Hundred-Year Soul Ring

Xiao Chenyu smiled.

"Skywater Academy? Why would a lightning-attribute user like you go there?"

Lin Ming didn't reply.

Xiao Chenyu waited a few seconds, but received no answer. The smile on his face stiffened.

He took a step forward.

"Lin Ming, three years ago, there was a rumor that you hunted a hundred-year Soul Ring."

His voice rose a bit, so the people around could hear.

"But you never admitted it, nor did you ever show it."

"Some people said you were bluffing, others said you only got a ten-year Soul Ring and were too embarrassed to say."

He stared into Lin Ming's eyes.

"You're leaving tomorrow, can you give us a definitive answer."

Xiao Chenyu had graduated two years prior and had been hanging around as a local thug in Nuoding City. He came to Nuoding Academy today specifically for this matter.

The cafeteria fell completely silent.

Everyone was watching this side.

Wang Sheng sat in a corner, the steamed bun in his hand crushed out of shape.

Xiao Wu leaned against the wall, raising an eyebrow.

In the distance, at the food serving window, several teachers also stopped what they were doing and craned their necks to look over.

Lin Ming put down his chopsticks and looked up at Xiao Chenyu.

"You want to see?"

Xiao Chenyu froze for a moment. He hadn't expected Lin Ming to be so direct.

"Everyone wants to see."

Lin Ming didn't answer.

He stood up, and Little Lei Yi floated up from his shoulder, hovering beside him.

A wave of whispering erupted in the cafeteria.

"Is he really going to show it?"

"Could it really be a hundred-year one?"

"Impossible, how could he absorb a hundred-year Soul Ring by himself."

Lin Ming swept his gaze around the room. In those eyes, he saw curiosity, doubt, and the excitement of people watching a good show.

In the corner, Wang Sheng clenched his fists, staring at him without blinking.

Xiao Wu straightened her body, the corner of her mouth twitching.

She remembered the words she had said to comfort Lin Ming three years ago.

Two more people had appeared at the entrance, unnoticed.

Yu Xiaogang.

Tang San.

Yu Xiaogang stood in the shadows, his stiff face showing no discernible expression.

But his fingers were tightly gripping his sleeve, his knuckles turning white.

Tang San stood beside him, his eyes cast down.

Lin Ming withdrew his gaze and looked at Xiao Chenyu.

Then he raised his left hand.

"Little Lei Yi."

Little Lei Yi floated in the air, its small body beginning to glow.

The golden light grew brighter and brighter, more intense, stinging the eyes.

When the light subsided slightly, Lei Yi, in its combat form at 1.29 meters, floated quietly in mid-air.

A collective gasp of cold air echoed through the cafeteria.

Xiao Chenyu instinctively took a step back.

Then, a circle of bright yellow light rose from beneath his feet, slowly rotating and hovering around him.

A hundred-year Soul Ring.

The entire cafeteria seemed to have hit the pause button.

Everyone was frozen in place.

Xiao Chenyu's eyes widened so much they looked like they were about to split open.

His mouth hung open, but he couldn't make a sound.

The followers stood stunned, their faces looking as if they'd seen a ghost.

"Holy crap..."

Someone in the crowd muttered.

"It's really a hundred-year..."

"He killed them all by himself..."

"Level ten... all alone..."

Whispers spread like a tide.

A hundred-year Soul Ring.

Among all the students at Nuoding Academy, fewer than ten had a hundred-year first Soul Ring.

And those individuals, which one didn't have a background or resources?

Lin Ming had what?

A work-study student.

Alone.

Three years ago, he was only level ten.

Xiao Chenyu's legs began to weaken. He remembered four years ago.

He was level eleven, and Lin Ming had just enrolled.

He'd been pinned to the ground and electrocuted until he cried out.

At the time, he told himself it was underestimating the enemy.

Next time, it wouldn't be like this.

But now he knew, there wouldn't be a next time.

