The Ring Became a Spirit

"Master! How exactly are you going to solve my problem?!" Xiao Yan asked expectantly.

"Don't rush! We were all stuck in a misunderstanding before, thinking that your inability to cultivate was due to a problem with your body!"

Xiao Yan nodded repeatedly as he listened.

"However, based on my observations over the past six months, there's nothing wrong with your body. In fact, you're extremely healthy!" As Yun Shu spoke, he gave Xiao Yan's body a pat.

"Mm-hmm! I've always thought there was nothing wrong with me either. Nothing hurts here or there!" Xiao Yan said excitedly.

"Since it isn't a problem with your body, could there be something wrong with the items you carry on you?" Yun Shu narrowed his eyes and looked at Xiao Yan's clothes.

He did not look at the ring, because he knew Yao Lao was definitely listening to him talk nonsense right now. Looking at the ring would expose him immediately.

"Items on me? But, Master, I'm not carrying anything..." Xiao Yan felt around his clothes, then checked his pockets.

"How about this? Let's do a simple test! Cultivate in your current state first, then take off all your clothes and cultivate again!" Yun Shu said, stroking his chin.

"Take off everything..." Xiao Yan instinctively covered his crotch and said awkwardly.

"What are you looking at, brat?! My sexual orientation is perfectly normal!" Yun Shu knocked Xiao Yan on the forehead and snapped.

"Alright then, Master!" Xiao Yan first followed Yun Shu's suggestion and began cultivating in his current state.

"Tsk~ This kid is pretty good! Something no one in all of Wu Tan City noticed for three years was actually noticed by him. And he's even an alchemist. With this level of soul strength, he's probably already at the second tier..."

"Over the past six months, whenever he was with Xiao Yan, I also observed his character. Though he isn't as steady as Xiao Yan, and he gives off a somewhat falsely proper air, his talent really is excellent. His Soul Strength has improved quite quickly too..."

"If I'd had more time to observe him, I could have taken him in as well..." Inside the Ring of Holding on Xiao Yan's hand, Yao Lao stroked his chin and muttered as he watched Yun Shu observing Xiao Yan outside.

With Yao Lao's cultivation, he could naturally see through Yun Shu's true appearance with ease. However, it was worth noting that his help toward the Xiao Family and Xiao Yan was sincere, and Yao Lao could see that as well.

But because of Han Feng, Yao Chen no longer wanted to take in another disciple with bad intentions. Of course, that was not to say Yun Shu had bad intentions; Yao Chen simply did not have enough time to observe Yun Shu, so he did not dare accept him as a disciple.

"Still, trying to find me, brat? It won't be that easy!" Yao Lao said smugly. This time, he would not absorb Xiao Yan's Dou Qi. He wanted to see what that brat outside could do.

Meanwhile, on the Back Mountain.

"Master, this is a little strange?!" Xiao Yan frowned.

"What is it? Did your Dou Qi disappear again?" Yun Shu looked at Xiao Yan.

"No, my Dou Qi... it didn't disappear this time!" Xiao Yan's eyes suddenly widened as he spoke.

"Could it be that my talent has returned?!!!" Xiao Yan said excitedly.

"Damn it! This old man!!" Seeing that Xiao Yan's Dou Qi had not disappeared, Yun Shu was dumbfounded. This old man had actually pulled this trick!

How was he supposed to use the process of elimination to pinpoint the ring as the problem now...

"Hehe! That brat thinks he can fight me? Train for another twenty years!" Yao Lao snickered from within the ring.

"If it isn't caused by an item carried on his person, could it be some Dou Qi thief that has developed its own consciousness?!"

Since Yao Lao was shameless, Yun Shu would not hold back either. He immediately began spouting nonsense with a straight face.

"Master... can clothes develop their own consciousness?" Xiao Yan asked, completely bewildered by Yun Shu's speculation.

"It may not be the clothes. It could be the pants... or even this ring!" Yun Shu looked at Xiao Yan's shirt, then moved his gaze to the pants on his lower body, and finally to the ring on Xiao Yan's hand.

"The ring? This ring was left behind by my mother. I've worn it all this time..."

Xiao Yan suddenly froze halfway through his sentence.

Because he suddenly remembered that he changed his clothes every day, but...

This ring had been on him ever since he was little!!!

"Could it really be the ring?!" This time, it was not Yun Shu who raised the possibility. Xiao Yan had discovered the problem himself.

Of course, if Yun Shu had not mentioned the items he carried on him, Xiao Yan would never have associated it with the ring his mother had left him.

"But if it really is the ring, why didn't it absorb my Dou Qi just now?" Xiao Yan looked doubtfully at the ring on his hand, then at Yun Shu.

"Do you remember the little thief I mentioned before?" Yun Shu suddenly took out a Short Sword from his Ring of Holding and pointed it at the ring on Xiao Yan's hand.

"Master, you mean!!! This ring has developed its own consciousness?!!" At this thought, Xiao Yan immediately removed the ring and threw it onto the ground, then hurriedly ran behind Yun Shu.

"Hahaha!! You two little fellows are truly impressive! You actually deduced that there was something wrong with the ring through nothing but intelligence!" At that moment, Yao Lao stopped hiding. He directly transformed into a white phantom and appeared before them.

"Holy shit!! The ring became a spirit!!!" Yun Shu and Xiao Yan said in unison upon seeing this.

"..."

Hearing them, Yao Lao's face darkened. What the hell did they mean, the ring became a spirit?

"Ahem! Let me introduce myself. Actually, I am—"

"Screw you!!! So it really was you, you bastard, who absorbed my Dou Qi for three years!! You made me into what I am today!!" The moment Yao Lao spoke, Xiao Yan realized that it truly had been the ring absorbing his Dou Qi.

He immediately jumped out from behind Yun Shu, pointed at Yao Lao's nose, and unleashed a torrent of curses.

"Well... it was a last resort!" Yao Lao said awkwardly.

"But don't worry. Since it was your Dou Qi that helped me awaken again, I will definitely help you return to being the genius you once were!" Yao Lao said to Xiao Yan with a smile.

"Pah!!!" Xiao Yan directly gave Yao Lao the middle finger.

After all, this Xiao Yan did not have Xun Er by his side. Over the past two and a half years, he had lived an even more miserable life than in the original story.

"Hey, hey! Brat! Don't push your luck!! If not for the three years you sustained me, I would have left long ago!" Seeing Xiao Yan act like this, Yao Lao became a little angry.

"Hmph!! Tell me! How are you planning to compensate me?!" After calming down, Xiao Yan crossed his arms, narrowed his eyes at Yao Lao, and asked.

Yun Shu, meanwhile, remained silent at the side. After all, he was not the one whose Dou Qi had been absorbed for three years.