Flower Grass Village

(This book actually follows the Spirit Hall route.)

(Chrysanthemum Douluo will appear directly in Chapter 20 and find the protagonist in Chapter 22.)

Balak Kingdom

Flower Grass Village

The village earned its name because most of its residents possessed Martial Souls in the form of various exotic flowers and plants.

A middle-aged man wearing square-framed glasses and sporting a rather sleazy-looking face was actually flying toward Flower Grass Village with wings on his back.

He had only just approached the village and had not even made out its outline when a fragrance rushed toward him.

Flender caught a fresh floral scent head-on.

Flender sniffed, surprise appearing on his face. "Why is it so fragrant?"

Flender continued forward and arrived beside a waterfall, where he looked down.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

Accompanied by the roaring waterfall at his side,

Flender saw a small village below the mountain, blooming with flowers.

There were not many people in the village.

Altogether, there were only a little over a hundred.

"I never expected such a beautiful place to exist within the Balak Kingdom."

Flender spread his wings and swooped down into Flower Grass Village.

Once inside the village, the floral fragrance became increasingly distinct. Even the air smelled fresh.

Nor was it overpowering.

"What a pity this place is still some distance from Suotuo City. Otherwise, I really would have wanted to move the academy here."

Flender did not conceal himself.

Quite a few people had seen him flying down from the mountain.

The villagers of Flower Grass Village gathered around him and respectfully asked, "May we ask what business this Lord Soul Master has in our Flower Grass Village?"

"Flower Grass Village?"

Flender raised his brows slightly.

A few days ago, he had gone to a place called Grass Chicken Village and picked up a Phoenix Soul Master with Rank Nine Innate Soul Power.

He had not expected to stumble upon a Flower Grass Village today.

Flender immediately felt that this was practically a fated encounter ordained by heaven.

He began imagining himself getting lucky enough to pick up another little monster.

The shrewdness unique to a merchant flickered in his eyes.

He looked at the villagers and asked, "I'm from the Spirit Hall in Suotuo City. I happened to be passing through, so I wanted to ask whether your village has any children who are six years old and have not yet awakened their Martial Souls. If so, I'm free anyway, so I can help awaken them."

At those words, delight immediately appeared on the villagers' faces. They bowed to Flender in thanks. "Thank you, Lord Soul Master. Our village indeed has several children who have not yet awakened their Martial Souls. We'll go call them over right away."

As they spoke, an older man stepped forward and led Flender to Flower Grass Village's Spirit Hall.

Though it was called a Spirit Hall, it was actually just a thatched hut.

Inside stood only a platform that looked as though it was used to hold a crystal ball for testing Soul Power.

Although the environment was crude, Flender had long since grown accustomed to such sights.

Before long, villagers brought over six children.

Seeing that there were only six of them, Flender was greatly disappointed.

Awakening Martial Souls was like opening blind boxes.

The more boxes one opened, the higher the chances of getting gold.

Still, since Flender had said he would help, he naturally would not go back on his word.

He had the children enter the hexagram formation he had already set up, one by one.

"Martial Soul: Blue Silver Grass. Useless Martial Soul. No Soul Power. Next."

"Martial Soul: Lone Bamboo. Useless Martial Soul. Rank One Soul Power. Cultivate well, and you may have a chance to become a Soul Master in the future."

"Martial Soul: Rose. Plant-type Martial Soul. Rank Two Soul Power. If you become a Soul Master in the future, you can work as a gardener for a noble household."

"..."

Soon, it was Lu Fan's turn.

The moment Flender saw Lu Fan, his eyes lit up.

This child was clearly different from the others.

He was the sort who could be spotted at a glance even in a crowd.

"Come forward."

Flender urged him on. He could not wait to open the blind box.

Having reached the final step, Lu Fan naturally would not shrink back.

Gritting his teeth, he stepped into the awakening formation and began awakening his Martial Soul.

"Raise your right hand."

When Flender saw light flowing into Lu Fan's right hand, he knew that Lu Fan's Martial Soul would definitely appear there.

Hearing that, Lu Fan raised his right hand and looked expectantly at the Martial Soul he was about to awaken.

A large yellow flower appeared in his right hand.

Its petals resembled eagle talons, layered one over another.

A faint, fresh fragrance drifted from the flower.

Flender frowned. "It's just an ordinary chrysanthemum."

He shook his head, thinking that he had indeed lost his mind to assume Lu Fan might awaken a powerful Martial Soul just because he looked handsome.

If that were true, then he and his brothers would not even qualify to become Soul Masters.

"Let's test your Innate Soul Power first..."

However, before Flender could finish speaking,

A sudden change occurred.

Flender felt a powerful suction force constantly pulling at his Soul Power.

At first, the strange occurrence startled him somewhat.

But in the next instant, he immediately realized what was happening.

"Martial Soul Mutation!"

He looked eagerly at Lu Fan—more precisely, at the chrysanthemum in Lu Fan's hand.

"If it mutates, it can only be in a positive direction. After all, it's a chrysanthemum, a useless Martial Soul to begin with. Even if it underwent a malignant mutation, there'd be nowhere for it to get worse."

First, the chrysanthemum began to grow larger. Then, its petals started changing from yellow to purple.

"Has it become poison-attributed?"

Seeing the chrysanthemum turn from yellow to purple, Flender thought it had become poisonous.

However, the chrysanthemum's transformation had not stopped.

It continued.

A moment later,

A flower with purple petals and golden stamens, huge and resplendent, quietly rested in Lu Fan's hand. Its petals were soft and fluffy, with neither fragrance nor scent. Its tall stamens glittered with golden light at their tips.

Its stem stood straight and upright, purple streaked with gold, faintly giving off an overbearing aura.

"What is this?"

Flender stared at the flower in Lu Fan's hand. It seemed vaguely familiar, as though he had seen it somewhere before, yet he could not recall where no matter how hard he tried.

"What is your Martial Soul?"

Flender asked.

Lu Fan shook his head. "I don't know. It seems to have changed from a chrysanthemum into another kind of flower."

Flender rolled his eyes. "Do you need to tell me that?"

Still, he waved his hand, signaling for Lu Fan to come test his Innate Soul Power.

"Your Martial Soul is definitely a beneficial mutation. It's visibly much stronger than that little chrysanthemum from before. Your Innate Soul Power should not be below Rank Five."

Lu Fan eagerly placed his hand on the pale blue crystal ball, curious about how much improvement a beneficial Martial Soul Mutation could bring him.

Whoosh!

In an instant,

The pale blue crystal ball was immediately filled with dazzling blue light.

"Innate Full Soul Power!"

Flender was dumbfounded at the sight.

He had never seen Innate Full Soul Power in his entire life.

The greatest talent he had ever seen was that fellow he had taken in at Grass Chicken Village a few days ago, who had turned into a little fatty because of his Martial Soul awakening.

But that fellow only had Rank Nine Innate Soul Power, and his Martial Soul still had flaws.

"I truly never expected such an unexpected delight today."

Seeing Lu Fan's Innate Full Soul Power, Flender grinned so widely that his mouth nearly split open.

"Since I was the one who awakened this child, he is fated to join my Shrek Academy!"

As Lu Fan awakened the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum,

Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan, far away in Spirit City, suddenly sensed something.

He felt an aura that shared the same origin as his own.

But when he tried to confirm it, that aura disappeared once more.