Douluo Continent,
the Douluo Federation,
Aolai City.
This small city on the coast of the East Sea
was half the bustle of a fishing village,
and half the clamor of tourism.
As a small city driven by tourism,
Aolai City was quite lively,
but today it was especially bustling,
because today was the annual Martial Soul Awakening at Red Mountain Academy.
Martial Soul Awakening on Douluo Continent could be divided into three stages:
the first was the period twenty thousand years ago, when Spirit Hall awakened the Martial Souls of everyone on the continent for free;
the second was the era ten thousand years ago, when people paid out of their own pockets to awaken their Martial Souls;
the third was the present,
when the Federation took the lead,
with the academies at the center,
helping all six-year-old children awaken their Martial Souls for free.
Lin Tian was squeezed into the crowd at that moment,
waiting for true love to descend,
ahem,
for his Martial Soul Awakening.
He had been transported to this world six years ago,
and had the standard protagonist template:
both parents dead,
but no cheat.
For six years,
he had called out to the system every morning after waking up,
but there had been no response.
Still,
Lin Tian hadn't been discouraged,
after all, he had arrived in the era of Legend of the Dragon King, the third part of Douluo Continent.
It was the worst of times,
but also the best of times.
God King Tang wasn't up in the heavens manipulating everything.
Although he had still made arrangements on the continent,
at least they weren't as outrageous as they had been during the Peerless Tang Sect era.
There was still a way for transmigrators to survive.
His parents' Martial Souls had both been ordinary starfish,
so there was a good chance his would be a starfish too.
No cheat,
no system,
and no powerful Martial Soul.
So Lin Tian had planned out his future early:
as long as he had Innate Soul Power,
he would become a Soul Master,
and he could choose from all kinds of careers.
With his clever mind,
could he really not manage to earn a living in this world?
But today's Martial Soul Awakening ceremony really did determine the course of his future,
so he couldn't take it lightly.
Aolai City was small,
but it had plenty of people.
What was more, Aolai City was only a small city,
with few Soul Masters
and many ordinary people,
who had plenty of children too.
Every year, there were
a great many children coming to awaken their Martial Souls.
Suddenly,
Lin Tian was shoved toward the front,
and nearly fell to the ground.
Just then,
a boy about his age grabbed him.
Once he'd recovered,
Lin Tian immediately thanked the black-haired boy:
"Thanks, thanks."
"No problem.
My name's Tang Wulin."
Lin Tian: ???
Wait,
I only said thank you.
I never said we should introduce ourselves.
Feeling the boy's enthusiasm,
Lin Tian awkwardly scratched his head,
then slowly spoke up:
"My name's Lin Tian.
Lin as in Lin Tian,
Tian as in Lin Tian."
"Haha,
this kid sure has a personality."
Tang Ziran patted Tang Wulin's head,
then clapped Lin Tian on the shoulder.
"Stand steady, young man.
It gets like this when there are so many people.
Didn't your parents come with you?"
"Then I'd have to have parents first,
uncle."
"Uh..."
As soon as Lin Tian said that,
the crowd fell silent.
Lang Yue and Tang Ziran looked at Lin Tian with guilt,
and Lang Yue even pinched Tang Ziran:
"Watch what you say."
"Sorry, little guy.
Uncle and auntie didn't mean it."
"It's fine.
I don't mind what you said just now.
I'm more bothered by your apology now.
It's like orphans have to be treated specially."
"Little friend,
you've misunderstood."
"It's fine.
I already said I don't mind.
It's my turn."
After saying that,
Lin Tian headed forward.
He had already made a point of avoiding the Tang Wulin family,
not wanting to get involved with Tang Wulin or Tang San's family in any way.
He hadn't expected to run into them anyway.
Aolai City really was too small.
"Little guy,
are you here to awaken your Martial Soul?"
"Yes.
Here's my information."
Lin Tian answered respectfully,
then handed his documents to the Red Mountain Academy teacher with both hands.
