Yun Yun: What's wrong with a child having secrets? Waiting online, it's urgent.

Soul Hunting Forest.

One of the largest artificially managed soul beast gathering grounds within the Heaven Dou Empire.

Towering trees rose into the sky, and vines coiled like pythons.

Sunlight squeezed down through the layered gaps in the canopy.

From time to time, a few low growls of soul beasts came from the distance, startling flocks of birds into flight.

Feng Bailong had only just led Feng Yun into the outer reaches of the forest when he stopped.

"Yun'er."

Feng Bailong turned around, his expression returning to the steadiness expected of a sect master.

"You still haven't told me what kind of first soul ring you want."

Feng Yun answered without even thinking, "Wind attribute. Close to a thousand years."

"..."

Feng Bailong's expression cracked.

This grand sect master of the Wind Sword Sect, an eighty-ninth-rank Soul Douluo-level combatant, had never changed expression even under pressure from the masters of other sects.

Yet now, one sentence from his seven-year-old son had broken through his defenses.

"What did you say?"

Feng Bailong thought he had misheard.

"A powerful wind-attribute soul beast close to a thousand years old."

Feng Yun enunciated clearly, repeating word by word, "Eight or nine hundred years is fine too."

"..."

Feng Bailong fell silent for a full three breaths.

Then he suddenly realized a serious problem.

He had never taught his son the basic theory of soul masters!

The boy had lost his mother when he was young, and Feng Bailong was constantly busy handling sect affairs, so he had basically let his son grow up on his own.

The knowledge a soul master should know, the rules he ought to understand—he had not taught him a single one.

Feng Bailong took a deep breath and suppressed the trace of guilt in his heart.

In a low voice, he said, "Yun'er, the limit for a soul master absorbing their first soul ring is four hundred and twenty-three years."

He paused, then emphasized, "This is an iron law universally acknowledged in the soul master world. No one is an exception."

"Mm, I know."

Feng Yun nodded.

Then he said something that made Feng Bailong's blood pressure soar all over again.

"My master said I can absorb one close to a thousand years old."

That mysterious master again?!

Feng Bailong's brows furrowed.

Last time in the study, when Feng Yun first mentioned this "mysterious master," he had only taken it as his son trying to muddle through.

After all, the Wind Sword Sect's defenses were decent. It was impossible for a living person capable of teaching others cultivation to enter without a sound.

But now, this boy had brought out the same excuse again.

Feng Bailong stared into Feng Yun's eyes for five seconds.

He did not look like he was joking.

Feng Bailong withdrew his gaze, his tone turning serious. "What exactly did that master of yours tell you?"

Feng Yun had already prepared his script in his heart.

He cleared his throat, straightened his little face, and switched into "top student mode."

"My master said the age limit for absorbing soul rings isn't a fixed number."

"Its essence depends on the soul master's physical condition, in other words, the strength of their body."

"Bone strength, meridian resilience, and the vigor of blood and qi—these three indicators jointly determine the limit of what a soul ring can be endured."

"The so-called iron law of four hundred and twenty-three years is only the highest value among known soul masters, not an absolute upper limit."

Feng Yun paused, then continued laying it out. "As long as the body is strong enough, it can withstand a soul ring of a higher age."

"And I!"

Feng Yun patted his own chest, looking utterly confident.

"After Master's special training, my physical condition already far surpasses soul masters of the same age."

"So I can absorb a wind-attribute soul ring close to a thousand years old."

"..."

Feng Bailong could not say a single word.

He had been completely stunned by this theory.

Not because he had been convinced, but because the theory itself was too complete.

It had principles, logic, and quantifiable metrics.

It did not sound like nonsense made up on the spot at all, much less like something a seven-year-old child could invent.

Feng Bailong fell silent for a moment, then reached out and pressed his hand directly onto Feng Yun's shoulder.

Soul power probed in.

A moment later.

Feng Bailong's expression cracked for the third time.

