"I,
what happened to me?"
Lin Tian's face filled with confusion.
He felt like he'd had a very long dream.
Was it a dream?
Why was the memory still so clear?
The Blood Sea rising and falling?
By all rights,
people forgot their dreams as soon as they woke up.
"Child,
you passed out.
You awakened Twin Martial Souls,
then lost consciousness because of the backlash from your Martial Souls."
Twin Martial Souls!
When Lin Tian heard those key words,
excitement immediately showed on his face.
He cast aside that vivid dream,
and only then remembered
that he had passed out because
he'd awakened Twin Martial Souls.
"I have Twin Martial Souls?"
"Yes,
my boy,
you have Twin Martial Souls.
Your left hand awakened a Starfish Martial Soul,
while your right hand manifested a mass of flowing, blood-red liquid—
a rare Body Martial Soul: blood."
Holy crap, I'm unstoppable!
After hearing the old man's patient explanation,
Lin Tian finally knew for sure
that his future was looking bright.
He wouldn't go through life in obscurity,
and he wouldn't end up as some side character,
because he had Twin Martial Souls.
He'd thought his life was over,
but the God of Body had thrown him a lifeline.
He couldn't rely on his parents,
so he'd just have to count on his own mutation.
He'd been wondering what he'd do if he had no Soul Power.
What if he awakened with very little Innate Soul Power,
and couldn't afford a Soul Spirit in the future?
But now,
none of that was a problem.
He was now the owner of Twin Martial Souls,
and he had the right to choose.
Still,
Lin Tian looked at the Dean curiously.
"Old sir,
may I ask how much Innate Soul Power I have?"
It was probably a needless question,
but he still had to be sure.
After all,
he had Twin Martial Souls.
He was bound to have the standard package: Innate Full Soul Power.
But Red Mountain Dean's answer shattered his dream.
"My boy,
you have five levels of Innate Soul Power.
Even though you passed out,
we were still able to measure it.
You only have five levels."
"No way!"
The smile vanished from Lin Tian's face.
Then he asked, stunned,
"Didn't you say I had Twin Martial Souls?
Why do I only have five levels of Innate Soul Power?"
Lin Tian's question wasn't out of place.
People in this world matured early,
and even children learned about Soul Masters at a young age.
It was perfectly reasonable for Lin Tian to know this much.
The Dean of Red Mountain Academy simply watched him calmly,
then slowly began to explain.
"Both your parents have Starfish Martial Souls,
and your initial Martial Soul was also a Starfish.
The Starfish Martial Soul is a very low-grade Martial Soul,
and usually comes with no Innate Soul Power.
Your parents are both ordinary people,
and the Starfish they passed on to you was just as ordinary.
By all rights, you shouldn't have any Soul Power.
But, by some miracle, you mutated and awakened a Body Martial Soul.
So your Twin Martial Souls weren't inherited from your parents;
you awakened them yourself.
Body Martial Souls generally don't have much Innate Soul Power.
A Body Martial Soul with five levels of Innate Soul Power
is already exceptionally powerful.
But Body Martial Souls can undergo a Second Awakening,
so they're no worse than top-tier Martial Souls.
Besides, you have Twin Martial Souls.
Five levels of Innate Soul Power is already pretty good."
A Second Awakening?
He'd completely forgotten about that.
It had indeed been mentioned in the original story.
Soul Masters with Body Martial Souls didn't have much Innate Soul Power;
most only had a few levels.
Huo Yuhao's Spirit Eyes Martial Soul, for instance, had only one.
So this was already a pretty good start.
He really had been too greedy,
getting carried away.
When a poor man suddenly struck it rich,
he got something good
and immediately wanted something better,
forgetting that contentment was a blessing.
He'd gotten Twin Martial Souls,
and one of them was a Body Martial Soul with the potential for a Second Awakening.
What more could he ask for?
"Thank you for explaining that to me.
May I ask who you are, Grandpa?"
