looked at the golden patterns on the leaves.
As always, gold symbolized nobility or royalty. The beautiful Blue Silver Grass—Ah Yin—was the empress of her kind, on par with other immortal herbs.
"Although no one's ever eaten you before, I'm dying to find out what benefits you can bring me... Will you make me look young again?" Salas asked with fervor in his voice.
Of course, he knew the Blue Silver Empress couldn't answer.
But becoming young had become an obsession.
Unfortunately, after regaining the appearance of someone in his mid-thirties, Salas couldn't become any younger.
Even when his physical body broke through two more levels and reached Rank 98, he noticed no significant change in his appearance.
That had driven him to the edge for three months.
Salas couldn't figure out what was wrong. His vitality had indeed increased after reaching Rank 98, yet his body refused to look younger.
It had driven him to the brink of mental torment.
What if I can't become young again, even after reaching Rank 99?
This thought had silently plagued Salas for three months. So although he had no intention of consuming Ah Yin at first—and had merely planned to use her to threaten Tang Hao—he changed his mind.
"The Blue Silver Emperor is known for boundless vitality... I hope you give me what I desire."
With that thought, Salas pressed the beautiful Blue Silver Emperor into a ball and shoved it into his mouth—eating her alive.
As for how he had coaxed the Blue Silver Emperor earlier, saying he wouldn't eat her?
Heh.
The moment Salas bit down, his soul power activated. The Blue Silver Grass turned into a stream of blue-gold liquid.
No soul ring appeared. Perhaps because Salas had consumed her instead of killing her, or maybe for some other reason, she acted like an immortal herb.
But unlike other immortal herbs—whose essence could be digested—the blue-gold essence of the Blue Silver Emperor broke apart into countless threads and began merging with every cell in Salas's body, fundamentally altering him.
Salas could hear it... Ah Yin's cries. But he paid them no mind. With a single thought, he crushed that last flicker of spirituality.
After silencing the noisy woman, Salas focused on the changes within his body.
The overwhelming vitality contained in those golden-blue threads surged into every part of him—skin, bones, muscles—everything began to transform.
A green, translucent cocoon of life energy surrounded Salas, hiding the changes happening inside.
I've got a fever and a runny nose, so I'm late uploading today's chapter.
That aside, I'm honestly heartbroken to see that only one or two people are consistently supporting me. My fanfic also dropped out of the monthly Top 200 rankings.
Please gimme power stones. Your comments and power stones are what let me know that someone's still interested in my writing.
Now, onto the next thing...
Someone recently asked me to become a chess coach at their school. I'm not planning to decline the offer, since it's well paid. So from now on, I won't be uploading chapters daily. Instead, I'll be uploading a total of 5 chapters every Sunday.
Of course, if my fanfic manages to rank in the Top 50 in either the monthly or any category rankings, I'll upload 5 bonus chapters the following week.