Zhang Lei's Awakening

"All right—"

It was still that cold, hard voice, but everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they realized that the Soul Master named Lu Yi had no intention of pursuing the matter.

He calmly continued pulling his large hand from his shoulder bag, six pitch-black, round stones already clasped in his palm.

With a casual toss, the stones landed on the ground, forming a perfect Hexagonal Pattern. Lu Yi lifted his bearded chin and gestured toward the burliest of the three children, Zhang Lei:

"Go in~"

Zhang Lei met Lu Yi's gaze, then immediately looked away. Almost instinctively, he turned his head toward Zhang Dahe, Ling Xiaoshan, and... Ling Yi!

Under the encouragement in the three men's eyes, Zhang Lei took a deep breath and gathered his courage. With a determined gaze, he stepped into the center of the Hexagonal Pattern and stood still.

"Not bad~" Seeing how quickly Zhang Lei overcame his nervousness and fear, Lu Yi briefly uttered those two words. Then his gaze sharpened. He extended his broad right palm, facing upward, and gave a low shout.

A dark, inky light surged from his palm. In the blink of an eye, it transformed into an iron hammer.

The hammerhead was roughly spherical overall, with sharp edges and corners. Its handle was over a meter long, and it looked extremely heavy, yet Lu Yi held it steadily in his hand.

"Bang—!"

The hammerhead struck downward onto the stone slab on the ground. Two Spirit Rings appeared around Lu Yi's feet, one pale yellow and the other bright yellow.

Martial Soul—"Eight-Edged Mysterious Heavy Hammer"!

After planting the Martial Soul iron hammer beside his feet, Lu Yi slapped both palms forward in succession. Six pale gray rays shot out and sank into the six round stones on the ground. Immediately afterward, a layer of hazy golden radiance was released from the six stones, forming a pale golden barrier that enveloped Zhang Lei.

When the golden light first enveloped him, Zhang Lei's tense body trembled instinctively. But as golden specks of light floated out of the black stones on the ground and entered his body, the tightly shut little face of Zhang Lei relaxed at once, and his entire person gradually calmed down.

At a certain moment, when Zhang Lei's body began trembling again, Lu Yi's tiger eyes sharpened, and he said in a deep voice, "Extend your right hand~"

Zhang Lei instinctively extended his right hand. At once, all the light specks surged toward it, and in an instant, a small Hoe about half a meter long appeared in his palm.

It had a brownish-yellow wooden handle shaped like a Kitchen Knife, along with a black, gleaming iron blade that shimmered with a metallic luster.

This was a relatively common piece of Farm Tools in a Rural Village. It was simply a little smaller than usual.

Fortunately, it was a Martial Soul and could change along with Zhang Lei's build, becoming the most suitable and easiest size for him to use.

Once Zhang Lei's Martial Soul had fully manifested, Lu Yi's expression remained calm as he said indifferently, "Tool Martial Soul 'Hoe.' Come, put your hand on this and see whether you have any Soul Power—"

As he spoke, he reached behind him and scooped up the Blue Crystal Ball from the table, supporting it in his palm before holding it out in front of Zhang Lei.

Following Lu Yi's instructions, Zhang Lei withdrew the Martial Soul "Hoe" into his body and covered the Blue Crystal Ball with his plump, fair little hand.

After a moment, seeing that the Blue Crystal Ball showed no reaction at all, Lu Yi indicated that Zhang Lei should withdraw his hand. He placed the Blue Crystal Ball back on the table behind him and briefly announced, "No Soul Power. Step down."

Nearby, Ling Yi watched the entire process, clearly observing Zhang Lei's expression as it shifted from unease to calm, then to delight and excitement, before finally turning into disappointment and dejection.

What especially caught Ling Yi's attention was that, a few moments before the Soul Master named Lu Yi announced that Zhang Lei had no Soul Power, Zhang Lei's pupils had contracted strangely for an instant. It had been extremely subtle.

But after being judged to have no Soul Power, all of Zhang Lei's emotions turned to dejection. Zhang Lei himself had probably failed to notice that fleeting anomaly.

