Chapter 5 — Thousand-Leaf Banyan

Lin Rong's words echoed in Feng Xiaotian's ears, lingering long after they were spoken.

At the age of six, Feng Xiaotian had awakened a mutated martial spirit — Gale Twin-Headed Wolf — and was blessed with a once-in-a-century talent: innate full soul power.

Back then, he trained diligently, full of ambition and high spirits.

That all changed during an academy exchange, when he met the girl who made his heart flutter — Huo Wu, a student from Blazing Fire Academy.

Huo Wu was strong-willed and competitive. From that point on, Feng Xiaotian began to slacken in his training, intentionally keeping his soul power close to Huo Wu's level.

To cover this up, he came up with the perfect excuse — "I'm focusing on developing self-created soul skills."

The campfire reflected in Feng Xiaotian's eyes, the flickering flames shifting into Huo Wu's smiling face — the moment they first met.

Then, the image changed to the terrifying chase earlier that night when they had been hunted by the Cave Demon Spider.

The two scenes flickered in his mind, alternating again and again.

Then suddenly, the imagery stopped and froze on the memory of their first meeting.

"That's right," Feng Xiaotian's gaze turned resolute.

"If you truly care about someone, you must have the power to protect her."

"From this day forward, I, Feng Xiaotian, will train with everything I have. I will never let tonight's events repeat themselves!"

For the first time in his life, his resolve was crystal clear. He turned toward the tent and called out with deep gratitude:

"Young Duke! I won't say thanks with empty words."

"But the guidance you gave me today — I'll never forget it. If you ever need me in the future, Feng Xiaotian will go through fire and water without hesitation!"

Inside the tent, Lin Rong heard his words and couldn't help but smile slightly.

"A teachable one. I suppose my words didn't fall on deaf ears after all."

Time passed swiftly.

Two more days had gone by since that night.

Now, deep within the outer region of Sunset Forest, in a secluded mountain valley...

"After more than four days, we finally found one with the right age!"

Before Lin Rong stood a Thousand-Leaf Banyan, aged 525 years.

Though it was a single tree, its lush root system had sprouted numerous offshoots, making it look like an entire banyan grove from a distance.

"Grandpa Yu, let's do it!"

At Lin Rong's command, Yu Yuan swiftly eliminated the offshoots. The main Thousand-Leaf Banyan was then uprooted, its many roots severed — all but one, left intact in the soil to preserve the tree's final trace of life.

"Young Master, please proceed."

Lin Rong stepped forward and summoned his martial spirit, the Nine-Curve Vine Dragon. With a flick of one dragon-rooted vine, he gently tapped the final root, cutting off its last thread of life.

Moments later, a deep yellow soul ring condensed above the fallen Thousand-Leaf Banyan.

Soul rings — the most important asset of any soul master. No exception.

Even soul bones paled in comparison.

Not because soul bones were less valuable, but because soul rings were an absolute requirement for advancing in soul power, soul bones were not.

"Six years in this other world... I'm finally about to gain my first soul ring."

Taking a deep breath, Lin Rong sat cross-legged on the ground. He began circulating the Marrow Cleansing Sutra, adjusting his condition to the optimal state, then guided his martial spirit to draw in the soul ring.

"It's time."

Beside him, the old steward stood watch, eyes alert, ready to defend the young master from any threat.

The Thousand-Leaf Banyan, symbol of enduring vitality, unleashed a torrent of soul power and life force as its 525-year-old soul ring entered Lin Rong's body.

Just as Lin Rong began to absorb the energy using the Marrow Cleansing Sutra, a dragon's roar suddenly rang out from deep within him.

Immediately, the powerful life force carried by the soul ring became docile, as if a subject kneeling before a king. It voluntarily wrapped itself around the ring's soul energy, surrendering to Lin Rong's control.

"As expected of the Nine-Curve Vine Dragon. Its mastery over life force is astonishing."

"With this, the absorption process will go far more smoothly."

Lin Rong internally nodded, continuing to channel the Sutra, slowly refining the surging energy into his own.

Time slipped by.

Externally, his body underwent noticeable changes.

His height increased, and his long black hair gained a faint sky-blue sheen.

But just as another dragon's roar echoed, the blue faded away — and his hair returned to its original jet-black.

In his palms, the Nine-Curve Vine Dragon seemed mostly unchanged. But if one looked closely, they'd sense something indescribably profound in its aura — a subtle but powerful transformation in its essence.

About an hour later, the soul ring had nearly stabilized.

At that moment, the ring settled beneath Lin Rong's feet, pulsing rhythmically.

Then, without warning, the body of the Thousand-Leaf Banyan ignited — engulfed in sky-blue flames.

In a flash, it was reduced to ash.

Boom! Boom!

From within the flames, a heartbeat could be heard — thump, thump — followed by the appearance of a translucent jade-green wooden bead, like a crystal made of living wood.

The bead absorbed the last of the blue flames, then transformed into a stream of light and shot directly into Lin Rong's body.

The event happened so fast that Yu Yuan had no time to stop it.

Thankfully, Lin Rong's aura remained calm and stable. Only then did Yu Yuan let out a sigh of relief and begin contemplating what that bead could have been.

"Could that be... an external soul bone?"

A few moments later, Lin Rong opened his eyes — only to find Steward Yu's wrinkled, anxious face hovering near his.

"Grandpa Yu, is something wrong? Is there something on my face?"

"Young Master," Yu Yuan replied, voice still tense,

"Do you feel anything unusual in your body?"

He then explained everything that had just happened.

"It was my failure. I didn't notice in time and let that unknown wooden bead enter your body…"

"Oh, you mean the Heart of the Banyan Wood?" Lin Rong gently lifted the old steward off the ground and calmly explained:

"You guessed right — that wooden bead was an external soul bone, produced by the Thousand-Leaf Banyan. I named it Heart of the Banyan Wood."

"Congratulations, Young Master."

Hearing that it truly was an external soul bone, the steward was overjoyed. His guilt melted away, replaced by deep satisfaction. But his expression quickly turned serious again:

"Young Master, you must never tell anyone about this external soul bone."

"Even though fully fused external soul bones can't be taken by others, there are those who would still act out of jealousy and attempt to kill you."

"I understand." Lin Rong nodded.

The Heart of the Banyan Wood was located in his chest, unlike Tang San's Eight Spider Lances, which manifested externally.

As long as Lin Rong stayed silent, no one would know he possessed an external soul bone.

Thanks to the 525-year Thousand-Leaf Banyan soul ring and the additional soul power gained from refining the soul beast's remains through the Heart of the Banyan Wood, Lin Rong's soul power level had now reached Level 15.

Of that, the soul ring had contributed a little over three levels, raising him from Level 10 to Level 13.

The remaining two levels came from the external soul bone.

As a soul master's level increased, the soul power required for each level grew exponentially.

Therefore, although the soul bone granted more soul power than the ring, it only pushed Lin Rong up by two levels.

But soul power advancement was secondary. The real value came from the soul skill attached to the ring and the ability granted by the soul bone.

In that regard, both the soul ring and external soul bone from this hunt exceeded Lin Rong's expectations — he was thoroughly satisfied.

📌 Author's Note:

In the original story, it's mentioned that soul bones can increase soul power only because of the residual energy they retain after being separated from a soul beast.

That means soul bones themselves do not inherently boost soul power once fully fused.