Chapter 9: Green Pattern Butterfly

Residence on the Cliff.

Tang Hao suddenly opened his eyes. After two years of training at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, his body's previous injuries had healed faster than he had imagined. He believed that it wouldn't be long before he could fully recover.

At that time, Ah Yin would be resurrected, and he would be able to protect her safety and provide her with a happy life.

"He actually broken through to level twenty." After stopping his training, Tang Hao came to the cliff and looked down. He sensed that his adopted son, Tang Yin, had already reached level twenty. He was somewhat surprised.

At just eight years old, he had achieved level twenty soul power. His adopted son's talent was indeed somewhat terrifying. However, it didn't matter; after all, he was just a support-type soul master, which wouldn't have much impact on him in the future.

Moreover, as long as he continued like this, his adopted son could also assist his biological son, Tang San. It was all benefits with no harm.

"It's time to help him hunt for his second soul ring." Over the past two years, he had seen Tang Yin's efforts. As a tool for resurrecting his wife, Ah Yin, he had done very well—extremely well.

Tang Hao's figure flashed, and he instantly arrived at the valley below.

Tang Yin, who was sitting cross-legged not far from the Blue Silver Emperor Ah Yin, sensed him as soon as he stepped out of the cliff residence.

Upon seeing him come down, he quickly woke from his training state, stood up, and saluted, saying, "Greetings, adoptive father."

Over the past two years, he had always shown such respect to Tang Hao. Whether in terms of address, salutation, or daily interactions, he was meticulous, which demonstrated his respect for his adoptive father.

When the time came to kill his adoptive father, he would only be more ruthless.

Tang Hao nodded and walked to Ah Yin's side, showing a gentle expression as he asked, "How is the situation now?"

"My step mother is recovering better than expected. Based on my estimates, her resurrection will take even less time."

"If it weren't for you, I wouldn't know when I could see your mother again. When she is resurrected in the future, I will definitely thank you properly," Tang Hao said, patting Tang Yin's shoulder with a grateful expression.

"You're too polite, adoptive father. This is what I should do. By the way, adoptive father, I have already broken through to level twenty. Look..." Tang Yin hinted.

"Rest assured, adoptive father will prepare your second soul ring right away. As for you, just stay here and accompany your mother," Tang Hao lightly patted Tang Yin's shoulder, leaving him behind as he departed from the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

With his strength, finding a soul beast for Tang Yin would be very simple, and he would return soon.

Watching Tang Hao's departing figure, Tang Yin's expression darkened. His adoptive father went out to hunt for a soul beast without even asking for his opinion—truly... his good adoptive father!

"It seems that after absorbing the second soul skill, I can't break through too quickly. The third soul skill is crucial for the future; I can't let Tang Hao prepare it."

With Tang Yin's talent and the enhancement ability of his first soul skill, combined with the amplification of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, reaching level thirty before the age of twelve within four years was not a problem, and he could even do it faster.

But now, he dismissed that idea because he needed to keep Tang Hao here.

...

After leaving the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, Tang Hao quickly searched in the rapidly descending Sunset Forest.

Since he was helping his adopted son find a second soul skill, it naturally couldn't be too weak, as it was related to the progress of resurrecting A Yin.

The stronger the support-type soul beast he absorbed, the better.

"As long as it's a support-type soul beast, the specific type doesn't matter."

Although Tang Hao was a strong individual and had looked into soul beasts when he was younger, most of his knowledge was related to the Clear Sky Hammer, and he hadn't researched other soul beasts deeply.

Not long after he started searching, a soul beast appeared not far from him. It was a butterfly with wings that spanned two meters. This butterfly was special; its enormous wings were covered with unique cloud patterns.

The moment Tang Hao saw this soul beast, he recognized it as a Cloud Pattern Butterfly.

However, due to his lack of in-depth research on soul beasts, he did not notice that among the cloud patterns on the wings of this Cloud Pattern Butterfly were some extremely small green patterns.

Moreover, this soul beast was not just any Cloud Pattern Butterfly; it was a mutated soul beast—the Green Pattern Butterfly.

Despite the difference of just one character in their names, the abilities of these two soul beasts were worlds apart. Such mutated soul beasts were generally unknown to most soul masters, except for specialized individuals like Yu Xiaogang who studied soul beasts.

Tang Hao was evidently unaware of this. He saw that this Cloud Pattern Butterfly was about seven hundred years old and was a suitable support-type soul beast for his adopted son's second soul skill, so he captured it.

With his strength, he released his aura, stunning it and taking it away.

Before long, he returned to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and threw the soul beast in front of Tang Yin. "This is a Cloud Pattern Butterfly, approximately seven hundred years old, just right for your second soul ring. You can start absorbing it now."

"Yes." Tang Yin did not refuse. He took out a dagger and swiftly killed the Cloud Pattern Butterfly, then sat cross-legged in front of its corpse, drawing the yellow soul ring from the body and beginning to absorb it.

