Soul-Sucking Battle Axe

Seeing the system notification that the modification had succeeded, Duan Fan wasn't surprised.

Beside the system notification, everything happening to Tang San had already appeared in text in real time.

It was as if Duan Fan had watched a live text broadcast, witnessing the entire process of Tang Hao and Tang San, father and son, breaking apart.

At that moment, the text said that Tang Hao had left Sacred Soul Village and Tang San was sitting outside his home, drinking plain rice porridge. Everything had returned to peace.

Duan Fan didn't read any further. Instead, he turned his attention to the system reward.

"The Second Martial Soul, Soul-Sucking Battle Axe. It sounds incredibly powerful. I'll give it a thorough look when I get back to my room."

The instant the system notification appeared, Duan Fan had already felt a special power well up inside him.

With only a thought, he could summon the Soul-Sucking Battle Axe.

"The system said that the rewards for successfully changing Tang San's fate are related to his luck. I got the Soul-Sucking Battle Axe, so I suppose Twin Martial Souls also count as part of Tang San's luck. The system must have drawn it at random."

"Does that mean I might have a chance to get rewards like the Mysterious Heaven Skill or Hidden Weapons in the future? Those should count as part of Tang San's luck too."

Duan Fan was looking forward to it.

"Besides the Soul-Sucking Battle Axe, I also got one chance to change my own fate. That's probably the system's fixed reward."

"I'd originally planned to use a modification chance to change my Martial Soul into Twin Martial Souls. I never expected the system to hand them to me directly. Could I possibly have three Martial Souls?"

With that thought, Duan Fan decided to act. He contacted the system and tried to change his Martial Soul into three Martial Souls, but immediately received a chilly notification.

[Modification failed! Please make a reasonable modification!]

"Looks like three Martial Souls are out of the question."

Duan Fan didn't make any more attempts. He decided to save his modification chance for later.

He had already considered getting a modification chance to ensure that his trip to Soul Hunting Forest to find his First Soul Ring went off without a hitch.

"Dad, big brother, you're back!"

A soft, sweet voice came from ahead, drawing Duan Fan's attention back to reality.

A little girl in a blue dress came bouncing over. She looked about five, with a tiny beauty mark beneath the corner of her left eye and a round, adorable face.

The little girl was Fang Qian, Fang Qingshan's daughter and Duan Fan's younger sister.

"Come here, Qianqian. Let Dad pick you up!"

Seeing his precious daughter come out to greet him, Fang Qingshan grinned, crouched down, and opened his arms.

But Fang Qian walked straight toward Duan Fan instead.

Duan Fan couldn't help grinning too. He opened his arms wide.

But he never got his little sister's hug.

He watched helplessly as Fang Qian took the grilled fish right out of his hands.

The fish wasn't very big. It was wrapped in paper and held by a string.

But Fang Qian was still too small to lift it easily. She didn't manage to get a proper grip on the first try, and only caught it just before it fell to the ground.

"It smells so good! Mom, Dad and big brother bought grilled fish!"

Fang Qian hauled the fish up with both hands, leaned it toward her nose with great effort, then happily turned and went inside without giving Fang Qingshan or Duan Fan another glance.

The uncle and nephew stood there, stunned.

Fang Qingshan laughed helplessly. "That girl only has eyes for food."

Duan Fan agreed. "Yeah, she's a little glutton."

The Fang family lived in a two-story house with a private courtyard.

When Duan Fan and Fang Qingshan entered the living room on the first floor, his aunt, Ding Yutang, happened to emerge from the kitchen carrying a bowl of noodles.

Ding Yutang was dressed in a black skirt. She looked like an older version of Fang Qian; mother and daughter bore a striking resemblance, right down to the beauty mark at the corner of the eye.

Like Fang Qingshan, Ding Yutang also worked at Notting Junior Spirit Master Academy. She was a Soul Master with a Butterfly Martial Soul and was a twenty-ninth-level Soul Grandmaster.

