Lu Mingzi's Fantasy, Raising the Age

Star Dou Great Forest, outer reaches.

Lu Mingzi sat on the ground. He had successfully absorbed the Heavenflame Tiger's Soul Ring, aged 1,900 years.

"Wonderful."

At the sight, Qian Renxue's heart finally settled.

At twelve, he had a yellow first ring, yet he had risked absorbing a thousand-year ring for his second. The difficulty was immense.

If not for what that black book said, she would never have taken the risk. She did not want to lose this disciple.

"Xue'er, my Soul Power has reached level 23."

Lu Mingzi opened his eyes and felt the Soul Power surging within him, pleasantly surprised.

"But the Demonic Angel has so many strengths. Why... wasn't a single drawback mentioned?"

Confusion filled his face. Could such a powerful Martial Soul truly be flawless?

"I don't know either. We'll have to take things one step at a time."

"Now, show me your Soul Skill."

Qian Renxue spread her angel wings and rose into the air, watching him with a cool gaze.

"Attack me with your second Soul Skill."

Lu Mingzi nodded. His Soul Rings appeared, one yellow and one purple.

He held the Demonfire Blade as black flames burned along its edge. Several fiery patterns had appeared across the massive blade.

"Second Soul Skill: Raging Blade Gale!"

The purple Soul Ring flared. Lu Mingzi drove his Soul Power through his body and unleashed his new skill.

He drew the Demonfire Blade back to his waist. Terrifying energy gathered along its edge, and the temperature around him soared.

This is bad!

"Third Soul Skill: Angel's Blessing!"

Qian Renxue's expression changed. Sensing something wrong, she immediately channeled her Soul Power into a skill.

Holy light rippled outward. An angel phantom formed behind her and scattered golden light, strengthening and healing her.

Boom!

Lu Mingzi slashed. Black flames erupted from the Demonfire Blade, and the fury it had gathered burst free!

Dozens of flaming blades swept in every direction, cleaving through every obstacle like a savage gale that destroyed all in its path!

Five Soul Rings rose around Qian Renxue—two yellow, two purple, and one black. She easily blocked the flaming blades.

But just before Lu Mingzi had struck, she had sensed a strange aura.

Was it resonance?

Qian Renxue frowned deeply, trying to understand its cause.

Without her knowing, the angel phantom behind her was becoming solid, as though the Angel God herself had descended.

"Very good. This skill has tremendous explosive power. Against a control-type Soul Master, you could use it to break free and catch your enemy off guard."

Qian Renxue slowly landed before Lu Mingzi and folded away her wings. The angel phantom dispersed.

"Xue'er, I don't feel so good..."

Lu Mingzi went limp and collapsed to the ground, his nose bleeding again.

"Lu Mingzi!"

Qian Renxue gathered him into her arms and used a Soul Skill to heal him.

"My second Soul Skill should only fire five flaming blades. I didn't expect to fire ten at once."

Lying across Qian Renxue's lap, Lu Mingzi forced out the words.

Five?

Was it because of the resonance?

"This skill consumes too much Soul Power. You need to learn to control how much you use."

Half an hour later, Lu Mingzi's condition improved.

"Your Martial Soul really does have everything. Not only is your body powerful, you also have the power to devour. I just don't know what that union of yin and yang means."

Qian Renxue sounded a little envious, but Lu Mingzi seemed distracted. All he had heard was "union of yin and yang."

Union of yin and yang?

The Six-Winged Angel is yang, and the Demonic Angel is yin.

Qian Renxue has the Six-Winged Angel. I have the Demonic Angel.

Union?

Could it mean...?!

An outrageous image sprang into Lu Mingzi's mind: Qian Renxue, naked.

The Qian Renxue in his imagination was alluring, utterly unlike her usual cool self.

At the thought, something stirred in his lower body.

"Lu Mingzi! You—you—get off me!"

Qian Renxue blushed scarlet and slapped Lu Mingzi across the face.

