Wei Lan entered with her usual graceful movements and sat on the chair next to the bed. She watched her son for a few seconds with loving eyes.
"I heard you'll be setting out for the capital in a week."
"Father thought it was time for me to see the world outside the city and discover my path. Since I agree, I decided to leave."
"My dear son Jun, although it saddens me to part with you, I knew this day would come. I worry about you. If there's anything you can't solve, your father and I are always here for you."
"I know, mother. Thank you."
Wei Lan reached into her robe and pulled out a small box. She opened it, revealing a jet-black ring inside. She extended the ring towards Yong Jun.
"This ring is the last heirloom left to me from my family. I've never worn it before, but I want you to have it. I've heard that this ring absorbs the wearer's negative energies, protecting them from misfortune and bad luck."
Yong Jun carefully examined the ring and felt a strange attraction to it. He put the ring back in the box his mother gave him and pocketed it to examine later.
"Thank you very much for this precious heirloom, mother. There's no need to worry since the Dark Horse unit will be with me."
After talking with her son a bit more, Wei Lan left the room. As soon as his mother left, Yong Jun reopened the ring box and began to carefully examine the ring.
The ring was made of a metal Yong Jun had never seen before, and it gave off an ominous feeling. To see its effect, he put it on his finger and felt a sharp pain in his brain for a moment.
Although the pain was very brief, it was clear that the ring was the cause. Yong Jun looked at the ring again and saw no effect. After thinking for a while, he decided to try meditating and gathering qi as an experiment.
As usual, qi from the surroundings began to flow rapidly into Yong Jun's body. However, this time there was something strange. Part of the qi going into Yong Jun's body was flowing towards the ring.
When Yong Jun tried to sense the qi flowing into the ring, he felt something odd about it.
During cultivation, the body only benefits from clean and pure qi. Impure qi only has negative effects on a person's body, and these negative effects accumulate over time.
That's why breathing techniques are crucial worldwide for separating impure qi and accumulating only the pure kind. While breathing techniques have many other advantages, qi separation is a vital aspect of them.
The Yong family's special breathing technique, Dark Moon Breathing, was a high-level technique that ordinary people could only dream of obtaining in their lifetime.
Yong Jun had shown remarkable progress in a short time by using this technique extremely effectively.
The oddity Yong Jun felt in the qi flowing into the ring was that only harmful qi was flowing into it. This discovery shocked Yong Jun. All the harmful qi going into his body was flowing towards the ring, leaving only pure qi behind.
Yong Jun continued cultivating for a while longer wearing the ring and realized that it was attracting all the harmful qi in his body.
This feature made the ring an invaluable treasure. Such a ring could be one of the most valuable treasures even in the Royal Family.
It was surprising that his mother possessed such a family heirloom. According to what he had heard from his mother, the Wei family was once a ruling family that had migrated from the Central Continent centuries ago. After suffering betrayal, all family members died, and the few remaining migrated to the Southern Continent.
Wei Lan had heard this story from her late grandmother, but even she didn't believe it. Because the Wei family in the Southern Continent consisted of elders from a small sect in the Qin Empire.
Twenty-five years ago, Yong Xuan and Wei Lan met and fell in love in this sect.
Yong Xuan's family tree traced back to the chief knight of the first emperor who founded the country a thousand years ago.
Although the Yong family was once the second most powerful family in the country, they had weakened and been restricted due to the lack of powerful individuals in subsequent generations.
*
Meanwhile, three black-cloaked figures met in a secluded bar in a dark alley of Qin City.
"All eyes are on us. Why did you request a meeting at such a time?"
"I learned that the princess will be leaving the city in a few days. This means we have an opportunity to act."
"That's great news. But is this information certain?"
"My source is very reliable. I heard she will be accompanied by a commander in the Mortal King realm and several Mortal General soldiers as protection."
"Then when the princess leaves the city, I'll take care of it with my assistants."
*
Days passed, and the day of Yong Jun's departure finally arrived. He had completed his preparations and was ready to set out.
Before leaving, his father gave him a spatial pouch that contained as much space as a large room, filled with money and several treasures. Spatial treasures were quite valuable and expensive. Only nobles and wealthy families possessed a few.
Yong Jun had never needed such a treasure before, but now that he was leaving home, this treasure would be very useful for storing his belongings.
Yong Jun said his final goodbyes to his parents and headed towards the twenty-person mounted unit waiting for him.
He greeted Jin Wei and entered the luxurious carriage bearing the emblem of Dark Moon province. All the horses pulling the carriage and those ridden by the other soldiers were quite strong and large.
Jin Wei bowed to Lord Yong Xuan and rode his horse to the front of the convoy, beginning their week-long journey to the capital.