Awakening Failure

In the room, Su Mo sat in meditation, cultivating.

The Devouring Martial Soul hovered in the void, gathering Spiritual Energy from all around him.

Endless Spiritual Energy transformed into Runes, integrating into Su Mo's flesh and blood.

Su Mo was currently cultivating the third level of the Myriad Manifestations Divine Art.

After reaching perfection in the second level of the Myriad Manifestations Divine Art, Su Mo's physical strength had surpassed Six Tiger Strength, though it was still slightly weaker than Seven Tiger Strength.

Now, cultivating the third level of the technique, his physical strength was rapidly climbing once more.

Vast amounts of Spiritual Energy entered Su Mo's body, all converting into 'Form Runes' and integrating into his flesh and blood.

Su Mo's body was like a sponge, joyfully absorbing the Spiritual Energy Runes.

Time flew by like a white steed glimpsed through a crack. In the blink of an eye, ten days had passed.

During these ten days, Su Mo only spent a small amount of time condensing True Qi. After reaching the peak of Qi Cultivation Level Seven, he focused entirely on cultivating his physical body.

The speed at which his physical strength improved was even faster than the speed at which his cultivation level increased.

In ten days, he had reached the middle stage of the third level of the Myriad Manifestations Divine Art.

Su Mo felt explosive power within him; a single punch could shatter the air.

Eight Tiger Strength!

His pure physical strength was now equivalent to that of a Martial Artist at Qi Cultivation Level Eight.

In fact, the cultivation difficulty of the third level of the Myriad Manifestations Divine Art had increased more than tenfold compared to the first level.

However, Su Mo's Martial Soul's speed in absorbing Spiritual Energy had also increased more than tenfold compared to before.

Hoo!

Su Mo stopped cultivating, stood up, and walked out of the room.

"Xi'er, what are you spacing out about?"

At this moment, Xi'er was sitting on a stone bench in the courtyard, resting her chin on her hands, her cherry lips slightly upturned, looking incredibly cute.

"Brother Su Mo, you're out of seclusion!"

Seeing Su Mo emerge, Xi'er immediately exclaimed with joy.

"Mm!"

"Xi'er, have you cultivated to the peak of Body Tempering yet?"

Su Mo asked.

Hearing this, Xi'er's lips curved upwards, forming a beautiful arc. The smile on her small face bloomed like a white orchid.

"Not failing Brother Su Mo's expectations, Xi'er has already completed the Nine Layers of Body Tempering."

Xi'er tilted her fair neck slightly, saying happily.

"Good, after today's challenge matches are over, I'll help you awaken your Martial Soul."

Su Mo was also very happy for Xi'er, smiling, "From now on, my Xi'er will also be a true Martial Artist!"

"Hee hee!"

Xi'er giggled.

"Let's go! Xi'er, today is the day of the family gathering's challenge matches."

Su Mo took Xi'er's hand and walked towards the family's training ground.

On the training ground, a simple viewing stand had been erected.

On the stand, the Patriarch Su Hong and the various Elders had already arrived.

Below the stand, ten sandalwood chairs were neatly arranged. Around the chairs, over a hundred people had gathered – all the young disciples of the Su family.

The arrival of Su Mo and Xi'er inevitably attracted many gazes.

Because of his battle with Wei Liang, Su Mo was now considered a prominent figure in the Su family.

However, there were also those who dismissed him with disdain.

For example, Su Tianhao and Su Hai, who, relying on their status, didn't even consider a mere Su Mo worthy of their attention.

"Hmph!"

Su Yu glanced at Su Mo from afar and snorted coldly, feeling quite jealous.

He had snatched Liu Yushan, yet Su Mo had found an even more beautiful woman, making him extremely envious.

Su Mo ignored the gazes of the crowd and arrived at the training ground.

After waiting for a moment, Patriarch Su Hong scanned the surroundings, then stood up and spoke.

"Alright, everyone is almost here. The challenge matches will now begin."

"Now, I will announce the ten seed disciple spots."

"Su Tianhao!"

"Su Hai!"

"Su Yu!"

"Su Mei!"

"Su Mo!"

"Su Peng!"

"..."

Su Hong announced the ten spots.

"You ten are the ten seed contestants for this competition. Now, you may take your seats in front."

"As for the rest, if you believe you have sufficient strength, you may challenge any one of them. Each person has two chances."

"Alright, the challenge matches begin now!"

The ten seed disciples took their seats. Su Mo was one of them and also sat down.

In truth, Su Mo knew that this so-called challenge match was merely a formality.

These ten seed disciples were basically the strongest ten among the younger generation of the Su family.

Su Tianhao and Su Hai were both at the Ninth Layer of Qi Cultivation. The woman named Su Mei was the Second Elder's daughter and was at the Eighth Layer of Qi Cultivation.

The others were at least at the Sixth Tier of Qi Cultivation, with the lowest being at that level.

Following that, people began to challenge the seed disciples one after another.

The targets of almost everyone's challenges were those disciples at the Sixth Tier of Qi Cultivation.

After half an hour of fighting, the challenge matches concluded.

Except for one disciple at the Sixth Tier of Qi Cultivation who successfully challenged and took a seed disciple's spot, everyone else failed their challenges.

Su Mo and a few others, due to their superior strength, were not challenged by anyone throughout the entire process.

Soon, the challenge matches ended, and Su Mo prepared to leave.

"Su Mo."

At this moment, Su Yu walked towards Su Mo.

