"Xuan'er, this ring concerns the survival of our family and a colossal secret. You must keep it on you and never take it off, do you understand? You must not remove it, not even in death."
"Understood, Dad. I'll keep it with me always."
Three years ago, Lin Xuan received a black ring from his father and put it on.
From that day on, his father left the family, his whereabouts unknown. As a result, Lin Xuan transformed from a genius into a failure.
Lin Xuan was the young master of the Lin Family. At the age of twelve, he had reached the Seventh-Grade Martial Artist realm, making him the foremost genius of the family. He was even the top genius in all of Cloud Sea City!
But ever since he put on the black ring, it had been constantly absorbing his Spiritual Power. Not only did it absorb any new Spiritual Power he cultivated, but it also gradually drained his existing cultivation base. For three years, his cultivation made no progress.
On the contrary, it fell from the Seventh-Grade all the way down to the Third-Grade. He went from being a genius to a failure, suffering endless ridicule.
Lin Xuan had wanted to tear the ring from his hand and throw it away countless times, but his father's words always echoed in his ears.
In the end, he never took off the ring.
Inside his room, Lin Xuan formed a hand seal, absorbing the power of heaven and earth and converting it into Spiritual Power.
However, the small amount of Spiritual Power he had just condensed in his body was instantly absorbed by the black ring.
Lin Xuan opened his eyes and let out a bitter laugh. It's still no use.
What exactly is this ring? It's like a bottomless pit. Unless I can fill it, my cultivation will continue to regress.
Tomorrow was the day of the Heavenly Dao Academy's examination, and Lin Xuan prepared to give it one last, desperate try. The Heavenly Dao Academy was the Martial Dao Sacred Land of the Great Xia Dynasty, a place countless youths dreamed of joining, and Lin Xuan was no exception.
Taking a deep breath, he began to cultivate once again.
Once, twice, three times... after ten attempts, he had failed every single time. All of his Spiritual Power was absorbed by the ring.
But just then, the black ring suddenly erupted with a jet-black light, startling Lin Xuan.
What's going on? The ring is changing? Has it finally been filled with power?
As he wondered, the dark light abruptly expanded, merging into a single sheet of light that enveloped his entire body.
Lin Xuan felt the world spin. When he regained his senses, he found himself in a mysterious space.
"Descendant of the Lin Family, you have finally arrived. I have been waiting for you for a long time."
A voice suddenly rang out.
Startled, Lin Xuan called out, "Who's there?"
He turned to look and discovered a large black dog behind him. The dog was as big as an ox, its eyes like copper bells as it stared at him.
The large black dog grinned and spoke in the human tongue, "I have waited many years for you. At long last, you have arrived."
"O, Great Emperor, you have a successor!"
"Who are you? And where is this place?" Lin Xuan asked in confusion.
"It seems you know nothing. In that case, allow me to explain."
"Your ancestor from the Lin Family was named Lin Chen. He was a Great Emperor, one of the most powerful experts in all of existence. Years ago, he battled several undying beings from another realm and eventually fell."
"Before his death, he left his treasures and his legacy within this space ring. He refined the ring and sent it back to his family."
"Only a disciple of the Lin Family can open this ring and acquire the Great Emperor's legacy and treasures. But opening the ring is not so simple; it requires immense talent and patience."
"As for me, I once followed the Great Emperor as his first Divine Beast. I also participated in that great war and my body suffered grievous injuries, bringing me to the brink of death."
"In the end, the Great Emperor extracted my Divine Soul and merged it into this ring. My mission is to await the Great Emperor's descendant, then use the legacy and treasures he left behind to nurture a successor, helping them become a new Great Emperor."
"However, I have waited for several thousand years, yet no one has come. I do not know what has changed in the outside world, nor do I know what misfortunes the Great Emperor's descendants have encountered. I was very worried."
"But all is well now that you are here. I will assist you properly and ensure you become a new Great Emperor."
Lin Xuan was stunned. He never imagined his family had such an astonishing background. It was unbelievable. His ancestor was one of the most powerful experts in existence!
No wonder his father had told him to always wear this ring and never take it off. It turned out to hold such an immense secret!
At this thought, Lin Xuan clenched his fists in excitement and asked, "What did our ancestor leave for me?"
The large black dog replied, "The most important thing, of course, is the Great Emperor's legacy: the Supreme Ten Thousand Dragon Diagram."
