Awakening Twin Martial Souls

South of Mingdu City, Sun-Moon Empire.

Shen Mansion lay bathed in the warm light of late spring.

Fragmented sunlight filtered through the carved window lattice, making the bluestone slabs in the courtyard gleam.

"Lian, come out quickly. Your father will be back soon, and it'll be time to awaken your Martial Soul."

His mother, Xu Ningxin, called gently from outside the door, unable to conceal her anticipation.

Her voice brushed across Shen Lian's heart like a feather, sending ripples spreading through it.

Shen Lian, who was straightening his collar in his room, answered brightly when he heard her.

"I know, Mother. I'll head to the Awakening Room right away."

Shen Lian walked over to the mirror and looked at its polished surface.

Reflected in it was a handsome little boy. Though his face still carried a touch of childishness, his bright eyes held a composure and sharpness far beyond his years.

"Ah, as expected of me. Even this youthful face can't hide how handsome I am."

Shen Lian muttered to his reflection, a confident smile curling across his lips.

Then he adjusted his collar and turned toward the Awakening Room.

Shen Mansion's Awakening Room stood deep within the rear courtyard, an ancient yet solemn building.

Shen Lian entered the room and sat on a soft brocade cushion, waiting for his father, Shen Meng.

His gaze fell upon the hexagonal awakening formation in the center of the room, but his thoughts drifted back six years.

Back then, when Shen Lian had first transmigrated here and opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was his mother Xu Ningxin's gentle face.

In that moment, he knew he had arrived in an entirely new world, though he had no idea what kind of world it was.

Until one day, three months after his birth, as he lay in his mother's arms, he accidentally overheard a conversation between his father Shen Meng and his mother.

"Ning Xin, I broke through Rank 80 last night. I've become a Soul Douluo."

His father's voice carried irrepressible joy.

Xu Ningxin said excitedly upon hearing this.

"Brother Meng, that's wonderful! Breaking through to Soul Douluo at thirty-five—you're truly a genius of our Sun-Moon Empire!"

Hearing terms such as "Rank 80," "Soul Douluo," and "Sun-Moon Empire," Shen Lian's heart suddenly skipped a beat.

He instantly understood where he had transmigrated to—it was the Douluo Continent he had once known so well!

Moreover, judging by the name "Sun-Moon Empire," Shen Lian believed he had arrived in the era of the second installment, The Unrivaled Tang Clan.

In the days that followed, Shen Lian lived like any other infant, eating when awake and sleeping after eating.

Yet in his spare time, he was always calculating in his mind.

How would he compete with Huo Yuhao for resources in the future?

And how could he avoid the surveillance of that "selfless and impartial" God-King Tang?

However, an experience following his mother to a palace banquet completely overturned what he thought he knew.

In a palace corridor, Shen Lian, cradled in his mother's arms, was drawn to a massive map hanging on the wall.

The map clearly marked the full extent of the Sun-Moon Empire, yet bore no trace of any other nation.

At first, Shen Lian thought the Sun-Moon Empire had merely marked its own territory.

But his mother seemed to notice his gaze and gently said to him.

"Lian, are you looking at the map? Look, the entire continent has now been conquered by our Sun-Moon Empire, and the continent has been renamed the Sun-Moon Continent. Your grandfather led others to win this glorious achievement."

His mother's words exploded in Shen Lian's mind like a bolt of thunder.

Only then did he realize that he was not in the timeline of The Unrivaled Tang Clan, but in the earlier era of Douluo Continent!

As for other timelines, Shen Lian had not considered them. He had transmigrated, after all—how could he possibly be in some particular timeline?

The Sun-Moon Empire had already unified the entire continent!

At that thought, Shen Lian's heartbeat involuntarily quickened.

Shen Lian took a deep breath, and his thoughts returned to reality.

His gaze refocused on the awakening formation before him.

Then, not long after.