"Is something the matter?" Su Mo asked.

"Heh heh! Have you heard? Wei Rufeng of the Wei family has publicly declared that if you participate in this Martial Arts Competition, he will break all four of your limbs and cripple your cultivation to avenge his brother and Wei Liang."

Su Yu said with a smile, his eyes filled with schadenfreude.

"Wei Rufeng? He's back too!"

Su Mo's brows twitched.

This Wei Rufeng was Wei Lin's elder brother, the eldest son of the Wei family Patriarch Wei Wankong, and also the Wei family's number one genius.

He had left Linyang City a year ago and joined the Blazing Sun Sect, one of the four great sects of the Tian Yue Kingdom.

"If he wants to avenge his brother, I fear he lacks the strength!"

Su Mo said dismissively, shaking his head. He then left with Xi'er.

"Hmph! He's truly arrogant. He defeated Wei Liang and his confidence has inflated to this extent?"

Su Yu sneered.

Leaving the training ground, Su Mo held Xi'er's hand and walked towards the family ancestral hall.

"Xi'er, I'm going to help you awaken your Martial Soul now."

Su Mo said to the girl beside him.

"Mhm!"

Xi'er nodded, her expression a little apprehensive.

"Brother Su Mo, what do you think I'll awaken?"

Xi'er asked.

"Heh heh! I don't have clairvoyant abilities!"

Su Mo chuckled, then added, "However, my Xi'er is so beautiful, like a noble Phoenix. The Martial Soul you awaken will surely be extraordinary."

"Brother Su Mo, you're teasing me again!"

Upon hearing Su Mo's words, Xi'er's face instantly flushed with shyness.

Soon, Su Mo and Xi'er arrived at the family ancestral hall.

Inside the Su family ancestral hall, there was a small altar called the Soul Awakening Altar, which was used for awakening Martial Souls.

However, activating the Soul Awakening Altar once required a significant amount of True Qi or Spiritual Energy, which was quite troublesome.

Therefore, the Su family disciples' Martial Soul awakenings are generally performed together after multiple people have completed Body Tempering.

"Xi'er, get on the altar."

Entering the ancestral hall, Su Mo said to Xi'er.

Xi'er took a deep breath, lifted her delicate steps, and slowly walked onto the altar, then sat down cross-legged.

Afterward, Su Mo walked behind the altar.

There was a groove there, which was the core of the Soul Awakening Altar formation.

In the past, when the Su family members awakened their Martial Souls, several Elders would use their True Qi to activate this formation, or they would use the Demonic Cores of many Spirit Martial Realm demonic beasts to activate it.

Although Su Mo didn't have such powerful True Qi, nor a large number of Spirit Martial Realm Demonic Cores, he had Spirit Stones.

Flipping his palm, Su Mo took out a Spirit Stone from his Storage Ring and placed it in the groove.

Buzz!

As Su Mo placed the Spirit Stone, the formation quickly began to operate.

The next moment, a large amount of white light erupted from the altar.

Immediately, the white light transformed into strange Runes that drilled into Xi'er's body.

Inside Xi'er's body, it was as if a phantom was writhing.

Time slowly passed.

Soon, Su Mo saw cracks appearing on the Spirit Stone in the groove. The Spirit Stone was about to collapse.

This was a sign that the Spirit Stone's Spiritual Energy was about to be depleted.

Su Mo hurriedly took out several more Spirit Stones and placed them into the groove one by one.

The Runes on the altar increased, almost completely enveloping Xi'er's body.

However, Xi'er's Martial Soul still had not awakened.

Soon, the Spiritual Energy of the second Spirit Stone was also depleted, and Su Mo placed in the third one.

After that.

The fourth one.

The tenth one.

The twentieth one.

The thirtieth one.

The fortieth one.

Su Mo's expression changed, his eyes filled with deep confusion.

This was because the Spirit Stones consumed so far far exceeded the Spiritual Energy required to awaken a Martial Soul.

Forty Spirit Stones, combined into gold, were equivalent to the Su family's income for a year.

If awakening a Martial Soul required such a massive amount of Spiritual Energy, even a large family like the Su family couldn't afford it.

Su Mo frowned, pondered for a moment, gritted his teeth, and continued to place Spirit Stones.

Fifty!

Eighty!

One hundred!

One hundred and five!

After a while, all of Su Mo's more than a hundred Spirit Stones were depleted.

And Xi'er on the altar still had not awakened her Martial Soul.

As the Spirit Stones ran out, the Soul Awakening Altar's formation stopped operating, the light receded, and it returned to calm.

Su Mo's face was grim. After spending over a hundred Spirit Stones, Xi'er's Martial Soul still hadn't awakened!

What exactly was going on?

Could it be that Xi'er had no Martial Soul?

In this world, there were indeed some people who were born without Martial Souls, and they could never become Martial Artists.

Su Mo was extremely confused. However, he dismissed this thought because he had already sensed a not-weak Martial Soul fluctuation from Xi'er.

But why hadn't it awakened?

Su Mo couldn't figure it out.

"Brother Su Mo, this... why can't I awaken my Martial Soul?"

Xi'er looked at Su Mo, her beautiful eyes also filled with confusion.

"I don't know what's going on either!"

Su Mo shook his head and said to Xi'er, "Xi'er, don't worry. We'll go ask Father later. Father is very knowledgeable and should know the reason."

Afterward, Su Mo took Xi'er out of the ancestral hall and headed towards his father Su Hong's residence.