The Green Bloodline Soul Ring: Bamboo Breath

After they returned home, Lone Bamboo told him to rest. Lin Qing felt the pool of warm water in his chest suddenly begin to flow, surging along his meridians toward his back.

He tried to sit up, but his body wouldn't move. It wasn't that something was holding him down; he felt filled from the inside out, as though something deep within his body was awakening.

Then the skin on his back began to heat up.

It wasn't a searing heat, but a gentle warmth, like basking in the sun in winter. The warmth gathered along his spine and slowly spread, little by little.

Lin Qing couldn't see it, but he could feel it: something was taking shape behind him.

"Close your eyes." Lone Bamboo's voice rang out, far more serious than before.

Lin Qing closed his eyes. In his mind, a stalk of green bamboo stood silently in a pitch-black space. It was Lone Bamboo. At its base, the first bamboo joint was glowing.

The bluish-green light was faint but steady, like a newly lit lamp. It gradually condensed and took on substance, forming a brilliant green halo around the bamboo joint.

In the real world, a green halo slowly appeared behind Lin Qing. It hovered a palm's width from his back, level with his spine, turning quietly.

It wasn't the kind of Soul Ring that rose from beneath his feet. It had appeared directly behind him, like a tiny moon resting against his back.

Meanwhile, thin lines of green light appeared on his forearms, spreading across them.

The halo's color was unusual. It wasn't the white of a ten-year Soul Ring or the yellow of a hundred-year one. It was green, like freshly budding bamboo leaves in spring, or the clearest spring water deep in the mountains.

An extremely faint pattern ran around the edge of the halo. On closer inspection, it was made up of bamboo joints, linked end to end.

All at once, a rustling sound filled the room. Countless bamboo leaves swirled around him like drifting fluff, giving off a green-gold glow. Vitality hung in the air, almost tangible, gradually seeming to breathe in and out around him.

Lin Qing couldn't see it, but he felt it. The moment the halo appeared, his body felt lighter, as though he had laid down some invisible burden. "What is this?" he asked.

"A Bloodline Soul Ring." A hint of satisfaction entered Lone Bamboo's voice. "The first one. It worked." "This is the first ability my bloodline has bestowed upon you: Bamboo Breath."

"Bamboo Breath? What is Bamboo Breath? Is the green halo behind me my Soul Ring? Could it really be a Million-Year Soul Ring?

"Are you really a Hundred Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast? But why is the Soul Ring in the wrong place...?"

"Don't rush. The green halo behind you isn't a Soul Ring formed on the basis of Soul Power. I condensed it from the power of my bloodline. Since we're on the Douluo Plane, I'm inclined to call it a Bloodline Soul Ring.

"Of course, how many Bloodline Soul Rings I can add to you also depends on the strength of your body. Increasing your Soul Power and strengthening your body will both improve the fusion between my bloodline and your body.

"The skill of this first Bloodline Soul Ring is Bamboo Breath. More precisely, it's more of a passive skill.

"Bamboo Breath accelerates your body's self-healing, makes you immune to all poisons, enhances your endurance, grants you life affinity, and so on. It may be the most essential ability in my fusion with you."

As Lin Qing's consciousness entered his sea of consciousness, Lone Bamboo instantly transformed into countless particles of green light, then took human form. With a wave of both hands, he transformed the scene within the spiritual sea of consciousness.

An endless expanse of vast starry sky appeared, as though countless planes overlapped and reflected one another. Just as every celestial body moved in an orderly fashion along its own path, the stars filling the sky began to spin in reverse like a vortex, accelerating and contracting until they finally converged at a single point.

Lin Qing was too stunned by the sight to speak, his eyes reflecting the ever-changing spectacle.

At the center where those myriad worlds converged, countless almost tangible emanations poured forth.

"My power comes from the Chaos Qi formed at the birth of the universe. Later, that wisp of Chaos Qi descended upon the Douluo Plane by accident and fused with Lone Bamboo. Thus, I gained sentience.

"That power is truly immense. Chaos Qi is the mother Qi of all power in the universe; its level is far higher even than that of the Immortal Spirit Qi found only in the Divine Realm.

"I can't remember clearly either. Millions of years... breathing in and out the power of the universe. 'Bamboo' is my true form; 'breath' is breathing, an emanation, the faintest pulse of life.

