Martial Soul Awakening

Just as Zhou You was eating, he suddenly felt movement at his feet.

He looked down and saw a snow-white marten. The little creature had a dead mouse in her mouth and was tugging at his pant leg with both paws.

"Feidian, why did you bring this thing in here again?"

Zhou You had found this marten in a forest near the Jincheng Mountains last year. She had been covered in wounds and barely breathing, looking as though she didn't have long to live.

Zhou You had happened to be gathering herbs nearby, and one of them could save her, so he had lent a hand.

From then on, the marten had stayed by his side and become his pet.

He had asked the village elders what kind of marten she was, and someone had told him that the white marten might be a lightning marten, a kind of Soul Beast.

At first, Zhou You had only half believed it.

But the marten was no ordinary creature. She was extraordinarily fast, running like a bolt of lightning skimming across the ground, too quick for the human eye to follow.

Even Zhou You, using his Observation technique, could barely make out a few afterimages when the little white marten moved at full speed.

That was clearly beyond the limits of an ordinary animal, and it was why Zhou You had named the little white marten "Feidian."

Feidian dropped the dead mouse at Zhou You's feet, grabbed his pant leg with her front paws, and tugged hard, making cooing noises.

Zhou You felt a headache coming on. "You little rascal, when are you going to understand that we humans don't eat this kind of thing?"

He scooped Feidian up and placed her on his lap. With his other hand, he produced a Herbal Pill from who knew where, and the little creature's eyes lit up at once.

"If you try to fob me off with another dead mouse, you can go eat at the same table as the dogs at the village entrance next time." As Zhou You spoke, he stuffed the Herbal Pill into Feidian's mouth.

The little creature loved pills refined from all kinds of poisonous herbs. Zhou You strongly suspected that she followed him around just to secure a long-term meal ticket.

Before long, breakfast was finished and it was about time to go. Mother Zhou began urging him out the door.

Yingyang Village was a fairly prosperous village, so it had plenty of children of the right age each year. This time, ten other children had come to awaken their Martial Souls alongside him.

The Spirit Hall here was quite distinctive as well. Built entirely of bamboo, it looked very elegant.

The eleven children waited in the bamboo building, bored. They had come early to gather, since they couldn't very well make the august lord Soul Master wait for them.

Fortunately, they didn't have to wait too long. After about half an hour, a tall, thin middle-aged man entered under the village chief's guidance.

"Is everyone here?"

"Yes." The old village chief grinned, revealing two rows of black-and-yellow teeth.

Zhou You noticed that the village chief and the middle-aged man seemed fairly close.

Sure enough, the next moment, he heard the old village chief trying to establish a connection with the man.

"Jie, you haven't been back in a long time, have you? You almost couldn't even find the Spirit Hall."

The middle-aged man's expression was indifferent. He didn't seem very inclined to talk, but he still showed the chief a little courtesy.

"The village renovated the Spirit Hall, didn't it? I didn't recognize it at first. That's good, but next time, you should notify the people at the branch hall before starting work."

"All right, we can chat later. Let's begin now."

With that, the middle-aged man paid the village chief beside him no more attention and took some things out of the bundle he had brought.

Seeing this, the old village chief could only retreat awkwardly from the bamboo building, leaving the space to the children and the Soul Master.

Only after setting up the awakening array did the middle-aged man introduce himself.

"Children, don't be nervous. My surname is Zhou, and my name is Zhou Chengjie. I used to live in this village too. Now, listen to me. Starting with the first child, line up and walk into the circle one at a time."

The middle-aged man was clearly much more patient with the children, and their nervousness eased considerably.

Then everyone entered the array in turn as he instructed, and the standard awakening process began.

The middle-aged man revealed three Soul Rings, one white and two yellow, and manifested his Martial Soul. To Zhou You's surprise, it was a wolf-brush spear. Now he believed the man had originally been from the village.

Zhou Chengjie channeled Soul Power into the awakening array and activated the ritual. Countless points of light began to appear within it.

Standing at the very end, Zhou You curiously studied the special-effects scene before him. Long-buried memories slowly began to resurface in his mind.

