The Northern Mountain Range, one of the largest ranges within the borders of the Heaven Soul Empire, begins in the Extreme North Icefield and stretches all the way to the imperial capital, Tiandou City, spanning nearly two thousand kilometers. Within it live numerous powerful soul beasts—from weak ten-year-old ones to formidable ten-thousand-year-old beasts. It's said that even the legendary hundred-thousand-year soul beasts exist here, though no one has seen them… or if they have, they didn't survive.
Anyang City sits at the foot of this range. The mountains behind Beihe Village connect to its outer edges. It only took the trio an hour and a half to enter the outskirts. They reached a flat grassy area with numerous holes in the ground—clearly the home of a Moonshadow Rabbit colony.
They were incredibly lucky to spot a three-hundred-year-old Moonshadow Rabbit almost immediately.
"Dad, let's attack together," Zhu Ziyang said to Zhu Changhe.
"Alright!" Zhu Changhe replied, summoning his martial soul.
Zhu Ziyang released his martial soul as well, approaching the feeding Moonshadow Rabbit from the left. Zhu Changhe attacked from the right, activating his second soul skill. His Dimlight Scythe shimmered with faint light as it slashed at the rabbit.
Such a bold move startled the Moonshadow Rabbit. It instantly leapt forward—but didn't notice the threat on its left. Zhu Ziyang, seeing the opportunity, immediately unleashed his first soul skill. A gray-white blade of energy sliced through the air, severing both of the rabbit's hind legs mid-leap.
Behind him, his pale yellow soul ring glowed brightly—almost as if celebrating his strike.
The rabbit crashed to the ground, shrieking in pain and despair. Its eyes were filled with sorrow as its front legs struggled to flee, but without its hind legs, it was powerless. Its life force was fading.
"Perfect!" Zhu Ziyang grinned proudly, then retracted his martial soul and called out, "Nannan, come here!"
"Coming!" Jiang Nannan replied from her hiding spot. Her delicate face showed traces of fear and concern—but more than anything, excitement.
"Come, girl, end its life," Zhu Changhe said, tossing the now-defenseless rabbit at her feet.
"Okay." Jiang Nannan nodded, took a deep breath, drew a dagger, and with clenched teeth, stabbed the rabbit in the head.
A yellow soul ring appeared.
She sat cross-legged and began absorbing her first soul ring.
For some reason, Zhu Ziyang felt nervous. If this ring didn't awaken her Moon bloodline, then she'd need another Moonshadow Rabbit soul ring for her second—essentially wasting a ring slot by duplicating beasts.
Zhu Ziyang silently prayed: Please let it work the first time.
Thankfully, Jiang Nannan's absorption process went smoothly. Once complete, the result would be clear.
Soon, Jiang Nannan stood up, her bright eyes shining with joy and excitement.
"Nannan, how did it go? What's your first soul skill?" Zhu Ziyang rushed over eagerly.
Zhu Changhe also looked on with curiosity. Was his son overly arrogant? Or were the thousands of Soft-Bone Rabbit Soul Masters simply foolish? He wanted to know.
"Hehe!" Jiang Nannan giggled at Zhu Ziyang's anticipation, then proudly said, "My first soul skill is called Moonshadow Body! It doubles my speed and jumping power, and increases my flexibility by 50%. If there's moonlight, the effects are doubled!"
She couldn't help but laugh again.
"Wow, such a powerful soul skill from just a hundred-year soul ring!" Zhu Changhe exclaimed, stunned. He now fully believed that the thousands of past Soft-Bone Rabbit Soul Masters were just blind fools. His six-year-old son saw the truth more clearly than any of them.
As for Zhu Ziyang, he finally relaxed and grew excited. Jiang Nannan had awakened the Moon bloodline in her Soft-Bone Rabbit—his plan was working. Her development path could now proceed as intended.
He was thrilled!
"Alright, mission accomplished. Let's go home," Zhu Changhe said after disposing of the rabbit's corpse. "I'll make spicy rabbit meat for dinner!"
They didn't linger in the mountains and returned to Beihe Village that very night.
They stayed at home for the night.
Jiang Nannan excitedly told her mother, Bai Xinyi, that she had become a one-ring Soul Master. Bai Xinyi was overwhelmed with joy, tears streaming down her face as she hugged her daughter tightly. The two cried until Jiang Nannan noticed her mother was too distressed and gently comforted her.
After saying goodbye, they returned to Anyang Academy.
Back at school, Zhu Ziyang returned to his disciplined routine—martial soul practice, occasional classes, reading, and cultivating the Great Luminous Art. What others considered dull and repetitive, he found peaceful and satisfying.
One day.
While cultivating in the dorm, Zhu Ziyang suddenly stood up, overflowing with joy.
"Brother Ziyang, what's wrong?" asked Jiang Nannan, who had been practicing her handwriting. Seeing how excited he was, she couldn't help but ask curiously.
"Nannan, I did it! I developed a better meditation method!" Zhu Ziyang leapt from the bed, rushed over, picked her up, and spun her around with excitement.
"Really? That's amazing!" Jiang Nannan blushed but smiled in sincere congratulations. She knew he had been ambitious about improving meditation techniques. She just didn't expect him to succeed so quickly.
"Mhm! Nannan, do you want to try it?" Zhu Ziyang asked after setting her down.
"Of course!" she agreed without hesitation.
Zhu Ziyang was touched. He passed her the meditation technique he had named the Zhu Family Meditation Method. Jiang Nannan sat down cross-legged and began practicing right away.
Watching her move so decisively stirred something in him.
This technique had taken him nearly six months to create. He had combined thousands of years of research by his predecessors with his own Great Luminous Art to develop an entirely new method. He expected it to be at least twice as effective as current popular techniques. And it had a feature no previous method possessed—it could enhance physical strength.
That one trait alone was enough for the Zhu Family Meditation Method to go down in history.
Zhu Ziyang decided: if Jiang Nannan's trial was successful, he would teach it to his parents and make it a true Zhu family legacy.
If only the Great Luminous Art could be passed down too—but unfortunately, it couldn't. Thankfully, the Minor Luminous Breathing Technique was shareable. That would serve as a form of legacy, and surely someone among his descendants would be worthy of the full art.
Well… perhaps it was too early to think that far ahead.
Jiang Nannan finished one cycle and immediately opened her eyes—filled with shock and joy.
"Brother Ziyang, you're incredible! My soul power circulation speed doubled!"
Perfect. Just as expected.
Zhu Ziyang immediately felt reassured. At her praise, he burst into laughter. "Hahaha, of course! Nannan, you must not tell anyone else about this. This will be the Zhu family's secret legacy!"
At his words, Jiang Nannan's face flushed red.
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