At dawn, six-year-old Xiao Qing picked up a bowl of watery porridge with every grain of rice countable. He ate it hastily with a few pieces of radish, then headed out.
Today was Martial Soul Awakening day. Xiao Qing couldn't be late, or no one would take this orphan somewhere else to undergo the awakening.
Heavens, please bless me. I don't ask to awaken a god-level Martial Soul; I just hope I awaken a decent one!
On the way to the awakening, Xiao Qing, who didn't believe in gods, kept praying for heaven's protection.
The reason Xiao Qing did this was that the village stood right next to Star Dou Forest.
Ever since he had become aware of the world around him, lost Soul Beasts had wandered out of the forest from time to time. They came even more often in winter!
If he didn't awaken a powerful Martial Soul and get away from this godforsaken place, he might one day be killed by a Soul Beast that wandered in.
"Xiao Qing, you're here early!"
"Mm."
As soon as he reached the awakening site, Xiao Qing met Chang Feng, the village chief of Clear Spring Village and a thirty-fourth-level Battle Soul Master.
"You're here. Wait here for a while! Once everyone arrives, we'll begin the Martial Soul Awakening."
After exchanging pleasantries, Chang Feng paid no further attention to Xiao Qing, the orphan.
If Xiao Qing's Soul Master parents were still alive, Chang Feng naturally wouldn't have been so cold. But what could they do? The couple had been unlucky.
One suffered a relapse of old injuries after giving birth and died after a few years without recovering. The other went into Star Dou Forest to earn money to pay off the medical bills and never returned, leaving behind a burden.
If they hadn't been well-liked while alive, the villagers wouldn't have pooled their resources to raise that burden.
As if he'd suddenly remembered something, Chang Feng turned around with a fake smile and spoke to Xiao Qing in an unquestionable tone.
"Xiao Qing, our village has been a little short on food lately. We might have to wait a few days before we can give you your share."
"All right, Chief."
Having lived in Clear Spring Village for years, Xiao Qing naturally knew what kind of two-faced tiger the man before him was.
They were only willing to raise him because his biological parents had been Soul Masters, and he might become one too.
If he showed his talent as a Soul Master today, Xiao Qing could guarantee they'd turn around and sell him to make up for all the food they'd "voluntarily" given him over the years.
Clear Spring Village had only seventy or eighty residents, so just four children were old enough to undergo Martial Soul Awakening this year.
Seeing that everyone due for awakening this year had arrived, Chang Feng pushed open the door to the awakening room. Inside were the tools used for Martial Soul Awakening.
Every year around this time, if the surrounding villages had children of the right age, their village chiefs would go to Spirit Hall to borrow these tools.
That way, the people at the branch hall wouldn't have to go through the trouble of visiting every village. They could also squeeze some extra benefits out of the villages.
Of course, to make the village chiefs willing, Spirit Hall had promised that any village whose children awakened Soul Power would receive Gold Soul Coins.
Chang Feng had been conducting awakenings for the village for over a decade. He knew the process like the back of his hand.
In four or five minutes, he had set up the awakening array and began calling the children forward.
"Er Gou, come up!"
Er Gou hurried into the awakening array when he heard his name, watching Chang Feng nervously.
"Relax. Your parents are both One-Ring Soul Masters, so as their son, you're bound to be a Soul Master too."
As he reassured Er Gou, Chang Feng immediately activated his Martial Soul Possession.
"Gale Wolf, possess me!"
One white and two yellow Soul Rings appeared beneath Chang Feng's feet.
Under Chang Feng's guidance, Er Gou completed his Martial Soul Awakening in no time. All that remained was to test his Innate Soul Power.
"Er Gou, put your hand on this stone. It can detect whether you have Soul Power."
Chang Feng picked up the blue crystal ball and held it out to Er Gou.
Er Gou nervously closed his eyes, then tremblingly reached out his right hand and placed it on the crystal ball.