"For a million years, I lived on that wisp of breath, neither contending nor competing, neither dying nor perishing."

Lone Bamboo had lived for a million years, spending most of that time asleep. While he slept, he did nothing but breathe.

One breath in and out was a year. One breath out and in was ten years. In a million years, he had left nothing behind but that single wisp of breath.

"Bamboo Breath"-the breath of bamboo.

He had given that wisp of breath to Lin Qing. Not to make him stronger, but to keep him alive. To let him live a little longer, a little better. To see in his stead the world he had watched for a million years, yet had never truly been able to enter.

"The Four Rhythms of Bamboo Breath: Azure Jade Growth, Hollow Heart Crossing, Untainted by Dust, Cloud-Hiding Root.

"Spring Jade Growth: a bamboo body like jade, broken yet born anew; Hollow Heart Crossing: a hollow bamboo heart, humble as a valley; Untainted by Dust: dew upon bamboo leaves, untouched by a speck of dust; Cloud-Hiding Heel: bamboo roots hidden deep, storing strength as they await spring."

The scene before Lin Qing changed again, as though crossing the long river of time, and he came to a bamboo forest brimming with vitality. Chaos Lone Bamboo took human form and pointed with his right hand. A wisp of gold emerged from his fingertip and flowed into the spot between Lin Qing's brows.

The green halo behind him lit up, then flowed into his back. The Bloodline Soul Ring was branded onto his skin, like the veins of a leaf.

Lin Qing felt his body grow light and the blood in his veins flow swiftly. Every pore in his skin seemed to be breathing.

Lone Bamboo's voice lingered in his ears. "Breathe evenly and feel the changes Bamboo Breath brings you with your heart. Feel your connection to heaven and earth."

His body ran through the forest. Like a bamboo stalk whose roots lived on when its joints broke, his healing wounds glimmered with a faint green light, like growing jade.

Hollow Heart Crossing: a hollow bamboo heart, humble as a valley. Its hollow heart held all things; with humility, it crossed a thousand mountains. Others panted after running ten li, while Lin Qing ran twenty as though strolling through a garden, like bamboo bending in the wind without breaking.

Dew on bamboo leaves gathered no dust. Toxins entered his body like ink dropped into clear water, washed away bit by bit and expelled, leaving him clean through and through.

Bamboo roots buried deep underground held the strength of an entire spring. They could absorb the power of the sun, moon, and stars and breathe in and out the breath of life. With life affinity, he could go three days without food and still be strong, like bamboo roots lying dormant, waiting to break through the earth.

Lin Qing was overjoyed. He felt his vitality surging more vigorously than ever before.

Although he was only seven, he felt very different from the adult body of his previous life. "Senior Lone Bamboo, now that I have this Bloodline Soul Ring, will it be hard for me to die even if I want to?"

Wildfire could not burn it all away; the spring breeze made it grow again. "As long as you have a breath left in you, you won't die so easily.

"When you're injured, your wounds will heal on their own. Minor injuries will heal in a few breaths, and serious ones will recover three times faster than an ordinary person's.

"Also, you won't get sick anymore, and you'll recover quickly if you're poisoned. You'll only feel thirty percent of the pain, too."

Lin Qing stared blankly for a long while. "Even though what you said sounds so profound, it doesn't seem to help me fight."

"That's it?" Lone Bamboo sounded a little speechless. "Do you know what this means?"

Lin Qing digested those words, then slowly smiled. "So when I fight from now on, I won't have to be afraid of getting hurt?"

"Don't get too reckless. If your injuries are too severe, even I can't save you."

"What kind of injuries can't you save me from?"

"I can't save you if your head falls off."

"...Well, obviously."

"I can't save you if your heart gets dug out, either."

"You don't say."

"So you'd better not let anyone dig out your heart.

"Your first Bloodline Soul Ring is a passive skill. It's already been branded into your body and turned into the markings on your back. The Bloodline Soul Ring won't appear again.

"Also, stop calling me 'senior' all the time. I've become something like your Soul Spirit, and it sounds awfully awkward."

"Then I'll call you Ah Zhu from now on. After all, in this strange world, we're partners who depend on each other to survive."

"Ah Zhu? Interesting. I quite like that name too..."