No Soul Ring? So What? I Still Crushed You at Level 17! (Please Bookmark! Thanks!)

"Brother Shenghe! I heard this red string could keep you safe."

"This is..."

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

The back mountain.

October was more than half over. The autumn wind stirred, and ginkgo leaves filled the sky.

A boy and a girl stood in the woods.

Xiao Shenghe looked at the red string tied around his wrist, an inexplicable excitement stirring in his heart.

He was a transmigrator, a descendant of the Flame Emperor Xiao Yan. For unknown reasons, his ancestors Xiao Yan, Lin Dong, and Mu Chen had sent him to Douluo Continent.

He had entered the body of a boy who shared his name.

The boy's father had been Ning Fengzhi's closest friend.

Unfortunately, Xiao Shenghe's mother in this life, Feng Yuhua, was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, the Nine Revolutions Heavenly Phoenix. When Spirit Hall discovered her identity, she died, leaving behind a phoenix egg and a sphere of energy that instantly merged into Xiao Shengque's body.

His father, gravely wounded, entrusted him to his closest friend, Ning Fengzhi, and died less than ten days later.

Three more years passed, and Ning Rongrong was born.

Seeing that Ning Rongrong was a girl, Ning Fengzhi had kept Xiao Shenghe and her together from the day she was born.

Gradually, Rongrong grew closer and closer to him. Even at her first-birthday choosing ceremony, she had grabbed Xiao Shenghe and refused to let go.

"Rongrong, don't worry. I'll be fine."

"So what if I won't live past thirty-three? I'll reach level one hundred and become a god before then!"

"Okay! I believe in you!"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk..."

"Who's there?"

A few claps came from nearby. Clap, clap...

Xiao Shenghe shielded Ning Rongrong and went on guard.

"Well, if it isn't our genius with Innate Full Soul Power, Xiao Shenghe."

"I heard you still haven't absorbed a single Soul Ring, huh?"

"Hahaha..."

"Oh, right, I almost forgot. You're only the sect master's friend's son, not a disciple of the Ning family."

Three inner disciples of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect walked toward them.

"Ning Qing, shut up! Don't talk about Xiao Shenghe like that!"

"Ning Rongrong, get this straight. He's an outsider. Why are you speaking up for an outsider?"

The applause stopped, and three boys emerged from behind a golden ginkgo tree.

The leader, Ning Qing, was about fourteen or fifteen, with unconcealed mockery on his face. The two behind him were fellow inner disciples and his friends. They stood with their arms folded, ready to enjoy the show.

"An outsider?"

Ning Rongrong stepped out from behind Xiao Shenghe, her little chest rising and falling with anger. She lifted her face and glared fearlessly at Ning Qing, who stood a head taller than her.

"Brother Shenghe grew up in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. My father treats him like his own son. Who in the sect doesn't know that? Are you stirring up trouble because you want to question the sect master's decision?"

Ning Rongrong's words left Ning Qing speechless, and his expression shifted. He clenched his fists so hard that his nails dug into his palms, drawing drops of blood.

He truly did not dare question Ning Fengzhi openly, but he could not suppress the Evil Fire born of jealousy inside him.

His gaze turned to the silent Xiao Shenghe and swept over him. It lingered for a moment on his bare wrist, where no Soul Ring glowed, before Ning Qing sneered.

"I'm not questioning the sect master. I'm just lamenting it. Innate Full Soul Power—such rare talent. What a shame..."

"Without a suitable Soul Ring, what good is your level? You're no different from an ordinary person."

"Oh, I forgot. You haven't even obtained your First Soul Ring, have you?"

"Is it because... your status makes it awkward for the sect to arrange a Soul Hunting trip for you?"

"Hmph. Is that so?"

Xiao Shenghe's voice was quiet, yet it pierced the lingering warmth of Ning Qing's words like an icicle.

He stepped forward half a pace, placing himself entirely between Ning Rongrong and Ning Qing. His calm gaze fixed on Ning Qing as the latter turned to leave.

There was no warning, no gathering of strength, not even the usual ripple of Soul Power.

He merely said in a low voice, "Martial Soul, awaken."

There was no dazzling light, no roar of a Beast Martial Soul or solidifying form of a tool-type Martial Soul. There was not even a Soul Ring.

Yet in that instant, an invisible, indescribable presence erupted from Xiao Shenghe!

It was not the pressure of Soul Power. It felt more like a natural majesty born of life's very source, of an existence on a higher plane.

The air seemed to thicken, and the light dimmed for a moment. Ginkgo leaves falling around them stopped strangely in midair, then silently crumbled to dust.

Ning Qing bore the brunt of it. The sneer froze on his face.

He suddenly felt as though an invisible hand had seized his heart and squeezed hard!

Breathing became difficult. It was as if he had been thrown into the depths of a vast sea, with invisible pressure closing in from every direction to wring the last breath from his lungs.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Martial Soul he prided himself on shuddered wildly within him. What it sent him was not strength, but an almost instinctive, uncontrollable terror.

"Uh... khh..."

Ning Qing's face turned deathly pale, and veins bulged at his temples. He stumbled back and clutched his throat with both hands, as though trying to pry away a grip that was not there.

The two lackeys behind him fared even worse. With muffled grunts, they dropped to one knee, drenched in cold sweat. They could not even raise their heads; only the chattering of their teeth could be heard.

The woods fell silent. Only the autumn wind wailed through the treetops, sounding especially harsh now.

Ning Rongrong felt the presence too, but it did not hurt her. Instead, the warmth around Brother Shenghe made her feel safe.

She stared in surprise at the sudden change in the three boys' faces and their wretched state, her large eyes full of confusion.

Xiao Shenghe's gaze remained calm. He did not even give Ning Qing another look, as though he had done something utterly trivial.

He slowly withdrew the invisible presence. Everything strange around them vanished in an instant. The air flowed again, and sunlight fell once more, as though it had all been an illusion.

But the three boys' ragged, bellows-like breathing and the terror still in their eyes proved it was no illusion.

"What... what was that?"

Ning Qing finally caught his breath. His voice was hoarse, trembling with undisguised fear and disbelief.

He stared fixedly at Xiao Shenghe, as though truly seeing this taciturn "outsider" for the first time.

No Soul Ring. Xiao Shenghe had merely willed his Martial Soul to awaken.

Yet he had left Ning Qing—a level 17 Soul Master who had already obtained his First Soul Ring, and an inner disciple of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect—nearly suffocating under the pressure and terrified to the depths of his Martial Soul!

Xiao Shenghe did not answer.

He simply took Ning Rongrong's hand and turned toward the path down the mountain. His steady, commanding voice drifted back.

"Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west. Don't look down on a poor young man!"

"My path is mine to walk. Don't trouble yourself over it!"

As soon as the pressure faded, Ning Qing pulled out a Hidden Weapon and threw it at Xiao Shenghe.

"Ning Qing! How dare you!"