Soul Ring Blessing

Once Tang San saw who had arrived, he froze.

"Chu Heng?"

The wariness in his eyes did not disappear completely.

But compared with facing a stranger, he relaxed considerably.

"It's me."

Chu Heng casually slung his longbow over his back.

"What a coincidence, running into you here."

Tang San looked at the bow on Chu Heng's back, then at the arrow lodged in the Mandrake Snake's eye socket.

Clearly, Chu Heng had fired that arrow from hiding.

"Was that you who shot it?"

"Who else could it have been?"

Chu Heng smiled, then hurried to add:

"Don't get me wrong. I wasn't hiding just to watch you get beaten up. That thing looked dangerous, and I'm not as strong as you. If I'd rushed out and it had turned on me, I wouldn't have stood a chance. So I kept my distance and looked for a chance to help."

With that, Chu Heng pointed to the Mandrake Snake's eye, which the arrow had pierced.

"Luckily, I found one."

Tang San's gaze shifted slightly.

That explanation... made sense.

After all, Tang San had only held his own against the Mandrake Snake because he knew several of the Tang Sect's secret arts. Chu Heng was just an ordinary child. The fact that he had wanted to help was enough.

As for the Tang Sect's secret arts he had revealed, Tang San was not worried that Chu Heng would tell anyone about them, much less learn them himself. He did not believe anyone could be that gifted.

Still...

Tang San looked Chu Heng up and down.

"Why are you here?"

"Oh, that."

Chu Heng had prepared his answer long ago.

"After my Soul Power reached level ten, people from Spirit Hall brought me to Soul Hunting Forest to find a suitable first Spirit Ring. We still haven't found one."

Chu Heng spread his hands, looking helpless.

"I was out on my own today when I heard something going on over here. I followed the noise, and when I got close, I saw that snake chasing you."

Almost everything he had said was true.

People from Spirit Hall really had brought Chu Heng here, and he really was looking for his first Spirit Ring.

Tang San would have a hard time finding fault with his story.

But...

"Level ten?"

Tang San still remembered their Spirit Awakening two months ago. Chu Heng's Innate Soul Power had been level seven, a full three levels below his own.

And now...

Chu Heng had reached level ten?

"You're already level ten?"

Tang San could not help asking again.

"Yeah."

Chu Heng nodded with a smile.

"I broke through a little while ago."

Tang San fell silent for a moment, surprise plain in his eyes.

Better resources from Spirit Hall might explain Chu Heng's rise in Soul Power, but that arrow he had just fired...

Neither the timing nor the accuracy was something an ordinary person could manage.

Tang San felt that Chu Heng was the true genius of this world. He himself had only defeated the Mandrake Snake thanks to his memories of his previous life.

But Tang San was not discouraged. Everyone had their own opportunities, and he believed that if he kept going, he would be no worse than Chu Heng.

"You've made a lot of progress these past two months," Tang San said.

"I've done all right."

Chu Heng waved it off.

"I've spent the last month fighting Soul Beasts in this forest. If I hadn't gotten stronger, one of them would've eaten me by now."

Tang San glanced at Chu Heng's clothes and saw plenty of scrapes and snags.

Chu Heng looked at the Mandrake Snake on the ground, then at Yu Xiaogang, who was still unconscious.

"This snake is the Spirit Ring you were looking for, right?"

Tang San nodded.

"My teacher said a Mandrake Snake should suit my Blue Silver Grass."

"Perfect, then."

Chu Heng smiled.

"Since you're about to absorb the Spirit Ring, I'll leave you to it."

Tang San paused.

"You're leaving?"

"Of course."

Chu Heng spoke as though it were obvious.

"I still haven't found a Spirit Ring of my own. Besides, I got separated from the people who brought me here, so I need to find my way back."

With that, Chu Heng waved to Tang San.

"I'll be going, then. Hope the absorption goes smoothly."

Tang San did not ask him to stay. He was more concerned about Yu Xiaogang's condition and whether he should absorb the Spirit Ring at all.

