Deep purple spirit ring!
"This is—a thousand-year spirit ring!"
Grandmaster exclaimed, jolting up from his seat so abruptly that the water glass on the table was knocked over, spilling across the surface.
But Grandmaster paid no mind to the wet tabletop. Trembling, he gazed at Tang Sui, his heart pounding even faster, as if it were about to leap from his chest, intensely stimulated.
"How is this possible?"
Anxiously, Grandmaster moved from behind his desk to Tang Sui's side. Under her bewildered gaze, he half-knelt, gently took her wrist, and channeled a trace of spirit power to examine her body. He said,
"The maximum lifespan a spirit master's first spirit ring can withstand is around four hundred years, yet you can absorb a spirit ring from a thousand-year spirit beast! Sui Sui, apart from your weakness, is there any other abnormality with your body?"
Tang Sui met his eyes, filled with deep concern. A warmth bloomed in her heart, and she offered him a soft smile, "Teacher, don't worry, I don't feel any other discomfort."
"Sui Sui, how did your martial soul change like this?!"
Faster than Tang Sui's denial was Tang San's counterpoint.
He stared in astonishment at the jade-white mask, sculpted into the form of a fox, which quietly floated around Tang Sui. It hadn't risen from her palm as it had during her initial martial soul awakening.
The materialized fox mask was adorned with a touch of crimson at the outer corners of its eyes, drawn into a slender angle. A faint, eerie flame flickered in its hollow eyes, as if it were a genuine fox squinting and smiling, exuding a cunning aura. Accompanied by a deep purple glow, it resembled a specter in the mist, mysteriously terrifying.
But it hadn't looked like this when they first saw it!
When she first awakened her martial soul, it should have been a blank mask, uncarved into any specific form, with only a circular totem, resembling blue silver grass, adorning its sides. It wasn't like the strange mask she had seen the night of her unusual episode!
Right, when she showed it to him and their father the next day, he had completely forgotten that her martial soul's appearance then was different from its current form!
Grandmaster looked at the floating jade-white fox mask and explained to Tang San, "Little San, the phenomenon you're observing is normal. After a martial soul gains a spirit ring, it will change according to the characteristics of the acquired ring. Although your Blue Silver Grass currently only appears as ordinary Blue Silver Grass, once you obtain spirit rings in the future, your martial soul will also undergo changes, becoming vastly different from its original form."
Tang San paused, swallowing the sentence on his lips, "But Sui Sui's martial soul changed form before she obtained any spirit rings."
This was because he had received a pleading look from Tang Sui.
His sister was asking him not to say it.
Helpless, Tang San swallowed his words and kept his doubts hidden.
Meanwhile, Grandmaster withdrew the spirit power he had used to examine Tang Sui's body. His furrowed brow had not eased. "Apart from your congenital weakness, I detected nothing else about your body. But how did you manage to absorb a thousand-year spirit ring, exceeding the lifespan limit by a full six hundred years?"
Tang Sui shook her head. "I don't know. I just woke up with it."
A look of bewilderment appeared on Grandmaster's face. "Woke up with it?"
Hearing this, Tang San's internal alarm bells immediately started ringing. He quickly interjected, "Teacher, Sui Sui doesn't know how it happened either. My father said it might be related to her rather special martial soul."
Sensing Tang San's deliberate attempt to steer away from this topic, Grandmaster had no choice but to move on. He began to inquire about Tang Sui's spirit ability. Calmly, he asked, "Since your first spirit ring is a thousand-year spirit ring, your spirit ability must be extraordinary. Sui Sui, what is your first spirit ability?"
Tang Sui blinked and honestly replied, "My first spirit ability is called Spirit Infusion. Its effect is a group buff of 35% speed, 10% defense, and 35% spiritual power. As for the limitations... after using it, it remains effective until the third spirit ability is released. And each time I assist a target, it also consumes some spiritual power."
Grandmaster's hand, resting on Tang Sui's shoulder, began to tremble slightly. The Grandmaster, who thought he wouldn't be surprised again, was now astonished for the third time. Beyond admiration, only one thought surfaced in his mind, tinged with envy:
Could the genes of the Clear Sky School's Douluo truly be this exceptional?
— — Author's notes — —
Tang Hao, taking the blame today: Overthinking naturally leads to enlightenment.
Grandmaster, with complex emotions.jpg.