"Strengthen defense and control abilities—but how exactly do we do that?"
Tang San's face was full of curiosity. Simply adding a blood-colored soul power armor to Blue Silver Grass already didn't feel sufficient to him—so how was he supposed to further enhance its defense?
Hearing this, Xiao Lin smiled confidently and held up three fingers.
"I have three methods that can allow the Blue Silver Emperor to mutate and evolve."
"First, a change in form—transforming it from a blade of grass into a tree."
As soon as Xiao Lin said this, Tang San and Tang Hao were instantly shocked.
The father and son exchanged a glance, disbelief filling their eyes.
"Brother Lin… what are you thinking?"
Both of them had seen the Blue Silver King in the Star Dou Great Forest—a being that existed in the form of a tree.
Just from appearances alone, it was vastly stronger than ordinary Blue Silver Grass.
Turning grass into a tree was indeed a qualitative leap in the level of life itself.
"Isn't that perfectly normal?" Xiao Lin said matter-of-factly. "A tree is far larger and stronger than a blade of grass. No matter how you look at it, a tree is stronger."
After saying this, and without waiting for Tang San to ask further, he continued with the second method.
"The second method is compression—compressing its life force and turning it into medicine, a food-type martial soul. Everyone already knows about this."
"The third method is structural change—altering the cell density of the Blue Silver Emperor."
"These three transformations are closely related, but put simply: the first method strengthens everything across the board, including defensive capabilities."
"The second continues to reinforce vitality, making its 'false bulk' even more extreme, and may even add multiple support abilities."
"The third strengthens the Blue Silver Grass's defense, control, and toughness."
"How you choose will be up to you, Little San."
With that, Xiao Lin handed the choice over to Tang San.
No matter what he chose, Tang San would still be far, far stronger than in the original timeline.
Yet Tang San became even more conflicted.
Among the three methods Xiao Lin mentioned, the first undoubtedly provided the greatest boost to the Blue Silver Emperor martial soul.
But the second might allow the Blue Silver Emperor to touch upon the realm of gods.
The third was purely about strengthening current combat power, using it as a support—leaving his future reliance on hidden weapons or the Clear Sky Hammer.
"…Can I choose all of them?"
In the end, Tang San gave in to his greed—just this once.
"Six."
Xiao Lin was speechless.
Although these three paths were somewhat related, and changes in life level would naturally enhance other abilities to a certain extent, that was only at the beginning. Later on, a clear choice would still have to be made.
After all, it wasn't possible to constantly hunt soul beasts that possessed multiple attributes at the same time.
Such soul beasts simply didn't exist.
However, thinking of the Seagod inheritance, Xiao Lin felt that letting Tang San walk all three paths simultaneously for the time being wasn't a big issue. He nodded.
"Only for the early stage. Later on, you'll still have to choose for yourself."
As soon as Xiao Lin finished speaking, Tang San immediately let out a long breath.
His mood lightened considerably, though he still had a lingering question.
"Dad, you still haven't told me why you won't let me absorb a soul bone."
With a soul bone, Tang San felt his strength could increase tremendously.
Even if there were better soul bones in the future, he could always choose to give them up later—feign death and remove the soul bone.
"Your current soul power level is already extremely high. Raising it further will only arouse others' greed."
Tang Hao replied calmly. Who had ever heard of a twelve-year-old being over level fifty?
Xiao Lin aside, Tang San didn't even have an example like killing a Soul Douluo-level expert such as Thousand-Faced Guest.
For Tang San's safety, Tang Hao still hoped he would keep a lower profile.
"Alright, I understand."
Tang San nodded in agreement. Then, in the time to come, he would focus on crafting soul-guided hidden weapons and training actual combat with the Imperial Fighting Team.
Soon, the group stopped chatting so casually and instead hastened their journey.
After passing through a small path and crossing the Biphosphine Poison Barrier, they arrived near the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.
