Ultimate Body Martial Soul, God-Level Martial Soul

The vermilion gates of the Long Residence stood wide open.

Brand-new red lanterns hung before the entrance, while laughter, music, and the sounds of celebration drifted faintly from within the courtyard.

Today, the wealthiest family in Body Village was hosting a joyous occasion. By custom, they would distribute gift money, wine, and food throughout the village, and smiles filled everyone's faces.

Long Zhanye stopped before the gates and looked up at the slightly weathered plaque above them—"Long Residence."

Those two vigorous characters had been inscribed personally by an elder of the sect back when his grandfather, Long Tianxing, had risen to prominence, symbolizing a glorious era now past.

"Young Master, hurry inside. Master and Madam must be getting anxious," Old Ma urged softly.

Long Zhanye nodded and stepped over the threshold.

The courtyard was festooned with lanterns and decorations, red silk carpeting the ground. Guests filled the place, creating a lively, jubilant scene.

The moment he entered the front courtyard, a flushed, middle-aged man dressed in luxurious brocade strode over with a hearty laugh. It was his father, Long Yufeng.

"My precious son! You're finally back!" Long Yufeng pulled his son into an embrace, patting his back forcefully, unable to contain his joy.

"Go change into your ceremonial robes! Your future wife's side has been ready for ages—they're just waiting for the groom to make his entrance!"

"She's Xiahou Ling, the talented young lady meticulously raised by the Bright Jade Sect! You and that little monster of mine are a match made in heaven!"

Held by his father, Long Zhanye's body stiffened almost imperceptibly for an instant.

He gently freed himself, and some of his usual calmness gave way to the helplessness and sharpness belonging to a young man.

"Father, I told you not to hug me like that. A match made in heaven? We haven't even met. What makes it heaven-sent?"

"Hey, you brat!" Long Yufeng did not mind at all and kept chuckling. "Didn't your mother show you her portrait? She's beautiful as a fairy, isn't she? And she's talented too!"

"At thirteen, she's already a three-ring Soul Elder! She may be a little behind you, but she's still among the best of her generation! Most importantly, she's gentle and sweet-tempered. Your mother likes her immensely!"

"Father," Long Zhanye interrupted calmly, though his eyes remained clear and resolute, "what I seek is the ultimate power of the Body Martial Soul—the peak Grandfather once touched, and an even higher summit beyond it."

"Marriage and descendants are customs for the sect's continuation, the village's expectations of the Long Family, and responsibilities I must bear."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the blinding red that filled the courtyard. "I will fulfill that responsibility, but no more than that."

The smile on Long Yufeng's face faded slightly. Seeing the stubbornness and near-solitary focus in his son's eyes, so far beyond his years, he sighed inwardly.

Ever since he was little, this child had regarded his grandfather as his sole beacon. His heart held only the vast path of the Spirit Master.

In the end, Long Yufeng merely patted his son heavily on the shoulder, his tone complicated. "Just... go change your clothes first."

"The guests, especially those from the bride's side and the sect, will be here soon."

Long Zhanye inclined his head and turned toward his room.

As he passed through the covered corridor,

his mother, Dantai Jing, emerged from a side room, carrying a neatly folded set of black ceremonial robes embroidered with dark golden cloud patterns.

The moment she saw her son, her eyes filled with tenderness and a trace of barely perceptible delight.

"Ye'er, come try these ceremonial robes. Mother altered them again according to your measurements."

Dantai Jing led her son into the room and personally helped him change, her movements gentle and meticulous.

Studying her son in the mirror—tall and upright, handsome yet somewhat aloof—she hesitated for a moment before speaking softly. "Mother asked around about Ling'er. She's said to be very quiet and gentle, and her talent is good too..."

"It's just that her Martial Soul, the 'Blood Bat,' is said to be rather... unusual."

Through the mirror, Long Zhanye saw the faint worry between his mother's brows.

"Unusual?" he asked.

"Yes... The Bright Jade Sect reportedly values her Martial Soul greatly, but there are some rumors outside from people who do not understand..."

Dantai Jing lowered her voice further, as though afraid someone might overhear. "In this world, people are never very tolerant of 'unusual' Martial Souls, especially in girls."

"Ye'er, once you... marry her, you should protect her more. Since you are destined to become husband and wife, you will be the closest people to each other."

Seeing the genuine concern in his mother's eyes, something soft within Long Zhanye's heart was gently stirred.

He nodded. His voice remained calm, but now carried greater solemnity. "I understand, Mother."

The youth in the mirror wore black ceremonial robes that made his face seem like polished jade and his figure like slender bamboo.

Though the silver mark between his brows had already vanished, the sharpness he had revealed earlier had faded from his eyes, leaving them tranquil as a deep pool.

Outside the window, the festive music rose ever higher, while the guests' clamor surged in like a tide.

When Long Zhanye pushed open the door, the uproar outside and its vivid colors instantly swallowed him whole.

Music, laughter, the crisp clinking of wine cups, and the mingled fragrance of food and flowers rushed toward him.

He stood within the doorway, the hem of his black ceremonial robes brushing the doorframe. His figure was straight and tall, yet he carried a calmness utterly out of place amid such revelry.

The reason he had never truly defied his father, and had even silently accepted an engagement that concerned the rest of his life,

was not merely because his focus on reaching the pinnacle of Martial Souls left him no time for anything else. The deeper reason was his father Long Yufeng's congenital heart disease, one no medicine could cure.

This chronic illness left Long Yufeng with the aptitude of a top-tier Body Martial Soul, the "Heart," yet unable to endure intense emotional fluctuations or high-intensity cultivation.

Thus, though he was already past fifty, his Soul Power remained stalled at the level of a three-ring Soul Elder, and his three Soul Rings were nothing more than ordinary century-old yellow rings.

Whenever his father laughed heartily over his small achievements in cultivation or frowned anxiously because he came home late once in a while, Long Zhanye's heart would tighten with his, afraid that frail organ would not endure it.

Thirteen years had passed.

He had grown accustomed to being the "good son" who put his parents at ease and satisfied the sect.

Studying, cultivating, getting engaged... He silently walked the path expected of him, freezing away every trace of rebellion and self...

Fate truly was cruelly ironic. Long Yufeng's own cultivation had been fraught with hardship, yet he had fathered a son so astonishing that he defied all reason.

Twin Martial Souls were already one in ten thousand, but for both Twin Martial Souls to be top-tier Body Martial Souls was unheard of!

Long Zhanye's first Martial Soul was the "Heart," inherited through his father's bloodline. As for his second Martial Soul...

At the Martial Soul Awakening ceremony when he was six, the faint silver vertical mark on his forehead, which had been like a birthmark since birth, suddenly bloomed open. The Body Sect elder presiding over the ceremony nearly cried out in shock!

"Eyes?!"

"No, it's the Heavenly Eye!!!"

That was right—the Heavenly Eye!

It was the Ultimate Body Martial Soul, the Heavenly Eye, believed by the Body Sect to exist only as a theoretical possibility!

The Heavenly Eye could also be called a God-Level Martial Soul!

Because it did not belong to any part of the human body. It was bestowed by Heaven itself!