Chapter 13: The Evolved "Small Iron Piece"
The "Small Iron Piece" spun faster and faster, and as it did so, the outline of a sword-shaped phantom gradually emerged, looming.
An extremely strong murderous intent, accompanied by the appearance of the sword-shaped phantom, descended upon the space where Li Tianyi was.
As the murderous intent grew stronger, the rotation abruptly stopped, and all the strange images instantly vanished. The "Small Iron Piece" fell back into Li Tianyi's palm.
Li Tianyi looked at the "Small Iron Piece" in his hand, which seemed to have grown only slightly, and said bitterly, "Your transformation is too difficult. I've fed you so many spirit rings over the years, and you haven't even grown a sword tip."
The "Small Iron Piece" lay quietly in Li Tianyi's hand, motionless as a dead object.
"Give up, kid! He won't pay any attention to you until he's fully transformed!" An old voice suddenly echoed from Li Tianyi's mind.
Li Tianyi's mouth twitched. He glanced at the pristine ring on his finger and said, "Brother Ringwraith, how come a few hundred-year-old spirit rings can awaken your form, but this one can't?"
"Ahem," the old voice coughed. "Do you really have to explain? I'm just a newbie, smuggled in by a big boss. I'm worthless and insignificant."
Li Tianyi scoffed, ignoring him and recalling the events of the past six years.
Back then, everyone thought he'd mutated into a useless spirit, and with his broken leg, he was a complete loser.
Only he knew that a broken leg was nothing compared to the Saiyans' extraordinary healing abilities; it healed in a month.
But he kept quiet afterwards. Partly because the thought of a broken leg being healed was too shocking, and partly because he didn't want to draw attention or retaliation from certain people in the Spirit Hall.
So, in public, he stayed in a wheelchair, refusing to retort. Behind closed doors, he secretly retreated to the Kata Mountains near Notting City to cultivate in solitude.
It was during his first soul beast hunt in the mountains that he discovered he couldn't absorb soul rings. Whenever a soul ring appeared, it was forcibly absorbed by the "small iron piece" in his hand.
From then on, he understood that soul rings were a form of energy that could be absorbed by the "small iron piece."
Each time the "small iron piece" absorbed soul ring energy, it expanded in size.
Hoping the "small iron piece," said to be an ancient artifact, would soon materialize, Li Tianyi would secretly go hunting whenever he had time.
However, the "small iron piece" didn't grow much. A year ago, it suddenly awakened the old man, the same one who had spoken to him in the Pope's Palace.
He wouldn't answer his questions, claiming he'd smuggled himself here with the artifact. He even asked him to forge a ring for him to live in.
Unable to bear his constant nagging, Li Tianyi, out of pity, forged him a simple ring. Unexpectedly, once the old man moved in, the ring underwent a dramatic transformation, becoming a space ring capable of storing objects.
Li Tianyi was stunned. No matter what he asked the old man, he wouldn't answer. From then on, he began to strongly doubt his identity.
A space ring, how could one obtain it without some skill?
Fortunately, both the "small piece of metal" and the "old man" were sent by the system, so he didn't worry about being persecuted.
What puzzled him even more was that in the year after his injury, the Sword Douluo from the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect came to visit him every day at the same time. He said nothing, simply practicing basic sword techniques in front of him and then leaving without a word.
Li Tianyi was naturally embarrassed when he first met him. After all, he had so ruthlessly refused to be their apprentice, and then he had fallen on such a miserable state, and they had seen it all.
As time went on, he began to realize that the other person seemed to be deliberately coming to teach him sword skills, and his mood gradually relaxed.
Although he couldn't understand why the other person was so kind to him, a "useless person", it didn't affect his respect for him in the slightest.
It was thanks to the daily demonstrations by the top kendo masters, coupled with his own secret practice, that his swordsmanship was able to continuously improve.
Thinking of this, Li Tianyi's eyes flickered with a hint of fear and a touch of pride.
Truly, to unleash his potential, he hadn't used any swordsmanship, whether against the black ape or the python, and had even deliberately worn a "fortified" training suit.
He was determined to survive a desperate situation, seeking breakthroughs amidst the peril.
In the end, his gamble proved successful, and at the critical moment, he successfully transformed into a Super Saiyan mimic.
However, the python's playful tactics were indeed unexpected. Otherwise, had he been prepared, he wouldn't have let himself be so careless as to allow the python to directly wrap around him.
Feeling the surge of power emanating from his now-shattered and then-rebuilt body, Li Tianyi desperately wanted to find someone to test the depths of his current strength.
Unfortunately, the time hadn't come yet.
"Roar!"
The black bear woke up from his stupor, and seeing the giant python's body that was powerful but torn into pieces, he looked at Li Tianyi with fear in his bear eyes.
Li Tianyi pointed at the mountains with a stern face, turned his back and walked away.
The black bear was instantly pardoned and ran away.
There is no point in killing a two thousand year old bear, it is better to let it go.
Li Tianyi murmured and looked at his right hand, hehe, little ancestor of yours, I guess I have to kill all the ferocious beasts in my memory to feed you.
Seeing that they were about to leave the mountains, Li Tianyi took off his "added" training clothes, took out the wooden wheelchair from the space ring, patted the dust off his body, sat on it, and covered himself with the brown blanket again.
"Creaky!"
Li Tianyi slowly slid his wooden wheelchair to the door of his residence.
A "ping-pong" sound emanated from the yard, and a green potted plant shot out from inside and shattered to pieces.
(End of this chapter)