Su Yuntao: You Still Have to Think About Joining Spirit Hall?

Nuoding City, Stone Mirror Village.

Most of the villagers here had stone or mirror Martial Souls.

The annual Martial Soul Awakening ceremony was underway in a house in the middle of the village.

The one in charge of awakening Martial Souls was Su Yuntao, a deacon from Nuoding City's Martial Soul Branch Hall.

"Stone stele Martial Soul, no Soul Power. You can't become a Soul Master. Next."

"Mirror Martial Soul, no Soul Power... Next."

"..."

Not one of the eleven six-year-old children had Soul Power. Su Yuntao turned his attention to the last child.

He had noticed that this six-year-old was different from the start. The child was composed and had a resolute gaze, reminding Su Yuntao of Tang San from Holy Soul Village.

Before coming to Stone Mirror Village, he had presided over the awakening ceremony in Holy Soul Village. Tang San had acted much like the child before him.

Though both were only six years old, they gave him the impression of being mature and steady.

The thought of Tang San's Trash Martial Soul, Blue Silver Grass, and his Innate Full Soul Power flashed through Su Yuntao's mind.

He felt a surge of anticipation. Would the child before him awaken Soul Power? With that thought, Su Yuntao said, "You're the last one. Stand in the middle of the awakening formation."

Ling Yun took a deep breath and stepped into the awakening formation.

Ever since he'd learned that this was Douluo Continent, he'd been waiting for this day.

"Clear your mind and carefully sense the changes in your body!" Su Yuntao reminded him. Then he poured Soul Power into the six Awakening Stones. Flecks of golden light drifted out, more than the total number produced by all the children before him.

Seeing this, Su Yuntao's anticipation grew.

Ling Yun felt warmth spread through his body, and he relaxed more than he ever had before. A warm current surged from deep within his bloodline, then split in two and flowed toward his hands. He clenched his left hand and willed it—the Martial Soul in his left hand appeared and vanished in an instant.

Su Yuntao's voice rang out. "Hold out your right hand!"

Ling Yun instinctively opened his right hand. A mirror hovered silently in his palm! It was circular, with a golden frame. Half the mirror's surface was white and half red, the two colors embracing one another like the Yin-Yang fish of the Taiji symbol. Each color took up half, but their proportions could change with Ling Yun's thoughts. Yin and yang transformed at will, their proportions and size entirely at his command.

"Yin-Yang Mirror!" Ling Yun spoke the name conveyed to him by his Martial Soul.

"Yin-Yang Mirror! Yin and yang in its name..." Su Yuntao had his own standards for judging Martial Souls. Names that sounded impressive and carried attributes usually belonged to powerful Martial Souls.

He stared at the Yin-Yang Mirror for two breaths. Then an ancient, boundless aura surfaced. With his Lone Wolf Martial Soul Possessed, he looked like a werewolf. Now his eyes had turned greener—and brighter!

"Quick, put your Martial Soul away. Just think about withdrawing it, then put your hand on the Soul Power testing crystal ball."

Ling Yun did as he was told. The next moment, the blue crystal ball blazed with dazzling light, like a hundred-watt bulb.

"Innate Full Soul Power! Hahaha..."

Su Yuntao opened the door and sent the other children outside. Then he canceled his Martial Soul Possession, returned to his handsome self, and broke into a broad smile.

"Um... Xiao Yun! I'd like to invite you to join Spirit Hall."

"Thank you for the invitation. I'm used to being free and unrestrained. Joining Spirit Hall is a major decision, so let me go home and think it over."

"Think it over? You have to think about joining Spirit Hall? What's there to think about?" Su Yuntao grew anxious. He was desperate to get ahead!

With talent like this, recruiting him into Spirit Hall would be a major accomplishment. Su Yuntao would have no shortage of resources to cultivate to the rank of Soul Elder.

Spirit Hall had branch halls all across Douluo Continent. No matter how remote the area, Spirit Hall staff visited to awaken the Martial Souls of children of the appropriate age. Why? To find talent!

If Ling Yun joined Spirit Hall, then as the one who brought him in, Su Yuntao might even rise from deacon to head of the Nuoding City branch hall!

With that thought, Su Yuntao became even more fervent in his pitch. "You might not know what Spirit Hall represents."

"Spirit Hall is the holy land of Soul Masters, the continent's number-one Soul Master organization, and the best choice for commoner Soul Masters."

"You might also not know what Innate Full Soul Power means! Spirit Hall's records clearly show that in the past hundred years, only nineteen people on Douluo Continent have possessed Innate Full Soul Power."

"With your talent, if you join Spirit Hall, there's a good chance His Holiness the Pope will take you as a disciple."

"His Holiness the Pope is a Titled Douluo. Now do you understand?"

Ling Yun could understand Su Yuntao's thinking, but being stared at so unabashedly made him very uncomfortable.

As for Bibi Dong taking him as a disciple, the fact that he was male ruled out that possibility.

After the secret chamber incident with Qian Xunji, and after the Rakshasa God chose her as the inheritor of its Godhood, Bibi Dong had gone mad. Her mind was completely unsound.

She was a ticking time bomb.

If Qian Daoliu had offered to take him as a disciple, Ling Yun would have dropped to his knees and pledged himself without hesitation! There was no shame in clinging to a powerful backer.

Every major power probably had people who believed that if they couldn't have something, they should destroy it, but Ling Yun wasn't afraid. Feng Xiaotian and Oscar, both with Innate Full Soul Power, were doing just fine. That proved it was still a relatively peaceful era. In most cases, people tried to win over those with Innate Full Soul Power; if that failed, they would at least seek to be on good terms with them.

Besides, he had a cheat of his own. It couldn't make him invincible outright, but it could keep him safe.

With a trump card in hand, he had plenty of options.

He had nothing against Spirit Hall itself, but with Bibi Dong as its Pope, joining Spirit Hall was out of the question.

Spirit Hall's upper ranks were already rotten to the core! The Qian Daoliu faction had the ability to clean things up, but they stayed out of it, having retreated behind the scenes.

Bibi Dong was bent on destroying the Angel bloodline. Later, she would even want to destroy the entire continent—and herself.

With that madwoman as Pope, Spirit Hall could go to whoever wanted it.

"Master Su Yuntao, you don't need to persuade me. I'm very grateful that you awakened my Martial Soul. I'm not the kind of person who forgets a kindness, but I don't want to go against my heart either. I yearn for freedom."

"I swear on my Martial Soul that once I've grown strong, I'll help you break through one major rank!"

"If it's convenient, please get me a Soul Hunting permit. I need to enter the Soul Hunting Forest to obtain a Soul Ring."

Su Yuntao's heart shattered. How could such a promising talent refuse to join Spirit Hall? He couldn't understand it.

Ling Yun's oath on his Martial Soul made him accept the reality: the child wasn't going to join Spirit Hall, at least not for now.

"Very well! If it comes to me, I'm lucky; if it doesn't, it's fate!"

"I was too eager. Think it over carefully when you get home!"

Su Yuntao took out paper and a pen and quickly filled in Ling Yun's Martial Soul information. "This is your Martial Soul certificate. Come to the Nuoding City Martial Soul Branch Hall in half a month, and I'll take you to the Soul Hunting Forest!"

Su Yuntao thought that there was no harm in building a good relationship first. As for Spirit Hall's reward, he would have to see whether the upcoming villages had any promising children!

"Thanks, Brother Tao!"

"Brother Tao, you're a real friend. With a friend like you, I'll take you with me when I make it big!"

Hearing that, Su Yuntao felt much better. He looked at Ling Yun and sighed. His chance at a promotion...