My Own Son Can Grow Soul Rings Himself-is That Right?

Early the next morning, his body clock hit its mark right on time.

Nine sharp, not a minute more or less.

He sprang upright from bed like a carp flipping out of the water. His joints cracked twice, and the sun outside his window had already climbed halfway up the sky.

Ye Zhiqiu shuffled into the bathroom in his slippers, squeezed out toothpaste, brushed his teeth, and rinsed his mouth in one seamless sequence.

He looked up at the mirror. The person in it was looking back at him.

Black hair, well-proportioned features, fair skin—his six-year-old face still carried a little baby fat, but its contours were already taking shape.

Ye Zhiqiu stared into the mirror for three seconds before muttering, "Who's this guy? How is he this ridiculously handsome? Waking up to my own good looks every day is so much pressure."

He bared his teeth at the mirror, toothpaste foam clinging to the corner of his mouth, then added, "Good thing I don't make a living off my face. Where's the fun in that? Talent is what counts."

He amused himself before he had even finished speaking.

After washing up, he returned to his room, locked the door, drew the curtains tight, and plopped down on the floor. First, he extended his left hand.

A silver-gray orb of light floated out, a miniature galaxy slowly revolving inside it.

At the same time, a yellow Soul Ring slowly rose from beneath his feet and hovered behind him, turning at an unhurried pace.

Just one ring. Hundred-year yellow.

Ye Zhiqiu rubbed his chin, then extended his right hand.

A long, translucent white blade appeared out of thin air. Its edges were still so dazzling that looking at them for more than a few seconds made his eyes ache.

Behind him, another yellow Soul Ring lit up.

With both hands extended, his two Martial Souls existed simultaneously, and two yellow rings hovered behind him, one on either side.

"Twin souls, twin yellows. Hit the upper limit the moment the market opened." Ye Zhiqiu glanced from side to side and nodded in satisfaction.

Then, with a thought, he summoned both Soul Spirits.

The two little things in his Soul Spirit space had long since grown restless.

The first to pop out was a fist-sized ball of silvery-white light, its surface studded with tiny flecks of starlight. It circled his left hand twice, then settled on his shoulder and nuzzled his earlobe with a touch as light as a feather.

The second was a little knife, a palm's length long and translucent white. It emerged with a metallic clang.

It circled his right hand once, then hovered before his eyes and dipped its tip toward him twice in greeting.

The sight amused Ye Zhiqiu too. "You've even got a blade spirit?" he said with a laugh. "Your name's First Blade, right? And that one's Gravity Star Core. Pretty edgy names. All right, you both look distinctive. One can handle the killing, and the other can handle the burying."

He reached out to touch First Blade, but the little knife darted backward with a swish and wagged its tip from side to side. The message was clear: no touching.

"Damn, quite the tsundere." Ye Zhiqiu chuckled, but did not insist. Instead, he turned to look at Gravity Star Core on his shoulder.

The core snuggled closer to his neck, soft and squishy.

"You're the easygoing one." Ye Zhiqiu gently poked Gravity Star Core with his index finger. The orb wobbled and let out an extremely faint hum.

One hundred percent compatibility really was no empty claim.

In a single night, both Soul Spirits had taken shape, and two hundred-year Soul Rings had grown on their own, without so much as a transitional period.

Ye Zhiqiu withdrew his Martial Souls and Soul Spirits, then worked on his expression: the corners of his mouth down a little, brows furrowed a little, eyes filled with a touch of "Did I get something wrong?" bewilderment.

He switched to a bewildered expression practically instantly, then opened the door and headed downstairs.

Human Soul Masters had only two ways to obtain Soul Rings: hunt Soul Beasts, or go to the Spirit Pagoda to absorb Soul Spirits.

That was an ironclad law. Throughout history, no one had ever been an exception.

Perhaps the only way around that law was a God-Given Soul Ring, but that was a blessing bestowed by a god, something many people never saw even once in their lives.

As for forming Soul Rings on one's own...

That was an ability Soul Beasts possessed only after undergoing soul beast transformation. When a Soul Beast reached a hundred thousand years of cultivation and took human form, its cultivation converted into soul power, and its Soul Rings formed naturally. It was an innate gift of Soul Beasts, not something humans could learn.

Yet Ye Zhiqiu was entirely human. Both his parents were researchers at the Federal Academy of Sciences, and three generations of his family tree showed no trace of Soul Beast blood. He had even awakened Tool Martial Souls—Tool Martial Souls, which had about as much to do with beast martial souls as two poles eight lengths apart.

So he would have to put on one hell of a performance.

In the living room, Ye Jiyang, who had not gone in to work overtime, sat at the dining table reading the news, half a slice of whole-wheat bread in his hand.

Shen Qingwan was warming milk in the kitchen, while plain congee bubbled away in a pot.

Hearing footsteps, Shen Qingwan turned. "You're awake? The congee's in the pot..."

Before she finished, she saw her son standing at the foot of the stairs with both hands behind his back, looking as though he wanted to say something but could not quite bring himself to.

"What's wrong?" Ye Jiyang set down his terminal and looked over too.

At that, Ye Zhiqiu raised his head and said with a look of "bewilderment":

"Dad, Mom, I think... I can grow Soul Rings myself."

The moment he said it, the milk cup in Shen Qingwan's hand struck the counter with a clack, splashing out a few drops.

Ye Jiyang shot to his feet, his chair legs scraping across the floor with a squeal.

