However, after some thought, Wun Fan found a blind spot in Old Lei’s statement. “Old Lei, may I ask how powerful of an enemy you would be able to save me from?”
“Mm,” Old Lei paused for two seconds and replied, “in all honesty, I haven’t absorbed too much of your aether in the past two years. Consequently, I haven’t recovered all my strength. Moreover, there is no way you can take on the full extent of my powers, or your body will break in the process.”
“Martial Colonel, I would say. I can guarantee your safe retreat before a peak Martial Colonel,” Old Lei thought the matter through and gave a rough estimate.
Wun Fan was surprised. There were plenty of martial artists at the level of Martial Colonel; his father Wun Ching Yeung himself was one of them. However, Old Lei was claiming that he could safely get him away from a Martial Colonel. That was a surprise. Moreover, as Old Lei had mentioned, this wasn’t the full extent of his powers. How powerful was the full extent of his powers then?
Wun Fan suppressed his curiosity and continued with another question, “What is the second benefit of the ring?”
Old Lei’s tone turned even sterner as he said solemnly, “The Imperial Zenith: Spiritstartler Ring can contain everything that exists. Its most powerful ability is the ability to take on the aether of nine heavens and the aura of ten earths. Humans have limits; heaven and earth do not. Regardless of how strong your body is, there will be a limit to the amount of aether you can contain within yourself. However, the Spiritstartler Ring removes this limit; it helps you store all excess aether that you absorb. Moreover, aura of any kind is functionally useless before the Spiritstartler Ring.”
“‘A debt of aether to pay the price; god’s weapons and tools to carry by your side.’ This line refers to another function of the Spiritstartler Ring, one that elevates it to another level. The Ring can materialise the aether you have stored into weapons. Combined with your own power, the materialized weapon can even rival the might of a Sacred Tool.”
Wun Fan’s look of disbelief grew when he heard this. Old Lei chuckled to see this reaction. “Haha! Imperial Zeniths, apex of all tools. Kid, do you finally understand why I said that you would be close to being a god once you’ve collected every single Zenith? This is how marvellous they are!”
Wun Fan was stunned. He hadn’t yet come to his senses from what he had just heard.
At one point, he was even wondering if Old Lei was in fact lying to him. However, as he felt the dark-green flames enveloping his body, as he thought back to everything that had happened to him, the wonders of the Imperial Zeniths no longer seemed so far-fetched. He had been reborn in another world; a fantastical world where martial souls exist. The existence of the Imperial Zeniths was not that much of a stretch compared to all that.
Wun Fan quickly calmed down. He carefully analysed the massive pieces of information he had just been hit with, thinking about how he would use the Spiritstartler Ring to its full effect.
Just as Wun Fan was about to delve deep into his thoughts, Old Lei suddenly spoke up, “Kid, go look for somewhere without people at eleven tonight. It would be best if it’s somewhere quiet and full of aether. I will talk to you in greater detail then. Someone’s coming, and I need to rest as well.”
The green flames dissipated with his voice. The feeling of weakness filled Wun Fan’s body once again as Old Lei’s power left him. His knees gave way as he fell to the ground. He braced himself against the floor with both hands, trying not to collapse, but the dizziness had returned.
Hasty footsteps could be heard from outside the door. Someone pushed the doors opened and entered. It was Wun Ching Yeung.
“Father.” Wun Fan’s face was pale and his voice was quivering. This wasn’t an act. His body wasn’t in terrible condition, but it wasn’t good either.
Wun Ching Yeung felt his heart ache to see his son kneel on the floor so powerlessly. He didn’t even notice the unpleasant odour of the room as he stepped forward to help Wun Fan back onto the bed.
“What is it, Fan?” Wun Ching Yeung had an expression of compassion and concern on his face as he examined Wun Fan. Wun Fan felt a little unnatural to be looked at so thoroughly. Wun Ching Yeung extended a hand and placed his fingers on Wun Fan’s pulse. A firm and powerful stream of soul energy entered Wun Fan’s body.
Wun Ching Yeung was surprised to find that Wun Fan’s pulse was strong and powerful. He let his soul energy circulate through the meridians and discovered that all his organs were perfectly fine. He was just a little weak right now. However, when he realised that Wun Fan’s right Point of Joining Valleys was filled with aether, and even on the brim of overflowing, he couldn’t help but let out a tiny yelp of glee.
That a Martial Colonel and the head of a prosperous clan would cry out like a child was unheard of. However, that simply proved how important Wun Fan was to Wun Ching Yeung. He had lost his composure just from discovering that Wun Fan had advanced to seventh-level Martial Disciple.
A short moment later, Wun Ching Yeung returned to his calm, composed self. “Siu Lan sent a servant to tell me that something was wrong with your condition. What is this?”
