Yun Jingheng quickly discovered that the greatest trouble brought by an infant's body was not being unable to care for himself.
Those things were embarrassing, but once he got used to them, he became numb to it.
It was that his brain's development could not support complex thought.
He often fell asleep in the middle of thinking.
When he woke up and found himself drooling, Ya Li was wiping his face with a soft cloth, her eyes full of amusement.
"What did little Jingheng dream about? Why are you smiling so happily?"
I'm not smiling. My facial nerves are out of control.
He retorted inwardly, but all that came from his mouth was "ah, ah."
Yun Ming stood nearby, holding a pale blue stone and pouring something into it.
What was that thing?
Yun Jingheng stared at the stone, his mind beginning to work.
According to the original setting, this world's energy system was called Soul Power, a special energy that could be continuously accumulated through cultivation.
A Martial Soul could awaken at the age of six, and then—
Wait.
A question suddenly occurred to him.
Do I have Soul Power now?
This body was native to Douluo Continent, so in theory, it should have a Martial Soul.
But his soul had come from Earth.
That place called Earth had no Soul Power, not even spiritual energy.
Would his soul contaminate this body's innate talent?
The thought made him anxious for an entire day, until three nights later.
That night, he woke up once.
An infant's sleep schedule tormented him beyond measure. He woke every two or three hours, either hungry or needing to pee, more punctual than a laboratory alarm clock.
But this time, when he woke up, he found Yun Ming sitting beside the bed.
The man had lowered his head, one hand lightly pressed against his chest, his eyes closed as though sensing something.
Yun Jingheng did not move.
He felt a warm current seep from Yun Ming's palm into his body, slowly flowing along a path he could not understand.
That current was warm and gentle, like soaking in warm water.
Then he "saw" it.
His eyes were closed, yet he clearly "saw" the inside of his body. It was a vast, gray space with nothing in it.
Except for a faint glimmer at its center.
That speck of light was tiny, smaller than the tip of a needle. If not for the absolute darkness, it would have been impossible to notice.
But it truly existed.
Yun Ming opened his eyes and met Yun Jingheng's bright black gaze.
One man and one infant stared at each other for three seconds.
"Interesting."
Yun Ming spoke softly. "This little fellow's Soul Power aptitude... is very unusual."
Ya Li leaned over from the side. "How so?"
"At his age, he already has Soul Power fluctuations, although they are so weak as to be nearly nonexistent."
Yun Ming paused. "But the source of it is not normal."
"I don't understand. Explain it clearly."
"...The little fellow is absorbing moonlight."
"Could his Martial Soul be related to the moon?"
"Probably... Why are you still awake?"
"You woke me up."
Morning over Sea God Lake. Its surface was as smooth as a mirror.
Yun Jingheng crouched by the lake, holding a wooden bucket with both hands as he scooped water into it.
For a six-year-old, this was still somewhat difficult. The bucket was too large, so he had to brace its side with his knee to keep his balance.
"One bucket, two buckets, three buckets..."
He counted while his hands kept moving.
He was bored, so all he could do was water the flowers and such.
The bucket was heavy, the water was cold, and red marks had been rubbed into his hands.
But none of that bothered him as much as something else.
His Martial Soul.
He was six years old.
By the rules of Douluo Continent, a child should awaken a Martial Soul at six.
Even if it was the most ordinary farming-tool Martial Soul, even if it was a useless Martial Soul, there should still be something.
But he had nothing.
Three days ago, all the elders of Shrek's Sea God Pavilion had come to observe his awakening ceremony.
Yun Ming, the man who made countless enemies tremble in fear, held a ball of gentle light in both hands and carefully sent it into Yun Jingheng's body.
Nothing happened.
Ya Li smiled at his side. "Maybe our son is exceptionally gifted and needs a little more time."
Yun Ming did not smile.
After a long silence, he said, "Let's wait a little longer."
They tried again yesterday.
Still nothing happened.
Yun Jingheng could feel that there was something inside his body.
That gray space was still there, as was the faint glimmer at its center. It was a little brighter than it had been when he was an infant, but it was still as weak as a candle flame that could go out at any moment.
He tried to touch it.
The speck of light did not budge.
As though he simply was not worthy of possessing it.
"Thirty-seventh bucket."
He poured the water at the roots of a plant blooming with small blue flowers, set down the bucket, and sat by the lake.
The lake water was clear enough for him to see his reflection.
Black hair, black eyes, and a rather delicate face. He was impossibly handsome in a way that was hard to describe.
He stared at himself in the water, and the child in the water stared back at him.
"Tell me, do I even have a Martial Soul?"
The child in the water did not speak.
"Even if I do, why won't it awaken?"
The child in the water still did not speak.
Yun Jingheng sighed, picked up a pebble, and tossed it into the lake.
Ripples spread outward, shattering the reflection.
Sea God Pavilion.
Yun Ming stood before the window, watching the tiny figure by the lake.
