Martial Soul Awakening Ceremony (Please vote with recommendation tickets)

Shen Tianlei followed Ke Lan up to the crowd with surprise on his face. He had not expected so many people to be waiting.

He looked around, then said with some apology, "I'm truly sorry. I was delayed a little too long today and made everyone wait."

At those words, the hundreds of villagers were all stunned. Though everyone knew Shen Tianlei had a very gentle temperament, for a dignified Lord Soul Master to apologize to them was truly astonishing.

"No, no, no, we haven't been waiting long. For Master Shen to come here truly brings glory to our Maple Leaf Village."

"That's right. Master Shen is helping the children of our village awaken their martial souls. We can't thank you enough."

The villagers answered in a noisy chorus, making the place quite lively.

Ke Lan's cloudy eyes looked at Shen Tianlei with gratification. He knew that Shen Tianlei had originally walked out of a poor village. After becoming a soul master and gaining status, he had still not forgotten his roots, and remained just as approachable as ever.

Shen Tianlei looked at Ke Lan and said with a smile, "It's getting late. Let's begin the Martial Soul Awakening ceremony early."

Ke Lan nodded, then led Shen Tianlei toward the wooden house. Inside the wooden house, the seven children of Maple Leaf Village who could awaken their martial souls this year were already waiting.

The two burly men who had hurried back earlier also quickly opened the door so Shen Tianlei could enter.

Ke Lan stood outside the door and said, "I'll have to trouble you with everything, Master."

Shen Tianlei nodded and walked straight in.

After entering, he glanced around.

The wooden house was not large, only around a hundred square meters. The interior furnishings were also extremely simple: a clean and tidy floor, and at the innermost part of the wooden house, a table and stools made of wood, as well as a basket. On the walls to either side were lighting soul tools that gave off a faint glow.

Apart from that, there were the seven eagerly waiting children standing together respectfully, their necks craned in anticipation.

There were four girls and three boys in total.

At that moment, they all looked at Shen Tianlei as he walked in with yearning and expectation. At the same time, they were also a little nervous. Today was a watershed moment in their lives. Even though they were only six years old, they had already learned many things from their parents or others.

Shen Tianlei looked at these children, his eyes filled with gentleness.

For an instant, time seemed to return to twenty years ago. Back then, he had also looked at the Lord Soul Master arranged by the empire, his eyes filled with nervousness and anticipation. Fortunately, he had succeeded, awakened his martial soul, and even possessed a full rank three of Innate Soul Power.

Shen Tianlei smiled and said, "Hello, children. My name is Shen Tianlei, a rank twenty-nine Soul Grandmaster. Today, I am here to help you awaken your martial souls. In a little while, listen to my arrangements. We will awaken your martial souls one by one."

"In a little while, I will release my martial soul. Everyone, don't be afraid, all right?"

Looking at Shen Tianlei with his gentle tone, the seven children, who had originally still been very nervous, all broke into smiles and nodded. "All right!"

"So well-behaved!" Shen Tianlei praised.

After that, under his lead, the group of children lined up from shortest to tallest.

Whoosh!

Shen Tianlei walked behind the table. Soul power surged in his hand, and a wisp of pale blue soul power appeared in his palm. The next second, the belt at his waist suddenly flashed, and six black stones and a pale blue crystal appeared on the table.

After temporarily placing the crystal into the basket at the side, Shen Tianlei directly arranged the six black stones into a hexagon.

The seven children watched this scene with curiosity.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, the soul power on Shen Tianlei's body surged rapidly. A large amount of pale blue soul power released from within him, and two soul rings, one white and one yellow, rose from beneath his feet and hovered around his body.

At the same time, Shen Tianlei's appearance changed. His already refined face became even more handsome, and pale blue light patterns appeared across his face and limbs. These patterns seemed somewhat mysterious, and his body also became a little more slender.

In the center of Shen Tianlei's right palm, a vine about twenty centimeters tall quietly leaped out. On the vine were spirals of strange blue light patterns, growing from the bottom of the vine to the top like a staircase. At the very top, two blue points of light hovered like fireflies.

"My martial soul is called the Blue Patterned Vine. It is a very beautiful martial soul." Shen Tianlei looked at the children and said, "On our Douluo Continent, everyone can undergo Martial Soul Awakening at the age of six, and you are no exception. So, children, do you want to know what your martial souls are?"

"Yes!"

The seven children had originally been somewhat afraid when they saw the soul rings and martial soul appear, but after Shen Tianlei's martial soul fully emerged, not a trace of fear remained in their eyes. They were all filled with amazement.

Seeing this, Shen Tianlei smiled without saying anything. One of his colleagues had once gone to help the children of a village awaken their martial souls, only to scare a little girl unconscious on the spot. There was no helping it—who asked for that fellow's martial soul to be a snake?

When soul masters with Beast Martial Souls released their martial souls, the changes to their bodies were too great. For some timid children, it was truly rather frightening.

Compared to a snake, his Blue Patterned Vine was much more pleasant to look at.

"All right, then. Next, we will awaken your martial souls one by one. Little friend, come here!" Shen Tianlei nodded, then looked at the girl standing at the very front.

The little girl's gaze had been fixed on Shen Tianlei's right hand the whole time. Only after the sisters behind her called out to her a few times did she react, then she looked at the Lord Soul Master before her with anticipation on her face.

It would be great if my martial soul were this pretty too! the little girl thought.

Outside the wooden house.

More and more people had gathered to watch. There had originally been around four hundred, but now there were probably already more than six hundred.

There were not many entertainment activities in the village at night to begin with, so being able to watch the Martial Soul Awakening ceremony could count as a kind of amusement.

Among them, more than a dozen people had especially nervous faces, their cheeks damp with sweat. They were precisely the parents of these seven children.

Ke Lan stood at the very front of the crowd, silently watching the wooden house. Soul power was surging inside the wooden house. He knew the awakening ceremony had already begun.

Ke Lan let out a deep breath and rubbed the space between his brows. Then his gaze shifted, looking around. His nerves were somewhat taut, and he wanted to look at his surroundings to calm down.

Just as he was looking around, Ke Lan's gaze suddenly froze, and his hunched body bent even lower.

"Village chief, what's wrong?" Beside him, the burly man was stunned for a moment. He noticed Ke Lan's change and asked in a low voice.

After a few seconds, seeing that the village chief did not answer, the burly man followed Ke Lan's gaze and looked over. When he saw clearly, the burly man's body shook, and he immediately sighed inwardly.

In the direction the two of them were looking, less than twenty meters away, there was an old woman with pale white hair and a hunched body. The old woman's expression was calm, and her face was covered with traces left by the passage of time, but her eyes were very bright, without the slightest cloudiness. The old woman simply watched the wooden house like that, observing it for several full minutes.

Her bright eyes looked at the wooden house, as though countless memories were passing before her eyes, and a smile rose on her wrinkled face.

No one knew how long had passed before the old woman turned and left. The people beside her also hurriedly made way for her.

Under everyone's gaze, the old woman left with unsteady steps. Someone had originally wanted to help support her, but she refused.