Choosing a low-year soul ring would undoubtedly drain his Future potential, but he currently had no money to hire someone to hunt Soul Beasts.
"Ahh~ Being broke makes everything so hard!"
As he pondered, Yao Shi gradually fell asleep beneath the moonlight.
In the morning, sunlight fell upon Yao Shi. He opened his bleary eyes. Over the past few years, in order to earn enough for his Martial Soul awakening, it had been a long time since he had slept until after sunrise. Every sunrise he had seen had been while catching fish by the river.
"Mm~"
Yao Shi got to his feet, took a breath of fresh air, and stretched.
"Huh! Why do I feel lighter and lighter? And why does it feel like my whole body is full of strength?"
Yao Shi felt unusually relaxed. The exhaustion of the past few years seemed to have completely vanished, but he did not pay much attention to it, assuming it was simply one of the benefits brought by awakening his Martial Soul.
"Oh no, it's already this late! I need to make breakfast!"
Looking at the sun hanging high in the sky, Yao Shi inwardly cried out in alarm. Grandpa must already be hungry at this hour, so he hurriedly lit the fire and cooked a pot of plain rice porridge.
Half an hour later.
Yao Shi carried two bowls of porridge into the room and softly called inside, "Grandpa, sorry, I woke up late today."
"It's alright, little Pebble. You've suffered enough these past few years. Now that your Martial Soul has awakened, you should get some proper... rest..."
Yao's voice came from inside the room. When Yao Shi entered, the latter half of Yao's words became halting, and his tone carried some shock.
"Y-you're little Pebble?"
As Yao Shi placed the two bowls of porridge on the small table beside the bed, Yao pointed at him in astonishment and asked.
Yao Shi slowly helped him sit up, utterly baffled. "If I'm not little Pebble, then who am I? Grandpa, don't tell me there's something wrong with your eyes now too?"
Yao calmed down somewhat, though his tone remained disbelieving. "Little Pebble, haven't you noticed any changes in your body?"
"Uh?"
"Yes. When I woke up, my body felt incredibly light, like I had endless strength." Seeing how strangely Grandpa was acting today, Yao Shi froze for a moment before answering honestly.
"Anything else?"
"No."
"Little Pebble, go look in the water jar outside." Smiling, Yao told Yao Shi to go take a look.
"Grandpa, what's wrong with you today? You're acting so weird." Yao Shi muttered, but he obediently went to the water jars outside.
Yao Shi filled both water jars every day. He had used some water from one while making breakfast, so he walked over to the one that was still full.
The water reflected the sky and a wisp of white cloud, but when Yao Shi leaned closer to the jar, a fair face suddenly appeared on its surface.
Yao Shi was startled.
Th-this is me?
In the water's reflection, his skin had become fair, and his formerly black hair had turned pale gold. Most notably, his appearance had become that of a girl. Although he was only seven years old and still had some baby fat on his face, it was not hard to tell just how breathtakingly beautiful that face would become in the future.
"Th-this... is this me?"
The enormous change left Yao Shi tongue-tied.
Could a boy be this beautiful too?
"Grandpa, Grandpa, is that really me? I became like this?"
After seeing the changes in himself, Yao Shi hurried back inside. Could awakening a Martial Soul really cause such changes?
Yao merely watched the excited Yao Shi quietly, his face full of affection and his eyes carrying a faint trace of sorrow.
He knew that Yao Shi had been beautiful before the age of four. Even when Yao Shi followed him into the fields to work, his skin had remained like that of a porcelain doll. If not for the past few years of rising early and working late, while also caring for him, Yao Shi's skin would not have gradually darkened, nor would he have ended up half a head shorter than the other children in the village. Yao had seen it all, and it pained him deeply. In his memories, even he had not suffered this much at Yao Shi's age.
Now that he saw Yao Shi become like this, beyond his shock, he was even happier.
At that moment, Yao Shi also sensed something unusual within his body.
Whoosh—
With a whoosh, Yao Shi's Martial Soul appeared on its own, and a yellow soul ring rose beneath his feet.
I... I have a soul ring?
Yesterday, he had still been thinking about how to solve the problem of obtaining a soul ring, yet today one had appeared on its own?
The two stared at the suddenly appearing soul ring and exchanged a glance.
It was a deep yellow soul ring that looked close to reaching the thousand-year level. Faint golden-green light also radiated from it, giving off the feeling that it contained boundless life energy.
"Little Pebble, th-this is a soul ring?"
Yao had little knowledge. He had seen Soul Masters before, but this was the first time he had viewed a soul ring from such close range.
"That's right, and it's a hundred-year soul ring."
"But I heard that soul rings require killing Soul Beasts?"
"I don't know about that either. Maybe my Martial Soul is special, so it produced one automatically. Grandpa, don't tell anyone about this."
"Don't worry, little Pebble. My lips are sealed."
Yao Shi suddenly came to his senses. "Wait, self-produced soul rings? Isn't that something only reincarnated Soul Beasts can do?"
"But I can tell I'm not a Soul Beast. Could it really just be because my Martial Soul is special?"
"As expected of the Sky-Reaching Divine Tree. It really is awesome."
Yao Shi did not think further about it and attributed everything to the uniqueness of his Martial Soul. He then began examining the soul skill granted by his first soul ring. Once he saw it clearly, his expression grew increasingly excited, and he could not help but shout.
"Grandpa, I think I found a way to heal you!"
"What! Little Pebble, are you telling the truth?"
Yao, lying on the bed, was also shocked upon hearing his words.
It turned out that Yao Shi had seen that his first soul skill was called Conceptual Healing, capable of healing all injuries and pain. The moment Yao Shi saw that ability, he was convinced that it could cure Yao's paralysis.
"I never expected my first soul skill to be this absurdly powerful. The Ambrosial Arbor Martial Soul really is incredible—not only can it produce soul rings on its own, but the soul skill it grants is powerful too."
Yao Shi immediately went to Yao's side and softly called out.
First soul skill, Healing.
The yellow soul ring glowed faintly. The green leaf on the branch of Yao Shi's Martial Soul immediately shot out a wisp of green light, which slowly flew into Yao's waist.
After a series of cracking bones sounded out, Yao's lower body began trembling slightly. Not only that, but his once aged face gradually became younger, and both his appearance and bodily functions returned to the state of someone in his thirties or forties.
Watching this scene, Yao Shi inwardly exclaimed, Is this healing effect really that amazing? It can even restore youth?
Lying on the bed, Yao felt sensation return to his lower body. He could hardly believe it. Excited, he moved, wanting to immediately get up and test it.
Yao Shi hurried forward to support him. Yao's legs slowly touched the ground, and Yao Shi gradually let go.
Perhaps because he had been bedridden for too long, Yao still staggered slightly after Yao Shi released him. But at this very moment, he had truly, solidly stood up.
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