Bang! Bang-bang!
Bang! Bang-bang!
In a spacious courtyard, a handsome young man stood bare-chested, repeatedly driving his fists into the wooden post before him.
He was still young, but his practiced punches and the firm, well-proportioned muscles of his body made one thing clear.
He had repeated this kind of training more than once.
Crack!
With one powerful Russian-style haymaker from the young man,
the wooden post finally gave way under the relentless blows. Its supporting stake snapped, and it toppled to the ground.
"Ha... another one's broken."
The boy let out a heavy breath and looked at the fallen post, disappointment showing on his face.
He unwound the bandages around his hands, walked over to the nearby stone table, and sat down. Picking up the towel lying on it, he wiped the sweat from his body while calling out in his mind.
"System."
A pale-blue screen unfolded before him.
Looking at the gray buttons marked as unavailable, the boy sighed.
"Why can't I use it..."
His name was Yu Tianchen, and he was a transmigrator.
In his previous life, he'd stumbled across a fortune-teller online. The man had told him he'd run into great fortune if he went out.
Taking him at his word, he'd gotten dressed and gone straight out, ready to seek his lucky break.
But while crossing the street, he'd been hit head-on by a dump truck.
A real collision with great fortune.
That damn old crook had been frighteningly accurate.
When he regained consciousness, he found that he'd transmigrated to Douluo Continent and become the son of Yu Xiaotian, third son of Yu Yuanzhen, the clan leader of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
He'd also awakened a cheat called the Sacrificial Offering System.
But for some reason, ever since he'd bound himself to the system,
all he could do was summon its interface. He couldn't do anything else.
Even the images on it were black, their contents impossible to make out.
So to this day, aside from knowing its name, Yu Tianchen had no idea what his cheat could do.
Fortunately, he'd read Douluo Continent and liked watching the anime in his spare time.
He knew a fair amount about the world.
His father in this life, Yu Xiaotian, had the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul.
His mother, Ning Xin, had an auxiliary variant Martial Soul called the Calm Heart Drum, inherited from a branch of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
In terms of Martial Soul quality,
his mother's Calm Heart Drum couldn't compare to his father's top-tier Beast Martial Soul.
So unless something unexpected happened, he was bound to inherit the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon.
As for whether it might mutate, that wasn't something he could know in advance.
Either way, there was no harm in training his body.
Since he couldn't count on the system,
Yu Tianchen had started exercising from a young age and studying the family's books to learn more about the world.
And so, time passed until today.
Today was the day he would awaken his Martial Soul.
"Damn system, if I still can't use you after my Martial Soul Awakening, you might as well unbind yourself."
Seeing that the system still couldn't do anything but show itself, Yu Tianchen gave it his usual threat, then waved his hand and closed the screen.
Just then, a voice called from outside the courtyard gate:
"Tianchen!"
The gate opened, and a beautiful, gentle-looking woman walked in.
Looking at the fallen post in the courtyard and Yu Tianchen's bare chest, still glistening with sweat from his workout, Ning Xin chided him:
"It's your Martial Soul Awakening today. Why are you still training?"
"It's fine, Mom. I was just warming up."
Yu Tianchen smiled and rose to his feet.
"Have Dad and Grandpa said when the awakening will start?"
"It's about to begin. I came to get you."
Ning Xin stepped forward and tidied Yu Tianchen's hair, a tender smile on her face.
"Go wash up quickly, then we'll head to the plaza."
"After today, our little Tianchen will be a Soul Master too."
"Okay."
Yu Tianchen nodded, went inside to quickly wash off, changed into clean clothes, then left with Ning Xin and headed for Thunder Plaza.
Thunder Plaza.
The plaza was already packed with people, lively with the constant roar of conversation.
Today was the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's annual Martial Soul Awakening ceremony.
All the sect's children who were old enough would awaken their Martial Souls today. It was no exaggeration to say this was one of the most important days of the year for the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
From the sect's elders to the family's younger generation, nearly everyone who wasn't busy had come to watch.
"Ning Xin, Tianchen, over here!"
When Ning Xin and Yu Tianchen arrived, they spotted a burly, middle-aged man waving to them from near the center of the plaza.
His shout immediately drew everyone's attention.
In an instant, many eyes turned to Yu Tianchen.
"So that's Yu Tianchen?"
"That's him. I heard he was the one who proposed using Whale Rubber to temper the body. It let quite a few of our sect's disciples withstand higher-age Soul Rings for their first three rings."
"A young prodigy. I wonder what level of Innate Soul Power he'll have after awakening."
"Hmph, let's just hope he doesn't turn out like that useless good-for-nothing who was expelled from the sect..."
"Watch your tongue! Don't say things like that in public!"
"..."
Hearing the discussions rising and falling around him, Yu Tianchen wore a helpless expression.
Honestly, he didn't much like being the center of attention, with everyone staring at him.
But there was nothing he could do about it.
Two years ago, when four-year-old Yu Tianchen felt that the medicinal herbs and basic training his family provided had brought his physique to a decent level,
he'd set his sights on Whale Rubber to improve it further.
But back then, Whale Rubber was nothing more than a plaything used by the nobility to spice things up. If Yu Tianchen had bought it himself, there was a good chance he'd have been beaten by both his mother and father.
So, to get his hands on Whale Rubber safely, Yu Tianchen decided to use a move that had never failed him since he transmigrated.
Grandpa-Escape: Cute Grandson Act!
As Yu Yuanzhen's youngest grandson, Yu Tianchen knew exactly how much his grandfather doted on him.
After all, to someone like Yu Yuanzhen, who was both a sect leader and an elder of the previous generation, a grandson like him—handsome, diligent, studious, and hardworking from a young age—
was basically the grandson of his dreams.