Of course, there was no way Wun Fan could tell the whole truth to Wun Ching Yeung. Setting aside the fact that he himself had only just learned of what happened, if the Spiritstartler Ring was truly as amazing as Old Lei made it out to be, it would be best to keep the whole affair a secret. The fewer people who knew of his secret, the less trouble there would be.
Wun Fan thought for a moment and quickly came up with another explanation. He replied with a confused expression, “I don’t know why either. One night I was training at the mountain in the back when blood rushed to my head and I fell unconscious. I had a lot of bad dreams while I was unconscious, very real dreams. But I can’t remember any of them when I woke up.”
Wun Fan was a good actor; the pacing of his words, the guilt and self-blame on his face were all so real that Wun Ching Yeung didn’t dare prod any further. He did not want to make his son feel any worse.
“That’s good. I checked your body with my soul energy just now. There is aether in your right Point of Joining Valleys now. You’re finally free of that strange disease.”
“Really?” Wun Fan’s joy was plain to see. Even though he knew that Old Lei had awakened and shouldn’t need to take his aether anymore, he still couldn’t help but be excited to learn that he was finally free of the shackles of sixth level.
“Alright, we can talk about this later. I will call a servant over to get you hot water. We can talk after you have a bath.” Wun Ching Yeung gave Wun Fan a strange look, his eyes casually glancing towards Wun Fan’s lower half. It was obvious what he meant.
Wun Fan blushed awkwardly. For a moment, he didn’t know what to say and could only stare at the floorboards.
“Hahaha…” Wun Ching Yeung was in a great mood when he walked out of the room. He looked up at the skies and sighed, “Sau Man, Fan is finally alright. You can rest well now.”
He knew that Tung-Fong Sau Man had been in grave trouble that night. Moreover, he had failed to catch wind of anything about him in the past eleven years. It was as if he had gone missing entirely, which worried him. Tung-Fong Sau Man had saved him a long time ago. He had no other means of repaying him than to raise his son properly. He had always felt incredible guilt when Wun Fan was stuck at the sixth level all these years. Now that Wun Fan was finally cured, he was finally able to let go of those feelings as well.
“Someone, go get the third younger master hot water and new clothes. Help him bathe and prepare new sheets. ”
“Yes, clan master!”
512Please respect copyright.PENANAtFMmOQaIyx
Sometime later, Wun Fan had taken his bath and had his meal with the assistance of the servants. He looked and felt a lot better.
At the very least, he could sense that he had recovered much of his stamina.
Moving his limbs no longer gave him that sense of nausea and dizziness from before. So, he sent the servants away and leapt onto his bed impatiently. He started using the Wun Clan’s cultivation technique, letting his mental power circulate throughout his body.
“Clouds have no shape; wind has no form. Clouds have no trail; wind has no shade. How does one know the passing of a wind with no cloud for it to move? How does a cloud form with no wind to shape it?”
He calmed his mind and let his mental power course through his body, taking on the shape of clouds as he inhaled aether and let them flow from his lungs to his blood vessels. This time, when the ather made it past the Point of Joining Valleys, the mysterious force of attraction was nowhere to be seen. Instead, the aether continued surging towards the Inner Pass Point.
“Seventh-level Martial Disciple!” Wun Fan could hardly suppress his joy. It had been two entire years of being humiliated and laughed at. The pressure and stress he had been experiencing were indescribable. Wun Fan also discovered that his mental power seemed to be even more sensitive than before. Even though he was focused on the circulation of aether in his body, he could still faintly sense someone approaching him.
He wanted to continue his training and regain some of the time he had lost. However, as people say: more haste, less speed. Old Lei had told him to find a spot with an abundance of aether tonight at eleven too. He might be teaching him some secret techniques for cultivation. If that was the case, then he might as well not be in such a hurry and instead check who had come to see him.
Honestly, Old Lei could have at least said something to him when he returned to the ring. It would spare him from wondering about it.
Wun Fan suddenly thought back to Wah Ling Yi’s words. A charlatan had told her to give him the Grade Eight Soul Revival Pill. The Spiritstartler Ring had awakened when he swallowed that pill.
Was that an accident?
If so, then how exactly did he come into possession of the Spiritstartler Ring?
Did he have it since he was born? Or did someone give it to him without him noticing?
Wun Fan stopped thinking so much. He cleared his mind and made himself rest properly. He stretched his body and moved around a little, his bones crackling as he did so. He got off the bed with a swift roll. He opened the door and saw a white silhouette standing in the courtyard.
The pretty girl’s eyes were swollen red and there were really bad dark circles under them. Tear stains were still visible on her cheeks, and her fatigue was plain to see.
What the fuck… Wun Fan clasped his head. This was going to be troublesome. He had forgotten about Siu Lan, his fatal weakness. He couldn’t scold her, and consoling wouldn’t work either. He was in for one hell of a time once she started crying.
This was a little demon that he was dealing with.512Please respect copyright.PENANAd75hKQJm30