Lin Yan! The First Thousand-Year Ring, Spirit Hall's Swift Blade

Xue Qinghe did not bother to let go of the hand he was using to check Lin Yan's bone age, instead pulling him directly into the courtyard.

As they walked, he asked, "What is your Martial Soul?"

Lin Yan replied, "Evil Fire Demon Dragon!"

"A mutated fire-attribute dragon Martial Soul. It's very powerful, but it has an innate defect."

"An innate defect? A mutated Martial Soul?" Xue Qinghe frowned slightly, his mind racing to retrieve the theoretical knowledge on Martial Souls he had learned in the past.

Unfortunately... in recent years, he had poured all his energy into state affairs, and those old memories had long since faded.

In the end, Xue Qinghe could only look at Lin Yan with an inquisitive gaze. "Could you show me your Martial Soul?"

Lin Yan did not refuse. Since they had already reached the main hall of the residence, he took the initiative to pull his hand away, straightened his posture, and in the next second...

[Evil Fire Demon Dragon, Martial Soul Avatar!]

A phantom of a giant purple-red dragon emerged, then quickly vanished into the boy's body.

Following closely behind, a purple spirit ring rose slowly.

[First Spirit Skill: Fire Demon God Spear!]

Lin Yan reached into the air, and a spear with a silver-white body and a purple-gold blade appeared in his grasp. His fire-attribute spirit power surged, creating a ripple of intense heat that swept across the entire hall.

Xue Qinghe felt his face flush from the heat, and at the same time, his eyes widened in shock.

"Purple?"

"Why is your first spirit ring purple? Isn't that the color of a thousand-year spirit ring?"

Lin Yan nodded with a naive expression. "Because my first spirit ring is a thousand-year one. When I was at Shrek Academy, the teachers there helped me hunt it."

"..."

The air went silent for a moment.

Shrek Academy? Someone helped him hunt a spirit beast? And so he absorbed a thousand-year first ring?

Connecting the dots, Xue Qinghe furrowed his brows. "I mean, how were you able to absorb a thousand-year first ring! Isn't the limit for a level 10 Spirit Master only 423 years?"

Only then did Lin Yan pretend to have just understood the implication, answering, "Oh! My Martial Soul is a mutated one, and it has a certain suppressive effect on sub-dragon spirit beasts, so it's easier to absorb rings from dragon-type beasts."

"If I had chosen a ring from a different type of beast, I probably would have only been able to absorb a 400-year one."

This was an excuse he had prepared long ago.

There was no helping it; he had no way to change the color of his spirit rings, and the secret of his thousand-year first ring could not be kept forever.

Rather than being interrogated later, it was better to come clean now.

In any case, he was just a six-year-old child; whatever he said was the truth. Even if Spirit Hall conducted a background check, he was a clean slate.

Simply put, he had nothing to lose.

As a six-year-old child, Lin Yan had nothing. Even if he were walking around with a 100,000-year first ring, as long as he insisted he knew nothing, the other side could do nothing about it.

Being kidnapped for dissection? Don't joke around; this wasn't a scientific society where every phenomenon had a traceable cause.

On the Douluo Continent, while mutated Martial Souls weren't everywhere, they certainly weren't rare.

Even with the same Martial Soul, absorbing the same type of spirit beast didn't guarantee the same spirit skill, so... even if Lin Yan's case was unreasonable, it had to be accepted as "reasonable"!

In the open space, Xue Qinghe listened to Lin Yan's explanation, his entire being falling into a state of stupor.

He muttered to himself, "This... there is actually such a bizarre thing in this world."

A mutated Martial Soul could actually affect the limit of one's ability to absorb spirit rings; truly, the world was full of wonders.

Xue Qinghe didn't harbor much suspicion, as his grandfather, Qian Daoliu, possessed the terrifying configuration of eight black rings and one red. Although that was due to the Angel God, it proved that spirit ring configurations exceeding the norm did indeed exist.

He looked at Lin Yan again, noting his handsome features, fair skin, and the innocence in his eyes that belonged only to a child, and pondered to himself.

No matter what, I must recruit this genius.

Six years old! If cultivated properly, he will be a sharp blade for my Spirit Hall to unify the continent in the future.

Thinking of Spirit Hall, he narrowed his eyes slightly.

Yes! Spirit Hall!

He is only six years old. I will use my identity as the Young Master of Spirit Hall to win him over, making him pledge his loyalty to me, Qian Renxue, from the very beginning—not to Xue Qinghe.

As this thought emerged, the corners of Xue Qinghe's mouth began to curl upward uncontrollably.

Clearly, he could no longer wait.

"Follow me."

Xue Qinghe pulled Lin Yan toward a side hall adjacent to the main palace. It was an isolated room, perfectly positioned to block the view of anyone outside.

Immediately after, he spoke to Lin Yan.

"Wait for me here for a moment; I am going to fetch a friend."

With those words, Xue Qinghe hurried out of the room and returned to his private chambers.

Inside the chambers, She Long and Ci Xue emerged from the shadows like specters. Seeing him about to deactivate his spirit bone disguise skill, they immediately urged him to reconsider.

"Young Master, think twice!"

"We have not yet fully investigated his background. If this person ends up disrupting our plans, the consequences..."

Ci Xue spoke bluntly.

One had to realize that Qian Renxue had been lurking under the identity of Xue Qinghe for several years. If the entire game were ruined over such a small oversight, both of them would bear an inescapable responsibility.

Fortunately, Xue Qinghe remained rational. Hearing this, he halted his movements, turned back, and frowned at Ci Xue.

"Go investigate now! As quickly as possible!"

"Understood!"

Receiving the order, Ci Xue transformed into a blur of shadow and vanished.

The room returned to silence.

Xue Qinghe seemed to be deep in thought. After a long while, he suddenly spoke.

"Elder She Long, did you notice anything unusual?"

She Long bowed respectfully before beginning his explanation.

"There is something strange about his back. He likely possesses a torso bone of no low quality. That must be the reason he was able to reach level 16 at the age of six."

"As for anything else, this subordinate did not discover any anomalies."

"A spirit bone? So that's it!" Xue Qinghe looked as if he had suddenly realized something, his expression clearing.

"A thousand-year spirit beast already possesses the conditions to produce a spirit bone. I imagine he must have a spirit bone within him that shares the same origin as his spirit ring."

"However, even if we discount the level boost provided by the spirit bone, his talent is still among the best of his peers."

"If I am not mistaken, his innate spirit power should be no lower than level 9, or perhaps even innate full spirit power."

At these words, She Long's expression tightened slightly.

Innate full spirit power? If he truly possessed such talent, then Spirit Hall had indeed struck gold.

Especially since the other party also possessed a thousand-year first spirit ring.

This child's future was truly limitless...