Dragon Shadow
For the first two days after the Sixth Ring was formed, Long Tian did not rush to activate it.
He treated it like a piece of iron that had just been quenched and hadn't fully cooled down, letting it settle naturally in his dantian. The gaps between the six Soul Ring were filled with the lingering gray-gold aura continuously emitted by the Origin Return Pearl. The patterns on the inner walls of each ring had an extra layer of light base color, slowly aligning with the texture of the new ring. Every morning and evening, he activated the complete six-ring array, letting his Soul Power flow from the first ring to the Sixth Ring and then back to the Returning Origin Return Pearl, repeatedly smoothing out the gaps between the rings one by one.
On the evening of the third day, Long Tian activated his Sixth Soul Ring with all his might for the first time in the open space in front of the house.
The moment all six Soul Ring lit up, the Origin Return Pearl suddenly accelerated its rotation, and gray-gold light surged from the center of his dantian in all directions, spreading throughout his body along his meridians. He felt his arms, back, shoulder blades, and deep chest all heating up simultaneously—not a burning heat, but a warmth that spread from the inside out—like a vine that had been rolled up for a long time finally being untied and beginning to stretch in the direction it was meant to go.
The Dragon Shadow condensed again above his palm, this time several times larger than before. Its gray-gold outline solidified from a blurry halo into a tangible entity. Scales, spine, the curve of the dragon horns, the undulations between the joints of its spine—every detail was far clearer than before. Long Tian pushed his right palm forward—the Dragon Shadow flew out of his palm, skimming the ground for about three zhang before crashing into a half-buried rock. With a muffled thud, the Dragon Shadow exploded on the rock surface, scattering gray-gold fragments of light. The rock, the size of a washbasin, split in two, the cross-section as smooth as a hard-boiled egg sliced open.
Long Tian stood there, looking at the split rock, then glanced down at his right palm. The scales had receded, but the gray-gold base between the lines on his palm was brighter than usual, like a piece of burnt charcoal continuing to radiate warmth in the dark. He turned his hand over to look at the back of his hand, then closed his palm again, feeling that the force of the Origin Return Pearl rotating in his dantian was much more stable than before.
Yu Jin emerged from the side of the house and squatted beside the cracked rock, touching the broken edge with his fingertip tracing the smooth cut. He looked up at Long Tian: "The power of that strike was 20% greater than my Fourth Ring at full power. And I felt that you didn't deliberately gather your strength when you threw it; it was almost casual."
"The Sixth Ring's Soul Skill isn't a standalone move." Long Tian also came over and squatted down, pressing his palm against the broken half of the rock to feel the lingering aura. "It uses the state after the fusion of light and darkness as the Soul Skill itself. When activating the Sixth Ring, my Martial Soul form will enter a more complete posture—the dragon-shaped light and shadow will naturally follow my movements, without needing to expend extra Soul Power to condense and maintain it."
Yu Jin stood up, looked at the empty space, then at Long Tian: "Then urge him one more time. This time, place it this way."
"Put it on you?"
"Let your Dragon Shadow chase me, I'll see how fast it is."
Long Tian thought for a moment and nodded. Yu Jin retreated to the other end of the open space and stood still. Long Tian activated the Sixth Ring again. As the gray-gold Dragon Shadow surged from his palm, it skimmed forward along the ground. Yu Jin Yu Jin dodged to the side at the first moment— the Dragon Shadow grazed his left shoulder, automatically withdrawing three-tenths of its force as it passed, as if it knew consciously that it shouldn't actually collide with him. While dodging, Yu Jin used his Power of Origin to strike back with a palm. A golden-black light band shot out from his fingertips and struck the side of the Dragon Shadow. The Dragon Shadow paused slightly but did not disperse. Instead, it continued to slide forward for two zhang without being disturbed before dissipating.
Yu Jin withdrew his Power of Origin and turned to look at Long Tian: "It adjusts its path on its own. Even without your deliberate control after you unleashed it, it already had its own trajectory the moment you attacked, and it even knew to dodge my counterattack."
Long Tian also witnessed the phenomenon. Even after the Dragon Shadow left his palm, it retained a certain remote resonance with the Origin Return Pearl, like a kite with its string released, whose posture could still be sensed by those on the ground through the tension of the string. He tried again, this time deliberately thinking of "turning left" after the Dragon Shadow left his hand. Sure enough, the gray-gold Dragon Shadow deviated slightly by half an inch during its advance. Although the deviation was small, it truly obeyed the guidance of his will.
