Spirit Hall Awakening Day

Even though Nuoding City's Martial Soul Branch Hall stood in nothing more than a remote little city, it still looked magnificent and imposing. It was built from white stone blocks, with a towering dome and a gilded plaque hanging above its gates. The three words "Spirit Hall" were carved upon it in sweeping strokes, gleaming beneath the rising sun with unquestionable authority.

A crowd had long gathered outside the hall. Anxious, expectant parents, bewildered and curious children, and black-armored guards maintaining order packed the entrance so tightly that not even water could pass through. The air was filled with a complicated mixture of tension, excitement, and reverence.

Zhang Bufan blended in among a group of differently dressed children and followed the crowd into this grand hall, a place that ordinary commoners considered sacred.

The interior was exceptionally spacious. The floor was paved with polished marble, and several stone pillars wide enough to require multiple people to encircle them stood along both sides, carved with images of soul beasts and soul masters. At the front was a slightly raised platform, where a stern-faced man in his twenties stood clad in a fitted white outfit and a Black Cloak. At the center of his chest was a fist-sized badge formed from three combined symbols, representing the lowest rank among soul masters: Soul Warrior. (He was actually a Soul Grandmaster, but the original owner's knowledge had been limited, so he had mistaken it.)

Is this the legendary "Blind Douluo," Master Su Yuntao? Zhang Bufan muttered inwardly, feeling the subtle thrill of meeting a "celebrity." He knew that the man before him would later be jokingly called Douluo Continent's Number One Talent Scout by countless readers, because he had personally awakened Tang San's Blue Silver Grass, yet let Innate Full Soul Power slip through his fingers.

Su Yuntao swept his gaze over the uneasy children below. His voice was calm and impersonal, carrying the tone of a routine announcement. "My name is Su Yuntao. I am a twenty-sixth-level Soul Grandmaster and your guide. Next, I will awaken your Martial Souls one by one. Remember, no matter what Martial Soul you awaken, do not be afraid. Close your eyes and feel carefully."

He did not waste any words and immediately began the ritual. With a low shout, he called out, "Lone Wolf, possess me!"

A faintly savage aura erupted from his body. His figure expanded slightly, his hair turned gray, his eyes glowed green, and his hands transformed into clawed paws. Beneath his feet, one white and one yellow ring rose up and circled his body.

"Wow!"

The children had never seen anything like this before. A chorus of startled cries rang out, and several timid children even backed away, their little faces pale.

Zhang Bufan's heart skipped a beat as well. Although he had prepared himself mentally, seeing the supernatural phenomenon of Beast Martial Soul possession with his own eyes still left him inexplicably shaken. So this is the power of a soul master... It really does look intimidating.

Su Yuntao was long accustomed to the children's reactions. He walked to a Hexagonal Array embedded in black stone at the center of the platform and rapidly struck out with both hands. Six faint green rays entered the black stones in the floor. At once, a hazy golden glow spread from the array, forming a pale golden barrier that covered the entire formation.

"First one, come up." Su Yuntao pointed at the child standing at the front of the line.

The child walked up trembling and stood in the center of the array. Golden specks of light flowed into his body as though alive. His body shuddered slightly, and in the next instant, a weak glow gathered in his hand and formed into a... worn-out scythe.

"Scythe Martial Soul. Barely has some offensive capability. Test your Soul Power." Su Yuntao handed the Blue Crystal Ball in his hand to the child.

The child obediently placed his hand on it, but the Crystal Ball did not react at all.

"No Soul Power. You cannot become a soul master. Go down. Next."

The child walked down in a daze.

Then came the second, the third, the fourth...

"Hoe Martial Soul. No Soul Power."

"Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul. No Soul Power."

"Rolling Pin Martial Soul. No Soul Power."

One child after another stepped forward full of hope, only to walk back down with disappointment and confusion. The Martial Souls they awakened were almost all farming tools or useless Martial Souls, and without exception, none possessed Soul Power.

Su Yuntao's expression also grew increasingly flat, even carrying a trace of barely noticeable weariness. Year after year, in a place like this, he could hardly see any hope. The odds of awakening a child with Soul Power were simply too low. To him, this ceremony was more like a dull and repetitive chore.

The atmosphere in the hall became heavier and heavier. The anticipation on the parents' faces was gradually replaced by helplessness, while the children seemed to understand something and became quiet and dejected.

Zhang Bufan stood in the latter half of the line. Watching one "failure" after another unfold before him, his heart felt like fifteen buckets drawing water—seven rising and eight falling.

Come on, officer, don't tell me I really have to take the farming route? Or work in a restaurant chopping vegetables? he frantically complained inwardly. That is, if I awaken a kitchen knife Martial Soul. Heaven, give me a break! I don't need anything ridiculously powerful. Just give me a Martial Soul that can cultivate. Even a broom would do, as long as it can fly! Though I seem to remember that broom Martial Souls can't fly either.

Finally, it was his turn.

"Next." Su Yuntao's voice remained as flat as ever.

Zhang Bufan took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the unease in his heart as he stepped onto the Hexagonal Array. Once he stood still, he felt a warm energy surge from the black stones beneath his feet and flow through his limbs and bones, so comfortable that he nearly groaned.

"Close your eyes and feel carefully." Su Yuntao gave the routine reminder.

Zhang Bufan obediently closed his eyes and tried his best to sense the so-called Martial Soul within him.

