Martial Soul Awakening

"Martial Soul: Blue Silver Grass."

"Place your hand on this."

As those two sentences rang out, Ling Yi's face carried a touch of unease. At the same time, he did not forget to control his body, showing the same helplessness, nervousness, and faint trembling as the other children his age beside him.

Taking a deep breath, he withdrew the pale blue little grass in his right palm back into his body, then pressed his hand onto the Blue Crystal Ball that had been held out before him.

Feeling the cool current that had just condensed inside him with the appearance of his martial soul, Blue Silver Grass, being drawn out by a powerful suction from within the Blue Crystal Ball, Ling Yi lowered his gaze and looked at the crystal ball as it gradually bloomed with a faint light. In his heart, he carefully savored the movement of that cool current.

Seeing that only a tiny bit at the bottom of the crystal ball had lit up, about one-twentieth of it, the young man in white fitted clothes frowned. Then he remembered that Ling Yi's martial soul was only the most common, ordinary Blue Silver Grass, and nodded with a look that said it was only natural. "Your luck isn't bad. Even a martial soul like Blue Silver Grass managed to awaken soul power. In all the years I've presided over the Martial Soul Awakening Ceremony, you're the first—"

"Although your aptitude is a little poor, no matter what, you can cultivate in the end. You have hope of becoming a soul master."

"Thank you, Soul Master." Ling Yi withdrew his hand and bowed slightly to the young man before him. His manner was simple and pure, and his voice carried the crispness of a child.

This year, Shan Hai Village had seven children of the right age who had reached Six Years Old. Ling Yi was fifth in line.

A short while later, the other two children finished their awakenings. As expected, both had the aptitude of zero Innate Soul Power.

In other words, this year, only Ling Yi had awakened Innate Soul Power and had the possibility of becoming a soul master.

At the same time, he was also the only existence in Shan Hai Village in the past several decades, perhaps even a hundred years, who had any hope of becoming a soul master!

"Soul Master."

When the young man had packed away the Blue Crystal Ball and the six black round stones and was about to leave, Ling Yi called out softly.

The young soul master turned his head and looked at Ling Yi. Seeing that it was the only child with Innate Soul Power among the three villages he had visited so far today, he raised a hand and tapped his forehead with his index finger, then gave a light laugh. "Look at me, I almost forgot..."

As he spoke, he opened the satchel at his waist again and took out a small booklet and a quill pen.

"To be honest, in the past two years, among the twenty-five villages including your Shan Hai Village, I haven't run into a single child with the aptitude to become a soul master. This time was the same, so it became a habit—"

"What's your name?"

"Ling Yi."

"Ling... Yi, is it? All right—"

As he spoke, the young man wrote something in the small booklet with the quill pen.

Soon, the young man stopped writing, pinched the page he had written on, gently tore it off, and handed it to Ling Yi. "Here, child. This is your martial soul certificate. Keep it safe."

"You can take it to Mu Zhi City or Cui Wei City and find a Junior Soul Master Academy to enroll in. The prerequisite is that you can obtain a Work-study Student slot. Otherwise, you'll have to save enough for the tuition and living expenses."

"All right. Thank you, Soul Master." Ling Yi took his martial soul certificate with both hands, still maintaining a humble expression and voice.

"Soul Master, may I be so bold as to ask you a question?" Ling Yi asked next.

Perhaps out of a desire to make up for forgetting, perhaps because he was in a good mood, and on top of that Ling Yi could be considered to have half a foot through the door to the world of soul masters, the young man nodded with a smile. "No problem. Go ahead."

Ling Yi lifted his little face, his gaze pure. "May I ask why Uncle Lu Yi hasn't come again these past two years?"

"Oh?" The young man was somewhat surprised when he heard this. "You know Lu Laoda?"

"No." Ling Yi waved his hand and said a little awkwardly, "It's just that three years ago, Uncle Lu came to the village to preside over the Martial Soul Awakening Ceremony, and I met him once..."

"I see." The eagerness that had almost surfaced on the young man's face stopped there. His expression grew a little more indifferent, and he said unhurriedly, "Lu Laoda broke through to Soul Elder two years ago and was transferred to the Spirit Hall Main Hall in Mu Zhi City."

"So that's how it is." Ling Yi nodded, as if he had not noticed the subtle change in the young man's attitude, and murmured softly, "When I go to Mu Zhi City later, I'll pay him a visit. I wonder if that would be all right..."

