"Where's Xiao San? Has he seen you?"
Catching up with Tang Hao, Old Jack nagged again, "I'm not blaming you, Tang Hao, but you're not young anymore. How could you leave Xiao San behind like that? Back then, he was still just a child."
"Do you know—"
"Shut up."
Tang Hao, irritated by the chatter, stopped and turned around, glaring at him. His fierce expression left Old Jack momentarily speechless.
"He's my son. How I treat him is none of your business. Let me tell you, he's not coming back to Holy Spirit Village. You might as well give up."
After saying this, he ignored Old Jack, who was left dumbfounded and strode away.
It took a while for Old Jack to snap out of his daze. He looked at the empty space ahead and muttered to himself, "Impossible. He must be joking. Xiao San is such a good child—he will come back."
"Yes, Tang Hao's words don't count."
Old Jack forced himself to cheer up and headed home. Whether he was consoling himself or truly believed it, no one but him knew.
Having shaken off that annoying Old Jack, Tang Hao felt a bit better.
He walked toward the forest. He wanted to search again—it was Ah Yin's relic, a 100,000-year soul bone, meant for their son.
Soul beasts can't absorb soul bones, and this was the last bit of psychological comfort he had left.
As for those patrolling members of Spirit Hall, Tang Hao didn't take them seriously at all. As long as he didn't want to be found, those people had no chance of discovering him.
For two whole days, Tang Hao searched the mountains around Holy Spirit Village, growing increasingly silent. He found nothing.
The woods around Holy Spirit Village only had some Soft Bone Rabbits that could be considered soul beasts. There was no sign of a soul bone—he hadn't even seen a Wind Baboon.
After sitting on a rock for a good while, Tang Hao stood up, took a deep breath, and headed toward the Star Dou Forest.
Ah Yin was already gone, but he was almost certain that Xiao San's martial soul problem was related to her.
He had never been to the Blue Silver Forest, but he had heard about it from Ah Yin. He recalled her final words during her sacrifice, telling him that if Tang San inherited the Blue Silver Grass martial soul, he should take him to the Blue Silver Forest at the right time—it would be of great help to him.
Now, Tang Hao could only hope for this. He planned to first locate the forest, and then bring Xiao San there.
So, he started circling the Star Dou Forest again, but he couldn't find the Blue Silver Forest.
He was bewildered. Where was the huge Blue Silver Forest? How could it be missing?
Could Ah Yin have lied to him? Impossible.
Not only would Ah Yin never lie to him, but there was indeed a forest here, though it wasn't well-known because it didn't have many soul beasts. Yet, he knew it existed.
Unwilling to give up, Tang Hao searched for another three days, marking various spots and even approaching from the air, but he still couldn't find the Blue Silver Forest.
In the end, he left the Star Dou Forest with a dark expression, covered in blood.
The blood belonged to a pack of Wind Baboons. He had wiped out a small soul beast gathering spot.
Unable to find the Blue Silver Forest, he would have to return and find another way to solve Xiao San's problem—for now, this was just interest collected in advance.
Such inherently evil soul beasts shouldn't exist. One day, he would wipe them all out to comfort Ah Yin's spirit in the heavens.
...
Meanwhile, Han Li and Zhu Zhuqing had returned to Heaven Dou City.
At the same time, he received a message from Wuhun City. The organization had decided that he would be the chief supervisor for the Soul Master Tournament in the Heaven Dou division six months later.
Han Li wasn't surprised by the news. He just smiled and agreed, then assigned all the work to Salas.
This was still something Salas was familiar with. After all, why would the Holy Son do such work himself, right?
Besides, look how happy Salas was with that smile.
Being entrusted with such an important task was proof of how much the Holy Son valued him.
As for Han Li, he certainly had more important things to do—like cultivating, for example.
A few days later, Tang Hao, worn and haggard, reappeared in Heaven Dou City.
As for how Tang San's martial soul problem was resolved, Tang Hao didn't say, and Yu Xiaogang didn't dare ask.
He could only watch as Tang Hao frequently went out early and returned late, looking more grim with each passing day.
Yu Xiaogang braced himself to visit Tang San repeatedly, trying to maintain their increasingly strained master-disciple relationship.
Several times, he was tempted to suggest that Tang San, like him, should consider replacing his bones.
But with Tang Hao nearby, and knowing the method, he hadn't dared to make a decision. Remembering how ruthless Tang Hao could be, he chose to remain silent, though his anxiety grew by the day.
It's worth mentioning that after Tang Hao returned, during one of his visits to conceal Xiao Wu's aura, he accidentally overheard a conversation between Tang San and Xiao Wu.
The two were troubled by Tai Long's persistent pestering, and the academy's second-team recruits were indeed weak—most notably, there was one fool who only hovered around Ning Rongrong.
After hearing this, Tang Hao quietly left.
