Ten-Year Soul Ring, First Soul Skill

The blazing heat of the flames seemed unable to harm it in the slightest. Instead, the Spirit Ball gradually grew stronger under the tempering of the fire, and before long, it began to undergo obvious changes.

The sphere expanded from its original fist-sized form to roughly the size of a bowl. On the white lower half of the Spirit Ball, a pattern gradually appeared and enlarged.

Qian Bing tried his best to focus his consciousness on the suddenly appearing pattern: yellowish-brown feathers, a red beak...

Chirp! Wasn't that Pidgey's appearance?!

He was overjoyed and immediately thought of what he had experienced in his dream.

"Could everything I experienced in the dream have been real?

"Because I used my Spirit Ball Spirit to capture Pidgey in the Pokémon World in this dream, it triggered this change in reality?

"So it wasn't that Pokemon from the Pokémon World couldn't be brought into reality—it was that only Pokemon captured with the Spirit Ball Spirit could be brought out!"

This was simply fantastic!

Boom!

The next moment, Qian Bing felt the scorching warm current within his body reach some sort of critical point.

A series of crackling sounds rang out from within his body once more.

If the previous sound had been like an eggshell cracking open with a tiny fissure, then this one was like the entire egg being smashed apart.

Bang!

As the final, heart-shaking sound rang out, Qian Bing felt as though an invisible barrier within his body had been pierced.

That scorching warm current within him seemed to transform into a winding stream. In the blink of an eye, the stream swelled into a river, flowing freely through the meridians all over his body.

With every inch the river flowed forward, the temperature of his body dropped a little. At last, the unbearable heat swiftly turned into a pleasantly warm sensation.

At that moment, a milky-white ring appeared around the Spirit Ball Spirit, floating nimbly up and down. It was unmistakably a Soul Ring!

"A Ten-Year White Soul Ring? I've become a Soul Master?"

Qian Bing was initially incredulous, but it instantly turned into wild delight.

No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't understand how simply sleeping had somehow earned him a Soul Ring.

With the Spirit Ball Spirit gaining a Soul Ring, Qian Bing naturally comprehended a Soul Skill. With a thought, his Spirit Ball Spirit released a beam of red light.

That white Soul Ring suddenly shrank into a miniature Spirit Ball the size of a longan. Bathed in the red light, it immediately transformed into a huge Pidgey far taller than Qian Bing, standing adorably in the empty space beside the bed.

Qian Bing stared at the sight before him, dumbfounded!

"My First Soul Skill is summoning Pidgey?!!!"

His emotions were a tangled mess. Now that he had calmed down, seeing that the Soul Ring Pidgey had turned into was merely the most worthless Ten-Year White Soul Ring made him regret not being more persistent in the dream—at the very least, he should have found and captured a Pidgeotto!

But then he remembered that Pokemon could continuously level up and evolve. His Pidgey could still evolve into Pidgeotto and Pidgeot.

Perhaps as Pidgey continued to level up and evolve, the Soul Ring would evolve along with it into a Hundred-Year, Thousand-Year, or even Ten-Thousand Year Soul Ring?

With that thought, much of Qian Bing's regret faded. The huge Pidgey before him also became much more pleasing to the eye.

Pidgey was naturally timid and would immediately kick up a cloud of sand and flee upon seeing strangers. But after being captured by Qian Bing, it had formed a faint mental connection with him, and each side could sense some of the other's thoughts.

When Pidgey saw Qian Bing's gaze fall upon it, it happily flapped its wings and cried out a few times, "Pidgey!"

A hurricane instantly seemed to sweep through the dilapidated house. Scraps of paper, the trash can, shirts, pants... everything flew through the air, and even the roof seemed faintly loosened.

Seeing how affectionate Pidgey was toward him, Qian Bing gave it a friendly smile.

But the next second, a trash can flew out from some unknown nook and landed upside-down directly over Qian Bing's head.

"Pfft! Ugh!"

He did not let the trash can seal away his head for long, immediately yanking it off.

His eyes instinctively glanced into the can. When he saw the yellow, green, and black grime coating its insides, then remembered his intimate contact with it just moments ago...

Qian Bing immediately felt nausea rise in his stomach and dry-heaved at the trash can.

"Pidgey."

"Pidgey, pidgey, pidgey."

After he finished retching, Qian Bing looked at Pidgey, which was still happily wreaking havoc. His face was as dark as ink.

When life had a goal, time seemed to pass even faster than a galloping horse. In the blink of an eye, three months had passed.

That day, Qian Bing got up early, finished his training, ate breakfast, and packed everything away. Looking at the rundown little house where he had lived for more than six years, he was filled with endless emotion.

Today was the day he would leave Peach Forest Village and head to Notting Academy to register. Once he left, he had no idea when he would be able to return.

Just as he was feeling melancholy, Qian Xiao's call came from outside the door.

"Xiao Bing, are you up?"

Hearing the voice, Qian Bing quickly picked up the small bundle he had packed long ago from the wooden table and ran outside.

"Grandpa, you're here so early. Have you eaten breakfast?"

Once outside, he discovered that Qian Xiao seemed to have changed into a brand-new outfit today, making him look particularly spirited.

"Xiao Bing, Grandpa came after breakfast. I see you've got your bundle on your back, so you're all ready, right? Then let's set off at once."

"Okay."

Qian Bing obediently agreed, then reluctantly looked back at his first home on Douluo Continent. The emotions in his heart grew stronger and stronger, so he quickly turned away with determination and followed Qian Xiao as they left.

Peach Forest Village was not too far from Notting City. At an ordinary person's pace, they could reach it in about half a day.

As they walked, Qian Xiao kept giving Qian Bing reminders and instructions, cramming all sorts of information about Notting Academy into him in one go.

"Xiao Bing, your situation is special. Although the village is willing to sponsor you and support you through your studies, you know the village's circumstances too. No household here is well-off, so you must work hard and obtain the title of Soul Master as soon as possible. By then, the state will give you a monthly allowance, and your life will become much easier and more comfortable."

Of course, Qian Bing understood the reasoning. How could he keep placing his hopes for life on the kindness of others? Even if Qian Xiao had not mentioned it, he had planned to register at Spirit Hall as soon as he enrolled.

Qian Xiao had no idea that he was already a Soul Master!

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Qian Bing voiced some of the questions in his heart.

"Grandpa, can you tell me about the academy? What exactly is Notting Academy?"

Qian Xiao smiled and said, "An academy is naturally a place for learning. Notting Academy is a Junior Soul Master Academy. It teaches basic knowledge related to Soul Masters, and there are also regular academic subjects to study.

They only accept children whose martial souls have just awakened as students. The program lasts six years. Once the students reach twelve, if they have no particular prospects, they will simply become ordinary Soul Masters.

But if they have decent potential, most will choose to continue their studies at an Intermediate Soul Master Academy until they are eighteen.

The Intermediate Soul Master Academy teaches more advanced material, but the difficulty of studying there also increases greatly. If you cannot meet the academy's requirements, you will not be able to graduate successfully. That is different from a Junior Soul Master Academy."