The next morning.
On the training grounds of Shrek City's Inner Court, Yun Jingheng stood alone.
He held the Moonlight Sword in his hand.
The blade was light, so light he could barely feel its weight, yet it felt solid in his grip, like a beam of moonlight that had frozen into shape.
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
Within his Sea of Spirit, the little fox was still asleep, curled beside the moon, its nine tails wrapped around itself into a fluffy ball.
Yet the aura it emitted was slowly merging with the power within him.
His first soul ring slowly revolved beneath his feet, its pale yellow glow flickering in and out.
"Crescent Slash."
He murmured the words and swung his sword forward.
A silver-white crescent Moon Blade shot from the tip of his sword, slicing through the air and flying thirty meters before accurately striking a humanoid target at the edge of the training ground.
Moonlight burst forth, leaving a faint silver mark on the target's surface.
Yun Jingheng stared at that mark.
It gave off a weak glow, as though moonlight had drawn a symbol upon the target.
"What is this...?"
With a thought, he moved.
In the next instant, his body had vanished from where he stood.
He had not run or jumped. He had flashed.
Almost at the same time, he appeared before the humanoid target, bringing the Moonlight Sword straight down.
"Bang—"
The target shuddered violently, and a deep sword mark appeared across its surface.
Yun Jingheng landed and turned to look at where he had just been standing, then at the target before him.
Thirty meters.
He had arrived in an instant.
He lowered his gaze to the sword in his hand, a strange gleam flashing through his eyes.
Was this pursuit?
He swung his sword again, sending another Crescent Slash flying toward a second humanoid target.
Flash.
Slash.
He swung again.
Flash again.
Slash again.
After five consecutive repetitions, he stopped, breathing slightly harder.
Not from exhaustion, but excitement.
The feeling was too wondrous. So long as a marked target was within his field of vision, a single thought would carry his body straight to it.
It was not teleportation. He was being pulled by moonlight, as though gliding along an invisible path.
A name suddenly came to mind: Infinite Moonlight Combo.
He closed his eyes and sensed the changes within his body.
The moon hanging within his Sea of Spirit was giving off a faint glow.
A current of power flowed through him, thirty percent faster than usual, while his mind felt unusually clear, as though something had been awakened.
He swung his sword again.
The Crescent Slash flew out and struck its target.
Flash, slash.
Another swing, another hit, another flash, another slash.
The eighth time.
The ninth time.
The tenth time.
The instant the tenth Crescent Slash struck its target, he suddenly felt the moon within him tremble slightly.
The moonlight changed.
The previously dim silver radiance brightened somewhat, curving like a New Moon turning into a Crescent Moon.
An icy aura surged from the blade.
Yun Jingheng looked down and saw a faint frost-white glow emerge along the Moonlight Sword. Tiny ice crystals drifted around its edge, as though winter moonlight had frozen upon the blade.
He swung again.
The Crescent Slash flew out and struck the humanoid target.
This time, he clearly saw a thin layer of frost rapidly form across the target's surface.
"Frost?"
He fell into thought.
Another strike.
Another strike.
Another strike.
When the fifth strike hit the same humanoid target, the thin frost suddenly thickened. Ice crystals burst apart, and the entire target froze into an ice sculpture.
One second.
For a full second, the ice sculpture did not move.
Then the ice crystals exploded, leaving countless fine cracks across the humanoid target's surface.
Yun Jingheng stood still, looking at the shattered target before glancing at the sword in his hand.
Frozen for one second.
A powerful, uninterruptible control effect.
He suddenly recalled those maddening crowd-control skills from the games he had played in his previous life.
But this was reality.
This was his own power.
He took a deep breath and continued swinging his sword.
The fifteenth hit.
The twentieth.
The twenty-fifth.
When the twenty-fifth Crescent Slash descended, the moon within him trembled again.
This time, its radiance was dazzling.
