He'd Been Acting the Whole Time!

But the mysterious boy beside him stopped him. "Jie Ke, that's enough." Su Yuntao looked at Wang Feng, his heart weighed down by sorrow. Wang Feng glanced at him and recited the explanation he'd prepared earlier. "The Golden Light Thunder Leopard was stronger... so I didn't choose the Star-Moon Fox."

"Now, his Soul Power will slowly weaken, and his body will gradually be unable to withstand the massive strain brought on by that Thousand-Year Soul Ring. In the end, he'll slowly fade away..." The bishop waved his hand.

The mysterious boy's expression darkened. He seemed to have heard the words "His Holiness the Pope" from Bishop Jie Ke, and displeasure flickered in his eyes. Meanwhile, it was no wonder Bishop Jie Ke was a Spirit Saint—he was experienced and knowledgeable. "Looks like you really were lucky. When the two of them were fighting and worn out, you might actually have managed to take advantage of the situation!"

"The second option is to have a Spirit Master of at least Spirit Saint rank suppress the Golden Light Thunder Leopard's Spirit Ring. But that's not worth the trouble either. And even if you recovered, Xiao Feng's Spirit Ring would be downgraded. His strength, potential, and ceiling would all fall. The Spirit Hall wouldn't do something like that, either..."

As the purple Spirit Ring rose, Bishop Jie Ke froze. It really was a purple Spirit Ring?

"Save you?" But before Ma Xiunuo could finish speaking, Bishop Jie Ke cut him off, his voice low and stern.

Even the handsome boy beside him froze slightly. He looked at the child, who was only a few centimeters shorter than him, with a hint of curiosity in his eyes.

At Notting Academy, in the room where Grandmaster lived, Wang Feng looked silently at the special token. That token was no ordinary thing.

It was a special token of the Spirit Hall's third rank. Along with a sword and a hammer, it bore three pairs of wings on either side!

The mysterious boy stepped in front of Wang Feng. Looking at the child, who was only a head shorter than himself, he took a token from his robes and handed it to him. "Teacher, is there still any way to save Brother Feng?"

Tang San stood up, his face anxious. For some reason, this child held a strange fascination for him.

Yet with this token, one could enter most Soul Hunting Forests and the Spirit Main Hall. It could also be used to collect a generous amount of Gold Soul Coins from the Spirit Hall!

The mysterious boy gave Wang Feng one last, lingering look.

"So his Soul Power is only level fifteen," Bishop Jie Ke said coldly. "If he really were an unparalleled genius, absorbing the Golden Light Thunder Leopard's Soul Power would have left him completely unharmed, with full Soul Power at level twenty! That's what a true peerless genius looks like—one in a million!"

"Child, the Spirit Hall can't help you. But this token can give you some help with living expenses, if you manage to survive. I'll give you a chance."

"Child, how did you get this Thousand-Year Soul Ring?" Bishop Jie Ke continued.

Ma Xiunuo nodded.

"All right, let's go."

He... had been acting the whole time!

Mysterious beyond belief!

"That child, Xiao Feng, was far too impatient. He was so lucky, and so clever, but he was too competitive. He should have absorbed the Star-Moon Fox's Spirit Ring; that might have given him a chance to survive. But instead, he absorbed the Golden Light Thunder Leopard's... He had Innate Full Soul Power, and from what you've described, Xiao Feng was unusually strong for his age, too. Even so, he couldn't possibly withstand the Golden Light Thunder Leopard's Spirit Ring..."

Tang San gaped at his teacher's words, his face full of shock. "How could this happen? Brother Feng's First Soul Ring was a Thousand-Year Soul Ring. How could he die?"

"On the way here, the Spirit Master from your branch hall told me about this child," Grandmaster sighed.

Bishop Jie Ke regarded Wang Feng impatiently. "What a waste of my time! Child, your luck was both the best and the worst. If you have to blame someone, blame the gods for not favoring you. Move aside!"

At the sight of the token, Bishop Jie Ke froze slightly. "Your Highness..."

For a child with no future prospects, this was enough to let him live comfortably for the rest of his life.

Bishop Jie Ke burst into a dry laugh. "The price of saving you is too high. You can't afford it. And even if we did save you, your strength and talent would be far below what they were before. If you could still become a Spirit Master afterward, you'd be lucky!"

Bishop Jie Ke walked over to Wang Feng, looked him over, then shook his head again. "What a pity. He chose the Golden Light Thunder Leopard without understanding what he was doing. That Golden Light Thunder Leopard was at least five thousand years old. Even a level-thirty Spirit Master wouldn't dare absorb a Spirit Ring like that!"

Ma Xiunuo hurriedly said, "Bishop Jie Ke, this child is a genius. If he joins the Spirit Hall, his future achievements will surely be boundless! He'll be wasted in Notting City. Could you take him to a better academy...?"

But just then, as Bishop Jie Ke and the others left, Wang Feng looked utterly dejected.

Hearing this, Ma Xiunuo's heart jolted. Xiao Feng had mentioned it earlier, but he hadn't given it much thought.

Brother Feng was his childhood friend, after all!

Bishop Jie Ke gave a cold laugh. "What a pity. What a shame!"

Hearing this, Ma Xiunuo's expression shifted. "Bishop, what do you mean...?"

In Notting City, inside the Spirit Hall.