"Is he still watering the flowers?"
Ya Li walked over, followed his gaze, and smiled. "Yes. One of his few hobbies."
Ya Li leaned against his shoulder and spoke softly. "What do you think about his Martial Soul..."
"I don't know."
Yun Ming cut her off. "I've examined him countless times. There really is something inside him."
"But that thing does not belong to any Martial Soul system I know. It seems to have a consciousness of its own and does not want to come out."
"Then what do we do?"
"Wait."
Yun Ming's voice was calm. "Wait until it is willing to come out, or wait until it never comes out."
Ya Li fell silent for a while.
"What if it never comes out?"
Yun Ming did not answer immediately.
He watched the child carrying an empty wooden bucket back, neither too fast nor too slow, every step firm and steady.
"Then we'll protect him for the rest of his life."
He said it.
"He is our child..."
Night fell.
Yun Ming sat at his desk, staring at the last file before him as his gaze slowly lost focus.
He found it somewhat... hard to accept? Disappointing?
Perhaps.
But more than that, he hoped his child could have a good future, even if he was adopted.
Ya Li brought over a cup of tea. "Brother Ming..."
Yun Ming shook his head.
Though he had never said it aloud, anyone could see how much he cared for Yun Jingheng.
"Pavilion Master."
Three soft knocks sounded from outside the door. It was an Inner Court disciple.
Yun Ming's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly. "Speak."
"Elder Cai sent me to deliver a message. Little Jingheng... seems to be acting strangely."
The two of them vanished from the spot almost instantly.
When Yun Ming and Ya Li arrived, they saw a bizarre scene.
Moonlight streamed down like a silken ribbon from the heavens, faintly forming an indistinct pillar of light that enveloped the small figure by the lake.
Yun Jingheng floated there, head raised, eyes closed.
There were no Soul Power fluctuations around his body, no golden light of a traditional awakening, no Martial Soul phantom—nothing at all.
Yet as the moonlight fell upon him, it was as though it had fallen into a bottomless abyss.
"Don't go over there."
Yun Ming stopped Ya Li as she tried to rush forward, keeping his voice extremely low.
He had seen it.
That moonlight was not simply shining upon Yun Jingheng. It was being absorbed by him in an incredibly slow, incredibly silent manner.
Just like what Yun Ming had sensed that night when Yun Jingheng was an infant.
Only this time, the absorption speed was a thousand times faster.
Yun Jingheng did not know what was happening.
He simply could not sleep, so he climbed out of bed and walked to the lake.
Then the moonlight descended.
Cai Yue'er looked at Yun Ming. "Pavilion Master, this is a Martial Soul awakening on its own. It is directly related to the moon."
Yun Ming nodded. Then, suddenly, his pupils contracted sharply.
Cai Yue'er abruptly turned her head. What had she seen?
The cascading moonlight began to rotate.
At first, it merely shifted slowly, but gradually, it accelerated, forming a visible silvery-white vortex that slowly revolved around Yun Jingheng.
Yun Ming clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white. Ya Li stood close at his side, scarcely daring to breathe.
Cai Yue'er was right. This was a Martial Soul awakening on its own.
But she had never seen an awakening like this.
There were no Soul Power fluctuations, no Martial Soul phantom, only moonlight—endless moonlight—seemingly summoned by something, pouring madly into that child's body.
Then, the sword appeared.
No one saw how it appeared.
They only saw the spinning moonlight suddenly pause. Immediately after, a silvery-white beam shot from the center of the vortex and hovered half a zhang before Yun Jingheng.
It was a sword.
The blade was slender and half-transparent silver-white, its edge thin as a cicada's wing, flowing with moonlight like water.
Yet it hovered there, its moonlight-forged blade slowly flowing, as though it could scatter and return to nothingness at any moment.
"This is..." Feng Wuyu subconsciously stepped forward half a pace, only to be stopped by Yun Ming raising a hand.
That sword had no Soul Power fluctuations. It was not complete yet.
All the falling moonlight began rushing toward that sword.
The sword grew brighter and more solid, and the patterns on its blade gradually became clear.
Then, the moonlight began to gather.
It had not surged in; it had gathered.
The Moonlight that had originally been scattered about seemed to have heard some kind of summons, slowly converging from all directions, circling, winding around, and condensing about the sword.
They formed a shape.
A... circle?
Then came a second shape, a third... until the seventh.
The seven different shapes fused into it one by one, and the sword completely changed form.
The originally semi-transparent silver-white blade was now solid as jade, with seven different streams of Moonlight flowing along its edge.
Then the sword moved.
It gave a gentle tremble, slowly drifting up from where it hovered and floating toward Yun Jingheng.
It merged into the center of his brow.
The moonlight scattered, the vortex vanished, and the lake returned to stillness.
Yun Jingheng fell from midair.
Yun Ming caught him steadily.
He slept deeply. A faint crescent moon mark flickered in and out of view between his brows.
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