Martial Soul Awakening

The next day, early morning.

Today was the day of Xiao Mu's martial soul awakening, and also his birthday.

Xiao Mu was currently sprawled out on his bed, his black-purple hair singed in several places.

These were the remnants of yesterday's experiment; the exoskeleton armor had been a success, yet also a failure.

When he designed it, he had forgotten to account for his own capabilities.

He could not control the armor.

Sunlight pierced through a gap in the curtains, carving out a golden beam that landed right on his face.

Xiao Mu frowned, rolled over, and buried his face into his pillow.

Suddenly, the bedroom door was knocked, then pushed open directly.

The sound was not loud, but Xiao Mu heard it clearly.

He opened his sleepy eyes, and a figure walking slowly toward him was reflected in his gaze.

The man stood by the bed, looking down at him. His short, deep-purple hair clung neatly to the sides of his ears, his brows deep and cold.

He wore a black double-breasted trench coat with a high collar, a belt cinching his waist to accentuate his tall, upright frame. Beneath it, a white shirt and dark tie made him look like a long sword sheathed in its scabbard.

"It's nine o'clock. If you sleep any longer, your backside is going to bloom."

Hearing this, Xiao Mu quickly got up and ran toward the bathroom.

"Dad, stop yelling, I know."

"Ten minutes, see you in the car. Breakfast is already inside."

Xiao Ming stood where he was, his gaze fixed on Xiao Mu's face; the color of his eyes was exactly the same as Xiao Mu's.

He stood for a moment before turning to leave.

Xiao Mu walked to the wardrobe and grabbed a casual outfit at random: a white shirt and overalls.

When he went downstairs, Xiao Ming was already leaning against the car, holding a steaming cup of coffee.

Behind him sat a black soul-guided sports car, its streamlined design looking handsome and flashy.

Xiao Ming leaned against the car door, his trench coat fluttering in the sea breeze.

Seeing him arrive, he said directly, "Get in."

A moment later, the car started, the engine emitting a low roar.

"Don't be nervous. Both your mother's and my martial souls are very strong, and our strength is not lacking. You have a solid foundation; you will definitely have soul power."

Xiao Ming was very clear about his child's condition; he had been born full-term and healthy, and had been raised well, so his innate soul power could not be low.

Besides, this good son of his could handle his wife's cooking, so his potential was definitely not bad.

The East Sea City Spirit Pagoda was one of the eighteen major branches of the Spirit Pagoda organization; these eighteen large pagodas were also known as the Eighteen Heavenly Pillars.

This Spirit Pagoda could be seen from very far away. It stood over a hundred stories tall, exceeding four hundred meters, making it a landmark building even in the skyscraper-filled East Sea City.

Walking into the pagoda, Xiao Mu noticed the mural on the dome immediately.

It depicted the story of the Spirit Ice Douluo, roughly the tale of a young man taking his enemy to the God Realm to enjoy a life of leisure.

Although the summary had some flaws, Xiao Mu felt the meaning was close enough.

The two walked into a circular hall. This was the martial soul awakening hall. Although today was not a designated awakening day and the hall was empty and desolate, there was still someone on duty.

While martial soul awakening could be performed in a soul master's home, this place offered a one-stop service, from awakening and mental power testing to the purchase of a soul spirit.

For that final step, a family without a thousand years of heritage could never avoid it.

It was better to just come to the Spirit Pagoda for convenience.

"Welcome, you two. Here for a martial soul awakening, I presume? My name is Su Haitao, the spirit master in charge of today's awakening."

The voice came from the side. Turning his head, Xiao Mu saw a young man in his twenties gesturing for them to follow.

"Please, come with me."

He knew very well that this gentleman was also a soul master; the world of soul masters held no mysteries for them.

There was no need to hide anything as one would with ordinary people.

Xiao Mu followed behind the two into the awakening room, thinking that this Su Haitao had the potential to become a Title Douluo.

Inside the room, the walls, floor, and ceiling were covered in soul-guided patterns, densely intertwined and woven together.

He looked left and right, his photographic memory capturing every single detail without omission.

Xiao Mu walked to the center of the formation and stood still.

"Extend your right hand," Su Haitao's voice came from behind. "Close your eyes, relax. Feel your martial soul."

Xiao Mu closed his eyes and felt the changes within his body.

Golden light emerged from the formation.

It was dotted with specks of light, like stars in the sky.

The light grew increasingly intense, crawling from the platform to the walls, then climbing up to the ceiling until the entire awakening room was dyed in the color of molten gold.

Golden patterns emerged across Xiao Mu's body.

Extremely fine lines extended from his heart toward his limbs and bones, the golden patterns flickering in rhythm with his breathing.

At this moment, Xiao Mu felt incomparable pain, a torment that originated from both his body and his soul.

Watching all of this, Xiao Ming stood by the door, motionless, his trench coat fluttering in the turbulent currents of energy.

"Did he inherit both of our abilities?" A hint of surprise flickered in the depths of his eyes.

The pillar of light lasted for about ten seconds before it began to retract inward.

Where the light faded, Xiao Mu's figure reappeared.

His hands bloomed with a faint glow; the Martial Soul appeared to be his hands, but in reality, it was his entire body.

"Is this a Body Martial Soul?" Su Haitao was astonished, though he knew that a hand-based Martial Soul did not seem to be the strongest among Body Martial Souls.

The more vital the body part, the stronger the Martial Soul.

Su Haitao stepped forward quickly and pointed to the Soul Guidance Display Screen on the side. "Place your hand on it; we can test your innate soul power."

Xiao Mu placed his hand on the screen, and the numbers on the display jumped rapidly.

In the end, the number stopped at "10."

"Innate full soul power?!" Su Haitao's voice trembled. "Isn't this a hand-based Martial Soul?"

He checked Xiao Mu's body once more, terrified that he might have missed a twin Martial Soul.

Their ancestor had suffered because of such an oversight, losing his livelihood.

"Nothing?" After checking, he found absolutely nothing, yet he couldn't shake the feeling that he had overlooked something.

"Come, let's test your spiritual power. It will be useful when purchasing a Soul Spirit later."

A mechanical whirring sound came from the ceiling as a metal helmet slowly descended, covering Xiao Mu's head.

"Don't be nervous, relax your whole body. Feeling dizzy is normal."

A humming sound began, and a soft white light lit up on the outer side of the helmet.

Su Haitao looked at the Soul Guidance Screen beside him as the data began to jump.

The data soared upward.

The figures finally settled on a single number.

Su Haitao was stunned. Spiritual power was divided into six major realms: Spirit Origin Realm, Spirit Connection Realm, Spirit Sea Realm, Spirit Abyss Realm, Spirit Domain Realm, and the legendary Divine Origin Realm.

Once one surpassed one hundred, they reached the Spirit Connection Realm, capable of bearing two yellow Soul Spirits or one purple Soul Spirit.

Xiao Mu's spiritual power was one hundred and ninety-eight.

Looking at this number, Xiao Mu was speechless. One hundred and ninety-eight? Why not six hundred and forty-eight? Are you implying I can't afford to top up?

"He can bear a thousand-year Soul Spirit, but the age is not important," Xiao Ming said in a calm voice. In this era, Soul Spirits and Martial Souls were better adapted to one another.

Besides, they could always go to the Spirit Ascension Platform to raise the spirit.

They could slowly increase the age of the soul rings.

Su Haitao took a deep breath and said, "The two of you, follow me. According to the rules of the Spirit Pagoda, you are entitled to one free Soul Spirit."