With the awakening of his martial soul, Ender felt a joy unlike anything he had ever experienced.
He now possessed what he had always longed to become. Though his expression betrayed no emotion, his heart was bursting with exhilaration. He thought to himself:
"Haha! I never imagined God would be this good to me. My martial soul turned out to be a black hole. Although it's so small that the naked eye can't see a thing, it is undeniably a black hole. Even though it's just a fake one for now, as my strength grows, it will become increasingly real.
Wait a minute, is this some kind of mockery? Damn it! Thinking carefully, this does feel like being looked down upon. Without God's help, I could have created a black hole myself—it just would've taken an extraordinary amount of time. Maybe thousands, no, millions of years. But now, what choice do I have? My lifespan isn't long enough for that. I'll just have to make full use of this martial soul."
Initially, having a black hole martial soul filled him with delight. But after reflecting on it, he felt as though God had trolled him.
Still, he had no other options. Given the frail body God had bestowed upon him, he would be lucky to survive another twenty years.
Mockery or not, he resolved to utilize his martial soul to its fullest potential. He had to transform this world into a singularity—a place of origin.
Meanwhile, Ye Qingyun frowned, pondering:
"What's going on? Why doesn't he have a martial soul? Doesn't everyone have one? No, wait—that gust of wind just now was definitely caused by a martial soul. Could it be that his martial soul is an invisible type? Or maybe his martial soul is so weak right now that it hasn't taken a visible form."
"Can you sense your martial soul?" she asked.
Ender nodded and replied:
"Yes."
He didn't elaborate on what it was, out of caution. Besides, he figured even if he explained, she wouldn't know what a black hole was anyway.
Ye Qingyun rubbed her chin for a moment, then took out another stone and said:
"Place your hand on this to measure your soul power."
Ender followed her instructions. As soon as his hand touched the stone, a dazzling light erupted.
It was then that he noticed how much stronger he had become after awakening his martial soul.
"Born with full soul power? I didn't expect you to be a peerless genius like me." Ye Qingyun said in astonishment.
But at this moment, Ye Qingyun's mind was filled with calculations. She was pondering whether she could control Ender.
"He's also born with full soul power like me, but he's old, and his level is far below mine. That means his strength is unlikely to surpass mine, but he's strong enough to act as my bodyguard. If something bad happens to me, having him take the hit might not be a bad idea."
Ender, meanwhile, was astonished. He hadn't expected to be considered a peerless genius. He asked:
"Can I go hunt for a soul ring?"
Ye Qingyun nodded and replied:
"You can. I'll go with you."
"Can't I go alone?"
Hearing this, she drew her sword and placed it against his neck, saying: "Trying to run away?"
Ender shook his head and quickly said:
"No, no. Don't you trust my integrity, Miss? If I say I'll return, I'll definitely return."
She glared at him and replied without hesitation:
"An old man tricking a little girl—what kind of integrity is that supposed to inspire?"
Ender froze, momentarily stunned. Reflecting on his past as the once-serious leader of humanity, he had to admit he wasn't exactly trustworthy.
"What young girl? You're clearly all grown up."
"I'm twelve years old."
Ye Qingyun's words momentarily crashed his mental CPU. After a few seconds, he thought:
"What the hell? With a body like that, if this girl were on Earth and decided to lie about her age, countless people would end up in prison. But why does a twelve-year-old look so grown? Ah, right—it's because of strength. The stronger one's power, the more developed their body becomes to handle the energy."
After thinking for a moment longer, he said:
"You're the eldest daughter of a great clan. If I were to escape, wouldn't you just issue a bounty on me? Could I possibly live well after that? I'm not that stupid."
Ye Qingyun nodded, and after a moment, she said:
"I'll give you one week. If you don't return after a week, I'll hunt you down. From now on, you're going to be my scapegoat and housekeeper."
Ender rolled his eyes at her and said:
"What's this? Saying it so blatantly—aren't you afraid I might have bad intentions toward you?"
"You think you're capable?" Ye Qingyun said coldly, a hint of disdain in her voice.
"You're just a small fish in the palm of my hand. Don't even dream of escaping. My talent equals yours, my strength surpasses yours, and my clan alone could crush you. Sure, your past might not be ordinary, but does it matter? Right now, you're just an old man who couldn't even withstand a single strike from me."
Ye Qingyun retracted her sword, her tone calm but the underlying sense of threat unmistakable.
Ender didn't dare retaliate, though his mind was full of curses:
"Damn brat, just wait! One day, I'll spank you until you cry. Rest in peace? Forget it. This annoying little girl doesn't deserve it."
"I'll leave and return quickly." he said.
While his inner thoughts were filled with frustration, his outward demeanor was obedient and respectful.
Without wasting any time, he immediately left the area and headed toward the disputed region.
This was a common place for low-level cultivators to hunt soul beasts.
The type of soul beast didn't matter much to him, as his martial soul was extraordinarily unique.
To a black hole, all matter and energy were essentially the same—anything absorbed would be assimilated.
Watching his silhouette quickly disappearing into the distance, Ye Qingyun smirked and muttered to herself:
"What exactly are you? Human, or...."
She then left the room herself, murmuring as she walked:
"No matter what you are, you're certainly not worthless. If you have value, I must make the most of you. And do you really think you'll find a decent soul beast with that pathetic strength? Haha, I'll wait for you to come begging me for help."
Calling her a good person wasn't entirely wrong. From the beginning, her kindness toward Ender had been genuine, stemming from a sense of pity.
But the current situation was different. Ender had entered her list of individuals to watch carefully.
Though she didn't know why he had approached her, now that he was in her grasp, escape was not an option.
She didn't necessarily need him, but she would ensure no other force could have a new natural-born genius with full soul power.
.....
Ender had already left the city. Here, entry and exit weren't monitored, which made things convenient since it wasn't a border zone.
"So, what should I hunt now? The books say the first soul ring should be between 300 and 400 years old. But why this specific range? Let's figure that out first." he mused.
The most essential quality of a scientist was to question everything, no matter how trivial it seemed. The desire to understand the truth was humanity's path to immortality.