Thinking of that, Wu Ling pressed harder with his foot. The area where Tang San's head met the earth widened again.
Tang San hated him completely. Across two lives, when had he ever suffered such humiliation? In his mind, Wu Ling's path to death grew more and more solid. Right now, he wished he could tear Wu Ling apart and drink his blood.
"Back then, because your mother was a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast, many powerful people chased her down. To avoid dragging your father down with her, she sacrificed herself. That was how Tang Hao survived. However, if it was only a sacrifice, then that does not truly count as complete death."
As he spoke, Wu Ling slightly eased the pressure around Tang San's head.
Tang San cooperated perfectly and asked with difficulty, "You mean... my mother... is still alive!"
He forced his head up, trying to read something from Wu Ling's face. But when he looked over, he saw a strange smile rising on Wu Ling's face.
"Yes. She is still alive. And she is right here."
As Wu Ling spoke, a red Spirit Ring lit up. In everyone's eyes, an illusory throne appeared behind him. Then a beautiful woman with a somewhat vacant expression slowly walked out from it.
As that woman drew closer, Tang San's Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul appeared on its own. He could clearly feel joy coming from within his Martial Soul.
"You... you are..."
Tang San's eyes widened. The pressure on his body seemed to no longer exist. He did not need words. He did not need proof. The resonance of bloodline alone confirmed the woman's identity.
That was his mother.
When Tang Yin reached Wu Ling's side, a faint glimmer seemed to pass through her empty eyes. A line of clear tears flowed down her face. But then that light was swallowed once more by emptiness.
"What did you do to my mother!" Tang San had also noticed Tang Yin's change. He gritted his teeth and demanded an answer.
Wu Ling had seen Tang Yin's reaction as well. He was not surprised. In the original story, even when Tang Yin was still a blade of grass, she could sense Tang San approaching. Now that she had regained human form, the reactions and perception she should have were still there.
As for Tang San's question, Wu Ling glanced at him, then wrapped one arm around Tang Yin's waist under Tang San's murderous glare.
"Your mother is very good. Unfortunately, she has already been reshaped under my control. If that is too hard for you to understand, then just remember this: even her life belongs to me now.
"And you should not be asking me about her condition. You should ask that irresponsible father of yours.
"After your mother sacrificed herself to your father, she reverted to her Soul Beast origin, which was a single Blue Silver Grass plant. But in the years afterward, your father only wallowed in his own decay. He left her in some valley and ignored everything else. He never even looked for a way to restore her.
"If not for me, your mother would still be a blade of grass right now. Logically speaking, you should thank me."
Hearing Wu Ling slander his father, Tang San tried to speak up for him without hesitation. Before he could open his mouth, the pressure suddenly intensified, forcing his face into another intimate meeting with the ground.
"Listening to you talk for too long makes me irritated, so please stop speaking. There is still another scene to watch."
After saying that, Wu Ling looked toward Lyra Fawn in the distance. His lips moved slightly, compressing his voice into a thread and sending it directly into her ears.
When Lyra heard what Wu Ling said, her lowered face changed again and again.
Against Tang San and Lyra, two hopeless romantics, the best way was to strike through the person they loved.
So this was what Wu Ling said to Lyra.
"Lyra, was it? You would not want Tang San to find out that you are a transformed hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast, would you?"
Her expression changed again because of Wu Ling's second sentence.
"Even if he does not reject you for being a transformed hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast, Lyra, you still would not want the person you love to get hurt, would you?"
Tang Yin's appearance had already made Lyra increasingly uneasy about her relationship with Tang San. She was terrified that she and Tang San might become like the couple Wu Ling had described, like Tang San's parents, surrounded by outside enemies and torn apart by the death of a loved one.
Now, Wu Ling's two questions broke her resolve. In the end, she agreed to his demand.
Under everyone's gaze, Wu Ling lifted the pressure pinning Lyra down. She trembled as she walked in front of him, not even daring to look at Tang San when she passed him.
"Mas... mas..."
As soon as she opened her mouth, Lyra hesitated. She felt the gaze behind her. That familiar gaze seemed to pass through her back and pierce straight through her.
Every moment between them echoed through her mind. In the end, Lyra pressed her lips together slightly and steeled herself.
"San, I am sorry."
White light flared from Lyra's body. A pillar of light enveloped her and Tang San.
She was trying to sacrifice herself.
In Lyra's mind, judging by what Wu Ling had done, he might never let Tang San go. So she decided to imitate the woman beside Wu Ling and sacrifice herself to Tang San.
Although she no longer possessed the strength of a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast, during a sacrifice, even a Titled Sage could not break the barrier formed by the ritual. She would stretch out the sacrifice as long as possible, draw more people here, and create chaos. During that time, Tang San could continuously absorb her Spirit Power and recover.
After the sacrifice finished, the enormous energy would also explode, creating another wave of chaos. She did not know how Tang San would escape afterward, but it was better than trusting only Wu Ling's words. At the same time, she believed the person she loved was someone who could create miracles. He absolutely had the ability to leave this place.
"That is!" Yue Guan stared at the pillar of light. Even Ghost appeared beside him, because they had seen that pillar before, during the final pursuit of Tang Hao all those years ago.
"Your Highness, that one..."
Before Yue Guan could finish, Wu Ling raised his hand and stopped him. Wu Ling understood what Lyra was doing as well.
"Honestly. This time, I really did intend to let him go."
Wu Ling said something no one around him could understand, then waved Tang Yin back into the throne.
Then a black Spirit Ring lit up. A lightning-shaped dagger appeared in Wu Ling's hand.
"Showing off your love and starting a sacrifice in front of me? Did I give you permission?"
As he spoke, Wu Ling stabbed the dagger toward the pillar of light.
In the next second, under Lyra's horrified, regretful, and disbelieving gaze, the pillar of sacrifice shattered with a crash.