After muttering casually, Ling Yi then asked the young man, "Soul Master, may I ask how I should cultivate from here on? Do I have to enroll in a Junior Soul Master Academy and study there?"

"Mm..." The young man was still thinking back on the content of Ling Yi's earlier mutter. Hearing this, he pondered briefly, then thought for a moment and said, "You don't necessarily have to enroll, but if you want to go farther on the path of a soul master, systematically studying at an academy is still beneficial. Whether it's the categories and development paths of various martial souls, or the types and attributes of Soul Beasts and so on, academies teach all of that..."

"As for cultivation..." The young man weighed things in his heart, then said to Ling Yi, "How about this. In a few days, come to the Spirit Hall in North River Mouth Town, and I'll give you a copy of the Basic Meditation Method..."

"Really?!" Ling Yi's eyes widened at once, looking overwhelmed by the favor.

Looking at Ling Yi's expression, the young man felt pleased inside and waved his hand as if he did not care. "Hey! It's nothing. It's only the most basic meditation method. If you enroll in any academy, or join the Duchy authorities, you can get one..."

"You could even find some older soul masters or soul scholars and buy a copy for a few Silver Soul Coins. It's just that most of the people who buy them are people without soul power who don't have the aptitude to become soul masters, so buying one is the same as buying it for nothing."

Ling Yi said, "No matter what, I'm still very grateful to you, Soul Master. If not for you, even if I wanted to buy one, I wouldn't know where to start—"

"You little brat..." Hearing this, the young man smiled, raised his hand, and pointed at Ling Yi. "Don't call me Soul Master anymore. I'm twenty-six this year. Since you call Lu Laoda uncle, you can call me Uncle Yan too."

Before the martial soul awakening had begun, the young man had introduced himself: Yan Bin, martial soul Iron Spear, Level 23 Great Soul Master.

Ling Yi (obedient.JPG): "All right. Thank you, Uncle Yan!"

Yan Bin said, "All right, that's it. I still have more villages to visit—"

"Three days... Mm, five days. Five days from now, come to North River Mouth Town. We'll talk more then..."

Ling Yi said, "Got it!"

Outside Shan Hai Village.

Ling Yi stood at the roadside and waved goodbye to Yan Bin, quietly watching his figure quickly depart.

In the air, an enticing aroma of meat lingered for a long time.

"Two roast chickens, damn. If you took them to the market in North River Mouth Town, you could trade them for a whole basket of fruits and vegetables, plus half a basket of black bread—"

Zhang Lei, who had appeared beside Ling Yi at some point, spoke while drawing in a breath.

"Lei Ge, that's not how you settle the account." Ling Yi turned to look at Zhang Lei, then shifted his gaze back to the now-empty end of the road and said calmly, "Although we could spend money to buy that Basic Meditation Method from those people in town, having it gifted by a deacon of Spirit Hall naturally makes it a bit more legitimate."

As early as two years ago, when Zhang Lei first clearly sensed the existence of soul power within his body, Ling Yi had asked around through Ling Xiaoshan and Zhang Dahe. In North River Mouth Town, there were a few retired veterans, as well as several elderly One-Ring Soul Masters and small Soul Master families.

They were called families, but at most they could be considered landlord households centered around a single Soul Master: one wife, many concubines, dozens of children, yet only one or two among them possessed soul power.

Naturally, in the hands of these people, there were meditation methods related to Soul Master cultivation.

Over the years, no small number of people had gone to them seeking to buy meditation methods. But just as Yan Bin had said earlier, buying one was as good as buying it for nothing. Without the aptitude for soul power, one ultimately couldn't cultivate.

At the time, the Ling and Zhang families, because they raised wild chickens and river fish, still had some spare money at home. If they gritted their teeth, they could still afford to buy a copy.

But the matter of Zhang Lei possessing soul power had been stopped by Ling Yi. Only the two brothers knew of it; they had not told the adults at home.

In the end, they were only villagers from the countryside. In all things, caution came first. Everything was safety first!

Now that Ling Yi had undergone Martial Soul Awakening and had Innate Soul Power Half Level, obtaining a meditation method afterward was only natural. No matter who it was, no one would have any other thoughts about it.

Thank you to book friend Just Like Snow Between the Eyebrows and book friend 20200824213016611 for the monthly tickets, thank you to book friend Seven Stars' Light and book friend Chi Tang for the tips, and also thank you to the other book friends for your support. Thank you, everyone! ()---