Fusion

When Tang Wulin came out of the Spirit Pagoda, he still felt as though he were floating.

He wasn't dizzy. It was an indescribable sense of unreality.

He looked down at his hand, then tried gently channeling his soul power. The next instant, a dark gleam appeared, and the Star-Sinking Hammer slipped silently into his palm. A pure white soul ring slowly rose from beneath his feet, settling quietly around the hammer's silhouette.

A white soul ring.

A true One-Ring Soul Master.

Only when Tang Wulin saw it with his own eyes did he finally believe that all of this was real.

"Dad..." He looked up at Tang Ziran, his eyes astonishingly bright. "I really did it."

As Tang Ziran looked at his son, warmth surged through his chest, but he tried to keep his reply calm.

"Yes, you did."

Yet the slight hoarseness in his voice laid his excitement completely bare.

On the way home, Tang Wulin was unusually quiet.

It wasn't because he was unhappy. Quite the opposite: he was so happy that he didn't know what to say. As he walked, he kept glancing down at his palm, then at the white soul ring that appeared and vanished with his thoughts, like a child who had suddenly stumbled upon an entire sky of stars.

Only when they were almost at their door did he finally give in and ask in a hushed voice:

"Dad, do you think... Little Jun Ant will become really powerful someday, too?"

Tang Ziran glanced at him.

"Don't you already know the answer?"

Tang Wulin paused.

"It chose you of its own accord," Tang Ziran said slowly. "And you chose it, too. Since you chose each other, how far you get will depend on how far you can go together."

After hearing that, Tang Wulin suddenly smiled.

"Yeah!"

He nodded vigorously.

When father and son pushed open the courtyard gate, Na'er was already waiting at the table.

At the sound of the gate, she stood almost immediately, her large purple eyes fixed on Tang Wulin. It was as though she already knew the answer but needed to see it herself before she could rest easy.

The moment Tang Wulin saw her, he could no longer contain the excitement he had held back all the way home.

"Na'er, I did it!"

As soon as he spoke, the Star-Sinking Hammer appeared in his palm again, followed by the white soul ring.

At that moment, even the light inside the house seemed to brighten a little.

Na'er froze for a moment, then her purple eyes lit up.

"Big brother, you've really become a Soul Master!"

"That's right!" Tang Wulin said, puffing out his chest almost unconsciously. "And my soul spirit is that Little Jun Ant. It's not bad at all. The Spirit Transmitter said it's a perfect match for my hammer."

Na'er looked at the Star-Sinking Hammer in his palm, then at the white soul ring. Her gaze finally settled on the faint dark-gold markings deep within the hammer, and she blinked softly.

"Yes." She nodded earnestly. "It suits you very well."

Tang Wulin was even happier.

Compared with anyone else's praise, Na'er's softly spoken "It suits you very well" made him feel much more reassured.

At dinnertime, Lang Yue finally returned from work.

When she entered and saw the pure white soul ring above her son's palm, she froze where she stood. The next instant, her eyes reddened.

Of course she had known this day would come.

But when she actually saw it, a hot, aching surge of emotion still welled up inside her.

Three years.

Three whole years, from the day of his awakening until today. While other children were still growing up without a care in the world, her son had already learned how to grit his teeth and forge ahead, how to use his own two hands to earn a path into the future.

And now, he had finally carved that path out for himself.

"Mom." A little embarrassed by her gaze, Tang Wulin scratched his head. "I'm really a Soul Master now."

Lang Yue walked over and hugged him.

"I know." Her voice was hoarse, but her eyes were smiling. "I saw everything."

The lights in the Tang family's home stayed on late that night.

Tang Wulin was already beside himself with happiness. Having just fused with his soul spirit, he also felt an indescribable freshness in the connection between it and the soul power within him, so much so that his attention kept wandering during dinner. He wasn't simply daydreaming. He couldn't stop trying to sense the Star-Sinking Hammer in his palm and the quiet Little Jun Ant within him.

It was very quiet.

There were no unnecessary emotions, nor many tangled thoughts.

