The Source

"Good, good, good. Grandpa believes in you. You should know that your parents were both Soul Grandmasters. Grandpa hopes you can awaken your father Ye Qingyang's martial soul, the Tiger with Fiery Eyes and White Forehead, and become a powerful Battle Soul Master." Tom's eyes shone with hope.

"Grandpa, I'll be satisfied as long as I awaken Innate Soul Power. I believe that as long as I can cultivate, no matter what martial soul I have, I can become a powerful Soul Master. Then I'll give back to the village and let Grandpa enjoy his later years in peace." Faced with Tom's expectations, Ye Lan voiced the thoughts in his heart.

After all, Ye Lan was well acquainted with the future tides and plot developments of Douluo Continent. As long as he could cultivate successfully, he believed he could stir up the winds and clouds of the continent.

Even if he could not cultivate, Ye Lan believed that with the knowledge from his previous life, he could still achieve something.

Of course, if he could not cultivate and had to take another path, that would only be a helpless choice for Ye Lan.

In Ye Lan's previous life on Blue Star, there had been no supernatural abilities. Yet in this life, Douluo Continent possessed extraordinary power. Becoming a powerful Soul Master here, or even a god, was what Ye Lan yearned for.

"Good. Grandpa will wait for you to become a Lord Soul Master." Hearing Ye Lan's words, Tom felt a wave of comfort rise in his heart.

That night, Ye Lan held his full belly and quietly fell asleep, carrying his hopes for the future.

The next day, Ye Lan, stretching and yawning repeatedly, was dragged by Tom toward Harvest Village's Martial Soul Hall.

Though it was called the Martial Soul Hall, it was actually just a Little Wooden Cabin used for the annual awakening ceremony. Still, one had to praise Martial Soul Hall for its dedication. Harvest Village was merely one of Nuoding City's remote villages, yet it even had a dedicated place for awakening martial souls.

Outside the wooden cabin, rings upon rings of villagers had gathered to watch. At the door, several villagers led the children about to undergo awakening as they surrounded a young man. He wore the white uniform of a Martial Soul Hall Deacon and a Black Cape over his shoulders. With sword-like brows and bright eyes, he was remarkably handsome.

The handsome young man in the center was explaining the details of martial soul awakening to everyone.

"I am Su Yuntao, the Soul Grandmaster in charge of this year's martial soul awakening ceremony in Harvest Village. Don't be afraid when it is your turn to awaken. No matter what happens, just close your eyes and carefully sense the martial soul within your body."

"Based on Martial Soul Hall's experience over all these years, there has never been an accident during an awakening ceremony. So don't be afraid. Just follow my instructions when the time comes. Even if something does go wrong, Martial Soul Hall will bear the corresponding consequences."

Ye Lan squeezed through the crowd, saw Su Yuntao, whom he had not seen in a long time, and called out happily, "Uncle Tao!"

Having finished his explanation, Su Yuntao saw Ye Lan calling out and smiled. "Sleeping in again, Xiao Lan? Luckily, I usually explained the martial soul awakening ceremony to you, so I don't need to explain it all over again now. Xiao Lan, come inside with me."

"I was a little tired from training yesterday, Uncle Tao." Ye Lan scratched his head and followed a group of children into the Little Wooden Cabin.

"Whatever happens later, no one else is to disrupt the awakening ceremony!" After informing the villagers, Su Yuntao turned and entered the Little Wooden Cabin as well.

After entering, Su Yuntao shut the doors and windows tightly. He then took out the items he had prepared for the martial soul awakening ceremony.

In the center of the room, Su Yuntao placed six Black Stones in sequence according to a certain pattern. The six Black Stones formed a hexagram formation.

Su Yuntao straightened up. A streak of green light suddenly emerged from between his brows and spread over his entire body. Then came a low shout: "Lone Wolf Avatar!"

As Su Yuntao underwent Martial Soul Possession, his appearance rapidly changed. His hair gradually turned grayish-white, while his pupils shifted from black to a ghostly green. Up close, they looked rather unsettling.

The muscles throughout Su Yuntao's body swelled and bulged. Silver claws extended from all ten fingers, their sharp tips gleaming coldly with a frightening edge. One white and one yellow ring rose from beneath his feet to above his head.

These changes were the effects brought about by the Beast Martial Soul, Lone Wolf Avatar. Beast Martial Soul Possession could partially transform the body into that of a beast, enhancing physical constitution and combat strength.

Seeing Su Yuntao's transformation, some cried out in surprise while others recoiled in fear. Su Yuntao immediately reassured the children who were about to awaken. "Don't be afraid. This is my martial soul, Lone Wolf. I haven't really turned into a wolf!"

Once everyone had quieted down, Su Yuntao began awakening their martial souls.

Following the order, Ye Lan had arrived last and would therefore awaken last. He did not force his way ahead by relying on his relationship with Su Yuntao. Awakening last also gave him more opportunity to observe how the others awakened. Ye Lan suppressed the restlessness in his heart and carefully watched every detail of the process.

A skinny boy sat cross-legged in the center of the Black Stone formation as Su Yuntao instructed. Su Yuntao then struck out with both hands, circulating the soul power within his body. Six streams of green soul power emerged from him and floated toward the Black Stone formation.

Before long, the green light wrapped around the Black Stones. Soon afterward, pale golden light emerged from the stones and enveloped the skinny boy's entire body.

The skinny boy kept his eyes tightly shut as he carefully sensed the martial soul within him. At that moment, specks of golden light emerged from the Black Stones and slowly drifted into his body.

Then the boy's body began to tremble, and his expression changed as he suppressed the instinctive urge to cry out.

Su Yuntao stared intently at the skinny boy's changes and said, "Extend your right hand."

The skinny boy extended his right hand, and all the light gathered in his palm, forming an Iron Rod.

The Iron Rod looked extremely real, not illusory at all.

"A Tool Martial Soul, Iron Rod. Not bad. As a Tool Martial Soul, it has a little attack power, but its greatest strength is its sturdiness. Put it away. I'll test your soul power." Su Yuntao sounded somewhat excited.

Most Commoners could only awaken Tool Martial Souls with little practical use. Now that he had encountered a Tool Martial Soul capable of combat, Su Yuntao was somewhat expectant.

As long as this martial soul possessed Innate Soul Power, it would count toward Su Yuntao's performance, and Martial Soul Hall would grant him a corresponding reward.

However, Su Yuntao did not hold out too much hope, because most people on Douluo Continent could not awaken Innate Soul Power.

Under Su Yuntao's guidance, the skinny boy withdrew his Iron Rod martial soul.

Su Yuntao then took out a blue Crystal Ball to test the skinny boy's soul power. Unfortunately, he did not possess Innate Soul Power.

After comforting the boy, Su Yuntao began the next round of martial soul awakening.

Watching the awakening ceremony before him, a question arose in Ye Lan's mind.

Where did Tool Martial Souls come from? After all, Beast Martial Souls mostly had soul beast prototypes, but Tool Martial Souls such as Iron Rods and longswords had not existed in ancient times. It was only with the development of the ages, after many tools had been invented, that the concepts of such tools came into being.

Therefore, Tool Martial Souls had emerged alongside the development of the times; they were not things that had existed from birth. After all, soul beasts did not have any Iron Rod spirits.

Based on his knowledge of the original work from his previous life, Ye Lan had some grasp of the origins of Beast Martial Souls. The most direct example was when a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast took human form and then reproduced with humans. Tang San was one such case.