Phainon Template, Dawnmaker Emerges!!!

"Holy shit—it's really gold!!!"

Bai Yuan stared fixedly at the slowly rotating Core Flame in his palm, his pupils trembling.

Six years!

A full six years!

"Do you know how I've spent these past six years?!"

His eyes reddened, and even his voice shook.

He prayed every day until his lips were nearly worn raw. Before bed, he worshipped The Hunt, the Vidyadhara High Elder, Brother Sun—hell, even Aha would have done!

The first thing he did upon waking was check whether he had gained any new abilities.

But there was nothing.

For a time, he had thought he was the "shame of transmigrators," not even worthy of a beginner's gift pack.

But now.

He looked at the Core Flame in his palm, his breathing quickening.

He knew this thing far too well!

When he had played through the Amphoreus storyline, he saw it every day—he even dreamed about it!

That blazing light, that aura of destruction and rebirth intertwined, that power that seemed capable of burning everything away.

"Isn't this Brother Sun's..."

He swallowed, his voice changing pitch:

"Worldbearing Coreflame?!!!"

Could I really be the savior???

Inside the hall, the intense light faded.

Before everyone could recover from the shock, they saw the palm of the boy standing at the center of the formation.

A Core Flame floated quietly there, radiating a heart-palpitating aura of destruction.

"The quality of this Martial Soul... must be extraordinary!"

Someone sucked in a sharp breath, and whispers rose one after another.

Several Spirit Pagoda staff members who looked like supervisors exchanged glances, then immediately piled on smiles and crowded around Leng Yaozhu.

"Congratulations, Pagoda Master Leng! With such talent, the Leng Family's standing within the Spirit Pagoda is sure to rise even further!"

"Indeed, indeed! This child is exceptionally gifted and will surely become a pillar of greatness!"

"Pagoda Master Leng truly has an eye for talent. Since you came here in person, you must have sensed it beforehand, yes?"

Flattering voices rose one after another, every face blooming with smiles.

Leng Yaozhu ignored their fawning words. Her gaze remained locked onto the Core Flame, and a trace of gravity flashed through her eyes.

This Martial Soul... was not simple.

A Core Flame form, a weapon Martial Soul?

No.

That aura carried both the savagery of destruction and the vitality of rebirth...

Just what was its origin?

Yet a composed smile soon appeared on her face. She turned toward the crowd, her tone restrained yet courteous:

"Not at all. It is thanks to all of you that the Leng Family has been able to recruit such talent.

The Leng Family will certainly not forget everyone's contributions when it shines in the future."

Her words were flawless.

She had given them face while also dangling a promise.

Everyone present was thoroughly satisfied.

Who wouldn't want to cling to the Spirit Pagoda's thigh?

Though the Spirit Pagoda ostensibly made decisions through the council, who didn't know that the Leng Family and the Qiangu Family were the ones truly calling the shots?

If they could make an impression on this Sky Phoenix Douluo, the road ahead would become much easier.

"Come, come, come!"

A supervisor eagerly stepped forward.

"Hurry and take this Leng Family genius to test his spiritual power! With a Martial Soul of such quality, his spiritual power must surely also..."

Before he could finish—

"There's more!"

Bai Yuan's voice suddenly rang out from the center of the formation.

Everyone froze, still unable to react.

Then they saw energy from the formation flow into his other hand as he slowly raised it.

A sword condensed from the void.

Its blade was like the first bloom of morning light, thin as a cicada's wing, with pale golden patterns of light flowing across its entire surface.

It lacked the Core Flame's violent destruction. All it possessed was—

An edge sharp to the extreme.

As though it could sever everything in the world.

"Dawnmaker!"

The instant Bai Yuan gripped the hilt, the blade gave a soft cry, and invisible sword energy instantly swept across the entire hall!

The air in the hall seemed to have been sliced apart. Several children standing nearby even felt stinging pain on their cheeks and instinctively retreated several steps.

Holy shit! It really is the Phainon Template!!

Heaven truly favors me! All that money I spent on Honkai wasn't for nothing!

Xiao Tang! Before, I hadn't awakened a Martial Soul, so I called you God King Tang!

Now that you've seen Brother Sun, what should you call me??

Come on! Say it!!!

"Innate... Full Soul Power!"

Boom.

The entire hall exploded.

After a brief deathly silence came waves of sharp breaths.

"Twin Martial Souls?! And Innate Full Soul Power?!"

"H-How is that possible?! Both Martial Souls are of such high quality?!"

"The aura of that Core Flame was already terrifying, and this sword... what level of weapon Martial Soul is it?!"

A supervisor's eyes widened, his voice trembling. "Both are top-tier Martial Souls! This child's talent... I'm afraid the entire Spirit Pagoda couldn't find a second one like him!"