"Xue'er, let me make excuses—no, no, let me explain!"

Lu Mingzi snapped back to his senses and hurriedly stood to apologize.

That size... would kill someone, wouldn't it?

Qian Renxue retreated a step, her gaze fixed on Lu Mingzi's lower body.

"What on earth were you thinking?"

She drew a sharp breath and spoke in disbelief.

"Forget it. I have important matters to attend to. You've absorbed your Soul Ring, so I must leave."

"This is a Spirit Hall token, and this is a Space Soul Tool. Use the Gold Soul Coins inside to get home. I'll come find you when I'm done."

"Stay home and cultivate for the next few days. No wild thoughts!"

Before leaving, Qian Renxue handed Lu Mingzi a token and a Space Soul Tool, then spread her wings and flew away.

Once she was gone, Lu Mingzi walked to the Heavenflame Tiger's corpse and ate the sphere of blood essence.

"There are a little over two units here. Counting that Man Faced Demon Spider, I have four units now."

He calculated silently. Four units of blood essence would let him evolve a Hundred-Year Soul Ring four times.

But he had to be careful. Otherwise, he would exhaust his blood vitality and energy, either starving to death or bursting from too much energy.

Lu Mingzi left Star Dou Great Forest, boarded a carriage, and traveled with a merchant caravan back to Nuoding City.

"She really is loaded. This Soul Tool is packed with Gold Soul Coins."

Sitting on his bed at home, Lu Mingzi toyed with a Gold Soul Coin.

"Xue'er blocked my second Soul Skill without even trying. I wonder how powerful it actually is."

With that thought, he immediately headed to Soul Hunting Forest to test himself.

"Stop!"

Seeing how young and naive he looked, the guard at the entrance to Soul Hunting Forest stepped forward to block him.

"Move."

Lu Mingzi wasted no words. He pulled out the Spirit Hall token Qian Renxue had given him.

"Please, go right in!"

The instant the guard saw the token, his expression changed, and he hurriedly stepped aside.

Lu Mingzi pressed on into the depths of Soul Hunting Forest.

"Almost every Soul Beast in this forest is a hundred or a thousand years old. The Hundred-Year Soul Beasts on the outskirts are too weak to stop me."

He gently wiped down the great blade in his hands until its edge gleamed cold silver.

Rustle! Rustle!

A patch of grass stirred nearby. Lu Mingzi instantly went on alert.

Sure enough, a Soul Beast had set its sights on him and wanted to kill him.

A dark shape shot out of the grass, growing larger as it approached. Black all over, with a towering body, an ape's head, and a fur-covered frame, it was a Mount Tai Berserk Ape.

It was roughly 2,250 years old.

"Just what I needed!"

"Second Soul Skill: Raging Blade Gale!"

Without another word, Lu Mingzi stepped forward and shot toward it, closing the distance in an instant.

He charged a slash and swung his flame-wreathed blade. Driven by Soul Power, it released five terrifying flaming blades.

Boom!

The flaming blades shot outward from him in every direction. The attack left no blind spots and sliced the Mount Tai Berserk Ape into chunks.

"I didn't expect that move to be so brutal. But afterward, I feel as drained as if I'd just gone a round."

Deep Blue.

Lu Mingzi called the name silently. A deep-blue panel appeared, and his eyes lit up.

[Upgrade?]

"This is... raising the age! I'm finally eligible!"

Overjoyed, Lu Mingzi immediately chose to upgrade his First Soul Ring.

[First Soul Skill: 523 years, Void Spirit Slash. Special effects: Fire Poison level 5, Poison Gas Leakage level 5]

The moment the upgrade finished, he felt utterly hollowed out, weakness flooding his entire body.

"Deep Blue really is something. Raising it by a hundred years nearly cost me my life."

Clutching his chest, Lu Mingzi struggled to his feet and went to a nearby town to buy food and replenish his strength.

"A hundred-year increase cost me two units."

"I can raise it another hundred years!"