You're 9? Level 20!

"Observation. Mm, that's a good word."

Mu Ye grinned. "For the past couple of days, I've been observing you. There was something very off about your vitality. It wasn't until later that I realized you really do have a Body Martial Soul. I was going to find you for a chat, but then that pod of killer whales showed up first."

He casually tossed the fish bones into the sea, stood up, and stretched. His joints crackled.

"As for your performance on the ice tonight, how should I put it..."

Mu Ye looked down at Lin Qingzhou. Most of the lazy look had faded from his face, replaced by a serious scrutiny.

"That purple phantom of your Martial Soul, with that oppressive aura—I've never seen anything like it in any Martial Soul catalogue. It isn't pressure on the Soul Power level. It's on the level of rules. You probably can't feel it yourself yet."

He paused, then asked, "And your vitality from before—I can say for certain that it comes from a Body Martial Soul."

Lin Qingzhou nodded.

Mu Ye nodded again in satisfaction, as if confirming one of his suspicions. Then he sat back down and crossed one leg over the other. His tone returned to its former lazy drawl, but Lin Qingzhou could tell the nonchalance was an act. Beneath it, Mu Ye was excited.

"I've never seen your Martial Soul in any records. But I can tell two things. First, it's powerful. Second, it's a Body Martial Soul. That's enough for me."

As Mu Ye said this, an indescribable light shone in his eyes. It wasn't greed. It was more like a man who'd spent half his life picking up shells on the beach and had suddenly discovered a pearl.

"I'm from the Body Sect."

When Mu Ye spoke of his background, there was a touch of pride in his tone. But it wasn't the sort of deliberate boasting meant to impress a junior. It was more like an old man reminiscing about one of the few glorious chapters in his life.

"I'm Mu Ye. My Martial Soul is the 'Flesh Body.' I'm a level ninety-four Power Attack System Titled Douluo. A Four-Word Battle Armor Master and a Red-Grade God-Level Mecha Master. And my title is Body."

He deliberately paused after that, narrowing his eyes as he waited for Lin Qingzhou's reaction.

Lin Qingzhou dutifully widened his eyes, nearly forgetting to swallow the fish in his mouth. In truth, he already knew Mu Ye's background. After all, he'd read the novel The Legend of the Dragon King.

He'd also had a deep impression of Mu Ye. The Body Sect had once been so powerful, yet it had fallen into decline like this. As its current sect master, Mu Ye carried a lot of tragedy with him.

He was only level ninety-four, though his battle prowess truly stood at the pinnacle.

Of course, Lin Qingzhou put on an expression that said, "Good heavens, you're so powerful!"

After spending these past few years in Aolai City, he couldn't claim to have learned many other skills, but he'd certainly honed his ability to read people and play along.

Mu Ye saw his reaction and was so pleased that the corners of his mouth curled up.

"As for the Body Sect's current situation..."

He cleared his throat, his tone sobering a little.

"To be honest, we're just a few big cats and little cats. I've spent these years wandering everywhere, working as a cook on ships and roaming around different cities. Half the time, I've been looking for promising candidates."

"But the awakening rate for Body Martial Souls is far too low. Even one in ten thousand would be considered high. Whenever I do finally find someone, either their aptitude is mediocre or another sect has already poached them."

At this, a hint of barely noticeable dejection showed in his half-lidded eyes.

"In the past three years, you're the first promising candidate I've met who made me feel I had to snatch him up on the spot."

Lin Qingzhou swallowed the last bite of fish and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. The fish was gone, and he'd heard enough of what he needed to hear. Mu Ye had been frank. He'd told him who he was, where he came from, and what he wanted to do without beating around the bush. Lin Qingzhou found that kind of conversation comfortable.

"Senior Mu Ye," he said, setting down the iron skewer and sitting up a little straighter. "You said my Martial Soul is powerful. I know it isn't weak. But there's something I need to make clear first. Please don't rush to give me an answer."

Mu Ye raised an eyebrow, signaling for him to continue.

"My Martial Soul didn't awaken when I was six."

Lin Qingzhou kept his tone even, but a faint gloom settled into his eyes at just the right moment.

"When I was six, I took part in the awakening ceremony and awakened nothing. I was born without a Martial Soul, with zero Innate Soul Power. A textbook trash start."

The smile on Mu Ye's face faltered.

"You know about the Evil Soul Master attack on Aolai City. I killed one of them in self-defense. I won't go into the fight itself. The result was that I took a knife wound, and the blade was poisoned. My Martial Soul suddenly awakened while I was on the verge of death."

Lin Qingzhou's voice was calm, as though he were recounting something that had happened to someone else. "So I'm nine years old now."

Mu Ye was silent for a long while.

"Nine years old."

He muttered the words, picked up the earthenware flask, then set it down again, as if he'd suddenly lost interest in drinking. He got up, walked over to Lin Qingzhou, and crouched down. Then he reached out with his rough hands and began feeling along Lin Qingzhou's body, starting at his wrist. His fingers pressed against the bones, kneading them inch by inch.

