Martial Soul Awakening, Heavy Armored Earth Dragon

"Whew, I ate something bad on the road and upset my stomach, so I was two days late. I hope nothing went wrong." Carrying his pack on his back, Su Yuntao sprinted toward Holy Soul Village.

Although he had not summoned his Lone Wolf Martial Soul, the support of Soul Power still let Su Yuntao run far faster than an ordinary person. He could steadily cover seven or eight meters per second. It did not seem especially fast, but for Su Yuntao, this was not a sprint, merely a light jog. If he wished, he could keep running like this for two hours.

In Chen Ming's previous life, that was twenty-five kilometers per hour, already faster than some electric scooters.

Seeing the two figures waiting for him at the village entrance, Su Yuntao quickly slowed down, hurriedly straightened his clothes and appearance, then strode over to meet Chen Ming and Old Jack.

"Lord Soul Master, are you here to awaken the Martial Souls of our village children?" There were not many Spirit Masters around Nuoding City. It was not Su Yuntao's first time coming to awaken Martial Souls, but Old Jack still asked respectfully when he saw him.

"That's right. In the name of the Martial Soul Sacred Hall, the Spirit Hall branches within the Heaven Dou Empire dispatch Spirit Masters to awaken the Martial Souls of villagers in areas with Spirit Halls. I am this year's awakening Spirit Master, Su Yuntao." Su Yuntao puffed out his chest as he answered.

The Martial Soul Sacred Hall was the highest-ranking Spirit Hall institution in the capitals of the two great empires. It was overseen by Platinum Bishops with the strength of Soul Douluos and was responsible for assigning and handling the affairs of the various Spirit Hall branches throughout the two empires.

Maintaining the Soul Hunting Forests in different regions, managing their revenue and expenditures, distributing subsidies to local Spirit Halls, and advancing Spirit Master ranks... all of these fell under the responsibility of the Platinum Bishops and the Martial Soul Sacred Hall.

Every year, Spirit Hall issued its orders, after which the Sacred Halls within the two empires distributed assignments in turn and registered and handled Spirit Master affairs.

It was also around this time every year that the Sacred Halls collected a sum of money from local nobles and the imperial family, then distributed it as subsidies for awakening Spirit Masters.

After all, traveling over mountains and rivers to awaken Martial Souls in every village was no easy task. It would have been too much not to provide subsidies. Ordinary people had little money to begin with, so naturally, the subsidies were extracted from those who did.

"Greetings, Lord Soul Master. Please have some sweet cane, sir. You've traveled so far, so you must be thirsty. Rest first, and I'll fetch some water." Chen Ming's eyes flickered as he handed over several untouched stalks of sweet cane from his hand.

"Good child." Su Yuntao accepted the sweet cane without ceremony, put it in his mouth and chewed, then reached out to pat Chen Ming's head.

He had once been a child from a farming family whose Soul Power had been awakened by a Spirit Hall awakening master. Although he had now joined Spirit Hall, he still had no aversion to such things.

After sitting down to rest for a while, chewing on sweet cane, and taking a drink of water, Su Yuntao, who had spent half the day rushing here, finally recovered his spirits.

To awaken the Martial Souls, Su Yuntao borrowed a room from Old Jack and took out the carefully folded Soul Grandmaster uniform of Spirit Hall from his pack. He could not bear to wear such ceremonial clothing that represented his status while traveling. He only wore it during Martial Soul awakenings, then hurriedly changed back into ordinary clothes before continuing his journey.

Taking advantage of this brief time, Old Jack went door to door to notify everyone, and the children of the village gathered in front of the village's Spirit Hall to await their awakening.

The Spirit Hall in Holy Soul Village was actually just a stone room. It was not large and had no decorations whatsoever. There was not even a statue of the Angel God inside; it merely bore the name Spirit Hall.

Yet as long as a village had such a room, such a place called a Spirit Hall, an awakening Spirit Master would inevitably travel across mountains and rivers every year to awaken the children's Martial Souls for free.

