Spirit Awakening—Profound Heavy Ruler

The next day, Xiao Zun woke Xiao Yan early while he was still asleep.

With two dark circles under his eyes, Xiao Yan reluctantly got up and washed.

"Yan'er, after breakfast, come with me to Spirit Hall for your Spirit Awakening."

Spirit Awakening? Only then did Xiao Yan remember that he had already turned six. It seemed Soul Forging Village's Spirit Awakening had not yet come around this year.

He casually answered, "Oh."

After breakfast, Xiao Yan followed his father to the entrance of Spirit Hall in the center of the village, where a crowd had already gathered.

The village chief was speaking with a man. The man was exceptionally thin and very tall—calling him a bamboo pole would not have been an exaggeration. He wore a fitted black outfit, with a black cloak draped over his back and a fist-sized character for "Soul" on his chest.

Since Xiao Yan's village was merely a remote mountain hamlet, only a handful of people came each year to conduct Spirit Awakenings. This year, there were only seven children who needed to awaken their spirits.

Seeing Xiao Zun arrive, the village chief cleared his throat and called out, "All right, quiet down. Now that everyone is here, let me briefly introduce him. This is the Spirit Master who will be awakening the spirits of our village's children this year. In a moment, the children will follow Lord Soul Master inside, while the parents will wait outside the hall with me." He then turned to the Spirit Master and said, "Lord Soul Master, we'll be troubling you this time."

The Spirit Master nodded somewhat arrogantly and said indifferently to the children, "Follow me."

Just as in previous years,