Gifted in Swordsmanship, Yet Lacking a Sword Heart

"Grandfather Jack, where is my father?"

"Father—"

Tang San walked toward the inner room, only to find no sign of Tang Hao. Old Jack handed him a letter.

"Xiao San, this is from your father. Why don't you come to my house for dinner tonight? Tang Hao has never given you a proper meal since you were little."

Thinking of how frail Tang San had once been, Old Jack's heart ached. Aside from occasionally helping the village with blacksmithing, Tang Hao had never properly cared for Tang San. Fortunately, after spending the past year studying at Nuoding City Soul Master Academy, his body had grown somewhat stronger.

"No, Grandfather Jack. Xiao Wu and I can eat at home."

Hearing that, Old Jack could only walk helplessly out of the house. After Tang San read the letter, his mood became utterly despondent.

Only after Xiao Wu comforted him did he feel much better. Then, beneath a sea of flowers, the two confessed their feelings to each other and became sworn brother and sister despite having no blood relation.

At that moment, Ji Wuming, who was in the Western Li Stone Kingdom, had no idea that Xiao Wu, a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, had become sworn siblings with Tang San.

Honestly, a dignified Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast had taken human form yet willingly listened to a seven- or eight-year-old human child. Had she forgotten that the Soft Bone Charm Rabbit had died at human hands? Shouldn't she have been gathering strength to avenge her mother? Even if she lacked the power, she should at least have tried. Yet she still trusted humans so completely?

Sure enough, the Soft Bone Rabbit was a Rogue Rabbit who forgot all else for love!

At that moment, in the center of the Western Li Stone Kingdom, all the villagers had gathered around bonfires, eating meat, drinking wine, and having a wonderful time.

Ji Wuming told them of everything he had seen and experienced, letting them learn about the exciting life on the continent. Only after the crowd dispersed deep into the night did he return to the stone house where he lived.

The next morning, Ji Wuming was awakened by a noisy commotion. When he opened the door, he saw more than thirty children following behind Dali and the Old Village Chief, the two village chiefs.

"Boss Ji, you're awake. Today is the children's weapon awakening day. Would you like to come watch?"

Dali, who was supporting the Old Village Chief, greeted him warmly.

"Sure!"

Aside from his own Martial Soul awakening day, this was only the second time Ji Wuming had encountered a Martial Soul awakening. Curious about the awakenings of the Western Li Stone Kingdom's villagers, he gladly went along.

They arrived before an enormous stone altar. Ji Wuming and Dali stood to one side while the Old Village Chief looked happily at the village's next generation of children.

"Feel the weapons within your bodies carefully! Focus your minds and imagine splitting apart the wooden blocks before you."

Before long, an iron sword appeared in the right hand of a sturdy boy. As his eyes opened, he swung his right hand at the cubical wooden block standing five meters before him.

The block directly in front of him was split in two, its cut remarkably smooth.

"Village Chief, Old Village Chief, I did it! I can build houses and hunt now!"

When the child looked around and realized he was the first to manifest a weapon, he became even more delighted.

"Awesome! I'm the first! From now on, I'll help the Village Chief properly and make our village even better."

Ji Wuming stared at the child in astonishment. Seriously? A six-year-old who had just awakened his Martial Soul and had not acquired a single Soul Ring could split apart a thick piece of Iron Heart Wood? Iron Heart Wood was as hard as soft iron, the least hard kind of iron.

Moreover, the cut surface was exceptionally smooth and intact. Even the grain within the Iron Heart Wood was clearly visible.

No wonder Spirit Hall feared their Martial Souls. The Western Li Stone Kingdom was filled with uneducated sword masters living in a primitive age. Even children who had just awakened their Martial Souls could rival a one-ring Soul Master.

What if they added Soul Rings to themselves? Then Soul Kings fighting Soul Emperors and Soul Saints would be routine.

While Ji Wuming was still astonished, the children on the altar awakened sword-type Martial Souls one after another and began chopping at the wooden blocks before them. However, very few could split the Iron Heart Wood in half. Clearly, the extent to which they could split it represented their talent.

"Not bad, very good!"

The Old Village Chief watched as the last child to strike left a gap two or three centimeters deep in the Iron Heart Wood, and he was very satisfied. At the very least, this year's children were all quite good.

"Children, go home!"

At his words, the children excitedly ran toward their respective homes, determined to make their parents proud.

As Ji Wuming slowly walked down from the altar, he looked sincerely at the two village chiefs before him and asked, "Village Chiefs, why don't you add Soul Rings to yourselves and become Soul Masters?"

"Boss Ji, Master Chen once said the same thing to us. We don't want to live the sort of life Soul Masters live, always fighting and killing. We've also grown used to this carefree life, free from all those troubles."

Dali patiently explained it to Ji Wuming. However, Ji Wuming's words reminded him of how Master Chen had once helped them resist the invasion of Spirit Hall—the Angel Sword Users—from the distant continent and saved their homeland.

It was from that time onward that Dali had trained diligently for twenty or thirty years, eventually mastering the Eight Stone Splitting Moves and the arts of house-building and hunting.

Ji Wuming shook his head at this, feeling deeply regretful. As carefree citizens of the Western Li Stone Kingdom, they had experienced one brutal invasion, yet they still did not understand the need for collective change. They possessed such fine sword-type Martial Souls, yet lacked Sword Hearts.

A sword had two edges and was a weapon of killing, yet they used it to split mountains and rocks, chop trees, and hunt. It was truly a waste of talent.

"Boss Ji, you're a Soul Master. I believe the things Master Chen left behind will surely be useful to you. I'll take you there."

After more than a day together, Dali and all the people of the Western Li Stone Kingdom already regarded Ji Wuming as a friend. Not only was he not from Spirit Hall, but because of him, the Sea Soul Beasts had erupted into unrest ahead of time, allowing them to catch no fewer than twenty or thirty large Sea Soul Beasts every day.

This was also one of the rare opportunities when the villagers did not need to cross mountains and valleys to obtain prey.

The things Master Chen had left behind were not far from the altar. They would arrive after walking just over three hundred steps. However, a young teenager was sitting before a stone stele, his eyes bright as he stared at the words carved upon it.

"This child is...?"

Dali sighed and replied, "Sigh, among the children who awakened weapons in the same batch, this child was the slowest to awaken. He's already eleven years old, yet he can't even split a stone. He can only chop small pieces of wood. But he has admired Master Chen greatly since childhood, so..."

Ji Wuming sighed as well after hearing this. It seemed that not every villager in the Western Li Stone Kingdom possessed the talent and potential of a Soul King. There were weaklings among them too.