Martial Soul Awakening

Winter passed and spring came again. The seasons turned, and six years slipped by in the blink of an eye.

At the heart of Mingdu stood the Imperial City, its golden glazed tiles gleaming brilliantly beneath the sun.

From a distance, the renovated palace looked even grander and more imposing than before. Beautiful patterns adorned its walls, which stood over ten meters tall; its soaring rooftops gave it the style of an ancient Chinese imperial palace.

Deep within the palace, a usually quiet and secluded hall was bustling with activity. Today was the day the children would undergo their Martial Soul Awakening, and this was the hall reserved for the purpose.

Xu Lanqing stood quietly to one side, with two guards behind him, both clad from head to toe in gleaming armor.

Though he was only six, he had inherited the finest traits of both his parents. Jet-black hair fell to his shoulders, and his handsome face glowed in the morning light. His fair, delicate skin would have made most women jealous, and seemed to invite people to reach out and pinch it.

Unlike Xu Lanqing, who had come alone, nearly every other child was accompanied by their father or mother. After all, Martial Soul Awakening was a major event that concerned their children's futures. No parent could take it lightly. Their presence wouldn't change what their children awakened, but wherever they were, every parent hoped their child would become someone great.

On the other side of the hall's entrance, a group of children milled about, laughing and jostling one another. From where they stood, it was clear that their leader was a rather pretty little girl—the emperor's youngest daughter and Xu Lanqing's half-sister, Xu Tianzhen.

Xu Tianzhen led her entourage around like a little gang boss. She glanced over, spotted Xu Lanqing standing nearby, and walked straight toward him.

"Xu Lanqing, why are you all alone? Come play with your big sister."

Xu Tianzhen thumped her chest as she spoke in her childish voice.

Xu Lanqing looked at her and smiled. Her soft, short black hair swayed gently, and she looked even more like a boy than he did.

"I'm older than you. You should call me Imperial Brother."

Xu Tianzhen froze for a moment, then raised her fair little fist and pouted. "I don't care! Let's fight. Whoever wins gets to be the older one."

"So eager to fight? Aren't you afraid your mother will give you another caning?" Xu Lanqing said, nodding toward a graceful woman in palace attire standing a short distance behind her.

Xu Tianzhen immediately wilted like an eggplant struck by frost. She was adored by everyone in the palace, but the person she feared most was her mother. Every time she got into a fight outside, she was scolded when she came home—though she never seemed to learn her lesson.

Xu Tianzhen's eyes darted around. After a moment, she said confidently, "Then we'll fight after we get our Soul Rings. There's no point fighting now. Just wait until you have to call me big sister!"

"Fine, whatever you say." Xu Lanqing shrugged, humoring her.

"All right, everyone's here. Let the children come in for their Martial Soul Awakening. The rest of you, wait outside."

A voice carrying Soul Power rang across the hall, and the hubbub died away at once. Everyone turned toward the entrance.

An elderly figure had appeared there at some point. He stood tall, his white hair neatly combed. He was the royal elder in charge of this Martial Soul Awakening.

The children quickly lined up and followed the elder into the hall in an orderly fashion.

Xu Lanqing was the last to enter. He glanced around. The hall was clean and plain, without a single decoration; only the awakening array had been set up in the center. The stone walls on all four sides were covered in murals. He took a look and saw that they depicted important events from the history of the Sun Moon Empire.

He had been in this world for six years. Growing up in the imperial household, he had already learned almost everything he could.

"All right, who wants to go first?" the elder asked kindly after arranging the array.

"I'll go first!"

Xu Tianzhen stepped forward without hesitation and eagerly walked into the array.

"Close your eyes and calm your mind. Don't be nervous. Follow the calling within your heart," the elder instructed. He raised his right hand, and two yellow, two purple, and four black Soul Rings appeared. An orange-red orb of light slowly rose into the air. It was the Sun Moon Imperial Family's hereditary Martial Soul: the Sun.

The Sun Martial Soul was pure yang, one of the continent's top-tier Martial Souls. Though it wasn't Ultimate Fire, it came close. The Sun Moon Imperial Family had relied on it to remain firmly established on the continent, surviving the rise and fall of dynasties.

Xu Lanqing suspected the Sun Moon Imperial Family's Martial Soul had some flaw. Otherwise, how could a Martial Soul based on the Sun not be Ultimate Fire? It didn't make sense.

Under the elder's control, the Sun Martial Soul's radiance enveloped Xu Lanqing, and he felt a comfortable warmth spread through his body. The elder's strength was clearly formidable.

Golden light covered Xu Tianzhen from head to toe. At the elder's urging, she raised her right hand, and a small orange-red orb of light gathered in her palm. Just as expected, she had awakened the Sun Martial Soul.

"Here, test your Soul Power."

The elder took a blue crystal ball from his left hand and held it out to Xu Tianzhen.

She placed her hand on it. The crystal ball immediately glowed blue, and the number nine appeared on its surface.

"Innate Soul Power: Rank Nine."

Innate Soul Power determined a person's cultivation potential and speed. The higher one's Innate Soul Power, the greater their future achievements. Rank Nine was already beyond what most people could hope for.

Xu Tianzhen walked over to Xu Lanqing with a big smile. "Well? Stick with me and I'll protect you!"

Xu Lanqing smiled and shook his head. "Congratulations."

"Hmph." Xu Tianzhen furrowed her adorable little brows and went off to the side, making it clear she didn't want to talk to him.

