The First Soul Ring is Already a Thousand Years?

Luo Yun tilted his head. "Why?"

"Because..." Luo Shang paused, "if some people find out about your talent, they won't be happy."

"Let them be unhappy, then." Luo Yun dismissed it nonchalantly.

Luo Shang was choked by his words, caught between laughter and tears.

Shen Yinshuang added softly from the side, "If some people find out, they will want to take Little Yun away, so you will never see your father and mother again."

Luo Yun's expression finally changed.

He furrowed his brows, his small face showing a gravity that did not match his age.

"...I won't tell." He nodded.

Shen Yinshuang reached out and pulled him into her arms, resting her chin on the top of his head as she let out a soft sigh.

Little Yun was still too naive.

Luo Shang stood up and looked at the swirling snow outside the hall, a flicker of coldness crossing his eyes.

Bibi Dong.

You had better not set your sights on him.

Inside the side hall.

Luo Yun was pressed into a chair by Shen Yinshuang, and the table was soon filled with food. He didn't stand on ceremony, picking up his chopsticks and shoveling rice into his mouth, his cheeks bulging like a hamster.

Shen Yinshuang sat beside him, picking out food for him. Though the tear tracks from earlier had not yet fully dried, the corners of her mouth were already curved upward.

"Eat slowly, no need to rush."

Luo Shang stood by the window, watching the heavy snow outside, lost in thought.

"Dad, aren't you eating?" Luo Yun asked, his mouth stuffed with food, his voice muffled.

"Not hungry."

Luo Yun gave an "oh" and went back to burying his face in his meal.

He had already finished two of his three bowls of rice.

Meanwhile, deep within Luo Yun's sea of consciousness.

Two orbs of light hovered in his mental sea, one on the left and one on the right.

On the right was a deep, intense violet light, radiating a heart-stopping sense of destruction. On the left was a warm, bright emerald light, overflowing with vibrant vitality.

Two voices rang out simultaneously.

One was low and cold:

"Destruction Nine Trials, First Trial: Absorb a thousand-year spirit ring. Reward: 10% affinity with the origin of destruction."

The other was gentle and clear:

"Life Nine Trials, First Trial: Complete the first trial of the Destruction Nine Trials. Reward: 10% affinity with the origin of life."

The two voices faded.

The violet and green lights flickered in unison, as if reaching some tacit understanding.

Then, they both fell silent.

As Luo Yun picked up his third bowl, he froze.

His chopsticks hung in mid-air, a trace of confusion flashing in his eyes as if he were listening to something.

Shen Yinshuang was the first to notice his abnormality. "Little Yun? What's wrong?"

Luo Yun didn't speak; his brows were slightly furrowed, and his small face wore a thoughtful expression.

"Dad, Mom."

"Hmm?"

"I just... heard voices in my head."

Luo Shang turned around, his gaze sharpening. "What voices?"

Luo Yun set his chopsticks down on the bowl and carefully organized his words. "Two voices. One said, 'Destruction Nine Trials, First Trial: Absorb a thousand-year spirit ring. Reward: 10% affinity with the origin of destruction.' The other said, 'Life Nine Trials, First Trial: Complete the first trial of the Destruction Nine Trials. Reward: 10% affinity with the origin of life.'"

He paused, then added, "They went silent right after they finished speaking."

The hall fell silent for a moment.

Luo Shang's fingers tightened slightly, his knuckles turning white.

Shen Yinshuang stood up abruptly, her chair sliding back with a harsh screech. Her face turned pale, and her voice dropped to a whisper. "A thousand-year spirit ring? The first spirit ring must be a thousand years?"

"Yes." Luo Yun nodded, his expression surprisingly calm. "That seems to be the meaning."

Luo Shang remained silent for a moment before walking to the table and sitting down, his fingers tapping rhythmically against the surface.

"For tens of thousands of years on this continent, no one has ever absorbed a thousand-year spirit ring as their first," he said, his voice steady, though his brows were knitted into a deep frown. "For an ordinary spirit master, four hundred years is the absolute limit for a first spirit ring. A thousand-year level..."

He did not continue.

Shen Yinshuang bit her lip, her eyes reddening once more. "What kind of divine trial is this? Sending little Yun to his death for his very first spirit ring?"

Luo Yun glanced at his mother and whispered, "Mom, I'm not dead yet."

"Shut up and eat your food." Shen Yinshuang glared at him, though her voice was clearly trembling.

"Oh."

Maternal love, it seems, can change in an instant.

Luo Shang stood up and paced the hall a few times before suddenly stopping.

"Can little Yun's body withstand a thousand-year spirit ring?" He seemed to be talking to himself, or perhaps asking the very air in the hall. "Innate full spirit power of level twenty... perhaps his martial soul is already powerful enough to cross that threshold?"

He turned to look at Luo Yun.

"But the word 'perhaps' is not something I can gamble your life on."

Luo Shang walked over to Luo Yun, crouched down, and looked him straight in the eye.

"Starting tomorrow, I will teach you myself."

Luo Yun blinked. "Teach me what?"

"Physical training first." Luo Shang's tone allowed for no argument.

"When absorbing a spirit ring, the two most important factors are physical constitution and mental strength. If these two aren't up to par, absorbing a thousand-year spirit ring will cost you your life instantly."

"From tomorrow on, I will no longer treat you like a child."

At the time, Luo Yun did not know what those words would mean.

He only knew that that night, his mother soaked him in a barrel of medicine so bitter, so incredibly bitter, that he began to question his existence.

"Mom, what did you put in this?"

"Coptis."

"...And what else?"

"A lot of Coptis."

The next day.

Before the sky had even brightened, Luo Yun was hauled out of his blankets.

The wind and snow howled, the sky was a murky gray, and the people of Frost Ridge City were all still asleep.

Luo Shang brought Luo Yun into the courtyard, where he stood bare-chested in the snow. As the cold wind bit into him, his entire body shook, his teeth chattering uncontrollably.

"Dad... are you joking?" Luo Yun hugged his arms, his voice trembling, the tip of his nose frozen bright red. "It's snowing out here, I'm so cold..."

Luo Shang looked at him with a blank expression.

That gaze was like looking at a soldier, not his own six-year-old son.

Luo Yun's heart sank.

He turned his head to look at Shen Yinshuang, who was standing under the veranda, and shouted with all his might, "Mom..."

Shen Yinshuang turned her head away, refusing to look at him.

Luo Yun: "..."

It was over; his support had collapsed.

Luo Shang tied a pile of stones into a makeshift frame, tested the weight, added two more, and then placed it on Luo Yun's back.

The combined weight of those stones was heavier than Luo Yun himself.

Luo Yun's knees buckled under the pressure, and he nearly collapsed to the ground.

"Run." Luo Shang said only one word.

"Run... run where?"

"Run around the city walls. I will follow you."

"Fine!"

Luo Yun gritted his teeth and took a deep breath of freezing air.

He took his first step.

It was heavy.

The second step was even heavier.

The wind and snow lashed against his face like knives.

The snow on the ground buried his ankles, and every step left a deep pit.

The weight of the stones on his back made it impossible to catch his breath, his spine arched like a small shrimp.