Douluo Continent! (Please Vote)

The sky above was already nearing sunset, the orange-red heavens carrying a trace of chill, the evening glow like an exquisitely beautiful oil painting.

The evening breeze blew past, carrying wisps of elegant fragrance.

The maple leaves, bright and fiery, swayed in the wind, drifting down one by one to the ground. Beneath the trees, it was like an ocean of flame.

This was a maple forest, one that had existed for several thousand years.

Near the maple forest stood a village that was not particularly large, called Maple Leaf Village. The entire village had only a little over a thousand people. The people here lived simply, working in the fields during the day, then gathering at the square by the village entrance at night to chat and enjoy the evening breeze. The fatigue of the day seemed to be carried away by the wind just like that.

The children grew up carefree, but when they reached the age of six, they would welcome the most important milestone of their lives: Martial Soul Awakening!

This was a world without battle qi or magic. What it had were those dazzling martial souls. A martial soul could be anything. No one knew exactly how many kinds of martial souls there were, because new varieties would continue to appear as time passed.

Beside the square stood a small wooden house. The wooden house was used for children who had reached the age of six to awaken their martial souls. Every year, the empire would send people to the village to help the children awaken.

Once a child possessed soul power, the future of that entire family would be greatly improved, so this could be said to be the most eagerly anticipated day of all.

And today was precisely the annual awakening day. Early on, the villagers had already finished dinner and were quietly waiting outside the wooden house.

At a glance, there were probably two or three hundred people standing together.

A dense murmur of voices rose and fell, making it extremely lively.

There were not many children awakening their martial souls today either, only seven in total.

Outside Maple Leaf Village, a fairly refined carriage arrived. Inside the carriage were two people: a coachman and another young man with a steady aura. This man was no more than around twenty-five at most. He wore a gorgeous white fitted outfit, his face refined and gentle, his figure tall and slender, and there was a faint smile on his face, though beneath that smile was a trace of weariness.

Shen Tianlei rubbed his forehead and muttered to himself, "It really is too hard for small villages to awaken martial souls. I visited twelve villages today, and there were only five children with Innate Soul Power. Sigh!"

A long sigh came from his mouth. He was the soul master responsible for helping the villages awaken martial souls. After visiting twelve villages, he had seen loss and sadness everywhere. Of course, he had also witnessed joy with his own eyes.

Twenty years ago, he too had once carried hope like these children.

"I hope this last village today can bring me a surprise!" Shen Tianlei saw a quiet and peaceful village through the carriage window and murmured inwardly.

At the entrance of Maple Leaf Village, three people were waiting with eager anticipation. Among them, an old man was staring unblinkingly at the official road outside the village, as though waiting for someone.

Beside him, a burly man glanced at the old man and said respectfully, "Don't worry, village chief. Master Shen will definitely come."

The old man was the village chief of Maple Leaf Village, named Ke Lan. He was already over seventy this year, and in his old age, his body had become hunched.

Ke Lan's cloudy gaze looked into the distance as he sighed. "That is not what I'm worried about. After so many years, too few children with soul power have appeared in our village. I'm worried about these children. After all, the profession of soul master is the noblest profession on our Douluo Continent. As long as one becomes a soul master, life becomes far better beyond measure."

Hearing this, the two burly men standing to the side looked at each other, both sighing inwardly. Clearly, they too had once had a disappointing past.

About ten minutes passed.

On the official road, a carriage appeared before the three of them amid the sound of horse hooves striking the ground. Before long, the carriage stopped not far from them.

Ke Lan's expression relaxed. His aged face carried respect as he hurried forward a few steps, and the other two burly men followed as well.

Whoosh!

The curtain was opened, and a young man walked out from inside the carriage. At a glance, he saw Ke Lan and smiled. "Old senior, we meet again."

"Master Shen!" Ke Lan called softly, his already hunched body still trying to bow down.

"You mustn't, you mustn't!" Shen Tianlei's expression changed, and he hurriedly supported Ke Lan, who was about to bow.

Shen Tianlei said, "You are an elder, and I am of the younger generation. Since when is there a rule that an elder should salute a junior?"

Hearing this, a faint smile appeared on Ke Lan's wrinkled face, and he said, "On our Douluo Continent, seniority is not determined by age. You are Lord Soul Master, so you should rightfully receive this old man's bow."

Shen Tianlei smiled helplessly and said, "Old senior, it's getting late. Let's head into the village earlier and help those children awaken their martial souls. I imagine those children and parents have been waiting anxiously."

"Good, good, good!" Ke Lan nodded, then immediately looked at the two burly men beside him and said, "Zheng Long, Zheng Hu, hurry and go make arrangements in the awakening room."

"Yes, village chief!" the two burly men said respectfully, then left.

After the two left, Ke Lan and Shen Tianlei walked along the road inside the village. Ke Lan could not help asking, "Master Shen, could you tell this old man how many children from the villages in our area are able to become soul masters?"

Shen Tianlei said, "Aside from Maple Leaf Village, I have already visited twelve villages today. In total, only five children had soul power. Three of them had innate rank-one soul power, and the remaining two were both innate rank two. It will be enough for them to step into the ranks of soul masters in this life, but most likely, that will be as far as they go."

"Five!" Ke Lan was also shocked. This number was far too low.

Shen Tianlei said, "The most fortunate thing is that the martial souls of those five children were all passable. At least they weren't useless martial souls."

"Is that so." Ke Lan nodded. He still knew about matters regarding martial souls. Speaking of which, he himself was a rank fourteen soul master, and his martial soul was cabbage.

He had been able to become village chief precisely because he was a soul master.

It was all in the past. No need to mention it.

Beside the square in Maple Leaf Village, more and more people had gathered. There were probably already over four hundred people. Since the square was only so big, some people, unable to see clearly inside, had simply climbed up the trees to watch.

"I wonder how much longer it'll be before Master Shen arrives."

"Master Shen is responsible for our whole area, after all. He's very busy, so it's normal for him to arrive a little late."

"I hope these seven little fellows can become soul masters. Our Maple Leaf Village hasn't produced a soul master in almost thirty years. Aside from the village chief, the last one to become a soul master, sigh... never mind, never mind."

No one knew what this person had said, but the eyes of the people around him all dimmed, as though they had thought of some bad memory.

"Master Shen is here! Everyone, make way!"

Just as everyone was gathered together so tightly that not even water could pass through, a loud shout suddenly rang out.

Hearing the voice, everyone very orderly opened up a path leading to the wooden house. Clearly, this was not the first time everyone had done this; they were all experienced.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

After several hundred people made way, in the next second, their gazes turned toward the road leading into the square.

There were two people in total. One of them was very familiar to everyone; it was precisely their own village chief. The other young man made many people's eyes light up, because this young man was none other than Master Shen, who was responsible for awakening martial souls.