Aberrant Awakening

"I can protect your family in the future and keep them from declining. But in return, you must help me. I won't ask you to risk your life, but you must give me enough support."

Inside a room at the Spirit Hall Branch of Sansis City, a somewhat childish voice echoed through the room for a long while. Yet it was only after quite some time that the other person in the room slowly spoke.

Feng Lin had been watching Yan all along, but even with his discerning eye, he could not see through this child of merely six years old. After a long silence, he finally chose to nod. "Alright."

"Good."

Yan spoke again, raising his head to flash Feng Lin a confident smile before making his request. "Right now, I need you to gather enough materials for me and arrange a few things..."

Feng Lin silently bowed his head and listened to Yan's words, his gaze shifting constantly. Once Yan had finished, he lowered his head slightly. "Give me some time. I should have these matters arranged by tomorrow."

"Alright."

Yan nodded. After the two spoke for a while longer, Feng Lin left the room. Once Yan was alone, he silently walked to the desk and picked up his notes. Looking at the densely packed writing, he let out a long sigh. "Tomorrow... don't disappoint me."

The next morning, as the light of dawn spilled across the courtyard, three figures began their preparations in a yard beside the Spirit Hall Branch.

"Little Yan, what exactly are you and Lord Feng Lin doing? Why did you say earlier that you might need me to treat something later?"

In the middle of the courtyard, Liya tugged Yan's hand and asked in a low voice, thoroughly confused. Feng Lin and Yan had called her here, but she truly had no idea what they were about to do.

"Sister Liya, trust me. It'll be fine."

Yan reached out, held Liya's hand, and patted it before smiling at her. He did not explain too much. What he was about to do was a gamble, and it would be best to have the support of a healing-type Soul Master. Was there anyone more suitable than Liya?

As for his secret being exposed? To be honest, even if he truly succeeded, this secret method of splitting a martial soul would not be particularly valuable. The requirements for success were too demanding, and the difficulty was too great.

Most people's martial souls had only a single attribute, so there was no need for them to split them at all. Moreover, according to Yan's deductions, splitting a martial soul could easily lower the quality of the separated martial souls. If an ordinary person blindly tried this, even if they successfully split their martial soul, their talent would basically be ruined.

Yan dared to split his because he had a deep enough foundation to withstand it. With a top-tier mutated dual-attribute martial soul, even if its quality dropped after splitting, he would still be left with a high-grade martial soul. He would remain a top genius, and even if his talent declined, he could make up for it later on.

"I'm ready."

At that moment, Feng Lin's voice rang out. Yan no longer hesitated. After giving Liya a reassuring look, he walked toward Feng Lin, who had finished setting everything up.

Within the courtyard, black oval gemstones filled an intricate formation of mysterious patterns. At its very center, six gemstones were arranged in a hexagonal shape, seemingly forming some peculiar array.

"An Awakening Array? What are Lord Feng Lin and Little Yan doing? Haven't they already awakened their martial souls?"

Liya looked at the rather complex formation, her doubts deepening. She had some recollection of that profound array. It was a martial soul awakening formation. Anything involving martial soul awakenings could generally be mastered by graduates of elementary martial soul academies.

However, this Awakening Array differed somewhat from ordinary ones. A standard Awakening Array simply used six array stones together with a Soul Master's Soul Power. It was simple, convenient, and compact. The one Feng Lin had set up was far more complicated. Its effects might not necessarily be better, but its cost-effectiveness was certainly poor. It was an artifact from ancient times and had long since been replaced.

This ancient martial soul awakening formation had been phased out because it was inconvenient and more costly. Still, there was no denying that its effects might be superior. It could sustain the awakening process for longer and offered a greater chance of helping children awaken Innate Soul Power. Many ancient noble families liked using such formations to help their descendants awaken their martial souls.

Liya was completely baffled, but she did not stop Yan and Feng Lin. Instead, she watched from the side, quietly gathering her Soul Power and preparing to use it to save someone at any moment. She had clearly taken Yan's words to heart.

"Gale Eagle, possess me."

In the center of the courtyard, a light breeze suddenly rose along with Feng Lin's low shout. A faint cyan glow first emerged from the center of his brow, after which his appearance began to change.

Feng Lin's hands turned claw-like, while downy feathers appeared across his cheeks and exposed skin. A pair of wings also emerged from his back, along with five soul rings—two yellow and three purple.

Feng Lin's eyes had become eagle eyes. The claws extending from his fingers glimmered with a faint cold light, while the five soul rings around him pulsed continuously as his Soul Power circulated.

Feng Lin had enough strength and talent to become a Soul King. His first four soul rings were even the optimal configuration. However, he fell short at the fifth ring, failing to absorb a ten-thousand-year soul ring. Otherwise, he certainly would not be merely level fifty-three now.

"Go in."

Feng Lin gestured for Yan to enter the formation. Yan did not hesitate and stepped forward at his words, entering the center of the formation. After taking a brief look around, he sat down cross-legged.

Feng Lin said nothing further. Beams of Soul Power flew from his palms, striking every spirit stone with precision. A hazy golden radiance emerged from the black spirit stones, and a pale golden barrier enveloped Yan within.

Wisps of pale golden light shone upon Yan's body. He sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, his spirit constantly probing and calling out to itself.

Then, within a dark space, Yan's consciousness awoke once again. Before him stood a strange being.

Endless dark crimson flames shrouded a peculiar figure. It took the form of a gigantic humanoid, with blazing flames at its core yet a body like stone, making for a rather bizarre sight.

This was the depths of Yan's consciousness, and the being before him was his martial soul—the Flame Lord, a top-tier mutated martial soul with dual fire and earth attributes.

What Yan was about to do was somewhat insane. He intended to awaken his martial soul and have it voluntarily complete the splitting process. A martial soul was not a lifeless object. It possessed spirituality, but most Soul Masters treated their martial souls as mere tools and had no intention of communicating with them.

Yan was now going to attempt to awaken his martial soul and gain its recognition, allowing it to cooperate voluntarily. That would greatly reduce the difficulty of splitting his martial soul and give him a better chance of success.