Martial Soul's Autonomous Awakening

Yun Jingheng soon discovered that the greatest inconvenience of an infant's body was not the inability to care for himself.

While those matters were humiliating, one became numb to them once accustomed.

It was that the brain's level of development could not support complex thought.

He would often fall asleep right in the middle of thinking.

Upon waking, he would find himself drooling, with Ya Li wiping his face with a soft cloth, her eyes full of smiles.

"What was little Jingheng dreaming about? You were smiling so happily."

I wasn't smiling; that was just involuntary facial nerve spasms.

He retorted in his mind, but his mouth could only emit "ah-ah" sounds.

Yun Ming stood to the side, holding a pale blue stone and channeling something into it.

What could that be?

Yun Jingheng stared at the stone, his brain beginning to whir.

According to the original setting, the energy system of this world was called soul power, a special type of energy that could be accumulated through constant cultivation.

One could awaken a martial soul at age six, and then—

Wait.

He suddenly thought of a question.

Do I have soul power?

This body was a native of Douluo Continent, so theoretically, it should have a martial soul.

But his soul came from Earth.

In a place like Earth, let alone soul power, there wasn't even spiritual energy.

Would my soul contaminate the aptitude of this body?

This thought made him anxious for an entire day, until that night three days later.

That night, he woke up once.

The sleep schedule of an infant was agonizing; he had to wake up every two or three hours, either hungry or needing a change, more punctual than an alarm clock in a laboratory.

But this time, when he woke, he found Yun Ming sitting by the bed.

The man lowered his head, one hand gently pressed against his chest, eyes closed, as if sensing something.

Yun Jingheng did not move.

He felt a warm breath seep from Yun Ming's palm into his body, flowing slowly along a path he could not comprehend.

The breath was warm and gentle, like soaking in lukewarm water.

Then, he "saw" it.

Even with his eyes closed, he clearly "saw" inside his own body; it was an empty space, gray and hazy, containing nothing at all.

Except for a faint glimmer of light at the very center.

The point of light was tiny, smaller than a needle tip; if not for the absolute darkness, it would have been impossible to notice.

But it truly existed.

Yun Ming opened his eyes, meeting Yun Jingheng's bright, dark pupils.

Man and infant stared at each other for three seconds.

"Interesting."

Yun Ming said softly, "This little guy's soul power aptitude... is very special."

Ya Li leaned in from the side: "How so?"

"He already has soul power fluctuations at this age, though they are so weak they are almost non-existent."

Yun Ming paused, "But the source is not quite normal."

"I don't understand, explain it clearly."

"...The little guy is absorbing moonlight."

"Could his martial soul have a connection to the moon?"

"It should... why aren't you asleep yet?"

"You woke me up."

In the early morning at Sea God Lake, the water surface was as flat as a mirror.

Yun Jingheng crouched by the lake, holding a wooden bucket with both hands, scooping water into it.

It was still a bit strenuous for a six-year-old child to do such a thing; the bucket was too large, and he had to brace it against his knees to maintain his balance.

"One bucket, two buckets, three buckets..."

He counted the numbers, his hands never ceasing their work.

He was bored, left with nothing to do but water the flowers and such.

The wooden bucket was heavy, the water was icy, and the handle left deep red welts on his hands.

Yet, none of this bothered him as much as another matter.

His Martial Soul.

He was six years old.

According to the laws of the Douluo Continent, a six-year-old child should awaken their Martial Soul.

Even if it were the most ordinary farming tool, or even a trash Martial Soul, there should be something.

But he had nothing.

Three days ago, the entire Sea God Pavilion Elder Council of Shrek had come to observe his awakening ceremony.

Yun Ming, the man who made countless enemies tremble in fear, held a ball of gentle light in his cupped hands, carefully guiding it into his body.

Nothing happened.

Ya Li stood by, smiling as she said, "Perhaps our son is gifted with extraordinary talent and simply needs a bit more time."

Yun Ming did not smile.

He remained silent for a long time before saying, "Let us wait a while longer."

They tried again yesterday.

Still, nothing happened.

Yun Jingheng could feel that there was something inside him.

That gray, hazy space was still there, and the faint glimmer at its center remained—brighter than it had been in his infancy, yet still as weak as a candle flame ready to flicker out at any moment.

He tried to touch it.

The speck of light did not budge.

It was as if he were unworthy of possessing it.

"Thirty-seventh bucket."

He poured the water onto the roots of a plant blooming with small blue flowers, set the bucket down, and sat by the lake.

The lake water was clear, and he could see his own reflection.

Black hair, black eyes, and a face that was quite delicate, possessing an indescribable handsomeness.

He stared at himself in the water, and the child in the reflection stared back.

"Tell me, do I actually have a Martial Soul?"

The child in the water said nothing.

"Even if I do, why won't it awaken?"

The child in the water still said nothing.

Yun Jingheng sighed, picked up a pebble, and tossed it into the lake.

Ripples spread outward, and the reflection shattered.

Sea God Pavilion.