Looking at the familiar place, Xiao Lin took a deep breath, drawing the surrounding ice-and-fire spiritual energy into his body.
Feeling his cells greedily inhaling the ice-and-fire spiritual energy, Xiao Lin was practically exhilarated.
Not leaving. Not leaving for a while.
Xiao Lin made his decision inwardly.
At that moment, Tang Hao frowned slightly and asked curiously,
"Xiao Lin, Xiao San—where should A Yin be planted?"
Tang Hao looked at the surrounding immortal herbs rich in spiritual energy. He marveled at this treasure land, yet worried that the nearby herbs might steal nutrients from A Yin.
"Dad, I'll handle it."
Tang San stepped forward and began selecting the most suitable spot.
When it came to planting, he was a professional.
Very quickly, Tang San chose a fertile piece of land for A Yin.
"Brother Lin, how do we turn the Earth Bear's corpse into fertilizer?"
Tang San had chosen the spot, but didn't know how to deal with the Earth Bear's remains.
"Bury it underground and use a Spirit-Gathering Formation to lock in its earth-attribute soul power."
Xiao Lin replied casually, then immediately jumped into the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.
In an instant, endless ice-and-fire spiritual energy seemed to find an outlet, surging madly into Xiao Lin's body.
This ice-and-fire spiritual energy was exactly what Xiao Lin needed.
He required large amounts of high-density ice-and-fire energy to compress his soul power, ensuring that his level 56 soul power wouldn't be overly 'bloated.'
Meanwhile, Tang Hao—visiting the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well for the first time—initially focused on A Yin out of concern for her adapting to the environment. Soon after, his attention shifted to the surroundings.
"This spiritual energy is deadly poison to soul masters… but not to plants."
When he saw Xiao Lin jump into the ice-and-fire spring, Tang Hao's eyes widened in shock.
Based on his perception as a Titled Douluo, wasn't that ice-and-fire spring something that would reduce even a Titled Douluo to bones?
After remaining stunned for a while, Tang Hao turned his attention back to A Yin.
Under Tang San's careful care, A Yin was transplanted into the soil that contained the Earth Bear Spirit-Gathering Formation.
Watching A Yin sway joyfully, Tang Hao felt his heart melt.
"Hehe, this way, Mom will recover at the fastest possible speed."
Tang San chuckled, then turned his gaze toward an immortal herb that had already withered—Autumn Dew That Sees Through All.
Unlike other immortal herbs, Autumn Dew That Sees Through All had withered instantly after Tang San absorbed its dew.
Fortunately, its roots were preserved. Tang San was now thinking of using his soul skills to help revive it.
If that worked, they would have an endless supply of Autumn Dew That Sees Through All.
Of course, this was mostly Tang San's own speculation.
The reason Autumn Dew That Sees Through All allowed Tang San's spiritual power to break through was because it had lived in the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well for who knew how long.
Expecting it to have the same effect immediately after revival was unrealistic.
Still, it was worth trying.
"Blue Silver Emperor, manifest! Fifth Soul Skill—Spring Wind Blows, Life Returns!"
Without any hesitation, Tang San made his move.
The next second, as Tang San's soul power spread out, the Blue Silver Grass field he had previously experimented on was revived once more, bursting back to life from the brink of death.
Though those Blue Silver Grasses had gradually developed resistance to ice-and-fire energy generation after generation, the moment Tang San left, they would die again.
Now that Tang San had revived them, they immediately responded with their most fervent welcome to the return of their emperor.
Then, streams of Blue Silver Grass soul power began assisting in converting the surrounding ice-and-fire spiritual energy, continuously distributing it to A Yin and the Autumn Dew That Sees Through All.
Nourished by Tang San's soul skill, the vitality of both A Yin and the Autumn Dew That Sees Through All steadily grew stronger.
Everything was developing exactly in the direction Tang San had hoped for.
(End of Chapter)