Twin Births of Sun and Moon, Blazing Sun and Bright Moon!

At dawn, the thin mist had yet to disperse.

The bells of the Imperial City echoed leisurely as luxurious soul-guided carriages slowly drove in from outside the palace gates.

High-ranking imperial officials, elders of the royal clan, and direct descendants of various great families, surrounded by palace maids and guards, stepped into the palace one after another, heading toward the Imperial Zenith Hall where today's Martial Soul Awakening Ceremony was to be held.

For the entire upper echelon of the Sun Moon Empire, today was a momentous occasion.

Because these children represented the inheritance, rise, and fall of the empire for the coming decades.

Inside the Imperial Zenith Hall.

The old emperor sat poised upon the dragon throne.

At his side, Xu Tianran, Xu Tianyuan, and the other princes and princesses were arrayed to the left and right.

As the officials entered the hall, figure after figure knelt in unison.

"Greetings, Your Majesty!"

"Long live! Long live! Long live for ten thousand years!"

The mountain-shaking, sea-roaring sound resonated through the hall. Once the rites were concluded, Jing Hongchen stepped slowly out of the ranks and bowed toward the old emperor on the dragon throne.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, all preparations for the awakening ceremony are complete."

"Shall we begin the ceremony?"

The old emperor nodded slightly. "Children are the foundation of the empire and the hope of the future."

"Hongchen, I leave this matter to you."

Jing Hongchen placed one hand over his chest.

"This subject obeys the decree."

With that, he waved his hand, and two highly sophisticated soul-guided instruments were carried into the hall by several palace soul masters.

One was a hexagonal platform structure, its entire body engraved with dense, intricate core magic arrays.

It was the empire's most advanced Martial Soul Awakening Device.

Compared to traditional awakening methods, it could stimulate bloodline potential more stably and even provide a slight boost to certain powerful bloodlines, greatly increasing the probability of awakening top-tier martial souls.

The other was a silver-white crystal, half the height of a person.

That was the soul power detector, and its results were far more precise than ordinary testing crystals.

As the instruments were activated, a pale blue light slowly illuminated.

The entire Imperial Zenith Hall gradually quieted down.

Everyone's gaze was fixed on the center of the Awakening Platform.

The number of children participating in the awakening this time was not large.

There were five from the royal clan and about fifteen from the families of high-ranking officials and top-tier nobles.

The first to begin testing were the descendants of those officials and nobles.

"Fire Falcon, high-tier beast martial soul."

"Innate soul power level seven."

As soon as Jing Hongchen's voice fell, murmurs of admiration echoed through the hall.

A high-tier beast martial soul combined with level seven soul power was already considered excellent talent; as long as they put in the effort, reaching the Soul Douluo rank would be no problem.

Following that, "Starlight Rose, high-tier plant-type martial soul."

"Innate soul power level seven."

"Blazing War Hawk, top-tier beast martial soul."

"Innate soul power level nine!"

When the final result was announced, even many of the officials showed expressions of envy.

Level nine innate soul power already possessed the potential to challenge the rank of Titled Douluo and level nine soul master.

As expected of the descendants of the soul master legion's commander family; they truly had worthy successors.

Standing in the crowd, Xu Tianyao could not help but sigh inwardly.

This was indeed the top-tier circle of the Sun Moon Empire.

Geniuses rarely seen in the outside world were appearing here one after another.

Even now, he had not seen a single person with innate soul power lower than level seven.

Soon, it was the turn of the royal clan members.

Three royal clan descendants completed their awakenings one after another.

One of them inherited the maternal Bauhinia Rose martial soul, with innate soul power at level seven.

The other two awakened lower-tier substitutes under the Sun Martial Soul branch.

Red Sun Martial Soul, innate soul power level eight.

Setting Sun Martial Soul, innate soul power level seven.

Their performances were equally impressive, and once everyone had finished, the expressions of the crowd turned serious.

Because the ones appearing next were the true highlights.

The Emperor's two most favored children.

Xu Tianzhen and Xu Tianyao.

"I'll go first!"

Before Jing Hongchen could even call out a name, a dainty figure had already hopped and skipped onto the Awakening Platform.

It was Xu Tianzhen. The little girl tilted her head and gave Jing Hongchen a sweet smile.

"Grandpa Hongchen, you have to cheer for Tianzhen!"

"Help Tianzhen awaken the most powerful Martial Soul!"

A kindly smile immediately appeared on Jing Hongchen's face.