So, using his usual excuse of loving to read, Yu Tianchen asked Yu Yuanzhen about Whale Rubber and begged him to help with some experiments.
After a series of tests, with Yu Yuanzhen as his witness, he successfully proved his theory.
Whale Rubber could strengthen the body and even let Soul Masters withstand Soul Rings with higher age limits!
Even now, Yu Tianchen could still remember the look Yu Yuanzhen gave him.
The look of someone gazing at a rare treasure.
From then on, Yu Tianchen earned Yu Yuanzhen's special attention and permission to use Whale Rubber.
But at the same time, he also became famous throughout the sect.
The price of becoming famous at such a young age was having everyone stare at him like this today.
Yu Tianchen knew he was the main attraction at this Martial Soul Awakening.
After all, he was the most famous among his peers.
If his Martial Soul awakened normally and his Innate Soul Power was high enough,
he'd be the undisputed genius of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's younger generation.
In terms of fame alone, he could even surpass his two-years-older cousin, Yu Tianheng.
But if something like what happened to Gangzi occurred during his awakening...
Well, everyone knew how that would go.
Under the curious, scrutinizing gazes and the endless murmurs around them,
Ning Xin led Yu Tianchen over to his father, Yu Xiaotian.
"So, son, are you nervous?"
Yu Xiaotian patted Yu Tianchen on the shoulder and asked with a smile.
"You do realize our son might be nervous, right?"
Ning Xin slapped Yu Xiaotian's hand away, brows drawn together as she said irritably,
"Tianchen's already famous around the sect. You shouted his name like that, and you'd make anyone nervous, even if they weren't before."
"Uh... I saw how many people there were and didn't want you two to miss me..."
Yu Xiaotian scratched his head awkwardly.
Seeing that Ning Xin still looked annoyed, Yu Tianchen hurriedly spoke up:
"All right, Mom. There are so many people here. Give Dad some face."
Everyone in the sect already knew his father was henpecked.
But it was still best to save Dad some face in public.
Reminded by Yu Tianchen, Ning Xin realized she'd let her emotions get the better of her. She gave a soft snort.
"Since our son asked, I'll let you off for now."
"Heh-heh, thanks for letting me off, Ning Xin."
Seeing that Ning Xin seemed to have calmed down, Yu Xiaotian grinned and secretly gave Yu Tianchen a thumbs-up.
Good son. It wasn't for nothing that I spoiled you!
Yu Tianchen smiled helplessly.
The wait in the plaza wasn't long.
Before long, Yu Yuanzhen and the other sect elders arrived at the center of the plaza.
After calling the roll,
Yu Tianchen and a dozen or so children his age stood together in the middle of the plaza.
Yu Yuanzhen stepped forward, gazed at the young faces before him, and finally let his eyes rest on Yu Tianchen, anticipation in his gaze.
But he didn't say much. He simply offered a few words of encouragement to the boys and girls present, then turned to the elder responsible for the awakening beside him.
"Begin."
The elder nodded, walked to the platform already set up at the center of the plaza, and waved his hand. Several black, round stones flew out, forming a hexagonal array on the platform.
"Awaken your Martial Souls in the order your names are called. Line up."
As he spoke, the elder took out a list and began calling names.
"First, Yu Qingqing."
The little girl whose name had been called hurried onto the platform, ready to awaken her Martial Soul.
The children whose names hadn't been called also lined up in the order they'd been called earlier.
Whether by design or not, Yu Tianchen was last.
Like the grand finale.
Even so, Yu Tianchen didn't have to wait long.
Just like in the original story, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's younger generation really was in a bit of a slump.
Of the dozen or so children,
most had only four to six levels of Innate Soul Power, and not one had reached level seven.
A few even had just one level.
Yu Yuanzhen nearly passed out from lack of air.
"Looks like in the end, we can only count on Tianchen."
Yu Yuanzhen turned his gaze to Yu Tianchen, who hadn't awakened yet.
He wasn't the only one. After watching more than a dozen children fail to awaken impressive levels of Innate Soul Power, the second-in-command, Yu Luomian, the other elders, and even the onlookers all turned their attention to Yu Tianchen.
"Next, Yu Tianchen."
Soon, the child ahead of Yu Tianchen finished awakening his Martial Soul, and the elder called his name.
Yu Tianchen took a deep breath and walked onto the platform under the expectant, anxious gazes of the crowd.
"Relax, Tianchen."
"Pay close attention to the fluctuations of Soul Power."
The elder performing the awakening looked a little nervous too, afraid that Yu Tianchen might get so tense that something unnecessary would go wrong during his Martial Soul Awakening.
"Don't worry, Fourth Grandpa."
Yu Tianchen smiled.
"Just get started."
The elder nodded and quickly struck out with both hands, sending six streams of Soul Power crackling with electricity into the six black stones on the ground.
At once, a golden glow spread from the stones, forming a pale-gold barrier around Yu Tianchen.
Warmth continually seeped into Yu Tianchen's body. The cozy feeling was so soothing that he closed his eyes, feeling utterly refreshed.
Before long, he felt as though something inside him had shattered.
Countless streams of warmth began converging toward his right hand.
Yu Tianchen slowly opened his eyes.
Five strange little drums hovered quietly above his palm, flickering with pale-blue lightning.
Holy crap!
Had his Martial Soul mutated?!
Yu Tianchen stared in shock.
Before he could recover from his astonishment,
a mechanical voice suddenly rang out in his mind.
[ Ding! The host has officially awakened his Martial Soul: Five Thunder Shock Drums ] [ The Sacrificial Offering System has officially activated! ]
Before you continue