From the very beginning, he had no chance of winning.

A four-hundred-year Soul Ring.

Killed by himself.

How could he win?

Lin Ming looked at Xiao Chenyu, without mockery, without triumph.

He just watched calmly.

Then he retracted his Soul Ring. Lei Yi shrank back to ten centimeters and lay down on his shoulder.

Lin Ming picked up his meal tray and walked past Xiao Chenyu in a hurry, placing it in the cleaning pool.

He turned and left.

In the cafeteria.

The crowd gradually dispersed.

But this scene today would be forever etched in everyone's memory.

The rumors that had spread from who-knew-where three years ago were finally confirmed today.

Wang Sheng sat in a corner, his eyes red, but the corners of his mouth stretched wide.

"Damn it... I comforted him for three years... and he just wouldn't say anything..."

The person next to him patted his shoulder.

"Don't say it, we also asked for three years... Who would have thought it was true."

Lin Ming walked on the road back to Dorm Seven.

Little Lei Yi lay on his shoulder, still clutching a small piece of steamed bun and nibbling on it.

Lin Ming lowered his head, looking at the ring on his finger.

Tomorrow.

He would leave tomorrow.

Lin Ming looked up and suddenly smiled.

Very small, very light.

But it was a genuine smile.

The kind that came from his eyes.

Dorm Seven.

The sky hadn't even brightened when Lin Ming woke up.

He lay on his bed, staring blankly at the roof beams for a long time.

Little Lei Yi was curled up by his pillow, its small body a tight ball, emitting soft "hoo hoo" sounds.

It was imitating human snoring; it had only recently learned how.

Lin Ming reached out and gently stroked its head.

Little Lei Yi sleepily nuzzled his fingers, continuing to "hoo hoo."

Lin Ming smiled.

He sat up and leaned against the headboard, watching the sky gradually turn white outside the window.

Four years.

From Holy Soul Village to Nuoding Academy.

He had been on edge every single day.

Walking on the street, he had to watch for followers; when eating, he had to sit where he could see all entrances and exits.

When cultivating, he set up a subtle electric current detection field around himself, and when sleeping, Little Lei Yi always remained half-awake.

Because of that Titled Douluo from Holy Soul Village.

Because of Tang Hao, who could go mad at any moment.

Lin Ming looked down at his hands.

These hands had never dared to reveal their true strength in front of anyone.

He possessed a hundred-year Soul Ring, yet he never let anyone discover it.

All just to avoid attracting attention.

All to keep that madman's gaze from falling on him.

Lin Ming suddenly let out a laugh.

It was a soft laugh, carrying a hint of relief.

A year ago, the people from Martial Soul Hall had already withdrawn.

But that faint Soul Power fluctuation in the air had never reappeared.

He could have revealed himself.

But he didn't.

Not until yesterday.

Yesterday, in the cafeteria, Xiao Chenyu had publicly asked him about his Soul Ring.

In the past, he would have stayed silent, avoided the topic, or used other means to deflect it.

But yesterday, he stood up. He revealed his Soul Ring.

A four-hundred-year Soul Ring, its bright yellow light blinding everyone.

Lin Ming recalled that moment.

Xiao Chenyu's ashen face, the stunned expressions of his lackeys, the gasps echoing through the entire cafeteria.

And...

That feeling of finally not having to hide anymore.

It felt damn good!

Little Lei Yi woke up, floated up groggily, and landed on his shoulder.

"Yi?"

"It's nothing."

Lin Ming rubbed its head.

Little Lei Yi blinked, then suddenly poked Lin Ming's face with its little finger.

"Yiyi!"

It was asking.

Were you smiling?

Lin Ming froze for a moment. He reached up and touched his own face.

The corners of his mouth were indeed turned up.

"Yes, I was smiling."

The day he left Nuoding Academy, the stone that had weighed on his heart for four years had finally lightened a little.