Swallowing the Stars: Starting with Panlong

Chapter 6: Two Years

Half a year passed in the blink of an eye. When Lin Yun was six and a half years old, Hogg summoned the two brothers to the ancestral hall.

Hogg finally told Lin Yun and his brother about the glorious past of the Baruch family. As one of the four ultimate warriors, the Dragonblood Warrior family has produced one peak warrior after another throughout history.

Lin Yun was already aware of this, but Lin Lei was different. Upon learning that his family was one of the families of the ultimate warriors, the pride and honor in his heart made his blood boil.

However, his joy was short-lived. After his father tested the bloodline with the Dragon Blood Needle, he discovered that neither of the brothers' bloodline concentrations met the requirements. Seeing his father's disappointed eyes, Lin Lei couldn't help but cry. Lin Yun didn't cry, but he was also disappointed, since the Dragon Blood Warrior transformation was very powerful in the early stages.

That night, Lin Lei tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

He kept thinking about what had happened during the day. Insufficient bloodline concentration, unable to transform into a dragon—this result weighed heavily on his heart.

He turned to look at the bed opposite him. Lin Yun was sleeping with his eyes closed and breathing evenly.

"Lin Yun?" he called softly.

no respond.

"Lin Yun, are you asleep?"

Still no response.

Lin Lei sighed and turned to face the wall. He thought his younger brother was asleep, but in fact, Lin Yun's consciousness had already switched to another world.

In the early morning in Yangzhou, the air was filled with a damp mist.

Lin Yun sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes. Last night, he practiced the Qi Gathering Style all day in the Panlong World and tested his bloodline concentration. It was already late at night when he switched to this world. But that's the advantage of having two bodies that can operate independently—when one body rests, the other can continue to be active.

"Yun'er, are you up?" Grandpa Lin Guodong's voice came from the outer room.

"Get up, Grandpa." Lin Yun put on his clothes and walked out of the room.

Lin Guodong took out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket, carefully unfolded it, and laid it on the table.

That was a college admission brochure.

The notice reads "Yian District Public Primary School Enrollment Notice" in large print, with a smaller line below stating: "Children aged six to twelve are eligible to enroll; tuition is free."

Lin Yun was stunned.

"Grandpa, what is this...?"

"Yun'er, you're six and a half years old this year." Lin Guodong put down his chopsticks, his cloudy old eyes full of affection. "That kid Luo Feng went to school last year, and you can't stay at home all the time. Grandpa isn't capable enough to afford to send you to a good school, but we can still afford to send you to this public elementary school."

"Grandpa, I don't want to go to school," Lin Yun blurted out.

He really didn't want to go. For him, going to school meant spending a lot of time sitting in the classroom, time that could have been used for cultivation. Time was especially precious in the Swallowed Star World—every minute and every second here was related to his future life and death.

"Nonsense!" Lin Guodong's voice suddenly turned stern. "If you don't go to school, what will you be when you grow up? Collecting scrap metal like your grandfather? Or feeding monsters outside the city?"

"I can go to the Ultimate Martial Arts Gym—"

"Extreme Martial Arts Academy?" Lin Guodong interrupted him, his voice tinged with bitterness. "Yun'er, although joining Extreme Martial Arts Academy is free, how much does it cost to hire a coach? Just one month's coaching fee is enough for the two of us to live on for half a year."

Lin Yun fell silent.

He knew his grandfather was telling the truth. In this world, martial artists are at the very top of the pyramid, but the path to becoming a martial artist is paved with money. Nutritional supplements, training equipment, combat guidance—which of these doesn't cost money?

"Grandpa told me to go, so I'll go." Lin Yun finally nodded.

He didn't want to disappoint his grandfather. This old man, who had raised him alone in the apocalypse, had already sacrificed so much for him.

Lin Guodong's face broke into a smile, his wrinkles crinkling at the corners of his eyes: "That's my good grandson! I'll take you to register tomorrow. Luo Feng is studying there too, so you two will have company."

The next morning, Lin Guodong took Lin Yun to the Yian District Public Elementary School.

