Douglas Langley couldn't help but secretly click his tongue in amazement. Just how many cultivation techniques did this son of his have at his disposal, to actually be able to choose the most suitable one based on a person's spiritual root? If he hadn't just witnessed Henry Langley's miracle, he wouldn't have believed it even if beaten to death.

He shook his head but said nothing.

"Father?" Henry Langley looked at Douglas Langley, sensing that there seemed to be more to the story.

Douglas Langley sighed and said, "No cultivation technique is of any use. My spiritual root has already been destroyed."

"What!" Henry Langley exclaimed softly, but immediately his face darkened with anger. "Who did this?"

—Douglas Langley was at the Gathering Origin Realm; his spiritual root couldn't possibly have been born crippled, so it must have been destroyed by someone else.

Henry Langley was always fiercely protective of his own, and now that it concerned his own father, he was naturally furious.

"This matter... is related to your mother." Douglas Langley sighed, a trace of tenderness appearing on his face, along with regret and even more anger—a complex mix of emotions.

"Mother?" Henry Langley murmured. In his memory, Douglas Langley had never spoken to him about his mother. Every time he asked, Douglas Langley would immediately change the subject. All he knew was that his mother had passed away shortly after he was born.

"In the past, I thought I would bury everything about your mother deep in my heart forever, but now—" Douglas Langley paused, "Han'er, if you can reach the Gathering Origin Realm within three years, I will tell you everything about your mother."

"...She is not dead!"

A surge of intense excitement welled up in Henry Langley's heart. How generous was heaven to him—not only granting him a father's love, but even the chance to have a mother's love! He burst out laughing and said, "How could that be difficult? I don't need three years; within three months, I can break through to the Gathering Origin Realm!"

Douglas Langley was moved. Three months to go from Body Refining Level Four to the Gathering Origin Realm? Was that possible? Back in his day, he had been hailed as the greatest genius in Cangyun Town, yet it had still taken him two years to make such a leap.

But thinking of how Henry Langley had broken through two minor realms in just seven days... reaching the Gathering Origin Realm in three months didn't seem entirely impossible.

He was dazed for a moment, then said, "Alright, if you break through to the Gathering Origin Realm within three months, I will tell you everything and let you go save your mother!"

Save? That meant his mother was currently trapped somewhere. No wonder Douglas Langley had always lied, saying his mother had died young—this was a well-intentioned lie.

Henry Langley nodded, but then smiled and said, "Doesn't Father want to rescue Mother personally?"

Douglas Langley's tiger eyes widened with excitement, but immediately dimmed again. He said, "My spiritual root is destroyed. Even to recover my vital energy, I have to rely on taking Yuan Recovery Pills. There's no way for me to advance any further! And to save your mother, at the very least, one needs to have reached the Flowering Realm."

Aside from the legendary Void-Breaking Realm, the martial path is divided into nine realms: Body Refining, Gathering Origin, Spring of Eruption, Spiritual Sea, Divine Platform, Flowering, Spirit Infant, Divine Transformation, and Celestial Being.

The Flowering Realm is the sixth major realm.

What does that mean?

Among the eight great noble families of the Rain Country, the strongest experts are only at the Divine Platform Realm, and it is said that the royal family possesses a supreme expert at the Flowering Realm, who sits at the center of power, keeping the eight great families in check so they dare not harbor any disloyalty.

—Reaching the Flowering Realm means you can found a nation and leave a legacy!

However, for Henry Langley, who was once a Celestial Being Realm expert, what of the Flowering Realm? In this life, his conditions were even better—divine-level spiritual root, the Indestructible Heavenly Scripture, and he had already traversed all nine realms of martial arts before, so he would encounter no bottlenecks. His mastery of alchemy could provide him with all kinds of pills.

Thirty years, at most fifty, and he would return to the peak!

Henry Langley smiled and said, "Father, the spiritual root is actually just a part of the body. There's no reason it can't be repaired. Let me take a look."

Douglas Langley looked at Henry Langley for a while before nodding and saying, "Alright!" He held his hands in front of him, and with a thought, projected the image of the spiritual root from his dantian.

Henry Langley was slightly surprised, because Douglas Langley's spiritual root turned out to be a lower-grade heavenly "Broken Edge Sword," of the metal attribute. No wonder, even though Douglas Langley's spiritual root had long been destroyed, he was still at the ninth level of Gathering Origin Realm—he had cultivated quickly and reached this level early on.

However, now this Broken Edge Sword had lost its blade, leaving only a tiny bit of the hilt. It was basically impossible to absorb spiritual energy anymore; it could be said to be completely destroyed.

With the spiritual root destroyed, there was no way to advance further in martial arts.

But this was no problem for Henry Langley.

He said, "Father, your spiritual root can still be repaired, but I don't have the necessary medicinal ingredients at the moment. I'll need some time."

Is there really hope?

Douglas Langley couldn't help but clench his fists. If possible, of course he wanted to personally rescue his wife from her suffering, but with his spiritual root destroyed, he could only pin his hopes on his son.

Back when Henry Langley's spiritual root awakened and was tested to be a mixed five-element root, Douglas Langley couldn't describe his disappointment and pain. From then on, he gave up hope, lied to Henry Langley that his mother was dead, and bore all the pain and longing alone.

"Han'er, are you telling the truth?" he asked, his voice trembling.

"Of course it's true," Henry Langley said solemnly. "Give me three years—no, two years' time, and I will definitely find the medicinal ingredients for Father, refine the pills, and repair your spiritual root."