"Her Highness is naturally gifted; her Martial Soul will certainly be extraordinary."

"Please, Your Highness."

As the soul guidance array activated, it wasn't long before crimson-gold light patterns slowly rose amidst the gathering radiance.

The next moment, a brilliant light erupted from Xu Tianzhen's entire body, and waves of scorching heat rapidly spread outward.

A crimson sun slowly rose behind her.

Dazzling and eye-catching, it was like the sun rising in the east.

The entire Imperial Zenith Hall was bathed in a golden-red glow.

Seeing this, many members of the royal family broke into smiles.

Sun Martial Soul!

And it was the purest royal Sun Martial Soul at that!

Shortly after, the soul power test results appeared: innate soul power level nine!

In an instant, gasps of astonishment echoed through the hall.

The old Emperor laughed heartily, overjoyed.

"Good!"

"As expected of my precious daughter!"

"Level nine innate soul power, the future is bright!"

The ministers immediately offered their congratulations, and the entire hall was filled with a joyous atmosphere.

Yet, deep in the old Emperor's eyes, a trace of expectation remained.

Level nine was certainly excellent, but it was still one step away from being a true peerless genius.

And his final hope rested on his youngest son.

"Tianyao."

The old Emperor looked at the young man in the crowd, his eyes full of affection.

"It's your turn."

"I hope you can give your father a surprise."

Hearing this, Xu Tianyao's expression remained unchanged, but he couldn't help but smile bitterly inside.

With his sister's brilliant performance setting the bar, the eyes of the entire hall were now focused on him.

The pressure on him was truly immense.

However, since things had reached this point, he could only brace himself and walk onto the Awakening Platform.

As he passed by Jing Hongchen, Xu Tianyao prepared to speak.

"Hall Master Hongchen, I..."

"Your Highness, please begin."

Jing Hongchen interrupted him expressionlessly.

Clearly, he did not want to give him any opportunity to get close.

After all, there were rumors in the palace recently that the Emperor intended to play matchmaker between Meng Hongchen and Xu Tianyao.

Jing Hongchen had always been quite against this; he did not want his precious granddaughter to marry such a playboy second-generation heir.

If the Martial Soul he awakened today was poor, he would have a perfect reason to decline the matter to the Emperor.

Thinking of this, Jing Hongchen even felt a faint sense of anticipation for the test results.

Xu Tianyao could only touch his nose helplessly at the sight.

He then walked slowly toward the Awakening Platform.

As the magic array activated, a surge of strange energy instantly flooded into his body.

The next moment, Xu Tianyao felt his consciousness drift slightly.

He did not know how much time had passed, but he felt as though some long-dormant power within him was beginning to awaken.

Without any warning, a terrifying high temperature surged upward.

A golden, flame-like radiance shot into the sky, and an intensely scorching aura swept through the entire hall.

The air began to distort, and some of the fabric and wood within the palace even showed faint signs of spontaneous combustion.

Behind Xu Tianyao, a golden sun, far larger and more dazzling than the one Xu Tianzhen had manifested, slowly rose into the air.

It was as majestic as the might of heaven, illuminating all directions!

The entire Imperial Zenith Hall was instantly transformed into a golden ocean.

Many ministers were even forced to retreat repeatedly by the heatwave.

The court soul engineers responsible for maintaining order hurriedly activated cooling soul devices.

Streams of cold air spread rapidly, only then barely dispersing the scorching heat.

However, before anyone could breathe a sigh of relief, the situation changed again!

An aura of extreme cold, diametrically opposed to the previous heat, erupted from within Xu Tianyao's body.

The temperature that had just been lowered plummeted once more.

Frost began to form on the ground, and fine ice crystals even drifted through the air.

The two extreme forces of heat and cold collided frantically, plunging the entire hall into a bizarre state of vibration.

"Protect His Majesty!"

A guard cried out in alarm, and everyone hurriedly circulated their soul power, shielding the old emperor and the various princes and princesses in the center.

When everyone looked back at the Awakening Platform, their gazes instantly froze.

They saw that behind Xu Tianyao, the majestic sun still hung high.

On the other side, a bright, silvery moon was also slowly rising.

The silver radiance was like water, cold and holy.

The sun and moon hung in the air, reflecting each other.

The entire hall was dyed in dual colors of gold and silver.

At that moment, it was as if a celestial phenomenon had descended upon the mortal world.

"This... this..."

Jing Hongchen's pupils contracted violently.

"Twin Martial Souls?!"