Eastsea City, Spirit Pagoda.
The car was on its way to the Martial Soul Awakening Ceremony.
Yao Chuan sat in the back seat, staring blankly out the window as the scenery sped past.
Six years had already gone by.
Yet whenever he thought about how he, a mere reader, had actually ended up in the world of Soul Land: Dragon King, he still felt that fate had a cruel sense of humor.
Fortunately, he'd been lucky. Not long after he was born, Mu Chen, branch president of the Eastsea Blacksmith Association, had adopted him, making him his son.
And today was the day his adoptive father, Mu Chen, and his older sister, Mu Xi, were bringing him to awaken his Martial Soul.
As he watched the city pass by outside the window, Yao Chuan felt a little dazed, but he couldn't help feeling a flicker of anticipation, too.
As a reader of Soul Land: Dragon King, who hadn't dreamed of having a Martial Soul?
"I just wonder what I'll awaken. I hope it's not completely useless..."
Mu Xi noticed Yao Chuan sitting there in a daze.
She figured her younger brother must be nervous.
After all, this was a major day that would decide the course of his life.
She reached out and gently patted the back of his hand, her voice soft and warm.
"Don't be nervous, Yao Chuan. Just relax."
"There's nothing scary about awakening your Martial Soul. It's just a formality. Just go in with me."
Mu Xi was curious, too.
Her younger brother had grown up in her family.
He was usually quiet, but sometimes his eyes looked unusually deep, not like a child's at all. What kind of Martial Soul would he awaken?
The car pulled to a smooth stop in front of the Spirit Pagoda's imposing entrance.
The three of them got out.
The Spirit Pagoda was, as expected, packed today.
It was the annual Martial Soul Awakening Day.
The hall was crammed with parents and children.
The air itself seemed to carry the scent of nervousness and anticipation.
Yao Chuan followed Mu Chen and Mu Xi inside.
He was tall for his age.
His skin was exceptionally fair, and his features were impossibly handsome.
Though he was still young, his cool, distant bearing, paired with his almost too-perfect face, made him stand out.
The moment he entered, he drew plenty of eyes.
Especially among the little girls who had come to awaken their Martial Souls. Several of them stared, then leaned together to whisper, their cheeks turning rosy.
"Wow, look at that boy."
"He's so handsome, and his skin is so fair. His eyes are so bright, too. Whose family is he from?"
In the crowd, a sturdy, dark-skinned boy craned his neck to watch.
His name was Zhou Changxi.
Seeing Yao Chuan draw so much attention from the girls as soon as he arrived, especially when several pretty girls he liked were staring at him, made Zhou Changxi feel as sour as if he'd swallowed a lemon. He couldn't help curling his lip.
His voice was just loud enough for people nearby to hear.
"Tsk."
"What's so great about him? He's just a little fair-skinned. A pretty-boy, that's all. All looks and no substance. He doesn't look like he can take a hit."
A lackey beside him chimed in.
"Exactly."
"Brother Zhou's right. He's a pretty face and nothing more. If you awaken a Martial Soul, Brother Zhou, you could knock him flat with one punch."
Zhou Changxi felt a little better after hearing that. He deliberately lifted his chin, putting on an air of expertise.
"Right. What good is being handsome? In the world of Soul Masters, strength is what counts."
"He just got lucky and was adopted by the Mu Family. Otherwise, who'd even know who he was?"
Those words carried straight to Mu Xi's ears.
Mu Xi's fiery temper flared in an instant. She treated Yao Chuan like her own younger brother. How could she let anyone insult him like that?
She whipped around, eyes wide with fury, and glared in Zhou Changxi's direction.
"Hey!"
"You, charcoal-face! Who are you talking about? Watch your mouth. Keep running your tongue, and I'll rip it out!"
Mu Xi's clear, angry voice drew everyone's attention.
Zhou Changxi was embarrassed to be scolded in public, but when he saw it was the Mu Family's young miss, he lost his nerve. He opened his mouth, but didn't dare talk back. All he could do was give an indignant snort and turn away.
Yao Chuan, however, remained calm. He gently tugged at Mu Xi's sleeve.
"Forget it."
"Why bother arguing with a little brat like that? We have more important things to do."
His voice was perfectly even, as though he were the one who'd been insulted. His gaze swept over Zhou Changxi, indifferent as if he were nothing more than a stone by the roadside. He didn't take him seriously at all.
That disregard only made Zhou Changxi feel more stifled, and his face darkened.
He was about to say something else.
Just then, the Awakening Ceremony got underway. A staff member in a Spirit Pagoda uniform raised an Amplifying Soul Tool, and his voice rang throughout the hall.
"Quiet, please. All parents, maintain order."
"The Awakening Ceremony is about to begin. Children whose names are called, please come to the front."
The very first name called caused a stir.
"From the Eastsea Xie Family."
"Xie Xie."
The crowd parted on its own.
A boy in a fine black formal suit walked out.
His face was expressionless.
He was young, but his gaze was cold, and his chin was slightly raised.
He carried himself with the reserve and aloofness of a young man from an illustrious family.
"That's the young master of the Xie Family."
"I heard his family is a famous mecha family in Eastsea City."
"You can tell from his bearing that he's no ordinary kid."
The onlookers buzzed with discussion.
Their eyes were full of envy.
Yao Chuan looked at one of the future Shrek Seven Devils, his gaze flickering, but he said nothing.
Xie Xie took his place in the middle of the Awakening Array.
The Spirit Master activated the array.
Gentle white light enveloped him.
Then two rays of light appeared from his body.