"Thanks for helping me back there."

"No problem."

Chu Heng turned and slipped into the forest. Before long, he had vanished from sight.

Tang San looked away.

What he did not know was that Chu Heng stopped after putting some distance between them.

"..."

[...]

The system gave no response.

Chu Heng rolled his eyes.

Of course. The mission required him to help Tang San kill the Mandrake Snake and obtain his first Spirit Ring. The snake was dead, but Tang San had yet to absorb the ring, so the mission was not complete.

"Knew it wouldn't be that simple."

Chu Heng muttered under his breath.

Then he quietly circled around and crept back toward the campsite.

This time, he hid farther away than before. He did not want Tang San to catch him spying nearby right after he had said he was leaving. That would be hard to explain.

He kept waiting...

After some time, Yu Xiaogang regained consciousness.

"Teacher!"

Tang San hurried to his side.

"Little San..."

Yu Xiaogang had only just come to, and he was still weak. But when he saw the Mandrake Snake's corpse nearby and the yellow Spirit Ring floating above it, he froze.

"You killed it?"

Tang San nodded.

"Someone helped me."

"Someone?"

Yu Xiaogang frowned slightly.

"It was Chu Heng."

"Chu Heng?"

Yu Xiaogang remembered the name.

Tang San gave him a brief account of what had happened.

When Yu Xiaogang heard that Chu Heng had reached level ten and had blinded the Mandrake Snake with an arrow at the crucial moment, surprise flickered across his face.

But this was no time to discuss Chu Heng. The Mandrake Snake's Spirit Ring was gradually fading. If they delayed until it vanished completely, everything they had just done would be for nothing.

Yu Xiaogang struggled to sit up.

"Over four hundred years old..."

Yu Xiaogang murmured to himself.

Judging by its size, the Soul Beast was extremely close to the maximum age his theory said a first Spirit Ring could bear.

But on the other hand...

It was also one of the Soul Beasts best suited to Tang San's Blue Silver Grass.

If they missed this chance, there was no telling when they would find another Soul Beast so suitable.

"Little San, are you willing to try?"

Tang San answered almost without hesitation.

"I am."

Yu Xiaogang looked at him for a long moment, then nodded.

"All right. Remember, no matter what happens next, keep your mind steady. Only you can withstand the power of the Spirit Ring. No one else can help you."

Tang San nodded solemnly and sat cross-legged beside the Mandrake Snake's corpse. He released his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul, and under the pull of his Soul Power, the yellow Spirit Ring slowly drifted toward him. At last, it came to rest above his head.

Rich yellow light enveloped Tang San's entire body.

"Urgh!"

Tang San jolted. The force of the impact made his body tremble uncontrollably, and sweat quickly beaded on his forehead.

Chu Heng lay against a tree trunk, watching without blinking.

So this is what absorbing a Spirit Ring looks like...

Come to think of it, this was the first time he had seen the full process of a Soul Master absorbing a Spirit Ring.

He had already reached level ten himself, but he still had not found a suitable Soul Beast. Instead, he was watching Tang San go through it first.

As time passed, the chaotic fluctuations of Soul Power around Tang San gradually steadied. The yellow light surrounding him seeped into his body bit by bit.

Chu Heng's eyes lit up.

He's going to make it.

After an unknown stretch of time, the light around Tang San suddenly receded. His eyes, shut for so long, slowly opened, and Blue Silver Grass grew from his palm. At the same time, a bright yellow Spirit Ring rose from beneath his feet.

A century-old Spirit Ring!

He had done it!

Tang San felt the Soul Power within him, far more abundant than before, and delight shone in his eyes.

Not only had he obtained his first Spirit Ring, but its power had also released the Soul Power he had accumulated.

Soul Power: level thirteen!

[Ding!]

[Congratulations, host! Plot check-in complete: Century-Old Mandrake]

[Distributing mission rewards...]

[Reward obtained: Jade Hands]

[Reward obtained: Soul Ring Blessing]