This brat really had not been bragging!

The toughness of his muscles and bones, the thickness of his meridian walls, the speed of his qi and blood circulation, the explosive power of his muscles... every single metric far exceeded the level of a normal six-year-old child, and was even stronger than many teenage soul masters.

"..."

Feng Bailong withdrew his hand and sank into a long silence.

He began seriously considering one question: could Feng Yun's "mysterious master" really exist?

But when had an outsider ever entered the Wind Sword Sect?

Could it be some hidden expert who had infiltrated the sect through some method he could not detect, taken a liking to Yun'er's talent, and secretly accepted him as a disciple?

That kind of plot had been common in the storybooks he had read when he was young.

He had never expected it to happen to his own son.

"Dad?"

Seeing Feng Bailong stay silent for so long, Feng Yun called out tentatively.

Feng Bailong came back to himself.

He looked at Feng Yun, his gaze complicated.

This son of his was becoming more and more impossible to see through.

A month ago, he had been rejected in marriage and mocked.

A month later, he had rank ten soul power and an absurdly powerful physique.

And now, he even wanted to absorb a soul ring close to a thousand years old beyond his level.

"Yun'er."

Feng Bailong's voice suddenly grew deep.

"Do you truly want to choose a soul ring close to a thousand years old?"

Feng Yun nodded without the slightest hesitation.

"Do you truly understand the risks involved?"

Feng Yun nodded again.

"If absorbing an over-limit soul ring fails, at best your meridians will all snap and you'll become crippled. At worst, your body will explode on the spot."

Feng Bailong said each word deliberately. "This is no child's game."

Feng Yun put away every trace of ease from his expression.

He met Feng Bailong's eyes and said seriously, "I know."

"But I believe in my master."

"And I believe even more in my own body."

Feng Bailong found that there was not the slightest fear in those eyes.

Feng Bailong suddenly laughed.

"Good."

His large hand slapped heavily onto Feng Yun's shoulder, with more force than ever before.

"As expected of my, Feng Bailong's, son."

"...Then, Dad, you agree?"

"Let's go."

Feng Bailong turned and walked toward the depths of the forest, his voice drifting back from ahead.

Feng Yun froze for a second.

Then the corners of his mouth shot up wildly.

"Dad!"

He hurried after them on his short little legs.

"Then where are we going to look?"

"Deep in Soul Hunting Forest, there's a cliff valley where wind-attribute soul beasts gather."

Feng Bailong did not slow his steps. "Keep close."

Feng Yun trotted along behind him.

Inside the ring.

Yun Yun had watched this clash between father and son from beginning to end.

When Feng Yun said, "The age limit for absorbing a spirit ring depends on physical constitution," her brows had furrowed.

She had not taught him that.

She had never told Feng Yun about that theory.

Because even she herself was not certain whether the cultivation systems of Battle Through the Heavens and Douluo Dalu were fully compatible.

How could she possibly instill such a life-and-death theory in Feng Yun so lightly?

But now, not only had Feng Yun explained it with perfect logic, he had even used that theory to successfully persuade Feng Bailong.

Yun Yun's gaze deepened.

This child was hiding something.

From their very first meeting, she had sensed that Feng Yun's soul was different from that of an ordinary child.

That composure, that quick wit, and that way of thinking, far beyond his age, which slipped out unintentionally.

It definitely could not be explained by merely calling him "mature beyond his years."

"Feng Yun..."

Inside the ring, Yun Yun softly murmured the name, a trace of complexity flashing through her eyes.

"Just who are you?"

She suddenly recalled the questions Feng Yun had asked when he first met her.

"Have you heard of someone named Yao Yan?"

"And... what about Xiao Yan?"

Those questions were nothing like what a six-year-old child should know!

Yun Yun closed her eyes.

She had no answer.

But she was certain of one thing: this child had secrets.

And as his master, she would uncover them sooner or later.