Yun Ming stood before the window, watching the small figure by the lake.

"Is he still watering the flowers?"

Ya Li walked over, followed his gaze, and smiled. "Yes, it is one of his few hobbies."

Ya Li leaned against his shoulder and whispered, "Do you think his Martial Soul..."

"I do not know."

Yun Ming interrupted her. "I have probed countless times; there is indeed something inside him."

"But that thing does not belong to any Martial Soul system I know of. It seems to have a consciousness of its own, unwilling to emerge."

"Then what should we do?"

"Wait."

Yun Ming's voice was calm. "Wait until it is willing to emerge, or wait until it never does."

Ya Li was silent for a moment.

"And if it never emerges?"

Yun Ming did not answer immediately.

He watched the child by the lake as he picked up the empty bucket and began to walk back, his pace neither fast nor slow, every step landing firmly on the ground.

"Then we shall protect him for a lifetime."

He said.

"He is our child..."

Night fell.

Yun Ming sat before the desk, staring at the final file, his gaze slowly losing focus.

Was he... struggling to accept it? Disappointed?

Perhaps.

But he hoped more than anything that his child could have a bright future, even if he was adopted.

Ya Li walked over carrying a cup of tea, "Brother Ming..."

Yun Ming shook his head.

Though he had never spoken it aloud, anyone could see the affection he held for Yun Jingheng.

"Pavilion Master."

Three soft knocks sounded at the door, followed by the voice of an inner court disciple.

Yun Ming's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly: "Speak."

"Elder Cai sent me to deliver a message. Little Jingheng... he seems to be acting strangely."

The two of them vanished from the spot in an instant.

When Yun Ming and Ya Li arrived, they were met with a bizarre sight.

Moonlight poured down like silk from the heavens, faintly forming a translucent pillar of light that enveloped the small figure by the lake.

Yun Jingheng floated there, head tilted back, eyes closed.

There was no soul power fluctuation around his body; there was no golden light typical of a traditional awakening, no martial soul projection, nothing at all.

Yet, as the moonlight fell upon him, it seemed to vanish into a bottomless abyss.

"Don't go over."

Yun Ming stopped Ya Li as she moved to rush forward, his voice dropping to a low whisper.

He had realized it.

The moonlight wasn't simply shining on Yun Jingheng; it was being absorbed by him, in a manner that was extremely slow and silent.

It was just as he had sensed that night when the boy was an infant.

Only this time, the speed of absorption was a thousand times faster.

Yun Jingheng had no idea what was happening.

He simply couldn't sleep, so he had climbed out of bed and walked to the lakeside.

Then, the moonlight descended.

Cai Yue'er looked at Yun Ming, "Pavilion Master, it is an autonomous martial soul awakening, and it is directly related to the moon."

Yun Ming nodded, but suddenly, his pupils constricted sharply.

Cai Yue'er whipped her head around. What had she seen?

The cascading moonlight had begun to rotate.

At first, it was a slow shift, but gradually, the speed increased, forming a visible silver-white vortex that rotated slowly with Yun Jingheng at its center.

Yun Ming's hands were clenched tight, his knuckles white. Ya Li leaned against his side, not daring to breathe.

Cai Yue'er was right; this was an autonomous martial soul awakening.

But she had never seen an awakening like this.

No soul power fluctuations, no martial soul projection, only moonlight—endless, infinite moonlight—as if summoned by something, surging frantically into the child's body.

Then, the sword appeared.

No one saw how it manifested.

They only saw the swirling moonlight suddenly pause, and immediately after, a silver-white radiance shot out from the center of the vortex, hovering half a zhang in front of Yun Jingheng.

It was a sword.

The blade was long and slender, possessing a translucent silver-white hue, as thin as a cicada's wing, with moonlight flowing across its surface like water.

Yet, as it hung there, the moonlight-condensed blade rippled slowly, as if it might dissipate and return to nothingness at any moment.

"This is..." Feng Wuyu instinctively took a half-step forward, only to be stopped by Yun Ming's raised hand.

The sword had no soul power fluctuations; it was incomplete.

The cascading moonlight began to surge entirely toward the blade.

The sword grew brighter and more solid, and the patterns on the blade began to become clearly visible.

Then, the moonlight began to converge.

It was not a surge, but a gathering.

Those scattered rays of moonlight seemed to hear a certain summons, slowly converging from all directions to circle, coil, and condense around the sword's body.

They formed a shape.

A... circle?

Then came a second shape, a third... until the seventh.

As the seven distinct shapes merged one by one, the sword underwent a complete transformation.

The once translucent, silvery-white blade now appeared as solid as jade, with seven different strands of moonlight flowing along its edge.

Then, the sword moved.

With a gentle tremor, it drifted up from its hovering position and floated toward Yun Jingheng.

It merged into the center of his brow.

The moonlight dissipated, the vortex vanished, and the lake returned to stillness.

Yun Jingheng fell from mid-air.

Yun Ming caught him steadily.

He was in a deep slumber, a faint, flickering crescent moon mark visible at the center of his brow.