Ch.12: First Soul Ring
In a spacious and luxurious yet not overly extravagant room, a six-year-old child could be seen sitting cross-legged atop a large bed.
Soft moonlight filtered through the half-open windows, illuminating the quiet chamber with a pale silver glow.
The boy possessed delicate yet refined features that already hinted at remarkable looks once matured.
His black hair rested messily over his forehead, while his calm face carried a level of composure uncommon for someone his age.
Though still childish in appearance, there was an unusual sharpness hidden within his eyes.
Behind him floated a humanoid figure radiating an oppressive aura.
Its body resembled a sleek armored warrior forged from flowing golden metal, its surface covered in faint silver and black patterns that pulsed rhythmically like living circuitry.
Crimson and violet energy flickered intermittently beneath the armor-like exterior, while strange rune-like markings drifted slowly around its body.
Even while remaining motionless, the figure emitted an invisible pressure that made the surrounding air feel heavy and distorted.
It was his martial soul.
Deoxys.
On closer inspection, Lu Sheng's face appeared slightly flushed, while faint tremors occasionally ran through his small body.
Dense waves of energy continuously leaked from his pores before being suppressed once more, making it obvious he had recently consumed some kind of Heaven and Earth treasure.
As he breathed steadily, the spiritual energy in the surroundings began to stir.
Thin streams of translucent energy slowly gathered from every direction, converging toward him like flowing rivers.
The closer they drew, the faster they rotated, until the entire room seemed to form a miniature vortex centered around his body.
The energy entered him continuously, assisting him in refining and absorbing the monstrous medicinal power hidden within his flesh, tempering his muscles, bones, organs, and meridians while simultaneously strengthening his soul power.
Time passed quietly.
Then suddenly—
Click!
A crisp breaking sound echoed from within his body.
The spiritual energy in the room instantly surged violently, rushing toward him like a whirlpool collapsing inward.
The absorption speed multiplied several times over as the remaining medicinal energy inside him was rapidly refined.
Moments later, the turbulence gradually settled.
Lu Sheng slowly opened his eyes.
A faint glow flickered deep within his pupils before disappearing completely.
Clenching his fist lightly, he could clearly feel the explosive increase in strength flowing through his body.
Every movement carried a far greater sense of power and stability than before.
"Meditation techniques from thirty thousand years in the future are really something..."
He muttered inwardly while sensing the transformation within himself.
'Even a twenty-five-thousand-year whale glue can be digested in such a short amount of time without wasting even a fraction of its medicinal strength.'
Feeling the explosive power flowing through his body, Lu Sheng could not help but feel slightly amazed.
Before this, his physical strength had merely been close to that of a Soul Elder specializing in beast-type martial souls.
But now, it had completely crossed that threshold, reaching the middle stages of that level.
And this was without even using martial soul possession.
Truly monstrous.
Following that breakthrough, a soft sigh slowly escaped from behind him, carrying both relief and lingering tension that had yet to completely fade away.
Lin Yue, who had remained standing nearby the entire time while quietly watching over him refining the twenty-five-thousand-year whale glue, finally relaxed slightly after sensing the violent spiritual fluctuations inside his body gradually stabilize and calm down.
Though her expression remained mostly composed on the surface, the faint worry hidden deep within her eyes had never disappeared from beginning to end.
After all, even she clearly understood just how absurdly dangerous a treasure like twenty-five-thousand-year whale glue truly was for an ordinary soul master to consume, let alone a six-year-old child whose cultivation had not even reached the Soul Elder realm yet.
Even if Lu Sheng had always been abnormal.
Even if his martial souls were unlike anything she had ever seen before.
Even if his body had already surpassed common sense by a ridiculous margin.
At the end of the day, he was still her son.
"Sheng'er."
Her soft voice sounded from behind him.
"Are you alright?"
