Arrival from Martial Soul Hall

It is unknown how much time had passed, but in the charred ruins, Qian Yun was startled awake by a burst of sobbing.

The surrounding air was thick and murky, drifting into his nose and mouth with the stench of burnt remains, a grim reminder that everything from last night was no dream.

"Where is this?" Qian Yun sat up, his eyes meeting nothing but a landscape of scorched ruins; the surrounding walls and nearby trees had been burned pitch-black, twisted into grotesque, clawing shapes.

"You're awake, Qian Yun." Hu Liena's low, hoarse voice sounded beside him.

Qian Yun looked back at her. Hu Liena no longer possessed her usual beauty and ease; her fair face was smeared with gray-black grime, and one could still see the streaks where she had wiped it with her fingers. Beneath her singed, messy hair were eyes rimmed with red, still shedding tears incessantly.

Qian Yun's hands, braced against the ground, tightened involuntarily, oblivious to the pain of dirt and tiny wood splinters embedding deep into his fingernails.

"Are you alright?" Qian Yun asked, steadying Hu Liena's thin shoulders while using the only clean part of his sleeve to wipe away her tears.

His peripheral vision drifted past her shoulders, catching sight of two white cloths covering something in the distance.

The stark white cloth looked jarring against the charred earth, piercing his heart. Beneath those two cloths must be the village chief and A-Qiang.

Combined with Hu Liena's state upon his waking, Qian Yun could roughly guess what had transpired.

However, hollow words could no longer comfort this poor little girl; in a single day, Hu Liena had lost everything.

Feeling his touch, Hu Liena finally broke down again, throwing her arms around him and sobbing uncontrollably against his shoulder.

"Sigh..." Qian Yun understood her feelings. Perhaps to him, having arrived only recently, last night's tragedy was merely the loss of two acquaintances, but for Hu Liena, who had lived here since she could remember, A-Qiang and the village chief were her family.

This small courtyard had recorded their laughter and countless warm memories, yet last night's disaster had ruthlessly snatched away everything that belonged to her. How could she, still so young, ever accept this?

After the wave of sorrow, Qian Yun noticed a few people in uniforms standing in the distance. He had initially thought they were villagers coming to help with the disaster, but that didn't seem to be the case.

As he watched, three of them stepped forward. Their clean, tidy uniforms were completely out of place in the surroundings, especially the conspicuous emblem pinned to their chests. Though he couldn't recognize it yet, it surely belonged to some organization.

"Please accept our condolences, you two," one of them said as they drew closer, attempting to offer comfort.

The trio was a classic mix of old, middle-aged, and young. The one who spoke was the middle-aged man; his voice was gentle and magnetic, and he was dressed neatly, his hair combed meticulously, giving him the air of a refined gentleman.

"What business do you have here?" Qian Yun looked up at them, his eyes tinged with wariness.

The middle-aged man was briefly stunned by the question before offering an awkward smile. "Ah, little one, don't misunderstand. We mean no harm."

For some reason, Qian Yun detected a tone of pleading in his voice. Still, Qian Yun remained silent, continuing to scrutinize them.

"Uh... haha." The middle-aged man let out a bitter laugh.

"Don't be like that, Qian Yun." Hu Liena had cried for a while, and with her pent-up emotions released, she seemed a bit better now.

She looked back at the middle-aged man and explained to Qian Yun, "His name is Duomeng. He's the one who saved us last night."

"Duomeng... you saved us? How?" Qian Yun looked at the man, his mind flashing back to the events of the night. He remembered he and Hu Liena had nearly perished in the sea of fire; he had truly thought he was going to die.

However, he vaguely recalled someone shouting something.

"I did extinguish the fire last night, but as for whether I saved you, I cannot say for sure," Duomeng said with a smile. The next second, he leaned down, his eyes filled with hope. "However, little one, could you extend your hand for us to see? Please don't misunderstand; we just want to confirm something."

"What exactly does 'something' refer to?" Even though the man's attitude was good and he appeared to have no ill intent, Qian Yun still didn't intend to comply easily.

Duomeng didn't seem like a man of many words; faced with Qian Yun's stubbornness, his prepared explanation stalled.

"Haha, to think Uncle Duomeng would have a day where he gets shut down!" A young man with blonde hair beside Duomeng burst into laughter.

"Yibu, be quiet!" Duomeng felt his face flush, finding Qian Yun's attitude quite tricky to handle.

Yet, he had to remain patient, trying to slowly lower the guard of the two children, because their senses told them that the little boy before them indeed possessed soul power. He was very likely a soul master!

