Chapter 38: Su Mo's Seventh Soul Ring
"Do you… know where Hao'er is now?"
After reading Tang Hao's letter, Tang Zhen summoned the spiritual master who had come to deliver it to the reception hall. With a complex expression, he sighed and asked the question.
"This…"
Faced with Tang Zhen's inquiry, the spiritual master hesitated.
Having been entrusted by Tang Hao to deliver the letter, he naturally had a good relationship with him. Tang Hao had also previously instructed him not to reveal the location of him and his wife A Yin to his father, Tang Zhen.
So now, the spiritual master delivering the letter felt quite embarrassed.
However, the astute Tang Zhen immediately saw through the man's thoughts. After pondering for a moment, he gave a bitter smile and said:
"Don't misunderstand. I have no other intention in asking this. Hao'er just mentioned that A Yin has been pregnant for over nine months, and the baby should be born soon.
"But childbirth is no simple matter.
"Hao'er doesn't know how to assist with a delivery, and there are no good midwives in the countryside. So I hope Hao'er can bring A Yin to a large city where skilled midwives can help with the birth.
"I know that I opposed their marriage before, and they probably still don't trust me. But now that their child is about to be born… do I have any choice but to accept it?
"Please, think of it as doing this for my grandchild. I won't make things difficult. Just tell me roughly where Hao'er and the others are now, so I can make arrangements for the delivery."
Seeing that Tang Zhen seemed to have accepted A Yin, and remembering Tang Hao's earlier instructions — that if Tang Zhen came to terms with the situation, the location could be revealed — the spiritual master sighed deeply, looked at Tang Zhen, and said:
"They are currently in the province of Fanos."
"Province of Fanos?" Tang Zhen murmured, lowering his head in thought.
"Please wait a moment. I'll consult the map to see if there's an appropriate city where I can arrange a midwife and a spiritual healer to care for the fetus and assist with the delivery."
After asking the spiritual master to wait, Tang Zhen quickly returned to his study and reviewed Qian Xunji's itinerary for that period to see if any of the cities in Fanos province would be visited.
By a stroke of luck, Qian Xunji was indeed scheduled to be in Fanos province during that time and would soon visit its major cities to inspect the local branches of the Spirit Hall.
According to the letter, A Yin had been pregnant for over nine months, and gestation typically lasts ten months.
After calculating that there was still over a month left, Tang Zhen compared this with Qian Xunji's schedule and immediately sat down to write a letter.
He told Tang Hao that he had "lost." Although he felt helpless, he was willing to accept reality for the sake of his soon-to-be-born grandchild, and he promised to allow Tang Hao to marry A Yin.
However, concerned about his grandchild, he asked Tang Hao to go to Lanxia.
He would send people to buy a house there, hire a midwife and spiritual healers with curative abilities to help care for A Yin and assist with the birth.
But since the people he sent would take some time to arrive in Lanxia, he requested Tang Hao to go there in half a month.
Tang Zhen also asked Tang Hao in the letter not to tell A Yin about the arrangement yet, and to surprise her when they reached Lanxia — hoping this would soften her negative impression of him.
After finishing the letter, Tang Zhen handed it to the spiritual master and asked him to deliver it to Tang Hao.
However, as the spiritual master departed…
When Tang Zhen saw him activate his flying spiritual ability and soar into the sky, he fell silent and sighed inwardly.
"I hope this plan of mine goes smoothly without any accidents…"
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Meanwhile, in Spirit City…
Su Mo knew that Tang Hao had written a letter to the Haotian Sect and that they had replied.
However, because the spiritual master sent by the Spirit Hall to monitor Tang Hao and A Yin could only eavesdrop from a distance using short-range spiritual abilities, they couldn't read the content of the letters.
So Su Mo had no idea what was written in Tang Hao's letter or in Haotian Sect's reply.
But Su Mo didn't care.
Because Bibi Dong had always been keeping a close eye on Tang Hao and A Yin.
Even though A Yin hadn't yet been discovered by the Spirit Hall like in the original storyline, Chrysanthemum Douluo (Yueguan) and Ghost Douluo (Guimei) had now become titled Douluos.
Bibi Dong could bring either of them along at any time, pretend to accidentally encounter Tang Hao and A Yin, and thus discover A Yin's identity — allowing events to unfold as they had originally.
However, since Tang Hao and A Yin had eloped, another year had passed.
During that year, after tireless cultivation, Su Mo finally reached level 70.
As long as he obtained one more soul ring, Su Mo would break through to Soul Saint — becoming not only a Soul Saint of the Spirit Hall but also the youngest Soul Saint on the Douluo Continent!
Having reached level 70, Su Mo set out immediately to hunt for his seventh soul ring. He took Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo with him and headed to the Great Star Dou Forest.
In the vast, ancient Great Star Dou Forest, where towering trees loomed and the forest was as deep as the sea, Su Mo led the two titled Douluos deep into its inner region.
Although soul beasts are numerous in the Star Dou Forest — probably the most in all the Douluo Continent — they do not roam freely. Instead, they live and move in different areas according to their cultivation level.
Su Mo went directly to the inner circle because that's where the largest number of ten-thousand-year soul beasts lived.
"Xiao Mo, do you already have a specific soul beast in mind to hunt here in the Star Dou Forest?" Yueguan asked as they moved quickly through the forest.
"Yes, I've thought about it. I plan to hunt a mantis-type soul beast."
"As for its cultivation level, the higher the better. Even if it's a hundred-thousand-year soul ring, I should be able to absorb it now, though it's unlikely we'll find one."
Su Mo replied while scanning the forest for a suitable target.
"A mantis-type soul beast? Why must it be that type? For your seventh soul ring, the ability you gain will be your Martial Soul's True Body. You should focus on the highest cultivation level possible, regardless of species," Yueguan replied, a bit confused.
But Su Mo simply shook his head.
(End of Chapter)