As soon as Fang Qian, sitting at the dining table, saw that her mother had brought out noodles, she immediately cried, "Mom, I don't want noodles! I want grilled fish!"

"Hm?"

Ding Yutang glared at Fang Qian, who immediately fell quiet and obediently sat down to eat her noodles.

After settling Fang Qian, Ding Yutang turned to Fang Qingshan and Duan Fan.

"You're back so soon! How did Xiaofan's Martial Soul Awakening go?"

Before Duan Fan could answer, Fang Qingshan excitedly jumped in. "Xiaofan's Martial Soul is a Writing Brush. Guess what his Innate Soul Power is?"

Ding Yutang shot Fang Qingshan an exasperated look. "Look at how excited you are. Don't tell me Xiaofan has Innate Full Soul Power?"

Fang Qingshan looked astonished. "You guessed it! Xiaofan really does have Innate Full Soul Power!"

At the words "Innate Full Soul Power," Ding Yutang froze. Then she stared hard at Fang Qingshan, as if trying to find a crack in his story.

"You're not joking?"

Ding Yutang's voice had turned serious.

Fang Qingshan replied earnestly, "Why would I joke about this? I'm telling the truth!"

"Oh my goodness, that's wonderful!"

Ding Yutang was so excited she nearly jumped for joy. Her eyes grew moist with happiness, just like Fang Qingshan's had in the Spirit Awakening Room.

Fang Qian, who was eating her noodles, seemed to catch the adults' excitement and joined in the celebration. "Big brother's amazing!"

"When I turn six, I'm going to awaken Innate Full Soul Power too, and be just as amazing as big brother!"

Ding Yutang mercilessly burst her bubble. "I'll burn incense and thank the heavens if you can become a Soul Master. And you're talking about Innate Full Soul Power!"

After the excitement died down, Fang Qingshan told Ding Yutang that he planned to take Duan Fan to Soul Hunting Forest that afternoon.

Ding Yutang immediately said, "I'll go with you."

Fang Qingshan glanced at Fang Qian. "What about our daughter?"

Ding Yutang replied, "We'll drop her off at the academy and ask Sister Li, Old Zhang, and the others to look after her."

Fang Qingshan frowned slightly. "We'll be gone for several days!"

Ding Yutang looked unconcerned. "So what? Xiaofan is the most important!"

Fang Qian, still eating her noodles, immediately protested. "Mom, you can't play favorites! Big brother is important, and I'm important too."

Ding Yutang placated her. "Yes, yes. Qianqian is important too."

Even Duan Fan couldn't stand watching anymore. He spoke up. "Auntie, you should stay home and look after Qianqian. Uncle can take me to Soul Hunting Forest."

Ding Yutang said, "Xiaofan, go rest in your room first. Your uncle and I have told you about how Soul Masters cultivate, haven't we? Go and give it a try."

Duan Fan had still wanted to say something, but when he saw Ding Yutang's increasingly serious expression, he finally nodded. "All right. I'll go back to my room."

Back in his room, lying on the soft, comfortable bedding, Duan Fan couldn't help sighing. "Uncle and Auntie are far too good to me. They always put me first in everything."

"They're so good to me that it's hard to believe any of this is real."

"Uncle did say before that once my Martial Soul Awakening was over, he'd tell me everything about their past."

"Now I've completed my Martial Soul Awakening, and I even have Innate Full Soul Power. If nothing unexpected happens, I'll learn everything on the way to Soul Hunting Forest this time."

Duan Fan took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.

"Don't overthink it. There's no point."

"Let's take a look at my Second Martial Soul, the Soul-Sucking Battle Axe."

Duan Fan held out his left hand as black light surged into view.

A black long-handled axe floated above his palm, its haft covered in intricate patterns.

Its broad blade was like a pair of outstretched wings. A faintly glowing blue gem was embedded in the center, and within it, a pale mist could be seen swirling.