But the Beast King Village hadn't even reached the time for the awakening ceremony! The three of them had discussed it earlier and concluded that he was likely a rare case of self-awakened martial soul. This was a big deal; if they handed him over to the Martial Soul Hall, they would surely be handsomely rewarded.

"Uh, to be specific... alright, young man, I truly admit defeat," Duomeng said, rubbing his forehead with his large hand. "To be honest, you two little ones could never have survived last night's fire on your own. When we found you, although your condition was poor, your lives were not in danger. And... strangely, not even your clothes were burned. In a preliminary check, we discovered that both of you possess a significant amount of soul power."

"So," he said, his eyes turning serious, "I hope to see if you are truly soul masters."

'Soul master.' The moment the term was uttered, it stunned not only Qian Yun but also Hu Liena, who had been immersed in her grief.

How could I be a soul master? Qian Yun frowned. He remembered that soul master awakening required a ceremony, or one had to wait until adulthood to awaken their martial soul naturally.

But neither of them had undergone a ceremony, and they weren't adults, so how could they be soul masters?

"Fine." Qian Yun pondered for a moment before finally standing up and extending his hand. As Duomeng said, in such a critical situation last night, there was no way they could have survived without the power of a martial soul.

Duomeng finally breathed a sigh of relief and pulled a pink crystal ball from somewhere. "Place your hand on it. If your martial soul hasn't awakened, it won't react. If you are a soul master, it will directly display your martial soul."

Qian Yun tentatively placed his hand on it. The next moment, the pink crystal ball erupted with a blinding white light, the sudden radiance nearly engulfing them all.

"Uh..." Qian Yun suddenly felt something being drawn out of his body, and then he felt this power gather at the top of his head, slowly condensing into an object.

An invisible force radiated from Qian Yun as the center. Everything around him—Hu Liena, who was tilting her head in confusion; the bewildered Duomeng and his two companions; and even the sparks bursting from the charred wood in the distance—was reflected in Qian Yun's mind like a clear mirror, allowing him to see everything without even opening his eyes.

The next second, the intense light vanished. The crystal ball in Duomeng's hand trembled slightly before shattering into powder, leaving only Duomeng's shaking hand behind.

"This..." Duomeng's eyes widened, his heart pounding uncontrollably. If not for the poise he had cultivated over the years, he would have surely lost his composure and collapsed to the ground.

Before him, Qian Yun, eyes closed, had hair that stirred without wind, and a Crown that looked as if it were forged from countless stars rested silently upon his forehead.

Its appearance was like a massive boulder, pressing down on everything around it until they could barely breathe.

Under everyone's gaze, Qian Yun opened his eyes. Surprisingly, his originally black eyes had turned a brilliant gold, and paired with his already handsome features, he looked extraordinarily noble.

Duomeng, facing him directly, even felt a sense of looking up to him—the feeling one only gets when a low-rank martial soul looks up to a high-rank one!

The last time he had felt this way was years ago, when he caught a distant glimpse of the Pope. The pressure Qian Yun exerted now was even more intense; he had a feeling that this boy's martial soul might be of a higher rank than even the Pope's Twin Martial Souls!

"Too... miraculous, simply incredible." Duomeng widened his eyes, shaking his head in disbelief as he muttered to himself.

Fortunately, the time Qian Yun's Martial Soul remained manifested was not long; after a few breaths, he retracted his Martial Soul as if by instinct.

Coming back to his senses, Qian Yun saw everyone staring at him as if they had seen a ghost, and he couldn't help but ask in confusion, "What's wrong?"

"Qian Yun, your eyes... how did they turn gold?" Hu Liena pointed at his eyes.

"My eyes? Could it be that my Martial Soul is my eyes?" Qian Yun touched his face, feeling a bit puzzled.

"Kid, we can now confirm that both you and the young girl beside you have undergone spontaneous awakening of your Martial Souls, which means the quality of your Martial Souls must be exceptionally high!" The old man who had been silent beside Duomeng finally spoke up, confirming the special circumstances of the two.

"Elder Li, are you saying they both truly possess spontaneously awakened Martial Souls?" Duomeng couldn't help but exclaim upon hearing this conclusion.

The old man addressed as Elder Li nodded. "Mm, I cannot think of a more reasonable deduction than this. According to the records in the Library of Martial Soul Hall, Martial Souls of extremely high quality are not only awakened at specific times; they can also awaken spontaneously when the host encounters a critical situation. Of course, such a case is one in ten million."

Hearing his words, Qian Yun nodded thoughtfully.