The others hurriedly echoed him, flattery flooding forth like a tide:

"Congratulations, Pagoda Master Leng! This child is destined for greatness!"

"With such a genius, the Leng Family's future is limitless! Truly limitless!"

"Such talent is rare even across the entire continent!"

Leng Yaozhu ignored their praise.

She stared fixedly at the two Martial Souls in Bai Yuan's hands. A complex emotion flickered in her eyes—joy, but even more than that, gravity.

Twin Martial Souls, Innate Full Soul Power.

Ten thousand years ago, those eight words would have been enough to drive any faction mad.

But in this era...

She understood it all too well.

Ever since the Soul Spirit system matured and Battle Armor became widespread, Twin Martial Souls had fallen into an awkward position.

First, cultivation speed was a major problem.

Soul Masters with Twin Martial Souls had to divide their efforts between two Martial Souls, so their cultivation speed was naturally slower than that of those with a single Martial Soul.

A genius of the same age might already have broken through to become a Title Douluo, while someone with Twin Martial Souls was still lingering at a lower stage. When it came to Soul Power, no amount of talent could make up for such overwhelming disparity.

Then the emergence of Battle Armor made things even worse.

Since the two Martial Souls of a Twin Martial Soul user took different forms, custom-made Battle Armor could only be compatible with one of them.

Once Battle Armor was worn in battle, the other Martial Soul was practically useless.

Not to mention the widespread Soul Spirit system. Absorbing Soul Spirits for a second Martial Soul was extremely dangerous, and throughout history, many Soul Masters had died after their bodies exploded because of it.

Among those who could cultivate to the level of a Limit Douluo, which one wasn't an unparalleled genius with a single Martial Soul?

Only by focusing on one Martial Soul for an entire lifetime could one reach the pinnacle.

Splitting one's attention between two?

The result was that neither would be properly developed.

In this era of Legend of the Dragon King, Twin Martial Souls had changed from a "heaven-gifted talent" into a "hot potato."

Leng Yaozhu watched Bai Yuan, her eyes flickering.

But!

The quality of this child's two Martial Souls was simply too high.

So high that even she could not see through them.

The destruction and vitality within the Core Flame, the sharpness and edge of Dawnmaker...

These were not auras ordinary Martial Souls could possess.

Twin Martial Souls truly held no advantage in this era.

But that was only for ordinary people.

The Spirit Pagoda had sufficient resources, the finest Soul Spirits, and the most complete cultivation system.

As long as he was worth it.

And this child...

The corners of Leng Yaozhu's lips lifted slightly.

This talent was worth a gamble. It just remained to be seen what kind of character this child possessed. She would observe him later!

Leng Yaozhu looked at the boy in the center of the formation, the calculations in her eyes growing deeper.

The Leng Family...

In recent years, its influence within the Spirit Pagoda had been increasingly crushed by the Qiangu Family.

Qiangu Dieting, Qiangu Dongfeng—neither was an ordinary figure. The Qiangu Family had operated for generations, its roots deeply entrenched. Whether in council seats or resource allocation, it suppressed the Leng Family at every turn.

The Leng Family needed fresh blood.

It needed true geniuses.

Otherwise, its voice would forever be trampled beneath the Qiangu Family's feet.

And this child—

She looked at the Core Flame and longsword in Bai Yuan's hands, her gaze sharpening slightly.

Perhaps he was that variable.

The shrewd people nearby had already caught the scent of the situation.

Pagoda Master Leng had come personally and cared so much about this child. Wasn't it obvious that she intended to bring him under her wing?

A perceptive supervisor immediately stepped forward and eagerly called out:

"Quick, quick, quick—his spiritual power test isn't finished yet! Hurry up, don't delay things!"

A Spirit Pagoda staff member understood at once. He strode quickly to Bai Yuan's side, bowing lower than usual, a perfectly respectful smile spread across his face:

"Young master, this way, please."

Bai Yuan: "..."

Young master?

He froze for a moment and nearly failed to keep a straight face.

Six years.

For a full six years, in this orphanage, the names he heard were always "that child," "Bai Yuan," or "hey."

Forget "young master"—hardly anyone had even looked at him properly.

And now, the moment his Martial Souls appeared and his Soul Power was revealed—

He had instantly become "young master."

Bai Yuan felt a complicated mix of emotions. Following the man forward, he could not help sighing inwardly:

Sure enough, a person needs someone to back them.

When you're out in the world, what matters is influence.

When you have no strength, no one even remembers your name; once you have strength, the whole world greets you with smiling faces.

He lowered his head to look at the Core Flame in his palm, then glanced at the Dawnmaker still lingering in his other hand. The corners of his lips rose slightly.

Still, this feeling really wasn't bad.