Ten children went through in succession, and all of their Martial Souls awakened successfully.

But as expected, they were all very common Tool Martial Souls: sickles, files, iron pots, rolling pins, and the like. By conventional understanding, they were Trash Martial Souls. There wasn't a single Beast Martial Soul among them.

What was more, none of the children had any Soul Power, meaning they could not become Soul Masters. Zhou Chengjie couldn't help feeling a little disappointed.

Even though he knew this was the norm on the continent.

Soon, Zhou You's turn came.

"You're up. Come in."

At those words, Zhou You stepped into the awakening array's dome of light. Countless golden motes instantly surged into his body, and the next moment, he felt the Qi within him stir.

With a thought, he instinctively suppressed the restless Qi. The golden light froze, as though jammed in place, unable to move within his body.

So be it.

Zhou You relaxed his mind and allowed the golden motes to stir and draw upon the Qi in his body, guiding something into shape.

In the blink of an eye, nearly a tenth of the Qi in his body was drawn away.

"Hm?" Perhaps because Zhou You was taking a little longer, he caught Zhou Chengjie's attention.

Soon, a great amount of golden light gathered in Zhou You's palm. It shone so brightly that it almost illuminated the entire bamboo building, immediately drawing everyone's gaze.

Zhou Chengjie's heart skipped a beat, and he watched him expectantly.

The Martial Soul took shape, and Zhou Chengjie's hopes were dashed in an instant.

For Zhou You's Martial Soul was an umbrella, a black umbrella.

Many people in the village were skilled at making umbrellas. Zhou Chengjie knew that, of course, which was why he was disappointed.

He knew even better that, as yet, no Soul Master on the entire continent had ever become famous for an oil-paper umbrella Martial Soul. This kind of Martial Soul's innate qualities were too poor; it was difficult to use as a weapon.

But he soon realized something was off. The child's umbrella... seemed a little strange.

Zhou You's expression was stranger still. As he looked at the peculiar umbrella that had taken shape in his hand, a name instantly surfaced in his mind.

It was actually the Heaven- and Earth-Harmonizing Umbrella!

The Heaven- and Earth-Harmonizing Umbrella, whose full name was the Heaven- and Earth-Harmonizing Shadowless Umbrella, was an unconventional weapon exclusive to the Iron Umbrella Sect.

As for why Zhou You knew this, it was because he had owned an umbrella just like it in his previous life, a gift from a friend known as the Iron Umbrella Strange Hero.

Zhou You gently stroked the umbrella canopy, feeling its icy surface beneath his fingers, and fell into reminiscence for a moment.

The umbrella was a mechanical creation. When closed, it measured 78 centimeters long; when open, its canopy was approximately 110 centimeters in diameter. It was black as ink from end to end.

The canopy was made of 32 overlapping blades and could be opened into a shield large enough to cover the entire body.

The tips of the canopy were exceptionally sharp, and the entire canopy could spin around the shaft, allowing its rim to cut at high speed like a circular saw blade.

The shaft was hollow, with a rapier hidden inside. A flick of the handle allowed it to be drawn, a concealed sword for wounding an opponent.

The top of the umbrella was conical, heavy and hard, and slightly thicker than a thumb in diameter. It could be used to stab an enemy or swung sideways for a blunt strike.

Besides that, a firing port was hidden in the umbrella tip, capable of launching needle-shaped Qi projectiles with surprise, speed, and silence.

This unconventional weapon had everything: close combat, defense, and ranged attacks. Its design was understated and, at first glance, completely unremarkable, but it was heavy.

Even without using its other functions, simply swinging it down could easily break bones and snap tendons.

Come to think of it... Zhou You found something odd. The umbrella seemed a little too light.

No, rather than light, it felt as though it had no weight at all.

He tried tapping it against the floor. The bamboo floor instantly split, and the Heaven- and Earth-Harmonizing Umbrella plunged through the crack into the earth below with a muffled thump.

"..." Zhou You glanced at the other children beside him, who were standing with their mouths open, then at Zhou Chengjie, whose eyes were wide. He felt a little embarrassed.

"Um... I didn't mean to..."