Guess

The night was deep.

Sea God Island was very quiet, with only the sound of the lake water gently lapping against the shore.

Yun Ming stood before the window, watching the moonlight outside.

Ya Li walked out from the inner chamber and came to a stop beside him.

"Is he asleep?"

Yun Ming asked.

Ya Li nodded.

"He is. He's been tinkering with those parts every day for a month, and he spent the entire afternoon practicing his swordplay today; he was exhausted."

Yun Ming was silent for a moment.

"How is his research on those things coming along?"

Ya Li thought for a moment.

"I don't understand it. Yue'er says that even she can't make sense of some of the blueprints he's drawn."

Yun Ming did not speak.

Ya Li looked at him.

"What are you thinking about?"

Yun Ming was silent for a long time.

"That bear."

He said.

Ya Li was taken aback for a moment.

Yun Ming continued.

"When he was unconscious, I went to check the records of the Spirit Ascension Platform."

He paused.

"That Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear was split open by a single strike of his sword."

Ya Li did not speak.

Yun Ming turned around to look at her.

"From the top of its head down to its abdomen, it was split perfectly in two. The cut was as smooth as a mirror."

His voice was very calm, but Ya Li could hear what lay beneath that calmness.

"He is only nine years old," Ya Li said.

Yun Ming nodded.

"Nine years old, two rings, and he split a century-old Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear with one sword strike."

He paused.

"Do you know what this means?"

Ya Li was silent for a moment.

"His martial soul is even stronger than we imagined."

Yun Ming shook his head.

"It's not just strong."

He walked back to the window, looking at the moonlight outside.

"In the records of the Spirit Ascension Platform, the footage of his final moments was distorted."

Ya Li was stunned.

"Distorted?"

Yun Ming nodded.

"It wasn't a malfunction of the recording device; something interfered with it."

He turned his head to look at Ya Li.

"During that period, his soul power fluctuations completely exceeded the normal range. It wasn't a change in quantity, but a change in quality."

Ya Li's expression shifted slightly.

"Are you saying..."

Yun Ming was silent for a moment.

"His martial soul entered its final state."

He paused.

"That state is something I cannot perceive."

Ya Li fell silent.

"He is my son," she said.

"He is my son as well."

Yun Ming looked at her.

"Then what do you mean by this?"

"I am very worried..."

"Worried about what?"

"...I am worried that he will become the next Pluto Douluo."

Ya Li's expression changed.

"What nonsense are you spouting?"

Yun Ming shook his head.

"I am not spouting nonsense. I am wondering, what exactly is his martial soul?"

He walked back to the window, looking at the moonlight outside.

"Lunar Phase Flow, the four realms shift. New Moon, Crescent, Full Moon, Blood Moon. A martial soul possessing four states like this has never appeared in the tens of thousands of years of history on this continent."

Ya Li did not speak.

Yun Ming continued.

"When his soul ring first fused, it was only a hundred-year ring, yet that spirituality was stronger than a hundred-thousand-year soul ring."

"His soul skills each carry rules that we cannot comprehend. The mark-tracking of Crescent Slash, the attraction and invincibility of Moonlight Protection, and then there is the Blood Moon..."

He paused.

"That power, it surfaced on him before, only for an instant, but I felt it."

Ya Li asked softly.

"What did it feel like?"

Yun Ming was silent for a moment.

"It was like facing the entire plane."

Ya Li was stunned.

Yun Ming turned around to look at her.

"Not facing a powerhouse, but facing the entire world."

"That sense of oppression did not come from one direction; it came from all directions."

He paused.

"At that moment, he was not fighting; he was... proclaiming something."

Ya Li's hands clenched slightly.

"Are you saying his martial soul is related to the plane?"

Yun Ming nodded.

"I am wondering if he might have been created by the plane itself."

Ya Li was taken aback.

"What do you mean?"

Yun Ming said.

"Thousands of years ago, there was a legend. It was said that the Plane Master, in order to oppose the God Realm, once created a special life form."

"That life form possessed the purest martial soul and the greatest potential; it was the final means the plane used to protect itself."

He looked at Ya Li.

"But that legend had no ending. No one knows what eventually happened to that life form."

Ya Li was silent for a moment.

"Are you saying that Jing Heng is that life form?"

Yun Ming shook his head.

"I do not know."

He paused.

"But if he is, many things would make sense."

"Why his martial soul is so special, why his soul skills carry rules, why he can draw those blueprints that we cannot understand..."

Ya Li suddenly said.

"But he has emotions."

Yun Ming looked at her.

Ya Li said.

"He will care about us. He will care about that girl, Xinglan. He will care about that little fox."

"He is not a tool created for a purpose; he is a living, breathing person."

Yun Ming was silent for a moment.

"I know."

He paused.

"But that is precisely why I cannot understand it."

He walked back to the window, looking at the moonlight outside.

"The first time he met that girl named Gu Yue, he lost control because of her."

Ya Li was stunned for a moment.

"Gu Yue?"

Yun Ming nodded.

"In the records of the Spirit Ascension Platform, that girl blocked a strike for him and was then knocked out. It was at that exact moment that he began to lose control."

He looked at Ya Li.

"Had he ever heard of her before?"

Ya Li shook her head.

"No. Xinglan said it was their first time meeting."

Yun Ming was silent for a moment.

"Then why?"

Ya Li thought for a while.

"Perhaps... it was because that girl blocked the strike for him?"

Yun Ming shook his head.

"That is why I cannot understand it. Ye Xinglan also blocked a strike for him, but that was after the girl."

He paused.

Ya Li fell silent.

Yun Ming continued.

"That girl is named Gu Yue, from Eastsea City, and her martial soul is an Elemental Envoy. She seems very ordinary. But I always feel that she is not simple."

He looked out the window.

"Did he lose control because of her? Because of Ye Xinglan? Or because of something else?"

Ya Li asked softly.

"Are you saying there is a connection between them?"

Yun Ming nodded.

"Perhaps."

He paused.

"Perhaps that girl is also related to the plane."

Ya Li was stunned.

Yun Ming turned around to look at her.

"I do not know if this is a coincidence, or if something is orchestrating it."

"Every time Ye Xinglan practiced swordplay with him before, this situation never occurred. Furthermore, at that time, all his soul power was being used to escape, and the moon phase only reached the Crescent Moon..."

"But when he met her, the process from Crescent Moon to Full Moon was directly bypassed, and then, when Ye Xinglan was knocked out of the Spirit Ascension Platform, the Blood Moon appeared..."

He was silent for a moment.

"All of this is too coincidental."

Ya Li walked to his side and took his hand.

"No matter who he is, no matter who she is, he is our son."

Yun Ming looked at her.

Ya Li said.

"We promised that if we cannot protect him, we will stay by his side."

Yun Ming was silent for a few seconds.

Then, he nodded.

"Mm."

He paused.

"But I want to get to the bottom of this."

Ya Li looked at him.

Yun Ming said.

"It isn't because he is dangerous; it is because... he is worth it."

He turned his head to look in the direction of the inner chamber.

"That child hides many things in his heart. He doesn't say them, but we must know."

Ya Li was silent for a moment.

"How do you intend to find out?"

Yun Ming thought for a moment.

"Let's take a look at that Gu Yue first."

He paused.

"If she truly has contact with him, we will meet again eventually."

Outside the window, the moonlight spilled down.

It was very bright.

So bright that it felt as if it were watching something.