Azure Dragon Goes to Sea, Demon Armor Descends (Part One)

Half a year later.

It was the square again, that same familiar place, with another crowd gathered together.

Outside Maple Leaf Village, a carriage stood quietly. The coachman sat atop it in silence, taking in the scenery around him.

At the village entrance, Ke Lan, Uncle Zheng Long, and Zheng Hu were once again receiving a young man.

This young man was none other than Shen Tianlei, who had come to Maple Leaf Village years ago to help the children awaken their martial souls.

As early as several years ago, Shen Tianlei had already broken through to the Soul Elder realm. Now his soul power level had reached rank thirty-eight, bringing him closer and closer to Soul Ancestor.

Originally, the soul masters arranged by the Heaven Dou Empire to help villages awaken martial souls were basically all Soul Grand Masters. Once they reached Soul Elder, there was no need to send them for such work.

But after learning of the tragedy that had happened half a year ago, Shen Tianlei had applied again, personally making the trip to help the children of Maple Leaf Village awaken their martial souls.

"Master Shen truly is young and accomplished." Ke Lan's face looked even older. What had happened half a year ago had struck him too hard, but seeing Shen Tianlei arrive, he still revealed a smile.

"I'm just lucky, that's all. If I can break through to Soul Ancestor in this life, I'll be satisfied." Shen Tianlei waved a hand, showing no arrogance.

After saying that, Shen Tianlei sighed and said, "Old senior, the dead cannot return to life. Please accept my condolences."

Hearing this, Ke Lan froze for a moment, then silently nodded. That was true. The dead could not return to life.

Beside him, Uncle Zheng Long and Zheng Hu lowered their heads, their eyes filled with countless thoughts. Their father had died at the hands of an Evil Soul Master. This hatred could never be forgotten.

Ke Lan said, "Let us go inside. We'll have to trouble Master Shen again today."

Shen Tianlei nodded. "All right!"

With that, the four of them headed toward the square.

In the square, nearly four hundred people had gathered. This time, the number of children awakening their martial souls in Maple Leaf Village could be said to be the greatest ever, with nine in total.

Five boys and four girls.

Among them was Qin Ze.

Qin Ze stayed inside the awakening room, sitting quietly on a stool. To be honest, he was a little nervous right now. He was not sure whether he was a genius or a piece of trash.

Ten Thousand Years Ago, what Yu Xiaogang had said about there being only useless people in the world and no useless martial souls was the stupidest joke.

On Douluo Continent, the strength of one's martial soul was what determined a person's future in life.

Take Huo Yuhao, for example. If not for the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, could he have had so many opportunities? Could he have obtained the Ice Empress as his second martial soul?

"I wonder what martial soul I'll awaken."

"I'm so nervous. Back when I watched the older brothers and sisters awaken their martial souls, I didn't think much of it, but now that it's my turn, my legs are really shaking a little."

"It's fine. I have a feeling that every one of us can become soul masters."

Voices kept sounding in his ears, drawing Qin Ze back from his thoughts. He turned to look at the door. The sounds outside had become somewhat noisier, clearly meaning an important person had arrived.

As for an important person, who else could it be besides the soul master coming to help them awaken their martial souls?

Sure enough, in less than a minute, the room door was opened. Hearing the sound, aside from Qin Ze, the other eight children all hurriedly sat quietly on their stools, looking outside with anticipation in their eyes.

Qin Ze saw Uncle Zheng Long opening the door, and the two exchanged a glance.

Very soon, a handsome, refined young man walked in from outside, along with Ke Lan.

After Ke Lan entered, he glanced around and said, "Children, don't be nervous later. Just do as Master Shen tells you."

"Okay!"

Everyone answered in unison.

Receiving their reply, a faint smile appeared on Ke Lan's wrinkled face. He then said something to Shen Tianlei before leaving.

Bang!

After waiting for Ke Lan to come out, Uncle Zheng Long closed the door.