Silence.

It was completely quiet.

No one had expected things to turn out this way!

Wang Feng nodded.

"Why did you choose the Golden Light Thunder Leopard's Spirit Ring instead of the Star-Moon Fox's?"

It was a perfectly ordinary answer for a child.

"His Soul Power is level fifteen."

Tang San stood rooted to the spot.

Grandmaster was silent for a moment, then shook his head. "At most... six or seven years. And that's if he doesn't use his Martial Spirit. If he uses it regularly, that will shorten his life considerably. He could even die suddenly!"

She had a vague feeling that she might see this child again. She just didn't know what he would be like then...

Bishop Jie Ke glanced at Su Yuntao and said calmly, "This child has Innate Full Soul Power, excellent aptitude, and an exceptionally strong body. He only enrolled at Notting Academy yesterday. I doubt anyone has taught him much yet, but he still rushed straight into the Soul Hunting Forest..."

Yet he never expected to hear such a shocking answer!

Ma Xiunuo looked at Wang Feng in anguish, tears glimmering in his eyes.

"Two Soul Beasts killing each other? A Golden Light Thunder Leopard and a Star-Moon Fox? Interesting. The Golden Light Thunder Leopard is an extremely rare thousand-year Soul Beast, ranging from five thousand to six thousand years old. The Star-Moon Fox can be anywhere from two thousand to four thousand years old. But the Star-Moon Fox has a powerful ability to recover, so it really could fight a Golden Light Thunder Leopard..."

Seeing this, Ma Xiunuo's heart sank.

After returning to the academy, Tang San went to find Grandmaster and told him about Brother Feng's Spirit Ring.

"A Thousand-Year Soul Ring is impossible for a Spirit Master to absorb as their First Soul Ring! If they force it, the weaker ones will simply explode and die. He has Innate Full Soul Power and excellent aptitude, so perhaps he had a one-percent chance of absorbing it. What a pity. If he'd absorbed the Star-Moon Fox's Spirit Ring instead, he might have had some chance of surviving."

Seeing this, Ma Xiunuo and Su Yuntao felt their hearts ache.

That was right—from the moment Wang Feng had revealed his Thousand-Year Soul Ring to Ma Xiunuo and Su Yuntao...

"What? Grandmaster, you're saying Brother Feng will slowly die?"

"Don't say any more." The mysterious boy waved his hand. "It's just a token from the Spirit Hall."

As he spoke, Bishop Jie Ke moved to push Wang Feng aside.

"Difficult!" The mysterious boy suddenly spoke up.

Grandmaster shook his head. "First, rare treasures could be used to lessen the strain caused by the Golden Light Thunder Leopard's Spirit Ring, but such treasures are incredibly rare—something you can only find by chance. The Pope Palace might have them, but even if Xiao Feng were saved, his Spirit Ring would be downgraded to a hundred-year one, not a thousand-year one. His strength and potential would also plummet... The Spirit Hall would never go to all that trouble."

Ma Xiunuo and Su Yuntao were baffled once more.

He looked a little frightened, as if he'd understood what Jie Ke and the mysterious boy had just said.

Then Wang Feng suddenly spoke, his voice trembling slightly.

Wang Feng had barely finished speaking when the boy shook his head with a sigh and fell silent.

Bishop Jie Ke looked at Wang Feng and asked, "Child, does your body hurt terribly every time you use your Soul Power?"

"No wonder," the mysterious boy said again, his voice as beautiful as a song. "Innate Full Soul Power makes his body far stronger than ordinary people's. But he forced himself to absorb the Golden Light Thunder Leopard's Spirit Ring. Even though he succeeded, his body still won't be able to hold up."

"So, his Soul Power will only be level fifteen."

"And every time he uses his Spirit Ring, the strain on his body will worsen. Then his Soul Power will rapidly dissipate, because his body can't withstand the Soul Power from a Thousand-Year Soul Ring!"

After hearing his teacher out, Tang San was stunned too.

Bishop Jie Ke pointed at Wang Feng. "His talent is good, but he was foolish and knew too little. He chose the wrong Spirit Ring. If he'd chosen the Star-Moon Fox, with its recovery ability and lower age, he might have had a chance to survive."

"Then, child, I'm sorry, but you can't join the Spirit Hall. I suggest you stop studying, return to your village, and avoid using your Martial Spirit. Live out whatever time you have left."

"That Spirit Ring was at least five thousand years old... I've never seen a case like this, but no matter how gifted he is, he'll have a hard time surviving. Now that he's forcing himself to bear the Spirit Ring, every time he uses his Martial Spirit, he'll likely suffer terribly, and his Soul Power will slowly dissipate... He won't live long."

"Couldn't you at least try? How would you know unless you did?" Wang Feng went over to Bishop Jie Ke, his face full of pleading.

"Brother Feng, how... how long can he live?" Tang San asked, his voice trembling.

Ma Xiunuo and the others didn't understand.

Wang Feng walked up to Bishop Jie Ke, his face full of desperation. "Uncle, can't the Spirit Hall do anything to save me? You're so powerful. Surely you can save someone in my situation? If you save me, I'll be fine, won't I?"

Grandmaster finished speaking, then sighed.

"So his potential is completely gone," Bishop Jie Ke said, shaking his head. "What a waste of our trip."