Hagen Das Kingdom, Xilu City, Spirit Hall Sub-Hall.
Inside the Spirit Hall's main hall, the yellow-robed deacon overseeing the awakening ceremony glanced at the light shining from the Awakening Sphere before the child and nodded. "Innate level three spirit power. Not bad."
At those words, the child clenched his fists in excitement, while his parents watching from a distance breathed a sigh of relief.
Innate level three spirit power meant the child would have no trouble cultivating to Soul Elder. With some effort, he might even reach Soul Ancestor. For a family like theirs, that was already very good potential.
"Next, Qing Mu!"
After the child's parents led him away, the yellow-robed deacon glanced at the list in his hand and called to the children behind him.
"Here!"
Hearing his name called, Qing Mu immediately stepped out of the group of children and entered the Awakening Array.
As the Awakening Array began to light up, Qing Mu's nerves stretched to their limit.
Although both his parents in this life were spirit masters, making it very likely he would awaken soul power, what if he didn't?
After all, even the son of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's leader had awakened a Luo Sanpao with only level 0.5 soul power. Something like that wasn't impossible.
Soon, a golden glow formed a pale gold dome around Qing Mu. Seeing the light radiating from the Awakening Array, the yellow-robed deacon's eyes lit up.
Generally speaking, the brighter the light released during awakening, the higher the quality of the awakened martial soul.
The light from Qing Mu's awakening had already surpassed that of a genius with innate level seven spirit power whose awakening he had once overseen. Was he about to witness the birth of another top-tier genius?
A moment later, the light faded, revealing a creature with blue-green skin and a toadlike body, carrying a plant seed shaped like a garlic bulb on his back.
Qing Mu stared at the familiar figure before him, momentarily stunned.
Isn't this the legendary Garlic Turtle... no, Bulbasaur?
Then excitement stirred in Qing Mu's heart. This was Bulbasaur, one of the original starters in Pokémon, with two stages of evolution and a Mega Evolution.
Even if he couldn't evolve, his wide variety of Pokémon moves would be enough to make a name for himself on the Douluo Continent.
Of course, that depended on his Bulbasaur martial soul being able to learn moves on his own, just like in Pokémon.
"Bulba~"
Just then, Bulbasaur walked over to Qing Mu's feet and affectionately rubbed his head against Qing Mu's trouser leg.
Qing Mu immediately crouched down and stroked Bulbasaur's head.
Bulbasaur narrowed his eyes, enjoying Qing Mu's touch as he let out a contented purr.
"Ahem~ Come over and test your soul power first."
The yellow-robed deacon beside him suddenly cleared his throat and spoke to Qing Mu.
Qing Mu nodded, hurried over to the deacon, and placed his hand on the Crystal Ball used to test soul power, pouring the soul power within his body into it.
Meanwhile, the yellow-robed deacon watched Qing Mu curiously. He couldn't make sense of the martial soul Qing Mu had awakened.
Normally, martial souls fell into two categories: artifact martial souls and beast martial souls.
The distinction was simple. Those that could possess the body and enhance it were beast martial souls, while those that manifested outside the body as weapons or treasures were called artifact martial souls.
Qing Mu's martial soul clearly looked like a beast martial soul, yet it manifested outside his body like an artifact martial soul. That was very strange.
The yellow-robed deacon had heard of only one such case: Yu Xiaogang, the son of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's leader and the current foremost Grandmaster of martial soul theory.
But that wasn't a positive example. Not only had his martial soul changed from the foremost beast martial soul, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, into a Gong Pig, his innate soul power was a pitiful level 0.5, practically the lowest possible among those with soul power.
The yellow-robed deacon could only hope Qing Mu's martial soul hadn't undergone the same detrimental mutation. Otherwise, his bonus would be gone.
Soon, blue light appeared within the Crystal Ball. At the sight, the yellow-robed deacon felt relieved, though also a little disappointed. "Innate soul power, level five. Congratulations. That's very good innate soul power."
Innate level five spirit power?
Qing Mu paused briefly, but soon accepted it.
After all, he had only awakened Bulbasaur, not Venusaur. Having only innate level five spirit power was normal. If he could evolve in the future, the quality of his martial soul would naturally improve.
Besides, his innate level five spirit power was already quite good, higher than either of his parents' in this life.
The yellow-robed deacon said, "By the way, yours should be a mutated martial soul. It hasn't appeared before, so as its owner, you have the right to name it. What do you intend to call it?"
"A name? Then I'll call him Bulbasaur!"
Qing Mu answered without hesitation.
"Bulbasaur? Understood."
The yellow-robed deacon nodded, then smiled at Qing Mu. "Young fellow, are you interested in joining Spirit Hall?"
Although it was lower than the innate soul power of level seven or above he had expected, innate level five spirit power still made Qing Mu something of a genius among spirit masters. Reaching Soul King shouldn't be a problem.
With enough effort and a few fortuitous opportunities, he might even reach Soul Saint within his lifetime.
"Sorry, Deacon. I'll have to go home and discuss this with my parents."
Qing Mu spoke with a hint of apology.
Hearing Qing Mu's answer, the yellow-robed deacon nodded in understanding. "Of course, of course. If your parents agree, you can come find me at Spirit Hall anytime. Spirit Hall's doors are always open to you."
The yellow-robed deacon had met plenty of young noblemen like Qing Mu who had family titles to inherit, so he was well accustomed to this situation.
Still, he couldn't help sighing inwardly. Rich kids really were hard to sway. A poor child would surely have accepted an invitation from Spirit Hall on the spot.
Suddenly, the yellow-robed deacon understood why Spirit Hall spent so much time and effort every year helping people in small villages awaken their martial souls. Although few awakened innate soul power, and most of their martial souls weren't particularly good, Spirit Hall could secure them before anyone else.
If they got lucky and encountered a few geniuses, drawing them into Spirit Hall would make the investment worthwhile.
After Qing Mu left the awakening area, a finely dressed young couple who looked to be in their thirties quickly approached him.
They were his parents in this life. His father, Qing Tianfeng, had the Green Toad martial soul and was a level forty-one control system Battle Spirit Ancestor. His mother, Xu Yao, had the Narcissus Flower martial soul and was a level thirty-four support system Battle Spirit Master.
Xu Yao stroked Qing Mu's head and smiled. "We saw everything from the viewing seats. That's our son for you! You actually awakened innate level five spirit power!"
Xu Yao's innate soul power had been level three and a half, while Qing Tianfeng's was slightly higher at level four!
Qing Tianfeng, meanwhile, stared at Bulbasaur beside Qing Mu's feet, a thoughtful look flickering in his eyes.
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