Seeing his adopted son still so obedient and efficient in his actions, Tang Hao nodded in satisfaction. He did not observe his son's absorption of the soul ring but instead approached Ah Yin, gently stroking the leaves of the Blue Silver Grass with an unexpectedly tender expression.

Tang Yin had no difficulty absorbing the second soul ring.

He had heard of the Cloud Pattern Butterfly; it was an ordinary soul beast that could release special scents to control and had some attack capabilities when flapping its cloud-patterned wings, making it quite effective for some support-type soul masters.

He thought to himself that his second soul skill would surely be a useless one.

However, upon completing the absorption, he was stunned. "Is this really a Cloud Pattern Butterfly?"

"This soul skill's ability is simply... devastating."

"Could Tang Hao really be so kind as to find such a good soul beast for himself?"

"Impossible; he could never be that kind."

"Then there's only one possibility: Tang Hao mistook the soul beast. Perhaps because this soul beast underwent mutation, he didn't recognize it due to his shallow understanding of soul beasts."

The moment he opened his eyes, Tang Yin carefully examined the corpse of the Cloud Pattern Butterfly.

Sure enough, based on the introduction of his second soul skill's ability, he discovered some special features on the corpse. The cloud patterns on its wings had some green markings—so small they could be overlooked. If one didn't look closely, they would indeed miss these green patterns.

"What's wrong?" Tang Hao, who was talking to Ah Yin, noticed that Tang Yin was staring at the soul beast's corpse in a daze and quickly inquired.

"Nothing, nothing's wrong," Tang Yin shook his head. Such matters did not need to be disclosed to Tang Hao.

His second soul skill was a type of poison called Green Poison. It was a mental poison that could be released through the air, through contact, and could also condense into green poison seeds to be planted in a person's body.

Once this poison was planted, it would affect the brain.

There were two scenarios with this poison.

In the short term, it could cause dizziness and confusion, making it an excellent tool for control.

The other scenario was a long-term effect; when the green poison was planted, it initially had no impact, but over time, its effects would grow stronger.

This poison was a mental poison with a very strong latent nature; under normal circumstances, one would hardly notice it because this poison was special—it seemed like poison but wasn't exactly poison.

It was akin to drugs in a past life; once planted, over time, the consequences would be mental disorder and the development of peculiar habits.

Tang Yin looked at his adoptive father, Tang Hao, with a slight sinister smile. This poison was simply prepared for Tang Hao, and it was even prepared by Tang Hao himself—perfect.

In the following time, Tang Yin lived a fulfilling life. Every day was spent either training and strengthening his body or nurturing the Blue Silver Emperor A Yin.

He also nurtured the Ice and Fire Immortal Grass, allowing the spirits of these two immortal grasses to cultivate and absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, then release the energy of the Ice and Fire Immortal Grass to help him strengthen his body.

Now, he felt like the master of the Eight-angled Ice Grass and the Fiery Apricot Flower. Although he had not consumed these two immortal grasses, the continuous supply of ice and fire energy for training had effects indistinguishable from consumption—perhaps even stronger.

Additionally, during his free time, he condensed his second soul skill's Green Poison into seeds and attached them to the body of the Blue Silver Emperor Ah Yin, planting the Green Poison in Tang Hao.

Every time Tang Hao came to see Ah Yin, he always appeared gentle and relaxed, completely unguarded. He had no idea that the Blue Silver Grass he was touching had a type of poison on it—one that his adopted son had planted, the Green Poison.

Thus, unknowingly, the Green Poison had already entered his brain, and over time, he would inevitably be affected by it. Besides this, Tang Yin secretly contacted Dugu Bo to make preparations.

And so, four years passed in the blink of an eye. Today was a very important day for Tang Hao, Tang Yin, and Dugu Bo.

At the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, Tang Yin, who had shed his childhood appearance, stood beside the Ice and Fire Spring, arms wide open in enjoyment.

After years of being tempered by ice and fire energy and residing in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye, his appearance could no longer be described as handsome. His eyes were one blue and one red, revealing a hint of charm. In his eyes seemed to reside a terrifying extreme ice and fire energy.

Upon closer inspection, the two immortal grasses—the Fiery Apricot Flower and the Eight-angled Ice Grass—had already vanished from beside the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

"Comfortable."

"The six years have passed; it's time to begin." Tang Yin looked towards the cliff residence with a wicked smile. He moved his hands, and green soul power appeared in his palms.

Somewhere outside the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, Dugu Bo was communicating with a Blue Silver Grass. This Blue Silver Grass was evidently under Tang Yin's control.

"Is it about to begin?"

"It really is somewhat exciting," Dugu Bo said, looking at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye shrouded in poisonous mist with reassurance.

Over the years, he had communicated with the plants controlled by Tang Yin and had completely been won over by that kid.

At the cliff residence, Tang Hao slowly opened his eyes. Today was the day of his wife Ah Yin's resurrection. He was so excited that he hesitated to go out, fearing that it might all be a lie.