Chapter 102: Was Tang San Born?
"If my guess is correct, you should be a hundred-thousand-year soul beast in human form, right?" Tang Hao asked.
In his heart, he still held onto a sliver of hope—that Ah Yin would deny it. Yet even more than that, he wanted her to admit the truth.
Ah Yin didn't answer. In that instant, her heart sank into a cold abyss.
"So my identity has finally been exposed…"
She couldn't help but sigh at fate's irony. Even with Qi Tian's warnings, she had still ended up being discovered by Tang Hao.
Fortunately, she would no longer be fooled by him. With her undying ability, unless she willingly sacrificed herself, Tang Hao would never obtain her soul ring or bone.
Ah Yin activated her Blue Silver Domain. The moment it unfolded, her emotions steadied.
Though she was only a Soul Saint, within her fully developed domain, an ordinary soul master could never kill her.
Unless she chose to sacrifice herself, Tang Hao would never get his wish.
However, using this ability came with a price. It disrupted her cultivation and interfered with her plans to enter the God Transformation Stage.
Ah Yin didn't know how long Qi Tian's fragmented divine soul could hold out, so she wanted to finish her cultivation soon, to revive him as quickly as possible.
Thus, Ah Yin did not want to die here, nor did she want to recklessly rely on her resurrection ability.
Within her domain, countless strands of Blue Silver Grass transformed into golden blades, stabbing toward Tang Hao.
Over the past years together, Qi Tian had taught her the technique of divided-mind control, greatly enhancing her mastery.
"I didn't expect Blue Silver Grass to have such power. Your martial soul really is extraordinary!" Tang Hao praised.
His martial soul was the Clear Sky Hammer, built purely for power. His soul skills were straightforward and blunt—he smashed the incoming golden blades with a single swing.
BOOM!
The devastating force shattered the golden light instantly.
Tang Hao had used his full strength. Ah Yin, with only Soul Saint cultivation, naturally couldn't withstand a Soul Douluo head-on.
But Ah Yin knew she couldn't defeat an Upper sect genius like Tang Hao. Her goal was escape, not victory.
As Tang Hao launched his counterattack, Ah Yin used her domain's shifting ability to blink far away, sprinting in the opposite direction.
Tang Hao didn't panic. His soul power was still a bit short of rank ninety, so even if he killed Ah Yin now, he couldn't absorb her soul ring yet.
Ah Yin's silence earlier had already confirmed it—she was the human-form soul beast he sought.
All Tang Hao needed to do was follow her—don't let her escape.
But just then, he sensed several powerful auras rushing toward them.
Tang Hao looked carefully and saw the leader—a handsome blond youth—with four powerful soul masters behind him.
"Qian Xunji, why are you here? Were you following me?"
Tang Hao's heart dropped. The Spirit Hall arrived much sooner than he expected. All his plans were about to crumble.
"How dare you, Tang Hao! Why do you not bow before His Holiness the Pope?" a Spirit Hall elder barked.
Qian Xunji waved a hand, glancing first at the direction where Ah Yin had disappeared, then back at Tang Hao.
"Tang Hao, that anonymous letter—you wrote it, didn't you?"
"You want to use the Spirit Hall to find someone? The world doesn't offer such cheap favors."
"This human-form soul beast belongs to me. Anyone who dares lay a hand on her dies."
With that, Qian Xunji led his men and rushed after Ah Yin.
Tang Hao's face darkened like the bottom of a pot. His entire plan had been exposed. The Spirit Hall truly wasn't simple.
They had used his own scheme against him—searching for Ah Yin while simultaneously shadowing him.
The Spirit Hall's agility-type soul masters were infamous for moving unseen. With his current cultivation, he had no way of sensing them.
"No! I can't let him succeed!" Tang Hao clenched his fists.
His soul power was still lacking, but among the Spirit Hall's forces, there were likely people capable of absorbing a hundred-thousand-year soul ring.
For example, the rising star in recent years, Saintess Bibi Dong. Her strength was undoubtedly above his.
If they reached Ah Yin first, the hundred-thousand-year ring wouldn't be his.
"I need to find Big Brother!"
Tang Hao rushed back to the town, found the inn they were staying at, and quickly explained the situation to Tang Xiao.
