He snatched the certificate away and examined it over and over, even rubbing the stamp of the Spirit Hall Branch in the lower-right corner with his finger.
It was real!
He looked Ye Feng over again. Though his clothes were tattered, his silver hair stood out, and his clear, calm eyes held none of the timidity of a child his age.
A Soul Master with innate Soul Power at level seven was destined for greatness, even if he was only six years old.
A little investment now might bring immeasurable returns in the future.
Manager Wang's face instantly broke into a broad smile.
"So you're a young Lord Soul Master. My apologies, my apologies."
He politely returned the Martial Soul certificate to Ye Feng, then turned and scolded the waiter.
"You miserable fool, judging people by their appearance! Hurry up and apologize to Young Lord Ye Feng!"
The man shuddered in fright and hurriedly bowed to Ye Feng at a ninety-degree angle.
"I'm sorry, young lord. This humble servant failed to recognize a great man!"
Manager Wang waved a hand and personally led Ye Feng into the hotel.
"Ye Feng, right? Our hotel happens to be short-staffed. If you don't mind, you can stay and work as a waiter. We'll provide meals and lodging, and you'll get a salary of ten Silver Soul Coins a month. How does that sound?"
Ye Feng nodded.
"Thank you, Manager Wang."
Before long, Ye Feng had taken a hot bath in the bathroom in the hotel's backyard and changed into a small suit vest they had found just for him.
A white shirt, a black vest, and black trousers.
The boy in the mirror was small and skinny, but his silver hair was neatly combed, and the outfit gave him a much more imposing air. He looked clean and alert.
Then Manager Wang personally took him around, carefully explaining the hotel's rules and things to watch out for.
For instance, which guests he mustn't offend, which route to take when carrying dishes, and how to arrange the tableware.
By the time they had gone through everything, Ye Feng had gotten the hang of it.
Then his first day on the job began.
Carrying dishes, clearing tables, and showing guests to their seats.
For a six-year-old, it was exhausting work.
By the end of the day, Ye Feng felt as if his legs no longer belonged to him.
That evening, he dragged his exhausted body back to the staff dormitory assigned to him.
It was a tiny single room with only a bed and a table.
Though it was shabby, to Ye Feng it was already a home where he could take shelter from the wind and rain.
He carefully drew the sheepskin scroll containing the meditation method from inside his clothes.
But when he unfurled it and looked at the strange, scribble-like writing, all he could do was smile wryly.
He couldn't recognize a single character.
Looks like he'd have to find a chance to ask someone tomorrow, no matter how embarrassing it was.
He put the scroll away and sat cross-legged on the bed, deciding to try summoning his Martial Soul first.
At a thought, a luminous shadow silently emerged behind him.
In his previous life, Ye Feng had at least read the novels and watched the anime of Douluo Continent. He had even studied them in depth with his fellow fans, so he understood a thing or two about Martial Souls.
He truly hadn't expected his Martial Soul to be Light and Shadow.
But when it came to a shadow Martial Soul—one that also possessed an innate light attribute—he felt that nothing could limit the potential of a shadow Martial Soul with an innate attribute.
Shadow Martial Souls belonged to the rarest special category. They were unlike Beast Martial Souls, Tool Martial Souls, or Plant Martial Souls, which all had severe limitations.
First, Beast Martial Souls.
The body and Martial Soul were deeply bound together. If the body was injured, the Martial Soul's combat strength plummeted.
The Soul Power of a Beast Martial Soul continuously transformed the Soul Master's body. Releasing Soul Skills and amplifying their power depended entirely on the body's capacity. If the body was injured
(for example, if bones were broken or internal organs were damaged), not only could a close-combat Beast Martial Soul no longer use basic attacks or Soul Skills,
but even the ranged Soul Skills of agility- or strength-focused types (such as an elemental breath from a Beast Martial Soul) would lose power as the body's Soul Power transmission was obstructed.
