Martial Soul Awakening Ceremony

Time flew by, and two years passed.

At six years old, Ye Qifeng had grown into a tall child of around 1.3 meters. The baby fat had faded from his face, and his handsome features had become more defined.

Today was once again the annual day for awakening Martial Souls.

Ye Qifeng had also reached the age to awaken his Martial Soul.

At daybreak, Ye Qifeng rose early, washed up, ate breakfast in the Orphanage cafeteria, then returned to the shared dormitory and changed into the new clothes sent by the Dean.

Ye Qifeng sat on his bed, quietly waiting for Dean Li Qing's call to assemble.

He swept his gaze around the shared dormitory where he had lived for five years, his expression somewhat complicated.

After today,

he would probably be like Hu Liena, Xie Yue, Yan, and the others.

He likely would not return here for a long time.

He had no idea what sort of thing his Martial Soul awakening would bring forth.

If he awakened a Wasted Martial Soul, or did not possess even a trace of Innate Soul Power, then even though Ye Qifeng had thoroughly studied every book in the Spirit Hall Archives and his understanding of Martial Souls now surpassed that of most people, it would probably still be difficult for him to become a Spirit Master.

Unless he encountered some extraordinary opportunity.

For instance, an Immortal Grade Herb or some other rare treasure capable of changing the fundamental nature of a Martial Soul.

Yet for some reason, Ye Qifeng had a vague premonition that he would likely awaken some remarkable Martial Soul.

He did not know why he had such a feeling either.

It was simply strange.

For a moment, he could not make sense of it.

So he simply stopped thinking about it.

Even if he awakened a Wasted Martial Soul that could not be cultivated, he would find a way to become a Spirit Master.

No matter what, now that he had come to the world of Douluo Continent, he had to obtain Immortal Grade Herbs.

How could he let such good things be enjoyed by that bastard Tang San?

Ye Qifeng felt faintly expectant about the Martial Soul awakening.

Yet unlike when Hu Liena and the others had awakened their Martial Souls, he was not nervous or uneasy at all. Instead, he was unusually calm and composed.

Over the past six years, his state of mind had remained as tranquil as still water, with scarcely any major fluctuations.

He always had the feeling that he had forgotten part of his past and lost something extremely important.

But after thinking it over carefully, he found nothing unusual. He still remembered all his memories from his previous life, while the memories of this life consisted only of the trivialities of living in the Orphanage.

Ye Qifeng shook his head and stopped thinking about it.

Since Hu Liena, Xie Yue, and Yan had been assigned to train, they could not accompany Ye Qifeng to watch his Martial Soul Awakening Ceremony.

Hu Liena had been upset about this for quite some time.

Ever since her Spirit Master cultivation had gotten on track, the training tasks Bibi Dong arranged for her had begun to increase.

Hu Liena had less and less time to visit Ye Qifeng. At first, they met once a week, then once every two weeks, then every three weeks, then once a month...

By now, the two had not seen each other for a full two months.

Over the past two years, Hu Liena had been almost entirely occupied with studying and cultivating.

Because of this, despite being only eight years old, she was already a level twenty-one Soul Grandmaster.

Xie Yue and Yan had benefited as well. Both had reached level twenty-five Soul Grandmaster.

Soon, Dean Li Qing's call to assemble came from downstairs.

After putting on his shoes and straightening his clothes, Ye Qifeng went downstairs to gather with the others.

One after another, more than a dozen children from the Orphanage who had reached the age of six arrived in the courtyard.

As in previous years,

Dean Li Qing and two teachers led the group on foot toward the Spirit Temple in West District, two blocks away.

Half an hour later,

the group finally arrived before the West District Spirit Temple.

Temple Knights belonging to the West District Spirit Temple patrolled the area, standing guard and maintaining order.

At this time, the square before the Holy Hall was already packed with people.

Nearly all of them were children accompanied by their parents, standing in lines according to their respective districts as they waited.

The Wuhun Hall Orphanage also had its own designated area within its district. Dean Li Qing and the two teachers led the children there, where they lined up in order and waited.