"Second Brother, Sister-in-law is heavily pregnant. Let her rest. The two of us can go chase the soul beast instead," Tang Xiao suggested.
Tang Hao shook his head. "No. That human-form soul beast is Yan'er's teacher. She might be able to persuade her."
"But… if Third Sister finds out we intend to kill her teacher, won't she blame us?" Tang Xiao hesitated.
Tang Hao turned away irritably, not daring to meet his big brother's eyes.
"Big Brother, she's a hundred-thousand-year human-form soul beast. Her soul bone could serve as a Clear Sky Sect inheritance treasure—it could benefit our sect for generations!"
"And if a hundred-thousand-year soul beast is allowed to grow stronger, she will become a calamity to mankind!"
"If Qian Xunji gets her first, the Spirit Hall's power will completely overwhelm the Upper Three Sects. The entire continent will fall into darkness!"
"For the sake of our sect, for the sake of humanity, what's a bit of infamy? I alone will shoulder it. I believe Yan'er will understand!"
Tang Xiao sighed and followed Tang Hao back to the inn to wake Bai Yan.
"Big Brother… my stomach… it hurts!"
As soon as Tang Xiao entered the room, he saw Bai Yan pale and sweating, gripping the sheets tightly.
"Sister-in-law, are you going into labor?"
A Titled Douluo like him could clearly sense the life stirring within her. He rushed over to help.
Although Bai Yan was a soul master and her long months of travel had weakened her body, with Tang Xiao's assistance, she successfully delivered the child.
"Good, good! I can't believe I'm finally going to be an uncle!"
His blood-related second brother and the woman he once loved—their life had continued. Tang Xiao felt sincerely happy.
He turned around to share the good news with Tang Hao… but froze.
Tang Hao stood at the doorway, expression cold as ice, staring silently at them.
'Damn! The third sister is now my sister-in-law… I shouldn't have been that physically close!' Tang Xiao panicked inwardly.
He opened his mouth to explain, but Tang Hao turned his back to them, leaving only a chilling sentence:
"Big Brother, I'm going on ahead. Bring Yan'er and follow my trail—I'll leave Clear Sky Sect markers along the way."
"But—"
Before Tang Xiao could finish, Tang Hao had already vanished from sight.
'How can someone who just gave birth travel like this…? Even a soul master couldn't endure it…' Tang Xiao thought bitterly.
He sighed as he watched Tang Hao disappear into the distance. "Forget it. Second Brother is doing this for the Clear Sky Sect."
A hundred-thousand-year soul beast was incredibly hard to hunt, but a human-form soul beast was weak—an opportunity this perfect might never come again.
"Sister-in-law, please endure a bit longer. I'll carry the child. We'll follow after him," Tang Xiao said.
Bai Yan felt a bitterness surge in her heart. "Big Brother… What exactly is my teacher's identity? Why are you all so determined to chase her down?"
There was no point in hiding anymore.
Tang Xiao explained, "Third Sister, the truth is… your teacher isn't human."
"She's a hundred-thousand-year soul beast in human form. You know what killing such a beast yields—a hundred-thousand-year soul ring and soul bone."
"And now even the Spirit Hall's Pope is hunting her. Even if we do nothing, your teacher will die by his own hands."
"So don't blame the Second Brother. He's acting for the sect, for mankind. He has no choice."
Bai Yan listened in a daze as everything finally clicked.
'A hundred-thousand-year soul beast… No wonder. If Hao absorbs all the soul bones… then doesn't that mean I could…?'
Her heart began to race.
This was a hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Grass soul bone—the perfect match for her!
"Big Brother, I'm fine. What matters is the greater good. Let's catch up to them!"
Tang Xiao was deeply moved. He never expected the Third Sister to be this selfless—willing to sacrifice her own teacher for Tang Hao.
'Sigh… If only Second Brother hadn't won all those years ago, she would have been my wife instead…' Tang Xiao lamented inwardly.
He retrieved a clean cloth from his storage device, wrapped his newborn nephew, and hurried out of the inn with Bai Yan.
The baby's umbilical cord had just been cut. He hadn't even been washed with warm water—yet he was forced into a long, arduous journey.
Tang Xiao, who had no experience caring for infants, had no idea how dangerous this truly was.
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End of Chapter