Even low-rank Beast Martial Soul Soul Masters, once their Soul Power ran out, could suffer additional side effects because of the bond between their Martial Soul and body: their bodies would grow weak, and their movements sluggish.
The Martial Soul's form determined the limits of its abilities, with no flexibility to adapt across forms.
A Beast Martial Soul's Soul Skills and combat capabilities were entirely shaped by the form of the Soul Beast it corresponded to. It was almost impossible to break free of this "form-bound shackle."
For instance, land-dwelling Beast Martial Souls (tigers, leopards, bears) were naturally good at close combat and agility. They couldn't develop ranged attacks.
Bird Beast Martial Souls (eagles, geese, vultures) excelled at aerial dominance, but their combat ability on the ground fell sharply.
Aquatic Beast Martial Souls (fish, turtles, crabs) lost their core mobility on land, and some Soul Skills couldn't be used at all.
This fixed bias in their abilities made Beast Martial Soul Soul Masters' fighting styles rigid and easy to counter.
High-rank Martial Soul Avatars could turn on their users if their bodies weren't strong enough, killing them outright.
A Beast Martial Soul's Martial Soul Avatar fused the Soul Master with the Martial Soul's form, demanding far more from the body than other Martial Souls did.
If a Soul Master's body hadn't been tempered enough by Soul Power, the Martial Soul's Soul Power could split the body apart and batter the mind's sea of consciousness.
At best, the Martial Soul Avatar would end prematurely, leaving the Soul Master weakened. At worst, the Martial Soul Origin would be damaged, making it impossible to summon a Martial Soul Avatar again.
And since the duration of a Beast Martial Soul's Martial Soul Avatar was limited by the body's endurance, it lasted far less time than a Tool Martial Soul's object avatar.
Some Beast Martial Souls had "physical shortcomings" that became natural weaknesses.
Most Beast Martial Souls inherited the physical weaknesses of their corresponding Soul Beasts, and those weaknesses showed up in their Soul Masters as well.
For instance, herbivore Beast Martial Souls (rabbits, deer, horses) were naturally weak in defense, with the neck and abdomen as obvious weak points.
Cold-blooded Beast Martial Souls (snakes, lizards, crocodiles) had far slower Soul Power circulation in low temperatures, delaying the release of their Soul Skills.
And when group-dwelling Beast Martial Souls (wolves, bees, ants) fought alone, some of their group Soul Skills simply stopped working.
Tool Martial Souls, meanwhile, relied on physical objects as their core vessels. If the object broke, the Martial Soul became useless. A Tool Martial Soul was, at its core, "an object made tangible from Soul Power."
The condition of the object directly determined the Martial Soul's combat strength.
Even for a strength-focused Tool Martial Soul (such as the Clear Sky Hammer or the Seven Kill Sword), if the object developed cracks or dents, the power of its Soul Skills would decline exponentially.
If the object was shattered—for example, if a core part of the Tool Martial Soul was damaged—
the Martial Soul would enter a "dissipated state." The Soul Master wouldn't be able to summon it again for a short time, and the effort of doing so would cause intense pain because the Martial Soul Origin had been damaged.
The material determined the growth ceiling; ordinary materials left no room for high-rank development. Growth depended not only on Soul Rings but also on the grade of the object's material.
Ordinary Tool Martial Souls,
such as iron swords, wooden hammers, and stone shields, were made from common iron, ordinary wood, or stone.
Even after absorbing a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring, they couldn't break through the material's physical limits. Their Soul Skills' power would remain constrained by the material.
By contrast, high-rank Tool Martial Souls (such as the Clear Sky Stone of the Clear Sky Hammer or the Cold Iron of the Seven Kill Sword) were made from rare materials they possessed from birth. If an ordinary Tool Martial Soul Soul Master wanted to break through, they had to spend enormous resources tempering their object's material
(such as heavenly treasures or rare metals). Otherwise, they would remain stuck at the low or middle ranks. That was the core barrier to a Tool Martial Soul's growth.
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