"I'm Yuan Zhen,
the Dean of Red Mountain Academy.
My boy,
you've successfully awakened your Martial Soul,
so you're automatically enrolled.
The academy term starts tomorrow.
Be sure to come."
At that, Lin Tian's face brightened with understanding.
That was right.
Every child here with Soul Power
had to receive a compulsory education.
Other people didn't know why the Federation was so generous,
but Lin Tian did.
Though it wasn't public knowledge,
the Federation was doing this to cultivate more talent to fight the Abyss.
He wouldn't have to pay for school.
That solved his most urgent problem.
But he didn't really want to stay at Red Mountain Academy.
He had a better goal in mind.
Still, these teachers had clearly paid a considerable price to help him.
He couldn't turn his back on them now,
crossing the river and tearing down the bridge.
He should at least cross the river before dismantling the bridge.
Taking it apart before he'd even crossed
would be going too far.
Besides, he was the sort who repaid kindness.
No matter how much they'd done for him today,
he'd repay them double.
"Then thank you, Grandpa Dean.
If there's nothing else,
I'll head home now."
"Are you feeling better?
You were unconscious for a whole day."
A whole day?
Lin Tian thought to himself,
it seemed his Martial Soul
was even more impressive than he'd imagined.
After awakening, his Martial Soul had backlashed against him
and left him unconscious for an entire day.
Aside from feeling hungry, he was...
There wasn't anything in particular that felt uncomfortable.
"I'm fine now.
Thank you for your concern, Grandpa Principal."
"It was only our duty."
Yuan Zhen watched Lin Tian jump out of bed and stretch his limbs.
He merely smiled kindly.
He didn't take credit for himself.
Then he watched Lin Tian leave the infirmary and Red Mountain Academy.
Only after he was gone did the teacher responsible for caring for Lin Tian come over to Yuan Zhen.
His face was full of confusion.
"Dean,
to stabilize that boy's condition,
and save his arm,
we used up every high-grade medicinal herb our academy had treasured for a whole day.
His Blood Martial Soul seemed like it was trying to devour him.
His cells were being consumed at a frenzied rate.
Thankfully, his Martial Soul had decent regenerative abilities.
And with all the energy we gave him,
he finally pulled through,
his hand was saved,
and he was able to wake up within a day.
You should've told him all of that.
Then he'd feel grateful to our academy."
Yuan Zhen only responded with a meaningful smile.
"That boy isn't destined to remain in a small pond.
A little place like ours can't hold on to him.
Besides, what happened today isn't a secret.
He can easily hear about it from someone else,
instead of having us tell him ourselves.
That way, he'll think we're trying to take credit.
But if we say nothing,
and let him discover it all on his own,
he'll be grateful to us and repay our kindness many times over."
"So that's how it is?"
Yuan Zhen's trusted aide suddenly understood.
The Dean was playing several moves ahead!
He'd never have thought of handling things that way in his whole life.
Mostly because he just couldn't keep his cool!
After leaving Red Mountain Academy,
Lin Tian headed straight home.
He was an orphan,
but he wasn't a beggar.
His family's circumstances weren't good, but they weren't bad either.
His parents hadn't left him much of an inheritance.
But Aolai City was a tourist city, after all,
and there were plenty of visitors.
He could make a decent amount of money every day just collecting bottles.
That was how he'd made a living these past few years.
His head was still swimming.
He just wanted to go home and think things over,
sort out his thoughts,
and consider what to do with his future.
But just then,
right before his eyes, two tourists in the park
tossed their empty cans onto the ground.
They clattered crisply against the pavement.
Lin Tian saw them,
and his eyes lit up.
Even though he was about to rise to great heights,
he still couldn't shake his muscle memory.
There was no shame in making money.
But just then,
a girl standing closer by
also set her sights on the two cans.
She had silver hair and violet eyes,
and wore a short purple skirt.
She was about to reach down and pick up the cans.
Lin Tian immediately shouted,
"Girl,
hands off those two cans!
I'll get them!"