"This thing..." Yu Jin looked at the wisps of light remaining in the air after the dissipating Dragon Shadow, "It's like a part of your Martial Soul detached from your body, but still connected by a thread."
Long Tian put away the Sixth Ring, and the halo of the Origin Return Pearl slowly faded in his dantian. He stood for a while, watching the dissipating dust on the open ground in front of him slowly sink into the night. The feeling when the Dragon Shadow left his body was hard to describe—it was like having a tentacle that stretched out to explore the path, capable of sensing, adjusting, and slowing down or changing direction when necessary. It wasn't entirely a Soul Skill, but more like an extension of a way of being.
That evening, he shared his feelings with Long Tieshan. Long Tieshan listened intently by the stove, then rested the tongs he used to stir the charcoal on his lap for a moment before saying, "Your sixth ring was forged within your own body, not hunted from the outside. Therefore, there is no 'attached' boundary between it and your origin; it simply grows naturally from your origin. The reason it can still resonate with your Origin Return Pearl after being separated from your body is because it is essentially still a part of you, only temporarily detached."
"What's the maximum distance I can make it move?"
"You'll have to try it yourself," Long Tieshan handed the fire tongs back to Long Tian. "You'll only know where the boundary is once you touch it."
The next day, Long Tian spent the entire day testing it in the open space. After activating the Sixth Ring, he continuously projected the Dragon Shadow outwards, from one zhang to three zhang, five zhang, and ten zhang. Each time it traveled a certain distance, he would stop and sense the resonance intensity between the Origin Return Pearl and the Dragon Shadow. Within ten zhang, the connection was clear and stable; at fifteen zhang, the signal began to blur; and at twenty zhang, the Dragon Shadow dissipated on its own. He memorized the limits—the effective remote control range was approximately twelve zhang. Beyond this distance, the Dragon Shadow would lose synchronization with the Origin Return Pearl, like a line stretched to its end.
He tried to make the Dragon Shadow hover, turn sharply, and dive within that extreme distance, adjusting different speeds and angles. By evening, he had already unleashed three combos in the Dragon Shadow's external state: the Dragon Shadow would first harass the opponent's flank, then the main body would follow up with a palm strike from the front, and after completing the harassment, the Dragon Shadow would not disperse but turn around and flank from behind. The afterimages left by the three gray-gold lights as they crisscrossed and weaved across the open ground resembled an overturned loom, with loose threads dancing wildly in the air before being gathered up one by one.
Yu Jin squatted by the stream and watched his entire practice session. When Long Tian finally finished and sat down to catch his breath, Yu Jin handed him the water bag and said, "Tomorrow I'll fight that Dragon Shadow. You control it to attack, I'll defend. I want to see how well it can adjust its direction when disturbed by external forces."
Long Tian took a sip from the water bag, placed it on his lap, and nodded. The two sat by the stream for a while. Long Tian leaned against the trunk of an old pine tree, gazing at the new buds sprouting among the branches overhead—spring had already turned the entire mountain forest green, from the treetops to the tips of the grass, all a tender new color. He looked down at the palm of his right hand; the gray-gold pattern slowly faded in the twilight, like the last rays of sunset disappearing into the ridgeline.
Smoke began to rise from the chimney of the stone house in the distance. Firewood for dinner had just been added, and thin wisps of grayish-white smoke rose into the air, drawn into a diagonal line by the wind, and scattered into the sunset above the treetops. Long Tian heard the sound of Mu Shuang chopping vegetables and the echo of Shen Qiu speaking softly from inside the house. The sounds were indistinct and soft as they came from a distance, like the whole mountain slowly closing its eyes in the warm twilight.
He tightened the cap of the water bag and stood up, and Yu Jin stood up as well. The two walked side by side from the stream back to the stone house. The lights inside were already on, and the orange-yellow light leaked from the window, spreading across half the open space. The moment Long Tian pushed open the door, he saw his father squatting in front of the stove, placing the newly made small iron pot on the fire. Something was cooking in the pot, and steam rose from the rim, carrying the salty aroma of dried bamboo shoots and coarse salt. Yu Jin squeezed past him to help set the table, Shen Mo was grinding ink and writing something at the table, Mu Shuang swept the scraps from the cutting board into a basket. Long Tian stood at the door for a moment, the light from the fire pouring out of the house and falling at his feet, shortening the distance from the threshold to the stove to just a few steps. He crossed the threshold and, as he did every day at this time, sat down in the empty spot by the stove, reaching his hands towards the small patch of warmth emanating from the flames.