That Crescent Moon became complete, transforming into a full Full Moon suspended within his Sea of Spirit and radiating a brilliant silver glow.
A vast surge of power poured from the sword.
Yun Jingheng raised his hand. The Moonlight Sword shone as brilliantly as a Full Moon, its sword aura expanding three zhang, illuminating the entire range of humanoid targets.
Behind him, a phantom Full Moon slowly appeared.
At that moment, an odd sensation overcame him. It was as if he was not standing in the training ground, but high above the nine heavens, gazing down upon the mortal world.
He swung again.
The Crescent Slash flew out.
This Moon Blade was three times larger than before. A faint golden hue showed within its silver-white radiance, and it gave off a low hum as it cut through the air.
It hit.
The humanoid target exploded at once.
It was not cut apart. It burst, as though an irresistible force had ruptured it from within.
Yun Jingheng froze.
He looked at the brilliant Moonlight Sword in his hand, then at the pile of splintered wood, remaining silent for three seconds.
"...Ten percent true damage?"
He muttered to himself.
It ignored all defenses and inflicted additional true damage equal to ten percent of his maximum vitality.
In other words, the stronger he became, the more terrifying that additional damage would be.
And he was only six years old.
He only had his first soul ring.
He suddenly understood why Yun Ming had worn such a complicated smile when he saw that hundred-year soul ring.
What kind of hundred-year soul ring possessed something like this?
He closed his eyes and sensed his Sea of Spirit.
The Full Moon hung silently there, its radiance boundless.
Beside it, the little fox rolled over, smacked its lips, and continued sleeping.
It slept without a care in the world.
At the edge of the training ground, Ya Li stood beneath a tree, quietly watching the small figure within the field.
She had been there for some time, but had not disturbed him.
From New Moon to Crescent Moon, from Crescent Moon to Full Moon, she had witnessed it all.
When the phantom Full Moon rose behind Yun Jingheng, her hand tightened slightly.
"Ming..."
She spoke softly.
At some point, Yun Ming had appeared beside her, his gaze also fixed on the training ground.
"Mm."
"Jing Heng's martial soul..."
"I know."
Yun Ming's voice was calm, but a complicated light glimmered in his eyes.
"Lunar Phase Flow, four shifting stages. It is my first time seeing it as well."
Ya Li turned to him. "You knew already?"
"I guessed."
Yun Ming said, "On the night his martial soul awakened, I felt that something was wrong. An ordinary moon-type martial soul would not possess such pressure, much less reject my probing."
He paused.
"Now it seems it was not rejection. It was... self-protection. That moon has its own consciousness."
Ya Li was silent for a while.
"Will it affect him?"
"I don't know."
Yun Ming's answer was honest. "But there is one thing I can be certain of."
"What?"
"That is his power, not his burden."
He looked toward the child still swinging his sword in the training ground, his voice very soft.
"The moon is helping him."
On the training ground, Yun Jingheng stopped moving.
The enhancement of the Full Moon state was too terrifying. He needed time to process it.
He dismissed the Moonlight Sword and sat at the edge of the training ground, looking at his hands.
They were the pale, soft hands of a six-year-old child, with nothing unusual about them.
He raised his head to look at the sky.
It was still early. The sun had only just risen.
Yet he could feel the Full Moon within him slowly turning, waiting for the next battle, waiting for the next stage of advancement—
Blood Moon.
He did not know what the Blood Moon would be like.
But he vaguely sensed that it was not something he could touch yet.
He closed his eyes, letting his consciousness sink into that space.
The little fox was still asleep.
He gently reached out and stroked its head.
"Thank you."
He spoke softly.
The little fox's ears twitched. It did not wake, but its tail swayed lightly.
As though responding to him.
Yun Jingheng smiled.
He opened his eyes, rose to his feet, and looked at the dozen or so humanoid targets on the training ground.
"Continue."
He spoke softly.
The Moonlight Sword appeared once more.
This time, the blade shone brilliantly.
Before you continue