The awakening ceremony was overseen by a Cardinal specially dispatched by Spirit Hall.
Looking at the extraordinary child before him, he couldn't help but nod in quiet approval.
"Your Highness, Third Prince."
"Please stand in the center of the formation."
"Close your eyes and focus on feeling the power within you."
The Cardinal spoke gently.
Dai Mubai nodded.
He stepped into the formation.
Buzz!
As the six black Awakening Stones lit up,
a golden barrier slowly rose, enveloping Dai Mubai.
Two worlds.
Billions of eyes.
At that moment, they all focused on the golden figure.
Golden light blazed across the Sky Screen.
It wasn't the ordinary glow of manifested Soul Power, but a purer, more ancient hue, like flowing liquid gold, illuminating the entire Awakening Hall in dazzling splendor.
In the White World, six-year-old Dai Mubai stood at the center of the light.
His eyes were slightly closed, and a white king-shaped mark slowly emerged between his brows.
"Roar—!"
A tiger's roar burst from within the golden pillar of light.
The glazed tiles across the entire Awakening Hall trembled at the sound.
The Cardinal overseeing the awakening had looked relaxed, but now his face changed dramatically. The Soul Power he was channeling nearly slipped out of control, and an invisible wave of force shoved him several meters backward.
He stared in terror at the center of the formation.
Within the golden light, a huge white tiger's phantom slowly took shape.
It wasn't an ordinary White Tiger.
It was three times the size of an ordinary White Tiger Martial Soul, with a pair of wings growing from its back. Its entire body was pure white, without a single blemish. Only its eyes were blood-red, enough to make one's heart tremble.
An oppressive force from deep within its bloodline swept across the hall.
Outside the main hall, the mounts of the Royal Knights—the tamed Spirit Beast warhorses—let out a collective whinny. Their legs gave way, and they collapsed to the ground, trembling.
It was the absolute dominance of the king of beasts.
"This... This is..."
The Cardinal's voice trembled, his eyes nearly bulging from their sockets.
At the center of the formation, Dai Mubai slowly opened his eyes.
His pupils had turned the same blood-red as the giant tiger's—unnerving and majestic.
As he breathed in and out, the tiger phantom behind him threw back its head and roared. Then it transformed into a shower of starlight and streamed into his body.
All the strange phenomena faded, leaving everything calm once more.
Only Dai Mubai remained, standing there with a domineering aura utterly at odds with his age.
The Cardinal swallowed hard and tremblingly lifted the blue crystal ball he had prepared.
"Y-Your Highness, please have your Soul Power measured."
Dai Mubai remained composed. He extended his right hand and gently pressed it against the crystal ball.
In an instant,
the crystal ball blazed with light.
The blue glow filled the entire sphere and even spilled out from its surface, turning the Cardinal's hand a deep blue.
Dazzling.
Blinding.
Then,
"Crack."
A crisp snapping sound rang out.
A fine crack appeared across the surface of the crystal ball in the Cardinal's hand.
"Crack, crack—"
The cracks spread rapidly like a spiderweb.
"Bang!"
As everyone stared in stunned silence, the crystal ball exploded into a pile of dust.
Dead silence.
The entire Awakening Hall—and both worlds beyond the Sky Screen—fell silent as the grave.
A moment later, the Cardinal dropped to his knees with a thud. His voice turned shrill with overwhelming excitement:
"I-Innate Full Soul Power!"
"No! More than that!"
"It overflowed! His Soul Power overflowed!"
"And this Martial Soul..."
The Cardinal abruptly lifted his head and looked toward the Star Luo Emperor, shouting:
"Your Majesty! This is the legendary return to the Martial Soul's ancestral form!"
"This is the ancestor of the White Tiger clan—the Radiant Holy Tiger!"
"A peerless talent! This is truly a peerless talent!"
Black World.
At that moment, everyone forgot to breathe.
The people from Shrek Academy gaped, their mouths wide enough to fit an egg.
Ma Hongjun rubbed his eyes, then rubbed them again, muttering to himself:
"Am I seeing things?"
"He... blew up the crystal ball?"
"When Boss Dai awakened, all he managed was a bit of light, right? This..."
He instinctively looked toward the Black World's Dai Mubai, who had gone limp on the ground.
Dai Mubai stood frozen, as if he'd been struck by lightning.
He watched the dazzling version of himself on the Sky Screen, the version kneeling before the Cardinal, and his mind went blank.
How was this possible?
They were both Dai Mubai.
They both had the bloodline of the Star Luo Imperial Family.
Why could the version of himself from the other world awaken a Martial Soul as monstrous as this?
The ancestral White Tiger?
That was a legend found only in the Imperial Family's ancient records. No one had awakened it in hundreds of years!
"Fake... This has to be fake..."
Dai Mubai's lips trembled, his eyes bloodshot.
"How could he be the Radiant Holy Tiger?"
"I'm the Evil Eye White Tiger! I'm the true heir!"
"That world must have a bug! This is cheating!"
But no one paid any attention to his impotent rage.
The crowd around him erupted in astonished exclamations and discussion.
"My god, the difference is enormous!"
"This one had Soul Power at level eight, and the other one blew the ball apart."
"And look at the presence of that Martial Soul. I saw the Dai Mubai here awaken—his was just a slightly bigger tiger. It can't compare to that winged one at all."
"That's what happens when you compare goods—you toss the inferior ones aside. People can't help feeling inferior when they're compared to others."
"No wonder he can be emperor. With talent like that, he was born to rule."
Every remark struck Black World Dai Mubai right in the heart.
It hurt to the core.
Jealousy.
Wild jealousy grew unchecked inside him.
Why could the version of himself from that world have everything?
If I had that kind of talent...
If I had that kind of Martial Soul...
Father would never have given up on me, and Big Brother Dai Weisi would never have dared treat me that way!
It was all the heavens' injustice!
It was all bad luck!
White World, Pope Palace.
Bibi Dong had been reclining lazily on her throne, but she abruptly sat upright.
Shock flashed in her stern eyes.
"The Radiant Holy Tiger..."
"A return to the Martial Soul's ancestral form..."
She murmured, striking the floor heavily with her scepter.
"This child is truly terrifying."
"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would never have believed such a perfect start was possible."
"An innately powerful physique, extraordinary comprehension that let him create his own cultivation method, and now he's awakened a top-tier Beast Martial Soul."
"The Star Luo Empire has produced a true dragon."
White World, Star Luo Imperial Palace.
The place had already become a sea of celebration.
The maids and eunuchs wore proud smiles, and even their steps seemed lighter.
That was their emperor!
The god of Star Luo!
In the rear hall,
Dai Mubai still lounged lazily against the dragon throne, seemingly unconcerned by the commotion his younger self had caused on the Sky Screen.
"Oh, Your Majesty was so impressive back then."
Xiao Wu lay across Dai Mubai's lap, her hands restlessly tracing circles on his thigh.
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