In a dilapidated woodshed nestled at the foot of Baiyun Mountain, the battered Ye Jingyu lay still amidst a pile of dry weeds, enveloped by the soft moonlight filtering through the spiderweb-laced window...

Drifting in and out of consciousness, Ye Jingyu finally stirred from his stupor. As he slowly blinked his eyes open, he took in his grim surroundings...

"How could C lock me up in this place? Is this how Baiyun Villa treats its students?" He cursed silently, then pushed himself up with his hands...

The moment Ye Jingyu moved, a warm sensation flowed through his chest. He instinctively looked down and saw the steel ring he wore was absorbing the silvery moonlight, transforming it into a peculiar energy that streamed into his body. The feeling was wonderfully strange, like an infant nestled in its mother's embrace—he couldn't feel a trace of pain...

Flicking his clothes aside, he found that the bruises he carried were already gone. Pulling up his trouser leg revealed that the gash on his calf had vanished without a trace, as if the brutal beating from that afternoon had been nothing more than a bad dream...

W-What was happening?

Ye Jingyu stared blankly at the ring, which still emitted a faint silver glow, his mind sinking into contemplation...

This ring was something he'd found while cleaning his room when he was sixteen. It looked like an ordinary steel band, but its intricate design had prompted him to thread it onto a cord around his neck, even earning him envy from classmates. As time passed, he paid it no mind until he was struck by lightning while sheltering under a tree, which inexplicably transported him to this world—only then did he realize the ring had crossed over with him...

He knew that upon waking, his current body resembled his original one in some ways but was different in all others, even containing the memories of another person. Yet, this ring was undeniably still around his neck, as if it had never been removed...

He had suspected the ring was extraordinary back then but could find no clues. Later, life as the Young Master of the Ye family proved quite comfortable, and he gradually forgot about the matter, never imagining that when he was injured, this ring possessed the power to heal his wounds...

"Could this ring be the reason I transmigrated to this world?" Holding the seemingly ordinary steel band, a daring thought suddenly flashed through Ye Jingyu's mind...

"Nonsense. Do you think you'd survive being struck by lightning exceeding one hundred thousand volts otherwise?" Suddenly, a cold male voice boomed inside Ye Jingyu's head...

"Who are you?" Startled, Ye Jingyu's hair shot straight up. A cold sweat instantly drenched his back as his eyes darted around the room, his face etched with terror...

"Kid, stop looking. You can't see me..." The voice continued echoing in his mind...

"A ghost!" Hearing that, Ye Jingyu shook violently, instinctively shrinking back. Goosebumps erupted all over his skin...

"Why are you scared, kid? If I meant you harm, why would I heal your injuries?" The voice spoke again...

"You're the ring?" Hearing this, Ye Jingyu calmed down. He wasn't inherently a coward; the suddenness of the voice had merely startled him...

"Can a ring talk?" The voice actually let out a curse...

"But you said you saved me..." Ye Jingyu adopted a wronged expression...

"Er... let's put it this way: I am the original owner of this ring, though only a sliver of my true spirit remains..."

"Then who are you?" Before the other could finish, Ye Jingyu interrupted: "Oh, I get it. You must be the lingering true spirit left behind by some peerless master searching for a successor, right? What ultimate martial art will you teach me? Will it be the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms? Or the North Profound Divine Art? (This kid was apparently a Jin Yong fan.)"

"..." A moment of silence in his mind...

"What? Not talking? Are you not a peerless master? Are you one of those seniors who vanished into dust after their ascension tribulation, leaving only this sliver of spirit? But it's fine, kid, I'm a decent person. As long as you teach me an immortal cultivation technique, once I achieve godhood, I will certainly reshape your physical body for you..."

"If you were decent, there'd be no decent people left in this world! Stop rambling. I don't know the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms or the North Profound Divine Art, nor am I some high-level senior who turned to dust. I am your ancestor..." The voice in his head seemed unable to bear it any longer and roared in fury...

"..." Now it was Ye Jingyu's turn to be speechless...

"You have some nerve! You're not a master, nor an immortal predecessor, yet you call me your ancestor just because you need something from me. How shameless..." Realizing the other had tried to take advantage of him, Ye Jingyu immediately retorted...

"..."

"I really am your ancestor... Forget it. Believe it or not, I'll ask you this: Do you want to become stronger or not?" The man, noticing the look of utter disbelief on Ye Jingyu’s face, abandoned the ancestry argument and asked directly...

"I do..." Ye Jingyu blurted out without thinking, but then immediately added, "But you don't know the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms or the North Profound Divine Art, nor any immortal cultivation techniques. Even if I want to get stronger, what can you teach me?"

"Heh heh. What are the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms? What does achieving immortality even count for? As long as you can practice the technique I teach you to its peak, even immortals can be instantly destroyed..." The voice held a wicked undertone...

"Keep bragging..." Ye Jingyu maintained his skeptical facade. Seriously, immortals were omnipotent; was there anything in this world that could instantly kill an immortal?

"You... Forget it. I am your ancestor, after all; why should I argue with you? Last chance: are you learning or not?" The voice seemed to be forcefully suppressing its anger...

"Of course I'll learn..." Seeing that the other party seemed genuinely agitated (Full text novel reading, available at .1.(1.m. Literature Network), Ye Jingyu immediately called out. After all, this fellow could casually heal his injuries, meaning he must have some ability. Not learning would make him an idiot...

As for the claim of instantly killing an immortal, Ye Jingyu didn't believe it in the slightest...

"But you have to tell me what your conditions are. I'll see if I can meet them first..." Ye Jingyu wasn't naive; he knew there was no such thing as a free lunch...

"I am your ancestor, teaching you skills; why would I need conditions?" The voice sounded very annoyed...

"Really no conditions?" Ye Jingyu remained unconvinced...

"Truly none..." The voice in his mind was firm...

"Alright, start then. Even if you impose conditions later, it won't matter..." Ye Jingyu finally relaxed. Although he was a small-time rogue, he was a man of his word. If someone genuinely taught him profound cultivation methods and then suddenly added a condition, he would find it hard to refuse. But now that everything was laid out, there was nothing to worry about...

"Be careful. I will implant all the mental cultivation methods into your mind. Let's see if you can bear it..."

"Hey, will it hurt..." Before Ye Jingyu could finish asking if it would be painful, a white light suddenly shot out from the ring, stabbing fiercely into his brow. Immediately, a sharp pain erupted in his head, and without a second thought, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted...

The white light continued to surge into Ye Jingyu's mind for a full quarter of an hour before slowly dissipating. The steel ring returned to its normal appearance, and faintly, a man wearing a black trench coat, with a small ponytail at the back of his head and a handsome yet wicked appearance, emerged from within the ring...

"Kid, you are the one most like me among all my descendants, so those matters must be entrusted to you. Don't blame me for being ruthless; I still have seven wives to support and no time to deal with those things, so you'll have to work hard... Cultivate this set of techniques well, and it will be enough for you to dominate the world..." As the words faded, the man's figure slowly dissolved, ultimately vanishing completely into the void. Meanwhile, our student, Ye Jingyu, revealed an expression of struggle and pain on his face...