Yet Tang Wulin could feel that it had made a home inside him. It was a strange feeling, as though deep within the hammer's silhouette, where he had once been alone, he now had a tiny but steadfast companion.

Late that night, Tang Wulin and Na'er returned to their room.

Tang Wulin's face had still been full of excitement, but once he actually sat down beside the bed, he slowly grew quiet.

"Big brother, why aren't you saying anything?" Na'er asked softly.

Tang Wulin looked down at his hands. After a moment, he said quietly:

"I'm a little scared."

Na'er paused.

"Scared?"

Tang Wulin nodded and gave a slightly embarrassed smile.

"I didn't feel it at the Spirit Pagoda today. But now that we're home, I suddenly feel... I've really become a Soul Master." He paused. "I always dreamed about this day, but now that I've actually reached it, I'm a little scared I won't do well enough."

Na'er watched him quietly.

Tang Wulin thought for a moment, then added:

"I'm not scared Little Jun Ant isn't good enough. I'm scared... it chose me on its own, and if I don't go far enough someday, will I be letting it down?"

He spoke those words very softly.

Yet they were so very like Tang Wulin.

He had never been someone who only knew how to take. Even faced with a tiny soul spirit that had just fused into his body, his thought wasn't What can it give me? but Can I live up to its trust?

As Na'er listened, something shifted gently in her eyes.

She didn't speak immediately. She simply stepped forward and gently laid her hand over Tang Wulin's clenched fist.

"Big brother." She looked at him and said earnestly, "The fact that it chose you already shows how good you are."

Tang Wulin was taken aback.

"And," Na'er paused, her voice softening further, "I think it likes you very much."

At those words, Tang Wulin suddenly smiled.

It wasn't the brilliantly excited smile he had worn during the day, but a softer one, carrying the tenderness unique to a young boy who had just been comforted.

"Really?"

"Yes." Na'er nodded. "You two are very alike."

This time, Tang Wulin didn't ask how they were alike.

Because deep down, he already knew the answer.

Neither was dazzling.

Neither was showy.

Neither was valued at first glance.

Yet both could bear a great deal.

At that thought, he finally let out a soft breath and rose from beside the bed.

"Then I'll try meditating," he said. "My teacher and the Spirit Transmitter both said it's best to stabilize things again on the day of your first fusion. Maybe... I can find out what my First Soul Skill is a little sooner, too."

Na'er immediately stepped back twice to give him room.

"Then I won't disturb you."

Tang Wulin sat cross-legged on the bed and slowly closed his eyes.

The moment he did, it felt different from before.

In the past, when he sank into his consciousness, the first thing he usually sensed was the Star-Sinking Hammer's weight pressing deep within. Only afterward came his soul power, the golden markings, the warm current, and those deeper things he couldn't put into words.

But this time, within that familiar darkness, he immediately "saw" the difference.

The Star-Sinking Hammer still hovered there.

Black, still, and as heavy as ever.

But now an exceedingly faint layer of dark-gold markings covered its surface, as though some fine yet tenacious power was gradually spreading through the hammer's interior.

And a tiny dark-gold ant lay quietly on the hammerhead.

It was Little Jun Ant.

It rested there quietly, its six legs gripping the hammer's surface, as though it had long since claimed that spot as its own. Only when Tang Wulin's consciousness approached did it slowly raise its antennae and stir them gently.

There were no words.

No complex emotions.

Yet at that moment, Tang Wulin clearly sensed the faintest trace of closeness and attachment.

That feeling was so slight, as light as a speck of dust.

Still, he caught it instantly.

You're here, too, Tang Wulin said instinctively in his mind.

Little Jun Ant didn't respond, but the next moment, it crawled gently forward a couple of steps, moving along the hammerhead toward the center of the hammer.

And as it crawled, the Star-Sinking Hammer suddenly trembled slightly.

Immediately afterward, heat shot up without warning from deep within Tang Wulin's tailbone.

He knew this sensation all too well.

Since the day of his awakening, this warm current had often surged in the deepest parts of his body. But as he grew older, deepened his meditation, and endured the daily strain and tempering of forging, it no longer brought tearing pain with the slightest movement as it had at first. Instead, it felt more like something held down beneath layer after layer, something that might awaken at any moment.

