Xue Qinghe simply kept his hand on Lin Yan's wrist, still feeling for his bone age, and led him 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 flaw."
"An innate flaw? A Mutated Martial Soul?" Xue Qinghe furrowed his brows slightly. His mind began searching through the knowledge of Martial Soul Theory he had encountered in the past.
Unfortunately... in recent years, he had devoted all his energy to state affairs. He had long since forgotten most of the knowledge he'd once had.
In the end, Xue Qinghe could only look at Lin Yan with a questioning gaze.
"Could you show me your Martial Soul?"
Lin Yan didn't refuse. The two of them had just reached the main hall of the residence, so he simply released the hand holding his and straightened up. The next instant...
[Evil Fire Demon Dragon: Martial Soul Possession!]
The phantom of a purple-red dragon appeared, then swiftly sank into the young boy's body.
Right after it, a purple Soul Ring slowly rose into view.
[First Soul Skill: Fire Demon God Spear!]
Lin Yan reached into the air and grabbed a long spear, its body entirely silver-white and its blade purple-gold. Fire-attribute Soul Power, carrying scorching heat, formed a ripple that swept across the hall.
Xue Qinghe's face burned from the heat, and his eyes widened in shock.
"Purple?"
"Why is your first Soul Ring purple? Isn't that the color of a Thousand-Year Soul Ring?"
Lin Yan nodded slightly, his expression innocent.
"Because my first Soul Ring is a thousand years old. When I was at Shrek Academy, the teachers there helped me hunt for it."
"..."
The air fell silent for a moment.
Shrek Academy? Someone had helped him hunt for a Soul Beast? And so he'd absorbed a thousand-year first ring?
Xue Qinghe knitted his brows as he pieced the clues together.
"What I mean is, why were you able to absorb a thousand-year first ring? Aren't Soul Masters at level 10 only able to absorb Soul Rings up to 423 years old?"
Only then did Lin Yan put on an expression as if he'd just understood what Xue Qinghe meant.
"Oh! My Martial Soul is a Mutated Martial Soul. It has a certain suppressive effect on dragon-type Soul Beasts, so absorbing Soul Rings from dragon-type Soul Beasts is much easier."
"If I'd chosen a Soul Ring from another kind of Soul Beast, I'd probably only have been able to absorb one that was 400 years old."
This was an excuse he'd prepared long ago.
There was no helping it. He had no way to change the color of his Soul Ring, so the secret of his thousand-year first ring couldn't possibly stay hidden.
Rather than be interrogated later, he might as well come clean first.
Besides, he was only a six-year-old child. Whatever he said went. Even if the people from Spirit Hall investigated his background, they'd find a completely blank slate.
In short, the barefooted had nothing to fear from those wearing shoes.
Lin Yan was a six-year-old child with nothing to his name. Even if he had a hundred-thousand-year first ring now, as long as he insisted he knew nothing, there was nothing the other side could do.
Take him away and cut him open? Don't be ridiculous. This wasn't a scientific society where every phenomenon had an explanation.
On Douluo Continent, Mutated Martial Souls weren't everywhere, but they certainly weren't rare.
Even with the same Martial Soul, absorbing Soul Rings from the same type of Soul Beast didn't necessarily produce identical Soul Skills. So... no matter how unreasonable Lin Yan's case seemed, it could only be "reasonable"!
In the open space, Xue Qinghe was left in a daze after hearing Lin Yan's explanation.
He murmured to himself,
"T-this world really does have such bizarre things."
A Mutated Martial Soul could actually affect the limit of what someone could withstand when absorbing a Soul Ring. The world was vast, and full of wonders.
Xue Qinghe truly didn't suspect him too much. His grandfather, Qian Daoliu, had a terrifying Soul Ring Configuration of eight black rings and one red ring. Though that was because of the Angel God, it was enough to prove that Soul Ring Configurations beyond the ordinary did indeed exist.
He looked at Lin Yan again. The boy had handsome features and fair skin, and his eyes held the innocence unique to children. Xue Qinghe thought to himself,
"No matter what, I have to bring this kind of genius under my command."
"He's six! If I train him well, he'll become a sharp blade for Spirit Hall to unify the continent."
At the thought of Spirit Hall, his eyes narrowed slightly.
"Right! Spirit Hall!"
"He's only six. I can recruit him directly as the young master of Spirit Hall, making him acknowledge me, Qian Renxue, as his master from the start—not Xue Qinghe."
The moment this idea came to him, the corners of Xue Qinghe's mouth began to rise uncontrollably.
Clearly, he couldn't wait any longer.
"Come with me."
Xue Qinghe led Lin Yan to a side room off the main hall. It was a separate room, perfectly suited to keeping them out of everyone else's sight.
Then he said to Lin Yan,
"Wait here a moment. I'm going to bring a friend over."
With that, Xue Qinghe hurried out of the room and returned to his bedchamber.
In the bedchamber, She Long and Ci Xue suddenly appeared from the shadows. Seeing that Xue Qinghe was about to undo his Soul Bone disguise skill, they immediately tried to dissuade him.
"Young Master, think twice!"
"We haven't investigated his background yet. What if this person disrupts our plans? The consequences..."
Ci Xue spoke frankly.
Qian Renxue had been using the identity of Xue Qinghe to lie low for years. If the whole plan really fell apart over such a small oversight, neither of them could escape responsibility.
Fortunately, Xue Qinghe was still reasonable. He stopped at their words, then turned and looked at Ci Xue with a furrowed brow.
"Investigate him now! The sooner, the better!"
"Yes!"
At the order, Ci Xue vanished in a sudden swirl of shadow.
The room fell quiet again.
Xue Qinghe seemed to be thinking something over. After a long while, he suddenly spoke.
"Elder She Long, did you notice anything unusual?"
She Long bowed before answering.
"His back is strange. He probably possesses a high-quality torso Soul Bone. That should also be why he was able to reach level 16 at the age of six."
"As for anything else, your subordinate noticed nothing abnormal."
"A Soul Bone? I see!" Xue Qinghe seemed to suddenly understand something, and his expression cleared.
"A thousand-year Soul Beast is already capable of producing a Soul Bone. He probably has a Soul Bone inside him that came from the same source as his Soul Ring."
"Even if we subtract the levels he gained from the Soul Bone, his talent still ranks among the best of his peers."
"If I'm right, his Innate Soul Power should be no lower than level 9. He might even have Innate Full Soul Power."
At that, She Long's expression tightened slightly.
Innate Full Soul Power? If he truly had such talent, then Spirit Hall had indeed struck gold.
Especially since he also possessed a thousand-year first ring.
This child's future was boundless...