Thoughts raced through Ling Yi's mind, but that did not stop him from joining Zhang Dahe and Ling Xiaoshan in surrounding the dejected Zhang Lei as he walked over. One patted his head, another patted his shoulder.

If the Martial Soul Awakening Ceremony had not still been continuing, with the other two children of the right age from the village undergoing Martial Soul Awakening, Zhang Dahe and Ling Xiaoshan would probably already have begun comforting him.

As expected, the next two children from Shan Hai Village awakened the Martial Souls "Sensitive Grass" and "Short Wooden Stick." Both had no Soul Power and lacked the aptitude to become Soul Masters.

"All right~"

Lu Yi put the Blue Crystal Ball into the shoulder bag at his waist. As he raised a hand and used Soul Power to draw the six black round stones from the ground into his grasp, he said unhurriedly, "That concludes this year. As for next year's Martial Soul Awakening Ceremony, the Spirit Hall in North River Mouth Town will announce the time publicly in one month."

"I'm leaving."

"Of course~ Of course~" The villagers of Shan Hai Village, led by Zhang Dahe, nodded repeatedly and answered somewhat nervously:

"Soul Master, the wind and snow are so heavy outside. Would you like to rest a while before leaving?"

"That's right, my lord. It's almost lunchtime, and although the village is poor, we still have the meat of some wild animals..."

"No need~" Lu Yi fastened his shoulder bag again and walked toward the stone house's door without looking back. "There are still several villages after this one—"

Watching Lu Yi's back, Ling Yi's eyes flickered. He draped an arm around Zhang Lei's shoulders and whispered comfortingly, "Lei Ge, don't be sad. Although that Crystal Ball showed that you have no Soul Power, that doesn't mean you absolutely have none at all..."

"Maybe you just have very, very little Soul Power—so little that the Crystal Ball couldn't detect it..."

"Didn't you say the lowest Soul Power was rank one?"

"Maybe your Soul Power is rank 0.1, or rank 0.01, Lei Ge..."

Ling Yi's voice was very quiet. Apart from himself and Zhang Lei, even Zhang Dahe and Ling Xiaoshan, who were standing beside the two children, failed to hear him.

At the door, Lu Yi's hand paused slightly on the handle, then he casually pulled it without revealing anything, opening the wooden door whose bottom had partly frozen shut.

"Whoosh—!"

A blast of cold air accompanied by howling wind swept into the room. Before more wind and snow could pour inside, that burly figure stepped out and casually pulled the wooden door closed behind him once again, blocking the wind and snow outside.

While continuing to comfort Zhang Lei, Ling Yi's eyes were fixed on the now-closed wooden door. His clear eyes were starkly black and white, like a tranquil, bottomless pool.

At night, the wind died and the snow stopped. Only the thick clouds remained overhead, leaving the earth shrouded in darkness.

Ling Yi lay quietly on the bed. With every breath he took, the hundreds and thousands of stalks of "Blue Silver Grass" throughout the room swayed their leaves in response.

In two washtubs made of wooden planks in the corner, dry grass, torn cotton batting, and other things had been spread out. A'Huang and Meow Meow lay separately inside them, sleeping soundly. Their bellies rose and fell, producing muffled sounds.

In the pitch-black room, where he could not see his hand in front of his face, Ling Yi opened his eyes and stared into the darkness, replaying everything that had happened today in his mind.

Frame after frame surfaced before his eyes, enlarging, being sorted through, and passing by.

In the end, that broad back, which had vanished without pause behind the gradually closing wooden door beneath the flying snow, stopped before Ling Yi's eyes.

"What a pity~"

A murmur devoid of sorrow or joy rang out in the silent room.

Afterward, the room fell silent once more. A peaceful feeling gradually spread and slowly filled the entire room.

Outside, not even the slightest trace of that peaceful feeling leaked out. Yet in the courtyard and beyond it, the stalks of "Blue Silver Grass" covered in white snow, despite being frozen and withered, all struggled to stretch their remaining leaves and roots toward that ordinary-looking house.