[The first two chapters of Su Yuntao's Happy Life have been read.]
[Read count: 26.]
"After the Martial Soul Awakening, I need to boost my read count." With only four more needed to unlock the reward at thirty, Xiao Wuji perked up.
He practiced the Nine Yang Manual for a while. When it was bright outside, he left his room, ate breakfast, then joined the other orphans for the Martial Soul Awakening.
The orphans of Spirit City had gathered in their thousands. Ten deacons were in charge of the awakenings, and the children waited in orderly lines.
At first, Xiao Wuji had thought he was merely going through the motions. But once the Martial Soul Awakening began, he realized it wasn't as simple as he'd imagined.
As the deacon infused the six stones with Soul Power, they immediately glowed gold, forming a barrier of light around him.
Xiao Wuji first felt the warmth described during the Martial Soul Awakening, an indescribably pleasant sensation.
The warm breath seeped into his body. Suddenly, he felt his faint inner strength racing through him, just as the manual described: "The qi rolls like a wheel, and the whole body must follow. Wherever it fails to follow, the body falls into disarray..."
His body shifted from warmth to scorching heat. The hazy purple qi in his dantian had made a small breakthrough, nearly equal to two years of cultivation.
As his whole body seemed to burn like fire, Xiao Wuji sensed something inside him shatter. His hand clenched abruptly.
All the sensations receded like a tide, leaving only the tangible feeling of something gripped in his hand.
The Spirit Hall deacon had long since grown numb to the sight of farm tools, Blue Silver Grass, and other Trash Martial Souls. When he suddenly saw a Martial Soul entirely unlike them, he could hardly believe it.
After a brief daze, the deacon's eyes widened. "A Sword Martial Soul!"
Xiao Wuji looked at the sword in his hand. It was about four feet long, and a faint green haze shimmered from its scabbard. Even sheathed, it was clearly no ordinary weapon.
Two characters were inlaid in gold thread on the scabbard: Heavenly Reliance.
"This is the Heavenly Sword." Xiao Wuji turned his hand over, giving the deacon a clear look.
"So it's a Heavenly Sword Martial Soul." The deacon nodded excitedly. He had never heard of a Martial Soul by that name, but awakening such a weapon-type Martial Soul was truly rare. He skillfully took out a crystal ball to test Xiao Wuji's Soul Power.
Normally, a Martial Soul like this was bound to come with Innate Soul Power. The only question was how many levels.
Xiao Wuji withdrew his Martial Soul and placed his hand on the crystal ball. In an instant, the blue crystal burst into dazzling light.
The deacon sucked in a sharp breath. If the crystal ball showed even the faintest response, it proved the person being tested had Innate Soul Power. Such a brilliant glow could only mean one thing—Innate Full Soul Power, the highest level of Soul Power one could possess at the time of Martial Soul Awakening.
"Good heavens, it's Innate Full Soul Power!"
Before the middle-aged deacon could say anything, the dazzling light had already drawn the other deacons' attention. They cried out in unison.
The middle-aged man smiled as he put away the crystal ball. He asked Xiao Wuji's name, praised him repeatedly, and told him to return to his quarters and not wander off.
Xiao Wuji ambled back to his quarters, suddenly puzzled. His Martial Soul Awakening had been completely different from Tang San's.
They had both cultivated inner strength, so why had his experience been so different? Why had it accelerated his cultivation?
Xiao Wuji pondered the matter all the way back, weighing every possible factor, from when they had started cultivating to the differences in their methods. Only when he reached his room did the answer suddenly dawn on him.
It wasn't hard to figure out. Beyond all those factors, the root cause was simple: Tang San wasn't human.
Tang San looked human enough, but in truth, half his blood came from a Soul Beast. The Blue Silver King had even said that human Soul Masters couldn't awaken his true Blue Silver Emperor Martial Soul.
It was precisely because Tang San wasn't human that he had shown signs of Innate Full Soul Power after cultivating the Mysterious Heaven Skill from the age of four.
Xiao Wuji, on the other hand, was a pure-blooded human. His Martial Soul Awakening had activated the Innate Soul Power that came with his Martial Soul, which in turn stimulated his inner strength's cultivation. It was as if he had taken some miraculous pill, and his power had surged.
Thinking about the difference, Xiao Wuji smiled, sat cross-legged, and resumed cultivating, savoring the improvement in his inner strength.
He guided the hazy purple qi through his body. It felt as though he were experiencing the Martial Soul Awakening all over again; warmth flowed through him, bringing indescribable comfort. It was the effect of strengthening the body and cleansing the meridians.
After practicing for a while, Xiao Wuji felt invigorated and began working on his latest update.
The Spirit Hall's awakenings were much faster than Su Yuntao's, who had to travel from place to place. That gave him time to get another update in before the others...
When the updates stopped, Tang San felt as if two of his three souls had left him and four of his seven spirits had vanished. His father was still amiable, and the Martial Soul Awakening was just around the corner, yet he couldn't muster any excitement.
He was hammering a block of iron listlessly when warmth surged in his chest. Tang San's eyes widened. He hurriedly stopped and took out Peerless Tang Sect, the book bestowed on him by his ancestor.
He had made a point of worshipping his ancestor properly that morning, hoping for some guidance. It seemed the ancestor had recognized his sincerity.
Tang San opened the book and, sure enough, found new content.
[Chapter 5: Silent Sleeve Arrow, Going to Notting Junior Spirit Master Academy]
Tang San read respectfully. He learned that he had used the hammer technique his father taught him to forge a Silent Sleeve Arrow Hidden Weapon over the course of three months, and that he was about to attend a Soul Master Academy.
His father had refused earlier because he couldn't stand the village chief and wanted to make him anxious for a while.
Tang San chuckled as he read. He hadn't expected his father to remember the everyday details so clearly.
[Chapter 6: Grandmaster, Teacher?]
Xiao Wuji had pondered the matter for a long time before figuring out the difference.
"Teacher" could refer to a profession, or it could be a respectful form of address.
The latter usage appeared in Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, when Yun Zhonghe said, "Teacher Duan, the head of the Duan family of Dali, has arrived."
Duan Zhengming, ruler of the kingdom of Dali, wasn't anyone's master, yet he was addressed as "Teacher."
The word was also used in dialects and everyday speech. One well-known example was Zeng Xiaoxian, the radio host from iPartment, who was always called "Teacher Zeng."
In Douluo Continent, Grandmaster was somewhat similar to the modern understanding of the term. But aside from referring to a teacher at an academy, "teacher" specifically meant someone's master—a title of great significance.
Tang San didn't understand it as quickly as Xiao Wuji had. When he saw that someone had uncovered the secret of his Twin Martial Souls, he was deeply shocked. He wished he could immediately use the Silent Sleeve Arrow he'd made earlier in the book to kill him and protect his secret.
But when he read the well-reasoned explanation that followed, and saw himself kneeling to become Grandmaster's disciple, he nodded slowly. This was a renowned teacher his ancestor had assigned to him!
After finishing the two chapters, Tang San felt like a drought-stricken seedling blessed with sweet rain. His spirits soared, and he resumed hammering the iron block with a steady clang, clang, clang.
[Finished reading the latest chapter of Peerless Tang Sect.] [Read count: 28]
Xiao Wuji raised a hand and rubbed his chin. Though each novel had only one reader, his read counts were accumulating at a decent pace. The protagonists really did love reading.
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