"What did you say?"

Ye Zhiqiu said nothing. He extended his left hand, and a silver-gray orb appeared as a yellow ring rose.

Then he extended his right hand. A white blade materialized in midair, and another yellow ring lit up.

Both sides at once.

Ye Jiyang and Shen Qingwan stared at the two slowly revolving yellow Soul Rings. For a moment, the living room fell utterly silent.

"What about the Soul Spirits?" Ye Jiyang's voice had tightened. What on earth was going on?

My own son can grow Soul Rings himself? Is that scientific?

At his question, Ye Zhiqiu summoned Gravity Star Core and First Blade with a thought, and both popped out at once.

Gravity Star Core flew around his left hand, while First Blade hovered beside his right shoulder, its tip bobbing up and down.

Shen Qingwan covered her mouth, her eyes round with shock. "These... these two little ones are alive? They're sentient?" she asked in bewilderment.

Even the artificial soul spirits from the Spirit Pagoda could not possibly be that intelligent, unless they were actual Soul Beasts.

But she had only gone one night without seeing her son! And what kind of Soul Beasts were a bead and a knife?

"Yep. They're both really smart." Ye Zhiqiu tipped his chin toward First Blade and continued, "That one won't let me touch it. Bit of a tsundere."

First Blade gave a metallic clang, turned its tip toward Shen Qingwan, and swayed a little, as though saying hello.

Shen Qingwan sucked in a breath and took half a step back.

Ye Jiyang adjusted his glasses. His gaze swept several times between his son, the Martial Souls, the Soul Spirits, and the Soul Rings. He circled Ye Zhiqiu, then leaned closer to inspect the two Soul Spirits, looking as though he had seen a ghost.

"Human Soul Masters have only two ways to obtain Soul Rings: hunt Soul Beasts, or go to the Spirit Pagoda to absorb artificial soul spirits. Forming Soul Rings on your own is an innate ability that only appears after soul beast transformation, and even then, it takes over a hundred thousand years of cultivation and surviving the transformation tribulation. You're a six-year-old human child..."

"And you awakened Tool Martial Souls! Tool Martial Souls! What transformed Soul Beast could possibly manifest a Tool Martial Soul?"

"I'm wondering about that too," Ye Zhiqiu said innocently, blinking twice.

Shen Qingwan finally snapped out of it. She hurried over to her son, crouched down, and cupped his face, examining it from both sides before checking his forehead with the back of her hand.

"No fever. Doesn't look like anything's possessed him either."

"Mom, I'm your own flesh and blood. Why are you checking my temperature?" Ye Zhiqiu did not know whether to laugh or cry.

"That's exactly why I'm checking! Honestly, you were perfectly fine last night, and today you wake up with Soul Rings and Soul Spirits already attached—and two sets at that! Who could take that in all at once?" Shen Qingwan said irritably.

"Maybe I'm a martial arts prodigy who comes along once in ten thousand years," Ye Zhiqiu said with a perfectly straight face.

Ye Jiyang smacked Ye Zhiqiu on the forehead and rolled his eyes. "Even martial arts prodigies don't grow Soul Rings!"

He took several deep breaths, forced himself to calm down, and paced across the living room a few times. Then he abruptly turned, fixed his eyes on his son, and said:

"No one besides the three of us can know about this."

"Dad, we're thinking along exactly the same lines. I haven't told anyone this morning. I came straight downstairs to find you two."

Ye Jiyang continued, "I've already enrolled you in the Junior Academy affiliated with the Heaven Dou Advanced Academy of Sciences. Classes start in a week."

"As for where your Soul Rings and Soul Spirits came from, don't worry about that. I'll handle it."

"Also, try to use only one Martial Soul for now. There's no need to reveal everything so early, especially since each of your Martial Souls is extremely powerful."

"I get it. Play the pig to eat the tiger. I know that routine," Ye Zhiqiu said with a chuckle.

Seeing his expression, Shen Qingwan felt an inexplicable jolt in her heart.

Her son had been clever from an early age, sometimes too clever for a six-year-old. Especially those smiling eyes of his—you could never tell what he was thinking.

"None of that from you." Shen Qingwan pinched his cheeks and continued, "If anyone at school bullies you, come home and tell me. Don't bottle it up."

"Mom, with a son like me, I'll be the one bullying other people," Ye Zhiqiu said as though it were only natural.

Ye Jiyang rolled his eyes beside them and sat back down, though he no longer had any appetite for his bread.

He switched on his terminal, swiping his fingers across the light screen as he muttered:

"Tool Martial Souls forming Soul Rings on their own... That doesn't fit into Soul Master theory at all. I need to check the literature and see whether there are any similar cases..."

Shen Qingwan came over with the milk too, pressed a cup into Ye Zhiqiu's hands, and said, "Eat first. We can talk afterward."

"You got it."

Holding his cup of milk, Ye Zhiqiu sat obediently at the dining table and ate his congee, while inwardly he was calculating something else.

School started in a week. Junior Academies these days admitted children at six, kept them for three years, then sent them on to the intermediate division.

He was not worried about class placement. What he wondered was whether any of his classmates would be blind enough to insist on walking straight onto his blade.

It was not that he wanted to bully anyone. Mostly, he had a little problem: after playing the good boy for too long, he always wanted to find some amusement.

That was right—he was a devoted follower of Aha, the Aeon of Elation!