From the wrist to the forearm, then from the forearm to the shoulder. His technique was professional. It didn't feel like he was checking Lin Qingzhou's bones so much as sensing something flowing within them.

After a long while, he drew back his hand, his expression complicated.

"Your bone age really is nine."

He sat back down on the folding stool and rested his elbows on his knees, interlacing his fingers. "A three-year delay in awakening... From six to nine, those three years are the window when Innate Soul Power grows the fastest. They've been wasted for nothing. Your cultivation speed will definitely lag behind your peers. There's no denying that."

He lowered his head, as though wrestling with himself. He'd finally found a treasure, only to discover a crack in it—one he couldn't ignore.

He was silent for a while. Then he suddenly slapped his thigh. The sound rang out crisply, and he straightened up.

"So what if you're slower!" he said, his voice booming as if he'd suddenly seen the light.

"So what if the brats who started cultivating three years before you have two or three more levels of Soul Power? With the Body Sect's spirit medicines supporting you, are we going to be afraid we can't make up the difference? The Second Awakening is what matters. Once you get through it, the three-year gap won't amount to a damn thing."

His eyes dimmed slightly at the words "Second Awakening," but they soon brightened again.

"Just don't end up like me. I was too stubborn back then. I poured all my energy into mechas and welded my own ceiling shut at level ninety-four. I'll never reach the unity of heaven and man or break through the level ninety-five bottleneck."

He gave a bitter smile. A trace of hard-to-detect self-mockery lurked in his voice. "I'm the weakest sect master in the Body Sect's history, at least in terms of Soul Power."

Lin Qingzhou fell silent for a moment. The man who'd slapped a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast to death with one palm on the deck now sat on a little folding stool aboard a fishing boat, speaking of the greatest regret of his life. There was no resentment in his tone, only a faint acceptance of his lot.

Not the painful sort of acceptance, but the lingering trace of regret that remained after he'd truly come to terms with it.

Mu Ye took a swig of wine and shook off that faint gloom. He reached out again, this time not to check Lin Qingzhou's bones, but to use his Soul Power to examine the state of the Soul Power inside him. A few seconds later, his hand jerked to a stop.

"Level twenty Soul Power?"

Mu Ye's voice jumped up half an octave. He looked up at Lin Qingzhou, his eyes wide. The image of the free-spirited, carefree master he'd presented moments earlier shattered on the spot.

Lin Qingzhou nodded.

"Nine years old, awakened less than a week ago..."

Mu Ye counted on his fingers, faster and faster.

"And you're already at level twenty Soul Power?" He stood up and paced around the deck twice, muttering to himself as if calculating something. Then, halfway through his calculations, he suddenly stopped. His whole body went still.

Something was wrong. This rate of progress was wrong.

If Lin Qingzhou really had awakened after birth and his Soul Power had shot up to level twenty in just a few days, then how high must the quality of his Martial Soul be?

Even a genius with Innate Full Soul Power needed at least three years to reach level twenty after awakening—and that was assuming daily, diligent cultivation. Lin Qingzhou had crossed that threshold in a few days.

He took another look at the boy before him. Nine years old, yet unnaturally composed, with battle awareness far beyond that of his peers. When faced with a display of Mu Ye's strength, Lin Qingzhou had acted respectful on the surface but remained calm beneath it. And then there was that purple Martial Soul he couldn't identify.

This kid was a walking mystery.

Mu Ye tucked his doubts away.

Of course he would verify whether Lin Qingzhou's claims were true. The Body Sect might seem like a loose organization to the outside world, but that didn't mean it would skip a background check on a new disciple.

He had connections in Aolai City. He could look into the records of the Evil Soul Master attack and check Lin Qingzhou's background. He'd have results in a few days.

But first, he had something else to do.

"Lin Qingzhou."

Mu Ye called him by his full name, his tone now completely different from before, imbued with a sense of ceremony.

"On behalf of the Body Sect, I formally invite you to join us. The Body Sect isn't really a sect. We're more like a ragtag bunch."

"We don't have many rules. We don't do that rigid hierarchy thing, and you won't have to kneel and kowtow to this person or that one every day. Whatever you need for cultivation, the sect will give you everything it can."

"Spirit medicines, Soul Tools, cultivation resources—I, the sect master, will personally make sure you get special treatment. Your Martial Soul is a Body Martial Soul, and the Body Sect is your best choice. I'm sure you understand that yourself."

He met Lin Qingzhou's eyes, his gaze frank and direct.

"Well? Are you joining or not?"

The fishing boat fell quiet. Waves slapped against the hull, and heat still hissed from the iron mesh over the brazier. A few seagulls circled low in the distance.

Lin Qingzhou sat on the folding stool and looked at the middle-aged man in a chef's uniform before him. Suddenly, he smiled.

"You gave me all your fish. If I don't join, does that mean I have to swim back on my own?"

Mu Ye froze for a moment, then burst out laughing. His laughter was rough and hearty, carrying far across the sea.