Tonight, however, it was clearly more active than usual.

The heat shot from his tailbone and traveled up his spine, sweeping swiftly over his back, shoulders, and neck before invisibly converging with that hidden burning sensation deep within his forehead.

Tang Wulin's body shuddered violently.

Inside the room, a sheen of sweat instantly appeared at the temples of the boy sitting cross-legged. His quietly circulating soul power faltered, then began surging faster than usual.

Na'er had been sitting quietly beside her little bed, but now she straightened almost instantly, her purple eyes fixed intently on Tang Wulin.

She could feel it.

At that instant, the aura around Tang Wulin had changed.

Deep within Tang Wulin's consciousness, that change was even clearer.

An exceedingly faint golden lattice suddenly emerged from the deepest darkness, like an enormous net that had always existed but was only now truly visible, spreading rapidly toward the Star-Sinking Hammer.

Little Jun Ant had been resting quietly on the hammer, but now it abruptly stiffened.

It wasn't fear.

It was more as though it had been stunned by a power far more ancient, terrifying, and weighty than its own bloodline.

Its tiny body curled slightly, its antennae lifting as though probing, or instinctively submitting.

Then the golden markings settled onto its body.

They weren't devouring it.

Nor were they driving it away.

It was more like an examination, a confirmation, a "weighing" completed in an exceedingly brief span of time.

Almost immediately, the pressure that had made Little Jun Ant stiffen quietly eased, then began slowly seeping into its body.

A layer of finer, brighter, yet more subdued golden patterns instantly appeared across Little Jun Ant's dark-gold shell.

At the same time, the dark-gold markings on the Star-Sinking Hammer's surface became noticeably clearer.

They resonated with each other, as though they had finally been truly linked by the same power.

And at that moment, Tang Wulin clearly felt a completely new power taking shape within him.

It wasn't simply "growing stronger."

Rather, it possessed an unmistakable inclination.

Weight.

Pressure.

Plunge.

Like a falling hammer, compressing all its force into a single point before smashing it outward in the briefest instant.

The sensation came with startling abruptness, yet felt utterly natural, as though it was meant to appear at precisely this moment.

First Soul Skill.

Those words sprang into Tang Wulin's mind almost instantly.

Before he could think further, the newly formed power abruptly pulsed outward!

Hum.

Inside the room, the Star-Sinking Hammer suddenly appeared soundlessly in Tang Wulin's palm.

The next instant, the pure white soul ring rose from beneath his feet, and the Star-Sinking Hammer abruptly sank downward at the same time!

Yet the wooden floorboard in front of the bed still gave a faint crack, as though an invisible, crushing weight had forced a thin fracture into it.

Tang Wulin's eyes snapped open. He took two great, gasping breaths, his face already filled with shock and disbelief.

"This..."

Even his voice trembled slightly.

In that instant, he had barely done anything deliberately. He had merely circulated his soul power on instinct, and the force had burst out on its own.

Moreover, he could feel that it hadn't been some wild loss of control.

Quite the opposite.

It was clear, pure, and obedient.

As though, whenever he wished, he could wield it more steadily the next time.

"Big brother!" Na'er had already rushed over from her little bed, her eyes full of anxiety. "What's wrong?"

Tang Wulin looked down at the Star-Sinking Hammer in his palm.

On the hammer's surface, the dark gold patterns that had once flickered in and out of sight still had not fully faded, and even the aura of the entire hammer had grown a shade weightier than before.

And deep within that stillness, he could clearly sense Little Jun Ant resting quietly there, as though nothing had just happened.

But he knew things were different now.

Truly different.

He slowly raised his head and looked at Na'er. The flicker of alarm in his eyes, born of that sudden, unexpected change, had been replaced little by little by something brighter.

"I understand now."

"Understand what?" Na'er asked instinctively.

Tang Wulin tightened his grip on the Star-Sinking Hammer, his voice growing slightly strained with excitement.

"My First Soul Skill," he said.

"I think... I know what it is now."