The First Thousand-Year Soul Ring, Awakened Talent Soul Skill, Delayed Vision

[If I could go to the Douluo Continent, if I could snatch up all those opportunities... wouldn't I just take off in the future?]

"This Sun Moon Lin Qing certainly has dreams."

Lin Qing couldn't help but sigh.

That's right, he thought the same thing.

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm and Electrolux were Huo Yuhao's two greatest "cheat codes."

If he could get his hands on them... just thinking about it made his heart race.

But soon, the narrator's voice pulled him back to reality.

[However, after pondering it for a long time... I realized this is too difficult.]

Sun Moon Lin Qing put down the map, his brows furrowed tightly.

[It's not just difficult; it's impossible.]

[First of all, I am from the Sun Moon Empire. With the current tensions between nations, how could I safely run off to the Douluo Continent?]

[Even if I went, how could I guarantee I wouldn't be caught and treated as a spy?]

Sun Moon Lin Qing paced back and forth in his dormitory.

[Secondly, even if I actually managed to sneak in, where would I even find Huo Yuhao?]

[The Star Dou Great Forest is so vast, how could I possibly appear in that exact spot just as he encounters the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm?]

[The odds are lower than winning the lottery.]

"No flaws there."

His parallel-world self was analyzing things quite correctly.

Intercepting opportunities sounds easy, but doing it is as hard as ascending to heaven.

[In the end, I gave up on this unrealistic notion.]

Sun Moon Lin Qing shook his head and put the map away.

[It's good enough to just survive in this coming chaotic era. What I should do is leverage my own advantages—my mental-type martial soul—and use this opportunity to properly learn the Sun Moon Empire's most advanced Soul Tool technology; that is the true path.]

[Therefore, I have decided: bury myself in studying Soul Tools and walk a path of my own.]

"That counts as a clear-headed choice."

Without any guarantee of safety, stubbornly chasing after intangible opportunities is indeed quite foolish.

Keeping one's feet on the ground and doing what one is good at is the right way forward.

At the very least, Lin Qing didn't think Sun Moon Lin Qing's thinking was wrong.

The last words continued to play.

[Not long after, I broke through to level ten, and my teacher came to find me.]

A middle-aged teacher wearing glasses with a stern expression called Sun Moon Lin Qing into his office.

"Lin Qing, your soul power has reached level ten. According to academy regulations, I can take you to obtain your first soul ring."

The teacher pushed up his glasses and looked at him earnestly.

"Regarding your first soul ring, do you have any plans or ideas of your own?"

Sun Moon Lin Qing was silent for a moment before saying something shocking.

"Teacher, I want to... try for a thousand-year soul ring."

"What?!"

The teacher stood up abruptly, his glasses nearly sliding off.

"A thousand-year first soul ring? Are you crazy?!"

The teacher's voice was full of shock, mixed with a hint of anger.

"You are gambling with your own life and future!"

But Sun Moon Lin Qing remained calm.

He waited for the teacher to finish before speaking slowly.

"Teacher, I have chosen an Ice Silkworm Soul Ring."

"Ice Silkworm?"

The teacher was stunned.

"Yes."

Sun Moon Lin Qing nodded.

"The Ice Silkworm is an exceptionally weak soul beast. Even if it cultivates to a thousand years, its actual combat power might not even match an ordinary hundred-year soul beast."

"Its strength lies in its mental power, while its soul power is relatively gentle and weak, which is a perfect match for my Heavenly Eye Martial Soul."

The teacher frowned, as if considering whether this proposal was feasible.

"But, the soul power impact of a thousand-year soul ring..."

For soul rings under ten thousand years, there is no need to worry about soul shock; the main issue is whether the body can withstand the impact of the soul power.

Sun Moon Lin Qing took over the conversation.

"I have checked the materials in the academy library and calculated my own physical strength and mental power levels."

"I think I can give it a try."

"..."

The teacher stared at him for a long time.

Finally, he sighed and said, "I cannot make this decision; it must be reported to the academy."

[The teacher reported my choice to the academy authorities.]

[After quite a long time, the teacher returned.]

Office.

The teacher looked at Sun Moon Lin Qing with a complicated expression.

"The academy... has agreed."

"However!"

He emphasized his tone.