The Orphanage children were somewhat nervous and did not dare speak, though they curiously looked around.

Seeing that the other children all had parents with them, the orphans' eyes revealed their envy.

Ye Qifeng, however, was rather calm.

Whenever he saw such scenes, he usually just smiled and let them pass.

He had also been an orphan in his previous life. He had envied such things when he was young, but once he grew up, he no longer felt much about them.

He was not like some Third Brother who lacked love.

So starved for affection that he held an almost twisted obsession with parents and familial bonds.

It was not that Ye Qifeng was cold-blooded. He had simply long since come to terms with it.

Since he was here, he would make the best of it. Even by himself, he could still strive to live well.

More than ten minutes later,

the Martial Soul Awakening Ceremony officially began.

A bishop emerged from the Holy Hall of the West District Spirit Temple and began calling the children from each district inside one by one to awaken their Martial Souls.

Adults were not allowed to enter with them.

Temple Warriors stood guard at the doors of the Holy Hall with halberds in hand, stopping the adults outside to wait.

Whenever a child entered to awaken a Martial Soul, the adults would anxiously crane their necks, appearing even more nervous than their children.

Once the children emerged after awakening their Martial Souls, the adults would swarm around them, either asking questions or taking their Spirit Master Certificates to inspect the results. After getting the answers they wanted, some wept with joy and laughed loudly, while others were sad and disappointed, utterly despondent...

Half an hour passed, and it was finally the Orphanage group's turn.

Dean Li Qing and the two teachers gave them some instructions:

"Children, do not be nervous after you enter. Follow the bishop's arrangements."

Then Ye Qifeng followed the group inside the domed Holy Hall.

At the center of the main hall stood Siviss, the Platinum Bishop, dressed in a platinum-and-silver-thread robe.

Before Platinum Bishop Siviss,

six large gleaming gemstones had been arranged in a hexagon. Special materials formed intricate patterns around them, creating a large Six-Pointed Star Array.

This was an array specifically used for awakening Martial Souls.

In theory, a Spirit Master could directly inject Soul Power into another person's body to guide the awakening of a Martial Soul. However, doing so consumed a tremendous amount of Soul Power, and most of it would be wasted, dissipating directly into the air. The loss far outweighed the gain.

Unless one was an expert at the Spirit Douluo rank or above with exceptionally deep Soul Power reserves, one should never attempt to awaken another person's Martial Soul directly without an awakening array.

Few Spirit Masters could withstand the loss of such an enormous amount of Soul Power. A moment of carelessness could result in backlash injuries from having their Soul Power drained all at once, and they might even lose their lives.

The Six-Pointed Star Array existed to solve this problem.

Not only could it stabilize and bolster Soul Power, preventing waste and greatly reducing the amount of Soul Power used by the Spirit Master conducting the awakening,

it could also isolate the Spirit Master conducting the ceremony from the person awakening, preventing direct contact between them. This protected the officiating Spirit Master from backlash and ensured their safety.

With the Six-Pointed Star Array in place, even if something went wrong during the Martial Soul awakening, the officiating Spirit Master could promptly withdraw their Soul Power. At most, only the materials used to construct the array would be damaged.

Off to one side stood a pillar over half a meter tall.

On it rested a head-sized blue crystal sphere, faintly flickering with a hazy glow that immediately drew the children's attention.

This was the Soul Power Crystal used to test Innate Soul Power.

In essence, it was a special Soul Tool made from an unusual crystal highly sensitive to Soul Power.

Because its raw materials were rare and its manufacturing process complex, it was extremely expensive and exceptionally scarce. Only Spirit Hall and the major powers had the means to possess such an item.

Across the entire continent, Spirit Hall was the only force that had mastered the manufacturing process and possessed the ability to produce and stock them in large quantities.

This was also why, throughout Douluo Continent, Spirit Hall alone was both able and willing to awaken Martial Souls for the common people free of charge.

The one possessed by the West District Spirit Temple could detect Soul Power up to level thirty.

It was more than sufficient for testing the Innate Soul Power of six-year-old children awakening their Martial Souls.