After a night of asking around, Yang Fan already knew where he was and when he was.
It should be Eastsea City, the main stomping ground of the future East Sea F4. The timeline should be around the same time as Tang Wulin's Martial Soul Awakening.
Yang Fan could easily tell from the people at a roadside food stall discussing what kind of talent the Xu family's little princess, Xu Xiaoyan, would show at her awakening tomorrow.
He knew there was a reason everyone was so excited and full of anticipation.
Xu Xiaoyan's father was the head of the Xu family and the current deputy finance chief of Eastsea City. He would also be promoted to the full position around the time Tang Wulin came to Eastsea City.
Xu Xiaoyu was a genius, too. Many people might not recognize the name, but they would surely remember him as the first-love rival of God King Tang's son. He was the one who successfully stole Tang Wulin's first love, Ouyang Zixin.
For a family like that, in a world where Martial Souls could be inherited through bloodlines, Xu Xiaoyan would have a hard time not becoming a genius—as long as her Martial Soul didn't undergo a harmful or incomplete mutation like the Grandmaster's was said to have.
And that was exactly what happened. But the girl was a typical laid-back type, and in the early days, she slacked off no less than Xie Xie.
Though the public was paying a lot of attention to Xu Xiaoyan, she merely sneezed.
"Mm... Achoo!"
The sneeze didn't interrupt what Xu Xiaoyan was doing.
She was curled up on a soft bed strewn with pink lace, her two pale-blue ponytails swaying as she turned the pages.
She hugged a romance novel larger than her little face, her chubby hands pinching the pages as her big, watery eyes stayed fixed on the words. She even held her breath.
When she reached the part where the hero confessed his love to the heroine, she couldn't help pursing her lips. Two faint blushes bloomed on her cheeks, and she giggled to herself like a kitten that had snuck a piece of candy.
She was completely lost in her own little world, looking serious and adorably innocent.
Tomorrow was her awakening day, but Xu Xiaoyan wasn't excited or worried at all.
Anyway, my big brother's talented and Father's already picked him as the heir. I, Xu Xiaoyan, just need to slack off!
Instead of worrying about the life of fighting and scheming that comes with becoming a Soul Master, I might as well wonder if I'll meet a handsome, gentle, considerate prince like the ones in my novels, someone who'll take me away from home to travel the world.
Six-year-old Xu Xiaoyan thought about it as she grinned foolishly, then gradually fell asleep without even closing the book in her hands.
A soft snore mingled with the girl's sweet dreams as it filled the room.
From caterpillar to butterfly, from fish to dragon.
Martial Soul Awakening was like the college entrance exam in his previous life. Countless carp leaped over the Dragon Gate in this trial, transforming into dragons when they encountered their moment.
With his Soul Skill's camouflage effect active, Yang Fan had no trouble blending into the Spirit Pagoda.
He'd experienced the awakening ceremony on Douluo Continent two thousand years ago. Now, in the Legend of the Dragon King era, he wanted to see whether it was any different. He also wanted to see if he might run into Xu Xiaoyan or Xie Xie, or some of the minor characters from the original story.
He was sure Xu Xiaoyan would be there, but he couldn't say the same for anyone else.
By this era, Martial Soul Awakening was widespread. Aside from the Spirit Pagoda, Shrek, and the Tang Sect, even the various families within the Federation should have their own ways of awakening Martial Souls.
Xu Xiaoyan's decision to awaken at the Spirit Pagoda this time was probably because the Xu family had struck some kind of deal with it. The family was putting forward Xu Xiaoyan as a genius to help raise the East Sea Spirit Pagoda's profile.
Having grown up surrounded by the ways of the modern world, Yang Fan knew without having to think that every Spirit Pagoda had its own KPIs. The worst-performing ones probably even had their resources cut.
The plaza outside the Eastsea City Spirit Pagoda branch was already packed with people, most of them parents holding their children's hands.
The adults murmured instructions to their children, then looked up at the Spirit Pagoda from time to time. Their eyes held both anticipation and a hint of nervousness.
The children, on the other hand, weren't thinking about much. Some looked around curiously, while others gripped their parents' clothes and waited quietly.
The staff outside the tower held name lists and called out names one after another.
The children whose names were called stepped out of line and followed a guide into an awakening room nearby.
Some went in skipping and came out with their heads lowered and their eyes red—most likely because their Martial Souls weren't very impressive.
Others came out beaming with excitement, tugging at their parents' hands and chattering away. Their parents smiled along with them.
Partway through, an elongated Soul Guidance car that looked rather luxurious and distinguished pulled up at the edge of the plaza.
Seeing the blue-haired girl with twin ponytails beside Minister Xu, the onlookers recognized her as Xu Xiaoyan, whose name had been the talk of the town lately.
The Xu family didn't use any special privileges to cut in line. They waited patiently for the Spirit Pagoda to call her name.
Only when Xu Xiaoyan was called did she follow the Spirit Pagoda staff inside, encouraged by her father.
The awakening room was small, with a domed ceiling and a glowing magic array drawn in the middle. The Spirit Transmitter in charge of the ceremony stood beside it. The process was more or less the same every time: have the child stand inside, channel Soul Power, wait for the Martial Soul to appear, then test their Innate Soul Power.
Xu Xiaoyan's turn was no different.
"Close your eyes and try to feel your Martial Soul, all right?"
The Spirit Transmitter spoke softly as she stuck a glowing talisman to Xu Xiaoyan's forehead.
Xu Xiaoyan nodded obediently and closed her eyes, like a little doll with blue twin tails.
The Spirit Transmitter stepped outside the magic array and took a deep breath.
She crouched down and touched the edge of the array with her fingertips. Pale-blue light spread from them, flowing into the dark star tracks on the floor.
"Begin."
At her whisper, light began to fill the entire array, like a river reflecting starlight.
Yang Fan stood in a corner of the room, watching the scene before him, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.
It seemed that two thousand years later, arrays like this made it easier to draw out a Martial Soul's potential.
If he'd had the help of an array like this when he awakened, then even without taking the Whale Rubber he'd come across by chance, he might well have had three levels of Soul Power. Even if he hadn't reached three, two would have been no problem.
Pale-blue motes of light spilled out of the array and gradually rose, gathering around the sleeping Xu Xiaoyan. They gently circled the girl, and a faint smile appeared on her face. At her chest, a pure, shining ice staff slowly took shape.
Surrounded by the motes of light, the girl floated half a meter above the ground.
The ice staff at her chest began greedily absorbing the array's light. Along with the pale blue, faint golden light was mixed in.
The Spirit Transmitter tilted her head back. She stopped channeling Soul Power, then slumped down at the edge of the array, drained and gasping for breath.
I've presided over so many Martial Soul Awakenings today, but I've never been this exhausted. As expected of the Xu family bloodline. I should be getting a message about a promotion and a raise tonight.
Su Yunxi could hardly contain her excitement.
They say one of my ancestors once presided over Lord Sea God's Martial Soul Awakening. I should be no worse than my ancestor.
This little girl definitely has at least eight levels of Innate Soul Power.
The array's light gradually dimmed, but the motes didn't vanish. Like a cluster of stars, they tenderly embraced the girl's Martial Soul.
"Star Wheel Ice Staff... A guaranteed crowd-control type," Yang Fan murmured.
He didn't notice that Xu Xiaoyan, now awake after her Martial Soul Awakening, had heard him.
Xu Xiaoyan blinked her adorable big eyes, then glanced toward the spot where Yang Fan was standing.
She had a hunch that someone was watching her from there.