Awakening Day

Shrek City, Outer City.

The city was unusually lively today.

The wide streets were packed with people, and parents leading children could be seen everywhere.

Most of the children were five or six years old. Their eyes were filled with either anticipation or anxiety. A few timid ones clutched their fathers' clothes tightly, hiding behind them.

Because today was the annual Awakening Day.

For ordinary people, this was a day that could change their fate.

Awakening a powerful Martial Soul and possessing Soul Power meant they could embark on the path of a Soul Master and leave ordinary people behind.

If their awakened Martial Soul was exceptional enough, they might even catch the eye of that academy...

Shrek Academy, which had stood for twenty thousand years without falling.

Wang Zhiyi walked along with the crowd, watching the children around his age.

He had been transmigrated into the Douluo Continent before birth.

Before turning six, because he had the soul of an adult, he had been rather mature in the way he handled things.

While other children were throwing tantrums and demanding candy, he was already helping his mother with whatever small tasks he could manage.

While other children were arguing furiously over a piece of pastry, he already knew to be modest and let others go first.

Because of this, the neighbors had often praised him.

"Old Wang, your boy is so sensible. He's sure to do great things one day!"

"I'd say with Xiao Zhi's temperament, his awakened Martial Soul definitely won't be bad. Maybe he'll even get into Shrek!"

Quite a few people even praised him, saying he was sure to awaken a powerful Martial Soul.

Of course, Wang Zhiyi knew perfectly well that this wasn't realistic.

In the six years since he'd transmigrated to this world, he'd long since figured out its rules.

For someone to awaken a powerful Martial Soul...

Either one of their ancestors had possessed a powerful Martial Soul, which had been passed down through their bloodline.

Or their Martial Soul had undergone a Beneficial Mutation, becoming Greener Than The Blue.

Otherwise, they'd end up like that Master from the Douluo Continent twenty thousand years ago.

He'd clearly had the potential to awaken the Light Sacred Dragon Martial Soul, but in the end, his Martial Soul had mutated into Luo Sanpao, a Hog Beast, leaving him utterly useless.

In the end, all he could do was rely on his so-called, hole-riddled theoretical knowledge and become a so-called "Master."

His line, "There are no useless Martial Souls, only useless Soul Masters,"

made Wang Zhiyi feel that it was utterly outrageous whenever he thought of it.

How could anyone insult himself twice in one sentence?

As for Tang San, whom he'd supposedly taught with his "theories"...

Honestly, if Tang San hadn't been a transmigrator who kept cultivating the Mysterious Heaven Skill, had deep Soul Power, and was skilled with all kinds of Hidden Weapons, he'd have died in the jaws of that Hundred Year Soul Beast, the Mandala Snake.

"And I raised a God"?

He figured Tang San would've been dead and buried by now!

So, all things considered, the kind of Martial Soul a person awakened largely determined how far they could go in life.

And that had been an unchanging rule of the Douluo Continent for tens of thousands of years.

Of course, Wang Zhiyi wasn't worried about what kind of Martial Soul he would awaken.

His father, Wang Heng, was a Five Ring Soul King, and his Martial Soul was the Summoning Book, which could summon various Soul Beasts to fight.

The Soul Beasts summoned depended on the Soul Skill used.

This kind of Martial Soul was extremely rare. Although it wasn't a Top Assault System, its strength lay in its versatility and flexibility.

As long as he inherited his father's Martial Soul, Wang Zhiyi was confident he could become a Titled Douluo one day.

Just then, the crowd ahead began to thin.

Wang Zhiyi looked up. A round, gray building appeared before him. Its design was plain, even somewhat monotonous, but intricate patterns could be glimpsed on its walls. They were Engraved Magic Arrays.

They'd reached the Awakening Room.

There were plenty of people in line, but it moved quickly. After all, it didn't take long to awaken a child.

Wang Zhiyi stood in line with his father, watching one child after another go in and come out. Some emerged delighted, while others looked dejected.

Before long, it was their turn.

"Next."

A cold voice came from inside.

Wang Heng looked down at his son, crouched, and placed a large hand on Wang Zhiyi's shoulder, giving it a firm squeeze.

"Xiao Zhi, go with this teacher and awaken your Martial Soul."

"Don't be afraid. Believe in yourself."

His eyes held both hope and a trace of tension he could barely conceal.

Wang Zhiyi nodded. "Mm."

He said nothing more and walked toward the Awakening Room's entrance.

The door was a heavy wooden one. It creaked softly as he pushed it open.

Inside was a spacious, circular room about twenty meters in diameter, with a very high ceiling. The walls were covered in densely packed Magic Array patterns.

The room was dimly lit. Only a few Soul Guiding Lamps on the walls cast a faint glow.

A person stood in the center of the room.

He was a cold-faced, middle-aged man in a gray robe, with a badge pinned to his chest.

It was the emblem of Shrek Academy.

He stood with his hands behind his back, watching Wang Zhiyi enter with an impassive gaze.

Wang Zhiyi had heard his father say that the people who came here to help others awaken their Martial Souls were teachers from Shrek Outer Court.

Of course, Shrek wasn't doing charity, nor were they simply being kind.

This way, they could observe the children's awakened Martial Souls right away.

If a child had a powerful Martial Soul, they could recruit him directly into Shrek Academy.

So, for Shrek, this was a way of selecting new students.

And for ordinary families, it was a chance to leap to a higher station in life.

So, it could only be called mutually beneficial.

"Stand in the middle. Hurry up."

The teacher spoke in a cold voice, as if he were performing a routine task.

Wang Zhiyi froze for a moment, but quickly walked to the center of the room and stood still.

The teacher glanced at him, then let out a cold snort.

The next moment, he raised his right hand, and a ball of soft white light shone in his palm.

At first, the light was only the size of a fist, but it quickly expanded, growing bright without becoming dazzling.

Then the teacher lifted his hand, and the ball of white light shot into the air and burst apart, turning into brilliant fireworks.

At the same time, the patterns around the Awakening Room lit up.

Starting at the ceiling, streaks of light spread down the walls, winding and crawling like living things until they reached Wang Zhiyi's feet.

The patterns flickered with a pale golden glow, carrying an ancient and mysterious aura.

At last, all the light converged beneath Wang Zhiyi's feet.

A warm sensation rose from the soles of his feet, climbing up his legs and spreading through his whole body.

Wang Zhiyi felt as if something inside him had been stirred, like a long-dormant seed being awakened at that very moment.

He held his breath.

However, unlike the usual manifestation of a Martial Soul,

there was no solid image of a Tool Martial Soul, nor any phantom of a roaring Beast Martial Soul.

Something began to appear behind Wang Zhiyi.