Martial Soul Awakening was open to everyone,
since it was free.
Anyone who came could have their Martial Soul awakened,
but their identity couldn't be unclear.
At the very least, they had to be a Federation citizen.
"Lin Tian."
After taking the documents and scanning them,
the teacher noticed the orphan listed in his family background and showed a trace of pity,
then immediately led Lin Tian to the center of the Martial Soul Awakening array.
"Martial Souls are innate to every person.
Everyone can summon theirs!
Calm your mind,
feel your Martial Soul,
then summon it."
Lin Tian followed each instruction.
White points of light soon surged out of the array,
and Lin Tian's body resonated with them.
Brilliant white light began to pour from within him,
and a powerful aura radiated from his body.
This aura
made everyone turn to look.
Red Mountain Academy was only a junior academy in a small town,
and its teachers weren't very high-ranked,
but they could still tell the good from the bad.
A Martial Soul Awakening that erupted with this kind of aura
couldn't possibly be low quality.
Could it be...
The instructor in charge of awakening Lin Tian's Martial Soul
was already looking at him with burning eyes.
Red Mountain Academy was part of the Federation's system too.
If he could find a talent for the Federation,
he might get promoted and receive a raise.
But just as the teacher's face filled with anticipation,
In Lin Tian's hand,
a palm-sized starfish suddenly took shape.
It was the most ordinary kind of starfish,
and it gave off only a faint trace of Soul Power.
"An ordinary Starfish Martial Soul."
The smile vanished from the teacher's face.
He remembered that some useless Martial Souls gave off a fake aura when they awakened.
He'd run into one of those fakes.
"Kid,
let's test your Soul Power."
The instructor's enthusiasm for Lin Tian was gone.
He simply took out a crystal ball to test him, his expression cold.
But who could have known?
Just as Lin Tian's fingertip was about to touch the crystal ball,
something unexpected happened.
A dense blood-red radiance, almost viscous, burst skyward from Lin Tian's hand.
The heavens and earth changed color.
The clouds above all of Red Mountain Academy turned blood-red,
and the world was shrouded in crimson.
A feeling of oppression and dread welled up in everyone's heart.
The blood-red light carried a powerful vitality,
yet also contained a terrifying pressure,
making everyone tremble uncontrollably.
"This—
what is this?"
The Soul Master responsible for Lin Tian's awakening staggered back two steps in shock,
and nearly dropped the crystal ball in his hands.
"Twin—
Twin Martial Souls?"
At the heart of the blood-red light,
another Martial Soul appeared in the palm of Lin Tian's right hand—
a mass of flowing scarlet liquid,
as if it were alive,
churning in his palm.
The phenomenon accompanying the awakening of Twin Martial Souls was too astonishing.
Every teacher stared intently at the Martial Soul in his palm,
their eyes full of shock.
But at that moment, Lin Tian felt no joy at all.
The instant his Second Martial Soul awakened,
he felt as if his soul were being torn apart.
The pain swiftly robbed him of consciousness.
His vision went black,
and he fell straight to the ground.
At the very moment he passed out,
starting from the East Sea not far away,
it swept across the entire sea,
even reaching the deepest depths of the ocean.
The whole ocean seemed to be stirred by an invisible giant hand.
The Sea Soul Beasts dwelling in deep-sea trenches,
coral reefs,
and distant ocean waters—
from shrimp Soul Beasts no bigger than a fingertip
to deep-sea giant whales as immense as islands—
regardless of strength,
regardless of their kind,
were all drawn by an irresistible force.
These were all seeds of faith that Tang San had secretly protected and carefully nurtured.
Without warning, these Sea Soul Beasts crossed boundless distances,
turning into streaks of light
that emerged from the void
and poured into the arm of the unconscious Lin Tian,
flowing into his Blood Sea Martial Soul.
Except for Lan Fozi and the Demon Empress on shore,
every Sea Soul Beast living in the oceans of Douluo Planet
was pulled into Lin Tian's arm,
into that Blood Sea Martial Soul.