Xiao Qing stood at the back of the line, tilting his head to look at the crystal ball in Chang Feng's hand.
The crystal ball, which had been completely dark, gave off a faint glow, illuminating Chang Feng's face a little.
"Er Gou, your Martial Soul is the Dog Beating Stick. Your Innate Soul Power is level three!"
When Chang Feng announced Er Gou's Innate Soul Power, Er Gou froze for a moment, then excitedly ran off to tell his parents the good news.
Watching Er Gou leave, Chang Feng gloated inwardly: Ten Gold Soul Coins in the bag!
But while some rejoiced, others worried. The next two children both had zero Innate Soul Power and no aptitude to become Soul Masters.
After sending everyone else away, only Chang Feng and Xiao Qing remained inside and outside the awakening room.
"Xiao Qing, come forward."
Only after Xiao Qing stepped forward did Chang Feng activate the awakening array, infusing the hexagram with Soul Power.
As Chang Feng poured in his Soul Power, a barrier of light enveloped Xiao Qing.
More and more points of light appeared around Xiao Qing inside the barrier, until a sudden warmth welled up within him and the lights stopped multiplying.
The warmth coursed through his meridians in one full circuit before finally flowing slowly into his right hand.
Xiao Qing suddenly felt as though something was about to emerge from his right hand.
In the blink of an eye, his right hand burst into dazzling seven-colored light.
The light dazzled Xiao Qing, so he instinctively closed his eyes and turned his head away, not looking to see what he had awakened.
"Xiao Qing, you can open your eyes now. It's all right!"
As soon as he opened his eyes, Xiao Qing saw Chang Feng looking at him with a complicated expression.
Could my Martial Soul be useless?
Unable to believe it, Xiao Qing turned to look at his right hand.
When he saw the glowing ball in his palm, he rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
Wait, isn't this the Prism Ball from the Kingdom of Locke?! How did it become my Martial Soul?!
Once he was sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him, Xiao Qing suddenly felt his career as a Soul Master waving goodbye to him.
Xiao Qing really couldn't think of any use for the Prism Ball. Was he supposed to carry it around and catch pets with it?
"A gem-type Martial Soul. If you have Soul Power, you'll be an auxiliary-type Soul Master in the future."
Chang Feng eagerly held the crystal ball out to Xiao Qing. He wanted to know whether Xiao Qing had Soul Power.
He'd heard that the great clans especially liked auxiliary-type Soul Masters and would pay a very high price for them!
A few years ago, a neighboring village had sold a child who could become an auxiliary-type Soul Master and earned a full ten thousand Gold Soul Coins.
In an instant, the crystal ball in Chang Feng's hand burst into dazzling light.
"Y-Your Innate Soul Power is level seven!"
Chang Feng swallowed, staring at the crystal ball in his hand in disbelief.
As a three-ring Soul Master, Chang Feng had lived for decades, yet this was the first time he'd ever seen someone with Innate Soul Power above level five.
"Xiao Qing, your Innate Soul Power is level seven! Level seven!"
Chang Feng lowered the crystal ball and grabbed Xiao Qing by the shoulders with both hands, speaking to him excitedly. He could already see mountains of Gold Soul Coins waving at him!
"What? My Innate Soul Power is level seven! It's actually level seven!"
After learning that his Innate Soul Power was level seven, Xiao Qing was stunned too. He'd never expected his Innate Soul Power to be so high.
After seeing that his Martial Soul was the Prism Ball, Xiao Qing had already prepared himself for Innate Soul Power below level five.
"Xiao Qing, stay home for the next few days. If you don't have enough to eat, just go to my house and ask your auntie. Don't be shy. You're the hope of our whole village now!"
Chang Feng's face was practically splitting with glee. Whether he sold Xiao Qing to a great clan for money or handed him over to Spirit Hall in exchange for an official post, he stood to make a killing.
Now all he had to do was keep Xiao Qing settled, giving himself enough time to contact a buyer or secure enough benefits from Spirit Hall.
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