"You will bear all the consequences yourself."

"If the absorption fails, at best you will be seriously injured with a damaged martial soul, and at worst... you might lose your life."

Sun Moon Lin Qing nodded.

"I understand."

[I understand that the Sun Moon Royal Academy does not value me that much; after all, I am just a commoner with some talent, but if I succeed, things will be different.]

[The teacher took me and set off for the outskirts of the Far North.]

Ice and snow.

The cold wind howled.

A five-man squad moved rapidly across the snowfield.

Soon, they found an ice silkworm.

Its entire body was crystalline, about a meter long, crawling slowly through the snow.

It was indeed very weak.

The teacher casually struck it with a soul guidance ray, knocking it unconscious.

"Finish it."

The teacher looked at Sun Moon Lin Qing.

Sun Moon Lin Qing took a deep breath, stepped forward, and brought his blade down.

The ice silkworm died.

A purple soul ring representing a thousand-year age appeared.

[After killing the ice silkworm, I began to absorb this thousand-year soul ring, but this thousand-year soul ring was indeed more difficult to absorb than I had expected.]

"Ugh!"

Sun Moon Lin Qing let out a muffled groan.

His face turned pale instantly, and his body began to tremble violently.

"Not good!"

The teacher's expression changed.

He hurriedly pulled a silver-white cylinder from his robe.

A Milk Bottle!

This thing could store a large amount of soul power and replenish it at any time.

"Hold on!"

The teacher pressed the Milk Bottle against Sun Moon Lin Qing's back.

Pure soul power was continuously infused into him, helping him resist the impact of the soul ring.

Time passed second by second.

Sun Moon Lin Qing's trembling slowly subsided.

The frost melted, and the purple soul ring slowly merged into his body.

[I was very lucky; I actually succeeded.]

Sun Moon Lin Qing opened his eyes.

His soul power fluctuation was significantly stronger; the testing crystal lit up, indicating level fourteen—a direct jump of four levels!

"This..."

Lin Qing, in reality, was stunned.

"This actually worked?"

Although the ice silkworm was weak, it was still a thousand-year soul ring!

To have a thousand-year level soul ring as a first ring...

"Is this guy's luck a bit too good?"

He even started to wonder if this Sun Moon Lin Qing also possessed some hidden "cheat"?

Otherwise, how could this be explained?

Could it be... really just because the ice silkworm was too weak?

[However, it is a pity that I did not obtain the soul skill I wanted most: Spiritual Detection.]

The narrator's voice pulled Lin Qing's thoughts back.

In the scene, Sun Moon Lin Qing was testing his new soul skill.

The Heavenly Eye between his brows opened.

The soul ring lit up.

Then... his appearance began to blur.

His color and silhouette changed rapidly, and within a few seconds, he had "transformed" into the appearance of his teacher.

Even his clothes and temperament were exactly the same.

Of course, this was only a visual resemblance; in reality, he was still himself.

[First soul skill—Simulation, can change one's appearance, aura, and even the color of soul rings.]

[It is not the Spiritual Detection I wanted most, nor is it Spiritual Sharing.]

"After all, it's just an ordinary ice silkworm, not a million-year level one like Sky Dream Ice Silkworm... getting 'Simulation' is already not bad."

Lin Qing muttered to himself.

Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection and Spiritual Sharing were bestowed by Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, not just any ice silkworm.

It can only be said that an ice silkworm and Sky Dream Ice Silkworm are two completely different things; the difference lies in that million years of cultivation.

Even if Sky Dream Ice Silkworm is a "combat-power-of-five" million-year soul beast, its spiritual power and the soul skills it provides are genuinely formidable.

The next second, the narrator's voice suddenly became excited.

[However, I also received an unexpected surprise!]

[My martial soul, 'Heavenly Eye', seems to have undergone some kind of change after absorbing this thousand-year soul ring.]

In the scene, the vision before Sun Moon Lin Qing changed; everything, even the falling snowflakes, seemed to... slow down in his eyes.

[My martial soul has awakened an innate soul skill—Delayed Vision!]

[As long as I activate 'Delayed Vision', everything I see will become "slow".]

[It is not that they have actually slowed down, but that the speed at which my eyes receive and process information has significantly increased! This gives me more time to observe, to analyze, and to react.]