The room instantly fell quiet.

The children sized Shen Tianlei up from head to toe, their faces full of curiosity.

Shen Tianlei reached out and rubbed a boy's head, then walked behind the awakening platform. First, he demonstrated the operation of soul power for everyone. Very quickly, six black stones and a dazzling crystal appeared on the platform.

"Storage Belt!" Qin Ze spotted the belt around Shen Tianlei's waist at a glance. He had thought it was merely an ornament, but he had not expected it to actually be a storage-type Soul Tool.

"Come, everyone line up by height. We'll go one by one." Shen Tianlei raised his head and looked at the children sitting on the stools, speaking in a gentle tone.

Very quickly, all nine children stood up and lined up in an orderly fashion. Before coming here, they had already learned the order for awakening their martial souls.

Qin Ze was the tallest, so he directly stood at the very back.

First in line was a little girl named Lin Qin.

Shen Tianlei smiled as he released his soul power. Pale blue soul power spread out like a beautiful layer of water waves.

Everyone was drawn in by this scene.

Whoosh!

Three soul rings, one white and two yellow, rose from beneath his feet and hovered around his body.

Soul Elder! Qin Ze thought to himself.

In the palm of Shen Tianlei's right hand, a vine about twenty centimeters tall quietly sprang out. On the vine were strange spiraling blue light patterns, growing from the bottom of the vine to the top like stairs. At the same time, three blue points of light hovered at the very top, like fireflies.

After summoning his martial soul, Shen Tianlei's appearance changed. His already refined face became even more handsome, and pale blue light patterns appeared on his face and limbs. These patterns seemed somewhat mysterious, while his body also became a little more slender.

"Wow!" There was no imagined fear, only the children's cries of surprise.

Shen Tianlei urged his soul power into the six black stones. After soul power was poured into them, the awakening stones emitted a hazy glow, finally turning into a pale golden light barrier that directly enveloped Lin Qin within it.

"Come, stretch out your right hand." Looking at the little girl at the front of the line, Shen Tianlei spoke softly.

Lin Qin nodded and obediently stretched out her right hand.

The instant she reached out, many specks of light drifted out from within the light barrier. These specks of light flowed into the center of her right palm, and in the blink of an eye, a flower with three colors appeared in her hand.

"It's actually the Three-Colored Flower! Not bad, not bad!" Shen Tianlei revealed a look of pleasant surprise. This martial soul was considered upper-middle grade, and it was also an extremely rare Healing Type martial soul.

"First withdraw your martial soul with the thought in your heart, then come test your Innate Soul Power Level." Shen Tianlei calmed his mood, then held the crystal in front of the girl.

Lin Qin obediently nodded. With a thought, the martial soul in her hand immediately returned into her body.

After finishing all this, Lin Qin placed her hand on the crystal with slight nervousness in her heart.

At once, within the crystal, brilliant blue light began to spread. In the end, half the area inside the Crystal Ball was covered by blue light.

"Innate soul power rank five!" Shen Tianlei's brows rose as he said this somewhat excitedly.

"Lord Soul Master, my Innate Soul Power Level is rank five?" Lin Qin thought she had heard wrong and hurriedly asked.

Shen Tianlei nodded and said, "That's right. Your Innate Soul Power Level is rank five, and your martial soul is an extremely rare Healing Type martial soul called the Three-Colored Flower. Congratulations. In the future, if you cultivate diligently, theoretically, cultivating to Soul King should not be a problem."

A trace of envy flashed through Shen Tianlei's eyes. His own innate soul power had only been rank three.

After hearing the accurate answer, the little girl almost failed to stay standing. This was truly an enormous surprise.

"Go sit down first. We'll continue." Shen Tianlei's tone was gentle.

"Yes!" The little girl returned to her stool in a daze, then summoned her martial soul. She kept her head lowered, looking at her right hand. There, the Three-Colored Flower was trembling, appearing especially lively.