Yes, Lu Yuan's Martial Soul was the same as Du Busi's, the future Sect Leader of the Body Sect ten thousand years later: the True Body of the Incarnation. The difference was that Du Busi had the poison attribute, while Lu Yuan had the light attribute.
If this child had appeared ten thousand years later, the Body Sect would have fought tooth and nail to claim him. Once he joined, he would have been named Du Busi's successor on the spot. His True Body of the Incarnation Martial Soul was even more exceptional than Huo Yuhao's original Spirit Eyes.
But in this era, most people did not realize that the body itself could be a Martial Soul. Anyone who awakened a Body Martial Soul was generally classified as having no Martial Soul at all.
Finding a top-tier genius everyone else had overlooked made Huo Qiqiang (Huo Yuhao) feel as though he had won a million in the lottery. He was already a billionaire, but it still felt incredible.
Meeting Lu Yuan also gave Huo Qiqiang an idea: what if he founded the Body Sect in this era?
If he gathered this era's Body Martial Soul users into a sect, then added the Body Sect's teachings from ten thousand years in the future and the cultivation method he had developed specifically for them, he could establish a powerful sect before Tang San's Birth, one that rivaled the Upper Three Sects.
With that thought, Huo Qiqiang patted Lu Yuan on the shoulder. "I'm afraid no one in this world understands Body Martial Souls better than I do. I'm confident I can train you into a Titled Douluo. Would you like to cultivate with me?"
"I would."
If Huo Qiqiang had to search the entire continent for Body Martial Soul users himself, who knew how long it would take? Fortunately, he also had his true body in the Divine Realm.
Once the idea of founding the Body Sect took hold, Huo Yuhao opened his Divine Vision from the Divine Realm and swept it across the entire Douluo Continent. He then used Divine Power to calculate the results. In an instant, every person on the continent who carried a Body Martial Soul, awakened or not, was marked out. After repeatedly narrowing the candidates down to the best of the best, Huo Yuhao had a list in hand.
"Tian Meng."
"I'm here, Yuhao," Tian Meng replied from the Lower Realm of the Douluo Continent.
"I have a task for you. Use the Eternal Chamber of Commerce's reach across the continent to find everyone on this list." Huo Yuhao sent the list and their locations to Tian Meng through the Realm Passage.
"Leave it to me. Your brother Tian Meng will get it done right."
Two months later.
With the help of the Body Martial Soul Cultivation Method Huo Qiqiang had provided, which he had derived from the Mysterious Heaven Skill, along with Whale Rubber, Profound Water Pills, and other Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, Lu Yuan's cultivation advanced rapidly. He soon reached level ten and was ready for his first Soul Ring.
In the Star Dou Great Forest, Huo Qiqiang found the target of their trip: a thousand-year-old Illusion Light Butterfly.
Without activating his Martial Soul, Huo Qiqiang reached out with his Soul Power, seized the Illusion Light Butterfly, and pinned it to the ground. He tossed Lu Yuan a dagger. "Kill it. This will be your first Soul Ring."
Lu Yuan took the dagger and stabbed the Illusion Light Butterfly. A purple Soul Ring rose from it. Without hesitation, he drew the ring toward himself and began absorbing it.
The process was painful, but Lu Yuan held on to the end. His first Soul Skill was Illusion Light. By bending light, it let him conceal his body within his surroundings.
Lu Yuan tested his first Soul Skill again and again. Wherever he was, whatever the environment, it gave him the cover of an assassin hidden in the night.
"A fine Soul Skill. The Agility Attack System will suit your Martial Soul best in the future. After all, when it comes to speed, what can outrun light?" Huo Qiqiang said.
"Thank you for your guidance, Teacher."
"All right. Pack up. It's time to go."
"Where are we going, Teacher?"
"To the Body Sect."
On Sky Dome Mountain, at the border between the Heaven Dou Empire and the Starfall Empire, the people on the list had already been brought together. Sect buildings were going up on the towering peak, and the place was beginning to look like the seat of a major sect. But to Huo Qiqiang, people and resources were what truly held a sect together.
Around three hundred people had gathered there, most of them between six and thirty years old. Though they had not all been declared to have no Martial Soul and lost years of cultivation as a result, a few were already past the Golden Cultivation Years of thirty. Even so, their excellent Martial Souls and talents made them worth training if they put in the effort.
Of course, character had been Huo Yuhao's first priority when selecting them. He had rejected many highly talented candidates for that reason. He did not want people like Hu Liena or Bibi Dong in his Body Sect.
Tian Meng said, "Yuhao, I've brought everyone you asked for."
"Thanks for the effort, Tian Meng." Huo Qiqiang brought Lu Yuan before the crowd. "Everyone, look around you. Can you tell what you all have in common?"
A young man named Xiao Zhi said, "It seems none of us has a Martial Soul."
"That's right," Huo Qiqiang said. "When your Martial Souls awakened, they were neither Beast Martial Souls nor Tool Martial Souls, so you were classified as having none. But you do have Martial Souls. The world simply hasn't recognized what makes yours unique. I call them Body Martial Souls."
With that, Huo Qiqiang gestured for Lu Yuan to step forward.
Lu Yuan faced the crowd. "Two months ago, I was told I had no Martial Soul after my awakening. Teacher told me that wasn't true. My Martial Soul is myself: a light-attribute True Body of the Incarnation."
He released his Martial Soul. Light enveloped his body, and a purple Soul Ring descended to circle him. "I was lucky to meet Teacher. Because of him, my talent wasn't buried."
A stir swept through the crowd. They had believed they had no Martial Souls and could never become Soul Masters. How could they not be excited to learn they could cultivate after all?
"My Martial Soul is my eyes, the Destiny Origin Eye, which can see through fate." Huo Qiqiang's pupils deepened, reflecting the threads of fate that ran through the crowd. He could see their destined pasts and futures. This was a Martial Soul superior to the Spirit Eyes: the Destiny Origin Eye.
Then nine Soul Rings—yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, red, red, and red—descended and circled Huo Qiqiang. He said, "I brought you here because you possess Body Martial Souls. I intend to found a sect built around them, called the Body Sect. You may choose whether to join. Those who do will receive the sect's full support in developing their potential. But once you join, you may not betray it. Anyone who breaks its rules will be severely punished."
After Huo Qiqiang laid out the Body Sect's strict rules, all three hundred-odd people present joined without hesitation.
Besides Lu Yuan, two others possessed True Body of the Incarnation Martial Souls: Xiao Zhi, whose was the Frozen Body, and Zhao Quan, whose was the Flame Body. Huo Qiqiang took all three as his disciples. Soul Masters with important Body Martial Souls, such as the Brain Martial Soul, Heart Martial Soul, and Blood Martial Soul, became inner disciples. Those with Body Martial Souls such as hair or fingernails became Outer Disciples.
Thus began the Body Sect, which would one day be known throughout the world.
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