The place where Tang Hao had hidden the Blue Silver Emperor's spirit bone was behind a waterfall.
This waterfall lay deep in the mountains, in a secluded valley. Its height was at least a hundred meters which was perfect for Tang San's special training back when he was only a Soul Ancestor.
And the location was near Fasno Province. After all, Tang Hao lived in Holy Soul Village to watch over Tang San, and naturally, he would often visit this waterfall to see his wife.
With so many conditions narrowing things down, the possible sites were few.
As Dugu Feng and Old Scorpion trekked deeper, the mountains grew increasingly desolate. The more remote the area, the more likely it was their target.
Tang Hao had hidden something this precious. Of course, it had to be a place rarely touched by humans.
At last, they neared the first location, which also the most likely one.
A deafening roar filled the air, vast and thunderous.
Dugu Feng halted, raising his right hand. A Jade Serpent Dragon slithered into existence.
"Go."
The serpent skimmed along the ground, vanishing into the forest ahead.
This was his final precaution: sending the Jade Serpent Dragon to search for both the spirit bone and the Blue Silver Emperor.
The serpent carried a Pearl within its body, through which Dugu Feng could sense its surroundings with perfect clarity.
Approaching the waterfall, the serpent carefully scanned the area.
No traces of human activity.
Then it slipped into the pool beneath the falls.
Dugu Feng's heart began to pound.
Large round stones jutted from the water. They were smooth and flat. He remembered. Tang Hao had trained Tang San here, forcing him to balance on just such stones.
Could it really be here?
The serpent darted upward, scaling halfway up the waterfall.
At this point it grew cautious, inching forward bit by bit.
Behind the curtain of water, its slender body slithered into the cave, probing every surface.
Then suddenly—it found it! A nearly invisible crack in the rock wall.
So this really was the place!
Dugu Feng nearly laughed aloud. His very first choice had struck gold.
The serpent slammed into a stone beside the crack. With a muffled boom, the rock sank inward, revealing a hidden passage.
The serpent slid inside.
The tunnel, three meters high and two wide, stretched deeper into the mountain.
Ten meters in, light flared.
A stone chamber lay ahead.
It was bare, save for a small mound in the center, upon which grew a single Blue Silver Grass.
But this was no ordinary plant. Its leaves glimmered with golden veins, carrying an aura of nobility.
The Blue Silver Emperor. Tang Hao's wife.
Sensing the serpent, the plant trembled faintly.
This aura… it wasn't familiar. It was foreign. The Blue Silver Emperor shivered.
The ultimate power of the Blue Silver Domain was rebirth through sacrifice: "Wildfire cannot burn it, spring winds revive again." After her sacrifice, she had left behind a seed that sprouted anew.
But here, in this lightless cave, with no sun and scarce nourishment, she was far weaker than even a century-old soul beast.
Her consciousness was but instinct.
The Jade Serpent Dragon opened its maw, releasing a jade-green bead.
It drifted toward the Blue Silver Emperor and unleashed a terrifying suction.
The Blue Silver Emperor was yanked from the soil, sucked straight into the bead.
Then the serpent began searching the chamber.
At last, it found a black box tucked into the rock wall above. Long and heavy.
Through the Pearl, Dugu Feng's heart surged with excitement.
The spirit bone was found!
Now came the most important step.
Framing the Clear Sky Clan.
"Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west? I'll be waiting, Clear Sky Clan, when your seven Titled Douluo appear!"
The Jade Serpent Dragon scrawled the words across the stone floor with its body.
Then it swelled larger, unhinged its jaw, and swallowed the black box.
It swallowed the Pearl too.
With a turn, it shot out of the waterfall and moments later, landed before Dugu Feng.
"Withdraw."
Wasting no time, Dugu Feng mounted the serpent with Old Scorpion, vanishing into the mountains.
This time, standing atop the Jade Serpent Dragon's body, Dugu Feng's blood boiled with exhilaration.
A hundred-thousand-year spirit bone. To a soul master, it was priceless—able to increase strength with no pain, no risk.
A spirit bone could greatly enhance the body's attributes, durability, everything.
And this one, the right leg bone of the Blue Silver Emperor came with two abilities.
Flight. And healing.
The healing was monstrous. The body could regenerate on its own and even severed limbs could regrow. It was practically an extra life.
Tang Hao, the bone you prepared for Tang San… I'll be taking it!
When you return and find the Blue Silver Emperor gone, the spirit bone gone—what will your face look like?
Dugu Feng could hardly imagine.
And with the taunting message he left behind… Tang Hao's rage would be unimaginable.
The serpent carried them southeast.
Southward lay the Star Dou Great Forest, on the border of Heaven Dou and Star Luo.
They stopped in a small supply town, taking an inn to rest.
"Old Scorpion, keep an eye on news near Nuoding City. Also on Shrek Academy. I'll be in closed-door training for a few days."
"Yes, Young Master!"
To Old Scorpion, his Young Master only grew more mysterious.
All this careful planning just to pin down the timing of two children leaving Nuoding's academy?
And whatever the serpent had brought out of that mountain cave… it had to be something incredible.
But never would he imagine that it was a hundred-thousand-year spirit bone!
Nor that it was tied to Tang Hao himself.
That mystery only deepened his respect.
Facing Dugu Feng, Old Scorpion felt as though he were facing the Patriarch himself.
Patriarch Dugu Shuo always cultivated alone in the ancestral hall, a face of stone, unshaken even if the sky fell.
And yet, every problem was resolved with ease.
Now, the Young Master seemed poised to surpass even him.
Old Scorpion went about his orders, gathering information.
Meanwhile, Dugu Feng slipped into his room.
He stowed the spirit bone inside a storage soul tool.
Then sat cross-legged, turning his senses inward to the two Pill Pearls.
One held the Blue Silver Emperor.
During their journey, its golden-veined leaves had already faded, dissolving into energy absorbed by the bead.
Dugu Feng pressed his soul power into the pearl, urging it to spin faster.
"A good hundred-thousand-year soul beast, wasting herself as some lovesick plant in the human world. In the end, drained dry, leaving nothing but a spirit ring and spirit bone.
Even your last remnants will serve my Pearl."
Dugu Feng sneered coldly, without a shred of mercy.