Since he had been waiting at the village entrance with Old Jack since early morning, Chen Ming naturally became the first child in the line.

Holy Soul Village was located in one of Fasinuo Province's major production regions, so the villagers lived fairly well. The children were also noticeably taller than ordinary rural children.

The boys were generally a little over 1.1 meters tall, while the girls were slightly taller because they developed faster. Chen Ming, however, stood out among the children like a crane among chickens.

Though he was only six years old, Chen Ming was already over 1.3 meters tall. Nor was he thin as a stick; he was exceptionally sturdy. Because he exercised often, his limbs were even thicker than normal, and obvious muscle definition could be seen on his exposed forearms.

Besides coarse grains as his staple food, Chen Ming had spent the past few years gathering wild fruits in the mountains, cultivating wood ear mushrooms and other mushrooms, raising hens for eggs, and using mountain rabbits and river fish as additional sources of protein.

A balanced diet combined with intense yet proper exercise had ultimately given Chen Ming a physique that made children his age drool with envy.

This body was also one of the important reasons Chen Ming believed he could awaken Soul Power.

To him, even if he possessed only one level—or even half a level—of Innate Soul Power, he would find a way to climb to nearly the very top in the future.

After a while longer, the final child of the village—Tang San—finally arrived in front of the Spirit Hall.

The village children did not like Tang San much, not because they looked down on the poor or fawned over the rich, but because Tang San was withdrawn and carried an air of arrogance. It was not as if no children had tried to play with him, but those who did were usually angered away by Tang San.

Tang San stood at the end of the line. Looking at the children keeping their distance from him, a trace of disdain flashed through his eyes.

Dressed in the formal Spirit Hall Soul Grandmaster uniform, Su Yuntao looked over the children. He showed no impatience and instead spoke calmly.

"I am Su Yuntao, a level twenty-six Soul Grandmaster of Spirit Hall, and I will be your guide. Now, I will awaken your Martial Souls one by one. Remember, no matter what happens, do not be afraid."

Su Yuntao arranged the Awakening Stones on the ground into the shape of a six-pointed star, then summoned his Martial Soul and transformed into a wolfman-like form. The sight startled the surrounding children, but Chen Ming was not overly surprised. Instead, he grew even more excited.

Under Su Yuntao's guidance, Chen Ming stepped into the formation. Su Yuntao circulated his Soul Power and poured it into the Awakening Stones. Specks of golden light emerged bit by bit from the stones, turning into firefly-like motes that danced through the air before slowly entering Chen Ming's body.

Chen Ming felt his entire body relax completely. The flecks of golden light seemed to seep into the deepest parts of his bones and flesh, slowly merging into his body and circulating with every breath he took.

As the golden light continuously poured into Chen Ming's body, some valve within him was finally breached.

"Roar—" Chen Ming lowered his head and released a muffled roar like that of a dragon beast. His body rapidly expanded as earthy-yellow scales surged from his skin and solidified into a sturdy suit of armor.

Chen Ming's hands began to enlarge. Earthy-yellow light enveloped his palms, transforming them into sharp dragon claws. With the sound of tearing cloth, a massive tail extended from his spine and slammed onto the ground with a dull crash.

Small dragon horns emerged from Chen Ming's head. Earthy-yellow light gathered above him and eventually formed a helmet-like structure.

As the awakening formation faded, what appeared before everyone was a half-dragon, half-human figure that looked as though he wore a full suit of armor. Even children who understood nothing began to feel instinctive fear upon seeing Chen Ming's current appearance. Their legs trembled continuously, yet they could not make a single sound.

The moment Su Yuntao saw Chen Ming's appearance, his eyes lit up. After thinking briefly, he roughly identified Chen Ming's Martial Soul.

"This is a dragon, a Dragon Martial Soul! Although it differs somewhat from the records, your Martial Soul should be the Heavy Armored Earth Dragon, a High-Level Spirit Beast famed for possessing the weight and solidity of the earth!"