The Mystic Iron door of the Awakening Room creaked heavily as three figures entered in succession.

The elderly man in front wore a dark brocade robe. As he strode with the bearing of a dragon and tiger, the pixiu emblem on his jade belt buckle swayed lightly with his steps, and the pressure of a superior faintly emanated from him.

The middle-aged couple following closely behind him consisted of a stern-faced man with sword-like brows and blazing eyes, and a gentle woman whose brows and eyes nevertheless carried the elegance of royal nobility. They were Shen Lian's parents, Shen Meng and Xu Ningxin.

"Grandfather!" Shen Lian's pupils constricted slightly.

Of course, he recognized the old man—Shen Long, Grand Marshal of the Sun-Moon Empire, a Rank 98 Super Douluo. The Dragon-Slaying Blade at his waist, which had never once been drawn, was the manifested symbol of the Shen Family's inherited Martial Soul.

This legendary figure, who had once led countless troops to conquer the Sun-Moon Continent and had voluntarily surrendered his military authority after the empire's unification, had actually come in person to witness Shen Lian's Martial Soul awakening.

With a wave of Shen Meng's hand, a warm jade stone emerged from his Storage Ring. It was the Awakening Stone.

In an instant, eight Spirit Rings—yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black—rose and revolved beneath his feet like a brilliant river of stars flowing through the room.

"Lian, focus and calm your mind."

Holding the Awakening Stone, Shen Meng stepped into the center and said in a deep voice.

"Do not suppress the power within your body. Follow your heart."

Shen Lian took a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes.

The moment his consciousness sank into his body, two utterly different forces surged like raging undercurrents.

One of them was especially conspicuous, a vast energy wrapped in an aura of Destruction. As he attempted to guide it, a searing pain suddenly shot through his back.

When he opened his eyes again, a dragon's shadow radiating an eerie purple glow emerged behind him, fine Annihilation Runes curling around its claws.

"Purple Imperial Heaven-Extinguishing Dragon!"

Xu Ningxin covered her rosy lips, her beautiful eyes widening, before continuing.

"This is one of the imperial family's two great inherited Martial Souls!"

Shen Long stroked his beard and laughed heartily, excitement shining in his clouded eyes.

"Good! Good! This Martial Soul and my Shen Family's Dragon-Slaying Blade are both among the most powerful existences on the Sun-Moon Continent. My grandson's talent is truly blessed by heaven!"

Shen Meng's eyes brimmed with pride. Just as he was about to speak, he saw Shen Lian hesitate.

"Father, I... I seem to have another Martial Soul."

Before his words had even faded, a long blade engraved with dragon patterns condensed in his palm. The dim glow flowing along its body echoed the dragon shadow behind him from afar.

Silence. Deathly silence.

The Jade Pipe in Shen Long's hand fell to the floor with a clang, while Shen Meng and Xu Ningxin stood frozen on the spot.

A moment later, hearty laughter shook the Awakening Room until it buzzed.

"Hahaha! Twin Martial Souls! My Shen Family has actually produced a genius with Twin Martial Souls!"

"Quick, test his Innate Soul Power!"

Shen Meng impatiently took out the Spirit Power Ball, his eyes filled with anticipation.

Shen Lian placed his hand on the crystalline sphere. In an instant, immense Soul Power surged forth like floodwaters bursting through a dam. The Spirit Power Ball erupted with dazzling golden light, and within that radiance, the faint roar of a dragon seemed to echo.

"Innate Full Soul Power!"

Shen Long trembled as he grasped his grandson's shoulders. His aged voice was filled with uncontrollable ecstasy as he said.

"The future of my Shen Family shall surely shine through the ages because of you!"

With reddened eyes, Xu Ningxin pulled her son into her embrace, while Shen Meng clenched the hands behind his back into fists, his chest rising and falling violently.

Shen Meng knew that from this day onward, the entire Sun-Moon Empire would tremble at this boy's name.