"This is one of the supreme legacies in the world. In addition, the Great Emperor left you many treasures for cultivation. The treasures you can obtain will differ depending on your cultivation realm."
The cultivation realms are: Martial Artist, Martial General, Grandmaster, Grandmaster, Martial King, Martial Emperor, Venerable, Saint, and Great Emperor. Each realm is divided into nine grades. As for weapons, battle armor, cultivation techniques, and martial techniques, they are classified into six tiers: Emperor, Saint, Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow.
"The Great Emperor was on another level entirely, and he possessed countless treasures. Even the worst of them are Earth-tier. As long as you cultivate to the Grandmaster realm, you can obtain the Earth-tier treasures left by the Great Emperor.
Reach the Martial King realm, and you can acquire the Heaven-tier treasures he left behind. As for the Saint- and Emperor-tier treasures, you will need an even higher cultivation level to obtain them."
Lin Xuan was dumbfounded. The worst treasures were still Earth-tier? That was incredible! To think that the strongest treasure their family possessed was merely a Yellow-tier one! They didn't even have any Profound-tier treasures. As for Earth-tier treasures, those were the stuff of legends.
My ancestor was truly generous!
Seeing Lin Xuan's shock, the large black dog continued, "In addition to all that, the Great Emperor also left behind an alchemy furnace known as the Eternal Divine Furnace. It can help you refine elixirs to aid your cultivation."
"Help me refine elixirs?" Lin Xuan was taken aback. He quickly took out some Medicinal Materials he was carrying and said, "I want to try it."
"Very well." The large black dog waved its paw, and the Eternal Divine Furnace opened. "Kid, just throw the materials inside."
Lin Xuan tossed the Medicinal Materials into the furnace. The furnace erupted with a dazzling light, its flames burning like the Eternal Divine Fire. Before long, an elixir flew out from the Divine Furnace.
The large black dog sighed. "This Eternal Divine Furnace is also sealed, so it can currently only produce Fourth-Grade Elixirs. I hope you won't mind. However, as your strength improves in the future, you'll be able to refine higher-grade elixirs."
Lin Xuan was stunned. A Fourth-Grade Elixir! To him, that was a legendary item. Most of the elixirs the Lin Family consumed were only First-Grade. Second-Grade Elixirs were rare, available only to the Clan Leader and a few elders. As for Third-Grade Elixirs, the Lin Family simply couldn't get their hands on them. Forget their family; no family in the entirety of Cloud Sea City could obtain a Third-Grade Elixir.
But now, Lin Xuan had just obtained a Fourth-Grade Elixir. If word of this got out, it would drive the other families into a frenzy.
Lin Xuan took the elixir and swallowed it. Instantly, the Spiritual Power within him erupted like a volcano, and his cultivation began to surge.
From the Third-Grade, it rose steadily.
Fourth-Grade, Fifth-Grade, Sixth-Grade...
Finally, it stopped at the Seventh-Grade.
Feeling the power coursing through him, Lin Xuan was dumbfounded.
It's back! My power has returned!
Three years ago, he was a Seventh-Grade Martial Artist, the top prodigy in Cloud Sea City. But for the past three years, he had been reduced to a failure, suffering endless humiliation. Now, his cultivation was restored!
The ring won't absorb my power anymore, and my cultivation will no longer regress!
"Hahahaha!" Lin Xuan threw his head back and laughed boisterously.
The next moment, he exited the mysterious space within the ring. After coming out, he found that his cultivation level remained.
So, it wasn't a dream.
This was wonderful! He had to tell Ru Yue the good news. Liu Ruyue was his girlfriend; they were childhood sweethearts and deeply in love. He imagined she would be thrilled to hear that his strength had returned. Not only that, but he also wanted to bring Liu Ruyue along with him so they could soar to new heights together.
He planned to find some more Medicinal Materials, throw them into the Eternal Divine Furnace, and refine a few more Fourth-Grade Elixirs for Liu Ruyue.
I wonder what realm Liu Ruyue could break through to after taking a Fourth-Grade Elixir?
Just as he was thinking, the door opened and Liu Ruyue walked in.
Lin Xuan was overjoyed. "Ruyue, I have great news for you!"
Liu Ruyue's expression was ice-cold. She cut him off, saying, "I have something to tell you, too. Lin Xuan, let's break up."
"It's been three years, and you're still at the Third-Grade, while I've already reached the Fifth-Grade. We are no longer on the same level."