Zhao Chuan was burning with anxiety, but he still insisted on finishing his work.
"Martial Soul: sickle. It's a Tool Martial Soul, but there's no Soul Power, so you can't become a Spirit Master."
"Martial Soul: hoe. No Soul Power."
"Martial Soul: Blue Silver Grass. No Soul Power."
"Martial Soul..."
The remaining children were just as expected. Not one of them had the talent to become a Spirit Master.
But Zhao Chuan wasn't discouraged. He'd already gained the greatest reward of this trip!
"Child, what's your name?"
He needed to know the young man's name so he could report it.
"Huo Yuhao."
Zhao Chuan nodded. "All right, Yuhao. I'll report your situation. Wait for word from me."
The village chief had been waiting outside the Spirit Hall.
Earlier, when Huo Yuhao awakened his Ancestral Dragon Spirit, the crushing pressure had made the village chief, an ordinary man, drop straight to his knees.
It was a long time before he managed to get back up, trembling.
He could barely contain his delight.
That commotion just now must have been caused by a child awakening their Martial Soul!
Could their village have produced a genius Spirit Master?
The Spirit Hall had a rule: if a Spirit Master who'd come from a village later achieved remarkable success, the village could not only change its name but also claim an exclusive work-study spot!
It was an honor for the whole village!
Huo Yuhao's young, handsome face suddenly appeared in the village chief's mind.
"It must've been Yuhao."
Never mind whether Huo Yuhao and his mother were outsiders. Wasn't Yuhao a resident of Guyan Village when he awakened his Martial Soul?
After what had just happened, Yuhao's talent had to be extraordinary.
His future achievements would surely amount to far more than becoming a Soul Saint!
As the village chief's thoughts wandered, Zhao Chuan opened the Spirit Hall's door again, his smile impossible to hide.
"Village chief, your village produced a genius with Innate Full Soul Power this year! His future achievements will be at least those of a Titled Douluo!"
"A Titled Douluo?"
The village chief cried out in shock. He'd never even dared to dream of reaching such a realm!
"The others didn't have the talent to become Spirit Masters." Zhao Chuan gave the village chief the usual rundown of the awakenings. "I need to hurry back to the Spirit Hall."
The Spirit Hall Zhao Chuan meant wasn't the shabby little building in the village.
It was the branch hall in Feimu City, Balak Kingdom. Besides awakening Martial Souls, it handled Spirit Master registration, rank certification, and the distribution of Spirit Master stipends.
Now that he had a definite answer, the village chief couldn't hold back his smile, either.
The children who'd awakened Trash Martial Souls and been given a fright came out looking dejected.
The village chief reined in his smile and patted each of them on the head.
It was nothing out of the ordinary.
Huo Yuhao was at the back. He was discussing his Second Martial Soul with Tian Meng and Elder Yi.
"Your Second Martial Soul scared the daylights out of me, bro. Its aura was even stronger than Di Tian's."
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm still felt shaken.
No wonder it was powerful enough to seize an empty Martial Soul slot. It was ridiculous.
"Since your Second Martial Soul is a dragon, you should absorb a dragon-type Soul Beast. You might not get a chance to reach the ones at the bottom of the lake, but you could try one of the gatekeepers."
"Even though it isn't a dragon-type Soul Beast, it has a highly pure Azure Dragon bloodline. It's a perfect fit for you."
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm meant the Sky Azure Bull Python, Xiao Wu's loyal lapdog.
After Tang San revived it as a divine official, it shed its python form and evolved into the Azure Divine Dragon.
"If I need to add a Soul Ring, it would be a good choice."
Huo Yuhao's words left Tian Meng baffled. "What do you mean?"
"My Second Martial Soul doesn't seem to need me to go out and find Soul Rings. Once I reach the right level, I can absorb the world's vital energy and form Soul Rings automatically."
Huo Yuhao had learned this from his Martial Soul while thinking, following the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's lead, about which Soul Beasts he should seek out for his Second Martial Soul.
His Second Martial Soul was more like a legacy from the Ancestral Dragon.
But since he was from Douluo Continent and cultivated under a different system, it had conveniently become his Martial Soul. Once his strength was sufficient, he could slowly unlock the inheritance.
As for absorbing Soul Rings from Soul Beasts?
What rank were they, to think they deserved to be absorbed by me?
If it weren't impossible to give Huo Yuhao's eyes Soul Rings and Soul Skills at the same time, the Ancestral Dragon Spirit could probably have filled every one of his Soul Skill slots by itself.
"It can do that?"
"Were your memories from before fake, kid? Are you really a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast that took human form to cultivate again?"
The only ones who could condense their own Soul Rings without killing Soul Beasts were Soul Beasts that had taken human form.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had lived for a million years, and this was the first time it had seen anything like this!
Sure enough, if you lived long enough, you'd see all kinds of bizarre things.
While talking with Tian Meng, Huo Yuhao had already left the village's Spirit Hall.
The village chief waved him over with a beaming smile. "You've become a Spirit Master! That's wonderful news for our village. When you get home, bring your mother along. Grandpa Village Chief is treating you both to a meal today."
"Sure. I'll make grilled fish for you."
At the mention of Huo Yuhao's grilled fish, the village chief grinned from ear to ear.
"Good, good! I'll head back right now and have Er Niu catch a few fish from the river!"
Huo Yuhao's grilled fish came with guaranteed medicinal benefits. Everyone who tried it loved it.
Zhao Chuan moved even faster than Huo Yuhao had expected.
That very afternoon, Zhao Chuan arrived at Guyan Village with a purple-robed bishop.
The middle-aged man looked stern, but the moment he saw Huo Yuhao, his face softened into a warm smile.
"I've already sent someone to Spirit City. Someone should come to collect you soon."
"Until then, come with us to Feimu City. We've already found a place for you and your mother to stay."
A promising young talent who was willing to join the Spirit Hall couldn't be allowed to have anything happen to him.
Huo Yun'er hadn't expected that she'd have to leave with them, too.
She was an ordinary woman who couldn't even lift a finger in a fight and had no way to support herself. If she went with them, she'd only become a burden to her child.
"The village is nice, and everyone's been good to me. I can stay here..."
"Mother, you're still so young. You can't spend your whole youth in the countryside!"
Huo Yun'er was only a little over twenty. Her life was just beginning.
Of course, the most important thing was that Huo Yuhao was afraid she'd be left alone with too much time to think.
She might start thinking about Dai Hao, grow lonely, and miss their past together more and more, until she couldn't stop herself and even wanted to go back and rekindle their old romance with him...
The thought alone was terrifying.
Better to keep her busy, with no time to think about that filth!
The village chief nodded in agreement. "Yuhao's right. A lovely young woman like you shouldn't waste your youth here."
What the village chief didn't say was that a beautiful, gentle woman like Huo Yun'er stood out too much in the village.
He knew the villagers. They were honest and decent people, not the sort to entertain wicked thoughts.
But the village was too close to Star Dou Great Forest, and Spirit Masters often passed through on their way there for Soul Hunting.
Those Spirit Masters weren't all good people. If one of them took a fancy to her, there wasn't a soul in the village who could stop him.
"Thank you, Village Chief, for taking care of Hao'er and me all this time. We'll come back to visit often."
With their simple belongings in tow, Huo Yuhao and Huo Yun'er said goodbye to the villagers who'd come to see them off.
In an unfamiliar world, Huo Yun'er had met such kind people right from the start. She was deeply grateful to them.
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