The school is not far from the low-rent housing area, about a 20-minute walk. Although it is called a school, it is actually just a courtyard surrounded by several reinforced old buildings. The playground is paved with gravel, and a few flagpoles stand crookedly, with the national flags at the top of the flagpoles faded by the wind.

The registration area was located in the lobby on the first floor of the teaching building, with a long queue forming. Lin Yun glanced around and saw that most of the children registering were from ordinary families, dressed in coarse cloth, some even barefoot. Occasionally, a few were dressed better, accompanied by adults, clearly from small merchant families in the base city.

"Lin Yun! Over here!"

A familiar voice came from the front of the group. Lin Yun looked up and saw Luo Feng waving at him, with a pretty woman standing beside him—his mother, Gong Xinlan.

"Hello, Aunt Lan." Lin Yun greeted her politely. Lin Yun had grown up with Luo Feng since childhood. Because they were close in age, Lin Yun had often drunk Luo Feng's milk, so she had great respect for Gong Xinlan.

"Okay, okay." Gong Xinlan nodded with a smile. "From now on, you and Xiaofeng will go to school together so you can look after each other. Xiaofeng, take good care of Lin Yun at school, okay?"

"Okay, Mom," Luo Feng replied, pulling Lin Yun to squeeze to the front of the line. "Hurry up and line up, it'll be our turn soon."

The registration process is very simple—register your name, age, and address, then undergo a basic physical examination, and that's it. The examination includes height, weight, vision, and hearing.

After completing the formalities, Lin Guodong and Gong Xinlan went back first, leaving Lin Yun and Luo Feng to wander around the school.

"Which class are you in?" Luo Feng asked.

"Class 3, Grade 1"

"I'm in Class 1," Luo Feng said with some regret. "We're not in the same class, but it's okay, we can still play together after class."

Lin Yun nodded without saying a word.

The two walked around the playground and finally sat down under a crooked tree.

"Lin Yun, you don't like going to school, do you?" Luo Feng suddenly asked.

Lin Yun glanced at him: "How did you know?"

"It feels like," Luo Feng said. "You seem uninterested in anything. Classes, homework, exams... none of these things seem important to you."

Lin Yun was somewhat surprised. Luo Feng's observational skills were much sharper than he had imagined.

"I just feel," Lin Yun carefully chose his words, "that there are things in this world more important than going to school."

"You mean becoming a martial artist?"

Lin Yun did not deny it.

Luo Feng was silent for a while, then said, "I also want to become a martial artist. My dad said that if our family wants to turn our lives around, we can only rely on me. But becoming a martial artist isn't easy. You need money, someone to teach you, and talent. Our family doesn't have any of these things."

His tone was indifferent, as if he were talking about something that had nothing to do with him.

But Lin Yun sensed the bitterness in his voice.

"Luo Feng," Lin Yun looked at him earnestly, "you will definitely become a martial artist. Moreover, you will become the strongest martial artist in the world."

Luo Feng paused for a moment, then laughed: "How did you know?"

"Because you are Luo Feng," Lin Yun said.

He said exactly the same thing he had said to Lin Lei.

Luo Feng didn't press further, but simply smiled and shook his head: "You always talk in such strange ways."

Two boys sat under a crooked tree, with a gray sky above them, ruins of a broken city in the distance, and an endless wilderness beyond.

This world is dilapidated, cruel, and a dog-eat-dog world.

But they are still young, and they have time to change everything.

Return to the world of Panlong.

After the bloodline test, Lin Lei became even more silent.

He was no longer as talkative and cheerful as before. Every day, he would get up before dawn to practice the Qi-gathering posture and continue until dark. He was always the first to finish the training tasks assigned by Hillman, and he always exceeded the requirements. While the other children were resting, he was still practicing.

Lin Yun saw it all and knew that her brother was competing with her.

Insufficient bloodline concentration, unable to dragonize—this result was a far greater blow to Linley than he showed. As the eldest son of the Baruch family, he considered becoming a dragonblood warrior his mission. Now, that mission seemed unattainable.