"Next..."

"Keep going..."

Soon, all twenty-something children had completed their awakenings. Apart from Xu Tianzhen, the highest Innate Soul Power among them was only Rank Eight. Nothing unusual had happened.

Standing in the array, Xu Lanqing felt a little nervous, but he wasn't too worried. Whether he awakened the imperial Sun Martial Soul or the Ice Crystal Butterfly from his mother's family, both were powerful, top-tier Martial Souls. Either way, he wouldn't fare badly. He could only hope nothing unexpected happened.

Golden light slowly seeped into his body as Xu Lanqing focused on the sensation. At first, warm Soul Power began to well up inside him. After a while, it turned cold, but he felt no discomfort. Bone-chilling air surged outward, and tiny shards of ice gathered and fell through the air, coating the floor in a thin layer of ice.

Then Xu Lanqing felt an unusual itch in his back, as if hundreds of ants were crawling and dancing across it. He forced himself not to reach back and scratch.

As soon as the cold appeared, the elder was stunned. Then shock gave way to excitement and delight. The hall was filled with the radiance of his Sun Martial Soul, yet the cold still affected it despite his Soul Douluo strength. That meant his Martial Soul was being suppressed by Xu Lanqing's. What could suppress the Sun Martial Soul besides an Ultimate Martial Soul? An Ultimate Martial Soul! The Sun Moon Empire's records had never mentioned one appearing before. Now one was about to be born under his watch.

The elder watched Xu Lanqing tremble. Then, with a sharp bang, the back of his clothes burst apart, and a pair of crystal-blue wings unfurled from his back, refracting dazzling light beneath the Sun's radiance. His black eyes and hair turned ice blue, and the illusory image of an ice-blue phoenix flashed behind him.

"Ultimate Ice! The Ice Phoenix Martial Soul! Heaven has blessed the Sun Moon Empire! Hahaha!"

The cold receded, and Xu Lanqing's eyes returned to their original black. They shone with excitement. He hadn't expected the Ice Crystal Butterfly to mutate into the Ice Phoenix Martial Soul.

Just then, Xu Lanqing felt that it wasn't over. A second surge of Soul Power had appeared within him.

"Hm?"

The elder watched Xu Lanqing stand motionless, as though he had sensed something. He waved to Xu Tianzhen and the other children, his voice urgent.

"You've all completed your Martial Soul Awakening. Hurry back. Your parents are probably waiting anxiously."

As he spoke, he used his Soul Power to send them out of the hall, then sealed the area and watched Xu Lanqing with feverish excitement.

"Not only an Ultimate Martial Soul, but Twin Martial Souls as well! Heaven has truly blessed the Sun Moon Empire!"

Xu Lanqing steadied himself and let his second Martial Soul manifest.

This time, his Soul Power was filled with an aura of destruction. An urge to wreak havoc and give in to wanton abandon surged through his mind. But as the illusory image of a purple dragon appeared behind him, the influence vanished at once. His fingers sharpened, and layer upon layer of illusory purple dragon scales appeared on his fair skin. His eyes became the vertical pupils of a dragon.

"Excellent! Excellent! The Purple Brilliant Heaven Destroying Dragon, a top-tier true dragon Martial Soul of the same kind as the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon. It mutated from the Sun Martial Soul. If I remember correctly, the Third Prince, Xu Tianran, awakened this same Martial Soul."

The elder grinned so broadly that his mouth seemed about to split open. With such talent, he could already picture how powerful the Sun Moon Imperial Family would become in the future.

Suddenly, an unexpected change occurred. A golden dragon-shaped shadow appeared out of nowhere and coiled around the purple one. Then, under the elder's stunned gaze, it bit down on the purple dragon and swallowed it whole. The elder was too shocked to speak. Even with all his knowledge, he had no idea what had just happened.

The illusory dragon scales on Xu Lanqing's body quickly changed from purple to gold, though purple dragon patterns brimming with destructive energy still shone across the golden scales.

In his Sea of Consciousness, a diamond-shaped golden crystal resonated with the dragon shadow outside. At the same time, a violent, murderous aura repeatedly slammed against his consciousness.

"Bad news, Lanqing. Your Martial Soul Awakening has upset the balance between it and me. All I can do now is try to seal it as tightly as possible. Fortunately, it's only an energy core without a will of its own. Otherwise, with my current weakened spiritual sense, I'd have no way to deal with it."

Electrolux's aged, authoritative voice echoed directly through Xu Lanqing's Sea of Consciousness. A stream of gray air burst from the orb and turned into mysterious runes. They joined together, encircling the golden crystal. The crystal fought back, crashing violently against them, and the two sides reached a stalemate.

Seeing this, Electrolux began murmuring a string of incomprehensible incantations.

Xu Lanqing could only grit his teeth and hold on. His head felt as if it were about to explode, but he didn't want to become a monster driven only by bloodlust. He had no choice but to endure.

"Master, are you almost done? I can't... hold on much longer!"

Inside the Sea of Consciousness, as Electrolux's words faded, the gray orb visibly shrank. Gray chains now covered the golden crystal, which gradually settled down. Outside, the golden dragon shadow also merged into Xu Lanqing's body and disappeared.

"Finally. But you can't use your Second Martial Soul for now. If you do, the seal may loosen again. Then we'll both die."

Electrolux let out a sigh of relief, his voice exceptionally weak.

Hearing this, Xu Lanqing could hold on no longer. His vision went black, and he collapsed.