Three days later, news broke that Tai Long, one of the Blue Tyrant Academy's main students, had voluntarily left the team and joined the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy.
This news caused quite a stir.
Moreover, Tai Long's attitude had completely changed. Sporting a face with a clear palm print, he joined the second team and treated Tang San and Xiao Wu with great respect.
Liu Erlong was furious and was about to storm into the academy, but after Flender came out and said something to her, she left silently, much to the disappointment of the crowd, who had been looking forward to some entertainment.
At this time, less than a month remained before the Soul Master Tournament.
Yu Xiaogang was having trouble sleeping. The closer they got to the tournament, the worse his insomnia became.
After losing the support of the mimetic environment, even though Tang San had completely focused on his cultivation and the conditions and resources for training had improved significantly, he had only just managed to break through to level 37 half a month ago.
Level 37. Yu Xiaogang's smile was somewhat bitter.
Tang San's cultivation speed was already fast, but his martial soul's innate limitations were still holding him back. Moreover, he was too young and didn't have particularly strong teammates. Was he destined to play a supporting role in this Soul Master Tournament?
Yu Xiaogang felt a sense of unwillingness. His relationship with Tang San had hit rock bottom due to his failure to identify what was wrong with Tang San's martial soul
This Soul Master Tournament was a good opportunity, though. As long as Tang San shone brightly enough, Yu Xiaogang could still bask in his glory.
But given the current situation, who knew if Tang San would even participate in the next Soul Master Tournament? And even if he did, it likely wouldn't have anything to do with Yu Xiaogang.
Now, he had even lost his position as an assistant instructor at the academy. Would the academy or Tang Hao allow him to continue interacting with Tang San?
At that moment, his door was suddenly thrown open.
Tang Hao, covered in the scent of blood, appeared before him.
"Your Eminence, what is this?"
Yu Xiaogang was startled and shrank into a corner of the bed, fearfully looking at the center of the room.
Tang Hao gave him a cold glance, then pulled out something stained with blood from his coat and tossed it onto the bed.
"A soul bone, from a Wind Baboon—a thousand-year soul bone for the left arm. Absorb it."
Yu Xiaogang was stunned, then his eyes lit up as he looked at the object on the bed. Ignoring the bloodstains, he pounced on it like a mad dog and held it in his hands, examining it carefully.
Tang Hao observed his behavior with a flash of contempt in his eyes, but he quickly hid it.
"Don't waste time. Absorb it quickly."
Yu Xiaogang was startled by Tang Hao's voice. He glanced at him, then at the half-arm-shaped soul bone in his hands, not paying attention to Tang Hao's attitude.
To him, even a damaged, lower-quality thousand-year soul bone was precious enough.
He quickly shifted into a cross-legged position, fearful that Tang Hao might change his mind, and pressed the soul bone to his left arm.
In the center of the room, Tang Hao watched as the soul bone slowly merged into Yu Xiaogang's body, a satisfied expression appearing on his face.
Now, there was no problem.
For the past six months, Tang Hao had tried various methods, but he had been unable to resolve the issue of Tang San's martial soul being rejected by the Blue Silver Grass. Finally, he turned to the bone replacement method suggested by Yu Xiaogang.
He had been leaving early and returning late, often disappearing for days at a time, because he had been searching in the Sunset Forest for suitable soul beasts. Of course, he hadn't forgotten to take revenge on the Wind Baboons.
Tang Hao had always had one final question about Yu Xiaogang's bone replacement method: would it affect the absorption of future soul bones?
If it did, no matter how much he wanted to fulfill Tang San's wish, he would never allow his son to go through with it.
So, while he kept searching for a solution, he also hoped to find a soul bone. The quality and age didn't matter since it would be used to test Yu Xiaogang's method.
However, as a lone man, sou bones were hard to come by. He had to keep killing soul beasts, and finally, tonight, after slaughtering a Wind Baboon, he unexpectedly obtained a thousand-year soul bone.
He hurried back to confirm things with Yu Xiaogang.
As expected, everything was working out. The last bit of anxiety in his heart was finally laid to rest.
In Yu Xiaogang's bone replacement method, the bone is a physical entity. Soul bones, although they appear to be physical on the surface, are energy that attaches to the original bone, enhancing, amplifying, and altering it—it doesn't simply replace the bone.
There was still one month left before the Soul Master Tournament, and the tournament itself would stretch on until the final matches. There would be plenty of time during the competition.
If Yu Xiaogang's enhancements were effective, Tang San would certainly be able to increase his strength by then.
As for the martial soul issue, after Tang San achieved some decent results, Tang Hao planned to take him back to the Clear Sky Clan. With the now-proven bone replacement method, he was confident the clan would support them, and the problem would be solved.
Watching Yu Xiaogang as he absorbed the soul bone, Tang Hao's eyes flickered in the darkness, and his mind was already planning for the future.