At first, there was only Chaos. But soon, guided by that warm energy, he sensed that something deep within his consciousness had been stirred. It was not a distinct form, but an incomparably heavy, vast, ancient aura! Like a giant dragon that had slumbered for eternity and was about to awaken!

Meanwhile, outside.

The instant Zhang Bufan closed his eyes, a sudden change occurred!

The originally pale golden barrier erupted without warning with an unprecedentedly blazing golden light! The radiance instantly swallowed the entire hexagonal array, even breaking through the barrier's limits and transforming into a massive golden pillar that shot straight toward the hall's dome!

Buzz—!!

The entire Spirit Hall shook violently the instant the pillar appeared! It was as though an earthquake had struck. Dust rained down from the dome, and the stone pillars on both sides groaned under the strain. Everyone in the hall was stunned by the sudden turn of events. The children screamed in fear, while the parents' faces filled with horror.

"What is going on?!" Su Yuntao's expression changed drastically. He had presided over awakening ceremonies for years, yet he had never seen such a terrifying sight! The fluctuations of this energy were far beyond his understanding! The pressure contained within that golden light made even him, a twenty-sixth-level Soul Grandmaster, feel his heart tremble!

At the core of the golden light, Zhang Bufan still had his eyes closed and knew nothing of what was happening. He only felt that ancient, vast aura becoming clearer and clearer, as though something was about to burst out of his body!

Suppressing the terror in his heart, Su Yuntao fixed his gaze on Zhang Bufan within the pillar of light. He knew that the source of everything lay within this seemingly ordinary youth!

At last, the golden light began to gradually recede like a retreating tide, eventually shrinking completely back into Zhang Bufan's body. The shaking of the hall also stopped.

Zhang Bufan opened his eyes in confusion, only to see Su Yuntao's ghost-stricken expression and the dumbfounded gazes of everyone in the hall.

"What happened?" he asked instinctively, then lowered his head to look at his right hand.

There, floating quietly above his open palm, was an object.

It was a Little Ding no bigger than his palm. Its entire body was a dark, muted bronze, as though it had endured the erosion of countless years. Its surface was engraved with innumerable intricate and ancient Patterns. They did not seem to be mere decoration, but symbols explaining the fundamental truths of heaven and earth. It emitted no powerful energy fluctuations and simply floated there in silence, yet it naturally drew every gaze. It gave people the feeling that it was meant to exist there and would remain there forever. An indescribable sense of weight, vastness, and... suppression of all things spread through the air.

"This... this is..." Su Yuntao stared fixedly at the Little Ding. His mind raced through every Martial Soul illustration he knew, yet he found nothing that matched it! It resembled neither a common Tool Martial Soul nor a Beast Martial Soul, and it was certainly not an Elemental Martial Soul. It was an unknown Martial Soul!

He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the storm raging in his heart as he tried to keep his voice steady. "C-child, try using your mind to take it back."

Zhang Bufan did as he was told. With a thought, the Little Ding truly transformed into a streak of Flowing Light and vanished into his palm.

Su Yuntao nodded and recorded it. "Martial Soul: unknown... Bronze Cauldron."

Then he took out the Blue Crystal Ball used to test Soul Power and held it before Zhang Bufan. His voice carried a tremor that even he had not noticed. "Now, place your hand on it and test your Soul Power Level."

Zhang Bufan looked at the Crystal Ball before him, the object that would determine his fate, and his heart began pounding uncontrollably. He took a deep breath and slowly pressed his right hand against its icy surface.

The instant his palm touched the Crystal Ball—

Crack!

A crisp sound, like Glass Shattering, rang out with startling harshness in the silent hall!

Under the horrified gazes of Su Yuntao and everyone around him, the surface of the sturdy Blue Crystal Ball used to test Soul Warrior-level Soul Power instantly filled with spiderweb-like cracks, centered around the point where Zhang Bufan's palm touched it!

Then—

Boom!

Unable to withstand the immense energy that had surged into it in an instant, far beyond its measurement limit, the Crystal Ball exploded! Countless tiny blue fragments scattered in every direction!

In the instant before the Crystal Ball burst apart, an intensely bright white light erupted from within it, so dazzling that it was almost impossible to look at directly! It was even strong enough to briefly overwhelm the golden light from Zhang Bufan's Martial Soul awakening!

Su Yuntao stood frozen in place, his hand still extended in the posture of offering the Crystal Ball. His Pupils had shrunk to pinpoints, and his face was filled with unbelievable terror. He looked at Zhang Bufan, who wore an innocent expression—though he was actually completely baffled—then at the pile of Crystal Ball fragments on the floor. His lips trembled as he used every ounce of strength in his body to force several broken syllables from his throat:

"Inn... Innate Full Soul Power?! N-no! This Soul Power Level... is... is level '???'?!"

The entire Nuoding City Martial Soul Branch Hall fell into dead silence. A pin could have been heard dropping.

Every gaze was focused on the slender youth standing at the center of the Hexagonal Array, who still seemed not to understand what had happened.

Zhang Bufan blinked as he looked at the shattered Crystal Ball on the floor and Su Yuntao's expression, as though he had seen a god—or a ghost. Only one thought remained in his mind:

I think... I may have gone a little too far? This thing... looks pretty expensive. I won't have to compensate for it, will I?