Qing Mufeng lowered his head to look at the armor covering his body, feeling the power flowing from it into him.
His defense had greatly increased.
His recovery had greatly increased.
His mental strength had greatly increased.
His speed and attack power had also been noticeably enhanced.
This was not a soul skill.
This was...
"Innate Divine Ability," Qing Mufeng murmured, a flash of understanding appearing in his eyes.
Qing Zhengyue was completely stunned.
He had lived for seventy-eight years and seen countless martial souls and countless soul skills.
But he had never seen anything like this.
It was not a soul skill bestowed by a soul ring, but an ability awakened by the martial soul itself.
Unheard of.
Liu Yunlan circled her grandson twice, the old woman's eyes shining like two stars.
"Old man, did you see that?"
"This armor... this child's martial soul has awakened some kind of innate ability!"
Her voice trembled, not from fear, but excitement.
"I saw it." Qing Zhengyue's voice was somewhat hoarse.
He walked over to his grandson, extended a finger, and lightly tapped the armor.
Clang!!!
The crisp sound was like metal being struck.
Yet a woody grain simultaneously appeared across the armor's surface.
"The defense is very strong," Qing Zhengyue judged. "And it isn't merely physical defense. I can sense that it also blocks Soul Power."
He tapped it twice more before withdrawing his hand.
"What about the consumption?"
Qing Mufeng sensed the rate at which his Soul Power was draining. "Moderate. I can maintain it for a while."
"Put it away," Qing Zhengyue said. "Don't use this ability casually in front of others. Treat it as a trump card."
"Mm, that was what I was thinking too."
Qing Mufeng nodded. With a thought, the armor on his body receded like a tide and sank back into him.
Qing Zhengyue fell silent for a moment, then suddenly reached out and gently patted his grandson's head.
"Azure Dragon Claw Probe." He softly repeated the name of that soul skill, then looked at his grandson. "You know what your martial soul is, don't you?"
Qing Mufeng raised his head and met his grandfather's eyes.
He said nothing and merely nodded.
"When did you find out?"
"When it awakened," Qing Mufeng said. "Inherited memories told me."
"So that was it."
Qing Zhengyue closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
When he opened them again, the old man's eyes no longer held shock or turmoil, only calmness and resolve.
"Good," he said. "Since you know, Grandpa won't say much more. Remember, until you are strong enough, you are an Azure Snake. Not an Azure Dragon."
"I understand," Qing Mufeng said.
Qing Zhengyue looked at him, at the composure in this six-year-old child's eyes that surpassed his age, and suddenly smiled.
"Rest for fifteen minutes." The old man turned around and gripped his longsword again. "Then we'll find the second soul beast."
Liu Yunlan crouched down and helped straighten her grandson's collar. The old woman's eyes were slightly red, but she wore a smile.
"My precious grandson." Her voice choked slightly as she spoke softly. "You're far stronger than your grandfather was back then."
Qing Mufeng looked at the tears in his grandmother's eyes. He said nothing, only gently squeezed her hand.
Fifteen minutes later.
The three figures continued deeper into the dense forest.
Qing Mufeng walked between his grandfather and grandmother, his steps still light.
Within him, the deep yellow soul ring slowly revolved, while the Azure Dragon Armor lay dormant deep within his martial soul, awaiting its next summons.
The first ring was complete.
Next came the second ring.
"Grandpa."
Qing Zhengyue stopped and turned back to look at his grandson.
"What is it?"
Qing Mufeng stepped forward and stood shoulder to shoulder with his grandfather.
His gaze fell upon the low-lying valley ahead. A massive azure dragon was coiled there, basking in the sun.
An Azure Spirit Dragon.
It was a higher species of Vine Dragon, wood-attributed, twice the size of the Vine Dragon from before. Its body was as thick as a water vat and over eight meters long.
The scales covering its body were dark azure, each as large as an adult's palm, gleaming with an eerie, cold luster beneath the sunlight.
"Let me try against this Azure Spirit Dragon," Qing Mufeng said.
Qing Zhengyue frowned.
"What did you say?"
"I said, let me try on my own."
Qing Mufeng repeated himself, his tone calm. "Grandpa and Grandma can just watch from the side. If I can't handle it, then you can step in."
Liu Yunlan hurried over and reached out to touch her grandson's forehead. "Feng'er, do you have a fever? That's a sixteen-hundred-year soul beast. You're only six, and you've only just absorbed your first soul ring..."
"Grandma, I don't have a fever."
Qing Mufeng gently moved his grandmother's hand aside and looked seriously at the two elders. "I know it's a thousand-year soul beast. I know it's stronger than me, but..."
He paused, organizing his words.
"My martial soul is the Azure Dragon."
"It possesses the pride of the dragon race."
Qing Zhengyue's eyes shifted.
"The Azure Dragon is the superior among all wood-attributed dragon creatures in the world."
Qing Mufeng continued, "The inherited memories told me that any wood-attributed dragon soul beast will be suppressed by bloodline rank when facing an Azure Dragon. They cannot display their full strength, and may even be too frightened to attack with all their might."
He looked toward the Azure Spirit Dragon in the valley.
"I want to see how strong this suppression is."
Qing Zhengyue fell silent.
He stared into his grandson's eyes for a long time, trying to find a trace of impulsiveness, recklessness, or ignorance of the world's dangers.
But he found none.
Those eyes were calm, as calm as a deep pool.
It was not that he was unafraid. He simply knew what he was doing.
"How confident are you?" Qing Zhengyue asked.
"Restricted by my level, I'm not confident."
Qing Mufeng answered honestly. "That's why I want Grandpa and Grandma watching from the side. If I can win, I'll fight. If I can't, I'll run. If I can't run, then you can step in."
Qing Zhengyue's mouth twitched slightly.
This child really knew how to calculate.
Liu Yunlan wanted to say something else, but Qing Zhengyue raised a hand to stop her.
"Let her try," the old man said.
Liu Yunlan glared at her husband but did not object again.
The old woman retreated to one side, her right hand already gripping the short dagger at her waist while her left pulled two small porcelain bottles from her cloth bag, ready to act at any moment.
Qing Zhengyue also stepped back several paces. His longsword was drawn three inches from its sheath, his gaze fixed on his grandson.
"Go," he said. "Remember, retreat if you can't handle it."
Qing Mufeng nodded, took a deep breath, and turned toward the valley.
Inside the valley.
The Azure Spirit Dragon had long since noticed their arrival.
The senses of a thousand-year soul beast far surpassed those of a hundred-year one. From the moment Qing Mufeng began speaking, it had raised its dragon head, its golden vertical pupils coldly fixed on the three intruders.
But it did not move.
Because it sensed something that made it uneasy.
That aura did not come from the white-haired old man.
Although the old man was powerful, that kind of power was something it could understand and deal with.
That aura came from the child.
That child who was only six years old.
Before you continue