Lu Sheng slowly exhaled a mouthful of turbid air before opening his eyes completely, the faint glow hidden within his pupils gradually fading away as he carefully sensed the explosive increase in strength flowing throughout every corner of his body.
Then he turned around slightly and smiled helplessly.
"I'm alright, Mother. Better than alright, actually."
As he spoke, he lightly clenched and loosened his fist once more, feeling the dense physical power surging beneath his skin together with the continuously circulating soul power flowing through his meridians.
The corners of his lips unconsciously curled upward.
"Now I am a hundred percent sure that I can absorb my first spirit soul."
Hearing those words, Lin Yue stared at him quietly for several moments before finally nodding slowly.
"Alright."
"I will act as your protector then."
As she spoke, she stepped several meters backward, giving him enough space while simultaneously releasing a faint trace of her soul power to seal the room and stabilize the surrounding spiritual energy.
The atmosphere instantly became quieter.
More solemn.
Lu Sheng inhaled deeply.
Then, with a wave of his hand, numerous objects began floating out one after another from his storage space.
Silver gene containers.
Floating translucent fragments.
Modifier crystals radiating strange light.
Along with several colorless spirit soul fragments that drifted silently through the air like pieces of transparent glass.
Soon, the materials hovered before him in orderly formation.
Eevee Genome Sample — 100%
Eevee Genome Sample — 25%
Silvally Genome Sample — 50%
Cinccino Genome Sample — 20%
Jirachi Genome Sample — 4%
Arceus Genome Sample — 1%
And then the modifiers.
Shiny.
Royal.
Blessing: Multitype Variant.
Blessing: Normal Type Variant.
The moment those objects appeared together, even the surrounding spiritual energy began fluctuating faintly as if reacting instinctively to the strange fusion of powers.
Lu Sheng stared at the collection silently.
A faint twitch appeared at the corner of his mouth.
'Using all these, I've already made use of half of my entire collection…'
His eyes narrowed slightly.
'This better be worth it.'
Gritting his teeth lightly, he raised his hand.
"Fuse."
The moment those words fell, every floating material instantly trembled.
Then...
Brilliant streams of light erupted simultaneously.
Silver.
Gold.
White.
Violet.
Countless threads of energy rapidly intertwined together before collapsing inward toward a single point in space.
The room dimmed briefly.
Even Lin Yue's eyes narrowed slightly from the sudden pressure radiating outward.
The compressed mass of energy continuously shrank smaller and smaller.
Until finally—
A small metallic bead slowly descended into Lu Sheng's palm.
It was silver in color, yet its surface shimmered with flowing golden luminescence beneath the moonlight, as though liquid light itself had been sealed within.
Faint circular patterns drifted slowly across its surface, changing endlessly with every passing second.
At first glance, it looked beautiful.
But the deeper one looked, the stranger it felt.
As though the object itself possessed endless possibilities hidden within it.
Lin Yue stared at the bead in silence for several seconds before finally speaking.
"…Is that the spirit soul you plan to absorb?"
Her eyes carried visible surprise.
"It really is different from the ones you gave us before."
Lu Sheng coughed lightly.
"Well… this one is special."
Very special.
After all, this thing had practically consumed most of his high-level resources accumulated over six years.
Even he had no idea what kind of monster he had just created.
Lin Yue continued observing the bead briefly before eventually nodding.
"Alright then."
"Since the Lord God has given you this favor, don't waste it and quickly absorb it."
Her tone turned slightly stern near the end.
Lu Sheng's expression immediately stiffened.
"…Understood."
He could only comply wryly.
After all, who told him to casually fabricate the story back then that some mysterious god had taken a liking to him and occasionally bestowed treasures upon him through dreams and divine guidance?
The worst part was...
His family genuinely believed it.
Completely.
Not only did they believe it, but they had even begun treating the unknown "Lord God" with a level of respect bordering on devotion.
And now he had no choice but to continue maintaining the lie.
After all, someone once said:
To hide one truth, you must tell a thousand lies.