"Lin Lei," Lin Yun called out to him after a day of training, "Don't you think you've been training too hard?"

Lin Lei wiped the sweat from his brow and shook his head: "Not enough. The bloodline concentration is insufficient. If I don't train three or five times more than others, how can I catch up?"

"Who can you catch up with?"

Lin Lei paused for a moment, then did not answer.

Lin Yun sighed: "Do you want to catch up with those descendants of dragon-blooded warriors who are born with a high concentration of bloodline? Or do you want to catch up with the first generation of ancestors?"

"I..." Lin Lei opened his mouth, but couldn't say a word.

"Linley, the Dragonblood Warrior's strength isn't just because of his bloodline," Lin Yun said earnestly. "There are so many powerful individuals in this world who don't have the Dragonblood Warrior bloodline either. Bloodline is an aid, but it's not everything."

Lin Lei remained silent for a long time.

"And what about you?" he suddenly asked. "Aren't you disappointed?"

Lin Yun smiled and said, "I've said it before, I will find my own path."

Looking at his younger brother, Lin Lei suddenly realized that his brother was sometimes more mature than their father.

"I understand." Lin Lei nodded. "I will continue to train, not out of spite, but because I want to become stronger."

"This is the eldest son of the Baruch family."

The two brothers looked at each other and smiled.

When Lin Lei was seven and a half years old, a chance encounter changed his fate.

Because Hogg sold the family's stone carvings for gold coins, Linley had the idea of ​​learning stone carving, but was punished by his father to clean the ancestral hall. It was here that Linley found something that would change his life!

Panlong Ring!

Lin Yun knew the origin of this ring—it housed the soul of a Saint-level mage, Delin Corvort. This ring would change Linley's fate, and it would also change his.

"It looks like an old item," Lin Yun said, feigning calmness. "It might have been left behind by one of our ancestors. You can keep it."

Lin Lei nodded. Since the size was not enough, Lin Lei found a silk thread to string it together and wore it on his chest.

"It's a little cold." Lin Lei touched his black ring.

Lin Yun didn't say anything more.

He knew that Delin Corvort inside the ring was currently asleep and would not awaken for some time; until then, he simply needed to wait patiently.

That night, Lin Lei lay in bed, playing with the ring he had found during the day.

Moonlight streamed through the window, illuminating the blue gemstone on the ring and casting a soft glow. Linley stared at that light for a long time, and for some reason, felt an extraordinary sense of peace.

"Lin Lei, are you asleep?" Lin Yun asked from across the room.

"no."

"Keep that ring safe," Lin Yun's voice echoed in the darkness. "It might bring you a pleasant surprise."

Lin Lei asked, somewhat puzzled, "What surprise?"

"I don't know," Lin Yun smiled. "It's just a feeling."

Lin Lei didn't ask any further questions, put the ring back in front of his chest, and closed his eyes.

Lin Yun closed his eyes and switched his consciousness to the Swallowed Star world.

In his room in Yangzhou, his other body lay on the bed, breathing steadily.

With both realms operating in parallel, everything was progressing according to his predetermined trajectory.

In the Panlong world, Lin Lei obtained the Panlong Ring, and Delin's awakening was only a matter of time. In the Swallowed Star world, he and Luo Feng were about to begin their school life, which wasn't what he wanted, but at least it would give his grandfather some closure.

In the past two years, he himself had mastered the Qi Gathering Style to perfection, and his physical attributes had finally reached the level of a first-level warrior. His body in the Swallowed Star World had also improved rapidly, and his strength far surpassed that of his body in the Panlong World. Lin Yun even suspected that he had reached the level of a martial artist, but he could not confirm it due to the lack of testing equipment.

More importantly, he became increasingly adept at controlling the small cauldron, and could now switch between the two worlds at will.

The road ahead is long, but the direction is clear.

The two realms coexist, nourishing and complementing each other.

Lin Yun opened his eyes, looked at the moonlight outside the window, and smiled slightly.

Eight years old. Everything is just beginning.