Xiao Tian spoke slowly, his tone calm but matter-of-fact.
"Oh, this little blue silver grass? She's not ordinary. She's the Blue Silver Emperor herself… Ah Yin, Tang Hao's wife."
The silence in the room exploded in the next second.
"What?!" Er Ming's massive body almost toppled the pot over. His voice shook as he gaped at Xiao Tian. "You're saying this is the same Blue Silver Emperor who sacrificed herself to Tang Hao? How could she be alive again?!"
Daming's ancient eyes narrowed. "It's possible. Plant-type soul beasts have a unique method of rebirth. As long as a seed remains at the end of life, it can sprout again. But…" He shook his head solemnly. "It works only once, and only for plant soul beasts who have reached one hundred thousand years."
His deep voice carried a mix of awe and regret. "The vitality of blue silver grass truly is unmatched. Even after self-sacrifice, she could be reborn… If only others had that ability. If my aunt had been the same—even if she had turned into an ordinary Soft Bone Rabbit and started over—it would not have mattered. But alas…"
A heavy sigh escaped him, the weight of centuries pressing down.
Er Ming, less thoughtful than his elder brother, circled the flowerpot curiously. His large golden eyes blinked suspiciously as he peered at Xiao Tian.
"Eh, Xiao Tian. If this is really Tang Hao's wife, why is she with you? Don't tell me you've… developed strange feelings for a plant?"
He tilted his head, his stare sharp and probing.
Xiao Tian's heart nearly froze. He broke into an inward cold sweat. Of course, the truth was awkward—he had only saved Ah Yin because his system rewarded him for it. And yes, part of him had ulterior motives as well. Being stared at by these two titans made his guilt surge.
Still, he kept his face composed and said flatly, "How is that possible?! The one she loves is Tang Hao. She's only a stalk of grass right now—I haven't even seen her human form. What could I possibly think of her?"
The beasts continued staring. Daming finally asked, voice low, "Then how did you obtain her? Why carry her with you?"
He frowned thoughtfully. "Ah Yin's ancestral land should be in the Blue Silver Grass domain of the Star Dou Great Forest. Yet, after her sacrifice, Tang Hao didn't take her there to recover. Strange. Doesn't he want her to rebuild her strength quickly?"
Daming's tone turned grave as he explained, "The Blue Silver Emperor is unique. The clan acknowledges only one ruler at a time. Unless she voluntarily abandons her position or truly dies, no new Emperor can rise. Her authority is absolute. All blue silver grass across the continent can supply her with vitality. If Ah Yin returned to her ancestral land, she could easily absorb everything—the lifeforce of thousands of stalks together with the ancestral essence. With that, she could reach a hundred thousand years again in far less time than normal."
He shook his massive bovine head grimly. "…Without such assistance, even with her royal bloodline, it could take thousands or even tens of thousands of years for her to recover. Only extraordinary treasures could hasten it."
In Xiao Tian's soul guide, the faint stalk of blue silver grass—Ah Yin—quietly trembled as she listened. Though silent, she recognized them immediately.
The Titan Giant Ape. The Azure Bull Python. The twin overlords of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Her heart wavered further as she recalled their connection to Xiao Wu.
That young rabbit girl… also a hundred-thousand-year beast reborn as human. And Ah Yin could see clearly that her son, Tang San, cherished her deeply. Yet Xiao Wu's affection drifted towards Xiao Tian instead. The resemblance tore at Ah Yin—Tang San's unspoken longing reminded her painfully of Tang Hao's older brother, Tang Xiao, who once looked at her with the same yearning eyes.
Back then, both Tang Hao and Tang Xiao had admired her. But only Tang Hao had won her love.
Her heart was torn with conflicting emotions. Even so, when she heard Daming's pointed question about why she hadn't been taken back to her ancestral land, a tremor shivered through her stalk. She comforted herself quickly—maybe Tang Hao simply wanted her closer, unwilling to let her out of his sight.
Back when she had sacrificed herself, Tang Hao had fallen into deep despair, drowning in liquor and grief every day. Ah Yin had seen all of it with her resprouting consciousness. Her cultivation wasn't sufficient to manifest or speak, but in her heart she wished only to stay by his side.
Her Tang Hao… her ultimate love.
If Xiao Tian could have heard her thoughts, he'd probably groan aloud. Ultimate love-brain. Truly hopeless.
But indeed, Tang Hao's actions could easily deceive her. Unless one questioned carefully, there was little fault to be found. And since her eyes only saw Tang Hao, suspicion never entered her mind.
Xiao Tian, meanwhile, gave his own explanation. He pulled out a jade box from his soul guide and opened it before them.
Inside lay a gleaming crystal-blue piece—the hundred-thousand-year right leg bone of the Blue Silver Emperor Ah Yin.
The rich aura of the soul bone immediately swelled outward. Yet the Xuanyuan Ring on Xiao Tian's finger flared subtly, absorbing and concealing the oppressive pressure at once.
The two giant beasts inhaled sharply.
"Incredible… So this was indeed left behind from her sacrifice."
Daming's voice carried new weight. "But Xiao Tian, why carry Ah Yin as well? You had her soul bone already. That was enough. Why take her fragile sprout too?"
Xiao Tian's expression hardened into seriousness. "Because I suspect something deeper. Through special means, I learned that Tang Hao and Ah Yin were hunted by Pope Qian Xunji himself, along with multiple Titled Douluo from Spirit Hall. Doesn't that make you question matters?"
"Question what?" Er Ming tilted his massive ape head, still confused.
"Think." Xiao Tian's voice dropped cold. "By the time she was hunted, Ah Yin had already reached the Soul Saint realm. After fully maturing past sixty levels, a one-hundred-thousand-year soul beast's aura would be completely concealed. She should have appeared as nothing more than a normal human. So why—why was she still exposed and hunted down by Spirit Hall's mightiest?"
The room quieted.
Even Daming's breath seemed to tremble. If a soul beast reached maturity and became fully human in form, their aura would vanish completely. Unless they revealed themselves, no detection should be possible.
That left only one explanation.
"Then… someone betrayed her." Daming's words rumbled like thunder. "Someone told Spirit Hall directly that Ah Yin was the incarnation of a hundred-thousand-year beast!"
The truth shocked even him to admit.
Xiao Tian nodded. "That is likely. Unless—" He hesitated, then spoke a more startling possibility. "Unless, at the time of her chase, Ah Yin was already pregnant. If so, her aura might have leaked out by accident during childbirth."
Er Ming froze. "Pregnant…?"
Xiao Tian's gaze lowered. "If that had been the case, wouldn't Tang Hao and Ah Yin's child bear traces of beast blood? But look at Tang San. He has no trace of it. Entirely human."
He shook his head. "Therefore, the chance of this explanation is low. Almost negligible."
"…Still," he muttered, a different line of thought glancing across his mind. "If such a child did exist, wouldn't it be something more like a half-human, half-beast hybrid?"
He remembered suddenly. Wolf Thieves.
The infamous bandits, descended from a soul beast-human cross, bearing beastly instincts and features. They were closer to soul beasts than humans. After all, when one of them died in the original work, it left behind a soul bone, confirming its beastly essence.
His pupils narrowed.
"If such hybrids can exist… then what happened during that chase years ago might not have been as simple as it seemed."
Daming and Er Ming stared at Xiao Tian, their expressions grave.
Ah Yin, hidden inside her pot, trembled quietly, lost in shadows of doubt and loyalty.
The truth behind her past was far darker than she had imagined—yet she was not ready to doubt the man she loved.
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