A small dagger gleaming with pale golden light appeared in his left hand: the Light Dragon Dagger. In his right hand was another dagger, shadowlike and shrouded in a dark aura: the Shadow Dragon Dagger.
"Twin Martial Souls!"
"The Xie Family's produced a genius this time!"
Exclamations erupted.
Twin Martial Souls were so rare that anyone would be astonished to see them.
Xie Xie showed little reaction, as though he'd expected this result.
Only a barely perceptible trace of pride flashed deep in his eyes.
He put away his Martial Souls and returned to his family, his face cold amid the envious, jealous gazes. He still didn't say a word.
Zhou Changxi stared, wide-eyed.
The next name called was Zhou Changxi's.
"Zhou Changxi."
Zhou Changxi took a deep breath.
Suppressing his envy and jealousy of Xie Xie, he strode forward with a hint of excitement.
He stepped into the array. Light flared, and a low ape's roar rang out. A muscular ape, radiating strength, appeared behind him as a phantom. It was the Great Strength Divine Ape Martial Soul.
"Whoa!"
"A Power Attack System Beast Martial Soul!"
"The Great Strength Divine Ape isn't as rare as Twin Martial Souls, but it has great potential. It's perfect for a future Power Attack System Soul Master."
Hearing the crowd's comments, Zhou Changxi grinned, thoroughly pleased with himself.
He deliberately puffed out his chest and shot Yao Chuan a taunting look.
"See? Now that's real ability."
The more he said, the prouder he became. He didn't even bother to lower his voice.
The Spirit Master frowned and said sternly,
"Quiet! Zhou Changxi, you've finished awakening. Please step down and don't disturb the others."
Only then did Zhou Changxi reluctantly fall silent and leave the platform, though his smug grin remained.
At last, the Spirit Master called the name everyone had been waiting for.
"Yao Chuan."
In an instant, almost everyone's eyes turned to Yao Chuan.
Some were curious, some were eager, and others, like Zhou Changxi, were just waiting to see him make a fool of himself.
Mu Xi squeezed Yao Chuan's hand and whispered,
"Don't be nervous. Go on."
Yao Chuan nodded, his expression still calm, and walked toward the center of the Awakening Array with steady steps.
In the crowd, Zhou Changxi folded his arms, a cold smile tugging at his lips.
"Hmph. Putting on airs. Let's see what kind of junk you awaken."
Yao Chuan took his place.
As before, the Spirit Master activated the Awakening Array. Gentle white light flared again, enveloping him.
At first, everything went normally. Light flowed through the array as if probing for something.
Suddenly.
Hummm!!!
A terrifying aura beyond description burst from Yao Chuan without warning. It felt like an ancient ferocious beast, asleep since time immemorial, had suddenly opened its eyes.
Cold, majestic, domineering.
The pressure of a sovereign ruling over all swept through the entire hall in an instant.
The air seemed to freeze. The temperature plunged, and every sound vanished, leaving only a deathly silence that made the heart tremble.
Thump.
Thump.
Some of the children with weak Soul Power were so terrified by the sudden pressure that their legs gave way. They fell flat on their bottoms, faces deathly pale.
The adults also felt a suffocating tightness in their chests, their faces filled with shock. None of them knew what was happening. The Spirit Master standing closest to the array bore the brunt of it. He staggered back several steps, all color draining from his face as he stared at the center of the array in utter horror.
The space around Yao Chuan's shoulders seemed to twist.
Two dragon-shaped phantoms, pitch-black from head to tail, their scales glinting with a cold, dim light, and their forms both majestic and ferocious, slowly emerged.
They coiled over his shoulders, their heads held high as they opened their jaws silently toward the void.
"Roar—!!!"
A dragon's roar seemed to come from the ancient, primordial wilderness, shaking the soul as it exploded directly inside everyone's mind, filled with supreme majesty and savagery.
"Ah!"
Zhou Changxi wasn't far away. His newly awakened Great Strength Divine Ape Martial Soul—
The instant the dragon's roar rang out, it encountered its natural predator and let out a terrified wail.
The phantom shuddered violently.
Then, before Zhou Changxi's disbelieving, horrified eyes,
the Great Strength Divine Ape Martial Soul he'd been so proud of
actually...
Bam!
It burst apart like a bubble being popped and vanished!
The backlash from his Martial Soul brought such pain and dizziness that Zhou Changxi's vision went black. Without even a grunt, he toppled straight backward and passed out.
The entire hall fell deathly silent. Everyone was stunned by the terrifying sight. Mu Xi, who'd been nervous just moments ago, stared at the scene with her little cherry-red mouth hanging open in a perfect O.
When they finally came to their senses, exclamations were already rising all around them.
"What... what is that? A dragon?"
"A black dragon?"
"How terrifying..."
"Zhou Changxi's Martial Soul was roared into pieces just like that?"
"My heavens..."
Whispers surged through the crowd like a rising tide.
Yao Chuan himself was a little surprised. He felt a blood-bonded familiarity emanating from the two black dragon phantoms on his shoulders, along with an overbearing will that looked down on the world. His thoughts raced.
Black dragons?
Two of them?
That appearance... why did it look so much like...
That anime.
The Black Dragon Heaven from Chronicles of Wu Geng?
He instinctively raised a hand and gently touched the illusory dragon scales on his shoulder.
Cold.
Hard.
They carried an indescribable air of nobility.
The corner of Yao Chuan's mouth couldn't help curling into the faintest smile.
Interesting.
Black Dragon Heaven's black dragons had become a Martial Soul, and now they were on me?
Did this mean I was supposed to become the king of the gods in this world, too?
But becoming a god in this era of Soul Land: Dragon King wasn't easy.
Before you continue